This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2017-01-31
I have reposted it here for reference.
"With major pieces (queen or rook) on the board, having bishops on opposite colors favors the side with an attack."
Edmar Mednis
Not long ago I mentioned Mednis and his principles while annotating a voting game. You can review that article here
https://64funsolutions.ca/how-we-almost-drew-it-0
This time I have another nice example on how true these principles are and how they can help you decide and implement your strategy during your games. The following game has been played online with 3 days per move. It was a positional game from end to end and with my annotations I am trying to show that such games do not have to be complicated, nor confusing to play.
[Event "WL2016 R4: Team Canada vs. Team Iran - Board 19"][Site "Chess.com"][Date "2016.04.15"][White "masoudhashemi"][Black "EugenD"][Result "0-1"][ECO "A10"]1.c4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 e6 4.d4 Be7 5.Bg5 O-O 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.e4 fxe4 8.Nxe4 d6 9.Be2 Nc6 10.O-O Bd7 11.Rc1 Qe7 12.Re1?! {Considering the f-file is semi-open since move 7, this might not be a good choice. It leaves the f2-pawn with little protection} 12...Qf7 {We are early into the middle game with white holding a space advantage. The e6-pawn might look as a weakness for the moment, though black can either exchange it or push it quite easily when needed. Looking careful we can see black's intentions are to target the King side and the f2- weak pawn} 13.d5 Ne5 14.Qb3 b6 15.Nd4 a6 {It does not look like much, but black is simply making sure there's no weakness in his position. Here covering the b5-square ensures the Queen side is safe} 16.f3 {Having white play this move (mostly voluntarily) should be a positive for black. The g1-a7 diagonal could be used by black and Nd4 sits in a precarious position} 16...Ng6 {Targeting Nd4 and the said diagonal} 17.Nxe6 Bxe6 18.dxe6 Qxe6 19.Bd3 {Not trading Bf6 is a strategic mistake} 19...Bd4+ {We have an opposite color Bishops position, so let's take a moment to remember Mednis principle. Black is attacking and it is obvious what the target is} 20.Kh1 Rae8 21.Re2 {Trying to deal with the back rank problem} 21...Kh8 {A prophylactic move before the attack, moving the King away from the a2-g8 diagonal} 22.Nc3 Be5 23.Nd5 Nf4 {All black pieces are participating in the attack and it is just a matter of time before things get really bad for the lone Kh1} 24.Nxf4 Rxf4 25.Rce1 {Doubling the Rooks here serves no purpose} 25...Qh6 26.Qd1 Ref8 27.Qd2 g5 {Avoids a Queen exchange and enforces the attack} 28.Rf2 Qf6 29.Be4 {Forced to defend the f3-pawn} 29...Rh4 {White has no protection along the dark squares} 30.Kg1 Bxh2+ 31.Kf1 Bg3 32.Kg1 g4 {White is in zugzwang} 33.Rd1 Bh2+ 34.Kf1 Bf4 35.Qc3 Be5 36.Qb3 g3 {Instead of winning an exchange on f2, black wants to get much more and there is nothing black can do to stop it} 37.Rc2 Rxe4 38.Qd3 Qh4 39.Qxe4 Qxe4
Hope you liked it. The match was declared as won by Canada 1-0 by a shoddy team forfeit rule very early on. Both teams continued playing to the end. My other game ended in an interesting draw I might present later on. Match wise team Iran won it 281.5 - 260.5 (271 boards) even if it did not mean anything. It was and is ridiculous all players efforts on the chessboard were nullified like this. That is all I have to say about it. If you have any games and/ or positions you would like me to look at, please do not hesitate to let me know. I will gladly include them in my column for everyone's benefit. Looking forward to your messages!
I have reposted it here for reference.
"With major pieces (queen or rook) on the board, having bishops on opposite colors favors the side with an attack."
Edmar Mednis
Not long ago I mentioned Mednis and his principles while annotating a voting game. You can review that article here
https://64funsolutions.ca/how-we-almost-drew-it-0
This time I have another nice example on how true these principles are and how they can help you decide and implement your strategy during your games. The following game has been played online with 3 days per move. It was a positional game from end to end and with my annotations I am trying to show that such games do not have to be complicated, nor confusing to play.
[Event "WL2016 R4: Team Canada vs. Team Iran - Board 19"][Site "Chess.com"][Date "2016.04.15"][White "masoudhashemi"][Black "EugenD"][Result "0-1"][ECO "A10"]1.c4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 e6 4.d4 Be7 5.Bg5 O-O 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.e4 fxe4 8.Nxe4 d6 9.Be2 Nc6 10.O-O Bd7 11.Rc1 Qe7 12.Re1?! {Considering the f-file is semi-open since move 7, this might not be a good choice. It leaves the f2-pawn with little protection} 12...Qf7 {We are early into the middle game with white holding a space advantage. The e6-pawn might look as a weakness for the moment, though black can either exchange it or push it quite easily when needed. Looking careful we can see black's intentions are to target the King side and the f2- weak pawn} 13.d5 Ne5 14.Qb3 b6 15.Nd4 a6 {It does not look like much, but black is simply making sure there's no weakness in his position. Here covering the b5-square ensures the Queen side is safe} 16.f3 {Having white play this move (mostly voluntarily) should be a positive for black. The g1-a7 diagonal could be used by black and Nd4 sits in a precarious position} 16...Ng6 {Targeting Nd4 and the said diagonal} 17.Nxe6 Bxe6 18.dxe6 Qxe6 19.Bd3 {Not trading Bf6 is a strategic mistake} 19...Bd4+ {We have an opposite color Bishops position, so let's take a moment to remember Mednis principle. Black is attacking and it is obvious what the target is} 20.Kh1 Rae8 21.Re2 {Trying to deal with the back rank problem} 21...Kh8 {A prophylactic move before the attack, moving the King away from the a2-g8 diagonal} 22.Nc3 Be5 23.Nd5 Nf4 {All black pieces are participating in the attack and it is just a matter of time before things get really bad for the lone Kh1} 24.Nxf4 Rxf4 25.Rce1 {Doubling the Rooks here serves no purpose} 25...Qh6 26.Qd1 Ref8 27.Qd2 g5 {Avoids a Queen exchange and enforces the attack} 28.Rf2 Qf6 29.Be4 {Forced to defend the f3-pawn} 29...Rh4 {White has no protection along the dark squares} 30.Kg1 Bxh2+ 31.Kf1 Bg3 32.Kg1 g4 {White is in zugzwang} 33.Rd1 Bh2+ 34.Kf1 Bf4 35.Qc3 Be5 36.Qb3 g3 {Instead of winning an exchange on f2, black wants to get much more and there is nothing black can do to stop it} 37.Rc2 Rxe4 38.Qd3 Qh4 39.Qxe4 Qxe4
Hope you liked it. The match was declared as won by Canada 1-0 by a shoddy team forfeit rule very early on. Both teams continued playing to the end. My other game ended in an interesting draw I might present later on. Match wise team Iran won it 281.5 - 260.5 (271 boards) even if it did not mean anything. It was and is ridiculous all players efforts on the chessboard were nullified like this. That is all I have to say about it. If you have any games and/ or positions you would like me to look at, please do not hesitate to let me know. I will gladly include them in my column for everyone's benefit. Looking forward to your messages!