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cplusplus11
17-Jun-14, 17:15
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I'll definitely read this as well. How I view is that it all depends, and I wouldn't say that one side is safer then the other, per say. In my opinion, "that's wrong on so many levels", as elyhim would say. I would go by those original several questions. But, to note that K safety is extremely important. My opinion: Is it the most important thing in the game, no but it's runner up, the second to most important. The only thing, in my mind, that's more important, is not blundering away material. But, aside from that, K safety is absolutely essential. And, that's why the general guidelines, specifically General Openings are there. To guide you in order to get the K to safety. And, this is a well known chess fact. As noted in a recent thread, it's not absolute, but the idea, in general, is to help you play better.
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 Learned the hard way |
saintinsanity
20-Jun-14, 10:31
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king safety in different phases
Clearly in the opening and middle game the king must be kept safe. The enemy has too many forces that can cause trouble. But often the king is a strong fighting piece and mustbe brought into the fray. It's important to evaluate king safety all the time, but I love those games when the king can safely charge the center and turn the tide to victory
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penguin_1 and pawntificator make good points. What I was taught, however, is what pawntificator noted. Yes, it's very important in the beginning and middle games. But, get to the end games, the K is a powerful weapon. Almost as much so as the Q, it's like a R+ a pawn or two and makes a very big difference in the endgame. In fact, that's why when you're at an endgame and have a disadvantage, one thing you want to do is get, "the opposition", where the K's are directly opposite of one another. More often then not, this will lead to a draw. And, if you have a pawn ready to promote but the K's close to it, you want to get that K right next to it, as it makes the promotion that much more difficult, and usually, impossible to stop.
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cplusplus11
20-Jun-14, 12:05
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saintinsanity
20-Jun-14, 12:24
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4 pawns
That's a helpful guideline, but everyone should remember that all of these values change depending on circumstance.
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cplusplus11
20-Jun-14, 13:15
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cplusplus11
20-Jun-14, 16:12
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K in end game
I agree in the end game you must bring out the K and use him as a attacker but also remember he is what you are defending.
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This is a very important subject. One thing to note there to is that, in general, developing your pieces and castling is essential. Last Friday, I defeated my Ted in my first game against him. Of course, after pinning the N to Q, I made a small inaccuracy and immediately took that N. But, this is a time where the guideline, I thought had to be broken as he was getting aggressive and threatening to win a piece. But, that's not why I did so well, as I thought. What happened is that he did not leave room for his K by castling. Failure to do so created a weakness which I was able to exploit. Therefore, I could actually get pieces there and win material, e.g., was a R. And, that was more or less forced, as anythingelse would've resulted in mate or immediate, so this is the best case scenario for him. But, the idea is that the trouble happened because he did not get his K to safety. And, that's an important moral. Remember: The K, while not that powerful until the end is the most important piece. So, K safety is essential. If you don't keep it safe, more often then not, it will spell disaster, as was the case there.
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Another thing to note, in many cases, as I learned that when it's between K safety, or preventing the loss of material, that protecting material is the most important. That's very often true which is when the exception to guidelines occurred. But, is this always true? No. Sometimes, K safety, so the structural aspects are more important, which is why you see GM giving things away, and when they do, the opponent pays the price. Like, today, in my first game against Jack, I down a pawn. However, I did something crazy. I gave about three or four pawns away because my coach had a weakness, that I exploited. Of course, he could've prevented some of it. But, he made the same mistake that I made in my game against the Master Mater. It was, by not opening up. By doing this, his K was not protected, and despite being down four pawns, I was able to deliver a back rank mate with my R. So, the idea is that, in general, protecting your material, is of most importance. But, there are times where K safety is even more important. And, you must keep it safe because failing to do so could lead to disaster, as was the case there.
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While I can't remember exactly how it was played, especially since it was on the wrong side of the board. But, this is the supposed position and similar with the same idea to what actually happened in the game. Now, in this particular game, I was white and Jack was black. It was a short game, despite it appearing long, and we were in the endgame, at this point. Now, before, my R was on d5, right behind that pawn. As I noted, having that R right behind the pawn when the opponent attacks the pawn with the R, is generally a good idea. And usually, you won't lose but rather win or draw. Well, not this time. That's because my last move was Re5 to leave that P emprise. At this point, while it doesn't appear so, no matter what black does, he's in trouble and will lose that advantage. The only way to prevent mate is to open up with one of the pawns, but even he does, I will win his R or make a Q, so black is toast. By that I calculated all of this 3-5 moves in advance, which shows that I'm getting better at thinking ahead. But, he captured, meaning that his last move was ...Raxd7, not wanting to lose that pawn, and knowing that if he took with d R, it would be mate right away. He thought he bailed out, but I had a plan in case he did that to. And, once he played 1...Raxd7, I immediately responded with 2.Re8+ Now, 2...Rxe8, and then white mates with other R by playing the immediate 3.Rxe8# Proof that even against stronger players, a position is much more complex and complicated then it might appear. But, the losing blunder was not opening up sooner. In this case, the response would've likely been ...g6, as that's what he mentioned. However, and this is where I planned ahead, even after d7, it was too late to open up. Yes, there would be no mate, but I would win, at least a R, in exchange. The idea is that you have to keep your K safe, and if you see it in dangerous territory, you must respond immediately, or it could spell disaster. Proof of how important K safety is.
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Actually, I was trying to think of the position, this was it, but he didn't play ...Rxd7, as I would mate instantly with Re8 Instead, he played Ra8, which delays mate a little, but after 1...Ra8, that's when 2.Re8+, then came 2...Rxe8 3.dxe8=Q, Rxe8 4.Rxe8# Now, observe that I was still behind but mated him. But, even in this position, he could still avoid mate with 1...g6, but I'd still win material with that promotion, which still shows that keeping your K is vital.
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That is, keeping your K safe is vital.
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