user32183: In How to reassess your chess from Jeremy Silman there is this position about knight outposts:
[FEN "2r2rk1/pbqnbppp/1p3n2/1Pp1p3/2P1P3/5NP1/PBQN1PBP/R4RK1 w - - 0 1"]

The author argues that the knight should maneuver to d5 with the plan Rfe1, Nb1, Nc3, Nd5.
I understand that d5seems like a nice square for the knight.
But once the knight reaches d5, couldn't black just trade its bishop for it and white would have wasted 5 moves on nothing?
Why is this maneuver still worth it?

user13012: To add to the excellent points made by NoseKnowsAll, observe that White is putting Black in the position of having to accept a strong disadvantage and Black can only choose which one. Notice too that Black could try for a similar manoeuvre with ..Rfe8, ..N-f8-e6-d4 but he is just one move too late because the WN arrives at d5 with tempo. I suspect that both players have had this outpost business in mind for some time and that White has been able to surpass Black in the matter of timing. That is how GMs play chess.

user4418: 
Why is this maneuver still worth it?

Let's have a look and see, filling in some reasonable moves for black
[FEN "2r2rk1/pbqnbppp/1p3n2/1Pp1p3/2P1P3/5NP1/PBQN1PBP/R4RK1 w - - 0 1"]
[Startply "9"]

1. Rfe1 Rfe8 2. Nb1 Bf8 3. Nc3 Rcd8 4. Nd5 Bxd5 5. exd5

White's position has been transformed. The protected passed d pawn means that white is strong favourite to win any endgame, there is strong pressure on the black e5 pawn and the cramped nature of black's position (thanks to the pawn on d5) gives white good chances of also launching a kingside attack.

user3884: 
I understand that d5 seems like a nice square for the knight

It's a FANTASTIC square for a knight. It's a hole in black's position which means it can never be kicked away by a pawn. It's centralized which means it's affecting a larger portion of the board. It's in the enemy's camp and is either 1 or 2 moves away from attacking any square on the board. It's a checking distance away from the black king.
So that leaves us with the last point: can't black just capture this knight? Well yes, but then you get something almost as good: A protected passed d pawn! This pawn means you're instantly winning any king and pawn endgame. So all trades from that point on are probably good for you. It's never a weakness because it's firmly protected by another pawn. Read Silman's chapter on pawns to get more of an idea. Finally, there's another good point here which is after recapturing with cxd5, we have a new great square for our other knight: c4! Nfd2->Nc4 is now one of the best squares on the board for a knight for a lot of the same reasons that d5 was so good too.
By the way, was this a Fischer game? I feel like I recognize it from My 60 Memorable Games but maybe I'm misremembering...

32183: <p>In <em>How to reassess your chess</em> from Jeremy Silman there is this position about knight outposts:</p>
<pre><code>[FEN &quot;2r2rk1/pbqnbppp/1p3n2/1Pp1p3/2P1P3/5NP1/PBQN1PBP/R4RK1 w - - 0 1&quot;]
</code></pre>
<p>The author argues that the knight should maneuver to <code>d5</code> with the plan <code>Rfe1, Nb1, Nc3, Nd5</code>.</p>
<p>I understand that <code>d5</code>seems like a nice square for the knight.
But once the knight reaches <code>d5</code>, couldn't black just trade its bishop for it and white would have wasted 5 moves on nothing?</p>
<p>Why is this maneuver still worth it?</p>
 13012: <p>To add to the excellent points made by NoseKnowsAll, observe that White is putting Black in the position of having to accept a strong disadvantage and Black can only choose which one. Notice too that Black could try for a similar manoeuvre with ..Rfe8, ..N-f8-e6-d4 but he is just one move too late because the WN arrives at d5 with tempo. I suspect that both players have had this outpost business in mind for some time and that White has been able to surpass Black in the matter of timing. That is how GMs play chess.</p>
 4418: <blockquote>
<p>Why is this maneuver still worth it?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Let's have a look and see, filling in some reasonable moves for black</p>
<pre><code>[FEN &quot;2r2rk1/pbqnbppp/1p3n2/1Pp1p3/2P1P3/5NP1/PBQN1PBP/R4RK1 w - - 0 1&quot;]
[Startply &quot;9&quot;]

1. Rfe1 Rfe8 2. Nb1 Bf8 3. Nc3 Rcd8 4. Nd5 Bxd5 5. exd5
</code></pre>
<p>White's position has been transformed. The protected passed d pawn means that white is strong favourite to win any endgame, there is strong pressure on the black e5 pawn and the cramped nature of black's position (thanks to the pawn on d5) gives white good chances of also launching a kingside attack.</p>
 3884: <blockquote>
<p>I understand that d5 seems like a nice square for the knight</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It's a FANTASTIC square for a knight. It's a hole in black's position which means it can never be kicked away by a pawn. It's centralized which means it's affecting a larger portion of the board. It's in the enemy's camp and is either 1 or 2 moves away from attacking any square on the board. It's a checking distance away from the black king.</p>
<p>So that leaves us with the last point: can't black just capture this knight? Well yes, but then you get something almost as good: A protected passed d pawn! This pawn means you're instantly winning any king and pawn endgame. So all trades from that point on are probably good for you. It's never a weakness because it's firmly protected by another pawn. Read Silman's chapter on pawns to get more of an idea. Finally, there's another good point here which is after recapturing with cxd5, we have a new great square for our other knight: c4! Nfd2-&gt;Nc4 is now one of the best squares on the board for a knight for a lot of the same reasons that d5 was so good too.</p>
<p>By the way, was this a Fischer game? I feel like I recognize it from My 60 Memorable Games but maybe I'm misremembering...</p>
