24 Jan '08 08:45>
Not to speak about this game specifically, but some styles (and openings) lend themselves well to aggressive pawn play. The Pirc and Modern come to mind, although black develops rapidly in the Pirc, and often in the Modern too so they're maybe not such good examples.
Anyway, what I'm getting at is that if your opp counters your rapid development with aggressive pawn play/expansion then you can't be let yourself be guided by classical opening principles alone or you'll be over run. So a few general ideas to keep in mind in situations like these:
1. Hit back with your own pawns to either try to break his up and/or open lines. A development lead does no good when he has more space and can cramp your game and/or close things up.
2. Don't let him close the center. When he's expanding on the wing(s) aggressively like that then he's doing it because he believes his K safe in the center and may even leave it there, or else postpone castling for quite a while. Look for pawn advances that will force the opening of the e or d file, or even the c or f file. If he has no development while your rooks are connected, or soon to be, then you have to take advantage of that by giving them a central file to put pressure down.
3. Be prepared to sac. With no development and so many holes and weak squares in his position a destructive sacrifice can create mayhem. Even if you can't see a way to win back the material immediately (thus making it a true sacrifice) at least look for th one that gives you a strong initiative with as much activity for your pieces as possible and that, ideally, exposes his K. Aside from whatever chances on the board it gives you, it can also be good psychologically. If its a positional sac he's likely not expecting it and being caught by surprise and having his plans upset may lead to panic or inaccurate play; while turning the tables and forcing him to try and close up and play defensively while you work the initiative can also wear him down. Plus he doesn't know the sac is speculative/positional and if thinks you've found something concrete he'll expend a lot of energy trying in vain to find it, and worrying when he can't.
By the way I'm not a very aggressive player personally, so this isn't my preferred style that I'm preaching, but in adapting to the needs of the position I'd prefer to look for a way to force things open, even if meant a speculative sac, to get some active play rather than waste my development lead being pushed back and just reacting to my opponent.
Besides, its been said by at least one top GM (I think you Euwe but I could be mistaken) that when you have a sizable lead in development you must attack. Its just a question of deciding where and how. The nature of a development lead is that its temporary and if given time and your opp catches up, its lost and in a position like this he also comes away with a space advantage as well.
My 2 cents.
Anyway, what I'm getting at is that if your opp counters your rapid development with aggressive pawn play/expansion then you can't be let yourself be guided by classical opening principles alone or you'll be over run. So a few general ideas to keep in mind in situations like these:
1. Hit back with your own pawns to either try to break his up and/or open lines. A development lead does no good when he has more space and can cramp your game and/or close things up.
2. Don't let him close the center. When he's expanding on the wing(s) aggressively like that then he's doing it because he believes his K safe in the center and may even leave it there, or else postpone castling for quite a while. Look for pawn advances that will force the opening of the e or d file, or even the c or f file. If he has no development while your rooks are connected, or soon to be, then you have to take advantage of that by giving them a central file to put pressure down.
3. Be prepared to sac. With no development and so many holes and weak squares in his position a destructive sacrifice can create mayhem. Even if you can't see a way to win back the material immediately (thus making it a true sacrifice) at least look for th one that gives you a strong initiative with as much activity for your pieces as possible and that, ideally, exposes his K. Aside from whatever chances on the board it gives you, it can also be good psychologically. If its a positional sac he's likely not expecting it and being caught by surprise and having his plans upset may lead to panic or inaccurate play; while turning the tables and forcing him to try and close up and play defensively while you work the initiative can also wear him down. Plus he doesn't know the sac is speculative/positional and if thinks you've found something concrete he'll expend a lot of energy trying in vain to find it, and worrying when he can't.
By the way I'm not a very aggressive player personally, so this isn't my preferred style that I'm preaching, but in adapting to the needs of the position I'd prefer to look for a way to force things open, even if meant a speculative sac, to get some active play rather than waste my development lead being pushed back and just reacting to my opponent.
Besides, its been said by at least one top GM (I think you Euwe but I could be mistaken) that when you have a sizable lead in development you must attack. Its just a question of deciding where and how. The nature of a development lead is that its temporary and if given time and your opp catches up, its lost and in a position like this he also comes away with a space advantage as well.
My 2 cents.