This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2017-02-07
I have reposted it here for reference.
“Help your pieces so they can help you”
Paul Morphy
This past week one of my level 2 students played the following game over the internet as part of his weekly assignment. He was supposed to practice the Bishop's opening if facing 1... e5 and he did do his best. The game does not look like much; still I believe its value can be found a bit deeper under the surface. My student, like many other players out there, has a tough time resisting material grabbing. We all have to fight this urge to grab free stuff, so let's not be too hard on him or them. The difference is once you go through a few disasters because of that, you learn to stay away from it.
Chess today is focused on active play and initiative. This can be worth as much as a pawn or two, depending on circumstances. Everyone can read about a piece in the center, a Rook on an open file and even more advanced concepts like underpromotion or such. However, it is very hard to keep in mind something as hard to grasp as those 2 concepts. I grab a piece, I can see it and feel it. What does the active play give me to help me win the game? You don't really see those pawn(s) it is worth. It takes time and practice to seek playing like this and become confident doing it. Please go over the game and annotations:
[Event "friendly"][Site "chess.com"][Date "2017.02.02"][White "Lightning04"][Black "priyabrata1992"][Result "1-0"][ECO "C23"]1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 f6 {a beginner's choice} 3. d4 Nc6 4. dxe5 Nxe5 5. Qd4 {not a very inspired choice} 5... c5 6. Qd5 b6 7. Qxa8 {this feels like a joke right?} 7... Nxc4 8. Qxa7 $2 {here the game begins to be interesting. White is comfortably up in material and all it needs to do is bring the Queen back into the game. Taking that pawn is wrong. Remember this moment!} (8. Qd5 $1 Na5 {the plan is very simple for white from here on: develop, castle and attack}) 8... Bd6 9. Nf3 Na5 {here white began to worry his Queen could be trapped; in the same time black realized (probably without even looking for it), it could trap it. Funny how this works, right?} 10. Qa8 Ne7 11. e5 {making room for the Queen on e4} 11... Nec6 {the Queen is caged!} 12. exd6 O-O 13. O-O f5 14. Bd2 Qf6 15. Bxa5 {trading down those trapping the Queen} 15... bxa5 16. Nc3 Qxd6 17. Nb5 Qf6 18. c3 f4 19. Rad1 Rd8 20. Rd6 Qf5 21. Rxc6 dxc6 22. Qxc6 {Please look back at move 8. It took white 14 moves to get his Queen out of that cage and back in the game. It was not worth the time and hassle; also it took over white's mind and forced him to concentrate only on getting it out of there} 22... Bd7 23. Qb6 Rf8 24. Qxa5 {again the same wrong concept of taking a meaningless pawn instead of looking for active play} 24... Rf6 25. Qd8+ Kf7 {the Queen has played only on the edge. This kind of play loses 99% of the time versus a better opponent. The rest of it is just for the record} 26. Re1 Re6 27. Rxe6 Bxe6 28. Nd6+ Kg6 29. Nxf5 Bxf5 30. Qg5+ Kf7 31. Qxf5+ Kg8 32. Qe6+ Kh8 33. Qe8#
Hope this example will count for as practice instead of a few of your own games. I know people say we learn from own experiences and have also done it as well, regardless of what my parents and teachers told me; however I am happy to say age makes us wiser and I have improved the percentage of times when I actually learned from others' mistakes. It saves a ton of time and pain, believe me. 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.
“Help your pieces so they can help you”
Paul Morphy
This past week one of my level 2 students played the following game over the internet as part of his weekly assignment. He was supposed to practice the Bishop's opening if facing 1... e5 and he did do his best. The game does not look like much; still I believe its value can be found a bit deeper under the surface. My student, like many other players out there, has a tough time resisting material grabbing. We all have to fight this urge to grab free stuff, so let's not be too hard on him or them. The difference is once you go through a few disasters because of that, you learn to stay away from it.
Chess today is focused on active play and initiative. This can be worth as much as a pawn or two, depending on circumstances. Everyone can read about a piece in the center, a Rook on an open file and even more advanced concepts like underpromotion or such. However, it is very hard to keep in mind something as hard to grasp as those 2 concepts. I grab a piece, I can see it and feel it. What does the active play give me to help me win the game? You don't really see those pawn(s) it is worth. It takes time and practice to seek playing like this and become confident doing it. Please go over the game and annotations:
[Event "friendly"][Site "chess.com"][Date "2017.02.02"][White "Lightning04"][Black "priyabrata1992"][Result "1-0"][ECO "C23"]1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 f6 {a beginner's choice} 3. d4 Nc6 4. dxe5 Nxe5 5. Qd4 {not a very inspired choice} 5... c5 6. Qd5 b6 7. Qxa8 {this feels like a joke right?} 7... Nxc4 8. Qxa7 $2 {here the game begins to be interesting. White is comfortably up in material and all it needs to do is bring the Queen back into the game. Taking that pawn is wrong. Remember this moment!} (8. Qd5 $1 Na5 {the plan is very simple for white from here on: develop, castle and attack}) 8... Bd6 9. Nf3 Na5 {here white began to worry his Queen could be trapped; in the same time black realized (probably without even looking for it), it could trap it. Funny how this works, right?} 10. Qa8 Ne7 11. e5 {making room for the Queen on e4} 11... Nec6 {the Queen is caged!} 12. exd6 O-O 13. O-O f5 14. Bd2 Qf6 15. Bxa5 {trading down those trapping the Queen} 15... bxa5 16. Nc3 Qxd6 17. Nb5 Qf6 18. c3 f4 19. Rad1 Rd8 20. Rd6 Qf5 21. Rxc6 dxc6 22. Qxc6 {Please look back at move 8. It took white 14 moves to get his Queen out of that cage and back in the game. It was not worth the time and hassle; also it took over white's mind and forced him to concentrate only on getting it out of there} 22... Bd7 23. Qb6 Rf8 24. Qxa5 {again the same wrong concept of taking a meaningless pawn instead of looking for active play} 24... Rf6 25. Qd8+ Kf7 {the Queen has played only on the edge. This kind of play loses 99% of the time versus a better opponent. The rest of it is just for the record} 26. Re1 Re6 27. Rxe6 Bxe6 28. Nd6+ Kg6 29. Nxf5 Bxf5 30. Qg5+ Kf7 31. Qxf5+ Kg8 32. Qe6+ Kh8 33. Qe8#
Hope this example will count for as practice instead of a few of your own games. I know people say we learn from own experiences and have also done it as well, regardless of what my parents and teachers told me; however I am happy to say age makes us wiser and I have improved the percentage of times when I actually learned from others' mistakes. It saves a ton of time and pain, believe me. 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!