[edit] Actually I'll delete this because I want to see how it works out :)
No need to worry about making comments as to how you think the game will play out. If anything, it is welcomed, to create a discussion as to 'why' moves are being made, and the logic and thinking behind each move.
I know, and you all would have likely seen it anyway, but I wanted the end to be suspenseful just for myself I guess :p
So yeah, black's idea is e2 obviously, but white has Re8+ anyway because if Kx then white queens with check.
I know, and you all would have likely seen it anyway, but I wanted the end to be suspenseful just for myself I guess :p
So yeah, black's idea is e2 obviously, but white has Re8+ anyway because if Kx then white queens with check.
I know what you mean. I think we all know what the end result of the game is going to be, it is just a matter of how we are going to get there. Black is not necessarily forced to go any particular route, and his options are certainly limited, but he has shown how creative he can be with coming up wiith alternative options. It will be interesting to see if he can pull another rabbit out of his hat.
As for white coming out on top since move 35, when choosing a plan (may read, course of action) in chess, it's worth considering the idea of minimizing your opponent's play. Sure you evaluate material difference, and activity, and all that. But look at who is getting play of their own. Play can be any potentially winning idea, a passed pawn, an attack, an opponent's weakness etc.
Move 35 white offers the d pawn. Now materially this makes sense to capture it, you trade a passed pawn for the h pawn and get your rooks on an open file. But you have to calculate more than 1 move :) After the exchange, at a glance white looks better. He has the passed b pawn, and has infiltrated, two methods of "play." It's unfortunate that Kf6 gave up the pawn immediately, but lets say even after Ke8 or f8, this isn't a safe way to draw. (And with the passed pawns I assume black was hoping for a draw). Also black's queen was much better on f4 where it menaced a perpetual in many lines I believe. Again this is "play" for black. On d6 the black queen isn't doing anything in that sense.
So on the ledger under "play", white certainly got the better of that exchange (2 to 0), and there was no reason black couldn't simply move back to g8 on move 35.
Now would I have calculated this to "the end" if it were my game? No way. But again, in principal it's just not a safe course of action for black. So there's my contribution as a kibitzer :p
yeah play till mate.
I do not think that I have ever had a game where I have had so many 'skewers' in a row . . . . moves 41, 43 and now 45.
I will continue to play out the game until we come to a mate just so we have some official closure. I will watch for when @ zrylam makes his moves, and I will try to make mine more quickly, because, for the most part, we are just going through the motions.
For now, my official move is . . . . . 45.Re8+
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Even though I have no quam's about doing it, I really have no choice but to advance my b-pawn up one square for promotion to a Queen in order to give check at the same time. If Black's King was not on the 8th-rank, then I would be in the tough spot that Black would then also be able to advance his e-pawn for promotion to a Queen. As it turns out, the positions of the pieces work out in my favour, and Black will be forced to respond to my check instead of advaning his pawn.
Therefore, my official move is . . . . . . 46.b8=Q+
Black only has three squares that he can move his King to. If he plays 46.Kd7 then I will respond with 47.Qb5+. If he plays 46.Ke7 or 46.Kf7, then I will respond with 47.Qe5. The objective of these various Queen moves is to set my Queen up in a position where I would be able to capture his advancing e-pawn and eliminate the threat of it becoming a Queen, or capture it immediately after its promotion.
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Black's cooked, there's really no reason to continue. It's probably not interesting to the player's and it's also probably not interesting to the kibitzers/spectators. I'd rather skip all the running around and get to analysis.
44...e2 was a nice try, but white found the correct response and black has nothing left to hope for.
In order to speed up the process of bringing the game to end with a Mate, @zrylam and I met online at the same time and made moves back and forth until the game was over. In reality, Black would have resigned once White Queened, but out of curiosity, and to see how many moves the game would have went, and just so the game would end with a Mate, and etc, etc, etc . . . . .
Here is how the game played out from move #46 in Post #286
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You guys confused the analysis thingy
I have to confess that I had a wave of panic pass over me when I saw the Black King sitting on the e7-square instead of the c7-square. But it quickly passed when I realized that @zrylam is having the same problem that he has been having for the last couple of moves . . . . that being . . . . . his King is always ending up on the same rank/file as another one of his key pieces. The end result is that he is being set up for another ‘skewer’ and the subsequent loss in tempo for him to be able to initiate an attack of his own.
If his pawn had been one square closer to promotion than it is now, then I would have had to alter my plans, but since he is ripe for another ‘skewer’, then I can continue as previously outlined.
Therefore, my official move is . . . . . . . 44.Rxd8
P.S. Applause for @zrylam for coming up with an alternate line that is both feasible and realistic. The end result of the game will still be the same, except that I will finish with a Queen instead of a Rook, however, it is a good attempt at trying to squeeze out that last chance for a win or draw. His move is akin to a sports team making that last desperate play, at the end of a game, before the clock finally runs out.
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