Pogonina vs Chess.com Move 23. ...

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

Alas, Natalia went for 23. a5 which is another way to preserve the dark squared bishop opposed to Bg4. Exchanges is not something to strive for unless there is a gain in some form and I do not see any tangible improvements for White if she would trade off. Black on the other hand would have something to win. That is easily seen if we boil it down to a K+pawns endgame. There is some more room for White but the black king can hold the fort.It looks as if Ng5 gives some good options to White and if Bg5, the pawn move to a5 is keeping the Be3 in play.

Candidates:

A) 23. ...Ng5

a) 24.Bb6 does not seem to work because g7 is a strong black square. Opening the g-line gives White nothing. 24. ... Nxf3+ 25.gxf3 Rcc8 26.Kh1 f5 27. Rg1 Kh8 =,

b) 24.Bxg5 Bxg5 We have opposite coloured bishops but it is not really important since all the heavy pieces are left. If on the other hand one side gets initiative the difference in colour controll could be interesting. 25.Ra4 Going for b6/b7. 25. ... g6 Giving the king some air and placing pawns on the colour that obstructs White's bishop and does the opposite for Bg5. 26.Rb4 If the rook gets to b6 it also adds pressure on d6. Maybe b5 is necessary here? Let's try passive first.

b1) 26. ... Qc5  27.Qa4 Rd8 28.Rb6 Re7 29. Rd5 Qc7 30.Qb4 + All white heavy pieces are bearing down on d6. So let's look at an aggressive approach.

b2) 26. ... b5 27.axb6 Rb7 28.Be2 Rxb6 29.Rxb6 Qxb6 30.Bc4 a5 31.g3 +  Well all those lines look nice for White.

B) 23. ...Bg5 24.Bb6 a)Rcc8 25.Bg4 With the idea Qb3. 25. ... Kh8 26.Qb3 Rfe8 and the regrouping Ra1-a4-b4 looks good for White.

C) 23. ... h6 24.Bg4 Can't help it. I like this move. I don't see anything really changing. White has the same options as before.

D) 24. ... Nc5 does change that and are we looking at a repetition of moves? This is my choice. All other options look downhill.

To sum it up