Nelson, et al:

I was playing as white in the following game:

Check out this #chess game: catchwoodynow vs m0ral_supp0rt – https://www.chess.com/live/game/125124548145

I was able to win; however, I had what I consider a critical miss on move 27 by not seeing that my best option was to “lose the exchange” of my rook for my opponents light squared bishop in a positional tactic.

Looking back at the game, I am thinking that my biggest clue should have been my positional features:

1. My light square weakness due to my massive pawn chain on the dark squares (eliminating their light square bishop that could slice through on the light diagonals while keeping mine would have been a positional advantage that I didn’t value enough – apparently)

2. My advanced protected passed pawns were going to keep my opponent’s pieces tied down, so eliminating one of their long range pieces further hurts their piece activity

3. From a straight material point count, I would have still been “even” in material value after the exchange and my opponent’s G and H pawns would be difficult for him to keep if I choose to attack them…

4. But playing the lines through Stockfish, I completely under valued how much pressure I was applying and how quickly an attack through the center would be just crushing.

Nelson talks about it in the positional tactics module, but “sacrifices” for positional gains are hard for us beginners to see. I am hoping that people, especially Nelson, can talk more about this and let me know if my post game analysis is right and provide any additional pointers on how to get better at these positional tactics. Perhaps a topic for the group coaching session on December 3rd, 2024 at 8pm EST.

Note: I started the game with the Stonewall, but some of the moves were a bit out of order and i had to adapt to the aggressive play of my opponent and ended up castling queen-side. Also, i know that i could have played the endgame more efficiently; I was running low on time and i didn’t want to take any chances with my opponent’s rook and advanced passed pawn (me blundering my queen or allowing perpetual check, etc). Given the time pressure, i just felt better simplifying the position. I am certainly interested in comments and criticism on the opening and endgame; however, my real focus is on the middle game positional tactics that i missed: exchanging my rook for their light-squared bishop in move 27. Also, both me and my opponent missed a nice tactic that he could have played with his bishop (checking my king while forking my bishop) when i pinned his queen that would have hurt my position significantly.

Respectfully,

Jeff Woodward aka catchwoodynow

jeffrey.woodward@gmail.com

chess.com

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