tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27359163.post831509857131438631..comments2024-02-13T12:55:06.784+01:00Comments on Chess for All Ages: Undefended Pawns in Chess960 Start PositionsMark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27359163.post-49178140489326905462020-08-08T21:42:07.042+02:002020-08-08T21:42:07.042+02:00I often hear (from haters and fans of FRC) that po...I often hear (from haters and fans of FRC) that positions with undefended pawns are unbalanced. First, even the most "unbalanced" position is +0.57 (analyzed by supercomputer Sesse).<br />Secondly, I will give NNRKBRQB position as an example, it has 2 undefended pawns. At the start white advantage = +0.7(Stockfish11 + WASMX). The engine does not attack a,b pawns! Moreover, after 10 moves, the position becomes absolutely equal = 0.0! <br />[Variant "From Position"]<br />[FEN "nnrkbrqb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NNRKBRQB w - - 0 1"]<br /><br />1. Nb3 g6 2. c4 c5 3. g4 Nb6 4. Rc2 Rc7<br />5. d4 f5 6. Nxc5 Nc6 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8. Na6 Rb7<br />9. b3 Bxd4 10. Ba5 Kc8 11. e3<br /><br />If white decides to attack unprotected pawns from the first moves, then the position becomes equal after 4 moves! <br />[Variant "From Position"]<br />[FEN "nnrkbrqb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NNRKBRQB w - - 0 1"]<br /><br />1. g4 g5 2. Bxb7 Bxb2 3. Bxa8 Bxa1 4. f4 Bb2<br />5. Bb7<br /><br />In both cases the starting advantage disappears completely!<br /><br />This is what I have noticed =)Camelothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10321884134321330466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27359163.post-3627266720180652742009-01-13T13:17:00.000+01:002009-01-13T13:17:00.000+01:00I've been thinking about the 960 start positions t...I've been thinking about the 960 start positions too.<BR/><BR/>In particular, I've started questioning whether comparing % scores of any of the 959 positions with chess makes any sense at all. After all, the 959 positions are basically played out with zero theory: so it would make more sense to compare them with chess results around the time of Greco, not chess now.<BR/><BR/>This leads to a further thought. Do the %'s change with rudimentary theory applied? For instance, in the position where 1.Ne3 c5 2.d4! is extremely good for white, does 1.Ne3 e6 score much more moderately? Perhaps one way to test this would be using 'Monte Carlo' analysis?Tom Chivershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09850710685193416732noreply@blogger.com