Pogonina vs Chess.com Move 22. ...

Pogonina vs Chess.com Move 22. ...

http://www.chess.com/votechess/game.html?id=14051

Move 21. ... Nc5 was one of my two main candidates. I also saw 21. ... h6 as an option to get rid of the giant pawn at e7. The b-pawn push was, to my view, somewhat dangerous and possibly giving Pogonina a second weakness to fire at.

It is easy to single out the candidate moves for move 22 since White's queen is threatened. The queen can move (6 options) or the attacker can be eliminated.

22. Qa2

22. Qa3

22. Qb4

22. Qc2

22. Qc4

22. Qd5 The level of endgame know how between the teams is, without a doubt, much in Pogonina's favour, especially considering the amount of spontaneous voters or voters not investing time enough. So going into an endgame here would be normal but also tactically correct. The critical line must be 22. ... Qxd5 23.Rxd5 Keeping the pressure on d6.

22. Bxc5 will solve Black's problem with the backward pawn. Black is left with a "bad" bishop but White's remaining bishop isn't that much better. It is still a slightly better position for White but winning chances are reduced. If one plays for a draw, this would be the line. I don't believe Pogonina is planning for a level score.

Argh ... No time now ... later tonight