Back-foot play
This next game continues the theme of “punishing purposeless play”is dedicated to John H who definitely has Nimzowitch’s taste for playing from the back-foot! Observe:-
- Ba3, where the bishop is completely effective
- Exchanging light squared bishops (and wasting moves to fianchetto the bishop first!) instead of trying pry open e4 and make room for the 2 bishops
- The way Nimzowitch settles on the weak squares left behind by the doubled pawns. Something I have seen people neglect often – the fact that the advantage of the doubled pawns is in the outposts they yield
An Ode to Joe?
I will be publishing a series of games with (as far as possible) a single theme so by necessity they are older games. The very first is an homage to our august president! It is a great example of the value of a plan that fits the position. White makes a lot of superficially “good” moves without an underlying plan and the result is just gradual decay of his position
An interesting psychological point is that White chooses to go into exactly the kind of position which Petrosian loves – poor tactics!
Note that I have added little analysis – the games are simple enough for most players to work out the tactics for themselves