tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57726894266049739.post7582035589193848791..comments2024-03-28T11:37:38.689-07:00Comments on Chess Skills: Long ThinkJames Stripeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13437334325501974461noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57726894266049739.post-27158616901586693082012-06-13T07:26:45.906-07:002012-06-13T07:26:45.906-07:00I spent considerable time looking at the move 22.R...I spent considerable time looking at the move 22.Rxb7. Then, my mind kept coming back to ideas like Qh5, which leads nowhere. However, the threat of Qh5 protects the d5 knight. Trapping the queen seemed my most promising line. As moving the rook exposes the c4 knight, I played 22.d3! My opponent missed the danger to his queen. Play continued 22...Rad8 23.Ra3 Qxa3 24.Nxa3 Bxd5 25.Bxd5 Rxd5 26.Qf3. I was then ahead a queen for a rook and two pawns. <br /><br />Some of my play after trapping the queen was suboptimal, and my advantage slipped to a mere +2.50. For example, I should have played the in-between move 24.Nxe7+. My move 26 also placed the queen on an inactive square. It was better to move the rook to the e-file, setting up a pin on the bishop.James Stripeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13437334325501974461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57726894266049739.post-70458131905856470492012-06-12T23:45:56.262-07:002012-06-12T23:45:56.262-07:00Excellent job, James! :-)
Six minutes is worth i...Excellent job, James! :-)<br /><br />Six minutes is worth it if one is to find a game winning move like you.<br /><br />The most natural continuation in this position seems to be 1.Rxb7 Qxc4?!, 2.NxBe7+ Kf8, 3.Bg2 (3...RxN opens the way for BxRa8). <br /><br />But you say there is a move with a big advantage, so I look again and see what we don't usually see, a "strong retreat" move, as a fellow chess colleague calls such moves. 1.Nc3 Qa7, 2.Bxb7, trapping the queen. It is difficult to spot these traps in live games at anything short of classical time-controls. Looks as though all of that tactical training you've had is paying off. ;-)LinuxGuyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15764940044950170053noreply@blogger.com