Martin vs the world analysis thread #4

I do think we can afford to give him one free check if it wastes time for him but not for us. But I would only be comfortable giving him one check. Two is pushing it unless we win material.

5. Rxh5+ and he can't stop the attack. We get our five checks no matter what.

You're right, we can give up the queen to finish him off.

However, he won't play Bd4, as we would have Nf3 with the same idea as Nh3 except we also attack his bishop.

h4 might be fine though. I can't see much wrong with it other than never being able to play h3.

After looking at h4, I think the best move for Martin to play would be ...Rh8. I'll analyze this line later on.

Pretty much everything else fails to Nh3/Nf3/h5.

I don't think playing 10. f3 Bh4+ 11. g3 would be good for us. I don't think it's worth giving black a check to gain 1 tempo.

10. h4 looks very fun to play and I hope it works for us, but it does have its drawbacks. As Tug pointed out we can't play h3 anymore if we play it and if we play f3 later then we still give black a free check with ...Bg3+ (unless we put our king to safety first).

I don't think 10. h4 Ng4 is good for black, so Martin will probably play something else against 10. h4.

If Martin plays a quiet move against 10. h4, such as 10...Nbd7, then I think we can just continue with 11. Nh3 and we threaten Ng5+, which would be very annoying to deal with for black.

I wonder if Martin could play 10...Bb4 against 10. h4. I would feel slightly weird for black to defend h6 with ...Kh7 and then undefend it with 10...Bb4, but he does threaten ...Nxe4.

Against 10. h4 Bb4 we can't defend e4 with 11.f3 (because of 11...Bg3+). So maybe we just play 11. Bd3 and he has to do something about h6. Maybe he plays 11...h5.

There's an interesting line I forgot to mention before. 10. 0-0-0 Ng4 11. Bg3 Bd4 12. f3 Nf2 13. Bxf2 Bxf2 14. Bg8+ Kxg8 15. Qxf2 and we have traded a bishop for a knight, but we gained a check. Also black no longer has the bishop pair. I have no idea if this is good or not for us. Of course even if this turns out to be good for white, black was not forced to play 10...Ng4 against 10. 0-0-0.

10. 0-0-0 might be too dangerous for us, even though black probably can't play 10...b5 immediately without sacrificing a pawn. The above line probably doesn't matter, because black will just play something else instead.

10. h3 looks solid, but with that move we are basically never going to play h4. But we could play it if all else fails.

The move I'm leaning towards right now is probably 10. h4.

It looks like it is coming down to h4 or h3, and a distant third: 10. g3 Bg2   Bf3 Bxh1   Bxh1.

Without our Rook there our h file attack loses a lot of grit.  The other Rook could take its place by 0-0-0, but then our King is on a possibly weak defensive side.

So, everyone, keep poking holes in h4, and let's see if we can get it to go.

I looked at 10. h4 Bb4, and I think I have a really good reply: 11. Nf3!

Here are some lines:

a)11... Nxe4?.12 Ng5+!! and we win the knight and get a free check to boot. (The knight is immune. 12... hxg5 13. hxg5+ and we win on the spot, while after 12... Nxg5 13. hxg5 we have an open h-file and a check for a pawn.)

b)11...Kg8 (The only other try. Ng5 is a serious threat, and so is Bxh6) and now:

b1) 12. Bxh6 is playable, but not best.

b2) 12. Bc2 is solid and should keep a stable edge after either:

b21) 12...Ng4 13. Bxh6 (Bg3 is fine too)

b22) 12... h5 13. Ng5. We keep a decent edge in both lines.

b3) 12. a3 looks to be good enough after 12... Nxe4?! 13. Qc2 or 12... Ba5 13. Bc2.

Sorry if this is structured oddly, but I'm not sure how better to put it.

Anyway, this should rule out ...Bb4 from Martin. Did I miss any moves?

I worked out an alternative line to 10. … b5 from what I had posted for 10. h3. (post #325)  If I'm not mistaken, it would also apply to 10. h4.  I didn't store it, but I think I can resurrect it.  I'll see if I can post it within the next few hours, and I'll do it using 10. h4.

Since Martin brought his King to bear to protect h6, and since our Queen and Bishop are still aligned on that square, for Martin to remove his Bishop — teleport to the other side of the board — seems unlikely.  If we play either h3 or h4, Martin will be looking for troop reserves to further fortify his King, while hoping we somehow overplay our position, weakening our King.

As long as his play is reasonable, I don't think he's expecting a Zwischenzug from us. But, we've only seen one move from him since the teleporting Bishops came into being, so we don't know what he's really thinking.

I think he will continue to bide his time.  Just a hunch.

Also, a good strategy for us in this game would be for us to look for his best moves, his best strategy, and his best tactics.  If we were to find that he is equally hamstrung by how to proceed, it might reveal that just maintaining status quo and "good enough really is good enough" more than holds sway.

I have not looked at the position enough to feel confident in what I vote for, but I will probably not have time to look at the position more before we make a move (I'm guessing we move soon, since we've been in 4 days territory for a while now). 10. h4 is the move I like the most at the moment and I would be fine with us playing it (it creates some strong threats and I have not been able to refute it, although I haven't looked at the position anywhere near enough).

I'll switch to h4.

Ry has a majority of votes if he votes for h4… ChessPro, JARP, USA, Ry.

I'm about to go to work but I'm only doing a few hours, I'll take a look when I get back.

I'll take a look when I see Martin's move.

Is anyone going to replace Ry as our approved move maker? If nobody else does it I will, but I'm going to be busy as hell at work over December so it might be better for someone with more time.

Under normal circumstances, I would jump in on this, and take over for Ry.

But, I am at the brink of getting rid of my cable supplier, and intend to change the whole way I do the Internet.  I'm spending way too much money.  I have to resolve that, work it out with keeping my same username but having a different Internet address with chess dot com.

If and when I see my situation stabilize, I'll be happy to take up the role.  Just not now.  Not today.

I can do it, but I won't unless everyone else decides not to.

I can do it.

That's good news.

Are we all in agreement to play 10.h4?