Unlock Your Genius April 2009 (Problems)

by tapestry , Hampshire, Monday, April 20, 2009, 21:28 (6082 days ago)

Another straight forward position - thanks Tony

My initial take:

White's Positives:
Bishop against knight.
More space in the centre.

White's Negatives:
Blocked centre hindering the bishop.
Central pawns on same coloured square as the bishop.
3 pawn islands.

Black's Positives:
Knight in a closed position.

Black's Negatives:
No accessible outpost for the knight.
More cramped central position.
Weakness of a5 pawn (fixed on black square).

Looking at what could be played, I can find lots of reasons not to play certain moves, but am having more difficulty finding an actual plan. For example, if white plays 1. e5xf6 black can reply with 1...g7xf6 after which black will have the break ...e6-e5.

One move that springs to mind is 1. Rc1-c7 with the idea of trying to double rooks on the c file. However, after 1...Rc8xc7 2. Bd6xc7 b7-b6 3. Rf1-c1 Re8-c8 I think white has difficulty unpinning the bishop.

Another try would be to centralise the white king which would be possible as long as the white bishop controls the f8 square preventing a rook check (For example, 1. Kg1-f2 f6xe5 2. d4xe5 b7-b6 (aiming to play ...Nd7-c5-e4) 3. Kf2-e2 Nd7-c5. I think this position is favourable for black.

I'm starting to run out of moves for white now. The white bishop needs to protect the e5 pawn, so maybe the move is 1. Bd6-c7 (attacking the a5 pawn and planning to double rooks on the c file). Black now has the possibility of exchanging on e5 before playing ...b7-b6. I think that black should exchange the pawns on e5 as this gives the knight a square on c5. So now, 1...g7xf6 2. d4xe5 b7-b6 3. Rc1-c3 (3. Rc1-c2/c6 loses a pawn to 3...Nd7xe5). Black's options seem to be rather restricted now as the knight defends b6 and the rook on c8 is limited in scope, so I would imagine that black would need to play 3...Re8-f8. Now if white were to exchange rooks on f8, the bishop pin could be quite irritating. (i.e. after 4. Rf1xf8 Nd7xf8 black could move their king across to attack the bishop, and white would have to spend some time trying to free up his pieces.) That then leaves doubling rooks on the c file with 4. Rf1-c1.

From this position, I'm not sure what white would try to plan - maybe playing Rc1-c6 to attack the e6 pawn.

Overall I think that the position is quite balanced and that the winning possibilities lie with white but black should be able to defend.