TL Chess Match 4 - Page 61

I think we need to play 0-0 asap, because if we don't black can play 9. ... Bg4 which is really bad for white. I really don't like Bxc6 here, i think it is giving up an advantage to say the least. I don't see any other move is good for us besides 0-0, I think 0-0 is a must play or we be in a really bad position in a few moves.

It's a sensible move: it eliminates the pin on our Knight, and more generally, the tactical threats that arise from having our King exposed. Even though it's not an aggressive move per se, removing the constraints on our position effectively pressures Black--for example, after 9. 0-0 frees our Nd2, NxN becomes a threat: after Black recaptures with the pawn, it will be hard for him to maintain his unsupported pawn on e4.

On the previous page, jdseemoreglass argues for 9. Bxc6 on the grounds that if we don't play this move right away, Black can eliminate the pin on his Knight with ...Bd7, but I think the threat of 10. NxN is too strong for Black to play the immediate 9...Bd7 (see the third point in this post), so we can afford to delay this move. Everything else being equal, we stand to gain from waiting to cash in our chips. For example, after we play Bxc6 Pxc6, Black will have the option of ...Bh6--something he didn't have until we exchanged off our Bishop.

There's also 9. PxP e.p. to consider. It's worth a longer look than the others because it's a limited-time offer--if we don't play it now, we can't play it again. However, in general, I agree with jdseemoreglass's assessment: Meanwhile, I don't see much for us to gain in exchanging off our strong central pawn (which is all the stronger now that Black's d-pawn has passed it), so I don't think that we should go for this exchange.

9. Bxc6, 9. PxP e.p., 9. Qa4, 9. Qb3, or 9. a3

9. O-O is certainly a solid move. The question here is, do we have better? I think we might....


9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Qa4. I didn't see this move in my last analysis, but it looks strong. Here we are forking the c6 pawn, and the bishop at b4. Let's look at black's options...



10. ...Rb8 defending the bishop. (10. ... a5 would lose the rook or the d-pawn after Qxc6+.) Here, we have the option of taking a free pawn. 11. Qxc6+. Black can't interpose the bishop, because he would then lose his d-pawn. So 11. ... Qd7 12. Qxd7 Bxd7 13. a3, and we are safely up a pawn with queens off the board.



-OR-

10. ... Bxd2. Here we retake with the knight in order to attack the black knight on e4. Black shouldn't allow us to capture his knight next move, and he doesn't have a good escape square. 11. Nxd2 Nxd2 12. Bxd2, and here, there isn't much black can do to prevent us from dominating the dark squares, and making his doubled c-pawns a liability. For example, placing the queen on c2 or the bishop of the a3-f8 diagonal, and his doubled pawns will be stuck in place, and his a-pawn is weak and isolated.

I feel that castling in this position loses our tempo.

Consider 9.0-0 Bxd2 10.Bxd2 Bd7, and black has eliminated the threat of a NxN trade.

Looks like a draw with the opposite colored bishops IMO. I think black can still draw while 2 pawns down

After 9. 0-0 Bxd2, we're free to play 10. Bxc6+

10...Bxd2+ and Black is fine.

Allowing black to castle significantly changes the tactics involved.

1) After Qa4, the c-pawn is no longer pinned. Black can play c5, defending his bishop, removing his pawn from attack, and undermining our pawn center. We can perhaps still win a pawn here after dxc5, but the position does not seem as favorable as playing Bxc6+ first.

9. O-O O-O 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Qa4 c5




2) Because we won't be capturing the c-pawn with check, black now doesn't have to exchange queens. He can play for example:

9. O-O O-O 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Qa4 Rb8 12. Qxc6 Rb6 13. Qc2 Bf5




3) Part of the strength of the Bxd2 line above is that we can threaten to occupy the a3- f8 diagonal, preventing black from castling. Black's c-pawn is hanging and he can't meet both threats at the same time:




Perhaps there are alternate moves for either side that are better. In either case, the position is less clear and less forcing, and seems to offer black better chances imo.

I looked at 9. Qa4 and wasn't satisfied with how easily Black can get out of it. But By taking Bishop first, it creates a weakness in black's pawn structure. Additionally, we can follow it up with 10. Qa4 which defeats the outpost for black's knight (10...Bxd2+ 11. Nxd2 and the Knight is forced away or 10...Rb8 11. 0-0 which also leads to the knight moved away).

As far as 9. 0-0 goes, I think it kinda is a less aggressive move that lets black have an extra turn to prepare against a Bxc6 type move. Although after castling, it's gonna be very hard for black to maintain his pawn structure and his e4 knight. But like I've said before, I like to play more aggresive than most people.