Keep it Simple

"This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains."
Bull Durham

Chess is a lot like baseball. You win a pawn through some tactic in the middlegame, then convert this pawn in the endgame.

This morning's blitz game illustrates simple chess.

My opponent has just attacked my knight, forcing me to see the tactic that wins a pawn.



Thirty moves later, I have a two pawn advantage. Converting one of the pawns is a simple matter of giving up one to create a Lucena position with the other.