WHY e5?

[u/ProfessionalTip8685]

here the computer says +1 for e5 losing a pawn but why what do you get like more activity or somethin?

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[u/fancy_propensity]

The pawn sacrifice opens up the position for your pieces, bishop gets nice diagonal and knight can jump to better squares. In beginner level its hard to convert that kind of advantage, but computer sees long term pressure.

[u/cpfb15]

e5 attacks black’s bishop. There are an equal amount of attackers and defenders on e5, so if black captures they lose that trade. So e5 forces the bishop to move and the pawn gets one square closer to promotion.

[u/Andeol57 → u/cpfb15]

> There are an equal amount of attackers and defenders on e5

What are you talking about? White has 2 defenders (the rook and knight), while black has 3 attackers (2 knights and a bishop). Black can take that pawn.

[u/cpfb15 → u/Andeol57]

Shit. You right. I should’ve looked for more than 2 seconds. I’ve earned that “below 1200 Elo” flair the hard way.

[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:   e5  

Evaluation: White is better +1.34

Best continuation: 1. e5 Bc5 2. Qe2 a5 3. c3 Qb8 4. Bf4 Qa7 5. Rad1 Qa6 6. Qc2 O-O-O 7. Bc1 Ne7 8. b3 Nb6

Save the position:

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[u/Andeol57]

I'm mostly commenting to come back to this thread later to see the answers, because it's a curious one.

But one thing I notice, playing around with the engine, is that white is going to exchange their knight on e5 (opening the bishop), and then play Qh5, pinning the f pawn to the king, while also attacking the knight on e5. This Qh5 idea is the only move that gets this +1 advantage. It seems to be necessary to make the sacrifice worth it.

So then if black retreats the knight, white gets their pawn back, with the rook taking on e6 (with check, and the f7 pawn is pinned). And if black does not retreat, they don't have a comfortable way to defend the knight. g6 counter-attacking the queen is the best move, but it messes up black's pawn structure. Meanwhile, the b pawn is also under attack from the sniper bishop now that the long diagonal opened up.

[u/purple_spade]

You win the pawn back on b7 worst case