Move 24
 

With their move 24.Bc3 they seem to me to be relinquishing their b6 pawn in favour of the dangerous attack on our king. If they are intending Bxd4 it leaves opposite coloured bishops on the board, and that makes defending against their kingside attack particularly difficult. Against that, the material will be reduced which helps our defence, and we still have our play against b2.

Move order will be important for us now, I think. Not 24...Rxb6 25.Rxa8 Qxa8 26.fxg6 (or 26.Bxd4 Bxd4 27.fxg6).

The two serious possibilities which spring to my mind now are (1) 24...gxf5 25.Bxd4 (they might play 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 26.b7 instead) fxg4 26.Bxe5 fxe5 or 26...Rxa1 27.Rxa1 fxe5 leaving a heavy piece endgame with a lot of weak pawns, in which only our opponents have winning chances I would suggest.

Or (2) 24...Rxa1 25.Rxa1 Rxb6.

A non-chess advantage of (2), by the way, is that their reply is forced and since we are sealing our move we will effectively have at least three weeks to think about our 25th move.:devil: But that's tongue-in-cheek.

Any other possibilities? What mistakes have I made above? What are your preferences?

By process of elimination,I think you're right about 24. .. Rxa1.
Do you see us with any advantage, or about even?

[QUOTE=davar55;406520]By process of elimination,I think you're right about 24. .. Rxa1.
Do you see us with any advantage, or about even?[/QUOTE]
I think are opponents are better and we need to fight for a draw, but with careful defence (and counter-attack!) I am optimistic of achieving that.

Tempting as 24... Rxa1 is don't forget 24... g5 if not now then later.

[QUOTE=WMHalsdorf;406556]Tempting as 24... Rxa1 is don't forget 24... g5 if not now then later.[/QUOTE]
What is your thinking behind this move?

g5 slows their attack on the kingside (no quick openings) it also makes the capture of the knight less disruptive for us.

Agreed about slowing their attack. If 24...g5 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 leaves us with more work to do to round up their b6 pawn in addition to fighting off their attack (and we really must round up that pawn: apart from anything else, we are two pawns down at the moment). So, as you also suggested, we could perhaps best delay ...g5 and play 24...Rxa1 first so that we are still ready to capture on b6.

[QUOTE=Brian-E;406618]Agreed about slowing their attack. If 24...g5 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 leaves us with more work to do to round up their b6 pawn in addition to fighting off their attack (and we really must round up that pawn: apart from anything else, we are two pawns down at the moment). So, as you also suggested, we could perhaps best delay ...g5 and play 24...Rxa1 first so that we are still ready to capture on b6.[/QUOTE]

I haven't found their best move after 24...g5 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 which makes me wonder if 25.Rxa8 is whites best move.

[QUOTE=WMHalsdorf;406679]I haven't found their best move after 24...g5 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 which makes me wonder if 25.Rxa8 is whites best move.[/QUOTE]
It's hard to respond to this, but I'll attempt to find common ground with you by asking you this: do you think, as I do, that we need to remove their b6 pawn while we can and before it becomes dangerous? Or do you think we should concentrate on other matters first (and if so, which matters should we be addressing?)?

[QUOTE=Brian-E;406683]It's hard to respond to this, but I'll attempt to find common ground with you by asking you this: do you think, as I do, that we need to remove their b6 pawn while we can and before it becomes dangerous? Or do you think we should concentrate on other matters first (and if so, which matters should we be addressing?)?[/QUOTE]

The problem is when to play g5 such that it is most effective.

Just figured out white's best reply to the immediate g5 is Ba6 which makes Rxa1 the best move for us.