4

I am a beginner in chess (1313 lichess, 1177 chess.com rapid) and am in the process of learning the basics of the Panov attack from the Hanging Pawns Youtube channel. In this video, at 15:00,

[FEN ""]
[Startply "19"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Bf5 7. Bxf6 exf6 8. cxd5 Nb4 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Qe2+ Qe7 11. Bxd7+ Kxd7 12. Kd2 Qxe2+ 13. Ngxe2

the presenter, in trying to prove that e6 is the correct move for Black on move 6, states that the black king is "naked, unsafe and completely lost" on move 10 if Black plays a normal move such as Bf5. I did not understand why, as the queen could easily block the check, so I ran the line through the lichess engine which gave me the above continuation.

I understood:

  1. Why we can't block with the bishop: d6 wins the bishop.
  2. Why Kd2 was played: to prevent Nc2.

I still do not understand why the position literally went from +0.1 to +1.8 so suddenly. Black is not even that far behind in development. What does White have in this position?

1 Answer 1

6

What does White have in this position?

A number of things:

  1. White has an extra passed pawn in the center plus better pieces.
  2. The doubled passed pawns are quite difficult to attack and control a lot of squares.
  3. White's next move is likely to be a3 forcing the black knight back to a bad square on a6.
  4. Black's kingside pawn majority (4 vs 3) is crippled and, with best play from white, is not going to create a passed pawn.

Black has nothing in return.

0

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.