No hints, all commentary is in the spoiler. White to play, find the best move.
Spoiler:
This position came from an online game I played earlier tonight. I was white and achieved the diagrammed position. White is better here due to black's soon to be open king, awkwardly placed knight and queen, and incredibly weak d6 pawn.
Many moves maintain the advantage here, but the computer likes one significantly more (about +1.0 more) than other moves. That move is 1.e5! The main idea is to play around the d-file pressure which is where black's queen resides. The primary variation runs 1.e5! d5 2.Bc5 Re8 3.Rxd5 Qg5 where white has gone from an advantageous position to an overwhelming one. His pieces couldn't be more active and black will soon throw in the towel.
I thought this was a cool position because e5! is a move I never considered. My natural inclination is to maintain the bind on the weak d-pawn, which isn't nearly as strong or dynamic as the move suggested by Houdini. Kudos to those that got it.
When you see the answer, it seems pretty obvious. Of course, rocket science seems pretty obvious when you read the textbook.
Spoiler:
My first inclination is to trade on g7 and then sac the rook for the d6-pawn. 1. Bxg7 Kxg7 2. Rxd6 Qxd6 3. Rd1 Q somewhere 4. Rd7. But obviously fails to 1...Nxg7, stupid knight.
Seeing the answer, I also wonder about some 1. Bc5 lines, putting direct pressure on d6 and in turn threatening to advance the pawn on e6.
I didn't really consider anything else. brag or beat?
Spoiler:
I agree, more or less. At 2 ply, nothing else seemed worthwhile for anything. And with the rook lined up against the black queen, I always look for a way to make something of that.
Two Plus Two
Linear Mode
