TL Chess Match 4 - Page 100

Pretty much the only move here, I don't see Bxd2 is good by droping our b pawn.

17. Nxd2: 10 (jdseemoreglass, Cloud9157, EnderSword, mastergriggy, hp.Shell, itsjustatank, Malinor, Malli, chesshaha, Mash2)
17. Bxd2: 1 (qrs)
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Overall, I think that 16...Nxd2 really contributed to solving our problems in this position:

• Powerful Black Knight on e4 presenting us with various threats on many lines--can't capture it without giving ourselves a new set of problems after ...dxe4
  
• Awkward White Knight on d2 cramping our position in all kinds of ways--nowhere good to move it to: f3 would be a nice possibility in theory if it weren't occupied by a different Knight...
  
• Black has the Bishop pair

Black did gain a bit of initiative by being the one to exchange Knights, and he still has the Bishop pair on an increasingly open board, but overall, I think that this benefitted us more than Ng5.

One particular thing that we've gained, in my opinion, is that we no longer need to worry about ...c5. With Black's Knight gone, the last hurdle to responding dxc5 is gone too: Black can still play ...Bxc5 to put his Bishop in a decent location, but without the e4 Knight to threaten ...Bxf2+, that move is much less dangerous to us. We can afford to allow it.

Meanwhile, ...c5 dxc5 has advantages for us as well:

• It gets rid of our isolated pawn
  
• and saddles Black with one in its stead.
  
• It helps us play b4 with tempo.

See below for a bit of analysis on the above.

Perhaps you'll change my mind on this, but I like the look of White after the 19. b4 lines. Here's a bit of analysis:
18. dxc5 Bxc5 19. b4 Bd4 20. Rb1
Rhe8 (the move you give as "doesn't look very good for white")
21. Rxe8 (eliminating the threat of ...Rxe1+, simplifying the game [good for us, as we are a pawn up].)
21...Kxe8 (forced, or Black drops a piece)
22. Bb2 (forcing the exchange of Bishops, as the d4 Bishop is pinned to the f6 pawn. [Note that the tactic 22...Bf5 fails to 23. Re1+ Be5 f4, winning the pinned Bishop. Similarly, 22...Be5 is ruled out by 23. Re1, exploiting the pin to win a pawn.])
22...Bxb2 (forced, as above.)
23. Rxb2, bringing us to the following position:
Final position (in PGN viewer)

I think this position is quite good for us. We have traded off a Rook and a Bishop, bringing us to an endgame where we maintain our one-pawn advantage. Furthermore, we have eliminated Black's dangerous Bishop pair, probably the last real advantage that he had over us in this position. Finally, Black's pawn structure consists of 4 isolated pawns, whereas our pawns are clustered in groups of 3 and 2, making them much more defensible. All of these are advantages for us.

Black can play ...a5 if he likes, especially since the b4 pawn is temporarily pinned to the b2 Rook, but without the dark-squared Bishop to contribute to the pressure on the pawn, we can just shrug that off and wait for Black to exchange if he so chooses. There's no threat there.

I don't have time to address 20...Bc3 at length just now, and perhaps it really is more problematic for us (the main threat seems to be ...a5 before we have a chance to properly deal with it), but at first look, 21. Re3 (21... d4 22. Rf3) seems like it a pretty good response. (Again, we see how the weakness of Black's isolated pawns is beginning to hamper him.)

After Nxd2, I think black's best and most obvious move is 17. ... a5. This restrains our b-pawn, allows black to develop his bishop BEHIND the pawn, Ba6.

I've been looking at both Nb1 and Nf1, but I'm still leaning towards the move b3. We simply need to untangle our pieces, get our bishop off the back rank, and connect our rooks, even if it means a temporarily passive knight. Otherwise our bishop will be tied down to defense of the b-pawn, and our rook will still be trapped in the corner.

I'd much rather have a defensive knight in a decent position than a passive rook and bishop in the corner.

I do see the point you make for why 19. b4 might be strong, my rationale as to why I am against it is because it gives black a much stronger end game than he deserves (maybe it's our best path in the end game). Although white has the pawn up, black has some fundamentally stronger positional notes:

(Note I am going off your pgn viewer position, as I can't upload any pictures at university)
1. Bishop vs. Knight end game favors Bishops if there are pawns on both sides of the board, and the two pieces are closer to equal when pawns are on only one side. In other words, it's going to be very difficult for white to force anything to happen with his pawns. The best chance he has is on the kingside (the a and b pawns really aren't going to get anywhere even if you push them).

2. Even though black's pawns are more isolated than whites, black does have a passed pawn. This will become an even bigger factor the more pieces we trade down (not so much pawns, the opposite in fact). We need to find a way to slow it down once it starts moving (basic moves like moving the king in front).

3. Black seems to be able to mobilize faster than white can, ie 23...Bf4 24. Nb3 Ke7 25. Rd2 Ke6 and black has his king in the center and will activate his rook next turn, where white's king is way in the back.

That's basically why I didn't like the position too much, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were a lot of lines out there where white can win an extra pawn due to the bad pawn structure, and that would definitely be enough to justify the position.

I totally forgot about a5 for black lol I love missing moves XD

My initial reaction to 17. a5 is that we could play Re3 (to prevent Rb3), Nf3, b3, and Bb2 to clean up our position a bit. At least those are the moves I'd like to play over the next four turns but I don't think black will be okay with that.

I kinda want to see what we can make out of 18. Re3 and 19. Rc3. I do think that we need to play b3 sooner than later if black plays a5.

One of the other things that I'm thinking after Re3 is that it's very hard for black to stop Nb3-c5. For instance if black plays 18...Bd6 19. Nb3 a4 20. Nc5+ we force that pesky Bishop off or if he plays 18...a4 immediately, we respond with 19. b3 c5 (19...axb3 Nxb3 and Nc5+ gives us an outside passed pawn with a nice knight) 20. dxc5 Bxc5 21. Rd3 Ba6 22. Rxd5+ Kc6 23. Rxc5+ Kxc5 was a very interesting line which would make for an interesting end game.

I can't get the editor to work so just copy and paste this + Show Spoiler + here

I realize that this edit is a lot of random thoughts on the matter, but I wanted to express them before I forget them so I can look more into them later.

I just don't think 17...c5 works out for the reasons you mentioned. 18.dxc5 Bxc5 19.b4 Bd4 20.Rd1 Bc3 is met by 21.Rd1 and black won't have time to play a5. 20...Re8 21.Rxe8 Kxe8 22.Bb2 as you explained isn't great for black either.

I don't think the 17...Rg8 or Re8 moves are particularly threatening for white either. After 17...Re8 (seems the more threatening of the two) 18.b3 Bd6 19.Rxe8 Kxe8 20.g3 (to prevent Bf4) I don't see how black stops white from proceeding with this plan to play Bb2 and then activate his rook. Looks OK for white - black still has the two bishops, but white is improving his position slowly.

That's why I think black will play 17...a5, where we can proceed with 18.b3 Ba6 19.Bb2 a4 20.b4 Bd6, where black's two bishops are strong and white's bishop is terrible. However, white is beginning to finally untangle and his bishop may eventually see the light of day along the c1-h6 diagonal. I think this position is close to equal.

His next move, I agree with jd. It can either be 17.... a5 or ....c5, at least if I was black I those would be my choices, with slight preference to ...c5. Both ...Rg8 and Rb8 are bold, but somehow I sense they don't fall into the pattern of how Ng5 has been playing so far.

Which would bring us to master's analysis in which we can 18. Nf3 cxd4 19. Nxd4 Bc5 20. Nf5..... and right there we have to wait for his move, as there are several options he has available.

I also still have b4 on my mind, because it's the immediate response if the bishop is developed via ....Ba6. Either way I would keep give preference to focus on the king side and other variants that can threaten a potential exchange in about 4 or 5 moves.