Last time, I asked you to come up with a move for Black in the following position. Implicit in the task was deciding whether or not to play 13…Nxc4, trading Black’s knight for White’s light squared bishop. Solution coming after the diagram!
Black may have been seduced by the concept of gaining the pair of bishops, and played 13…Nxc4?. Unfortunately, this caused a disastrous transformation after White recaptured 14.Nxc4
Think about what just happened: The bishop, which stood uselessly on c4, was exchanged for Black’s centralized knight. White’s knight, which was passively placed on d2, leapt to the ideal c4 square, where it attacks the pawn on d6 and cannot be ejected. White’s dark squared bishop, previously blocked by the knight on d2, now has an open diagonal! Play followed 14…Qc7 15.Bf4
With a winning position for White! The attack on the d6-pawn, and the coming e4-e5 pawn break, are the main sources of his advantage.
So, now we know what not to do. Back to the drawing board.
Students often trade pieces because they don’t know what else to do. Even quite strong children do this when they know, deep down, that the trade of pieces shouldn’t be right. So it makes sense to practice finding alternatives to an incorrect exchange.
The engine offers at least three interesting options for Black in this position. Find as many candidates as you can! We will discuss them next time.