Martin vs The world Analysis thread

well then I vote for resign

well that's out of the game

Don't give up so easy, mi amigo, por favor.

Help me help you. Help ME help YOU.  Help MEEE, help YOUUUU! ~ Jerry Maguire

Current

Idea 1; exd5

Idea 2; Bb5+

This Idea 2 has a lot of "pros" going for it.  Martin has 3 moves available.

1. Move the King up: horrible move.
2. Block with the "a" pawn: it would be a free pawn upon taking back
   1. alignment of the Queen would prevent the rook from taking
   2. but the check would be erased upon taking the "a" pawn
3. Block with the "b" pawn

For number 3 (likely continuation), the knight could then capture the d5 pawn and maybe set us up to wreak havoc:

Idea 2 Likely Scenario

Ok, I'm changing my vote to Bb5+.

• Blistering attacks all over the place
  
  • Strike while the "iron is hot"
• Seizes the initiative
  
  • He'll be on defense immediately

For our side, we'll be castling eventually, but after we develop our pieces harmoniously.

I don't think Martin will ever castle.  He'll be too oppressed.

If we go with Bb5+, our next decision will be which piece to capture the e5 pawn with:

Pawn, Bishop, or Knight.  They are all interesting.

He may not even be aware, just yet, of the amount of hurting we have in store for him.

   Us:            
Martin:          

Although I've changed my vote to Bb5+, I've been looking at the attacks that are possible, and they're all premature.  We're relying on Martin playing an inaccuracy.

Let's take yet another day to think about things, and see if there is yet a brilliancy in our midsts.

Bb5+

Ok.

auk,

Glad to have you on board!

So, we wait now for Martin.  He has his plate full…

I've been studying the drunken bishops, and originally I thought of them as a liability.

However, on review, although they are awkward to deal with, their value has increased substantially.

Optimally placed, a normal bishop covers 14 squares.  But a drunken bishop, optimally placed, covers 21 squares.  And at very close range, they're just as good as the old "normal" bishops.

So, we'll need to safeguard them a little more than usual.

Just thought I'd show everyone some of the difficulties coming our way, and which are present for both sides.  The Drunken Bishops have far more impact than originally thought.

A really good way to work on the "board" is to pretend to make a post, and Click the "Insert chess game or diagram" icon.  A new window will open, and then Click Setup Position, and just move the pieces around on the displayed board.

First step: move the Kings and Queens to nearby empty squares and switch them around to reflect that Event.

Move the other pieces to where they currently are.  To get rid of pawns that have been taken, just drag and drop a pawn on top of another pawn and you will remove it from the board.

What I have found "playing around" is that any piece of value higher than a minor piece (like a Rook or the Queen) is easy prey for the Drunken Bishops.  The DB's are so invasive that you can quickly lose a valuable piece to their ever-present "reach."  Not only this, but if the DB's are fianchettoed (b2, g2, b7, g7) they "slice so deeply" that it is difficult to even castle.  It is not enough to castle, you have to be able to then move the valuable pieces off of the squares on the back ranks where they are not safe.

Incidentally, with DB's strafing the diagonals from the b2, g2, b7, g7 positions, some of the safest squares on the board are the 4 center squares!  Note that the white-square Black Bishop is over on the edge, and will be played to b7 as soon as possible.  If it had stayed closer to the middle of the board, then White's other Knight would have captured it after moving to e5.

Anyway, here is a possible position that may come up.  I'm presenting it to show the difficulty of castling.

At this point, it is White's turn to move.

Current Position (Black to Move)

Martin blocked the check from our white-square Bishop.  Our clock began ticking at approximately 1:45pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time. (New York summer time)

For us, there are really only three possible moves this turn:

1. Bxd5
2. exd5
3. Nxd5

I'm slowly coming to my own decision, but that White center pawn has to go!  I have a sneaking suspicion that this current move we make will decide, longterm, the outcome of our game.

Best to all of you,

Bob

Let's go Nxd5, 

Isn't martin technically stil in check because of Bxe2-d1

No, the drunken bishops can only move 1 square before turning.

My vote:Nxd5

Nxd5 seems right to me, also because afterwards the development of the Bishop f8 is possible at any time.

Current Position (White to Move)

Decided to flip the board, give us a better look at things from our point of view.

If I were Martin, what would bother me right now is how the "Events" not only exposed my King, based on my first moves, but also caused me to lose a tempo, and therefore the initiative that goes with being White.  Also, the extreme "work" required to get my King castled long, if I want to castle.

Our Knight does look good there in the center of the board.  We're looking pretty good here for opening moves.  From all appearances, it looks like we have played zero inaccuracies.

Martin is so boxed in right now, as rychessmaster1 put it, unable to "breathe" … Martin knows he has to get some development going.  He's got a few good moves, but which one he'll choose is anyone's guess.

Glad we have some heavyweight players onboard, here.  All of you are needed!

Actually if we recapture on d5 doesn't a4 trap the bishop?

You'll have to be a little more specific, auk.  There is currently no threat to d5.

I've been "playing" with the current position for hours, probing weaknesses, trying to figure out Martin's next move.  Moves for him that look good are Nc3, e4, or g2.

In my analyses, I'm valuing the Drunken Bishops at 4.5 points, and not 3, because of their increased 50% range capability.  So, to lose a Bishop to a Knight, there has to be increased development that comes with the exchange or it is a trade deficit for us.  Currently, if he wants our light-squared Bishop, or if he wants to minimize it, playing Nc3 threatens it because playing Bc6 will result in its eventual capture by the other Knight.  So, if we really want to keep the Bishop, we'd have to move it to a6, then fianchetto it to b7, and it would finally have restored capability.  Or we could let Martin capture it with the first Knight, and then capture his Knight with our Queen, thereby developing our Queen.

Our Queen out on the board early, however, is very vulnerable to the Drunken Bishops, but still capable for the time being because White's light-squared Bishop is "buried" right now.

I thought about that, too.  4 sounds fine to me.