MY round-five game at Bad Wörishofen saw castling on opposite flanks.
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| Position after White played 11.0-0-0 - who, if anyone, is better? |
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In my notes to the game I wrote: "White has more pieces developed and has a target for a pawn-storm in that Black has played ...h6. However the engines reckon Black is at least slightly better. I do not dispute this, but I do not understand how the evaluation has been arrived at. Perhaps Black's pieces are better coordinated?"
I still do no understand it. To be precise, Komodo13.02 reckons Black is slightly better (about +0.28) while Stockfish15 reckons Black has the upper hand (about +0.9). Can anyone explain this?
I think it is marginal but with opposite side castling the one to get their attack in first should have the advantage. So the fact that black can play c5 quickly might be the point.
ReplyDeleteMaybe! But is ...c5 such a great achievement? My problem with the idea is that the pawns in front of White king are unmoved, giving White maximum flexibility, while Black has created a pawn-storm target at h6. However your mentioning ...c5 has got me thinking that perhaps the key is a pawn-storm usually requires control of the centre, or a centre locked shut. Here there is neither, and Black is arguably better placed for play in the centre, which in the game proved critical.
DeleteBlack has a pawn storm with ...a5 and ...b5 etc. Also
ReplyDeleteblack has the simple ...Qc7 to control f4 and ...Nbd7 to defend against Bxf6.
White does not have a pawn storm. The f3-knight and h4-bishop are on the wrong side of the pawns, hindering their advance. The white queen will be hit with a future ...Ne4 or ...Bf4.
This means that white has no good way to achieve g4-g5 to open up the white king.
Interesting. In the game I felt a black pawn-storm would be too slow, especially since White has not created a queenside target. Meanwhile White got in h3 and g4, putting him a tempo away from hitting my h pawn with g5. However, as you point out, ...Qc7 was a useful move from more than one viewpoint, and ...Ne4 (and ...f5) proved important in controlling key central squares.
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