game analysis: Bishops in the Phillipines

Post-mortem and computer analysis of this vote chess game: http://www.chess.com/votechess/game.html?id=15973

I pick up the analysis starting with our 4th move:

4... cxd4. Correct.  White has a small advantage (+.13@18)

5... Nc6. Correct.

6... Nf6. Rybka agrees with Jimvger, going with the standard knight development to f6 over Nh6.  Black has equalized the game.  Rybka thinks Nh6 is an inaccuracy, scoring it slightly for white +.17@15.

7... O-O. Correct.

8... d6?!  brazenbishop argued for Rybka's preferred move d5, which scores a solid -.39@15.  We voted for the more conservative d6, which still favors black but at a much closer -.16@14.  

9... Nd7.  Rybka still wants black to strike at the center with d5, a move we didn't even consider here (not surprisingly).  Our move is an inaccuracy that swings the balance back in white's favor, going from -.10 to +.12@14.

10... Nxd4.  The computer wants a5 scoring the game +.08@14.  Our move is much worse, scoring +.40@14.  Ignore brazenbishop at your peril!

11... e5.  Rybka thinks a bit but eventually agrees that this strike at the center is best.  +.40@16

12... b6.  Jimvger asks "what about f5?" late in the comments, and elindauer likes it and actually votes for it.  Rybka confirms this is the best move, scoring it +.42@16.  Our move of b6 is good too though, coming in +.53@14.

13... Rb8. Easy and correct.

14... Bb7.  Rybka likes Re8, then Nf6, then back to Re8, scoring the game +.62@13. Our move scores just as well... there were a lot of similar plans here apparently.

15... Rxb7.  Correct.

16... f5?!  We finally return and find Rybka's favorite move from earlier... good job team!  Unfortunately, Rybka likes Nf6 now, scoring it 0.2 better (+.32@14).  The computer doesn't like Bg5 coming... good thing for us it wasn't played!

17... Nf6.  Surprisingly, rybka wants to trade bishops and thinks the game favors black a bit after Bxh6.  Our move scores almost as well though and with the help of a couple inaccuracies from white we have now equalized the game.

18... Qc8??  White's last move (Bg5) is a blunder!  Rybka immediately spots the tricky Ne4!  We never even considered this move, spending our time between Qd7 and Qc8.  Ne4 scores -1.61@15, while Qc8 favors white scoring +.28@15.  Ouch!!

19... Ne4!  elindauer finally spots this strong move, and it's enough to equalize the game.  brazenbishop notices that maybe we should have played it last move, but oh well, too late now.  The alternative move of dxe5 favors white.

20... Nxg5?  Rybka votes for brazenbishop's Qxc4, scoring -.29@15.  Our move favors white again, scoring +.21@14.  Ouch!

21... Qxc4.  We didn't consider any other moves.  Rybka now wants Bxe5, but considers our move to be just as good.

22... Kh8.  Correct.

23... dxe5.  White blunders playing Rd1 and we pounce by finding the best move.  We are now winning!!  -1.30@16.  White should have played exd6 with a small advantage, although we had a line prepared that we felt should give us at least a draw here.  fyi, Rybka wants exd6 Bf6, declining the b2 pawn that we were thinking about grabbing in our analysis.  exd6 Bxb2 also slightly favors white according to Rybka.

24... Qc7.  Correct.  Our advantage grows.

25... Qd7.  Correct.  We cross the 2 pawn advantage mark now.

26... hxg6.  Correct.

27... Qd4.  brazenbishop is on his game, coming up with the best move yet again in a disputed position.  Qd4 scores -2.18@14, while the defensive Qe7 scores only -1.97@12.

28... Kg8.  Correct.

29... Qxb2.  Correct.  White has wasted time playing h3, and our advantage is now increased to -2.6.

30... Qxa3.  Rybka stops grabbing pawns and goes for the quite e4 here, scoring -2.88@13.   Our move scores almost as well though, and we are solidly winning.

31... e4!  Continuing our trend, we find Rybka's move just a little late.  We spend a lot of energy analyzing this tricky position and find the best move, scoring -3.2@11.  Was it time well spent?  well, after Qe7 Rdd6 Rc7 Rxg7!! we have less then a 1 pawn advantage, scoring -.82@15.  Maybe we still win, but it would be much less clear.

32... Qe7.  Correct.

33... Qxg5.  Correct.  As we thought, this is the death knell for white.  We are now up more then a rook scoring -6.05@15.

34... a5.  Rybka pushes the b pawn, but both are strong moves.

35... a4.  Correct.

36... a3?  Rybka says b5 is better, as it finds Ra2 Ra7 Rg3 annoying.  Still a crushing advantage though.  

37... Ra7.  Correct.

38... Kh7.  Correct.

39... Rb8.  Rybka plays b5.  Our move is just as good.

40... b5.  Correct.

White loses on time with a current score of -8.04@16.

It was back and forth in the middle game there, with both teams making a good number of inaccuracies.  We blundered badly by missing 18... Ne4, but otherwise we tended to find the good moves, even if we played them in a less-then-perfect move order.

Good win team!