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Subject: Re: Positional/Real Sacrifice

Author: Ed Schröder

Date: 00:08:54 12/01/99

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>Subject: Re: Positional/Real Sacrifice
>
>
>              [ Post Followup (without quoting) ] [ Post Followup (with
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>
>
>Posted by Robert Hyatt on November 30, 1999 at 17:43:50:
>
>In Reply to: Re: Positional/Real Sacrifice posted by Ed Schröder on
>November 30, 1999 at 03:35:54:
>
>On November 30, 1999 at 03:35:54, Ed Schröder wrote:
>
>>>Posted by Robert Hyatt on November 29, 1999 at 20:17:47:
>>
>>[ snip ]
>>
>>r3q1k1/ppp1rpp1/2n1b2p/8/2P2B2/3B4/PPPQ1RPP/5RK1 w - - bm Bxh6;
>>
>>>>>>00:00:00  1.00  1.02   1.Bxh6 gxh6 2.Qxh6
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>This looks _incredibly_ dangerous.  For every position where Bxh6 works,
>>>>>there are 10 positions where Bxh6 loses.  Here a piece for two pawns looks
>>>>>awful if the other pieces can't get over to help out...  Speculative
>play is
>>>>>nice, as in the old days of the Novag gadgets from Kittinger, and in the
>>>>>current
>>>>>play of CSTal...  but it can backfire big-time as well...
>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>Crafty doesn't like the sac, unless it sees actual material coming back,
>>>>>because
>>>>>I have spent a lot of time teaching it which types of material
>imbalance are
>>>>>bad and which types are good.  A piece for 2 pawns is always bad unless
>>>there
>>>>>is some tactical conclusion at the end.  And given the above PV there
>>>>>obviously
>>>>>isn't anything except a somewhat naked king position for black...
>>>>
>>>>I can not believe you saying this. After 1.Bxh6 gxh6 2.Qxh6 there is a
>queen,
>>>>2 rooks and a bishop all pointed very dangerous at a naked king. Rebel
>giving
>>>>+1 is fully justified.
>>>>
>>>>Every 1800 rated chess player will play 1.Bxh6 immediately, no need to
>>>>calculate.
>>>>
>>>
>>>Sorry, but _I_ am an 1800+ player and _I_ wouldn't play it immediately.
>>>Because black can play f5, and it doesn't look nearly so clear after
>that.  The king
>>>has a way out...  the black rook now can interpose on the g/h files.  The
>>>f file is no longer useful unless white does something else...
>>
>>1.Bxh6 gxh6 2.Qxh6 f5 3.Bxf5 the black king is even more naked. I guess
>>we have a different view on king safety.
>
>
>
>I probably have as big (or bigger) king safety scores as you.  However, I
>have a big penalty for trading a piece for 2-3 pawns, as it almost always
>loses unless tactics make it work...
>
>>>It may be good.  It may not work.  But as a human, I don't play Bxh6 here
>>>without calculating something worthwhile at the end of the sequence.  I let
>>>an IM look at this for several minutes...  he left unclear whether it was
>>>good or not...
>>
>>Who was the IM?
>>
>>After 1.Bxh6 gxh6 2.Qxh6 f5 3.Bxf5 I am pretty sure all programs soon will
>>display a +2 or +3 score.
>
>
>Note that I didn't say it doesn't work.  I said that at the shallow depth
>of 1-2-3-4 plies, it looks _very_ dangerous to do this..  because black has
>some defensive resources that don't look obviously bad until you search
>deeper.
>
>That was my point...  that tossing a piece for 2 pawns, with no concrete idea
>of whether it will work or not, seems dangerous.  IE what if we move a couple
>of black pieces, leaving white's pieces as is.  It won't be too hard to (say)

>move the second black rook so that it helps the other rook defend...  and one
>more black piece in the game and the attack doesn't work at all...

All kind of aspects of king safety are microscoped before Rebel finally
decides to give a 2 pawn bonus for the position after 2.Qxh6 this includes
blacks defence possibilities to escape from the king attack as well.

>Would you _still_ play the sac?  That is the danger.  I definitely would want
>to play it in blitz.  And I definitely wouldn't want to play it in a 40/2hr
>game knowing that the GM has all the time in the world to find the refutation.

You mean me personally, a 1800 player? I would play 1.Bxh6 without any
hesitation as my intuition says it wins. Only in blitz I would ruin it
because the position because of time pressure but that's another story :)


>>
>>Based on this I wouldn't call this position a 100% positional sacrifice as
>>it is somewhere in the 10th ply area (depending on a programs extension
>>use).\
>
>
>Somewhere around 3 minutes crafty fails high on Bxh6.  So it probably does
>work tactically based on that.  But you liked it at ply=1, which was the thing
>that seemed dangerous...  because at ply-1 it is _definitely_ based on
>position
>alone..

True and I like it.

Ed




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