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The material is equal in the position below: enter image description here

I don't see any isolated pawns, or doubled pawns that could be a problem. Both players have their Bishop pair. Playing a few engine moves doesn't really seem to get any material or positional advantage.

This is what happens 3 moves afterwards according to the engine: enter image description here

I guess this is strategy related, and I'm not quite the super high elo dude yet so I might miss something! Why is Black much better here?

SecretAgentMan
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FluidMechanics Potential Flows
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    This is not an immediate tactical edge so if you're not experienced it might be hard to see why black is better here. Note that black has a really strong pawn on e4, giving black a space advantage. It's hard for white to get rid of it, and it's difficult to play around the pawn for white. This makes it more difficult for white's pieces to develop properly which gives black ample opportunity to grab the initiative, putting white on the back foot, making it even more difficult for white to achieve harmony in their position. – Scounged Feb 27 '22 at 13:31
  • White has the bishop pair, but what future is there for the c1 bishop? – David Feb 27 '22 at 19:22
  • @Scounged thanks! – FluidMechanics Potential Flows Feb 27 '22 at 20:45
  • @David when the f pawn moves forward it has a pretty good diagonal doesn't it? – FluidMechanics Potential Flows Feb 27 '22 at 20:45
  • @FluidMechanicsPotentialFlows Why would the f pawn move forward? ng4 looks pretty deadly to me. – Ryan_L Feb 28 '22 at 06:22
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    @FluidMechanicsPotentialFlows Black has clear control of the f5 square. There's not much chance for the pawn to move unless White is willing to sacrifice it – David Feb 28 '22 at 16:10

2 Answers2

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The single most important feature of the position is the protected passed Pawn on e4, but it is not an easy asset to exploit.

One aspect is that most Pawn endgames will be favorable for Black, because the White King dare never stray outside the "queening square" from which it can cover e1. This leaves the Black King free to roam off in search of weak Pawns. Another aspect is that this Pawn aids in a K-side attack by controlling the important defensive square f3. This means that Black can pursue two objectives, and can constantly place White on the horns of a dilemma. Put rather crudely, he can effectively say to White "either allow this exchange and give me my ending, or refuse the exchange and let me build up my attack".

Black therefore has a theme around which to plan his play, which White, as yet, does not. This is sufficient to declare that Black is better, but there is much play left.

EXPANSION

The OP has asked for clarification, and I will try to give some, based on the engine line, but please bear in mind that I am just noticing ideas and not attempting an analysis. I suggest that these were the ideas "in the mind of the engine", and the source of its "candidate moves"

Black has played the three moves ..Qh4, ..g6, and ..Nh6. Black introduces the idea of a direct attack on h2, involving his Queen and placing the N on g4. He has thrown in ..g6, perhaps as overkill to discourage White from the freeing sacrifice f5. White has responded with 0-0 (He is getting attacked anyway so why not?), Rf2 (to defend h2 with g3) and c3 (He cant think of anything else and this does consolidate a bit).

When Black is ready he will play ..Ng4 and this will force either h3 or g3. If h3 he will not necessarily retreat his Knight, but might leave it to be taken and then recaptured by the h-Pawn with enormous pressure down the h-file. If g3 he will retreat the Queen, probably to f6, and continue with ..h4 to prize open the h-file anyway.

I wrote "when Black is ready" because White really has nothing constructive to do. Black has the luxury of strengthening his position with ..Bd6 or .. Bf5 first if he wishes (but please not ..f5, which might be a good move once the endgame has arrived, but for now just gets in the way) There is an old saying "never play a good move too soon" to reflect that if the opponent cannot prevent it, then preparation might make it even stronger. He could even go as far as ..Ke7 and ..Rag8 and ..g5, but I doubt if this would really help a lot. He has however already made one preparatory move with ..g6.

Probably, White would have no option but to trade off that Knight with bxg4, when Black has the option of retaking with the h-pawn (that file again, or with his light-square Bishop. According to some definitions that might be a bad Bishop, but in this position it is very effective, whereas the Be2 was potentially a useful defender. Apart from this, Whites natural defensive moves seem to be N-d2-f1,Be3, Qd2, all of which is slow and passive. At best I think he might manage to exchange off some of the attackers but then that endgame looms on the horizon.

GMs would certainly see all this and more in a glance (that is why they can give simultaneous displays) but in a serious game would look carefully at issues of timing and tactics to implement the ideas in the most efficient way. I hope that some of this helps.

Philip Roe
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  • "Put rather crudely, he can effectively say to White "either allow this exchange and give me my ending, or refuse the exchange and let me build up my attack"." I'm not sure I understand what exchange you mention? – FluidMechanics Potential Flows Feb 27 '22 at 20:51
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    I dont really mean any specific exchange. This is where some creativity is needed to exploit the advantage. Again crudely, Black can move attackers toward the White King, and White can only exchange them off by getting closer to the endgame. A skilled player as Black will make that decision as awkward as possible. If Black is less skilled (advances the wrong pieces) then White will be able to live with the consequences. I dont have time to write more at the moment, but will try to give it more thought. – Philip Roe Feb 27 '22 at 21:45
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Black's position is crushing because:

  • The pawn structure heavily favors Black. We'll see more about this in the upcoming bullet points.
  • Black has a protected passed pawn on e4 that White has no way of removing. This means Black is favored in any endgame, and in the middlegame, the e4-pawn also cramps White's position.
  • Black has a significant space advantage, especially in the center and on the kingside. It's true that White has more space right now, but Black has easy ways to develop that takes more space. Moves such as ...Rb1, ...Qh4, ...Bd6, etc, are all natural moves that bring Black's pieces to better squares. You can see this happening in the second screenshot, where Black's space advantage is apparent.
  • Meanwhile, White has difficulty finding squares for his pieces. Nc3 is obvious, but then what? The c1-bishop has an especially bleak future, and by extension the a1-rook will have difficulty getting into the game.
  • Because Black is more ready to play on the kingside than White - this means Black can advance pawns there and White cannot stop it - White has trouble finding a safe place to put the King. Queenside castling will take a long time because of the traffic jam there, while castling into an impending kingside pawn storm is dangerous. It's true that Black isn't castling either, but he doesn't need to, because White's pieces are very far from launching an attack on Black's king.

In the second position, you can see how Black's play develops. ...Bf5, ...Bd6, ...O-O-O (or even ...Ke7 because White's in no position to attack Black's king), ...Rdg8, and pawn advances on the kingside to threaten White's king. Meanwhile White cannot do anything on the queenside because Black is simply too fast, and therefore has to scramble to defend. Black hasn't won yet, but is on his way to winning.

Allure
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