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Dancing With Yourself

Apr 7, 2016, 3:24 AM | 1,266 Reads | 9 Comments | Other

IM (https://www.chess.com/members/titled_players) Silman

(https://www.chess.com/member/silman) (https://www.chess.com/membership?c=icon)

When I look at games played by 1500-rated players and below, I see many weaknesses, but one is

almost ubiquitous: both players are, more or less, dancing with themselves. What this means is

that a player decides to do this or that, he might calculate a move or two, and when he makes his

move he’ll often find that the opponent’s reply has nothing to do with his expectations.

The reason for this is that his calculations/expectations are based on a fantasy, and his internal

dialogue might sound something like this: “I’ll go there and then he’ll do that and I’ll wipe him out

with that! Oh yeah! Am I good or what?”

It certainly sounds nice. But when the “dancer” is making his calculations, he isn’t trying to find the

opponent’s best move. Instead, he’s looking at enemy moves that highlight his own dream. When

this happens, all hell can break loose.

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https://www.chess.com/article/view/dancing-with-yourself 2

It could lead to the loss of material. It could lead to a simple loss of time. It could lead to a tactical

oversight. Or it could lead to a complete positional meltdown.

Here’s a position that commonly occurs in amateur games:

BB (1400) vs. Raphael Monahan (1546)Pasadena Club | 2016

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This position is almost always reached by “mistake.” What I mean is that Black usually doesn’t know the opening and just finds himself here. If you look at a database you’ll notice that good players

avoid it. In fact, I’ve only found one player with a 2300 rating (2350 to be precise) that’s given it a

try.

If you take a good look at it you might begin to feel Black’s pain: White’s ahead in development,

Black’s d6-pawn is weak, and the d5-square (a hole) is something White intends to use as a home

for his knight. Indeed, theory doesn’t want you to go anywhere near this particular position, and

though I’ve looked at this position a lot and feel Black is okay (perhaps something for a very advanced article), it really should be avoided by non-masters.

In any case, in the game Black played 10...Rc8. His reasoning probably went something like this:

“I’m moving my rook onto a half-open file and, at the same time, taking aim at White’s king.”

¥

– ¥ f J # , . @

An unfortunate move

10... Rc8?

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Notice how he didn’t ask himself what White would play; he just saw a reasonable-looking move,

enjoyed the (usually good) idea of placing a rook on an open file, and that was that. Also notice that

he didn’t study White’s plans, tactics, or reply. The game continued:

An honest look at the intended 10...Rc8 would tell Black that it’s certainly not what he wants. But,

unfortunately, being honest with yourself turns out to be far from easy!

¥ f J # , . @

BB (1400) vs. Raphael Monahan (1546)Pasadena Club | 2016

11. Bxf6 and suddenly Black faced two

choices: 11... gxf6 the move he chose, which

allows the pawn structure to be fractured.

(11... Bxf6 12. Qxd6 when White has won a

pawn. Neither 11...gxf6 or 11...Bxf6 look

attractive and Black's "problem" could have

been avoided if he said to himself (while

pondering whether or not 10...Rc8 should be

played or jettisoned), "If I play 10...Rc8, what

would White do? What is White's best choice if

I do play 10...Rc8?" )

Continuation of BB - R. Monahan game

11... gxf6 12. Nh4! White immediately

claimed the hole on f5 for his own and, adding

to the fact that White's other knight can leap

into d5, the position can already be thought of

as lost for Black. Black played 12... Rg8 and

now it was White's turn to grasp both sides of

the position's secrets. Instead, White tossed

out 13. Nb5?? taking immediate aim at the

weak pawns on a7 and d6.

õ

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Incredibly, this move turns a winning position for White into a vastly superior position for Black!

Once again, let’s take a look into White’s thinking process: “My kingside knight can leap into f5 at

any moment and Black’s king is stuck in the center. So, now it’s time to kill him! With 13.Nb5 I

threaten two pawns and if he takes my knight I take back with my queen and end up with a

winning endgame due to the superior knight and the holes on d5 and f5. I think 13.Nb5 is a stone-

cold winner!”

Sadly, White’s move is indeed a stone-cold winner (or close to it) – for Black! White’s crime: he was

dancing with himself!

So, what was wrong with White’s thinking process?

– ¥ f J # , . @

– ¥ f J # , . @

White gets punished

Nf5), and domination over the d5- and f5-

squares, easily went on to win. )

14. Nf5

(14. Qh3 Rxh4 15. Qxh4

(15. Nxd6+ Bxd6 16. Rxd6(16. Qxh4 f5 )

16... Rxh3 17. Rxd8+ Kxd8 18. gxh3

Bxe4 )

15... Bxb5 16. Qxh7 Qc7 and White's in

serious trouble. )

14... Bxe4 15. Nbxd6+ Bxd6 16. Nxd6+

Qxd6 17. Qxd6 Rxc2+ 18. Kb1 Rc6+

19. Ka1 Rxd6 20. Rxd6 Ke7 21. Rd2

Rxg2 22. b3 Rxf2 23. Rxf2 Bxh1 and

Black should win.

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S F ± ® ¥


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White did what Black did, he entered fantasy land and only looked at ideas and moves that made

him happy. What he forgot was that the b5-knight was inadequately defended (the queen was the

b5-knight’s only lifeline), the other knight (on h4) was completely undefended, and by moving the

c3-knight to b5 the e4-pawn was also inadequately defended. All these things should have set off

alarm bells, but those bells were not heard due to White’s potentially fatal dose of myopia.

By the way, after 12...Rg8 White had a several winning moves:

¥

Why did this happen to White?

What White should have done

13. Nf5! A sharp way to play, but other

moves win in total safety:

(13. g3 protects the h4-knight and makes

...Rg4 useless due to f2-f3. After that, Black

could do nothing but wait for his demise. )

(13. f3 keeps the g8-rook off of g4 and also

solidifies the e4-pawn. )

13... Rxg2 actually helps White by opening

the g-file (a road into the Black

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Here’s another (albeit more complex) example of fantasy chess:

White is obviously much better, mostly due to his enormous space advantage in the center and on

the kingside. White’s answer to increasing his advantage was to take on f5 (15.gxf5), the idea being

to open the g-file and penetrate on it with his rooks.

There are several problems with this kind of basic, “I’ll do this, which will lead to this” mentality.

Here are two obvious missteps:

He didn’t ask if he could create new imbalances in the position.

He DID realize that he was doing something nice for Black (bringing Black’s dead kingside

– ¥ f J # , . @

position): 14. Qh3 Rg6 15. Qxh7 Qc7

16. Rhg1 Bf8 17. Rxg6 fxg6 18. Qxg6+

Qf7 19. Qg3 and Black is dead meat not

only due to Black's weak king position, but

also due to White's passed h-pawn, which

will be pushed to the other end of the board.

¥

BB (1400) vs. Oscar Arias (1105) Arcadia Club | 2016

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knight to f5), but he felt that (after he took the knight with his light-squared bishop) the open

file would be worth it.

Let’s look at each of these bullet points:

He had plenty of time but it never occurred to him that new imbalances were screaming to be

created. And, to be honest, if you don’t look, you won’t find if there are opportunities waiting for

you to grab.

As it turns out, White could have completely taken over the game. See if you can find it:

In the actual game he went “all in” with the idea of opening the g-file. Let’s see how that worked for

him:

– ¥ J # , . @

White creates a slam-dunk winning position

15. Na4! Qc7 16. Bxa6 Destroying Black's

pawn structure. 16... bxa6 17. Nc1! and

Black's completely lost since White will

move the c1-knight to b3 where it hits both

a5 and c5. Then White would have: More

central and kingside and queenside space,

control over the a5- and c5 squares, more

active pieces, and an eventual attack against

Black's king. As you can see, it's not just

about making use of something you already

have. It's also important to constantly look

for new ways to get even more! BTW, mostgrandmasters would, if they had the Black

Solved!

BB (1400) vs. Oscar Arias (1105) Arcadia Club | 2016 | 1-0

5. A so, it's c ear t at W ite's ig t-square

bishop is far better than that trapped h6-

knight, yet White's plan is to swap those

two pieces off. If he had thought about these

ramifications he mi ht have realized that

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As one moves up the rating ladder, it’s extremely important to truly explore the ideas, plans, tacticalnuances, and structures of both sides. Though grandmasters see most of those things at a glance,

that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start to train yourself to see as many possibilities for both sides as

you can.

Even if your scan is all wrong, you’ll still find that your results get better and the mutual positions

get clearer. But, this takes time, dedication, and lots of practice to succeed. Fortunately, there’s no

better time to start than now!

¥ f J # , . @

15.gxf5, though it doesn't hang material,

deserves a double question mark. And, as a

result, he might have looked elsewhere and

found something better. 15... Nxf5

16. Bxf5 Following his g-file

plan. 16... gxf5 17. Rhg1 White thought he

was winning because he was only thinkingof his own plans and ideas. Somehow it

never occurred to him that Black might have

things to do too. 17... h5?! Black is

mesmerized by White's play and isn't doing

More from IM Silman (https://www.chess.com/article/member/Silman)

Opening Failures And How to Avoid Them(https://www.chess.com/article/view/opening-failures-and-how-to-avoid-them)

(https://www.chess.com/article/view/opening-

failures-and-how-to-avoid-them)

(https://www.chess.com/article/view/overextending-

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https://www.chess.com/article/view/overextending-your-pawnshttps://www.chess.com/article/view/opening-failures-and-how-to-avoid-themhttps://www.chess.com/article/view/opening-failures-and-how-to-avoid-themhttps://www.chess.com/article/member/Silman


10/13



Overextending Your Pawns(https://www.chess.com/article/view/overextending-your-pawns)

your-pawns)

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EPIC ARTICLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!VERY HELPFUL!

you guys are right 1500 doesnt make positinal blunders but they simply hang pieces

Nice article for the amateur mind. You are gracefully endowed with the ability to push the

points home. thanks

That's one of the best ever article I've read so far. Thanks for sharing such nice ideas.

Very instructive as always!

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HourraPapa (https://www.chess.com/member/hourrapapa)

Naifmando56 (https://www.chess.com/member/naifmando56)

Sumant2013 (https://www.chess.com/member/sumant2013)

Wtr55 (https://www.chess.com/member/wtr55)

Naifmando is right... A 1500 makes errors, but not so heavy ones. Better you are, more littles

are your mistakes. But you always commits some.

Insulting us for no reason. We are much better than that. Most of us at least. GMs should

know the difference between 1500 and 1000.

Hey this is very useful for lower rated players

Hi Mister Silman,

Thank you for this article. It is moves like '17.NC1', as provided in the puzzle, that seem to

elude me all the time. I saw the first two moves easily enough, but the follow-up became only

clear after I read your explanation (and I tried out many other moves).

Do you have tips on how to better spot those type of in-between moves, as I call them?

Thank you!

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