How to correctly evaluate this variation?
Hey folks! I'm rated 1800 FIDE and found myself in an OTB position after Ne5 in which I discarded the best move Qd8 on account of Nxc6 bxc6 Ba6 as I stopped calculating and evaluated the loss of the exchange to favor White:
r1r3k1/pp1qbppp/2n1pnb1/1B1pN3/3P1B2/NQP4P/PP3PP1/R3R1K1 b - - 14 14
During game analysis with the engine I realised I was mistaken as the engine gives the position -3. Apparently, after Rcb8 Bxb8 Rxb8 Qa4 Rxb2 White is in a world of hurt with moves such as Qd6 and Ne4 leading to a decisive attack on the kingside:
3q2k1/p3bppp/B1p1pnb1/3p4/Q2P4/N1P4P/Pr3PP1/R3R1K1 w - - 0 19
I see this as an important lesson for me because I need to stop thinking “loss of exchange = bad” but instead to actually look at what is happening on the board: Is the loss of the exchange really bad or do I get compensation for it?
In principle, this seems identical to stop thinking “doubled pawns = bad” which took me quite a while to internalise. Nowadays, I keep calculating when I see the “threat” of doubled pawns in a line I'm calculating to see whether the doubled pawns are an upside or a downside.
When I think of improving chess as climbing up a flight of stairs, I would argue I have already taken the step regarding doubled pawns but now I have reached the step about giving up an exchange for compensation. Do you guys have any advice for me on how to take that step and continue to climb the flight of stairs that is chess improvement?