Thursday, December 15, 2011

Prospect v. Meadows: Imbalances

Prospect finished its season with a 46-22 victory over Rolling Meadows that featured a very interesting material imbalance on 1st Board, where Prospect's Robert Moskwa reached an ending with two knights and six pawns against Anthony Leone's rook, bishop and three pawns.  There is nothing strange about unusual imbalances in high school chess, but they are usually accidental rather than intentional.  Unfortunately, the short time controls can make it very difficult to find the right path in unfamiliar waters.


What should White do here?

Hint:  As I often say, a basic principle of the endgame is "Pieces before Pawns."  I.e., pawns that are pushed before the pieces are in position to support them often become weak.   Therefore, unless you are in a pure pawn race, it is usually better to improve the position of your pieces before you try to advance your pawns.  The converse of that principle is that your opponent's pawns may become weak if you can get him to advance them before his pieces are ready to support them.

I will post the analysis later.

2 comments: