TL Chess match II - Page 22

Going with the natural space grab.

Was going to go with the b4, but d6 should not be allowed and Qb6 is annoying. White wants the d4 square.

13. ... Qa5 is met with Na4 defend the b2 pawn as well Rc1 is coming before b4

The thought is that we want to lock the c6 pawn on its current square and restrict the d7 pawn. The good bishop bad bishop will be white's advantage.

White can allow d6 to be played as long as he can play c5, which as of now, he can. c5 does not give white the d4 square, because black can always kick white out with e5. c5 actually helps black get rid of his bad bishop with 13. c5 Qa5 14. Na4 Ba6, trading off the bishops and now we will have a hard time bringing down black's center after 15. Bxa6 Qxa6 16. Nc3 Rad8.

If black plays d6, he will have two weak pawns on d6 and c6, so white can allow d6. I was thinking 13. Qd2 e5 14. b4 d6 15. b5, which gives us the d4 square and begins to break apart black's center.
After the c and b pawns go, we take control of the open b file and have pretty good chances. Our e4 and c4 pawns may need a little protection, but we still have the bishop to protect them. Any attempt to remove our powerful d5 knight will result in giving us a good bishop.

I agree completely with TanGeng's take on c5. Grabs space and prevents d6.

I don't see Qd2 as accomplishing anything other than attacking the pawn. Our Queen can't really do anything from d2 that it couldn't do from d1.

Incognito, my take on your analysis:

c5 does give White the d6 square. Here is my line on what happens if black plays d6: 13. c5 d6 14. Qd4+! (Absolutely crushing move for White here. It threatens Rd1 to win the d6 pawn from White. If Black takes at c5, our Rook has complete control over the open file.) e5 15. Qa4 and Black is in a rapidly deteriorating position.

As for your line on Qd2, why should we freely give the e5 square to Black? I like that check opportunity for White to force Black to make a weak move. As for your line, We could go for 13. b4 instead of 14. b4 and still reach the same result without the necessity of Qd2.

Hmm I thought I read that c5 will give us the d4 square... anyway, how does c5 give us the d6 square? Black still has a pawn on e7 that protects it. So we can't use that square for the knight immediately. Furthermore, the idea that black would play 13. c5 d6 is a fantasy. Black would instead play 13. ... Qa5 attacking our overextended c5 pawn. This move also allows the bishop to get traded off on a6 to black's benefit. After 14. Na4, black has several options, possibly Rb8, preparing to penetrate the queenside with a move like Rb4, after which we have problems. The other option, Ba6, trades off our good bishop for his bad one, like previously mentioned.

Oh and I think it would be ok for us to allow black to have the d6 square. After d6, c5 rips up his pawn center. The mere threat of c5 stops black from playing d6 because after c5, the black pawn would wish it were back on d7, where it is safe and the overextended c5 pawn can be assaulted and challenged by d6 at black's leisure.

After we take care of Rb8, black can further enter the game with Ne5, a great square for the knight. You mentioned that we shouldn't freely give the e5 square to black. That is partially true. However, it would be hard to control the e5 square given we have a wrong colored bishop and our knight is far away from that square. None of our pawns can attack that square immediately, so we can't really stop black from controlling that square. The only logical option would be to make black fill that square in a way that is less beneficial to him. In my previous example of black playing Rb8 and Ne5, the e5 knight is a well placed piece. We can't kick it out immediately, and moves like Qd4 are now weak, as it is black who has the superior development at this stage. A black pawn on e5 would deprive the knight of that square, and would strengthen our control of the d6 square, given that black can now no longer control it with a pawn. If black defends the f pawn with Ne5, then white now plays c5 with a better position than 13. c5 Qa5 because now white can defend the c pawn while attacking black's knight, which previously was not possible because of the threat of e5, refuting white's idea. Qd2 limits the best available option for black's knight, which works in our favor. c5 allows black to achieve the best position for his knight and gives us a hard time.

The reason I like Qd2 before b4 is that it stops Qb6, attacking the b pawn. If 13. Qd2 e5 14. b4 Qb6, Na5 protects the pawn while gaining tempo on the white queen. While this attack may be superficial and may not be worth it for black, Qd2 also helps serve another purpose, which is to limit the black knight's developing options. The Queen on d2 also allows for either rook to come to d1. I wouldn't say that Qd2 is a useless move. It is a multi-purpose move. The best purpose I think would be to stop the natural development of black's knight (which is his only currently active piece). It stops black from making his pieces active while allowing us to improve our position slowly. Rushing ahead with c5 is premature in my opinion.

a) 13.c5 e5 14.a3 Qe7 15.b4 a5 seems to give black too much, say 16.Qd2 Rd8 17.Na4 d5 and what advantage we had seems to have dissipated. We can play for a win without risk, but it isnt much. Surprising, I thought c5 would be best.

b)13.Qd2 e5 14.Rad1 d6 15.c5 dxc5 16.Qc2 (temporary pawn sac) Qg5 17.Kh1 Bg4 18.f3 Be6 19.Na4 Rfd8 20.Nxc5 Qe8 21.b3 g5

This offers a VERY good game for white positionally, and black is basically forced to go for a kingside assault, as any endgame is now losing. Black has weaknesses on a7, c6 and e5. We can defend via trading pieces now, and grind him out easily in the endgame.

I think Black's general plan of action will be to put the queen on e7, move the knight to g5, and play f4-f3 with a kingside attack and play d6 later with tempo at the opportune time.

Hmm, yes I think c5 allows black to undermine any queenside attack with a5, and the b4 pawn can't advance because of the hanging c pawn. Another thing to note is black's potential options including the pawn push f3. If the bishop and/or queen ever give up protection of the f3 square, then a black pawn move to f3 would force either gxf3 or g3, which both weaken our kingside. Especially if black's bishop is still on the board, this could cause us a lot of headache. Stopping the knight's move to e5 delays any option of black playing f3 because the knight blocks the rooks protection of the square.

To your b) line, I would see black playing 14. ... Qe7 instead of d6, which stops c5. Why would black allow us to play c5 and ruin his pawn structure without any compensation? After 14. ... Qe7, the only way I can see white going forward is Na4 preparing b4 and again threatening the pawn move to c5. Black can play Ng5, challenging our pawn at e4, after which the knight jumps to e6, a powerful post which once again stops c5 and prepares to jump into the d4 hole, locking us out of the d file. I think Qd2 is the right move, but 14. Rad1 would be slightly incorrect methinks.

I see what you're saying, and imma let you finish, but after 14...Qe7 15.Qc2 d6 (otherwise black's only plan is to try and play for d5, so Rd8 maybe) 16.c5 anyway 16...dxc5 17.Na4 c4 18.Qxc4 Be6 19.Qc3 Rad8 20.b3 with a better version of my line b) as black has not even been able to start kingside activity. Black will be forced into passive defense of his central weak pawns

Instead of 15. ... d6, 15. ... Ng5 threatening f3. White can't play c5 right away because of the queen on e7. If white plays 16. Rd3 guarding the f3 square, then Ne6 and black once again stops c5. My point is that black does not have to play d6 immediately even if he eventually wants to. Right now, white's only active plan is to play c5, so black can take his time defending against that threat. Nf7-g5-e6 can be played since white has no other threats to counter that.

The idea with c5 is to put the white knight on a4 and defend it with a pawn on b3 this should lock up the Queen-side so white can play on the d and c files. This part of the reason why b4 isn't such a great move.

I think denying black good access to d4 is crucial to and effective attack. The c5 pawn also serves the purpose of closing down the b6 g1 diagonal.

13. ... e5 should be met with 14. Bc4

trading away the bishops with 13. ... Qa5 14. Na4 Ba6 15 Bxa6 Qxa6 14. b3

and now black queen in on a relatively ineffective square a6 while white can continue Qg4and play with the open d file.

I think the idea that black's center is weak is a misconception. It is only weak after black plays d6 AND he is defending passively. c5 allows black to defend actively and allows him to open the center to his advantage once his pieces are developed.

Black would not respond to 13. c5 with 13. ... e5, but with Qa5. Plus, moving the bishop to c4 weakens the f3 square, where black may want to push if he gets the chance. Also after some more thought I think trading bishops would be a bad idea for black. After all, bad bishops protect good pawns. Plus, Rb8 seems stronger because it develops a piece with tempo.

If c5 is supposed to close up the queenside, it does a poor job in doing so. After 13. c5 Qa5 14. Na4 Rb8 15. b3, black plays Ne5, and after 16. Qd4 d6 17. cxd6 Rb4!, black's rook enters the scene strongly. The only way it can be kicked out is with a3, which weakens the queenside and gives black a new target in the a3 and b3 pawns.

After this sequence, if 18. Bc4 exd6, the white queen can't take at d6 because the pawn on b3 is overloaded. 19. Qxd6? Nxc4 wins a piece for two pawns, black has good central control and white's knight and rooks are poorly placed while his queen is running from the black pieces. So white's only other option is 19. Nb2, protecting the c4 bishop and moving the knight off the a4 square since it has accomplished its purpose there. Black simply plays 19. Rf6, breaking the pin on the knight and defending d6 and the game looks pretty equal.

Going back to move 18, if white had moved the queen, say Qd1, then 18. ... exd6 19. Qxd6 Rxe4 20. Bd3 Nxd3 21. Qxd3 Bf5 and white seems to be on the defensive. If white trades queens with 22. Qc3+, black is still fine even though he has two isolated pawns. I see a draw here.

My contention would be that white wants to play on the queenside. The kingside is where black has his most powerful threat, the f4-f3 push. In the above sequence, black shows that he can afford to open up the center, where supposedly white wants to play. However, with a knight on a4 and two rooks on a1 and f1 doing nothing, white is a bit late on development and has a hard time taking advantage of black's "weak" center. Play in the center requires developed pieces. 13. Qd2 closes out black's knight (although we still need to discuss what white can do after black plays Qe7 and Ng5) and prepares to use our queenside pawn majority to generate some play there. After 13. Qd2 e5 14. b4, Black's knight and kingside rook are locked out of the queenside, giving white plenty of reason to want to attack there. Although the center may look weak, I think the knight and bishop help defend it adequately enough to a point where white should look elsewhere to find an attack. Namely, the queenside.

In your line not 17. cxd6 Rb4, but 17. Rac1
what follows is 17. ... Rf6 18. Rfd1
which completes white's plan of playing on the c and d files

I think 13. ... Qc7 is black's strongest response to 13. Qd2 with the centralizing Qe5 move to follow. After 13. ... Qc7 white's c5 becomes far inferior. It can no longer be considered because of Qe5

As black I would play 13. ... Qc7 against 13. c5 as well.