Author: David Dory
Date: 14:46:14 02/01/02
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On February 01, 2002 at 15:25:26, John Merlino wrote: >These two positions are from Ariel-Altounian, Round 8 of the recent US >Championships. This game won a Brilliancy Prize for Ariel. > >[D]8/1p6/p1b1P3/P1Pn1Pk1/2P3P1/8/3KB2r/5R2 b - c3 0 46 > >The annotation on the Seattle Chess Federation's website (they hosted the >Championships) say that the next move, 46...Nf4, is "a huge blunder", since it >allows 47.Rxf4 Kxf4 (which was played, and White went on to win). However, >CM8000 doesn't see anything better for Black, nor does it see a big win for >White. What do other engines say? I agree with the Seattle Chess Federation. ...Nf4 does nothing to block the advancing white pawns, and after Rxf4, Kxf4, now the black king is also drawn away from the critical square it now occupies to stop those white pawns. The sole good point of ...Nf4 is that it brings his Bishop back into active play, but of course, ...Nf6 does this just as well while _also_ blocking another white pawn, and attacking still another square that white's pawn must traverse. I'm sure Black would agree he was asleep at the wheel on this move, and wouldn't play it again. I still trust the human eye to see the thematic continuations better than the computer when tactical shots are not near. Dave
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