Pawn Structure page 5 alternate move.. | Forums

[AlphaDart]

So the position is the following:



The problem addressed was the following (white to move): White cannot avoid the Knight(A5)-Bishop(C4) trade. But if NxC4 as the position is, then white plays dxC4 and white has a bad pawn structure on file C and also the D4 square remains wide open. So the question is: What is white's best move? The answer in Chessmaster is Bb3 (because then if Nxb3 and axb3, white has A file open for Rock). And I was thinking (as a relative beginner to chess) that white could play Nd2. If Black plays Nxc4, then white plays Nxc4 and white has a centered Knight in a closed center, then if white develops Queen and castles queen-side he has a really strong queen side. If Black doesn't play Nxc4, he has a weak Knight stuck to the side of the board and our Knight on D2 is preparing the defense for castle queen-side.. I was curious to see what others' opinions were.. What would you play if you were white?

[NKT73]

I would take the Knight near the Queen to mess up the pawn structure.