IncrediBill vs zrylam (with kibitzers)

Ah yes, b6, daring black to blockade the pawns by further giving up white squares, a gutsy move

Double duty for your bishop is like double plassive here (although black's rooks aren't doing much either).  Bd4 would have offered a favorable trade for white, and perhaps another favorable point is it clears the c file (only your rooks can contest the light squares).

As for black, Qg4 is nearly a perpetual so if white wants to win need to look closely at those kinds of lines too... because like you said those pawns should make black nervous.

Need to consider moves like this.

wafflemaster...

I liked your sequence of moves for perpetual. But first things first...

@4m4z1ng, what's the point of Be5? Yes, it's useful for sure, but if you were looking for taking out the pawns, you need the queen too. Secondly, if you were thinking of Be5 - Bxh2+, that won't lead to perpetual, since as wafflemaster has shown, White has an exit on f1-e2. And the two open files are less powerful than White's advanced pawns.

Now, @wafflemaster, I liked your sequence. On your second alternative variation, what is Black trying to do? The only way I see that'll work is with a little exchange sacrifice, or White moving his d1 rook. I haven't looked much, but that's what I see - Rxd6?! would have been !! if not for White's Rd1xd6...

I'll make a suggestion with your line though...which should avoid the perpetual. I've looked at 35...Bh6+ before...but I can't remember if it was the same situation. However, my suggestion lies at 36.Re3, sacrificing an exchange for avoiding the perpetual. My board will show it, and the crappiness of 36.Be3?? (which I put ?! on the board because it looked good, and then followed a sad ending...). Please find an error in my calculation - I think the 36.Re3 defense I've calculated before against Bh6, but that was with slightly different piece location. Look thoroughly please.

37...Bc3

Nice work, @ScarredEyes, with the analysis board in Post #179 and @wafflemaster in Post #178.  That was a lot of work you both put in, especially entering the comments after several of the moves.  It took me a while just to go through all of the lines and their alternatives, so it must have taken you a very long time to put it all together.

Most likely I will be going the 'dangerous' route rather than having the game end in a Draw.  After all of the work and comments and time put in, I figure that the game is in a 'do or die' situation.  A Draw would be just too anti-climactic.

Yeah, a draw would be anti-climactic :) But it's your choice.

Also, 37...Bc3 was suggested by someone else (can't remember name, post #180) which wins 2 pawns and looks set to be a win for Black:

For 37...Bc3 my first impression is 38.Qa4 with the double attack for white.  I don't see any checks so you'll have to show me the tactic.

I don't know, it was suggested. However, 38.Qa4! is good...good for White. I take back my analysis - Qa4 already refutes it. It removes the perpetual. Best thing Black could do is to lose the dark squared bishop and play 38...Bd2 29.Rxd2 Qc3+

Unless someone sees something else...

I should probably play Kf1 instead of Kh1, since both @wafflemaster and @ScaredEyes have shown that playing Kh1 will just result in black playing Qf3 followed by Qg4 and eventually forcing me over to the f1-square.  

So I am just wondering if I should just move to the f1-square in the first place and save us all some moves??? 

Of course,  maybe @zrylam might have some tricks up his sleeve and instead of playing Qf3 he might have some alternate strategy.  So maybe I should just go ahead and play Kh1 and give him the opportunity to execute his plans???

So what should I do???  Kf1 to speed up the game, or Kh1 to see if @zrylam has an alternate strategy???

30.Kh1 Qf3+ 31.Kg1

Does Black not have 31....Bc3?

 31...BC3 is an interesting idea, but it will not payoff for Black.  Here is why:

True. I calculated that very quickly in my head, and must've somehow missed 32.Bd4+.

Well...A plan against Kh1 may be Be5, trying to go for the weak h2 pawn, but Bd4 still stops that plan dead on its track, as long as it's immediate. Or Kg1 followed by Be5, and after White's Bd4 we have f4, a plan that has to be stopped since if g2 remains unprotected, f3-Qg2# or f3-Qh3-Qg2# if White tried to block the g file with Bxe5-. Maybe he wants his queen to be annoying in a different way. Maybe even going for the draw-after-50-moves-without-progress thingy.

I still don't see a plan for Black with Kh1 except for perpetual. At the same time, Kf1 itself is dangerous. I'd say Kf1 - I never settle for a draw unless it really is one.

I am going to go ahead and move my King into the corner; instead of the f1-square in an effort to skip the game ahead (as per Post #186).  It is generally the best move to make, and it might be interesting to see if @zrylam has some interesting tactics up his sleeve for my King in the corner.

Therefore, my official move is . . . . 30.Kh1

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA my analysis got lost! 

edit: it happened again, I guess third time's the charm!

RE: Post #192

Some very interesting lines you have posted there @stubborn_donkey, very insightful.  I was almost thinking that the game was getting to a point where niether player could start making aggressive moves and just have to play it safe.  But your lines showed that there could still be some real 'fire' left.  It will be interesting to see what direction the game actually takes.

P.S.  Thanks for your hard work with your analysis and comments, especially since you had to try three times to get it posted.

My analysis is very flawed, so you guys can feel free to ignore it. I missed some better moves for both sides.

Interesting move by @zrylam, not only because no one anticipated him moving to the f4-square, but because I assumed that he would continue to keep my King in check, until my King was chased out of the corner.

It seems, now,  that I have a free turn to shift the pieces around a bit and see if I can gain an advantage.  But I have so many options as to what direction to take the game in.

One option is to play 31.Be3 and attack his Queen.  Most likely he will respond with 31...Qf3 and proceed with chasing my King out of the corner.  However, once my King has been chased out, my Bishop will act as a barrier to prevent his Queen from continuing the pursuit.

Another idea I have is to bring my Queen down to the third rank, say 31.Qa3, and prevent his Queen from moving to the f3-square and chasing my King out of the corner in the first place.  It will also prevent his Queen from being able to slide across the 3rd rank.

Both options have their pros and cons, and there are a few others that I could consider as well.

Decisions, decisions . . . but which one to make???

The game is clearly coming to a major turning point.  I am going to have to consider my next move very carefully, because it is going to be a critical one and dictate how the rest of the game will play out.

My first two had Qf4.

Bd4 looks interesting, getting the other bishop out of the way, however it still leaves black with the option for a perpetual check/pushing the king out.

Be3 also leaves the possibility for perpetual check/queen out.

However, Q?3 doesn't allow the checking.