Likewise, emotions about facing lower-rated opponents are not discussed. Is playing for a draw the best strategy for one’s emotions, to keep our hopes modest? Or does aiming for draws inhibit our improvement? Answers to these questions, about our goals and fears around playing higher-rated opponents, are not addressed. The T25 position, from Feldman versus Hrop, raises an important emotional struggle: Does one play for a win or for a draw against a higher-rated opponent? Hrop seems to indicate that he is playing for a draw against Feldman in T25, despite having an advantage. ![]() Hrop eventually drew against Feldman, ½–½. 1…g6 Stockfish 14.1 also evaluates the position after 1…g6 as more than a pawn advantage for Black. Nevertheless, that does not mean he should become overly cautious in an attempt to achieve a draw against a higher-rated player.” Hrop recommends the move that he played, 1…a5.ġ…a5 the Stockfish 14.1 engine evaluates this position as more than a pawn advantage for Black. Hrop writes, “Black has a solid defensive position and is fully developed. Yevgeny Feldman (2300) versus Steve Hrop (2100) 27…f6 was the move numbering in the game, ½–½. 1…Nf6 2.Rh3+ Nh5 3.Rxh5# 1…Bxf2+ 2.Rxf2 Qxf2+ 3.Kxf2 Nf6 4.Rh3+ Nh5 5.Rxh5# 2.Rxe3 Qxe3 3.fxe3 f6 The actual Fressinet-Kempinski game was drawn 10 moves later, on move 37. So instead of a “B” as I have written, imagine the image of a bishop in figurine notation. Also, his book has figurine algebraic notation for text and annotations. He only discusses 1…Be3.ġ…Be3! Hrop numbers 1…Be3 as move 1. However, Hrop never tells what the three candidate moves are! So, I don’t know if my three candidates are the correct ones. A third candidate move, 1…Bxf2+, also delays checkmate. Did you find all three?” I found 1…Be3, or 1…Nf6 with the idea next move of 2…Nh5. Hrop writes, “Begin by identifying all candidate moves that prevent White from checkmating on the next move with Rc3–h3. Laurent Fressinet versus Robert Kempinski 2…Qxd4 3.Qxc6 (3.Qa7+? is terrible now because it loses White’s queen. ![]() 2.Rxd4 Rxd4? That is, why not take with the queen on d4? Then Black is still much worse but does not lose a bishop. But recapturing with the rook makes what is a bad move (1…Rdxd4) even worse. One of those choices, the move he played against Jacobson, is a bad move.ġ…Rdxd4? Hrop writes, “After the exchange of a pair of rooks on d4, White played the simple Qa7+, winning my bishop.” From that sentence, I assume that Hrop took back on d4 with a rook. Under the diagrammed position, Hrop gives four candidate moves for Black. Hrop writes “I was rated over 2100 at the time.” Hrop does not give the year when this game was played. Jacobson is now a grandmaster, but he was 2350 at the time of this game. Brandon Jacobson (2350) versus Steve Hrop (2100) Three of his 101 training positions (“T” followed by a number) are given below, to show some of the problems I had with Hrop’s book. ![]() Looking for candidate moves is valuable advice! However, Hrop’s chess examples are confusing. The two main ways to manage our heightened emotions are deep breathing and to find at least three candidate moves. We might play the first move that comes to mind, which could be disastrous. Steve Hrop, when our opponent plays a scary-looking move, our fight-or-flight response is triggered.
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