TL Chess Match 4 - Page 98

Suggested by greggy.

Immediate purpose: vacates e4.
+ Show Spoiler [position] +
Cons:

• Reduces the pressure exerted by the Knight on our position.
  
• Blocks the f8-a3 diagonal from Black's Bishop (which is already hemmed in on the other side by the f6 pawn).
  
  • In particular, this eliminates the threat of ...c5 for the moment.
    
  
  

Ways we might take advantage of this move:

• 17. b3 taking advantage of the fact that Black's Knight is no longer pressuring the Nd2 that supports b3:
  + Show Spoiler [position] +
  After 16. Re1 Nd6 17. b3
  
  Black to play
  
  Purposes:
  
  • Relieves our Bishop from the defense of the b-pawn.
    
  • Opens/screens the useful square b2 for our Bishop.
    
  • Guards c4 (a potentially useful square for Black's Bishop and/or Knight).
    
  
  
• 17. b4 taking advantage of the fact that Black's Knight blocks the Bishop from attacking b4. Now, if Black plays 17...a5, we can respond with 18. Rb1, defending the pawn.
  + Show Spoiler [position] +
  After 16. Re1 Nd6 17. b4
  
  Black to play
  
  Purposes:
  
  • Relieves our Bishop (and other pieces) from the defense of the b-pawn.
    
  • Opens/screens the useful square b2 for our Bishop.
    
  • Guards c5.
    
  
  Further analysis: by greggy (18... Nf5).
  

Assessment: Probably Black's best option, in my opinion, but nonetheless allows us a nice amount of room to continue to make progress.

Further analysis: by greggy (17. Nf1).

Suggested by jdseemoreglass.

Immediate purpose: vacates e4/counters to our Knight.

Here, assuming that we want our Knight back and we don't want to abandon our b2 pawn to the tender mercies of Black's Rook, 17. Nxd2 appears forced.
+ Show Spoiler [position] +
Cons (of this 16th move for Black):

• Exchanges a further piece from the board (as we are a pawn up, exchanges should favour us, all else being equal).
  
• In particular, removes a strong, well-developed piece (the e4 Knight) that has been exerting quite a bit of pressure on us.
  
• By allowing us to exchange one of our Knights that had been crowding our position, increases our flexibility (for instance, f3 becomes a viable place for our awkward Nd2).
  
• Opens up the e-file for our Rook.
  

Possible Black follow-ups (drawn from previously thematic Black moves):

• 17...c5 forcing a central pawn exchange, as ever.
  + Show Spoiler [position] +
  After 16. Re1 Nxd2 17. Nxd2 c5
  
  White to play
  
  With the Black Ne4 that had been pressuring f2 gone forever (and with the f-file blocked for Black), this move no longer seems very threatening: we can afford to let Black have his Bishop on c5. Meanwhile, the pawn exchange eliminates an isolated pawn for us and gives one to Black and allows us to play b4 with tempo.
  + Show Spoiler [position] +
  After 16. Re1 Nxd2 17. Nxd2 c5 18. dxc5 Bxc5
  
  White to play
  
  Further analysis: by greggy (18. Nf3).
  
  
• 17...a5 discouraging b4, as ever.
  + Show Spoiler [position] +
  After 16. Re1 Nxd2 17. Nxd2 a5
  
  White to play
  
  However, b3 accomplishes many of the same goals, and with the Black Ne4 that had been pressuring our Nd2 gone forever, it becomes a much stronger move.
  
  Alternative plans also look stronger in this position. For example, with Black no longer easily able to control the b1-h7 diagonal via moves like ...Bd3 or ...Bf5 (each of which takes him a couple of moves to play and which we have time to defend), we could consider a set-up with a Rook on b1, a Knight on f3, and our Bishop free to move along the c1-h6 diagonal.
  
  Further analysis:
  
  • by jdseemoreglass (18 b3).
    
  • by lightman (18. Re3).
    
  
  

Assessment: Although it seems better than many of Black's other options, because exchanging the Knight takes so much pressure off of our position, I feel that 16... Nxd2 is to our advantage and that Black will not play it.

Further analysis: by lightman (17...Ba6).

Suggested by mastergriggy and A-tan.

Immediate purpose: adds a defender to e4.
+ Show Spoiler [position] +
Cons:

• Blocks the b-file.
  
• Spends a move on the Bishop, meaning that Black cannot go on to play ...Ba6 without having 'wasted' a move.
  

Ways we might take advantage of this move:

• 17. Nb3 taking advantage of the block on the b-file:
  + Show Spoiler [position] +
  After 16. Re1 Bb7 17. Nb3
  
  Black to play
  
  Purposes:
  
  • Unblocks c1 bishop.
    
  • Removes Black option of ...Nxd2.
    
  • Controls/threatens to blockade a5, opening the way to safely play b4 (i.e. without allowing Black to break up our position by playing ...a5).
    
  • Exerts influence on c5, discouraging Black (for the moment) from playing ...c5 (with the associated threat of dxc5 Bxc5, taking aim at f2.
    
  
  
  Further analysis: by A-tan (17...Ba6).
  
  
• 17. b4 taking advantage of the block on the b-file to play the long-desired b4 without further preparation. The point is that Black's usual counter, ...a5, can now be met by b5.
  + Show Spoiler [position] +
  After 16. Re1 Bb7 17. b4
  
  Black to play
  
  Purposes: as usual:
  
  • Relieves our Bishop from the defense of the b pawn (without throwing it onto another piece, as b3 would).
    
  • Opens/screens useful square for our Bishop at b2.
    
  • Definitively controls c5: in particular preventing ...c5 (which it can continue to prevent from b5, if necessary).
    
  
  Further analysis:
  
  • by A-tan (17...a5 18. bxa5).
    
  • by mastergriggy (17... Rhg8).
    
  
  

Assessment: Because 16...Bb7 gives us the chance to safely play b4, I feel that it is to our advantage and that Black will not play it.

Further analysis: by A-tan (17. Nxe4).

Immediate purpose: vacates e4.
+ Show Spoiler [position] +
Cons: Seemingly combines the disadvantages of 16...f5 and 16...Nxd2 in that after 17. Nxg5 fxg5 18. Nf3 (probably with tempo, as it attacks the g5 pawn),

• we have exchanged one of our crowded Knights for Black's strong one.
  
• we have the ability to play 19. Ne5+.
  

+ Show Spoiler [position] +

After 16. Re1 Ng5 17. Nxg5 fxg5 18. Nf3

Black to play

Assessment: Because it appears to give up most of Black's pressure on us for no discernable advantage, I'm fairly sure that Black will not play it.

Probably the most aggressive of Black's plausible responses to 16. Re1, but also the most dubious after 16...f5?.

Immediate purpose: counter-attacks our d4 pawn.
+ Show Spoiler [position] +
Cons: allows us to win a second pawn.

Ways we might take advantage of this move:

While there are other moves at our disposal, the only move that seems to challenge Black's aggressive 16...c5 is to accept the offered sacrifice by playing 17. Nxe4.
17...dxe4 recapturing the Knight: forced
18. Rxe4 taking the pawn
18....Bb7 skewering the Re4 and the Nf3 (the two defenders of d4)
19. Rf4 moving the Rook to a place whence it defends the d-pawn and the Nf3, and threatens the f6 pawn (restraining Black from moving his Be7).
+ Show Spoiler [position] +
After 16. Re1 c5 17. Nxe4 dxe4 18. Rxe4 Bb7 19. Rf4

Black to play
Here, although Black has some threats that look scary at first glance (e.g. ...Bxf3, ...Rhg8), in the end I think we come out all right and manage to keep our extra pawn.

• The weakness of the f6 pawn, along with Black's inability to immediately defend d4, allows us to respond to 19...Bxf3 with 20. Rxf3, temporarily abandoning the d-pawn: if then 20...cxd4, 21. Rf4 regains the pawn by forking the f6 and d4 pawns, only one of which can Black's Bishop defend at a time.
  
• 19...c4 concedes us the second pawn, and while we may be left with some short-term awkwardness in untangling our pieces, with Black two pawns in the hole and lacking any serious threats, I find it hard to believe that we have anything to worry about.
  
• 19...Be7 allows 20. Rxf6 straight off the bat
  
• and other moves, including 19...Rhg8, allow us to consolidate our pawn and free up our position with 20. dxc5.
  

Assessment: I'm sure that Ng5 would love to play this move, if there were a way to make it work, but I don't think there is.

Immediate purpose: adds a defender to e4.
+ Show Spoiler [position] +
Cons:

• Loses the exchange by force (see below).
  

Ways we might take advantage of this move:

17. Ne5+ taking advantage of e5 having opened up.
+ Show Spoiler [position] +
After 16. Re1 f5 17. Ne5+

Black to play

+ Show Spoiler [17...Kd6/Kd8] +
18. Nf7+ King{somewhere} 19. Nxh8 wins the Rook (although Black will eventually capture the Knight).


+ Show Spoiler [17...Ke6/Ke8] +
18. Nc6 threatening the Rb8 18... Rook{somewhere} 19. Nxe7 Kxe7 20. f3 attacking the Knight who is pinned to the King, winning the Knight. (Variations involving ...Nxd2 are possible, but make little difference to the result.)

Assessment: 16...f5 is a losing move for Black.

16. b4: 7 (hype[NZ], mastergriggy, TehForce, ffreak, hp.Shell, GenesisX, Archers_bane, Chezus, indigoawareness, LaXerCannon)
16. Re1: 15 (Malli, dtvu, wuBu, sGs.Kal_rA, lightman, Raysalis, shackes, keyStorm, TehForce, wizard944, mastergriggy, GenesisX, SheaR619, Blazinghand, qrs)
16. Nxe4: 2 (jdseemoreglass, aphorism, SheaR619)

I was busy this weekend, just a quick look. I think Re1 is the best move right now. If 15. ... Bxf6, I would be playing Nxe4, but I don't think it is good because of dxe 17. nd2 f5. Seems pretty even right now

16. b4: 7 (hype[NZ], mastergriggy, TehForce, ffreak, hp.Shell, GenesisX, Archers_bane, Chezus, indigoawareness, LaXerCannon)
16. Re1: 20 (Malli, dtvu, wuBu, sGs.Kal_rA, lightman, Raysalis, shackes, keyStorm, TehForce, wizard944, mastergriggy, GenesisX, SheaR619, Blazinghand, qrs, Ikari, Mash2, Soluhwin, Psilver, chesshaha)
16. Nxe4: 3 (jdseemoreglass, aphorism, SheaR619, Malinor)

The more I analyzed our position, the more important this move came to seem. It's a critical move for many reasons:

• It defends the b-pawn on b2, freeing us to move the Bishop, whether or not we move the pawn.
  
• It lends additional support to the pawn on b3, if we choose to move it there.
  
• It lends additional support to the pawn on b4, if we choose to move it there.
  
• It supports the pawn on b5, in case we ever move it there.
  
• It defends the Bishop on b2, in case we ever move it there.
  
• It contests Black's Rb8 for control of the b-file, in case we ever clear the file, e.g. via bxa5.
  
• Once the b-pawn has moved, it supports the Knight on b3, in case we ever move it there.

It may seem like these reasons are all more or less the same, and I'm just trying to make one idea look like many by subdividing it into more or less equivalent cases. That's not really true, though. Rather, the various bullet points correspond to various situations we might find ourselves in, depending on how the game develops. There are cases where we have a Knight on b3 and might want to keep it there. There are cases where we have a pawn on b4 and might want to keep it there. There are cases where we might want to play b5, if we had the chance. There are cases where we have decided to move the pawn to b3 but might want the Nd2 to be free to move. There are cases where we have decided to move the Bishop to b2 but might want the b- pawn free to capture without leaving the Bishop exposed and undefended to attack. In all of these various cases, a Rook on b1 can play a crucial role for us.


In other lines, the move seemed problematic, as it exposed the Rook to attack via ...Ba6 Re1 Bd3, forcing the Rb1 right back where it came from. In that situation, Rb1 seemed like a waste of time, at best.

16. Re1 has changed the situation, however. Black cannot play ...Ba6 immediately without losing a pawn, so we have gained a critical tempo. At this point, ...Bd3 is no longer something we have to worry about. Suddenly, Rb1 becomes worth looking at.


For a couple of reasons:

• It retains flexibility. We want the Rook on b1 in many lines, but we'd like not to have to commit to them until Black gives us more to go on. For example, we might want to push the pawn to b3 or to b4, or maybe even not to push it at all. If we can delay the decision without losing tempo, then we might stand to benefit by letting Black be the first to commit. For example, if Black plays ...Ba6, all of a sudden, we can play b4 without thinking twice about it.
  
  A Rook on b1 is useful in all of the above lines. For that reason, it's a way for us to get the jump on Black by going ahead with our plan before determining its every detail.
  
  
• On the other side of the coin, Rb1 offers fewer opportunities for Black than other moves we might consider. For example, if we push the b- pawn first, Black can play ...Nc3, which at least temporarily rules out Rb1. If we play Rb1 first, we are limiting Black's options, compared to the other moves we might to play.
  
  
• In the 16...Bb7 line, Rb1 also has a very immediate use: it defangs ...Nxd2 by enabling us to recapture the Knight with our Bishop, after which our pieces will be largely untangled.

The above general reasons aren't substitutes for analysis. For example, b4 is another move that we may want to prioritize in some lines, in order to play it before Black can play ...a5. So I'm not saying that Rb1 should definitely be the next move we play. I'm saying that it should have an important place in your analysis for next move. Hopefully the reasoning above gives sufficient justification.

Suppose instead 20...f5, discovering an attack on the Knight from the Be7. I can't see how White hopes to save it. The Knight has nowhere to run, g3 is useless because the g-pawn is pinned, and Bg3 fails to ...f4. We can grab a pawn with 21. Bxc7, but after 21... Rbc8, we're in the same boat as before: two pieces are under attack and one of them has to fall. As far as I see, we end up losing a piece for two pawns, and Black still has the Bishop pair.

This line I like better, but what if instead of your 17th move, Black gets straight to the point with 17...a5? Originally, I thought that we could respond with 18. b5, but after 18...a4 cuts it off, it looks like we'll end up losing the b-pawn. If so, bxa5 seems to be all but forced, although we can stall with Rb1. After 18. bxa5, your (18)...Rhg8 looks quite a bit scarier (18. Rb1 Rhg8 19. bxa5 transposes).

we have to resign ourselves to being unable to stop Black from playing ...c5.

If black play Bb7, I think we can take another look at the move b4. The situation is significantly changed now that the bishop not only blocks the b-rook, but also no longer guards the a6-f1 diagonal. Since the bishop has the left f5 diagonal, perhaps we can also consider Nh4 here?

If black plays Nd6, b4 is also a little stronger than it was before because the knight can no longer jump to c3, and because the dark-squared bishop is blocked. Perhaps we can also look at the Nb1-Nc3 maneuver.

See my post above yours for 17. b4 after Black plays 16...Bb7. It may not be altogether refuted, but it doesn't make me at all comfortable. Black can still pry open the b-file with ...a5, and he still has a lot of pressure on us after ...Rhg8. I'm beginning to favour the b3 plan after 16...Bb7.

If 16...Nd6, then b4 might be more viable, partly because the Knight can no longer jump to c3, as you said, and partly because ...c5 is not much of a threat anymore. Your idea of using the Nb1-c3 maneuver here also looks like it may have promise.

Overall, I'm starting to think that 16...Bb7 may be Black's strongest move after all, because it keeps up the pressure on us by maintaining the Knight on e4. If nothing else, it's in Ng5's style. If I had to guess, I'd pick 16...Bb7 as the move we're going to face.

first line: 21. Nf3 to safely hold on to the knight (I am not positive if this is good or not) . As a side note, I think Nxe4 is one of white's weaker possibilities.

I have nothing. If black plays that move immediately, it shuts down white's play and therefore I think it's safe to say that it's bad for white to play

From the start position, lines from black playing Bb7


I've already done a lot of analysis for this line with white playing 17. b4 Rhg8 (this post here), but it seems that black still has the strong move, 17...a5 (thanks to qrs pointing this out) that prevents white from gaining much by b4.

I'm going to look for other white follow ups to 16. Re1 Bb7

+ Show Spoiler [17. Nb3] +

+ Show Spoiler [17. Nb1] +

+ Show Spoiler [17. Nh4] +

Overall, 17. Nh4 is my favorite move for white. I'll read any analysis about 17. b3 before I make my vote though.

The only objection I've really been concerned about with b3 is the fact that our knights are locked up and I think it would be good to move them before we worry about pawns. But I have no analysis to back that claim up, which is why I am reserving my vote until I see what b3 offers.

This analysis all revolves around black playing Bb7. I have done some for Nd3 to, and I'll probably post that sometime tomorrow.