CCC Practice Game

[tano-urayoan]

g6 is a weakening move. I concur with Miguel Qc7, but my idea is to relocate black's f6 bishop in e5 and in we have the semi open f column why close it with a bishop?

If 15...Qc7 16. Bd3 g6 17. Qg4 Be5 (17...Bg7 18. h4 →h6?? 17.Qxg6 ) 18.h4→ (18.f4!?Bd6 and I do not know who is attacking who).

Another possibility 15...g6 (as suggested by me before, black gains another tempi, but we are really playing without a plan) 16. Qg4 and I do not know if Qc7 or Qa5 as Sam suggested. The incovenient of moving the queen is that it allows the white move h4. So another move after 16. Qg4 could be 16...Be5 ( I really do not like the position of the bishop in f6 it is hampering our position) or 16...Bg7 but again moving the bishop or the queen allows h4 with attack. So after 16. Qg4, We need to make a move that does not involve our queen or our black bishop. Maybe Kh8, or Kg7, or a5. I favor Kg7 as a defensive move.

I do not know the strenght of our opponent but the simple plan of Bd3 in connection with h4 (if allowed ) will give us a lot of troubles.

So after all my vote goes to g6.

[michiguel]

Be4 is a really bad idea. After Bd3 Bxd3/ cxd3 Rc8 Qe2 white will play Rfc1 and it will be impossible to avoid simplifying even more through the c column. We will end up with an endgame in which everything is equal except there is a b+a pawn against a. That is a technically won endgame for white. Simplifying is a wrong strategy to play for a draw.

I would prefer Qc7 (to avoid Bc5), but since it looks like we may converge between Be4 and a5,
my vote is = a5

Miguel

Reasonble points. After 15...Qc7 16. Bd3 g6 17. Qg4 then what? 17...a5? 17...Rab8 18. b4 does not look appealing. After 17...a5 18. h4 and white is starting to attack. ick.

If we leave the Q on d8 there is no fear for h4. Maybe Qc7 is not optimal.

a5/ Bd3 g6/ Qg4 a4 with the idea of Rb8/ c3 a3 etc.

If needed to defend the K side, the Rook can play Ra5

Miguel

After 15...Be4 16. Bd3 Bxd3 17. cxd3 Rc8 18. Qe2 is a nice move though. 18...Qa5 is met with 19. b4. 18...a6 does not seem promising 19. Rfc1 Qa5 maybe? 20. b4 RxR 21. BxR 22. Qa4 looks like decent queenside pressure for black, but simply 20. b3 and its looking bad. Blah. Things are looking bad for my move.

Here is another idea (suggested by someone else I think but I never looked at it before). Maybe 14...g6 (if we are not going to play 14...Be4 why wait for the bishop to go to d3 before doing this) 15. Qg4 Qa5. If 16. b4 the pawn might become a bit of a target.

OK, Miguel has convinced me, 15...Be4 is bad. I switch my vote to 14...g6.

-Sam

[Spock]

Yes you're right about the bishop - so Be4 is my confirmed vote

I withdraw that vote.
My votes are no good because I am so weak they actually may be dangerous. I will however continue to follow this with huge interest. Big thanks to Steve for running this challenge against his mighty machines

[BubbaTough]

Yes you're right about the bishop - so Be4 is my confirmed vote

I withdraw that vote.
My votes are no good because I am so weak they actually may be dangerous. I will however continue to follow this with huge interest

Feel free to keep on voting if you want, the goal is fun not victory . Just looking at other people's analysis and voting for whatever looks most convincing is probably a good learning opportunity. I certainly wasn't looking longingly at the Hiarcs team of titled players because I thought if I joined I would be a big help, but because it sounded fun to peek into their brain (and expose my own to useful criticism).

-Sam

[michiguel]

Yes you're right about the bishop - so Be4 is my confirmed vote

I withdraw that vote.
My votes are no good because I am so weak they actually may be dangerous. I will however continue to follow this with huge interest

Come on Ray, this is for fun. Keep voting!
If you do not feel confident, wait until the last minute to choose among the most popular choices. Then, your vote will really count

Miguel

[Graham Banks]

g6 is a weakening move. I concur with Miguel Qc7, but my idea is to relocate black's f6 bishop in e5 and in we have the semi open f column why close it with a bishop?

If 15...Qc7 16. Bd3 g6 17. Qg4 Be5 (17...Bg7 18. h4 →h6?? 17.Qxg6 ) 18.h4→ (18.f4!?Bd6 and I do not know who is attacking who).

Another possibility 15...g6 (as suggested by me before, black gains another tempi, but we are really playing without a plan) 16. Qg4 and I do not know if Qc7 or Qa5 as Sam suggested. The incovenient of moving the queen is that it allows the white move h4. So another move after 16. Qg4 could be 16...Be5 ( I really do not like the position of the bishop in f6 it is hampering our position) or 16...Bg7 but again moving the bishop or the queen allows h4 with attack. So after 16. Qg4, We need to make a move that does not involve our queen or our black bishop. Maybe Kh8, or Kg7, or a5. I favor Kg7 as a defensive move.

I do not know the strenght of our opponent but the simple plan of Bd3 in connection with h4 (if allowed ) will give us a lot of troubles.

So after all my vote goes to g6.

15...g6; 16.Qg4, Qa5 has the following good points:

- gives the possibilty of Qf5
- attacks the a2 pawn giving us a tempo
- protects our a pawn, thus freeing up the rook on a8
- gets the queen out and connects the rooks

[tano-urayoan]

Yes you're right about the bishop - so Be4 is my confirmed vote

I withdraw that vote.
My votes are no good because I am so weak they actually may be dangerous. I will however continue to follow this with huge interest. Big thanks to Steve for running this challenge against his mighty machines

Just keep voting strenght does not matter here just the cooperation and the fun, we are doing good keep up with the team.

[Graham Banks]

Yes you're right about the bishop - so Be4 is my confirmed vote

I withdraw that vote.
My votes are no good because I am so weak they actually may be dangerous. I will however continue to follow this with huge interest. Big thanks to Steve for running this challenge against his mighty machines

If everybody felt that way, we wouldn't have much of a team. Please keep participating.

[Graham Banks]

Just more explanation:
The idea behind Be4 is not to simplify.
It is to stop white's bishop from taking control of the b1-h7 diagonal and disrupting black's king safety, aided by Qh5.

Matthias.

After 15...Be4; 16.Bd3, Bxd3; 17.cd, I think that we should play the g6 followed by Qa5 plan anyway. Might be okay actually because White has to decide what to do about his a pawn situation. That would allow us to contest the open files.

[Steve B]

Tano changed the thread title to move 16 for some reason
it is still move 15
the vote is tied at 4-4 unless Sam is changing his move from 15..Be4 to 15..a5

Deadlocked Regards
Steve

I will stubbornly stay with 15...g6 for now, so the vote is 4-4-1 .

-Sam

Sam you voted for 15..Be4 so if you swtich to 15..g6 now the vote is 3-4-1
http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopi ... 33&t=28922

Counting votes is harder then playing Kasparov himself!

Sigh Regards
Steve