Chris
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Chris posted an update 5 weeks ago
When is it Ok to Give Up a Pawn?
I’ve had a couple games where I’ll analyze them afterwards and notice a huge swing in the evaluation when I give up a pawn. Usually I do so to get some kind of initiative, but the engine seems to think it’s a huge mistake and even at times flags it as a blunder. Is there any rule of thumb I could use to know when it’s ok to give up a pawn and…
Keith F3 Comments-
For me, if it sets up a nice tactic, or gets you a solid attack immediately, then sac a pawn or a piece even. It’s either a brilliant move, or a blunder! If you get checkmate, it’s brilliant regardless of what stockfish thinks. We mere humans can’t think 20+ moves deep.
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Yeah I think at my ELO (1200 rapid on Chess.com) there has to be a very tangible benefit like you’re saying. The engine really seems to dislike it when it happens in the middle and end game so perhaps just being extra careful then will pay off.
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When you review your game, try finishing against the bot (set the strength at 2000 or more) after you make the pawn move and sometimes you can see the idea. Also using the hint helps. A lot of times it’s a positional move that ends up worse several moves later. It’s over my head of course.
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Chris posted an update 5 months ago
This was a crazy game that I ended up winning thankfully, but I had a lingering question: which side should I castle to if at all? All of white’s pieces were focused king side and there was a pawn very deep queen side. Looking at the computer analysis it suggests to not castle at all, but obviously that’s with perfect play which I would not be…
chess.com
Chess: slefslef vs chriscannoli
slefslef (1150) vs chriscannoli (1124). chriscannoli won by resignation in 30 moves. Click to review the game, move by move.
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If you look at the engine lines usually it is just 2-3 moves away from castling queen side being the best move. It never seems to suggest castling king side and the way the game played out after e5 there wasn’t a good opportunity to castle. In my experience against that Jobava line castling kingside is really risky
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Oh yeah it does say queen side! I don’t know how I missed that. It also tells me to just give up a night too haha.
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Good Game!
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Chris, I personally would have gone queenside because the h5 pawn was so weak. If that pawn was on h6 instead, then since white’s g6 pawn blocks their pieces kingside would probably be okay. Also since you had moved most of your pieces to the queenside, that’s probably going to be a safer place than the kingside.
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