How to break through?

Nick Burrows · Post by **Nick Burrows** » Tue Oct 22, 2013 6:44 pm

I reached the following position in last weekends Witney Congress:

At the board I felt I had a completely winning advantage and it was just a matter of time before I would sac through to victory due to all his pieces being cut of from the kings defence. I inadvisedly spent most of my time searching for the 'win', and down to my increment lost the game. Incredibly frustrating!

The next few moves were:

21...Nh5 22. h4 Qg6 23. Bxh5 Qxh5 24. Qe2 Qg6 25. Kg2 f5 and the 'attack' didn't happen.

How to improve?

Roger de Coverly · Post by **Roger de Coverly** » Tue Oct 22, 2013 7:13 pm

Nick Burrows wrote: How to improve?

Bronstein used to say "talk to your pieces". In particular I'd suggest asking the Rook on a8 how it saw its future prospects. Stick that Rook on f8 and I'd agree that Black had good attacking chances.

On a8, it will become active, if or perhaps when you sacrifice the b8 Bishop. In fact, can you sacrifice immediately on g3? It may only be forcing a draw if white repeats, but that might be the best the position can offer.

(edit) Have you checked the position with an engine? It may challenge your judgement. (/edit)

David Shepherd · Post by **David Shepherd** » Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:33 pm

How many pieces do you normally need in an attack for it to work, how many pieces do you have attacking? The knight going to h5 will be swapped off.

How can you bring another piece in to the attack quickly and which piece?

I would suggest maybe the knight on h7 needs to become more active quickly so via g5 but the queen is there. So the queen needs to move, it could drop back to g6 to keep the pin but the much better move is f5 attacking h3.

The result is another piece is soon joining in the attack and white has a threat to deal with. The only way to defend will be for his pawns to move forward either immediately or after a King move followed by Ng5 (Rh1 could me played maybe but I still feel the pawns are likely to come forward at some point). If he moves the h pawn immediately Qh3 looks nasty. The white pawns moving forward will create create slight weaknesses which can be exploited.

I think the attack looks much better with the h7 knight joining in and much harder for white to play

Matthew Turner · Post by **Matthew Turner** » Tue Oct 22, 2013 9:47 pm

Qf5 looks good with the idea of Ng5, but I am not sure what to do after Qf5 Kg2 Ng5 Rh1, so it may be that it is insufficient just to attack with pieces, you may need some pawns as well. h5 will presumably be met with h4 and then Qh6 with g5 to follow seems to break things up and should allow Black to smash through.

David Shepherd · Post by **David Shepherd** » Tue Oct 22, 2013 10:58 pm

Yes I agree that would be the follow up in that line.

Andrew Bak · Post by **Andrew Bak** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 12:33 am

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Bronstein used to say "talk to your pieces".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A660UgPz4Kw

MartinCarpenter · Post by **MartinCarpenter** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:00 am

Well, I can fully understand wanting to punish white - totally blocking the Q-side like that certainly doesn't look clever.

White's pieces aren't badly placed for defending the kingside though - the d1 bishop/f1 rook/Q are all relevant where they stand and the N can come across relatively easily. It isn't like he'll have anything better to do with his time than defend.....

Nick Burrows · Post by **Nick Burrows** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 11:18 am

After allowing Houdini to investigate, it told me that the immediate sac on g3 is only equal as I thought during the game. It also suggests that after 21..Qf5 22.f4! Qxh3 23.Qg2 Qd7 24.g4 it is approximately equal.

It's best attempt at an advantage is 21..Re6 22.h4 Qg6 23.Qe2 h5 24.Bc1 Ng4 25.Bd2 Nhf6 26.Be1 Nh6 27.Kh1 Nfg4 where black has found a way involve all his available pieces...

White's position just isn't as bad as it appears visually due to having 2 pieces temporarily frozen.

Roger de Coverly · Post by **Roger de Coverly** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 11:40 am

Nick Burrows wrote: It also suggests that after 21..Qf5 22.f4! Qxh3 23.Qg2 Qd7 24.g4 it is approximately equal.

That's something of a computer equal as White is just a pawn down, admittedly with Black having pieces still stuck on a8 and b8. Still engines often have supreme self confidence that they can defend such positions.

Christopher Kreuzer · Post by **Christopher Kreuzer** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 2:00 pm

Nick Burrows wrote: White's position just isn't as bad as it appears visually due to having 2 pieces temporarily frozen.

That was my thought as well. When you say '2 pieces temporarily frozen' are you referring to Black? The bishop on b8 and the rook on a8 are temporarily frozen? If those pieces are needed for an attack, it looks like White will have time to organise a defence.

Christopher Kreuzer · Post by **Christopher Kreuzer** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 2:33 pm

Not 'how to break through', but whether to sacrifice or not, have a look at this (without using a computer):

White to play. Moves played to reach this position were: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7 4.Bc4 h6 5.dxe5 dxe5

Would you play the obvious sacrifice, and does it work? It is nice to analyse such positions without resorting to using a computer - if you'd not worked it out over the board, how long would you analyse for at home before switching on the computer?

Nick Burrows · Post by **Nick Burrows** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 2:50 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
Nick Burrows wrote: White's position just isn't as bad as it appears visually due to having 2 pieces temporarily frozen.
That was my thought as well. When you say '2 pieces temporarily frozen' are you referring to Black? The bishop on b8 and the rook on a8 are temporarily frozen? If those pieces are needed for an attack, it looks like White will have time to organise a defence.

Hi Chris, yes thats what I meant, I didn't write it very clearly.

Nick Burrows · Post by **Nick Burrows** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 3:10 pm

Would you play the obvious sacrifice, and does it work?

After 1.Bxf7+ Kxf7 2.Nxe5 Kf6 3.Qf3+ Ke5 I can't see a way to stop the king wriggling back to e7 and safety, so I would reject it. The h6 pawn does a good job. In a game I would though spend more time than I just did!

IM Jack Rudd · Post by **IM Jack Rudd** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 3:18 pm

Well, you can stop the king from going back to e7 rather forcibly with 4.Qf7. Whether there's a mate if you do that is another matter, but in practice I'd rather be trying to work out the answer to that question from the point of view of the guy who hasn't got his king on e5.

Nick Burrows · Post by **Nick Burrows** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 3:32 pm

IM Jack Rudd wrote:Well, you can stop the king from going back to e7 rather forcibly with 4.Qf7. Whether there's a mate if you do that is another matter, but in practice I'd rather be trying to work out the answer to that question from the point of view of the guy who hasn't got his king on e5.

I did look at 4.Qf7 briefly, then Nf6 5.f4+ Kd6 and black seems ok

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