Martin vs The world Analysis thread

Martin0… he's our opponent.  He invented this game we are playing.

If you are new to this board, you need to study up on how Drunken Bishops move.

They are the coolest pieces I've ever dealt with.  So diabolical!

ry, is this what you mean to say (I can only read minds a little.):

ry:  From the above projected-future diagram, it continues as...

 …     O-O-O

Me:  And then what does Martin do?  He has several moves at his disposal.

Ry, you have to make your comments coherent.  What are the moves preceding Nc5, to nail down what you are referring to, exactly?

You need to step up your commitment to this game, or else your move choices will seem haphazard.  Make your ideas clear!

To rephrase, what are you "getting at", what is your intent?

Step up and help us, instead of just asking questions.

You come up with ideas that are often half-baked, at best. (this became obvious to me today)

What's going on?  Are you playing too many games on this website, that prevent you from committing to this game?

Come-on!

Bob

Why Bc5, exactly?

Vote Bc5

Ry, are you commenting on the diagram in #364, with a continuation of

  …     Bc5

The h2 pawn is a poison pawn and losing up to two pawns for a Drunken Bishop could be ruinous for Black.  The Rd1 move for White, following Black playing Bc5, is a strong move for White.  It forces Black to immediately castle long.

The only good thing about Bc5 is that we might learn how Martin values his Rook compared to our Drunken Bishop.  We'd learn that by seeing if he later moves his DSDB to c3.

From #364, everything tells me our move has to be O-O-O.

poire2,

The current position we are playing from is #327.  If you vote Bc5, you force the trade down of Queens, with White eliminating his two isolated pawns by combining them together.  Exchanging a Drunken Bishop (Black) for a Rook (White) may be a poor move.

Do you like Bc5 because you can trade them?  If that happens, then White captures back as Bxa1 and then it is Black to move.  Black cannot castle long.  Black's remaining DB is "stuck." (trying to free it will result in White playing O-O-O and then it's Hammer Time in no time.

However, maybe you like playing Bc5 to prevent White from castling long.  White will parry that by a sooner rather than later b4.  And Black might have to play Bf4 to continue to "share" the dark squares central diagonal.  Then White castles long and Black is once again facing the Sledge-Hammer-to-come on the d file.

Ry, (and sorry to beat this dead horse), so you are saying from diagram #327, Black to Move:

    …         Qd7       (our possibly "best" current move)
O-O-O  O-O-O     (White's "best" move, coming up, especially if we play Qd7)
     ?         Bc5

If yes, then you left out a move for White.  Sure, Bc5 may work, but don't you think it is dependent on what White plays just after Black castles long?

However, if you are saying the following, instead, then it needs to be looked at.

    …         Qd7       (our possibly "best" current move)
O-O-O    Bb5
   Rd1    O-O-O    (practically forced because of a R-Q-K pin and a Knight check possibility)
  Nb5       Qe7      (Qc6 would be met with e5 forcing her to b6 which isn't too good: tight quarters)
  Qh3                    And now White is threatening again, on a new flank while Black is bottle up.

That's all I have worked out.

Can we just play Qd7 as we have all agreed that it is best?

(Remember, Ry, it's Kd7 in the event game)

Ok, good, and we move on.

Here's hoping Martin does anything but castle long.  If he fails to do that, a loss for Martin is all but guaranteed. (that means Martin will lose, but don't bet the bank on it)

Current Position (Black to Move)

As predicted.  We have until Friday to move.

I'm leaning toward O-O-O, too.

Not that there are tactics to incorporate, but just strategically: a first things first mentality.

All attacking plans I'd looked at (from memory) had come up short for us when we'd failed to O-O-O here.  I don't like that Martin will be on the attack again, but the jeopardy we risk by not getting our King to safety outweighs how I feel.

When I studied the board last week, Martin will become an attacking nuisance after we castle, but all of his attacks will have slight imperfections.  If he miscalculates, plays inaccurately, he can falter, and that is our hope.

I vote O-O-O.

Looking at it...

I like getting that pawn to e5, no matter about the double attack.  Martin had a blistering attack if he played e5 on us after our castle long.  Still looking at the Bxh2...

Ry, it's looking pretty good…

I take back my O-O-O vote… but we need a thorough investigation of outcomes.

We're at the crux of the game, imho.

It doesn't work.

  …     Bxh2
Qh3!  Qd6
g3 or Bc3 for White

Nonetheless, we have to delay castling long for our current move.  This would be Martin's attack if we play O-O-O

  …      O-O-O
  e5       Bxc1   (if Bxe5, then Martin plays Bxh7; we can't get our Queen over quick enough after g7)
Raxc1   Kg8    (have to get over and prevent any sort of pawn structure deterioration for 1 move )
 Qh3      g7     (I suppose h7 could be played, but each pawn move is more chipped away defense.  If h7, then Martin starts his pawn push of g4.)
 Qh6    Qe7     (need to get our queen over to squelch Martin's attack)
 Nb5    Rc8     (Here comes the Knight to bear down on the c7 Achilles heel)
 Nd6    Rc7      (Martin can push for a draw here if we were to go back and forth 3x)
  h4     Nc6      (The pawn push; reinforcements to the attack)
  f4      Qf8      It gets murky this far out, but you can see the attack just keeps coming!

All of this can be avoided by a timely avoidance of castling long on our current move.  Instead...

   …     e5

I vote e5, and if he then plays Nb5, then O-O-O.

What about Qc7? It at threatens the h pawn and attacks the c pawn. Also our queen would be off the dangerous file.