Hmm, interesting move. I really only have a couple of choices here. Moving to the back rank or g7 and dropping the e6 pawn certainly looks terrible. So I think my only choices are really 31...Kf6, allowing white to repeat the position, or 31...Ke7. I'll look at both.
31...Kf6
After this move, it looks like white has a few options. He can try 32.Ne4 to repeat the position, but Kyle isn't the type to take a draw, especially when he's pressing. What about something like 32.Re1? I think I can go for something like 32...Re8 when I don't see pressure on the e-pawn mounting to anything. What about 32.Rc1? Does he have anything after 32...Bb6? I don't see it if he does. So that looks ok.
31...Ke7
After 31...Ke7, the most natural move to me looks like 32.Re1 and then I think 32...e5 looks pretty good. The weak g-pawn sucks for black, so after something like 33.Ne4 Bb6 34.Rxg6 Rh8 I think black is doing alright. Still not great but it doesn't look too awful. Truthfully my freakin bishop is killing me right now and it is nothing but a liability. Not really sure how I can fix that issue.
This game is also teaching me how much I suck at endgames, particularly defending difficult ones. I'm realizing this is too much for me to calculate out and I'm going with instinct here.
I really like the fact that his king is on e7 and thus depriving his bishop of that square. That was a really annoying square for that piece.
Ne4 probably forces a repetition and probably a draw. Ne4 Rg8 seems awfully iffy for black, but his rook's control of the fifth rank is really annoying and seems to hold everything together, so maybe that's actually better for black.
Re1 seems like an obvious move, threatening a central pawn and improving a bad piece. Re4 just loses flexibility and keeps my knight for its ideal square.
If he wants to save the pawn, he'll need to play e5, which of course just makes the bishop worse. I'll see what I want to do after that, because it looks too good. I can tell I'm starting to lose some emotional steam on this game because this position probably deserves a lot more analysis than that.
Not an ideal move, but the e-pawn needs to be protected. My bishop looks like garbage and the rook looks precarious holding the pawn on the fifth rank, but I don't see much else there. Hopefully I can hold a draw in this ending.
Keep on the pressure and keep his bishop bad. That's the plan, anyway.
Ne4 attacks the bishop and the g6 pawn simultaneously. Ne4 Bb4/Rg1 looks likely, but then he can attack the h-pawn and still be up a pawn. So I'll be down a pawn, but with a much better minor piece and slightly better rook activity. Trusting the position, still, but running out of pawns to win.
Sorry guys, especially feedmykids2. The game was going along well and then we both had some stuff come up in life outside of chess and the game fizzled out.
I was very impressed with Kyle's play throughout the game though, he played great.