Team X Chess thread (2 Viewers)

[pizzatyme]

White

Why did Kutta make that Qb6 move then? He and I have the dual games together. Mistake?

 

[Sand]

White

Why did Kutta make that Qb6 move then? He and I have the dual games together. Mistake?

He jumped the gun. They have moved Qb6 officially now.

I wasn't expecting that move and at first glance it doesn't look spectacular. Let's start throwing around some lines on where to go next. I will look at O-O here and a couple others.

 

[pizzatyme]

To me O-O is safety for the K, gets the other R into the game, and allows us to begin moving pieces to the Q side for the upcoming domination.

 

[spOOfy]

think i like O-O here. if i was playing, i'd do this move and not bother looking at other moves (which is probably 1 of my faults)

because we're playing this as a group, i tried looking at other moves. still nothing really jumped out at me. if anyone has other suggestions, lay them out, would love to look at them.

agree with pizza. O-O gets safety for the K in brings the R into the game. feels like a no brainer.

 

[pizzatyme]

Other things to consider for this game is after castling, is getting the Kg2 move in, possibly moving the N so we can advance the f pawn.

Or we could wait on O-O and move Rc1 but after they go Rc8, we're eventually castling anyway.

 

[Sand]

That's 2 votes for O-O.

With Spoofy and me, that's 4. O-O it is!

 

[pizzatyme]

Black,

They've moved. Rxd3.

This is a no-brainer, bxc6. All in favor?

Opposed?

 

[Sand]

Black,

They've moved. Rxd3.

This is a no-brainer, bxc6. All in favor?

Opposed?

Seconded. This should be a quick thing, as we need to capture back material.

 

[nysfl2]

Black,

They've moved. Rxd3.

This is a no-brainer, bxc6. All in favor?

Opposed?

Yup - no brainer.

 

[Sand]

Black,

They've moved. Rxd3.

This is a no-brainer, bxc6. All in favor?

Opposed?

Yup - no brainer.

done

 

[spOOfy]

Black,

They've moved. Rxd3.

This is a no-brainer, bxc6. All in favor?

Opposed?

yep, do it

 

[Sand]

Team O has moved again in our black game - Be2. (They have 4 hours left in our white game to move)

This says to me they have a line that they like here. Looks to me like O-O is next and the R is aiming down the c row here, then something like Re3c3 and Ba5 to put big pressure on that c7 pawn. My first blush is Bd2, then O-O right after them, protecting that pawn, though a further line will be needed to counter. Fact is they need to make a push now, as if this attack fizzles our h6 pawn is looking mighty alone over there. Thoughts about what they might be doing here and how to counter?

 

[pizzatyme]

Be7 as you liked before, Sand.

Then we castle. We can then consider f5 at some point to either trade off more pieces or shut down any threats.

 

[Sand]

Be7 as you liked before, Sand.

Then we castle. We can then consider f5 at some point to either trade off more pieces or shut down any threats.

Edited - sometimes I get screwed up on my orientations and completely mismarked all this. Continue reading down.

 

[pizzatyme]

Sand,

Be7

O-O O-O

Bh5 f5 I don't see anything wrong here.

If the take the pawn en passant we just exchange pieces.

What are you worried about?

 

[pizzatyme]

I think you mean Nc5

Nf6+ Ke7

Rc3 Ke8?

Not bad but they certainly have momentum.

 

[Sand]

Sand,

Be7

O-O O-O

Bh5 f5 I don't see anything wrong here.

If the take the pawn en passant we just exchange pieces.

What are you worried about?

Be7

O-O O-O

Bh5 f5

exf6 Nxf6

NxN BxN

Rf3 Bd4+ (savior)

Kh1 RxR

That looks ok. Taking with the N is a big thing as we need to be able to escape with check to avoid losing a big piece of material. Anyone see variants that don't work here?

Does:

Be7

O-O O-O

Rd3f3 this work better for them? I don't see it, but I want to take some time here.

They moved quickly here in the midgame, so they obviously see a line they really like. This is a critical move, so I'd like to torture it a while before being convinced that it works.

Let's also work on this line:

Be7

Rf1 This gives them more protection from Bc4+ - we would then have to go Bb5+ and they have a c pawn to protect.

 

[Sand]

In our white game O has moved Rc8. Not much of a surprise there.

 

[pizzatyme]

In our white game O has moved Rc8. Not much of a surprise there.

I'd say Rac1. Let's get control of the c file.

 

[pizzatyme]

Anyone home?

 

[pizzatyme]

Sand,

Black

Be7

Rf1 O-O (no need to move the B again)

 

[Sand]

Sand,

Black

Be7

Rf1 O-O (no need to move the B again)

I have looked over it several times and I can't find the line that Be7 doesn't work. Joe, nsfl?

 

[nysfl2]

I think you mean Nc5

Nf6+ Ke7

Rc3 Ke8?

Not bad but they certainly have momentum.

We'd have to go Kd8, as Ke8 is still under attack. Doesn't look great overall.

 

[Sand]

In our white game O has moved Rc8. Not much of a surprise there.

I'd say Rac1. Let's get control of the c file.

Devil's advocate:

Rac1 Rc5 I assume we take?

RxR dxc5 Now a pass pawn in play

Just thinking about this move. Does this line bother you? I'm not liking this position all that much (in fact I'd say they are ahead by a bit here).

 

[pizzatyme]

In our white game O has moved Rc8. Not much of a surprise there.

I'd say Rac1. Let's get control of the c file.

Any thoughts here?

 

[pizzatyme]

I think you mean Nc5

Nf6+ Ke7

Rc3 Ke8?

Not bad but they certainly have momentum.

We'd have to go Kd8, as Ke8 is still under attack. Doesn't look great overall.

That's what I meant. Durrrrrr

 

[nysfl2]

Black

Haven't gone through Be7 yet, but looks solid on the surface.

A completely alternate plan would be a5:

a5 O-O

Ba6 if (Rd2, Bxe2) If (Re3, Bc5, pinning the rook and forcing Nxc5, trading the bishop for the knight)

Someone take a look and tell me the flaws. If we can trade our trapped pieces for his attacking pieces, I think it's a win for us.

 

[nysfl2]

Sand,

Be7

O-O O-O

Bh5 f5 I don't see anything wrong here.

If the take the pawn en passant we just exchange pieces.

What are you worried about?

Be7

O-O O-O

Bh5 f5

exf6 Nxf6

NxN BxN

Rf3 Bd4+ (savior)

Kh1 RxR

That looks ok. Taking with the N is a big thing as we need to be able to escape with check to avoid losing a big piece of material. Anyone see variants that don't work here? I think after Bd4+, they go Bf2

Bxf2 Rxf2

Rxf3 Rxf3

then, we've got to stop him from Rf6 and taking our h6 pawn.

Does:

Be7

O-O O-O

Rd3f3 this work better for them? I don't see it, but I want to take some time here.

I assume you mean f5?

exf6 Nxf6

Nxf6 Bxf6

Rxf6 Rxf6

Rxf6

seems to leave us a bishop behind. This looks baddish.

They moved quickly here in the midgame, so they obviously see a line they really like. This is a critical move, so I'd like to torture it a while before being convinced that it works.

Let's also work on this line:

Be7

Rf1 This gives them more protection from Bc4+ - we would then have to go Bb5+ and they have a c pawn to protect.

 

[Sand]

Black

Haven't gone through Be7 yet, but looks solid on the surface.

A completely alternate plan would be a5:

Great thought. It does seem to keep them off the c column to a large extent. And it starts moving the pass pawn, which has to be a huge concern for them.

a5

Rf3 Nc6

NxN BxN

Rf1 O-O

Looks very good to me.

 

[Sand]

Sand,

Be7

O-O O-O

Bh5 f5 I don't see anything wrong here.

If the take the pawn en passant we just exchange pieces.

What are you worried about?

Be7

O-O O-O

Bh5 f5

exf6 Nxf6

NxN BxN

Rf3 Bd4+ (savior)

Kh1 RxR

That looks ok. Taking with the N is a big thing as we need to be able to escape with check to avoid losing a big piece of material. Anyone see variants that don't work here? I think after Bd4+, they go Bf2

Bxf2 Rxf2

Rxf3 Rxf3

then, we've got to stop him from Rf6 and taking our h6 pawn.

Does:

Be7

O-O O-O

Rd3f3 this work better for them? I don't see it, but I want to take some time here.

I assume you mean f5?

exf6 Nxf6

Nxf6 Bxf6

Rxf6 Rxf6

Rxf6

seems to leave us a bishop behind. This looks baddish.

They moved quickly here in the midgame, so they obviously see a line they really like. This is a critical move, so I'd like to torture it a while before being convinced that it works.

Let's also work on this line:

Be7

Rf1 This gives them more protection from Bc4+ - we would then have to go Bb5+ and they have a c pawn to protect.

I thought I deleted that post. Host of errors in there.

 

[nysfl2]

Black

Actually, if he moves Rf3 before Bh5, he doesn't have enough attackers on the f pawn to worry about. We wouldn't need to move it at all.

 

[Sand]

Black

Actually, if he moves Rf3 before Bh5, he doesn't have enough attackers on the f pawn to worry about. We wouldn't need to move it at all.

The threat of Ba3 really doesn't leave him with much choice but to move that rook.

 

[nysfl2]

Black

Haven't gone through Be7 yet, but looks solid on the surface.

A completely alternate plan would be a5:

Great thought. It does seem to keep them off the c column to a large extent. And it starts moving the pass pawn, which has to be a huge concern for them.

a5

Rf3 Nc6

NxN BxN

Rf1 O-O

Looks very good to me.

I think the response to Nc6 would be Nf6+, which doesn't seem good . I'd still prefer Ba6 after a5.

 

[Sand]

Black

Haven't gone through Be7 yet, but looks solid on the surface.

A completely alternate plan would be a5:

Great thought. It does seem to keep them off the c column to a large extent. And it starts moving the pass pawn, which has to be a huge concern for them.

a5

Rf3 Nc6

NxN BxN

Rf1 O-O

Looks very good to me.

I think the response to Nc6 would be Nf6+, which doesn't seem good . I'd still prefer Ba6 after a5.

Too many things going on. Distracted by those ####ers from Connecticut winning the championship. Hate them. Anyway, I should have posted:

a5

Rc3 Be7

O-O O-O

? Nc6

Or something like this. Need the Be7 in there to keep Nf6+, absolutely.

Off to bed. Resume tomorrow morning. Good discussion!

 

[pizzatyme]

Black

Haven't gone through Be7 yet, but looks solid on the surface.

A completely alternate plan would be a5:

a5 O-O

Ba6 if (Rd2, Bxe2) If (Re3, Bc5, pinning the rook and forcing Nxc5, trading the bishop for the knight)

Someone take a look and tell me the flaws. If we can trade our trapped pieces for his attacking pieces, I think it's a win for us.

a5Nd6+ Bxd6?

Rxd6 (attacking c pawn)

Not bad but there's still concerns there once they castle and double their Rooks.

 

[pizzatyme]

Nc5

Nf6+ Ke7

Rc3 now we must move the N I believe and lose the c pawn.

Be7 now doesn't look as exciting to me once they go Nd6+ as we either have to take the N or move Kf8

If we take the New lose a tempo versus doing a5 first as nysfl suggested.

So, this makes me tend to agree with a5.

 

[nysfl2]

Black

Haven't gone through Be7 yet, but looks solid on the surface.

A completely alternate plan would be a5:

a5 O-O

Ba6 if (Rd2, Bxe2) If (Re3, Bc5, pinning the rook and forcing Nxc5, trading the bishop for the knight)

Someone take a look and tell me the flaws. If we can trade our trapped pieces for his attacking pieces, I think it's a win for us.

a5Nd6+ Bxd6?

Rxd6 (attacking c pawn)

Not bad but there's still concerns there once they castle and double their Rooks.

If they follow this line, we can always diffuse the double rook by going f5 to force the en passant or set up our pawn defense nicely. f5 works much better when they've got one fewer rook involved.

 

[pizzatyme]

Black

Haven't gone through Be7 yet, but looks solid on the surface.

A completely alternate plan would be a5:

a5 O-O

Ba6 if (Rd2, Bxe2) If (Re3, Bc5, pinning the rook and forcing Nxc5, trading the bishop for the knight)

Someone take a look and tell me the flaws. If we can trade our trapped pieces for his attacking pieces, I think it's a win for us.

a5Nd6+ Bxd6?

Rxd6 (attacking c pawn)

Not bad but there's still concerns there once they castle and double their Rooks.

If they follow this line, we can always diffuse the double rook by going f5 to force the en passant or set up our pawn defense nicely. f5 works much better when they've got one fewer rook involved.

Agreed. I like this line best.

 

[nysfl2]

One other possibility following a5:

a5 Bh5

Be7? Rf3

O-O O-O

and we're outnumbered on the f pawn

What's our counter if they go Bh5? Bg7, setting up Ne5 if they still go Rf3?

Someone else look down this line.

 

[pizzatyme]

Even worse is after Be7 they go Nd6+ and easily win the pawn with the B or N.

I'm back to Be7 as our best move here.

Be7

Bh5? O-O and we eliminate the pressure on the f pawn as we can go f6 or f5 now without concern.

 

[Sand]

One other possibility following a5:

a5 Bh5

Be7? Rf3

O-O O-O

and we're outnumbered on the f pawn

What's our counter if they go Bh5? Bg7, setting up Ne5 if they still go Rf3?

Someone else look down this line.

a5 Bh5

Ba3 Rf3 He can't go Rf1 or castle

Ra2 Lose our O-O, though. Other than that, ok.

Be7 now doesn't look as exciting to me once they go Nd6+ as we either have to take the N or move Kf8

I don't see this as too bad

Be7

Nd6+ BxN

exd6 Nc5

Rd4 Not optimal, but I haven't found a line that is optimal here. If O wants to force us to take and get that pawn on the d column he can do so.

 

[pizzatyme]

Instead of exd6 they'd go Rxd6.

 

[Sand]

Even worse is after Be7 they go Nd6+ and easily win the pawn with the B or N.

I'm back to Be7 as our best move here.

Be7

Bh5? O-O and we eliminate the pressure on the f pawn as we can go f6 or f5 now without concern.

The more I look the more I like Be7. I'm going to put in an official vote for Be7 here. It is the most flexible move to diffuse the f column attack.

 

[Sand]

Instead of exd6 they'd go Rxd6.

Mistake - the pawn is much more of a threat there. Then we move c5 and diffuse. We may end up losing the c pawn at the expense of them losing a rook and us a knight. I'll take that trade.

 

[pizzatyme]

Seconded Be7.

I also like Rac1 for white. Thoughts here??

 

[Sand]

Seconded Be7.

I also like Rac1 for white. Thoughts here??

I haven't really seen much to move besides that - our options are limited. But it does keep up pressure. I'd be happy with a draw in this one.

 

[pizzatyme]

White

Screw the draw!

I have a master plan there. We want to trade off some pieces and get our N to c4. This will put pressure at their weak pawn structure.

I'd also like to get in f4 to open up the f file.

We own them in piece flexibility. Let's do this!

 

[Sand]

White

Screw the draw!

I have a master plan there. We want to trade off some pieces and get our N to c4. This will put pressure at their weak pawn structure.

I'd also like to get in f4 to open up the f file.

We own them in piece flexibility. Let's do this!

2 votes for Rac1.

 

[nysfl2]

Black

I'll third Be7. a5 seems to give up critical pacing in diffusing the f7 attack.

 

[nysfl2]

White

Screw the draw!

I have a master plan there. We want to trade off some pieces and get our N to c4. This will put pressure at their weak pawn structure.

I'd also like to get in f4 to open up the f file.

We own them in piece flexibility. Let's do this!

I was looking at trying to get the N over to c4, too. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of moves.

Is Ne1 worth considering? Rc1 doesn't seem to do anything very productive that we can't do later. Or maybe Qe3 to open up d2 to get the knight to c4 quicker?