Move 19b discussion: Everyone vs Stockfish

[MooMoo2]

The poll for move 18 ended in a 4-4 tie, and one of the most popular moves was Rab1. Stockfish responded with 18...Qe6, and the FEN is:
r5k1/pp2rp1p/4qp2/3p4/2nQ4/1N3P2/PPP3PP/1R3RK1 w - - 2 19

Game so far: 1.e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. exd5 exd5 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. Bxd7+ Nbxd7 8. O-O Be7 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. Nb3 Nce4 11. Nfd4 O-O 12. Nf5 Re8 13. Nxe7+ Rxe7 14. f3 Nd6 15. Bg5 Nc4 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Qd4 Qb6 18. Rab1 Qe6

[gd_barnes]

19. c3 that was previously largely discussed seems best here. It ultimately allows us to protect the b2 pawn more easily and free up our rook at b1.

[science_man_88]

Originally Posted by gd_barnes

19. c3 that was previously largely discussed seems best here. It ultimately allows us to protect the b2 pawn more easily and free up our rook at b1.

a though I had was chasing the king but that seems pointless but another thought was Rf2 ... Nc5 which looks bad except it forces the queen that just moved of that file because there's nowhere on the file it can stay safely and even if we did the reverse order we'd have it trapped because if it went to attack after Nf5 Rf2 attacks it if it accepts it's captured by the king if it tries retreating Nxd3 or Qxd3 occur and the queen is off the table. just my thought on things.

[WMHalsdorf]

Possible moves.
19.Rfd1 needs deep analysis
19.Rfe1 Queen vs 2 rooks
19.Rbe1 Queen vs 2 rooks
19.Qf2 appears to be a draw because SF best move appears to be Qb6
19.Rf2 most defensive of these moves

[science_man_88]

Originally Posted by WMHalsdorf

19.Rfd1 needs deep analysis

it potentially forces g3 in the lines like:

19.Rfd1 Qe2
20. ... Re5
21. ... Rg5

[WMHalsdorf]

Originally Posted by science_man_88

it potentially forces g3 in the lines like:

19.Rfd1 Qe2
20. ... Re5
21. ... Rg5

20.Qxf6 looks like a win for us.

[science_man_88]

Originally Posted by WMHalsdorf

20.Qxf6 looks like a win for us.

first thought was and Rae8 replacement but I see that semi traps the king now.

Originally Posted by richs

Here is a deeper look at the line I advocated in post #20:

18. Rab1 Qe6
19. c3 Qf5
20. Qf2 Rae8
21. Nd4 Qg5
22. g3 Ne3
23. Rfe1 f5
24. Re2 f4
25. Kh1 Kh8
26. Rbe1 Re5
27. gxf4 Qxf4
28. Qg3 Qf6

And we have good play.

19. c3 Qf5

[gd_barnes]

Originally Posted by WMHalsdorf

Possible moves.
19.Rfd1 needs deep analysis
19.Rfe1 Queen vs 2 rooks
19.Rbe1 Queen vs 2 rooks
19.Qf2 appears to be a draw because SF best move appears to be Qb6
19.Rf2 most defensive of these moves

Rfe1 and Rbe1. Losing 2 rooks for a queen is a loss of material with no real compensation in return. I think we can eliminate those.

[richs]

I stand by my previous analysis: 19. c3

I expect our opponent to respond: Qf5.

[WMHalsdorf]

I can live with 19. c3 but I expect 19...Qe5