CCT Calculation Example #3

Academy | Calculation | Critical Variations | CCT Example #3

Black to play. Find the critical moves you need to calculate.

CCT Observations

White’s CCT moves are: 1. Qa3 or 1. Qa4 (threatening 2. Qxa7), 1. Rxe6, 1. Nxc6, 1. Nc2 (threatening 2. Qxb7), 1. Bf4 (attacking our queen), and 1. c5 (also targeting our queen).
The only White move worth paying attention to is 1. Bf4, but even this isn’t a serious threat (e.g., 1. Bf4 e5). All other moves are either illogical or easily defended.
Since we’ve determined that our opponent has no serious threats, we have the opportunity to improve our position without worrying about their current threats.
Our worst piece is the bishop stuck on d7, so the main moves we want to consider are 1… e5 or 1… c5.
1… c5 is more promising because it threatens the White knight, gaining a tempo, so we will consider it first.

In this example, we see that when the critical variations are under control and there are no immediate serious threats, we can confidently focus on our strategic objectives.