• imminent threat

    From Praetor Mandrake@21:1/5 to All on Fri May 27 16:14:13 2022
    I spent a lot of time listlessly pushing pieces for a threat that
    the enemy can jump out of.

    Imminent threat:

    Move a piece into position to threaten another.

    "If I could just take a turn after this one..."

    Why this is poor play:

    There are usually multiple points of evasion for a piece, giving
    them numerous options to where they can go. Of these, the
    enemy's best option is probably results in a position worse for
    you than before the threat.

    When it is appropriate:

    When there is no evasion possible, such as moving pawns into
    place to trap a bishop having no free spaces available.

    Summary:

    Usually to be avoided. Make a plan.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From William Hyde@21:1/5 to Praetor Mandrake on Sat May 28 14:28:15 2022
    On Friday, May 27, 2022 at 7:14:15 PM UTC-4, Praetor Mandrake wrote:
    I spent a lot of time listlessly pushing pieces for a threat that
    the enemy can jump out of.

    Imminent threat:

    Move a piece into position to threaten another.

    "If I could just take a turn after this one..."

    Why this is poor play:

    There are usually multiple points of evasion for a piece, giving
    them numerous options to where they can go. Of these, the
    enemy's best option is probably results in a position worse for
    you than before the threat.

    Rather than make easily evaded threats, develop. When your pieces are better developed than
    your opponent's, you will have threats that he cannot answer.

    When nothing tactical springs to mind, a fairly good rule is to make a move that improves the position
    of your worst piece.

    Think of development as a long-term threat, if that helps.

    I'm told that IM Jeremy Silman has written a great deal on this. Too late for me, alas, but perhaps you can
    profit from it.

    William Hyde
    .

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Praetor Mandrake@21:1/5 to William Hyde on Tue Jun 14 13:33:18 2022
    On Saturday, May 28, 2022 at 4:28:16 PM UTC-5, William Hyde wrote:
    On Friday, May 27, 2022 at 7:14:15 PM UTC-4, Praetor Mandrake wrote:
    I spent a lot of time listlessly pushing pieces for a threat that
    the enemy can jump out of.

    Imminent threat:

    Move a piece into position to threaten another.

    "If I could just take a turn after this one..."

    Why this is poor play:

    There are usually multiple points of evasion for a piece, giving
    them numerous options to where they can go. Of these, the
    enemy's best option is probably results in a position worse for
    you than before the threat.
    Rather than make easily evaded threats, develop. When your pieces are better developed than
    your opponent's, you will have threats that he cannot answer.

    When nothing tactical springs to mind, a fairly good rule is to make a move that improves the position
    of your worst piece.

    This started to make sense today. There was a threat of a fork
    versus my rook and king. In a way the king was the worst piece
    because he was being used to advance the aims of the enemy.

    It could probably be subjective too, but this was the truth for me.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)