Hi everyone, I was playing this game:
I noticed that 9.Bd3 was marked a mistake. When I analyze the position further, I see that Stockfish recommends h3, Be2, O-O-O, or Rd1 in this position to maintain approx +1 advantage.
I would appreciate any help in understanding why Bd3 (which looked like a natural move to me) is a mistake.
Thank you!
After 9.Bd3, the computer really wants to play 9...c5. With the Bishop on d3, White has less control over d4 (the Bishop blocks the Queen), and White needs to spend a tempi to do something. The advance with 10.d5 the computer doesn't like, presumably because it gives e5 to Black while also opening the long diagonal. Exchanging on c5 or playing Ne2 don't look appealing, either (and funnily enough, the computer prefers playing 10.Be2!)
After 9.Be2, 9...c5 no longer comes with tempo. White can safely 0-0-0, and then recapture with Nxd4 and have a pleasant position. Note that 9.Be2 c5 10.d5?! is inaccurate for the same reason as above.
So, in short, after 9.Bd3, White needs to spend a move reacting to c5, whereas other moves do not. That seems to be the reasoning. Or, said another way, 9.Bd3 invites Black to play c5, and other moves make c5 not a worry.
The first thing I notice is it removes a defender from d4. So if black plays c5 or e5, white is forced to respond immediately.
h3 may prepare e5... And after trading, knight has to go to e8 or h5. Then white can castle grand getting rook on d1 (also probably reason for Rd1) and/or play Fc4 perhaps...
I don't understand Be2. But that's my speculation, I haven't checked it out on analysis yet.
9.Bd3 is not a terribly bad move. It's just a missed chance. After the forcing sequence 9.h3! Nf6 10.e5! Nh7 (or Ne8) 11.O-O-O! (indirectly defending e5 due to a potential pin on the d-file) White has a space advantage, pieces are more active.
There is no general rule, what to do with the bishop on f1. On d3 it eyeballs the black kingside, but it also blocks the d-file making the d4-pawn more vulnerable.
Thanks everyone for your help. These kind of moves are a lot harder for me to fix because they're not obvious blunders. Losing the "advantage" is hard to avoid if I don't even know I had an advantage or why it's there in the position.
Hi BKaifeng,
These kinds of errors are hard to see if you don't understand the position. So a way to fix this is to practice analysing and evaluating the position and come up with plans for black and white. I am doing this a lot and start to notice that my understanding of chess positions is improving tremendously. I analyse own games, model games within my opening repertoire, etc. I find that trying to do this during games while time is a factor does not work. If you trying to learn how to do this you have to do it slow and thoroughly. If you do this a lot it gets automated and you will be able to do this during games as well.
Here evaluating the position you will notice that black's dark square bishop is a strong piece but would be even stronger if his diagonal is free of clutter. Also white has more space in the center and black is a bit cramped due to this. Finally black's last move is a developing move but would Nc6 not make more sense?....unless you reason that after Nbd7 c5 or e5 are better supported.
So what would be black his plan (always find your opponents plan before thinking of your own plan)? Playing a pawnbreak by either c5 or e5! This is what the position suggests for black as a simple but good plan. Bd3 does not frustrate this plan but actually helps it! Making the bishop a traitor!! Also the bishop on d3 makes your pieces a bit less coördinated. Not a good move positionally.
So even without looking at concrete moves or forcing continuations we still see that Bd3 is not the move to make.
And if I can do the evaluation of this position (and I do know that I probably miss stuff due to lack of knowledge), than so can you, just look at my rating (it's is well within patzer territory).
@Kingramses Thanks, that explanation was helpful. I've hit a plateau with my blitz rating so I'm trying to play slower time controls now. Up until now I haven't made a direct effort on looking at positions in the way you've suggested, so that's a great idea.
It’s important to keep in mind what the function of your bishop is/will be. against a fianchettoed bishop it makes sense to contest the opposing bishop coming to f5 in a lot of cases. however here your d4 pawn is weak and on top of that you can’t play c3. that means you’re vulnerable to immediate breaks with c5 or e5. besides that you probably could have done good with h3 and an preparing an eventual break with e5. really your bishop is best on the long h1-a8 diagonal but here there’s no rush and it’s greater priority (and more flexible) to bring it to e2 and let it rest there while you move your c3 knight and play c4. eventually you will move your bishop to f3 or f1, think about playing g3, and then Bg2.
hope this helps
