advanced question on chess planning

OK. My chess is now full of advanced issues

I no longer have diffuclty finding a plan in a position. Rather, my problem is choosing between different possible plans. For instance in my last game the opponent had an annoying bishop at g5. So my choice was to either knock it away with..h6 on the kside, or to go..b6 and then..Ba6 to get my bishop active on the qside [the best plan according to Shredder].

So is there any book that discusses the issue of not seeing a plan in the first place but rather choosing  * Between * THE different plans?

A Silman book maybe? I only buy ebooks though or videos. I no longer buy hard cover books. I only buy stuff that I can buy and download.

linuxblue1 wrote:

OK. My chess is now full of advanced issues

I no longer have diffuclty finding a plan in a position. Rather, my problem is choosing between different possible plans. For instance in my last game the opponent had an annoying bishop at g5. So my choice was to either knock it away with..h6 on the kside, or to go..b6 and then..Ba6 to get my bishop active on the qside [the best plan according to Shredder].

So is there any book that discusses the issue of not seeing a plan in the first place but rather choosing  * Between * THE different plans?

A Silman book maybe? I only buy ebooks though or videos. I no longer buy hard cover books. I only buy stuff that I can buy and download.

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In most games Black's choice of defense determines what break move you will make.  That break move is the first move of the plan of attack that will be your war campaign against Black's position.  Because in most openings theory is well developed by 1000s of games, the plans of attack are well known.  The one you will choose depends on how Black chooses to defend.  The same is true for Black's choice of plans of attack.  It is dependent on White's choice of plan of attack or defense.

Your opening repertoire is complete when you have chosen, studied and practiced 3 openings as White and 3 openings as Black. In the knowledge that will be in your opening repertoire visualization pattern memory bank and your middlegame visualization pattern memory bank, will be the information regarding alternate plans of attack.

Please post the game or the algebraic notation from the score sheet. The info. in your post is insufficient to analyze a position for alternate plans of attack.

It's cut off my caption comment. So what I mean to say was:

I saw..b6 as a plan and Shredder told me afterwards that and..Ba6 was the right plan. But I played..h6 instead and after Bf4 and g5 white set up a complicated piece sac for attack. But I won in the end.

When I was going through "test your positional play" by Bellin and Ponzetto I noticed... ok let me tell you what the book is first lol.  They give you a position, then they argue 3 different plans.  When I say argue, they give about half a page, with words and variations to try and convince you.  They make them all sound great, but one plan is best, one is ok but just equal, and sometimes one is simply bad.  You have to figure out which is best (in the answers section they explain why the good ones work and why the bad ones suck).

Anyway, what I noticed was the bad ones really did have good points, but they gave the opponent more than it gave you.  So IMHO to choose between two plans, you have to find your opponent's plans as well, and the deciding factor is in comparing the difference... e.g. when your pluses minus their pluses is highest.

This isn't what the authors say, I just noticed it was a logical guildline (and helped me get more answers right ;)

From the position you posted I'd start by asking what your logical play is and what white's logical play is.  I think yours involves generating queenside play, esp getting your bishop something useful to do... otherwise white's idea (kingside attack) will win out.

Ok, then I'd ask if h6 follows the plan you've set for yourself.  Infact, I'd say not only does it do nothing about your queenside and bishop, but it helps white attack.  Now that you have positional reasons to distrust h6-g5, I would calculate to make sure the tactical benefits outweigh the clear positional drawbacks.

And in practice this is what makes great players so damn good... they can play ugly moves because they back it up with concrete analysis... so h6 - g5 may be GM class par excellence... but you'd better be sure :D

On the flip side we have b6, which may help break on c5 later and certainly opens a diagonal for the bishop.  It's logical and straightforward.  This is the kind of move I'd play OTB.

Hehe, I don't think engines suggest plans really.  My Houdini liked h6 with g5 (it said 0.00 as was b6)... until I played it out a few moves and suddenly it didn't like it.

Then it liked h6 but without g5.

IMO it's horizon doesn't allow it to plan at all, and I still distrust h6 (unless it can prove to me it's necessary to control g5).  Because in 30 moves h6 may be bad and the engine will never know (it inherently weakens your king).  Or certain moves (like h6) will still be good in 30 moves, but only if you see critical variations which prop them up.

Moves like b6 (as long as white has no mating attack looming) are simple and logical.  The computer will rate a 0.00 move that requires critical variations (many "only" moves or you lose) the same as it rates a 0.00 move that's safe and easy (your moves come easily).

Yeah. I had similar consideration. During the game my main three aspects of thought were this:

[1.] My bishop could end up better than his if I can get it to the a6 diagonal - e.g ..b6 and..Ba6

[2] I would like to drive back his bishop if I could from g5. The bishop is controlling squares at e7 and d8. If I could get rid of it then a ..c5 break with..Ne7 first would not be done with my queen having to protect the knight.

[3.] if I boot away the g5 bishop does he get any sac attacks in the future on h6 with a queen and bishop battery?

That was quite a bit of thought for a 60 30 game! Wow. I spent about 3 minutes on the move going through thr above pts. I played..h6 intending ..b6 next. But then he threw in the tactical curveball of Bf4 with a deliberately offered fork [I know he meant it from fics watchbot game whisper notes] .

For anyone who is interested here is the whole game. He must have lost concentration near the end wih his final blunder with which I got the point; his standard of play is ususally much higher.

How do you "paste" a pgn file? I have the pgn file. It won't drag and drop. Or paste. So I don't know.

Best explanation here:

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/help-support/a-guide-to-posting-your-games-on-chesscom

His blunder near the end was not up to his normal playing standard. Maybe he had a lapse in concentration.

I went into edit with notepad++ and cut and paste. Sometimes you need these high tech cut and paste methods

I think you got a bit mixed up.  h6, g5, f5... really? 

It's not like you were ever lost... I'm not trying to say you played bad :p  Just under the topic of choosing the best plan, I think a kingside expansion is not the best plan :)

15.exf6 is what I call "the most principled reply" so as black in a long game I would have tried hard to make it work.

My analysis for you grabbing the material went: 15.exf6 gxh4?! 16.Qx4+ Kf7 (forced) 17.Qh5+ Kxf6 (forced) 18.Bxh6

White will have 3 pawns for his piece, plus an attack, plus blacks pieces are not developed.  I think this is more than full compensation.

For a more reasonable move: 15.exf6 Rxf6 16.Nf3.

The open kingside lines can only have helped white.  f4 is in the air.  I think Ne5 with f4 right away is definitely possible, although not necessary.

19.g4 is a move that can only ever help you.  Even if it's a pawn sac I'd rather have lines open on the kingside (although now black has more space than white there...lol).

Yeah, I think something definitely went wrong for white from move 12 to 19 as now the kingside is closed.

I think you got a bit lucky as the kingside expansion was very risky, esp. considering you hadn't even finished developing yet.  At move 17 too I'm looking for a bishop sac just to open lines as this is what makes sense in the position.

Something like 17.Qg4 and again I think taking the material is risky:

17.Qg4 fxe3 18.fxe3 19.Rf5 (forced I think) 19.hxg5 hxg5

And ok, this is a bit speculative, but black's pieces are going to have a really tough time finding something useful to do.

Alternatively 17.Qh5 fxe3 fxe3 Rf5 hxg5 is also worth considering, although again I'm not sure about compensation.

Even if it's not possible on move 17 (I think move 15 was his chance)... these are the nuts complications you have to consider when doing something offbeat like expanding on the kingside, where your opponent's play is, while your pieces are undeveloped on the queenside

Yeah I guess he screwed up, but the seeds of destruction were planted much earlier when he lost 100% of his play by letting you take the kingside.  After 24...Qxg6 he is a pawn down with no play and a bad minor piece, he should lose even with best play at this point.

[Absorbed into previous post]

Yeah I guess he screwed up, but the seeds of destruction were planted much earlier when he lost 100% of his play by letting you take the kingside.  After 24...Qxg6 he is a pawn down with no play and a bad minor piece, he should lose even with best play at this point.

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That was exactly what I saw as well as soon as he closed the kingside I knew I had the knight at my mercy with a pawn to the good. I also knew that he had made his minor piece into a spectator.

Maybe it shows what Capa said once: better to have a plan thats too bold rather than to have one that's too timid