Capture which way?
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From what I know is always control the center, and because of that - use your pawn to capture towards the center. But of course, it wasn't always the case.
So when do I know that I should capture *away* from the center, that would actually give me positional advantage. What are the possible or the most common scenarios?
The general rule is to recapture towards the center.
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nf6 5 Nxf6+ gxf6
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nxc6 bxc6
However, recapturing towards the wing may open a diagonal and help development.
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Bxc6 dxc6
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nf6 5 Nxf6+ exf6
Recapturing towards a wing cxb3 may also be safer for your king if he has castled there O-O-O.
Nov 28, 2023
0
#3
There are a number of reason as to why not to take towards the center, but the most common one will be to win material. Another reason would be if you are ahead in development, and your opponent has not castled then there may be a reason to take towards the side of the board (goal would be to open up files/ the center so that you can attack the enemy king with rooks, and queen. Although if their king is castled, and taking towards the center increases your control of the center (giving you more space) then take towards the center. When your center is under attack if your pawns are being attacked it can be beneficial to not take at all, and defend the piece either with another pawn or pieces if this will put another piece in the center when taking back (of course calculate the exchange to make sure that it is a good trade for you before choosing to defend). Also if you have more space then it can be beneficial to not trade any pieces at all if possible (more pieces you have means you can control the space better). One other reason to sometimes take away from the center (that can actually trump controlling the center of the board) is if that will increase king safety. Of course if your three pawns in front of the castled king are still on their starting square (as they should be), and will be even after the exchange then taking towards center is probably better. If your king is already a little exposed, and taking towards the side the king will increase the kings safety then that could trump taking towards the center. Hope this helps
Nov 28, 2023
0
#4
Mainly going to the center, sometimes you can benefit from freeing column for you rook, but each case is unique to analyze
Indeed!
I'll simplify as much as possible.
Capture towards center mostly unless 1) opening your castled rook file (not always though), 2) messing up their pawn structure and creating isolated or islands (again not always but do so if you sense endgame coming and as long as you aren't threatened), 3) opening up a piece to become active (if it can become an active piece and be useful) like bishops or rooks or such .
There's probably more but this is what I'm thinking of from the top of my head.