Hi all,
I am interested in people's thoughts on the position below. How would you evaluate the position in terms of favoring one side or another (or equal)?



White to move.

I'd say it's about equal. White might be able to unbury his pieces faster than black, but that's far from certain. In the meantime black's moves ought to be more natural. Those central pawns are nice for black, but white's queenside majority is potentially equally helpful.

It's a game.

Nfxe5 looks good to me. So I say white has the edge.

Doesn't that just lose a piece, or am I missing a tactical shot?

If you're missing it, so am I. It just loses a piece for a pawn and a wee bit of compensation after which black is winning..

I think he might have missed the queen covering e5 from way back there. I'm thinking that either knight taking e5 is just a blunder.

My thoughts on position: I have to agree here that it looks equal, and a bit unclear. White has doubled rooks and his pieces are a tad more active, but black has the a file pressure and pieces that could spring into action at any moment. Plus the d and e pawns are very strong, and ALL up in white's position.

White: Pawns 2 vs. 1 on the Queen side.
f5 square an outpost for a Knight.
Black's weakness: The King side pawns are not protect. Usually a Knight protect the h7 square. The White King Bishop (The Tarrasch Bishop) is targeting the King side. (Alekhine: Always look for moves you would like to make, not the moves that are always possible). Of course the Bishop is behind the e4 pawn. But an open range with no pawn on e4 and White has a big advantage. Another possible move: Na5, and Black could have problems with a b6 move, as the Knight goes to Nc6.
Black: The N on e6 is not a Blockade piece. Black has to look at an outpost on f4. If g3 (weakening the praxis on White's King side). Black would love to move Bc8 to f3 pinning the Knight. But the Knight at the present time is protecting c7, else White seizes the 7th Rank and the may be decided on the Queenside, with Bb4, with the idea of B:N, B:B, and the WR:B winning a piece.
In effect it appears White has a slight edge as the old Chess Books a +/=.
White could do a sitting on the position making a few quiet moves, and an h3 (which would not become a target) for King safety. Black is tied up in defense.

What about this variation -
Nfxe5 Nxe5,Nb6!(opens the rooks(B at c8 in danger) n attacks Rook on a8)

2. ... Bd7! takes care of that. White can grab the rook, but he'll run into Ba4 if nothing else. There won't be enough compensation for the knight already invested either way.

true..not much compensation..my mind went for a wild ride!