TL Chess Match 4 - Page 87

Pending further review, I am under the impression that this will win a pawn. I don't love putting a knight back on d2. It seems we are inviting him to pull something out of a hat with this move but I'm ok with that.

How does this win a pawn? Please see the pages of analysis that qrs, greggy, and me have been posting. If anything, I think this gives our pawn back to black, or at best gives us an awkward, passive position where we are trying to hold on to the pawn we already have.

Can someone link me to the post where they refuted playing exf ep when Black plays f5? (After Nxe4 dxe4 Nd2 f5)

I dunno about 17.Nf4 in your last line. Can't black play 17...Bg5 right away and get to an opposite colored bishops ending, say 18.g3 Bxf4 19.gxf4 Ke6, and it looks like black gets his pawn back: 20.Rg1 g6 21.Rg3 Kd5 22.Rc3 Rhc8. At best this is a draw, white's pieces are still awkward too.

Easier to just give the line:

14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Nd2 f5 16.exf6 Bxf6 and now:

17.Nxe4 Re8 (oops) 18.f3 Bxd4 and b2 is hanging and if it is defended black plays Bb7 followed by Bxe4 and then Rxe4, winning the pawn back.

17.0-0 Ba6 18.Re1 (Rd1 Bd3 and the d pawn falls) Bxd4 19.Rxe4 (or Nxe4) Bxb2.

Hmm, actually these lines are more complicated than I thought. Taking 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Nd2 f5 16.exf6 Bxf6 as our starting point,

17.Nxe4 black must respond 17...Re8 first, because after 17...Bxd4 white has 18.0-0 and black can't take 18...Bxb2 because of 19.Rb1. However, after 18.f3 Bxd4 19.Kd1 Ba6 20.Kc2, how does black get his pawn back?

edit: I don't want to give the impression that I'm advocating these lines because I still think after my line above that white is in a tough spot given an open board and black's active bishops and rooks, I just can't see a direct way for black to regain the pawn.

Not sure exactly what you mean, looks like your lines got a bit messed up. If you are saying 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Nd2 f5 16.exf6 Bxf6 17.Nxe4 Bxd4 18.0-0 Bxb2 19.Rb1 Ba6, then 20.Rd1+ wins a piece instead of the 19.Re1 you give.

In your second line I see no reason for white to play 18.f3, I advocate 18.0-0.

It's neat how these themes emerge. d5 as a resource for White was found very early on. ...Ke6 as a resource for Black cropped up later on. At first, each of these moves were suggested for much later points in the game. It turned out that each was quite strong, in part because it pre-empted the other. Then there was a period of back-and-forth with each move competing to be played first, but at last it looks like ...Ke6 wins out: we can't safely play d5 by move 16.

With the weakness of our d-pawn, and the tangledness of our pieces, I wasn't able to find any line that looks good for us. It seems doubtful that we can even keep our extra pawn here.

14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Nd2 f5 16. f4

OK, I'm willing to put 16.exf6 to rest then. Couldn't make 17.0-0 work for white either.

Hmm, good stuff. After 15. Ng1 a5 16. Ne2 Ba6 17. Nf4 Bg5 18. g3 Bxf4 was giving white a free tempo to develop his kingside rook. How about 18...Rhd8 instead? This allows black to get a critical tempo and I don't see how white maintains an edge:

19.h4 Bxf4 20.gxf4 Ke6 and now d4 falls to black's rook.

19.Kd2 Ke7 and either

20.Ke3 Rb3+ 21.Kxe4? Bb7+ 22.d5 Bxf4

20.Kc3 a4

14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Ng1 a5 16. Ne2 Ba6
17. Nc3: Similarly to 17. Nf4 in the original line, the goal of 17. Nc3 is to prepare d5, the thematic move that if successfully played usually marks a strong position for White in the 14. Nxe4 lines. 17. Nf4 has the advantage of preventing 17...Ke6, which 17. Nc3 does not share. However, 17. Nc3 has the more telling advantage that it poses an immediate threat to the e4 pawn. If Black takes a move to defend it, White will be able to successfully play d5. If Black does not want to allow 18. d5, nor to sacrifice a pawn, the only alternative I see is a reckless dash with the King:
17...Ke6 18. Nxe4 Kd5 (forking the Knight and the d-pawn to regain the second pawn lost)
19. Nc3+ (retreating the Knight to its strong, active position on c3)
19...Kxd4 (capturing the d-pawn and threatening the e-pawn)
20. f4 (defending the e-pawn). Here's the position:
+ Show Spoiler [position] +It's an interesting position, but I have to say I prefer our side here. We've maintained our extra pawn and a strong pawn structure while removing that irksome e4 pawn. c2 is open for us to develop via Kc2, and Black's wandering King is more of a hindrance to him than a help: it gets in the way of his pieces and allows us to gain tempo by the possibility of checking him. The Bishop tied to the b2 pawn is still an issue, but we can eventually relieve it by playing something like Na4 or Nd1.

What do you think?

Alright I looked at lines concerning the en passant and it looks really crappy for white. I'm starting to suspect that Bxc6 was a bad move and I regret voting for it but that's in the pass.

For the majority of the day I've looked at moves playing 16. b4 instead of 17. b4 or 16. 0-0. I think it is superior. I looked back over the last 5 pages, and didn't see any analysis. Here is the line: 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Nd2 f5 16. b4

and then:

Line 1A: 16...Ke6 17. Nb3 Rd8 18. Be3 Bb7 19. Rc1 looks great for white.


Line 1B: 16...Rd8 17. Nb3 Ke6 pretty much leads to the same position as above, just a different move order.

LIne 1C 16. Rd8 17. Nb3 Ke8 18. Na5 Rb6 19. Be3 looks great for white after d5.

Line 2: 16...Ba6 17. g4!? then

17...fxg4 18. Rg1 (Nxd4 Bb7) h5 19. Nxe4 and Black doesn't look well at all. All his pieces are pinned down and white will follow up with developing his bishop (forcing the bishop pair off with Bg5 and then if necessary Nc5+).


17...Rhf8 18. gxf5 Rxf5 19. Rg1 (I think white can play Nxe4 now since if black plays Bb7, Ng3. I'm sticking with this line though) Bd3 20. Nb3 Rbf8 21. Be3 g6 and I think white can keep black out. (If black moves his bishop, he's gonna have major problems with Nc5).


17...Bd3 18. gxf5 Rhf8 19. Nb3 Rxf5 20. Nc5+ eliminates the bishop pair which should make it considerably easier for white to maintain his pawn.

Line 3: 16...a5 17. bxa5 Ke6 18. Ra2 (to bring it to b2 or c2) c5 19. dxc5


then 19...Kxe5 20. c6 Kd5 (I prefer because no annoying checks) 21. Rc2 Bc5 22. Bb2 Kxc6 23. Bd4 wins the Bishop or queens.

19...Bxc5 20. Rc2 Bd4 21. f4 (lol, reverse en passant) looks strong for white.

That's everything I got.