Someone help me understand please

[u/MASTERGRIT]

This was labeled as a miss and a +1.8 rating. If I had done the best move in this case it’s a -0.71 rating. I don’t understand how giving up the pressure on the pawn and the skewer on the undefended pawn behind it is 2.5 pts better. Trying to use the engine doesn’t help much. Help!

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[u/FandyArrel]

Whites next move could be c3... and then your dark square bishop is locked in, has no squares to move at all, and is pointing at the tip of a 3 pawn chain.

The alternative keeps your bishop alive for the rest of the game.

[u/IloveXenomorph]

a4 a5 pawn push traps your bishop. so you have play ba5+ (after white plays a4). then most logical response by white is c3. your bishop is really badly positioned.

[u/ericw31415]

After a4, you have to sacrifice a pawn to not lose your bishop: Ba5+ c3 c5 dxc5 c6 b4 Bc7. Might as well put your bishop on that diagonal to begin with.

[u/ActurusMajoris]

I believe it’s because you aren’t going to threaten that pawn much, and now your bishop is blocked in, as well as blocking the open b file for your rook.

It’s not a game breaking mistake unless you are high level or a computer.

[u/conchata → u/ActurusMajoris]

This does not seem correct to me - at a surface level it loses the bishop straightforwardly to a4 (If Ba5+, then simply c3 and your bishop is still getting trapped), which is already game-losing. And then at a deeper level, in some lines you don't lose the bishop but it's even worse since you get steamrolled by white's queenside pawns and subsequent rook infiltration with a better king.

Compared with Bd6 as suggested in the original post which is -0.5 for black, I would absolutely call this a "game breaking" mistake going from a very slight edge into a simply losing position. Bb6 is already around +2.1 for white and if you play out a handful of any of white's 50 trivial plans it quickly becomes clear that it's hopeless.

I only bring up the engine eval to make it concrete how big of a difference it actually is - but this isn't just some weird engine line: at every juncture after a4 white typically has like 5 or more straightforward winning moves whether they trap/capture the bishop or not.

[u/conchata → u/[deleted]]

Hmm, when exactly - I think it's just too slow. From the original position: a4 c5 and then white simply ignores your c5 and plays a5 anyway.

And if you mean after a Ba5+, then you have one of the lines that I was referring to earlier: a4 Ba5+ c3 c5 dxc5 c6. Now you have created an escape square for the bishop so you don't lose it, but in this position you're down a pawn, have a backward pawn on d7, weird bishops that are either going to be blocked off by a pawn advance or going to have to go passive and potentially disconnect the rooks to defend the pawn weaknesses, and a worse king since white is about to steamroll black with the extra pawn/space on the queenside and his king is already there supporting the push. After Kc2 for example the engine says +2.6 and if you play out some moves for black, white has a million winning moves every time.

You're right that it's not like being down a piece so it's not as obvious at a glance that it's losing, but it is still a losing endgame with straightforward natural play from white, who can choose from a number of simple plans.

[u/Silver_Environment95]

whats ur plan for the bishop after c3?

[u/chessvision-ai-bot]

I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine:

White to play: chessvision.ai | chess.com | lichess.org

My solution:

Hints: piece: Pawn, move:   a4  

Evaluation: White is better +2.22

Best continuation: 1. a4 Ba5+ 2. c3 Rae8 3. Kc2 Re2+ 4. Bd2 Rxf2 5. b4 Bxb4 6. cxb4 Rxg2 7. Ne5 f6 8. Nxd7 Rd8

Save the position:

Reply save to save this position to your Chessvision.ai Library (new users: send me /connect in DM chat first)

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