There isn't always a forced mate even if you seem like you're so close. I personally don't see any kind of forced mate here. Pawn to e5 seems pretty good to me.. if he trades pawns, his light squared bishop will be cut off on the next move, and if he doesn't trade off.. then e6 will cut it off. He may try to boot your knight from g5, though, with h6. Don't take my word for all this though, maybe my analysis is flawed, that is known to happen :) hehe. Overall, your pieces and pawns appear to be very well placed so you certainly have the advantage. Just make sure you really look everything over, this seems to be a critical point in the game.
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There isn't always a forced mate even if you seem like you're so close. I personally don't see any kind of forced mate here. Pawn to e5 seems pretty good to me.. if he trades pawns, his light squared bishop will be cut off on the next move, and if he doesn't trade off.. then e6 will cut it off. He may try to boot your knight from g5, though, with h6. Don't take my word for all this though, maybe my analysis is flawed, that is known to happen :) hehe. Overall, your pieces and pawns appear to be very well placed so you certainly have the advantage. Just make sure you really look everything over, this seems to be a critical point in the game.
Thanks!
It is bad etiquette to ask for advice against a person. I see no problems with asking for advice against a computer.
His bishops are well fortified and you have none, your position is solid but h7 can be easily defended by advancing the h pawn to h6 or h5 for example. Also his pawn on f4 could become a threat if your knight is forced off g5 and your queen were to move. Definately a critical point in the match. Be careful how you open it up or the bishops will have a field day. Well done so far though... post the final results.
If it is on hard, it is not going to follow through with that! I also see no problem with etiquette if it is a computer, but I don't see how asking for advice in the middle of a game will help your chess at all. That is, if you are using it for practice. If you are playing it for enjoyment, wouldn't you want to be the one to beat it? That said, I think your best move would be e5.
Just to add my $.02 to all the rest...
Wondering how to checkmate here is wishful thinking. You must always strive for the CENTER.
I don't think trying to place Q on h3 will help you. Black can play h6 to boot your knight off and spoil your line of attack. In my opinion it would be better to exchange pawns and open up a file to bring Rooks into play. If you don't play e5 there is a pretty good chance that computer will play e5 to support its pawn on f4. Also think of some support for your weak queen side pawns.
Ok, let's look at a plan that's based on the realities of the position. What's the most glaring feature of the board? The minor pieces. Black has two bishops vs. White's two knights. White therefore wants a closed game, and Black wants an open game (kudos to gusrawk for hinting at this).
An exception to this principle would be if White could immediately force open the center all the way. His rooks are bearing down on the center and the Black queen. However, it does not seem possible to open the center rapidly enough without also empowering the Black bishops.
Don't forget that White has a central space advantage, but Black's piece activity holds more promise (that white knight on g5 can be easily chased away).
Because White seeks to hold his center and keep it closed, he must strengthen d4 and e4. Black wants to immediately open the game with e5 and the Qxg5 threat. Therefore, Ne2 with an intended c3 would be consistent, but after Ne2 e5, Nh3 exd4, Nxd4... White's center has been compromised and his mobilitiy is lacking.
An alternative plan might be to strengthen e4 with
1. Qe2 e5
2. Nf3 exd4
3. Nxd4
But this still leaves the white center weakened, and the position open.
The last suggestion is e5. I do not think e5 will save the day either. Obviously, Black does not have to capture dxe5. Black wants to reveal the threat on g5, so ...e6! would be the reply. White retreats his knight to h3, way out to nowhere land, and...
Black plays dxe5?
Of course not. Black's game is simply better, and with two players of equal strength I would expect Black to win.
Hmm.. perhaps 1.Ne2 e5! 2.Qb3+ d5 3.exd5 now possibly 3...Qxg4 4.dxc6+ Kh8 5.cxd7 regaining the piece and with a dangerous passed pawn.
hmmm... I'm not sure, I haven't even beat the comp on medium yet, but 1. d5 1... xd5, take back with knight or pawn but fight for d5 and its diagonal. If you go with the knight, black will respond with e6 to prevent an attack on the e pawn to which would threaten the black square bishop. If that doesn't work, my only advice is to watch out for his 'a' rook. He'll either use it to gobble up your pawns, or chew up your left flank.
And one tip. If you are wondering how the computer will respond to a move, don't make it! The responce will be one you won't like.
I missed a White reply to e6 above, which is Ne4! (the e5 line) The white knight need not retreat to h3 unless Black plays h6.
i like e5 then e6 if the computer doesnt trade seems like you have a solid postion just play with caution and you should win the game, PS any1 know how to save those games because when i beat the computer i want to save it instead of writing down the moves
I am currently playing the computer on hard with the white peices and I am kinda stuck. I want to get my Queen to h7 for checkmate but I'm stuck. His Bishop on d7 is preventing me from moving my Queen to h3, so I want to push my pawn to g4 to block his Bishop. I am afraid that after I do that he will move his pawn to h6 which would destroy my attack.
I was considering moving my pawn to e5 hoping for ...dxe5, dxe5, Bxe5, Rxe5, but I don't know if the computer would follow through for that and I still want to get my Queen to h7.
Any thoughts?