IncrediBill vs zrylam (with kibitzers)

I would like to find a way to get back on the offensive again and start putting some pressure back on @zrylam, so if anyone can see a couple of moves that could turn the table for me, it would be greatly appreciated.

For the most part, I am pleased with the stuation on the board.  His King doesn't have much of a fortress to hide behind, whereas mine is rock solid.  His dark Bishop is trapped in the back, essentially doing the job of a pawn, whereas my dark Bishop is nicely out in the middle of the board threatening muliple squares and lines.

My only trouble seems to be my doubled up pawns at the centre of the board.  However, that is easy to rectify and I think that will be my next move by capturing his e5-pawn, dxe5.  It would also have the benefit of openning up some protection for my d5-pawn.

I have until tomorrow night to make my official move.  So unless someone can come up with a different strategy, I think my next move will be the pawn exchange on the e5 square, and I would expect him to recapture right back.

Well its time to fix that doubled-up pawn situation and open up some protection for my d5-pawn.  My next move is . . . 18.dxe5

Ah...for White, the plan after 18.dxe5 seems quite simple...damn, I'll wait until zrylam makes a move. Then I'll divulge.

I like white though. The position is familiar, and the king is rock-solid.

 I expect @zrylam to re-capture the e5-pawn back.  Then I will be free to go back on the offensive.

I look forward to hearing your plan . . . I hope it is sneaky and puts @zrylam on the run. 

Bugger, I forgot that plan. Sorry IncrediBill...I'm writing this to say, and I'll see if I can remember.

UPDATE: Looking at previous moves, 18.dxe5 was a blunder - better was 18.Qc3. A passed pawn in this case is not good - his double bishop advantage becomes clear after Rf7 - Bf8. Now if 18.Qc3 exd4 19.Nd4 followed by Ne6 is great, punishing Black for shoving his king in the corner.

stubborn_d0nkey's suggestion seems good, but actually, it's not - again, the bishop at b7, and the pawn at e5, truly kills any aspirations for the danger of a passed pawn.

Bc5 followed by d6??

 Hello ScaredEyes,

My Queen is curently on the d1 square so I do not have access to the c3 square.  Perhaps you meant to say 18.Qd3. 

I do not like the idea of his passed pawn either, but technically, I have a passed pawn as well.  I guess it remains to be seen which one of us can keep their passed pawn.

For now, I think that I will play the move that both yourself and Stubborn Donkey have suggested . . .  to bring my Bishop up to c5 square.  This will force him to have to move his Rook to safety, giving myself the time to push my d-pawn up to safety.

Unless someone comes up with something different, I will make that my official move later tonight.

Well, there seems to be lots of ideas as to how the game is going to unfold in the next several moves.  Fortunately I only have to think about one move right now . . . the next one . . . . and everyone seems to agree that its going to be . . . 19.Bc5

.

 Sorry IncrediBill, I meant 18.Qb3...but that ties up a Queen to a bishop. What better can it do, though?

stubborn_d0nkey, may I suggest a line for your analysis?

awesome improvement! Thats a good line for white. I cant believe I missed it (well I can, since I didn't spend much time on the analysis. :P)

edit: lol, i didnt look at the whole line before i commented :P 

 Ah. That's better - I'm not so depressed anymore =) I feel sorry for Black now. I take it Black won't be playing this line any time soon.

However, I presented the Greek-like sacrifice, thinking that it becomes a win-draw situation. However, it seems that if the line was played, Black has no chance after 26.Ng5 - countering one threat allows the other. The Black Queen wanted to be overloaded, but is not...since it never was in a position that lets it counter both of them, one at a time.

However, I'll stop and let zyrlam play his (or her) move - I don't want to hijack the thread any more. Our analysis only showed a few lines ... Black could play a5, for all we know.

yeah, there are several places where white can deviate, but so far it does seem that white can keep the passed pawn for the time being. I think that right now d6 is completely natural

Holy Smokes!!!  I've got tonnes of analysis to sift through that pretty much takes me right through to the end of the game.  Some excellent and thorough work by both @stubborn_donkey and @ScarredEyes.

Since they both agree on 20.d6, who am I to argue???

So my next official move is . . . . 20.d6

.

Even though @zrylam has not made the Bf8 move as was anticipated, I am quite confident that it is going to be coming soon.  It seems that the d6-pawn is going to be a major point of contention as I think that we are both going to start throwing are forces in that direction.

Ultimately, I think it is going to put me down a pawn, as our forces clash and a series of exchanges takes place.  However,  I think that I might be able to pull off a positional advantage that might allow me to avenge my wandering d6-pawn and win a pawn back.

I am thinking of playing 21.Qd2, and then following it up with one of my Rooks.  (I think the Queen on the d2 square is best, because the dark diagonals opens up some options)

Anyway, I have until tomorrow night to make my move official.  Does anyone have any other suggestions, or are @zrylam and myself about to head into an inevitable blood bath as we scrap it out over a pawn?

21.Qd2 seems to let him win the exchange after 21...Bf8 22.Rad1 Bxd6 with a possibility of a discovered attack on the queen. That's why I'm reluctant to let the Queen stay on the front in the d-file. Let me analyse it more later...im in a hurry at the moment. Although your logic of using dark squares is good, the question is - is that a sufficiently good enough compensation for the pawn after Black's dark squared bishop is at d6?

Firstly, I can't see opportunities for White to make good use of the dark squares without the dark squared bishop. After Qd2, the game becomes dangerous - as @zrylam said, the d6 pawn is overextended. At the same time, Black does not have a lot of control of dark squares, whereas the possibility of Q+B battery or the cooperation of dark sq bishop + light sq queen is useful for White.

I'm not going to post analysis on this move, since there is a lot - I managed to get into 3 brackets of red text...but suffice to say, White can look for counterplay. I say counterplay because I think White is putting a lot of pressure on Black, but he has to defend now in order to maintain it and press for an attack. However, you know the problem with overextension - supply lines.

To this end, I won't post analysis anymore until I feel that both sides have a good chance of winning. I'm afraid I may have found one or two forcing sequences for both sides. If I post it here, then its not fair for zrylam, as he doesn't seem to have anyone supporting him. Not only that, but the fact that reaching a conclusion that White or Black can force a game to a specific end does not sit well with me. Let anyone else feel free to submit analysis...I just feel that presenting an analysis with forcing lines with few to no options is grossly unfair - people can come and correct and improve, and we may get a judgement and a resignation due to it - and I don't like posting part of an analysis.

Well,  I've searched for other alternative options and, so far, pushing the Queen up seems to be my best bet.  It maximizes her value by increasing her mobility and the number of squares that she can defend/attack.  It also links up my Rooks. 

So, however the chips may fall with my lonely pawn out there, I think that strategically my best option right now is . . . . 21.Qd2

Can I play the winner in a game like this?