CCC Practice Game

[Matthias Gemuh]

If 14. ... Rb8 15. Bxa7 Bf6 then 16. Qxb8 drops the exchance i think.

Kind regards,
Jesper

14. ... Rb8 15. Bxa7 is countered by Rb8 and later Qa5 (if Bb7 is defended by white Queen). Pawn a2 falls. Wrong analysis ?

Matthias.

[jesper_nielsen]

If 14. ... Rb8 15. Bxa7 Bf6 then 16. Qxb8 drops the exchance i think.

Kind regards,
Jesper

14. ... Rb8 15. Bxa7 is countered by Rb8 and later Qa5 (if Bb7 is defended by white Queen). Pawn a2 falls. Wrong analysis ?

Matthias.

I presume you mean 14. ... Rb8 15. Bxa7 Ra8 and we can possibly win the a2 pawn.

Alright! Here are my 1600 thoughts!

If we excange the a pawns, we loose a weakness but gives white a strength, namely an outside passed pawn. And I think it is very difficult for us to avoid having to trade pieces and thereby trading down to a bad endgame?!

If it was possible to exchange the a7 pawn for the b2 pawn, (which was Adraniks idea i think), then white would be left with weak a and c pawns. which would be a good exchange for black i believe. The a pawn is again an outside passer, but it would be isolated and therefore need to be covered by pieces.

So what do we do?

Strength: Our center pawns, but currently they are not mobile. I think we need to free them up, so they can at least threaten to advance. 14. ... Bf6 I think would be a step in the right direction. Also to try and gain influence on the a1-h8 diagonal.

Weakness: The a7 pawn is weak. And we are down a pawn.
If white starts to gang up on the a pawn, then our pieces could become tied done defending it.

Concern: There are no material imbalance. And in general we do not want to trade pieces. This makes it very difficult for us, since white is free to take any file or diagonal he wants. If we do not vacate them, pieces are traded off.

Conclusion: Head for a draw?

No computer was consulted during this analysis!

Kind regards,
Jesper

[playjunior]

I agree what Jesper said, exchanging a7 vs a2 is not nearly as good as exchanging a7 vs b2
We may as well push a7-a5, it may be even better than exchanging a7 vs a2.

Note that I am not suggesting concrete moves or variations, so I am not voting for a7-a5 now, just sharing thoughts on position.

[Zach Wegner]

14..Rf5 15. Qg3
15...Be4 16. Bd3 Bxd3 17. Bd4!? Bf6 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. Qxd3 is great for white
15...Bf6 16. b4! white's queenside gets mobile and takes away black's ability to swing his rook over to a5 and makes his rook position a bit awkward.

What about 15...Bh4? Makes the queen move again and puts pressure on the f2 square. That was what I was thinking when analyzing Rf5.

[BubbaTough]

14..Rf5 15. Qg3
15...Be4 16. Bd3 Bxd3 17. Bd4!? Bf6 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. Qxd3 is great for white
15...Bf6 16. b4! white's queenside gets mobile and takes away black's ability to swing his rook over to a5 and makes his rook position a bit awkward.

What about 15...Bh4? Makes the queen move again and puts pressure on the f2 square. That was what I was thinking when analyzing Rf5.

f2 does not look that vulnerable to me. I don't really see much attack for black, so my lines were mostly about trying for a little queenside pressure (which doesn't seem like it amounts to much either). But let's look at it.

14...Rf5 15. Qg3 Bh5 16. Qh3 (keeping black queen pinned down to protecting the bishop and eyeing h7) Ra5 (16...Be4 17. Rbd1! and black has to retreat the black bishop with a great game for white; 16...Qe7 17. Bd3 and black's pieces are discombobulated 17...Ra5? 18. g3)

These lines make me think there is not going to be any real pressure on f2, and the bishop is awkward on h4 since it ties black's queen down to defense.

Gosh, analyzing these lines is depressing. Makes one wish we had gone for the endgame earlier, or at least not allowed kingside castling .
-Sam

[BubbaTough]

I agree what Jesper said, exchanging a7 vs a2 is not nearly as good as exchanging a7 vs b2
We may as well push a7-a5, it may be even better than exchanging a7 vs a2.

Note that I am not suggesting concrete moves or variations, so I am not voting for a7-a5 now, just sharing thoughts on position.

I agree with this sentiment Andranik. I spent a little time looking at an immediate ...a5 if you look at my earlier post, but did not see a good way to pull it off (if the pawn goes to ...a4 it can be annoying for white just to push by with b4). If you see some better way to pull this off for black we are all ears. I find this position a bit depressing.

-Sam

[gerold]

I agree what Jesper said, exchanging a7 vs a2 is not nearly as good as exchanging a7 vs b2
We may as well push a7-a5, it may be even better than exchanging a7 vs a2.

Note that I am not suggesting concrete moves or variations, so I am not voting for a7-a5 now, just sharing thoughts on position.

I agree with this sentiment Andranik. I spent a little time looking at an immediate ...a5 if you look at my earlier post, but did not see a good way to pull it off (if the pawn goes to ...a4 it can be annoying for white just to push by with b4). If you see some better way to pull this off for black we are all ears. I find this position a bit depressing.

-Sam

a5 is best as i see it. Then forget a5 and start pushing two
middle pawns. Can't lose.

Gerold.

[michiguel]

I agree what Jesper said, exchanging a7 vs a2 is not nearly as good as exchanging a7 vs b2
We may as well push a7-a5, it may be even better than exchanging a7 vs a2.

Note that I am not suggesting concrete moves or variations, so I am not voting for a7-a5 now, just sharing thoughts on position.

I agree with this sentiment Andranik. I spent a little time looking at an immediate ...a5 if you look at my earlier post, but did not see a good way to pull it off (if the pawn goes to ...a4 it can be annoying for white just to push by with b4). If you see some better way to pull this off for black we are all ears. I find this position a bit depressing.

-Sam

a5 is best as i see it. Then forget a5 and start pushing two
middle pawns. Can't lose.

Gerold.

Vote: a5

Later we play a4, pressure b2 with Bf6+Rb8 and we may force an exchange of the a-pawn after white plays b3 etc.

We cannot allow white to play b4-b5.

Miguel

[S.Taylor]

Why doesn't Terry McCracken ever help us out with a move, I wonder?

[Steve B]

Vote: a5

Later we play a4, pressure b2 with Bf6+Rb8 and we may force an exchange of the a-pawn after white plays b3 etc.

We cannot allow white to play b4-b5.

Miguel

unless i am reading it wrong it seems (as i write )the vote is split with 3 voting for 14..f6 and 3 for 14..a5
Gerold seems to have switched his vote from f6 to a5?
not sure if Jesper is voting for 14..f6 so his vote is not part of the six counted above

there is still 5 hours to go so perhaps someone can verify this for me. hopefully by then there will be a clear vote getter for the move
if there is no leading candidate for the move the time control is extended until someone votes to break the tie
Tabulating Regards
Steve