From: Thomas Majewski IBMMAIL COM> Date: 18 nov 1998 Subject: Re: Ranging Rook and Bishop Exchange *** Antwort zu Notiz von 18/11/98 07:00 Von: Thomas Majewski Betreff: Re: Ranging Rook and Bishop Exchange Hello, here is my humble opinion (2 dan amateur) about exchanging pieces in ranging rook games: The ranging rook side plays rather passively in the beginning, using the time to build a stronger castle (mino) than his opponent (usually boat castle, anaguma would make it a different story). He asks the static side to do his best to attack and deliberately waits for the chance to counter attack. His idea is, that he can afford to start his counterattack later than the static side because his castle is much stronger. The static side has to attack, as a waiting game would ply into ranging rooks side hands. It is true, that the ranging rook side has some holes, where bishops and rooks can be dropped to good effect, but the same is (even more) true for the static side. If rooks are exchanged, the ranging rook side can usually be very happy, as he can drop it in statics side camp and start a dangerous attack against the relatively weak castle (he gets a lance and maybe a knight in hand, which he can use to attack the boat castle from above). Usually this is faster than statics side similar attack. The bishop in hand alone is not so strong. One bishop can not do much dama ge after being dropped in staics camp. On the other hand, statics bishop can be dangerous in the camp of the ranging rook side. It follows, that the static rook side longs for a bishop exchange and fears a rook exchange. The ranging rook side wants above all a rook in hand (or promote his own rook in statics camp). A common strategy for the ranging side is after a bishop exchange and a bishop drop from the static side, to give away the rook for the bishop and starting to harrass the the other rook with two bishops in hand. This can be very effective, as it is difficult for the static side to save his rook from the exchange. As soon as ranging has his rook in hand he can loog forward to his attack. The two bishops in hand can be used to put pressure on the long diagonal into statics castle too. Another very effective strategy. In the meantime static would try to use his rook and another piece to attack the mino, but this is not at all easy. Igainst a strong opponent he has to caome back at some point and defend his own position. The result is a very exciting struggle, where attack and defence will switch back and forth. I like to play both sides of this opening type. To take a summary: Static wants a bishop exchange to use it to collect pieces. Ranging rook side wants to exchange rooks above all (or rooks and bishops). Ranging rook side must not be afraid of exchanging a rook for a bishop. Here are some example games from this years European championship: [Sente "Casters Matt, 3dan"] [Gote "Van Oosten Arend, 4dan"] [Date "1998/08/29"] [Country "The Netherlands"] [Event "European Championships 1998"] [Round "5"] [Result "1-0"] [Source "scoresheet"] 1.P7f P3d 2.P6f P8d 3.R6h S6b 4.K4h K4b 5.K3h K3b 6.K2h G6a-5b 7.P1f P1d 8.S3h P5d 9.S7h P8e 10.B7g P7d 11.G6i-5h S4b 12.P4f S4b-5c 13.P3f G4a-4b 14.G4g P9d 15.P9f P6d 16.P5f S6c 17.N3g R7b 18.S6g P7e 19.Px7e Rx7e 20.P'7f R7b 21.R7h S7d 22.B5i P6e 23.B4h Px6f 24.Sx6f S6e 25.Sx6e Bx9i+ 26.N4e +Bx8i 27.R6h P'6g 28.R5h S4d 29.S'6a R8b 30.Sx5b+ Gx5b 31.B7e S'4b 32.P5e Px5e 33.P'5d N'4a 34.S6d P'7d 35.B9g P8f 36.Sx5e Sx4e 37.Px4e L'6a 38.Bx8f P6h+ 39.R5f +Bx5f 40.Gx5f R'8h 41.P4d Px4d 42.B'9g Rx8f 43.Bx8f +P5h 44.Sx4d P'4c 45.P5c+ Nx5c 46.Sx5c+ Sx5c 47.Bx5c+ Gx5c 48.P'5d Gx5d 49.R'5b N'4b 50.N'2e B'6d 51.P'4d S'2d 52.R5a+ B'2b 53.S'4a 1-0 [Sente "Mirnik Boris, 3dan"] [Gote "Oosterwijk Jan, 3dan"] [Date "1998/08/29"] [Country "The Netherlands"] [Event "European Championships 1998"] [Round "5"] [Result "1-0"] [Source "score sheet"] 1.P7f P3d 2.P6f P8d 3.R6h S6b 4.K4h K4b 5.K3h K3b 6.K2h G6a-5b 7.S3h P5d 8.G6i-5h P8e 9.B7g P7d 10.S7h P1d 11.P1f S4b 12.P4f P6d 13.P5f S4b-5c 14.P3f S6c 15.G4g P9d 16.P9f N7c 17.N3g R8a 18.L9h R8b 19.P2f G4a-4b 20.S2g P5e 21.Px5e Bx5e 22.G3h B2b 23.R5h P7e 24.S6g P8f 25.Px8f P6e 26.Px6e Bx7g+ 27.Nx7g Rx8f 28.B'5e P'6f 29.Sx6f B'6g 30.R6h Bx7f+ 31.P'8g Rx8g+ 32.Bx1a+ S4d 33.P6d Sx6d 34.P'6g P'6e 35.Nx6e Nx6e 36.Sx6e Sx6e 37.P'5c G6b 38.L'6f Sx6f 39.Px6f N'5e 40.G4g-4h S'5i 41.R5h Sx4h+ 42.Rx4h G'4g 43.Rx4g Nx4g+ 44.S'5a R'5i (A) 45.Sx6b+ +Nx3h 46.Sx3h G'4h 47.G'2b K3c 48.Gx2a 1-0 (A) I meant to drop it at 5h with a quick win, but saw to my horror that I had put it in the wrong place. After that I can't make the psychological shift and lose quickly myself. [Sente "Mirnik Boris, 3dan"] [Gote "Mieki Tadashi, 3dan"] [Date "1998/08/30"] [Country "The Netherlands"] [Event "European Championships 1998"] [Round "7"] [Result "1-0"] [Source "scoresheet"] 1.P7f P8d 2.P6f P3d 3.R6h S6b 4.K4h K4b 5.K3h K3b 6.K2h P5d 7.S3h G6a-5b 8.G6i-5h S4b 9.S7h P7d 10.B7g P8e 11.P1f P1d 12.L9h P9d 13.P9f S4b-5c 14.P4f G4a-4b 15.P5f R7b 16.S6g P7e 17.R7h Px7f 18.B5i S6d 19.Sx7f P'7e 20.S6g S6b-7c 21.P3f S7d 22.P4e S5c 23.G5g P6d 24.B3g R8b 25.B5i P8f 26.Px8f P6e 27.N9g P9e 28.Px9e Lx9e 29.N8e P'9g 30.B3g R8c 31.P'9d Px9h+ 32.P9c+ Nx9c 33.N7c+ Rx8f 34.+Nx7d Px6f 35.Sx6f P'6e 36.Sx6e R8g+ 37.Rx7e +Rx5g 38.Rx9e B6f 39.L'5i +R6h 40.S'5g Bx5g+ 41.Lx5g +Rx5g 42.Rx9c+ 43.Bx4f +Rx4f 44.L'4h +Rx3f 45.P'3g +R3e 46.P5e P1e 47.Px5d S6b 48.P'6d Px1f 49.P'1h L'1b 50.B'2f +Rx2f 51.Px2f S'1g 52.Px1g Px1g+ 53.Lx1g Lx1g+ 54.Nx1g Lx1g+ 55.Kx1g P'1f 56.K2g B'1h 57.Kx1h L'1a 58.P'1e P1g+ 59.Kx1g P'1f 60.K2h N'2d 61.S2g B'6g 62.B'6f N3c 63.L'5h P'5g 64.Bx5g Nx4e 65.Lx4e Bx4e+ 66.N'3f G'1g 67.K3h Gx2g 68.Kx2g Nx3f 69.Px3f N'3e 70.K3g S'4g 71.G'4f +Bx4f 72.Kx4f L'4d 73.K5e Sx3f= 74.P6c+ L4g+ 75.+Px5b +Lx5g 76.+Px4b Kx4b 77.S'5c 1-0 Kind Regards, Thomas