Move 18. Conditional Move Thread

18. Bb5 Ng4 19. g3 Rxc1+ 20. Rxc1 Rc8  [ I like trading rooks if he leaves the file open. It gives us a chance to move in with our queen. ] 21. Bc4 [ his strongest defensive position ] Nf6 22. Ne1 is dubious when he has 22. Ne5

However, I do like that you've seen the maneuver to get ...Nd6 to break through at c4.

18. Bc4

Late-nite work produced:

18...Rd7 [ begins some unpredictable stuff  and I looked at this a couple of days ago ] 19. Ba3 a5 20. Bxb4 axb4 21. Ne5 Rdc7 22. Rb1 Qa8 [ or a7 ] 23. Rxb4 Qa5 24. Rb5 Qxa4 25. Rxb6

A "more sensible" approach:

18...Bd5 19. Bxd5 Nfxd7 [ ...exd5 leaves Nb4 a bit weak after 20. Ne5 ]

From this position Nf3-e5 might be met by ...f6 since White is much weaker in any attacking try without his light square bishop.

It's slightly provocative since White has e3-e4, but it's hard to see this leading anywhere for White.

Trying to fight White's LSB:

18...Ne4 [ immediately heading for d6 ]

19. Ne5 Bd5 [ getting rid of Bc4 every time White is even looking at an attack ]

19. Ba3 Nd5 [ taking aim at c3 ]

Hard to choose again. We could have another barroom brawl over these possibilities.

Ok, so here is my 18. Bb5 a6 analysis... it is not 'finished' per se... but its all I can do tonight... the conclusion is that I like 19... Ng4 a lot better than other moves... we'll have to compare positions with other possibilities for our 18th move to come to consensus... there are 3 diagrams one for 3 of our possible 19th moves

19... Ng4

19... Bd5

19... a5

Yes, it's a boring type of position so let's spice it up a bit. If we play the normal and predictable moves, I think it's clear for everybody that this will be a draw. If we lose, at least it will have been an interesting game.

Thanks for all your work.  I am trying to capture each move as we vote.  Though I may comment as the positions clarify and simplify, for now I am content to visit and to draw from your analysis.

Glad that it is here.  

Last word:  I just want to second all the comments calling for topically tributary comments.  We are on move 18 here.  Move 17 might as well be move 5.

I move that trolling for argument should be highly discouraged.  There are enough potential disagreements about where we go from here without people stirring the pot, as it were.

risto1:  If you continue to post offensive comments toward whoever of our team members, I am going to do two things at once:

- report you to chess.com staff, as a result of which we may lose your presence on this site altogether, as unfortunate as that may be;

- ban you from the Alliance team -- I can do that as I am one of the super-admins.

I'd rather that this does not happen, so I advise you to stop posting words that are offensive to anyone here.  It would be an added benefit if you would apologize for insults you might have said already.  I trust that you are capable of changing your tone from this point on.  (I have already spoken to VegetableMan and advised him to avoid and ignore any provocations.)

Please understand that no matter how good in chess you might be, what makes us all a good team is the team spirit, so my goal (and that of others) for The Chess Alliance is to keep a good balance and cooperative spirit.  This applies to everyone who wishes to participate here.

Thank you for your understanding!

Hi! It's a new day! ...aaa in fact it's the same day isn't it?

First of all sorry for the double post, it was late, I was tired and it seemed to me that the site did not post my comment so I pasted it again. Probably my mistake though. No trolling or spamming intended.

@risto - you are probably right there; after Rd7 he may play a5 and we have to take the pawn bxa5 Rxa5; I don't know if white has any advantage but it's not what I had in mind.