CCC Practice Game

[Christopher Conkie]

Okay - a possible danger for you to consider before you decide on a4.

16.....a4; 17.Bd3, g6; 18.Bxg6+, hg; 19.Qxg6+, Bg7; 20.Bd4 followed by Rd3.

Just protect the bishop with Qe7 or Rf7. If it does do this illogical sacrifice we are winning.....easily.

eg Rf7 Rd3 Qh4

Between the two moves I like Qe7 better however.

[gerold]

[D]r2q1rk1/3p2pp/2b1pb2/p6Q/8/4B3/PPP1BPPP/1R1R2K1 B

Black (us) to move.

I vote Qd8-c7. final vote for me.

[michiguel]

Okay - a possible danger for you to consider before you decide on a4.

16.....a4; 17.Bd3, g6; 18.Bxg6+, hg; 19.Qxg6+, Bg7; 20.Bd4 followed by Rd3.

Just protect the bishop with Qe7 or Rf7. If it does do this illogical sacrifice we are winning.....easily.

eg Rf7 Rd3 Qh4

Between the two moves I like Qe7 better however.

Qh4 in this situation seems too strong. Rh3 cannot be play because of Qxd4 and Be4/Qe4 is threatened. White attack dies down.

We should consider carefully these type of sacrifices but at the same time we should not shy away from complications. Otherwise, it is a sure defeat. Particularly, when we are a pawn down! We played a4 to follow a plan. Let's stick to it.

my vote: a4

Miguel

[BubbaTough]

Okay - a possible danger for you to consider before you decide on a4.

16.....a4; 17.Bd3, g6; 18.Bxg6+, hg; 19.Qxg6+, Bg7; 20.Bd4 followed by Rd3.

Interesting line...it looks like black MIGHT be able to defend with 20...Qe7 with the idea of 21 Rd3 e5 and if 22. Re1 Rf6. If its remotely possible I would rather defend this kind of thing than the pawn down endgame.

I have not got a vote yet, but my time to look at this is expiring so I will present what I looked at.

16...a4
17. b4 axb 18 axb Qc7 (I am not sure about 18...Ra5 as it helps the advance of the b pawn, but I would need to look at it more to be sure) is ok guess.
17. Bd3 g6 18. Qg4 Qc7. Maybe white goes for another trade with 19. Be4.

16...Qc7 17. Bb5 might be a bit annoying (17...Qxc2 18. Qxd7 does not look good) 17...BxB 18. QxB then what? maybe 18...d5 19 c3 a4 and white's queenside is a bit stymied I guess.

16...Rb8 might be interesting. If 17. Bd4 Be4 gets complicated....maybe in a good way for black. Of course white can play 17. b3 or 17. c3 but the queenside is looking a little less mobile.

No vote now...I will check in later to see other people's thoughts and vote for something.

-Sam

[michiguel]

Okay - a possible danger for you to consider before you decide on a4.

16.....a4; 17.Bd3, g6; 18.Bxg6+, hg; 19.Qxg6+, Bg7; 20.Bd4 followed by Rd3.

Interesting line...it looks like black MIGHT be able to defend with 20...Qe7 with the idea of 21 Rd3 e5 and if 22. Re1 Rf6. If its remotely possible I would rather defend this kind of thing than the pawn down endgame.

Rf7 and later Qh4 is strong (with the idea of Qe4 or Be4), but also Qa5 with the idea of Qf5 (if g4 Qd5). Black has many resources to defend. After the bishop is gone, white square (e4 & f5) are nice posts for black. I do not fear the sacrifice at all.

Miguel

I have not got a vote yet, but my time to look at this is expiring so I will present what I looked at.

16...a4
17. b4 axb 18 axb Qc7 (I am not sure about 18...Ra5 as it helps the advance of the b pawn, but I would need to look at it more to be sure) is ok guess.
17. Bd3 g6 18. Qg4 Qc7. Maybe white goes for another trade with 19. Be4.

16...Qc7 17. Bb5 might be a bit annoying (17...Qxc2 18. Qxd7 does not look good) 17...BxB 18. QxB then what? maybe 18...d5 19 c3 a4 and white's queenside is a bit stymied I guess.

16...Rb8 might be interesting. If 17. Bd4 Be4 gets complicated....maybe in a good way for black. Of course white can play 17. b3 or 17. c3 but the queenside is looking a little less mobile.

No vote now...I will check in later to see other people's thoughts and vote for something.

-Sam

[Zach Wegner]

Rf7 and later Qh4 is strong (with the idea of Qe4 or Be4), but also Qa5 with the idea of Qf5 (if g4 Qd5). Black has many resources to defend. After the bishop is gone, white square (e4 & f5) are nice posts for black. I do not fear the sacrifice at all.

Miguel

I don't know about this sacrifice, it seems all the lines (if white plays Rd4 instead of Rd3) lead to an exchange of queens and to an endgame with B vs PPP, which doesn't look too fun for black.

ZCT suggests 16... Be4 to prevent the sacrifice in the first place. Maybe 16... g6 might work too.

[Spock]

Well, as I said earlier, I'm not convinced my vote is useful. It could even be damaging... But I will step back in. I'm liking Qc7 at the moment

[Steve B]

Well, as I said earlier, I'm not convinced my vote is useful. It could even be damaging... But I will step back in. I'm liking Qc7 at the moment

Thats The Spirit!
i am now locking this thread so you cannot later change your mind and withdraw your vote


the count so far seems to be
16..a4...4
16..Qc7...2
with plenty of time left(about 13 hours as i write)

a special nod of thanks to Miguel for BOLDY and Colorfully declaring his vote so even i can read it

Regards
Steve

[michiguel]

Rf7 and later Qh4 is strong (with the idea of Qe4 or Be4), but also Qa5 with the idea of Qf5 (if g4 Qd5). Black has many resources to defend. After the bishop is gone, white square (e4 & f5) are nice posts for black. I do not fear the sacrifice at all.

Miguel

I don't know about this sacrifice, it seems all the lines (if white plays Rd4 instead of Rd3) lead to an exchange of queens and to an endgame with B vs PPP, which doesn't look too fun for black.

Much better than being a pawn down!
I will take those unbalanced endgames against a not so strong engine. I think we would do fine.

Miguel

ZCT suggests 16... Be4 to prevent the sacrifice in the first place. Maybe 16... g6 might work too.

[slobo]

[D]r2q1rk1/3p2pp/2b1pb2/p6Q/8/4B3/PPP1BPPP/1R1R2K1 B

Black (us) to move.

I vote Qd8-c7. final vote for me.

[D]r2q1rk1/3p2pp/2b1pb2/p6Q/8/4B3/PPP1BPPP/1R1R2K1 B