Exercise 6, set 4

Here the plan for white should be moving the worst placed piece, the knight:



In the solution nothing is said about the black response ...a5, stopping Nb4. How should white continue? I don't know, the engine says move back the knight back to a3 and attack pawn at b5, but black can defend with Rb8.

Maybe white eventually gets a passed pawn?

The school solution suggests a2-a4, in response to a5, although it is a stretch that the move would "give Black some worries".

I think that Black is in a better situation for improving his position, but it is difficult to come up with a plan. The engines seem to like putting pressure on Blak's King with 1.Qh5, but it doesn't appear to go anywhere because the queen is acting without any support.

So, it appears to be a time for quiet maneuvers and the advice not to act with haste by gf4 is good advice and Nc2 is probably as good or better than the immediate Qh5.

I think the real point to that position is that the knight on a3 is HORRIBLE to start with. Nc2 is obvious for that reason alone. After Nc2 and a5 (to try stop the knight from getting to d5) and a4, what exactly does black do? Don't use an engine. The white knight is certainly better than it was on a3.