An Interesting Case of Blindness

So tonight after quite the long layoff I got back into some Yusupov.

The chapter this is from is one concerning open files and outposts.

Here is the position given:

Here I started down this long flight of fancy trying to make 1.Bxd7 work to get a rook on the back rank.  Perhaps something like 1…Rxd7 2.Rb8 Qe7 3.Rxe8 Qxe8 4.Qf6+

Of course the problem is that after 2.Rb8 Black can simply exchange the queen for the two rooks and be fine.

Of course the actual plan is much simpler that all of that.  White can simply play 1.Rb7 and his position is excellent, which is what happened in the game.

But this begs the question…why the blindness.

Well, it’s one of two things, and now I have to figure out which.  It’s either because:

  1. Since I’m looking at a “solvable” position I’m treating the exercise itself as too much of a tactical problem.  Meaning that I’m looking at ideas which are far more complex than the position calls for in an effort to “win” the diagrammed position.
  2. I’m just not seeing these sorts of natural, penetrating moves.

I sincerely hope that it’s the first, since that is the easier of the two to solve, but I am realizing that this is something I’m going to have to pay close attention to in the analysis of my own games.

Til Next Time,

Chris Wainscott