Hmm, posters have been so 'talkative' since my 5th move, as if there's gonna be some thunder along the a4-e8 or a2-h7 diagonal... well, I have d7 covered so many times, can also play Qc7 for overprotection of c6. c5, with the idea to pile up on f7 by Bc4 and Qb3, doesn't work immediately because I can then play e6 straight away if I do find it that necessary - I still don't think Nxf7 works.

If White for some reason prefers Qc2 first, then I reckon I have enough time for 7. Qc2 g6 8. c5 Bf5 9. Qb3 Qc7 10. Bc4 e6 and Nbd7 afterwards, as fancy as it sounds - it's very helpful that White's e-pawn is missing, so the B will feel safe on f5, White can't kick it by g4 straight away because I have g4 attacked twice; if White just plays h3 and g4, my B can land on e4 with a tempo if needed.

Anyway, I'll do my best to get the LSB outside the pawn chain - it's not a bloody Semi-Slav fgs.

I don't think cats are good chess players. They won't be able to get a title as long as they play the symmetrical Van't Cruijs with (as White apparently intends to push in the picture) 2. Ke2.



I know that Judit will disagree with my assessment, but I still feel that there's some refutation to 2. Ke2. On f2, the king wouldn't hinder the development that much and could stay there longterm, but here it closes two important diagonals, and White has a choice between fianchettoing both the queen and the LSB and a king march to f3.
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Some anime cat pawn specially for Judit (taken from here).

[BASIC INFO]

{Name}: Katrina Chesire
{Nickname}: Kat, Chess
{Age}:18
{Gender}:Female
{Relationship Stats}: single
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[Appearance]



[clothing] always wears what she is in the picture though the shirt and blouse are Cheshire cat purple OR


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[Native or Outsider and History]
Native! Katrina Cheshire is adventure prone. She once found herself sneaking and agitating the bloody big head's guards and the queen herself! If there is trouble she will find it!
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[Personality and Opinions]
{Personality}: Katrina Cheshire is a giggle box. She is madder than a hatter and loves to mess with people. Though her fears get in her way sometimes. She fears people at times and what they could do. She can be timid and prone to random out burst of anger
{Opinions}: Down with the bloody big head!
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[Dreams and Fears]
Fears- Torture
Dreams- Wants to find love

If White does play 7. Qc2, I could giving up a potentially bad bishop by playing Bg4, but that's of course not what I'd like to play, and it's nonsense in Alekhine's, bishops usually have no development problems in it.

7. Qc2 g6 8. c5 Bf5 9. Nxf7 seems total nonsense e.g. because I can just take the queen for the sake of safety - 9... Bxc2 10. Nxd8 Bxb1 - though 9... Kxf7 looks even better. Again, I don't think Nxf7 at any point is sound at all, I have a good control over the light squares around my king.

Most probably White will simply play 7. Nc3, and I'm yet to come up with a plan there, 7... Bf5 does seem sound, but I hope to double-check it when I'm more awake.

Lol at my morning thoughts, he can't move the queen so far because d4 would hang. Looking at the board (the diagram in our case), even with static pieces, actually helps a lot in OTB chess; I was trying to train blindfold calculation, but am apparently too bad at it. Those thoughts will however become valid if White plays Be3 (which is likely inferior to Bg5 or especially Bf4).

As Nf3 can followed by Bg4, 7. Nc3 is the critical response. And I can't really play Bf5 because e4 is now covered and hence g2-g4 will make me move the piece twice.

Iirc, Nbd7 is the classical response to Nc3, to start by kicking the e5 knight back; then Nb6 to cover d5 and a4, and while Black does move a knight twice, that move makes some defensive sense.

Sorry for the terrible quality of my thought processes, a good news is that I can eventually restore the shape while the game progresses. The fact that I need the game interesting for the spectators make me think of crazy lines that I'd never consider in a normal correspondence game.

I wanna sleeeep

If 7. Nc3, then 7... Nbd7 8. Nf3 (or Nd3) Nb6 9. c5 Nbd5.
If 7. Nf3, then 7... Bg4 8. h3 Bh5 9. g4 Bg6 10. g5 Ne4.
If 7. c5, then 7... Bf5 8. Bd3 Bxd3.

First of all, coon74 is posting a TON!! I really don't understand why since we're still in the opening. Even if my moves aren't the most common, they are typical of this opening and so I don't see how they'd merit so much discussion. There are so many possibilities right now that I can't see him working out many lines very deeply. So what could he be posting? It's just confusing, even though it won't affect what I play now.

Secondly, what will I play now? I suggested before 7. Be3 to support the d-pawn. In the event of 7...Nbd7, I'm planning 8. Nf3. I don't want to trade knights when he's more cramped. Hmmm, what about 7. Be3 Nbd7 8. Nd3? It's an interesting square for the knight, not one I usually see. It does block the queen from helping on d4, it doesn't help on d4 as 8. Nf3 does, and it might get in the way of my LSB. And I don't see how it helps, so scrap that for now.

7. Be3 could be targeted with ...Ng4, say after 7...Nbd7 8. Nf3 Ng4. But I don't think I'd mind this. Sure, I'd prefer to keep the bishop in such a position, but ...Nxe3 fxe3 isn't so bad.

Other thoughts I'm having are to play 7. Nc3 or 7. Be2. I'm likely playing Nc3 eventually. It would perhaps be needed after...Qa5+. For instance, if it were Black's move now: 7...Qa5+ 8. Nc3 Ne4 9. Bd2 Nxd2 10. Qxd2. Though I guess I could actually play 8. Bd2 there instead. I guess this idea works better for Black after he's played ...e6 to free his DSB.

Which brings me to 7. Be2. Play this now so I can castle soon and avoid that ...Qa5 stuff as well as other troubles. I know I said I wanted my B on d3 possibly, but I'm not sure it's really needed. A possible line here is 7. Be2 Nbd7 8. f4 so that if ...Nxe5 fxe5 and I'll have more of a center going on. Being able to castle then would be nice since I exposed my king and it would get a rook on the half-open f-file. If instead 8. Nf3, then I'll be thankful for the B on e2 in case of ...Bg4. Plus, this retains the DSB on c1 where it can go to e3, f4, or g5, depending on how the position develops.

+1

Hmm, interesting. I guess he just wants to castle sooner and thought that e2 is a better square for his LSB, maybe he'll transfer it to f3, but I don't find it good - it will deny his knight a retreat square. I still don't see any concrete tactic for him - my light squares are OK.

If he plays Bh5, I'll just reply g6 with a tempo. I don't think a sac on g6 (or c6 for that matter) will be sound.

8. Bh5 g6 9. g4 Be4 would be an even more interesting turn of events, though

I'm still gonna O-O (unless he weakens his K-side by g4), though obv it will be a bit delayed, but I'm not smelling danger for my king in the centre quite yet, especially because he can't play d5. I don't even need to fianchetto, e.g. if he plays 8. Be3 intending Qd2 and Bh6, I'll maybe develop the DSB along f8-c5.

O-O-O looks too dangerous for me after the weakening c6. But I still don't think that an early e6 as a means of d5 control was a better alternative, esp bcs I had a knight on b6 then that was hindering the b7 fianchetto.

That said, I might consider O-O-O as a way out after 8. Nc3 Nbd7 9. g4 Bg6 10. Nxg6 hxg6, I'll get a tremendous h-file as a comp, though.

10. g5 Nxe5 11. gxf6 Nd7 12. gxe7 Bxe7 is quite funny.

If 8. Nc3 or 8. O-O, then 8... Nbd7.
If 8. Bd3, then 8... Bxd3.
If 8. Bg4, then 8... Nxg4.
If 8. Bh5, then 8... g6.

Well, it might look schizo that yday I wanted to play Nbd7-b6 first but have now switched back to Bf5. Well, it is , but the nuance is that now, after 8. Nc3 Nbd7 9. g4, I can consider 9... Nxe5 10. gxf5 Nd7, giving the bishop pair up but leaving White with horrendous isolated double f-pawns (10. dxe5 Qxd1+ - why not, the endgame looks not worse for Black then).

Edit: I do have conscience for that queen exchange line, and I'll consider 9... Bg6 of course too, but note that the rating difference in our pair is bigger in gm's favour than between Carlsen and Anand or Kasparov and Kramnik in 2000.

Cat posts are excellent, lol.

Worth considering: 9.-Nxe5 instead of 9.-Bg6, and 10. f4 instead of 10. Nxg6.

he's gonna get overwhelmed by g4 here anyway.

g4 immediately can be met by Bxb1 though. So it looks like Nc3 was more accurate than Be2.

Here's a recreation of my stream of consciousness, as close as I could replicate it:

Black's last move got the bishop out before he plays ...Nd7 or ...e6, so it seems reasonable. I don't feel threatened by the bishop on f5, though it does cut through my position. He now has 2 pieces on e4, but I don't yet see much he can do with that, especially as long as I have f2-f3 possible. He may plan ...Bf5xb1, but I don't mind him giving up the bishop pair for my undeveloped knight, so again I'm not worried. One option, then, is continuing on with 8. O-O, as that's a move I should make before anything bad happens. I don't see anything immediately concerning that should follow this, so it certainly merits consideration.

At the same time, the bishop moving to f5 opens up two possibilities: 8. g4 and 8. Qb3. The first is to target the bishop. It does really expose my king, but it does grab a lot of space. If I can see a way to trap his bishop or something, it would be worth it. But 8. g4 Bg6 9. h4 (or 9. f4?) h6 (or 9...h5) and he doesn't seem trapped. He could also just retreat the bishop and leave me with an awkward pawn on g4.

So how about 8. Qb3, a common move to take advantage of Black's LSB leaving its home? Black could retreat the bishop all the way to c8, and then I'd continue on with my queen developed and his bishop undeveloped. He could try 8...Qc7, but then 9. Bf4 may cause him troubles. 8...Qc8 seems a bit unambitious and I'd consider fine for me. So then 8...b6 9. c5? Hmmm, I just noticed that opens up for my queen and knight on f7! Oh, but 8. Qb3 b6 9. c5 Be6, and then I guess 10. Bc4 Bxc4 11. Qxc4 and 11...e6 or 11...Nd5 are alright, or 11...Qd5 and I'm not so sure what I've got.

Which suddenly makes me realize that Qb3 leaves d4 unguarded, so: 8. Qb3 Qxd4 9. Qxb7 Qxe5 10. Qxa8 and I don't see black being so horrible to my king as to justify the exchange, so maybe it's good. Maybe even 9. Nxf7 first could work out. I also see 8. Qb3 b6 9. c5 Qxd4 10. Qxf7+ Kd8 11. Nf3 should be all good for me.

Anyway, back to my original Qb3 plan, I'm trying to see if I can make it work with some other moves first, such as a Nxf7 at some point (seems to fail), or 8. g4 first (but ...Bg6 guards f7) -- hold up. 8. g4 Bg6 9. f4 h6 10. f5 Bh7 11. Qb3? Then 11...Qxd4 12. Nxf7 Kxf7 13. Qxb7 and maybe 13...Qe4 14. Rf1 Nxg4 15. wait, back up. 12. Qxb7 Qxe5 13. Qc8#, right? So still in this crazy line, 11...b6 12. c5 Bg8 13. cxb6 and I think I can gang up on the c6-pawn with moves like Bf3.

I hate positions like this. I know that 8. g4 is wrong, leaving me overextended for likely no tangible gain. Like I said before, Black can respond differently and just leave me with a bad, weird pawn on g4. But it's aggressive and I can't see anything immediately wrong with it, so I spend a lot of time working on it.

So back to reasonable moves, is there another way I can prepare for Qb3? Let's try 8. Be3 e6 (to develop his DSB, but also blunts the a2-g8 diagonal, taking some sting out of Qb3) 9. Qb3 b6 10. c5 Nd5 and it just doesn't seem to work so well. Oh well, seems Black has enough resources in all these lines, and whenever it appears to work it's because I missed some move by Black. I guess 8. O-O is still good, and then 8...e6 9. Qb3 b6 10. Bf3 seems interesting at first glance.

I should add that I was looking for a knock-out in most of the above lines, and I obviously couldn't find any. When I said the lines didn't work, that's what I meant. The resulting positions still seem fine for me, but I didn't see them as improved from what I have now. In fact, they seem to have let some of the pressure out of the board and revealed some of my intentions. That's why I prefer castling here, to maintain until they seem to lead to some better gains.

9. Nxd7 Qxd7

I'm writing this just in case he wants to develop my queen; I haven't yet decided completely on responses to other sensible moves.

I'm wondering why gangsta omitted 8. Qb3 Qb6, Black's thematic response to Qb3 in this sort of position, establishing dueling queens in opposition, one saying to the other, "open the a-file, I dare you".

I can't find a killer blow against 8.-b6, but it appears to suck somehow. The c6 pawn becomes a temporary liability, delaying Black's development even more. 9. Be3 should be enough, although I might try to sac a pawn with 9. 0-0. Useful heuristic: always try to sacrifice material.

I was a bit hesitant about my reply to the natural 9. Nf3, as I was subliminally fearing 10. d5, but it's not a problem after 9... Qc7 10. d5 cxd5 11. cxd5 Nb6 12. Nc3 Rd8 - the d-pawn drops. So I'll just go ahead and establish control over the c7-h2 diagonal by Qc7 first, reinforcing it by b6 (anti-c5 prophilaxis) and Bd6 in due course. Also, there's a chance of some spastic 10th move if White thinks that Qc7 indicates my desire to O-O-O.

More critical White's tries are 9. Bf4 and 9. f4, in which case I'm still hesitant, it will be way harder for me to occupy c7-h2 then, perhaps I'll just fianchetto instead.

If 9. Nf3, then 9... Qc7.

If 9. Nxf7, then 9... Kxf7 I'll be surprised if this sac works, but people seem to be writing long lines in spoilers, so I thought that any surprise is possible.

@Rei Ayanami: Hey, quoting me and responding in a spoiler is such a tease!

So none of the Qb3 stuff, I guess. As I mentioned at some point before, I don't want to play 9. Nxd7 as that seems to help him uncramp some for no obvious gain for me. I will therefore consider 3 ideas: 9. f4, 9. Nf3, and others.

9. f4 actually prevents the exchange of knights, at least immediately as 9...Nxe5 10. fxe5 attacks the knight and opens up my rook to attack the LSB. If Black plays ...Qb6, I'd consider Kh1 to get out of the pin or b3 to free up my DSB to go to e3 or something. Maybe I can expect 9. f4 e6 (to protect the LSB and free the DSB) 10. I don't know? 10. Nc3, or 10. Be3, or 10. b3 planning Bb2 all seem fine. Just to play this out a little, 9. f4 e6 10. Nc3 Nxe5 11. fxe5 Nd7 and Black may plan ...c5, which actually seems annoying. Perhaps then 9. f4 e6 10. b3 Nxe5 11. fxe5 Nd7 12. Bb2 so if 12...c5 13. d5 and while my head is spinning, I think the resulting position is fine. Something else to check is 9. f4 Qb6 10. b3 Rd8 11. Bb2 Nxe5 12. fxe5 Nd7 and I think all is good. Perhaps 13. Bf3 or Bh5 works there.

9. Nf3 looks fine. If 9...e6 I could trade off my knight for his LSB with Nh4 if I wanted. Otherwise, we just both get on with developing. Black spent 3 tempi to get his king's knight on f6, and I will have spent the same to get mine to f3. But I have more space in the center and am already castled, so I think I retain a small edge.

I could also play something like 9. b3 Nxe5 10. fxe5 Nd7 11. Bb2 is similar to the 9. f4 lines, but we share the open d-file instead of me having the half-open f-file. I also don't have a pawn on d4 that gives me some trouble. But I'm not sure how teneble that pawn would be on e5 and it makes me uncomfortable.

If my life depended on it, I would play 9. Nf3. It seems safe, keeps a small advantage, and I could try to develop something more out of it. But I feel that 9. f4 could be better, getting me something more out of this position. So...

Oops.

Yeah, that runs into 9.-Nxe5 10. fxe5 Bxb1 11. Rxb1 (not 11. exf6???????) Nd7 12. e6, and Black might as well resign.

9. f4 looks like a good move; Nxe5 followed by Qxd1 is a definite positional threat, and routine development (9. Nc3) doesn't appear to cut it. Useful heuristic: always look for ways to delay your development.

Yeah, 9. f4 was definitely the most testing and critical response, setting up a kind of a mirror Maroczy Bind with a Marco knight hop already made.

One peculiarity is that White has now exposed the king to a7-g1 diagonal attacks, so my DSB now def belongs on c5.

In this light, I feel it necessary to play e6 at some time anyway, and I see no reason not to do it right now - then I can see what White enterprises next.

[Swapping the b1 knight - a potential defender of d5 and/or invader through b5 - off might be also an idea (I'm brainstorming here, bear with me if it's total nonsense), but I'm not a fan of giving my pair of bishes up that early without any compensation (like the semiopen h-file in Bg6 Nxg6 lines), so I won't regret anyway even if it turns out to be the best in the hindsight. Also, I don't wanna play b6 right away because I want this square to be available for my N (so that it covers a4 as well).]

It's somewhat unfortunate that ganstaman is a specialist in the French with both colours, but that disadvantage manifests itself in almost any viable Black opening vs him because hardly any of them can do without the c5 break, imho.

In this position, after 9... e6, White can't really do anything to prevent the c5 break, it seems (except playing c5 himself, in which case b6 looks possible for me after covering c6). White can create a passed IQP by d5 exd5 cxd5, but I think it will be rather a liability for him, though it looks like he's going to keep it OTB for a while as I can't attack it enough times ATM.

One thing to note is that I have the option to insert Nb6 before exd5, in order to prevent Qa4. If then dxe6, then Bxe6 with good chances for Black. But I don't really fear Qa4 as a response to exd5, as I can then play d4 to get a tremendous protected passer.

Another thing to note is that I have to play a6 after his cxd5 in order to prevent Bb5.

10. Be3 seems the most critical response to my 9... e6 - it does prevent the immediate 10... c5 in a way - though I'm covering c5 twice, White can insert 11. Qa4. I can select the calm 10... Be7 instead. But another idea worth consideration, which I like more, is 10... Qa5 11. Bd2 Qb6 12. Be3 c5 - now, after 13. Qa4, d4 does hang, with a tempo.

White can also try 10. g4, but I don't fear it either, because my N will now feel pretty comfortable on e4 if chased away by an immediate g5, otherwise I'll have time to insert h6. And don't forget that this king exposure can backfire on White because I still have O-O-O available.

10. Re1 ideas might be nasty for me. I should delay c5 in this case, as otherwise, after 10. Re1 c5?! 11. d5 exd5??,



White has at least one winning tactic, which I'll leave as an exercise for you and tell the solution in my next post itt (so don't open spoiler(s) there until you attempt to solve this puzzle).

If 10. Nc3, then 10... c5 11. d5 exd5 12. cxd5 a6 13. Nxd7 Qxd7. If 10. Nc3 c5 11. d5 exd5 12. Nxd5, then 12... Nxd5 13. cxd5 a6 14. Nxd7 Qxd7. If 10. Nc3 c5 11. d5 exd5 12. Qa4, then 12... d4.

If 10. Be3, then 10... Qa5 11. Bd2 Qb6 12. Be3 c5. If 10. Be3 Qa5 11. Bd2 Qb6 12. c5, then 12... Qc7.

If 10. g4, then 10... Bg6 11. g5 Ne4. If 10. g4 Bg6 11. Nxg6, then 11... hxg6. If 10. g4 Bg6 11. f5, then 11... exf5 12. Nxg6 hxg6.

Fyp.

11. Bd2 looks horrible.

10.-Qa5?! 11. Nc3, meeting 11.-c5? with 12. d5.

I'd actually play 10. Nc3 as gansta (there's only one g?!) in the first place.

After looking at some variations, it's clearly not good for Black yet anyway.

I have no idea what's going on in the game or ITT but this looks exciting!

Ah, good, as expected. Before I get to my more likely move, I'm always considering something crazy to target f7. With that in mind, 10. g4 Bg6 11. f5 exf5 12. gxf5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Qxd1 14. Rxd1 Bh5 and hmmm, change that to 14. Bd1 and I believe I win a piece. So instead, we have 10. g4 Be4 11. Nc3 and that's a problem for him, isn't it? 11...Nxe5 12. fxe5 and he will lose a piece, and otherwise I have g5 coming to kick away the knight and then play Nxe4. It would then seem that Black is forced to play 10. g4 Bxb1 11. Rxb1 and as I've said at some point in the past, this just leaves me with an awkward pawn on g4 and an exposed king.

To continue in this general idea, though, I could get the kinght out first: 10. Nc3 Nxe5. At this point, if I play 11. fxe5, I would no longer have the pawn on the f-file to play f4-f5 with, plus Black could play 11...Ne4. And if I instead play 11. dxe5, then 11...Qxd1 gets rid of my queen so that I won't have adequate support for g2-g4, plus Black could again also play 11...Ne4. So I can't seem to win a piece

Well, it was worth the look, but now I should shift onto moves that are more likely. As mentioned before, I feel that a bishop on b2 would be useful as it helps protect d4 and e5. I keep staring at the board trying out various other configurations, but it still seems to me that this is best.