Stockfish-assisted game vs Stockfish, move 8 discussion

[LaurV]

No argument about a6, it seems the best choice now.

All Be7, Be6, h6, are good alternatives to b5. I don't like b5 much. Be7 and h6 are "take that horse or fuck off!" and Be6 allows Rc8 later, which is an extremely strong strategic move for black in this stage of the game. Also, Rb8 (after a6) is another alternative to b5, allows us to keep the king in the center longer (no horse fork anymore) and allows us to push b5 much safer, we get stronger on queen's flank. For an ...a6, Na3, Rb8, Nd5, Be7, Nxe7, Nxe7, Bxf6, gxf6, or different permutations of it, we are still strong on the queen's flank and better in center, in spite of what an engine could think of it...

But this needs more analysis, and with the engine too, as long as we are allowed. I will give it a run overnight. Long weekend here, we return to job on Tuesday. There will be the "hardware weekend", my i7-6950x arrived today, together with 64G of DDR4-2400. I still need a power supply and a case... Shopping tomorrow.