I'll go with Nf2, too. We're getting ready to spring something, and he knows it. I'm almost sure he'll play Bb4, and trade them off, or at least keep some tension on.
I'll go with Nf2, too. We're getting ready to spring something, and he knows it. I'm almost sure he'll play Bb4, and trade them off, or at least keep some tension on.
I'm going to make the move now. We've already taken a lot longer than we should have done. We should obviously allow Martin extra time if he needs it.
I'm sure 16. g4 wouldn't have been bad either. There are some critical lines (like 16. g4 Bb4 17. Bc3 Bxc3 18. Qxc3 hxg4 19. fxg4 Nxe4) that I haven't had time to look at enough where it's not clear to me whether we are actually better. We lose a pawn in that line, but I'm pretty sure we get enough compensation to at least equalize. But in almost all other lines I've looked at after 16. g4 we get a very good position or get 5 checks. It's basically just one line that ruins everything.
It will be nice to get a break from the game now (while it's Martin's turn). I've spent way too much time analyzing on move 16. I have other stuff I need to do.
why are you guys big braining so hard, martin is literally 250 rating and he doesn't really make good moves unless it is a forced move.
lol
His rating is 2000+
But regardless, even if his rating was 250, I still want to play as perfectly as possible.
why are you guys big braining so hard, martin is literally 250 rating and he doesn't really make good moves unless it is a forced move.
This is event chess, he could be better at this, and besides hes 2000+ rating online
I've just beaten Martin in a long running game and need a break. I'll still probably check in every day or two, I'm modding a game so can't disappear altogether, so I will likely still take a look at the position when Martin moves, but I do need a break. That game was ridiculously intense.
Sorry I've pretty much abandoned all my games this last couple of weeks, I'm surprised we're at 9 days again.
Have we looked at g4 in this position?
Qd1 gives black a free check, and if we block he can trade for another check. Not good.
b3 is an option, improving our position and asking Martin if he has an active plan.
I don't hate Kf1 with intention to walk the king to h1.
0-0-0 might be worth a look to bring our rook into the attack, the question is if Martin can then open up the queenside to attack the king. b5 looks like it might do that, so I'm not sure about castling queenside. I think a king walk to h1 is better.
I'm sorry too for waiting so long (I didn't start analyzing until today). I believe I've already looked at most of the lines after 17. g4 here earlier. I'm currently looking at my old analysis to see if I've missed anything.
After 17. g4 hxg4 18. fxg4 black doesn't have to play 18...Nexg4. We should probably consider black's alternatives. For example after 18...Kg8 I think neither 19. h5 nor 19. g5 works for us (our knight on f2 will get overworked), but I think we can instead play either 19. Rg3 or 19. Qd1 (to protect g4) and have a fine position.
I'm currenlty leaning towards palying 17. g4 here. I will analyze more later today.
The reason I like 17. g4 is that it's opening up the position and if black just plays a waiting move (e.g. 17...Kg8) then maybe we can play 18. gxh5 and have a fine position.
I'm fairly convinced that 17. g4 hxg4 18. fxg4 Nexg4 19. h5 is bad for black. We get some serious compensation for the pawn and even win in many lines. In other words black can't get a "free" pawn after 17. g4 (I think).
But I don't think I've looked at a lot of the lines after 17. g4 where black throws in the move ...Bb4 at some point, .e.g. 17. g4 Bb4 right away.
Sorry this took much longer than I expected. I've been analyzing 17. g4 all day.
I've already looked at most of the critical lines after 17. g4 on earlier moves. See post #482, #489 and #490. Most of the lines I've already analyzed start with 17. g4 hxg4 18. fxg4 Nexg4 19. h5 (but with a different move order).
Here are some more lines (where black plays ...Bb4 at some point):
17. g4 Bb4 18. Bc3 Bxc3 19. bxc3 hxg4 20. fxg4 Nexg4 21. h5 Kg8 22. hxg6 and I think black is in big trouble. He can't play 22...fxg6 or 22...Nxf2 and we are threatening Bf5 (winning a piece). Also black's king is exposed. I don't see a good move for black. For example
17. g4 Bb4 18. Bc3 Bxc3 19. bxc3 hxg4 20. fxg4 Nexg4 21. h5 Kg8 22. hxg6 fxg6 23. Be6+ and we win black's queen with a fork
or 17. g4 Bb4 18. Bc3 Bxc3 19. bxc3 hxg4 20. fxg4 Nexg4 21. h5 Kg8 22. hxg6 Nxf2 23. Rh8+ Kxh8 24. Qh6+ Kg8 25. Bh7+ Kh8 26. g7#.
Some more lines (where black plays ...Bb4 at some point):
17. g4 Bb4 18. Bc3 Bxc3 19. bxc3 hxg4 20. fxg4 Nexg4 21. h5 Kg7 22. hxg6 Kxg6 23. Bf5+ and we win black's queen with a fork
17. g4 Bb4 18. Bc3 Bxc3 19. bxc3 hxg4 20. fxg4 Nexg4 21. h5 Kg7 22. hxg6 fxg6 23. Be6 and we win a piece on g4.
17. g4 Bb4 18. Bc3 Bxc3 19. bxc3 hxg4 20. fxg4 Nexg4 21. h5 Kg7 22. hxg6 Rh8 23. Rxh8 Rxh8 24. Bf5 (we are threatening to win a piece on g4) 24...Qe8 25. Bxg4 Nxg4 26. Nxg4 Rh1+ 27. Kf2 Rxa1 28. Qh6+ Kg8 29. Qh7+ Kf8 30. Qh8#
17. g4 Bb4 18. Bc3 Bxc3 19. bxc3 hxg4 20. fxg4 Nexg4 21. h5 Kg7 22. hxg6 Rh8 23. Rxh8 Rxh8 24. Bf5 e6 25. Bxg4 Nxg4 26. Nxg4 Rh1+ 27. Kf2 Rxa1 28. Qh6+ Kg8 29. Nf6#
17. g4 Bb4 18. Bc3 Bxc3 19. bxc3 hxg4 20. fxg4 Nexg4 21. h5 Kg7 22. hxg6 Rh8 23. Rxh8 Rxh8 24. Bf5 Nxf2 25. Bxd7 Rh1+ 26. Bf1 and we're up a queen for a knight.
17. g4 Bb4 18. Bc3 Bxc3 19. bxc3 hxg4 20. fxg4 Nexg4 21. h5 Kg7 22. hxg6 Rh8 23. Rxh8 Rxh8 24. Bf5 Nxf2 25. Bxd7 Nxd7 26. Qxf2 Rh1+ 27. Ke2 Rxa1 28. Qxf7+ and we should win easily.
If black plays ...Bg4, takes on g4 twice, but does not play ...Bxc3 then that should not really change anything. The same lines should still work (in some case we can play even better lines). For example:
17. g4 hxg4 18. fxg4 Bb4 19. Bc3 Nexg4 20. h5 Nxf2 21. hxg6+ Kg8 22. Rh8+ Kxh8 23. Qh6+ Kg8 24. Bh7+ Kh8 25. g7#
17. g4 hxg4 18. fxg4 Bb4 19. Bc3 Nexg4 20. h5 Kg8 21. hxg6 Nxf2 22. Rh8+ Kxh8 23. Qh6+ Kg8 24. Bh7+ Kh8 25. g7#
17. g4 hxg4 18. fxg4 Bb4 19. Bc3 Nexg4 20. h5 Kg7 21. Bxg4 and we win a piece (the knight on f6 is pinned).
Also, I just noticed that after 17. g4 Kg8 18. gxh5, 18...Nxh5 is impossible for black because then 19. f4 would trap black's knight on e5.
Perhaps 17. g4 hxg4 18. fxg4 Kg8 is the best response for black against 17. g4. But even in that position I think we are doing pretty well. We can play 19. Rg3 to defend g4 and we can probably play h5 in the future to open up the position even more.
It feels like I'm more or less done analyzing 17. g4 now. I'm not sure if there's some line I forgot to look at. Right now I really like 17. g4.
Current Position
It helps to have this shown.