You may not be a master, but you noticed the skewer that would result. I somehow didn't notice it. That would be why the sequence of moves that included Bd6. It blocks the skewer. Thanks for pointing that out.
I'm learning & woul'd like this position analyzed.
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I hope this is the correct sub-forum to post this in. If not, please let me know. I'm new here, so forgive me if I posted incorrectly. :)
I arrived at this postition in a game against a computer opponent. I was playing White. Since I'm still very much learning, I sometimes ask the advice of the Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition game that I own. It's been a help to me in figuring out those times when I'm not really sure what to do next. I asked for advice, mostly to reassure myself that I was doing the correct thing. I had hung my Bishop about five moves back when I wasn't paying attention, in other words I lost it for no reason other than I moved without thinking it through, so my confidence was pretty low at this point even though I had a strong material advantage, even after my mistake.:
The Chessmaster suggested the following line of play:63. Be5 Rf1
64. Ra6+ Kh5
65. Bd6 Rd1+
66. Kc5 Rd2
67. d8=Q Kg4 (I think that's the correct way of typing Queen promotion.)
68. Qh4+ Kf3
69. Qf4 Ke2
I'm not sure why, maybe I'm just misunderstanding some nuance of the game, but it seems to me that promoting at this point would be the best move. Having the Queen, Rook, & Bishop to use as a mating net would seem like great assets at this point. The line suggested drives Black's King down to the lower Ranks & allows his Rook to be more involved. My pieces also would be a hinderance, especially by move 70.
Maybe I'm not seeing things through clearly, but wouldn't there be a way to keep Black's King above Rank 4 if I would have promoted at move 63? Wouldn't it be easier to Mate without having to worry about the Pawns & my King getting in the way? As I said, I'm fairly new to the strategy part of this game and maybe it's a mistake promoting too soon.
What do any of you think about it? Is there a better move than promoting or the line suggested by the computer?