Dark Square Control
Submitted by
Phobetor on Sat, 08/30/2008 at 2:09pm.
In some variations of the Sicilian, the weak light squares are a common theme. For example in the Sveshnikov Variation (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5), black plays e7-e5 early on, leaving big holes on d5 and f5. In other variations, the dark squares around the black king are weak. This usually happens when black plays e7-e6 early on, and the dark squares especially become weak when black gives up the dark-squared bishop early on, like in the Sicilian Pin Variation (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4).
Below is a game I played in July, where the weak dark squares were very important. Black fianchettoed his dark-squared bishop, but he also left a big hole on d6. After I developed, I took advantage of these big holes by making threats and severely restricting his pieces' movement. When he contested the d6-square with his dark-squared bishop, I saw that he couldn't afford to give up his bishop anyway, even if it cost me the exchange. He took up the challenge, grabbed the exchange, but not much later had to pay the price. There were too many holes around his king, and his pieces still couldn't be activated. On move 30 he resigned in view of forced mate on the next move.
Below is the game with annotations and analysis. Enjoy!
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