A curious question...

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dcroll
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2004 9:30 pm

A curious question...

Post by dcroll » Fri Sep 04, 2009 5:19 am

I've encountered this situation on the board many times, and every time I am insecure in how to respond to it.

The situation is as follows:
White: Boris Patzer
Black: Bobby Loser
Event: Helsinki: 1966 Candidate Tournament
Date: 1966-06-12
(A04 Réti O)

1 Nf3 d6
2 Nc3 Bg4
It has nothing to do with the particular opening - it is about the Bishop threatening the Knight.

Should I scare it away with h3, or leave the situation as it is and develop other pieces?


Thank you for your comments :)


David

davidswhite
Uranium
Posts: 150
Joined: Fri Nov 26, 1999 1:31 pm

Post by davidswhite » Sat Sep 05, 2009 1:27 am

Disregard the bishop and develop your central pawns.

Regards,
David

juselton
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2001 6:17 am

Post by juselton » Sat Sep 05, 2009 1:45 am

Davidswhite. there are times when you can ignore the pin and there are times when you should not ignore the pin. Are there rules of thumb that distinguish between the two? If so, that would be a good thing to know. :idea:

davidswhite
Uranium
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Joined: Fri Nov 26, 1999 1:31 pm

Post by davidswhite » Sun Sep 06, 2009 9:52 am

Since white's e-pawn is still at e2, no pin as yet exists. Moreover,white can't
simply chase the bishop away from g5 by playing h3 because the bishop
can hold the line by moving to h5 and invite white to unbalance his kingside pawn structure by pursuing the bishop with g4.

I know of no hard and fast rules of thumb which govern when a pin can be
temporarily left unchallenged other than logic.
For instance,it would be suicidal for black to permit white to plant his bishop
for long at b5 in a Ruy Lopez whereas in a classical Najdorf, where white
plays 6.Bg5, black will most often knowingly create a pin against his own queen by playing e6.

In the position dcroll has given black's move of 2...Bg5 is premature and can safely be ignored while white attends to development(at 1st blush 3.d4
seems appropriate).

Regards,
David

dcroll
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2004 9:30 pm

Post by dcroll » Sun Sep 06, 2009 2:18 pm

Thanks you for your comments, especially to davidswhite (we share the same first name, by the way).

I'm not that experienced and I often saw the Bishop as a threat - and tried to fend it off.

david/dcroll

juselton
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2001 6:17 am

Post by juselton » Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:33 pm

Thanks David, excellent advice.

sonrisante
Posts: 29
Joined: Fri Jun 30, 2000 6:40 pm
Location: california

Post by sonrisante » Sat Sep 12, 2009 2:18 pm

I really apprciate this discussion.

If I'm truly pinned, I am was often scaring it off, like dcroll said he did.

In something as early as the dcroll example, where my knight is threatened but not pinned, I might make it into a pin in order to encourage the bishop to take the knight. If he takes the knight, I can conversely take him with my pawn, which makes it easier for my rook to get out.

What I find, however, is if I don't threaten the bishop, it just sits there. So I adopted the notion of threatening it in order to force it to move, one way or another. This usually has the effect of chasing it away. It keeps them from developing further pieces, but I wonder how effectively my pawns are developed.

I think I'll start ignoring it for a while to see how it plays out and if I get better results. (As you can see from my own score and game history, I'm not necessarily very strong in the strategy department.)

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