Move 35

Brian-E · 2014-07-05, 13:55

Clearly they had their reply prepared.

Well, we need to defend the knight with the bishop. I see two reasonable moves: 35...Bb4, or 35...Bd4+ to be followed by ...Bc5. The latter undefends the a pawn but defends the a7 square where they may want to put their rook after moving their king away from where it can be forked.

Other moves look bad to me at first glance. 35...Bf6 doesn't look sensible when the a pawn needs protection. And 35...Nf3+ is pointless and loses a piece to 36.Kg2 Ne1+ 37.Kf1 Bb4 38.Nxe7.

What does everyone else think?

paulunderwood · 2014-07-05, 15:07

I am favour Bb4 because it also prevents 36.Nd5+. Now if they take our Knight instead and we capture with our Bishop (may via a check by us). My guess they will put their Rook on the a-file, but we can move our knight to defend our a-Pawn, and it's 2 moves by White to attack that Knight with the Bishop, by which time we can move our King and Bishop to help defend our a-Pawn. :smile:

richs · 2014-07-06, 00:45

This follows my analysis in Move 34:

35. Rb7 Bb4
36. Nxe7 Bc5+
37. Kg2 Bxe7

It seems with having lost one of their team members, they may be moving quicker....

Brian-E · 2014-07-06, 09:53

On general considerations I'll be very pleased if they choose to swap knights on e7 as in your line Rich. In my opinion their best winning chances come from keeping their knight and attacking us with the forces that they currently have. I think the endgame where they have a rook against our knight with further only a pair of opposite coloured bishops on the board is a dead draw with the pawn configuration as it is at the moment.

If they keep their knight on the board then they have winning chances and we need to defend carefully. But I disagree with LaurV's boasting in the public thread that they have a simple win. Unless they've spotted a clear line which wins by force and which we haven't noticed yet, I think we have every reason to hope for a draw even with the material on the board as it is now.

My move preference now is also 35...Bb4.

richs · 2014-07-06, 16:29

I agree with Brian's discussion above. I'll take a further look at Brian's other move, Bd4+, since we have time. I'll post that later.

henryzz · 2014-07-06, 19:01

[QUOTE=richs;377479]
It seems with having lost one of their team members, they may be moving quicker....[/QUOTE]
It seems they have lost their deepest thinker.
I agree with Brian on the knight exchange. It seems counter-intuitive to me as I usually follow the exchange only if you are ahead rule.

paulunderwood · 2014-07-06, 20:17

One bad line for us seems to be:

35...Bb4
36.Nxe7 Bxe7
37.Ra7 Nc4
38.Bg4 Kf6
39.Ra6 Ke5
40.Be2...

and we end up losing our a-pawn :down:

Brian-E · 2014-07-06, 20:30

[QUOTE=paulunderwood;377528]One bad line for us seems to be:

35...Bb4
36.Nxe7 Bxe7
37.Ra7 Nc4
38.Bg4 Kf6
39.Ra6 Ke5
40.Be2...

and we end up losing our a-pawn :down:[/QUOTE]
Yes, this doesn't look so good. Our pinned bishop can't play the saving fork in this line. Hmm, we'll need to look for some counterplay or compensation here.

Brian-E · 2014-07-06, 20:37

In that case, maybe we need to play 35...Bd4+ followed by ...Bc5. Well spotted, Paul.

EDIT: Doesn't help. They still then play Nxe7 of course. Oh well, it's going to be tougher than I thought.

paulunderwood · 2014-07-06, 20:43

I see a way out:

35...Bb4
36.Nxe7 Bxe7
37.Ra7 Nc4
38.Bg4 Ke8
39.Ra8+ Bd8

:smile:

Brian-E · 2014-07-06, 20:45

[QUOTE=paulunderwood;377533]I see a way out:

35...Bb4
36.Nxe7 Bxe7
37.Ra7 Nc4
38.Bg4 Ke8
39.Ra8+ Bd8

:smile:[/QUOTE]
Brilliant!
:tu:

2014-07-05, 13:55	#1
Brian-E "Brian" Jul 2007 The Netherlands 2·11·149 Posts	Move 35 Clearly they had their reply prepared. Well, we need to defend the knight with the bishop. I see two reasonable moves: 35...Bb4, or 35...Bd4+ to be followed by ...Bc5. The latter undefends the a pawn but defends the a7 square where they may want to put their rook after moving their king away from where it can be forked. Other moves look bad to me at first glance. 35...Bf6 doesn't look sensible when the a pawn needs protection. And 35...Nf3+ is pointless and loses a piece to 36.Kg2 Ne1+ 37.Kf1 Bb4 38.Nxe7. What does everyone else think? Last fiddled with by Brian-E on 2014-07-05 at 14:17 Reason: corrections

2014-07-06, 20:17	#7
paulunderwood Sep 2002 Database er0rr 5·937 Posts	One bad line for us seems to be: 35...Bb4 36.Nxe7 Bxe7 37.Ra7 Nc4 38.Bg4 Kf6 39.Ra6 Ke5 40.Be2... and we end up losing our a-pawn :down: Last fiddled with by paulunderwood on 2014-07-06 at 20:17

2014-07-06, 20:37	#9
Brian-E "Brian" Jul 2007 The Netherlands 2×11×149 Posts	In that case, maybe we need to play 35...Bd4+ followed by ...Bc5. Well spotted, Paul. EDIT: Doesn't help. They still then play Nxe7 of course. Oh well, it's going to be tougher than I thought. Last fiddled with by Brian-E on 2014-07-06 at 20:39

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2014-07-05, 15:07	#2
paulunderwood Sep 2002 Database er0rr 11115₈ Posts	I am favour Bb4 because it also prevents 36.Nd5+. Now if they take our Knight instead and we capture with our Bishop (may via a check by us). My guess they will put their Rook on the a-file, but we can move our knight to defend our a-Pawn, and it's 2 moves by White to attack that Knight with the Bishop, by which time we can move our King and Bishop to help defend our a-Pawn. :smile:

2014-07-06, 00:45	#3
richs "Rich" Aug 2002 Benicia, California 11010110110₂ Posts	This follows my analysis in Move 34: 35. Rb7 Bb4 36. Nxe7 Bc5+ 37. Kg2 Bxe7 It seems with having lost one of their team members, they may be moving quicker....

2014-07-06, 09:53	#4
Brian-E "Brian" Jul 2007 The Netherlands 2·11·149 Posts	On general considerations I'll be very pleased if they choose to swap knights on e7 as in your line Rich. In my opinion their best winning chances come from keeping their knight and attacking us with the forces that they currently have. I think the endgame where they have a rook against our knight with further only a pair of opposite coloured bishops on the board is a dead draw with the pawn configuration as it is at the moment. If they keep their knight on the board then they have winning chances and we need to defend carefully. But I disagree with LaurV's boasting in the public thread that they have a simple win. Unless they've spotted a clear line which wins by force and which we haven't noticed yet, I think we have every reason to hope for a draw even with the material on the board as it is now. My move preference now is also 35...Bb4.

2014-07-06, 16:29	#5
richs "Rich" Aug 2002 Benicia, California 2×859 Posts	I agree with Brian's discussion above. I'll take a further look at Brian's other move, Bd4+, since we have time. I'll post that later.

2014-07-06, 19:01	#6
henryzz Just call me Henry "David" Sep 2007 Liverpool (GMT/BST) 3×23×89 Posts	[QUOTE=richs;377479] It seems with having lost one of their team members, they may be moving quicker....[/QUOTE] It seems they have lost their deepest thinker. I agree with Brian on the knight exchange. It seems counter-intuitive to me as I usually follow the exchange only if you are ahead rule.

2014-07-06, 20:30	#8
Brian-E "Brian" Jul 2007 The Netherlands 6316₈ Posts	[QUOTE=paulunderwood;377528]One bad line for us seems to be: 35...Bb4 36.Nxe7 Bxe7 37.Ra7 Nc4 38.Bg4 Kf6 39.Ra6 Ke5 40.Be2... and we end up losing our a-pawn :down:[/QUOTE] Yes, this doesn't look so good. Our pinned bishop can't play the saving fork in this line. Hmm, we'll need to look for some counterplay or compensation here.

2014-07-06, 20:43	#10
paulunderwood Sep 2002 Database er0rr 5·937 Posts	I see a way out: 35...Bb4 36.Nxe7 Bxe7 37.Ra7 Nc4 38.Bg4 Ke8 39.Ra8+ Bd8 :smile:

2014-07-06, 20:45	#11
Brian-E "Brian" Jul 2007 The Netherlands 2×11×149 Posts	[QUOTE=paulunderwood;377533]I see a way out: 35...Bb4 36.Nxe7 Bxe7 37.Ra7 Nc4 38.Bg4 Ke8 39.Ra8+ Bd8 :smile:[/QUOTE] Brilliant! :tu: