"My question is, why start with the Rook? "
What is your rationale?
"Would it not be more valuable overall in terms of material gain for white to attach with the bishop first?"
Please explain.
"Would this not lead to a +3 material advantage for white?"
How?
Well the basic answer is that if white captures with the bishop Bxd5 black is not obliged to play Rxd5 and so it will still be +1 in terms of material. Personally though I would prefer to play Bxd5 anyway because if Rxd5 Rxd5 Bxd5 it looks like it will be extremely difficult for white to make use of the extra pawn and win.
Taking with the rook is a mistake because it allows black to liquidate into a drawn opposite coloured bishop endgame. White has good winning chances if he takes with the bishop instead
"What is your rationale?"
My rationale is that if you start by attacking with the rook, it's obviously going to be captured by black's rook with Rxd5 then white would play Bxd5. This as shown in the second pic leads to a +1 advantage as shown with the numbers in that pic.
"Me: 'Would it not be more valuable overall in terms of material gain for white to attach with the bishop first?'
'Please explain.'"
I was thinking that if you instead started with whites Bxd5 instead of Rxd5, this would then still be captured by blacks rook Rxd5. At this point, white is down the bishop for a pawn. Then white follows with Bxd5 giving white the advantage again by winning a rook and a pawn for a bishop.
"'Would this not lead to a +3 material advantage for white?'
'How?'"
Same as the explanation above. White is down the bishop for black's pawn and rook which is overall good for white in terms of the material advantage (I'm talking about the assigned values for the pieces, pawn = 1, bishop/knight = 3, etc. the lessons refer to them as a net material gain for any given interaction between pieces).
I realize that if you are white and end with the Bxd5, you have the diagonal to the king pinning the pawn in place but in previous lessons, they talk about trying to gain a material advantage for any interaction where you will trade pieces. So why in this particular lesson, do they go for the worse material exchange, for what I am assuming is a much better position to be in after the exchange.
As I said I am very new to chess, so I guess, to restructure my question, is the second pic I posted with Bxd5 that much more strategically sound than ending with Rxd5? There is no pin on the king when ending with Rxd5, so is this pin from Bxd5 (or any other strategy I am missing) really so much better that you would give up more material for this position?
Let me know if I explained that poorly again and I will try to clarify.
Well the basic answer is that if white captures with the bishop Bxd5 black is not obliged to play Rxd5 and so it will still be +1 in terms of material. Personally though I would prefer to play Bxd5 anyway because if Rxd5 Rxd5 Bxd5 it looks like it will be extremely difficult for white to make use of the extra pawn and win.
Ahh, I see. I never thought of the fact that Black does not necessarily need to take the bishop. Now that I think of it, it would not be a good move for black to take back the bishop since they would most certainly lose the rook on the next turn. Using the rook first forces this interaction. That was what I was not seeing, thanks.
Taking with the rook is a mistake because it allows black to liquidate into a drawn opposite coloured bishop endgame. White has good winning chances if he takes with the bishop instead
As Strangemover showed that with the first move Bxd5, black is not required to take back the bishop on their turn. I did not see this before and as a beginner, I just assumed that would capture back, not even realizing that from black's perspective this would be a losing situation since you unnecessarily lose the rook. Thanks for the info!
I was watching the lessons here, specifically, the lesson called "Counting Captures", and the very first example they use, I was unsure of the rationale behind their attacks. I am a SUPER NOOB at chess so please don't laugh too hard at me if I missed something obvious
It starts off as so:
And then goes W: Rxd5 B: Rxd5 and then finally W: Bxd5 giving the overall points to White (+1)
My question is, why start with the Rook? Would it not be more valuable overall in terms of material gain for white to attach with the bishop first? Would this not lead to a +3 material advantage for white? Or is there some set up involving the bishop that I am just not seeing. I am assuming this must be the case since it is in the lessons here but any explanation would be helpful!
Thanks in advance.