Mini 686 - Chess Mafia (Done)

[Gorrad]

10. Ng5 O-O
11. Qc4++ h8
12. Kf7 Rxf7
13. Qxf7

That was my line of thought.

I didn't see d5. What if we go g3 and Bg2 before starting the line?

Also, Heron, in a normal situation I might agree. However, this game is FAR from normal. If we don't focus strongly on protection, then black WILL take us. We have no element of surprise whatsoever, so if we slip, they'll see it.

[Indigo Heron]

It's not like Black can do anything to stop the queen from doing what it does best if Qc4 is played.

g3 and Bg2? That may work...but White will have be on the defensive.

[Gorrad]

On queenside, right now, the ONLY pieces not defended are the rook and that one lonely pawn. Explain to me how that's not stopping the queen?

[Goatrevolt]

g3 is decent, but a very defensive play. I'm not sure if I like it for that reason.

I don't like Ng5 much. It just means black can play h6 at some point and cause us to have wasted a move as we backtrack the knight. We don't have enough pressure on the kingside to make use of the knight up there.

Qc4 gets met with d5, slamming the door in the face of our queen. Indigo, can you explain how we get a pawn from it? I don't see the move sequence that results in us picking up a pawn.

Anyway, I like Qb5. It pins the pawn at d7, and threatens the pawn at f5. It also puts some minor pressure on the b4 pawn, which could lead to even more pressure with Bd2 later on. Either black moves g6 and destroys their kingside pawn structure or they lose the pawn at f5. Both seem good to me.

Move Qb5

[SensFan]

Oh, wait. My bad, I was confusing Qc4 for Qb5. Yeah, Qc4 is absolutely terrible, since ...d5 ruins us.

move: Qb5

[Lawrencelot]

Goat, can you explain why g6 is bad for black (after Qb5)? I see it only help their pawn structure, or I'm missing something.

[Goatrevolt]

Goat, can you explain why g6 is bad for black (after Qb5)? I see it only help their pawn structure, or I'm missing something.

It opens up the diagonal. Qe5 now pins the knight to the rook.

Right now, as it stands, if Black castles, they have Kh8 as a safe spot for the king. If black has already moved g6, they have no safe spot for their king after a kingside castle, as the king will always be open to an attack along the diagonal.

[Pesco47]

Did a read over the suggestions

Ng5: Gets countered by h6. We play this move when black can't afford to counter it.

Qc4: A good attacking move, but countered by d5 (and this is backed by the knight). Also only playable when they can't respond.

Qb5: g6 shuts down the pawn take plan. Gets countered by a6 in the following move.

g3: Yes it's defensive, but gives us more moving space. I have this down as possibly the best move for the turn.

b3: Lost a lot of it's power from the last turn, but still a decent move IMO.

Move g3

Edit for goat's post: the d-pawn is a source of many troubles.

[Goatrevolt]

Qb5: g6 shuts down the pawn take plan. Gets countered by a6 in the following move.

*chess tag removed*1. e4 c5
2. Nc3 Nc6
3. f4 e6
4. Nf3 f5
5. exf5 exf5
6. Qe2 Be7
7. Nd5 Nb4
8. Nxb4 cxb4
9. d4 Nf6
10. Qb5, g6
11. Bd2, a6
12. Qe5*/chess tag removed*

We have the bishop and knight pinned, and our own Bishop is threatening to take a free pawn at b4.

g3: Yes it's defensive, but gives us more moving space. I have this down as possibly the best move for the turn.

This is my 2nd best move for the turn.

b3: Lost a lot of it's power from the last turn, but still a decent move IMO.

Not worth it now that we've moved d4. I'd much prefer g3 over this.

[Pesco47]

And then

*chess tag removed*1. e4 c5
2. Nc3 Nc6
3. f4 e6
4. Nf3 f5
5. exf5 exf5
6. Qe2 Be7
7. Nd5 Nb4
8. Nxb4 cxb4
9. d4 Nf6
10. Qb5, g6
11. Bd2, a6
12. Qe5 d6*/chess tag removed*

What have we achieved there?

[SensFan]

After Qe3, our Queen is nice a safe, but Black has run out of options avalible to keep their King safe, since there is no more wall of pawns for him to castle behind.

[Pesco47]

Qe3 is still open to threat from the knight.

[SensFan]

How?

[Pesco47]

g4 and d5

[Lawrencelot]

Unmove, move: Qb5

Although what Pesco says is true, I've got a good followup for that last one. I don't think sharing it helps black, so:

*chess tag removed*1. e4 c5
2. Nc3 Nc6
3. f4 e6
4. Nf3 f5
5. exf5 exf5
6. Qe2 Be7
7. Nd5 Nb4
8. Nxb4 cxb4
9. d4 Nf6
10. Qb5, g6
11. Bd2, a6
12. Qe5 d6
13. Qe3 Ng4
14. Qb3 */chess tag removed*
Then black does something, and we might play Bb4 or move the other bishop.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Can we not get too close to making a move? I'm spending a lot of time on this right now and I want to weigh in at some point... I'm just still running scenarios.

[Gorrad]

d6 makes Qb5 too risky for me. I think we should go with

Unmove, move: g3

to start the chain mentioned in 250.

[Pesco47]

From move 10-14 the queen moves 4 times while they move 4 different pieces. Talk about bad play...

[Indigo Heron]

Qc4 gets met with d5, slamming the door in the face of our queen. Indigo, can you explain how we get a pawn from it? I don't see the move sequence that results in us picking up a pawn.

Move Qb5

If White plays Qc4 now....

10. Qc4 d5
11. Qb5+

See where I'm going with this? I don't want to reveal so much so that Black won't catch on.

[Pesco47]

After Qb5+, they go Qd7. We've still accomplished nothing. White is sitting with too many reactionary moves. We have answers to problems that don't exist yet. Take this time to play development moves.

[Indigo Heron]

They can have the Queen. In fact, I practically insist. I'll force them to make the trade by 12. Ne5.

[Indigo Heron]

EBWOP: By then, the pawn capture opportunity is gone...but at least we'll have something of theirs that's more valuable than ours in the endgame.

[Pesco47]

You forget that in the process of them making all those moves, they've gotten all their pieces out into the open.

[Goatrevolt]

From move 10-14 the queen moves 4 times while they move 4 different pieces. Talk about bad play...

They've moved 3 pawns, none of which have developed their board any, and a knight to a place where it accomplishes literally nothing. While generally a principle like "4 queen moves < 4 moves by different pieces" is true it's not something that can be applied to everything. Meanwhile we've developed 2 bishops (Bd2, and opened the path for our white squared bishop) and maintain pressure on the b4 pawn, forcing a defensive move from them.

I still like Qb5, but Indigo makes a good point about Qc4. I want to explore that path more before making a decision.

Unmove

for now.

[Pesco47]

Sure they only move 3 pawns, but the a and h ones curb offensives from being set up in their respective sides. The d pawn opens their bishop and give queen move options.