lichess.org
Donate

Which Knight to Capture with?



SF recommends that white captures the pawn on f5 with the knight on e file instead of the one on h file. I was hesitating because I thought black had 30. g5, not noticing I have 31. Nxh6+. However, I still do not understand the nuances of capturing with the different knights. May someone please enlighten?

P.s. Any other comments on other parts of the game are greatly appreciated too :)
The explanation is all in the variant with 30..Rf7. If White keeps the Knight in h4, he can then push in f5
Stockfish plays without ideas, humans cant understand stockfish moves
According to engine evaluation Nexf5 get more + points than Nhxf5
Nexf5 is better,
1. It give more mobility to white queen and rook when blocking knight on e3 is moved .
.
2. The knight on h4 is already within attacking distance to black king. But Knight on e3 is little far away. When you capture with that Knight one more piece is joining with the pieces which are in range of enemy area.

https://imgur.com/6HJCVPj
First of all let me congratulate you for nice tactical plays.
Second one i totally agree with @chanakam2000 the Nexf5 clear the e file for the rook and make the knight more centralized.

This topic has been archived and can no longer be replied to.