"Solution"

OK, well it's not exactly a solution to the position I posted a few days ago, but this is how the game continued. I think Black could have played better in some places, but the plan I executed seemed logical to me.
My reasoning for the plan was to gain more space and put miy light Bishop on a better diagonal. Black's Bb7 is his best piece at the moment, so wanted to neutralise it so as to exaggerate my advantage. I am not sure if this plan was too slow, but it worked out.

1)f4!? Nef6 2)Bf3 Nc5

So it was clear that Black's counterplay was going to revolve around the e4 pawn, and he has redeemed the poor positioning of his Knights in just 2 moves. Herein lies the interest in the starting position: His pieces are only temporarily misplaced, and as such White it seems must act energetically to make anything of this. Therefore I am not sure sure f4 and Bf3 were the best. However, the placement of the Black knights is not permanent, and white is ready to push in the centre.

3)e5! Nfe4 4)Nxe4 Bxe4!?

Trying to exhange more minor pieces off on e4, which eases Black's cramp and neutralises Whites active pieces. I wasn't in the mood to co-operate, and so pressed on with 5)exd6 Bxf3 The main justification of exd6 comes from 5)...Qxd6 6)b4! which attacks the knight defending the Bishop on e4. Therefore, 6)...Bxf3 is forced, and after 7)bxc5! Qxc5 8)Nxf3 White has a very comfortable position. 6)dxe7! Qxe7 7)Rxf3 Ne4?!

I am not sure about this move, and I was certainly expecting 7)...Nxa4 regaining material. I was planning to play on trying to take advantage of the out of play Knight with 8)b4!?. From this position, although a pawn down, Black certainly seems to have solved his positional problems from the initial position, and perhaps a pawn is fair compensation for this. However, White is more centralised and can continue with more dynamic action to press Black. Note the Rooks on a8 and f8 have nothing to say at all.

8)Nc6! Qe8 9)Qd7! Bxb2??

This is the losing move. It was unattractive but obviously better to play 9)...Qxd7 10)Rxd7 where white dominates the 7th rank, but at least Black is dropping more material. White to play and win from the diagram....

10)Ne7+! Kg7 [10)...Kh8 11)Bd4+ Bxd4 12)Qxd4 and Ne4 falls. 11)Bd4+ Bxd4 12)Qxd4+ Nf6

Again, first impression are that Black has his house in order. However, it is white to play and mate, which is forced. Can you find the win? (The solution is in the comments to this post).

An interesting initial position, from which it seems many positional plans are possible.

White to play...

What is your plan for white in the following position?

This is a position I reached as white in an OTB friendly game this evening. It arose from a variant of the Pirc defence (I opened 1)d4 Nf6 2)Nc3!? d6 3)e4 etc...). White seems to have a slight advantage due to a slight lead in development and better centralisation. However, despite the positional plusses, I found it hard to come up with a decent plan.

How would you handle this position as white? Use the comment function to give me your positional plan (I don't necessarily mean exact moves, but what is your ideal piece placement and general plan).

I will post how I handled the position later.

A Positional Problem

Below is a position from one of my recent games (I was White and was on move). During my analysis I missed a very instructive positional plan, which Fritz was screaming for when I later reviwed t with the engine. What I find most pleasing about the solution is that tactical threats create a positional advantage. Its very easy to think that strategy and tactics are distinct, but this is wrong: they go hand-in-hand! The solution will be posted in a few days.