In the game of chess, there is a general notion among the players that a middle game or an end game in which the players have opposite colored bishops, the possibility of one player claiming victory over the other is relatively less, and those games generally end in a draw. Even pawn advantage also does not help gain advantage as the opposite colored bishop can effectively block the advancement of pawns for promotion and thus, a draw would be the result in most cases.
One more interesting aspect worth mentioning here is that, in a game, if a player gets a sense of feeling that the possibility of hearing checkmate is not there and draw is the only outcome of the game, there is every possibility that he or she may tend to relax a bit, heaving a sigh of relief.
The very idea is the worst blunder one can make in the game of chess. There is no room for relaxation or inattentiveness in the game, if one were to advance in his or pursuit for higher skill and growth.
This dictum is not for only beginners like you and me but also for every player, irrespective of the level of skill he or she possesses.
In our next game, which is played by grandmasters in 1996, we shall discuss about a simple mistake done by the black pieces, relaxing a bit foreseeing a draw and ultimately lost the game.
Given below is the position of the game after 27 moves by white, and it is the turn of black to move.
(Black to move)
The presence of opposite colored bishops has somehow convinced the player playing black pieces that the draw seems to be the most likely result of the game and his only concern would be to stop the white pawn in d5 from advancing further for likely promotion. With this intention in mind and nothing more, he discarded other options of threatening the White king with a check either using his Queen at c5 of his dark colored bishop at d2, and instead opted for
27. ….. Bb4
28. d6 …. Black is caught off-balance as Qxd6 will open up Bc4+ – the
game is eventually lost in the previous move of black.
28. …. Qc1+
29. Bf1 d3
30 d7 1-0 Black resigns the game as White is sure to promote the
pawn.
In the game of chess, there is no room for relaxation or inattentiveness, right from the first move up to the last one.
Related posts:
- Middle game tactics: Use pawns judiciously; think twice before moving the pawns
- Middle game tactics: Concentrating on fundamentals is very essential
- Middle game tactics: Understanding fundamentals of openings and variations essential
- Middle game tactics: Give more importance to understanding of openings and variations
- Chess tips: Four things a beginner needs to know in middle game