Ufim 8.02+Mephisto London 030 vs. CCC Forum Chess960

[Graham Banks]

[d]r2n4/4p1kp/p2bbrp1/3p1p2/5P2/1PR1PNN1/P3B1PP/3R2K1 b

My vote goes to h6, so that if White plays Ne4, we can consider Bd7 looking to play e6, Rf8, and a knight move to join up our rooks.
Example ........h6; Ne4, Bd7; Bf3, e6; Rdc1, Rf8.
Alternatively, our bishop might be better off going to c8 and then b7, but then we'd need to keep an eye on a knight fork on the e6 square.

[Steve B]

if White plays Ne4, we can consider Bd7 looking to play e6, Rf8, and a knight move to join up our rooks.
Example ........h6; Ne4, Bd7; Bf3, e6; Rdc1, Rf8.
Alternatively, our bishop might be better off going to c8 and then b7, but then we'd need to keep an eye on a knight fork on the e6 square.

i know i am operating the MDC but i doubt it would play Ne4 although if it were me personally playing i might play it

i guess you mean Nd4 or perhaps Ne5 in your analysis above?

Proofreading Regards
Steve

[Graham Banks]

if White plays Ne4, we can consider Bd7 looking to play e6, Rf8, and a knight move to join up our rooks.
Example ........h6; Ne4, Bd7; Bf3, e6; Rdc1, Rf8.
Alternatively, our bishop might be better off going to c8 and then b7, but then we'd need to keep an eye on a knight fork on the e6 square.

i know i am operating the MDC but i doubt it would play Ne4 although if it were me personally playing i might play it

i guess you mean Nd4 or perhaps Ne5 in your analysis above?

Proofreading Regards
Steve

Yes - Nd4 - typo.

[Steve B]

With 7 hours to go to TC we have...

h6(Tano,Graham)
Bg8(Gerold)
Rf8(Matthias)

Steve

[Sven]

What about 20...Nb7 with the idea Nc5-e4? E.g. on 21.Rc6 Nc5, and if White tries 22.b4?! I would answer 22...Ne4 (23.Rxa6 Rxa6 24.Bxa6 Nxg3 25.hxg3 Bxb4; 23.Nxe4?! dxe4 24.Nd4 Bxb4 would even reactivate our Be6).

Also 20...Rf8 would be possible followed by 21...Nb7, and I definitely think that after we played Kg7, the rook must go to c8 via f8, otherwise we have lost time for being inconsistent with our plan. But the immediate Nb7 looks slightly better to me since it tries to centralize a passive piece while 20...Rf8 "only" starts to neutralize the Rc3 (and will also need to move the knight later on).

I think 20...h6 looks like a very passive move, and so does 20...Bg8.

So I vote for Nb7.

Sven

[gerold]

What about 20...Nb7 with the idea Nc5-e4? E.g. on 21.Rc6 Nc5, and if White tries 22.b4?! I would answer 22...Ne4 (23.Rxa6 Rxa6 24.Bxa6 Nxg3 25.hxg3 Bxb4; 23.Nxe4?! dxe4 24.Nd4 Bxb4 would even reactivate our Be6).

Also 20...Rf8 would be possible followed by 21...Nb7, and I definitely think that after we played Kg7, the rook must go to c8 via f8, otherwise we have lost time for being inconsistent with our plan. But the immediate Nb7 looks slightly better to me since it tries to centralize a passive piece while 20...Rf8 "only" starts to neutralize the Rc3 (and will also need to move the knight later on).

I think 20...h6 looks like a very passive move, and so does 20...Bg8.

So I vote for Nb7.

Sven

Nb7 is a good move but i still like Bg8. the action as you said
is on the Queen side. h6 can come much later.Black need to
get the Rooks in action asap.

Best.

Gerold.

[Sven]

Nb7 is a good move but i still like Bg8. the action as you said
is on the Queen side. h6 can come much later.Black need to
get the Rooks in action asap.

But how do you achieve that with Bg8, do you plan Bb4 as next move? This will invite the rook to c7, and after we defend Pe7 with our king white doubles the rooks, so you can't continue with Rc6.

Sven

[Guenther]

What about 20...Nb7 with the idea Nc5-e4? E.g. on 21.Rc6 Nc5, and if White tries 22.b4?! I would answer 22...Ne4 (23.Rxa6 Rxa6 24.Bxa6 Nxg3 25.hxg3 Bxb4; 23.Nxe4?! dxe4 24.Nd4 Bxb4 would even reactivate our Be6).

Also 20...Rf8 would be possible followed by 21...Nb7, and I definitely think that after we played Kg7, the rook must go to c8 via f8, otherwise we have lost time for being inconsistent with our plan. But the immediate Nb7 looks slightly better to me since it tries to centralize a passive piece while 20...Rf8 "only" starts to neutralize the Rc3 (and will also need to move the knight later on).

I think 20...h6 looks like a very passive move, and so does 20...Bg8.

So I vote for Nb7.

Sven

What if White simply plays 22. Rdc1 after 20...Nb7 21. Rc6 Nc5?!
Won't Black lose the pawn a6 without any compensation after whatever,
even Ne4?

Guenther

[gerold]

Nb7 is a good move but i still like Bg8. the action as you said
is on the Queen side. h6 can come much later.Black need to
get the Rooks in action asap.

But how do you achieve that with Bg8, do you plan Bb4 as next move? This will invite the rook to c7, and after we defend Pe7 with our king white doubles the rooks, so you can't continue with Rc6.

Sven

Bg8,Ne6, hoping to trade Knights. Rf6xe6 and then Bb4.
Thats if white does not make another weak move like the
last move it made.

Best.
Gerold.

[Sven]

What about 20...Nb7 with the idea Nc5-e4? E.g. on 21.Rc6 Nc5, and if White tries 22.b4?! I would answer 22...Ne4 (23.Rxa6 Rxa6 24.Bxa6 Nxg3 25.hxg3 Bxb4; 23.Nxe4?! dxe4 24.Nd4 Bxb4 would even reactivate our Be6).

Also 20...Rf8 would be possible followed by 21...Nb7, and I definitely think that after we played Kg7, the rook must go to c8 via f8, otherwise we have lost time for being inconsistent with our plan. But the immediate Nb7 looks slightly better to me since it tries to centralize a passive piece while 20...Rf8 "only" starts to neutralize the Rc3 (and will also need to move the knight later on).

I think 20...h6 looks like a very passive move, and so does 20...Bg8.

So I vote for Nb7.

Sven

What if White simply plays 22. Rdc1 after 20...Nb7 21. Rc6 Nc5?!
Won't Black lose the pawn a6 without any compensation after whatever,
even Ne4?

Accepted. So 21...Nc5?! is the evil, maybe 21...a5 is better here, but then my whole idea has already failed.

So for this reason, thanks to Guenther's comment, I change my vote from Nb7 into Rf8.

Sven