Wartime streak, Day 6: Draw (1569-1569)

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Amir Afsai physics2112 Chess in Israel chatgpt generated image

Assigned the white pieces, I opened 1.d4, and after 1...d5 2.c4 dxc4 we were in a Queen's Gambit Accepted. I continued 2.e4 and Black's 2...e6 allowed me an easy recapture with 3.Bxc4. Black spent the next two moves pushing pawns, such that 3...a6 4.Nf3 and 4...b5 were played and I had two pieces deployed while Black had none. My bish was under attack; and remembering my 2026-02-13 game where I played Bc4-b3 and the engine wanted Bc4-d3, I retreated the bish with 5.Bd3 -- but here the engine wanted 5.Bb3. Black's fianchetto with 5...Bb7 gave me an advantage of +1.50, but it dropped to +0.57 after 6.e5.

1. Why did I choose 6.e5?
6.e5 gained me space and took away the most natural square for Black's knight. Moreover, it opened up the b1-h7 diag for my light-square bish.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
On Sunday at the chess club we studied the 1945 game "Ruda Wakening" between Smyslov and Iosif Rudakovsky, where the weakness of Black's backward d-pawn proved fatal. I think that by advancing my e-pawn when the d-file was semiopen for Black I was creating an analagous weakness vis-a-vis my d4-pawn.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
6.a4 threatens to leave Black with three pawn islands if 6...bxa4; and if 6...b4 then Black renounces his claim to the c4-square.

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