Chess Study Group # A

[RoundTower]

this is actually a pretty sweet thread and I should do more chess.

[VegasNick]

im rated 2600 uscf and i used to study these types of games but i didnt get thatdrating by studying classic games like these....no try to study games from spassky tal and fischer ...if u want to get beter that is cause they give you more of a understanding on the value of agression...classic games like these wont give u much....those are my 2 cents for the people who are actually trying to get beter

[VegasNick]

i can put up some of my games if you guys would like...

[swingdoc]

Question #1: White uses a nice little maneuver to trade off the dark squared bishops. Generally speaking, we can consider a dark square complex weak if the pawns are on the opposite color and the dark squared bishop has been removed. In this game, white decides early on to base his strategy around weakening black's dark squares and then posting his own pieces there.

Question #2: c5 is important in this position for 2 main reasons. He needs to oppose white's control over the center, specifically the pawn on d4. He also needs to gain space on the queenside.

Question #3: As someone else mentioned, 21...Rc8 fails to 22. Qxc8+ Bxc8 23. Rxc8+ Ne8 24. Ne5 and black cannot stop Bc6, winning the knight on e8. Admittedly, the resulting position is still quite drawish as black's pieces are terribly uncoordinated and white's king is exposed enough that perpetual check is a real possibility.

Question #4: Black's advantages - Dark squares around the queenside, control of the c file. White's advantages - light squares on the queenside, control of the d file. Bxf3 makes a great deal of sense, in that he demolishes white's plan by capturing the knight, the only piece that can really exploit the dark squares on the queenside. At this point in the game, I'm not convinced white has enough pieces to really exploit any weak squares or pieces, so giving up your bishop for a knight going into an endgame with pawns on both wings is not a good idea.

In this position, white has 2 plans. One is to find a way to take the 7th rank (note he can't really do this immediately as Qc7 is met by Rd7). His second plan is to bring his knight to c5, where he can rain down pressure on the queenside pawns and light squared bishop. Nd5 is an excellent move by black as it controls c7 and allows black to start getting his central pawns on dark squares.

Question #5:

A. 25 ... Ra8 Bxd5+ wins for white.
B. 25 ... Kf8 Nd3! allows white to play Qc5 next move and the knight to recapture.
C. 25 ... Rd7 God, this is a pretty combination here. 26. Qxb7! Rxb7 27. Bxd5+ Kf8 28. Rc8+ Qe8 29. Bxb7! Bronstein especially loves this combination, as all of black's pieces die on light squares.

Question #6: Both sides are about equal here. White can force a draw with 29. Bg2 (threatening the knight) Rd7 30. Bh3 Re7, etc.

Question #7: In positions like this, black simply needs to create a passed pawn on the queenside with b4. He then advances the pawn as quickly as possible, without falling into any traps of course! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[swingdoc]

Sorry it took so long for me to reply to this. Thanks for all the encouraging comments and ideas on the model game. I'm trying to decide what I should change for future study games. Should I ask questions on the game one at a time? I almost wondered if this was overwhelming with 7 questions all at once. Any suggestions or ideas you guys have would be greatly appreciated.