I've posted previsouly some examples of tactical blows in the Exchange Slav to show that this opening is not half so quiet (some say boring) as its reputation. This time, my example illustrates the idea of "trend" that was stressed by A. Yermolinsky in his book "The road to chess improvement" (Gambit).
By electing to put his queenside pawns on light squares, Black denies White some typical plans (like Na4-c5) and pursues his own plans (Na5-c4) at the expense of a long-run commitment, a bad light-square bishop. This commitment is particularly serious in the Exchange Slav because White has the initiative with his heavy pieces, he's the first one to double up rooks on the c-file and/or he's more active with his queen. Usually these factors are not telling because Black is solid and can successfully exchange the heavy pieces. In this case, those thematic trades lead to a totally winning N vs bad B endgame.
White follows the well-known methods : attack two weaknesses with the knight to immobilize the bishop, advance the king as fare as possible, then play for a tempo to induce more commitment ; finally, depending on Black's choice, either win material with the knight or penetrate with the king. These advices were attributed to Fine if I remember correctly.
With 3 minutes 16 on his clock and about to lose a second pawn, Black has let his time run out (don't forget to ban/ignore/ etc.). Stockfish doesn't detect any mistake in the game, merely a cascade of inaccuracies. Still White doesn't need to do anything complicated and finishes with more time on the clock than when the game started. That's the power of the trend set by a supposedly quiet opening and a lack of dynamic treatment ("trend-breaking tools") by Black in a position which is statically hopeless.
By electing to put his queenside pawns on light squares, Black denies White some typical plans (like Na4-c5) and pursues his own plans (Na5-c4) at the expense of a long-run commitment, a bad light-square bishop. This commitment is particularly serious in the Exchange Slav because White has the initiative with his heavy pieces, he's the first one to double up rooks on the c-file and/or he's more active with his queen. Usually these factors are not telling because Black is solid and can successfully exchange the heavy pieces. In this case, those thematic trades lead to a totally winning N vs bad B endgame.
White follows the well-known methods : attack two weaknesses with the knight to immobilize the bishop, advance the king as fare as possible, then play for a tempo to induce more commitment ; finally, depending on Black's choice, either win material with the knight or penetrate with the king. These advices were attributed to Fine if I remember correctly.
With 3 minutes 16 on his clock and about to lose a second pawn, Black has let his time run out (don't forget to ban/ignore/ etc.). Stockfish doesn't detect any mistake in the game, merely a cascade of inaccuracies. Still White doesn't need to do anything complicated and finishes with more time on the clock than when the game started. That's the power of the trend set by a supposedly quiet opening and a lack of dynamic treatment ("trend-breaking tools") by Black in a position which is statically hopeless.
