Mini 686 - Chess Mafia (Done)

[Pesco47]

@ mod: Move count?

[sirdanilot]

I don't see the merit of Be2?

[veerus]

I don't see the merit of Be2?

It's a continuation move after Qc4. We develop our bishop and castle king-side when possible.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

We wouldn't play Qb3 in response to d5...b5.

11. d5 ... b5
12. Qd4

That threatens d6, which would be really strong.

I do agree with veerus about this. However, I would like to propose that we move to Bd3. It applies pressure on the f5 pawn. Black would most likely play d6 to get rid of the Queen, or d5 to complicate matters, but I see ways for us to win on either route.

move: Bd3

11. Bd3 ... d5
12. Qb3 ... b5

Our queen has nowhere to go. Our bishop has nowhere to go, and black has a pretty dominating board presence.

If you guys would rather, Qxf5 is a move to consider, but to me, it's too direct.

Qxf5 isn't an available move.

-----

Here's how I see it:

1. We can play a move to develop our white squared bishop. Bd3 fails for the reasons I mentioned above (basically, it holes up our queen at b3 with no options for escape). Bd2 is better, but we still look rough after black plays d5.

2. A better option is Bd2. It doesn't restrict our queen, develops the other bishop, threatens the b4 pawn, and still allows us to castle, just via queenside. Castling is also going to be more effective, since castling to the kingside would involve also having a bishop at e2, effectively keeping the rooks from getting into the game for a while.

3. There is also d5, which is currently my top pick. It's an attacking move (I don't consider Bd3 to be attacking, as d5 shuts it down entirely) that keeps black having to respond to our attacks rather than initiate ones of their own. Black's obvious response of b5 gets met with Qd4, which continues to threaten black with the powerful d6.

There is truth in this post... please move accordingly.

[sirdanilot]

I don't see the merit of Be2?

It's a continuation move after Qc4. We develop our bishop and castle king-side when possible.

*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. Qc4 a6
11. Be2
*/chess tag removed*
Then what, ...b5 or ...d5 are looming. And the bishop is still not developed until it moves to Bd3 or we move the knight away, or the queen. Maybe it's just because I think too short term, but I still don't see the merit of this move, other than the castling at kingside but that hardly warrants a move if there's no other merit.

[Pesco47]

I don't like castling kingside with our pawn structure and while they still have both bishops.

[Lawrencelot]

If I'm right, no one commented on my latest post. 11. Qb3 d5 12. Qa4

How about that one?

[Pesco47]

Are they forced to go d5?

[Indigo Heron]

If I'm right, no one commented on my latest post. 11. Qb3 d5 12. Qa4

How about that one?

11. Qb3 d5 12. Qa4? to me. Qa4 brings Bd7 to defend the King, and instantly, Black is on the offensive.

[Lawrencelot]

Ok that's no option then.

Move: d5

for now.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

If I'm right, no one commented on my latest post. 11. Qb3 d5 12. Qa4

How about that one?

11. Qb3 d5 12. Qa4? to me. Qa4 brings Bd7 to defend the King, and instantly, Black is on the offensive.

Or 11. Qb3 d5 12. Qa4 b5, and our queen has to take back a move.

Trying to probe around with our queen when we have no supporting structure is a

bad plan

. I have repeatedly said this. We need to stabilize her position so that we can get more pieces into play, and do it while not sacrificing board position. 11. d5 is our best move.

[veerus]

I don't see the merit of Be2?

It's a continuation move after Qc4. We develop our bishop and castle king-side when possible.

*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. Qc4 a6
11. Be2
*/chess tag removed*
Then what, ...b5 or ...d5 are looming. And the bishop is still not developed until it moves to Bd3 or we move the knight away, or the queen. Maybe it's just because I think too short term, but I still don't see the merit of this move, other than the castling at kingside but that hardly warrants a move if there's no other merit.

A

big

part of why we moved 10. Qc4 is to move our bishop out so we are able to castle. Since our queen is not in any danger, there's absolutely no reason not to continue with our original plan while still delaying black castling. In response to ...b5 or ...d5, we would simply move Qd3 and be able to castle at will after that. Bottom line is that we need to castle to get our king to safety and castling queenside is a suicide due to the open c-file and pawn on b4.

[veerus]

mod: please

prod

Gorrad, Goatrevolt and Sensfan.

[MafiaSSK]

I will prod them. Vote count up later today. Sorrry.

[Goatrevolt]

Prod received. I'll catch up either later today or tomorrow, depending on when I get time.

[Awesome Pants]

Moves
d5(3)- Pesco47, The Central Scrutinizer,Lawrencelot
Be2(1)-Veerus

Not voting (8) - SensFan, Goatrevolt sirdanilot, Indigo Heron, Gorrad, Doomsday, Pesco47

[Gorrad]

Prodded. Almost donw with finals. Haven't had the brainpower to spare to chess mafia, as it combines the high-focus aspects of both chess and mafia. Expect some sort of contribution next week (Out of town w/o computer friday-saturday).

[Indigo Heron]

I have something that I'd like to post, especially what I've thought to be the best move for White, but I can't right now. I just got my new laptop (Sony VAIO CS!!!) and I'm currently pumping it full of

crap

uh....games and programs, as well as updating the OS system, and such, so yeah, expect a post from me pretty soon (approximately 12-14 hours).

[The Central Scrutinizer]

I don't see the merit of Be2?

It's a continuation move after Qc4. We develop our bishop and castle king-side when possible.

*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. Qc4 a6
11. Be2
*/chess tag removed*
Then what, ...b5 or ...d5 are looming. And the bishop is still not developed until it moves to Bd3 or we move the knight away, or the queen. Maybe it's just because I think too short term, but I still don't see the merit of this move, other than the castling at kingside but that hardly warrants a move if there's no other merit.

A

big

part of why we moved 10. Qc4 is to move our bishop out so we are able to castle. Since our queen is not in any danger, there's absolutely no reason not to continue with our original plan while still delaying black castling. In response to ...b5 or ...d5, we would simply move Qd3 and be able to castle at will after that. Bottom line is that we need to castle to get our king to safety and castling queenside is a suicide due to the open c-file and pawn on b4.

Chess is not a game of "right now." Whoever can see further into the future, and can make the correct decisions, wins. We shouldn't pursue a dumb line just because it's "what we were planning to do." Qc4 was a

dumb

move in the first place, and I think we should all realize and accept that now before we move forward.

Castling is not our first priority here. Minimizing the damage of having our queen twisting in the wind is.

[sirdanilot]

Then what were you proposing? The reason that I'm asking is because

THE MOD DID NOT PUT UP THE MOVE COUNT YET.

just a subtle hint

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Just a subtle hint:

The mod put up the move count three posts above mine.

[Indigo Heron]

I'm sorry, man. I really screwed up this game. I've been going over the game over and over and wondering where we went wrong with this, but I have yet to see where it is we drew/lost this game. I'll keep searching.

I propose moving to Qb3. Black is pretty developed, and he'd be threatening the kingside as well as the queenside if he is allowed to castle and bring his King's Rook into play.

For the sake of trying to win this game back, I urge you guys to see what I'm doing first, and to not speculate anything on this forum, since anything that we know and refuted as bad moves for Black are caught on by Black and hence not played.

[veerus]

No.

[Indigo Heron]

No? Got a more elaborate answer than that?

[veerus]

It's a bad move.. It moves the queen to the corner of the board where it becomes largely useless.

TCS: I'm not very happy with your right now. You are blatantly disregarding king safety in a key junction of the game. Not only that, you're advocating a move that shuts down the diagonal that stares down into the heart of black's position and makes our last move a complete waste. Especially since Qc4 was not a waste, and since the queen is not under attack, we need to get the king out of the middle of the board before it's too late.