I’m not sure I’d call Bxd5 anti-positional. Maybe only in the most dogmatic sense of “bishops better than knights, fianchettoed bishop important”. That knight was a good piece and was going to be a thorn in your side and by forcing Black to recapture with their pawn you eliminate a weakness that was otherwise accessible for Black.
Trading bishop for knight, especially in a closed position, is a perfectly reasonable plan with good justification. Then it’s basically just on white to argue that the nature of the position doesn’t favor bishops.
I think it depends on the definition of “positional” one is employing. I agree that it was positionally correct (it was in the spirit of the position), but I also think it wasn’t stereotypical. My calculations and evaluations trumped the normal or usual principle that says not to trade that fianchetto bishop for anything less than the same color bishops, leading to a move that appears anti-positional. Maybe that makes sense? I agree with your assessment 100%.
I’m not sure I’d call Bxd5 anti-positional. Maybe only in the most dogmatic sense of “bishops better than knights, fianchettoed bishop important”. That knight was a good piece and was going to be a thorn in your side and by forcing Black to recapture with their pawn you eliminate a weakness that was otherwise accessible for Black.
Trading bishop for knight, especially in a closed position, is a perfectly reasonable plan with good justification. Then it’s basically just on white to argue that the nature of the position doesn’t favor bishops.
Fair point Matt, and thanks for reading!
I think it depends on the definition of “positional” one is employing. I agree that it was positionally correct (it was in the spirit of the position), but I also think it wasn’t stereotypical. My calculations and evaluations trumped the normal or usual principle that says not to trade that fianchetto bishop for anything less than the same color bishops, leading to a move that appears anti-positional. Maybe that makes sense? I agree with your assessment 100%.