premium_steve
45 ( +1 | -1 ) Pushing a and h pawns...What do you guys think about pushing these pawns in the middle game in general? Is it bad? I've always thought that the only files for rooks are the a- and h-files, and maybe the f-file also (after a castle and f-pawn push). You see it most often, I guess, when the center is closed.
Does anyone know of many masters who particularly liked pushing those pawns? It kind of makes me laugh a bit. Any game examples?
anaxagoras
32 ( +1 | -1 ) yes, Bent Larsen is well known for pushing his rook pawns. I have an example where it immediately lead to the loss of a game:
premium_steve
79 ( +1 | -1 ) Thanks :DI didn't see right away why the Ng6 move was good. I needed to look at the analysis. Umm... I guess in open games tempi are more important? Things can develop so much faster.
Here's another short caro-kann classical game where black pushes his flank pawn, but wins. It's from an OTB tourney game I played this weekend... My opponent said the initial h-pawn push, in our position, is a big mistake on his part. But the pawn is eventually involved in a tactic that wins him the game!