Martin vs the world analysis thread #4

I can but if Patzer wants to, he can.

Ry has to make it official with Martin.  Once that is done, then we'll know for certain.
 

Ok

Tug, the thing about capturing with a pawn (the teleporting Bishop) that I like is our Rooks can be connected.  How will that happen if Rxh3 occurs?  Anyway, Nh3 still has to be submitted.

Congratulations to JustARandomPatzer for being such a great "sport," and becoming our new leader into battle.  Thank you!

Ah, it's me? Okay. I'll submit Nh3 now

Rxh3 does temporarily disconnect the rooks but we can play Rh1 (either rook) to reconnect them, After f3 and g4, the rooks will be dangerous on the open h-file, more so than the g-file. If we play gxh3, then we permanently close the h-file.

I mean it's largely irrelevant, he won't play Bxh3, but if he does, I think Rxh3 is the way forwards. We want that h-file open.

Our pawn on h4, doesn't that close the h file for our Rooks?

I've issued a time warning. I appreciate you guys listening to me and holding back, but if it gets to 5 days then we do need to put pressure on him.

TALE•NON•EXPECTĀVĪT

i vote Rxh3

I'm really surprised by his decision to give up the bishop for knight. Also very happy.

I think Rxh3 too but seeing as I wasn't expecting this I didn't actually look at it in depth. I think we want the h-file open, not the g-file, but let's not rush.

We need to keep an eye on Bh6, especially when we castle queenside. If we push f4 to block him, then we give his knight the g4 square.

gxh3 has its merit in permanently taking away the g4 square from his knight.

I think if Ng4 we can afford Bxg4 and eventually we're going to win the pawn on g4. I think we're just better here, I'll be disappointed if we lose this.

Rxh3 looks better to me, if gxh3 we have two very weak pawns that could eventually fall, to give him a passed h-pawn and provide sufficient compensation for the exchange. 

If his knight on g4 is too much of a problem, just grab it with Bxg4 and enjoy a better position.

I don't want to give up our dark squared bishop for his knight, as that imbalance could be a problem. I'd prefer us to have a bishop to challenge his bishop.

This is the type of position I like to sit back and enjoy, not do much, and let the other guy suffer. I presume we aren't compelled to immediately attack.

I don't think we have much to worry about here. Potential problems for us are Ng4, Bh6, and Nd7-Ne5, but I don't think this is stuff we can't handle. If we get the chance to trade down, we should take it, especially queens. We have a material advantage imo, considering the strength of the bishops, so we should be happy to get to endgame without losing material.

My placeholder is Rxh3, but obviously we should wait until everyone has had a look and shared their ideas. I'll have another look later.

I think I like 12. Rxh3 more than 12. gxh3.

If we play 12. gxh3 then we permanently take away the g4 square from the knight and open up the g-file, but I don't think we could really do much on the g-file with black having the pawn chain f7-g6-h5. I think we would have to try to break the pawn chain with f2-f4-f5-fxg6 in that case. I don't know if black could stop this somehow.

I'm not the biggest fan of getting double isolated pawns with 12. gxh3. Our h-pawns would become weak, as Tug pointed out.

If we play 12. Rxh3 then we have a much easier time doing a kingside attack imo (which might not be completely necessary anymore now that we're up material, but still, it's nice to have the option of doing it). After Rxh3 we could for example play f3 followed by g4 (note that we don't need to play 0-0-0 or Kf1 to prevent ...Bg3+, since our rook protects g3 and it can't easily be kicked away from h3) in some lines.

I don't care much about having to spend an extra tempo to reconnect our rooks. And it might not even be necessary to do that. We might just keep our rook on h3 for a long time. If we play f3 and g4 after Rxh3 then we might even play Rhg3 or Rah1/Rdh1 (the rook would be on d1 if we play 0-0-0) at some point to double up on the h-file (if the h-file opens up, although I don't think that will happen, since I don't think Martin will play ...hxg4).

...Bh6 doesn't seem like a problem to me as long as we keep our bishop on e3 and don't play f4 (we'd just trade bishops on h6). But even if we play f4 at some point I think ...Bh6 could just be met by Bg5. I think ...Bh6 would only be a problem after something like ...Ng4. For example 12. Rxh3 Ng4 13. Bg3 Bh6.

12. Rxh3 Ng4 is probably the critical line here and I need to look at it more. I'm not sure what to play against it atm. I don't even know if we should play 13. Bxg4 against it or move our e3-bishop. Here are some lines I'm considering that I haven't looked at in detail:

12. Rxh3 Ng4 13. Bf4 Bd4 14. f3 Bf2+ 15. Kf1 and black will either lose his bishop on f2 or knight on g4 I think.

12. Rxh3 Ng4 13. Bf4 Bd4 14. f3 Nf2 15. Rh2 and black's knight on f2 is trapped I think and we are threatening Bg1 to win it.

In other words I don't think black can jump into f2 with a piece after 12. Rxh3 Ng4 13. Bf4 Bd4 14. f3.

There are many more lines I need to look at, but I'll do that another day I think. I'm too tired today. 13...Bd4 is by no means forced, but it seems like a critical move we need to look at.

Also 13. Bg5 might be an alternative for us after 12. Rxh3 Ng4 that I haven't looked at yet. I don't know if it's better or worse than 13. Bf4.

First things first, a current position board, with 7 more posts on this page available.
(before Page 21)

Martin just gave up his one-two teleporting-punch.  (One teleporting Bishop is not half as good as two teleporting Bishops.)

From his perspective he saw a powerhouse of artillery aimed at his King, so he felt compelled to lose that Bishop, a decision I'm sure he didn't take lightly.

We're lucky… we have up to four days to look things over, and our move is only one of two possibilities, gxh3 or Rxh3.

From a doubled pawn perspective, the down side of gxh3, it doesn't bother me.  This game will not be lost because of a doubled pawn on the h file.  Especially when we consider that we're the ones who have a greater ability of delivering 5 checks because we can get both Bishops into tight places, almost at will.  If we win, when Martin's position collapses, it will collapse quickly because of our two teleporting Bishop advantage.  Furthermore, taking this into consideration, his Knight being unable to move to g4 because of a pesky doubled pawn would seem especially irritating, and he must have figured that there'd be no way on Earth that we would capture back with the pawn.

So, going forward we have a possible element of surprise with out next move, and we don't have to move until next week.  Agree with dax00, we can "sit back and enjoy" our present situation, and who knows, maybe someone will find a breakthrough sequence of moves for our side.

I'm not in total disagreement with you, but I would express caution in thinking that the doubled h-pawns won't cost us the game. We might still be better, but in such a position, it's easier for us to make a losing blunder. If he wins both those pawns, he certainly has compensation for the exchange, especially if he can get to an endgame as his passer on the h-file will be a huge asset for him. 

We should only play gxh3 if we are confident we can hold onto those pawns without committing too many resources.

And even then, only if Rxh3 isn't better for us.