If 1. Nxd4, 1...Rd8 - black will win either take the knight or the pawn back at Rxd3. White cannot defend with 2. Re4, because Black would 2...f5, trapping white's Rook for a loss.
However, if white 1. h5 first, pushing back the knight to, arguably, its best square at 1...Ne5, then white could 2. Nxd4, because black's F pawn would be blocked from advancing and trapping white's rook at 3. Re4, otherwise, White could respond by taking Black's e5 Knight, losing his own Knight at d4, but going up another pawn at Rxf5. It would play as follows:
Although looking closer, now I see there's nothing stopping black from 2...Nxd3, then trading off rooks.. so, maybe not best solution.
Hello friends and students,
Diagram 6.4.1- white has a forcing move h5, chasing black’s knight away. But if we look closer, the knight on g6 isn’t doing anything useful, with no current role. Chasing it away it can go to e5, improving. Even if white exchanges it, this would benefit black, as white’s knight is currently better than his counterpart (having a role of attacking the weak pawn d4).
Challenge: why bother with h5? Can white just capture d4 instead? Is it better?