Hey guys,
today I played a game and I don't really know why Be3 in the game was marked as an inaccuracy. It really seemed like a fine move to me. Could someone explain to me?
The only reason I can give is "knights before bishops."
The knight move doesn't improve the position more than the bishop move. Since the bishop move makes Bc5 harder, I prefer the bishop move. The only advantage of moving the knight first is that the bishop might be able to reach the more active square g5.
Just treat this as a computer glitch.
I had the same idea as you: I wanted to double his pawns in case of Bc5. Really weird stuff.
By the way, I hoped I would replicate the Opera House Game :)
I think the knight would've been more active - there is an immediate "threat" of Nd5 hitting the queen and the pawn on c7 (king/rook fork), as well as future discovered attacks on f7 with the bishop/queen battery. Also, I think 7. b6 might merit even a mistake, as it achieves nothing, while also weakening the queen-side. Also, nice activation of the rook - +12 might be winning...
The reason is purely tactical. It's an inaccuracy because you miss the opportunity of playing 8.Nc3 with an irresistible attack. The move 8.Be3 doesn't help for this attack, but it's an otherwise fine move that preserves a big advantage for White.
What do you "really really want" to play on move 8 ? You want to play 8.Bg5 on the basis of 8...Qxg5 9.Bxf7+ Kd8 (other squares lead to mate) 10.Qd5+ Bd6 11.Qxa8 Ke7 12.0-0. If Black tries to save himself with 11...Qc1+ 12.Re2 Qxh1 instead, he's mated by 13.Qxb8+ Ke7 14.Qe8+ Kf6 15.Qe6+ Kg5 16.Qf5+ Kh4 Qh5#. Also, 12...Qxc2+ 13.Nd2 doesn't help, White is winning by a huge margin (+7 according to Komodo).
The problem is, 8.Bg5 Bb4+! frees the f8 square for the black king. My favourite line is then 9.Kf1 Qg6 10.Bd5 c6 11.Bxf7+ Qxf7 12.Qxb4 where White wins a pawn, but not more.
With 8.Nc3, you pre-empt the saving move Bb4+, and therefore 9.Bg5 is a big threat, but you give Black a free tempo. What can he do ? Playing Bb4 makes no sense when White hasn't played the pseudo-sacrifice Bg5 yet : Qxb4 just wins a piece. Playing Be7 makes White's attack simply crushing : 9.Nd5 Qd6 10.Be3 followed by 0-0-0. Playing Bc5 runs into 9.Be3 and 9...Bxe3 10.fxe3 would open the f-file for White's attack (as if Black needs one extra problem with f7...), while any other 9th move for Black lets White play Nd5/0-0-0 with the same crushing attack as above.
That leaves 8.Nc3 Bd6 and here comes 9.h4!
Guess why h4 ? Now that the square f8 has been freed for the black king, the sacrifice Bg5 is not so crushing. Therefore, White wants to play Bg5 without sacrificing anything, hence h4 !
Here are two sample lines of what may follow :
9...h6 10.Rh3 Qe7 11.Rf3 Nf6 12.Nd5 (+3 according to Komodo)
9...Ne7 (comparatively the best line for Black) 10.Bg5 Qg6 11.Bxe7 Bxe7 12.h5 Qxg2 13.Bxf7+ Kf8 14.0-0-0 with a winning advantage to White, but there is still a game to play.
Compare the position after 14.0-0-0 with what you would normally get after 8.Be3, for example 8...Nbd7 9.Nc3 c6 10.0-0 (not 10.0-0-0 because of 10...Nc5 and Black's pawn attack on the queenside is a credible source of counterplay) 10...b5 11.Be2. Then you see that 8.Be3 is an inaccuracy compared with 8.Nc3. It's just a matter of crude but complicated tactical opportunities.
Thank you so much guys, what a detailed analysis!
I love examples where greed is punished, do you have any examples of yours or famous games?
There is more than 1 way to skin a cat. Most moves from that position after 7... b6 I like.
The engine like Nc3. That's because engines are inhumane abominations that can find a defensive resource 10 or 15 moves away that no human in there right mind would consider. I find nothing wrong with this move, and I would happily consider playing it myself.
Your choice was Be3. Again this is a fine move. stops the mate threat, and gets ready to castle long.
How I would probably play it is 0-0. A couple of tempos up in development may as well castle right away and go get em.
The problem with computer analysis is the following. Imagine that an engine is like a human sprinting really fast. That's how they roll. That's how they look at game as if it is a race, and they think you too are a sprinter. Your opponent opened on the other hand unlike an Olympic athlete bolting out from the starting line. More like a drunkard staggering about. Practically falling on there face. You are gonna win the race either way against this drunkard, but the engine thinks that that drunkard may suddenly get a burst of energy and run like a maniac with their hair on fire when in reality this is seldom the case.
Server analysis quips need to be taken with grain of salt.
@A-Cielbleu Wow, nice analysis! How much time did you spend on that?
About half an hour with Komodo. I can't compute that well myself :) .