GM Misa Pap - Strategic Planning in Chess - Vd14: 4 pawns clusters (Russian and Spanish)

Opening: C42, C69: Petrov's Defence: including Marshall Trap, Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation - 5.0-0

Player(s): Pap, Avram, Moeldner, Dominguez Perez, So, Adhiban, Nakamura

This series is coming to an end, and in the last 2 videos, GM Misa presents a topic that is not mentioned very often in chess literature. Positions with clusters of 4 pawns - where 2 of them are doubled. We get those kinds of structures in various openings, and GM Pap deals with a few in these 2 videos. In this one, Misa presents the good and bad sides of those pawns in the Russian defense (where white gets the pawn cluster), and in the Spanish opening, exchange variation, where black gets the pawn cluster. We have some significant differences. While in the Russian from the white side, after 5.Nc3 Nc3 6.dc3 white gets a 4 pawns cluster and some slight development edge, white doesn't make any concessions (just doubled pawns on the "c" file, which are actually good), in the exchange variation of the Spanish, black gets his cluster with again doubled c pawns, but with the bishop pair as a bonus; also, white gets the pawn majority on the kingside. The practice has shown that black has good play in the Spanish exchange variation, and white in the Russian defense with dc3 also has good play (probably no advantage, but rich play), just without the bishop pair and without a pawn majority for his opponent. All in all, these pawns like to stay in a cluster and shouldn't be moved too far, weakening them because, in such pawn mass, they control a lot of squares and are sometimes even a strategic plus.

Teacher's library (107) C42 C69 Pap Avram Moeldner Dominguez Perez So Adhiban Nakamura game analysis