Well, I don't know if that is the best recapture or not. I looked at it for a while and I thought black would have better chances with Qxb6 or Rxb6. The knight recapture feels more natural, but concretely I don't think it's best.

I'm going to continue with my plan of 22.Ng5 here. Black needs to find a way to cover f7, and I don't think any of them are too good. If something like 22...Kg8, then 23.exd6 Qxd6 24.Nge4 and white wins the c5 pawn with great piece activity.

If 22.Ng5 Bf5 to defend the f7 pawn, I think 23.exd6 is tough to meet because the queen can't capture on d6 because of the fork threat on f7. So after something like 23...Qd7 I guess, 24.Bxc5 looks winning.

I don't know if black can really afford to ignore the f7 pawn because I don't see any other immediate threats for him as compensation, so I actually think white is doing pretty well here. We'll see what I'm overlooking.

The threat is the obvious Nxf7+ winning a pawn. I can defend with 22...Kg8 as planned on the last move and I think that would be fine. I can also defend by 22...Rf8, but I want to keep the rook on the e-file, or 22...Re7 but I feel that's asking for trouble as it will be a loose piece and seem to have limited mobility.

Another option is to move my LSB so my queen defends f7. Besides not having a place for the bishop, 22...Bf5 23. exd6 Qxd6 24. Nxf7+ forking king and queen. So no.

Last thought for this move is that 22...Kg8 23. e6 fxe6 24. dxe6 Bc6 should be ok with my bishop on a nice(?) diagonal, and 24. Nxe6 Bxe6 should be manageable as well (that white e-pawn will be a bit annoying but also weak).

I was sort of expecting that reply, and now I'll continue with what I outlined in the note above. 23. exd6 looks very strong and I don't see a good reply for black. If he captures with 23...Qxd6 24. Nge4 wins the c5 pawn. Other than simply retreating the queen with something like 24...Qc7 25. Bxc5 and white is clearly better, I looked at some intermezzos for black after 24. Nge4. I don't think any of them work though.

25...Rxe4 26. Rxe4 just gives up the exchange but really achieves nothing.

25...Bxc3 26. bxc3 Qxd5 27. cxb4 and the white queen is protected.

I don't see anything else he can try there.

So an alternative to 23...Qxd6 would potentially be 23...Qc8, because that's the only retreat square that covers the c5 pawn. But then 24. Nge4 still attacks the pawn and I don't think it's defensible. And I don't really see a counter-attacking move either.

Perhaps black could try 23...Qb7 to try to attack the d5 pawn, but after 24. Bxc5 Nbxd5 25. Bxa6 and black looks like he's in big trouble.

All in all I think these lines look very good for white and I'm excited about my chances here.

White is clearly crushing here.
I was looking at Ne4 instead of Ng5, with some mating ideas after dxe5 d6 Qc6 fxe5 Bxe5 Nxe5 Rxe5 Nf6 Rxe1 Qh6 and mates.
But TexAg's Ng5 is better.

when you see a good move...

...look for a better one till you run out of time. © Vassily Ivanchuk

Well, I might be in a bit of trouble here (hence the pause in responding, I needed to have time and be awake for this one). 23...Qxd6 24. Nge4 Qc7 25. d6 Qc6 26. Nxc5 losing a pawn for me. Now, if I'm losing a pawn anyway, then I can try a different 23rd move. 23...Qb7 24. Bxc5 N4xd5 25. Nxd5 Nxd5 26. Bc4 Bc6 27. Rad1 -- if I move my knight on d5, then the white bishop and knight team up on f7 losing me another pawn.

I don't really have many other choices as my queen is under attack and I can't see a move that could work besides moving my queen. What about 23...Qc8 24. Nge4 Bd4 25. Bxd4 cxd4 26. Qxd4 Nc2 27. Nf6+ and if 27...Kg7 or 27...Kh8 28. Nxe8+, or if 27...Kf8 28. Nxh7+ and what's that, a 3rd pawn I've lost? Even if I get an exchange out of it this seems bad.

The top line seems safest. I can hope that I can keep the white d-pawn from getting too annoying. It is isolated, so maybe in an endgame (if we get there) it will be weak. Usually if I'm going to lose material I look to create some imbalance for it so I have some way of sneaking out a win or draw, but I don't see any imbalances here that can safely be created. We'll see how this position really looks in a few moves.

Continuing ahead with my plan outlined in the last spoiler, nothing new or earth-shattering to say really.

It looks like black's only retreat square is c7. If e7, then 25. Bxc5 immediately wins the b4 knight. So I think we should be able to make the next couple of moves fairly quickly, with 24. Nge4 Qc7 25. Bxc5, then it'll be interesting to see how black responds here. The b4 knight is threatened and it doesn't have a retreat square. It looks like he can defend it directly with ...a5, or possibly retreat the b6 knight to c8 so the rook on b8 can defend. Maybe he can try 25...Bxc3 26. bxc3 N4xd5 but 27. Bd6 wins the exchange for pretty much nothing it looks like.

Curious to see what black does now, this looks like a tough spot.

there's also 26...Rxe4 in this line, not losing the exchange, but that position also looks completely winning for White after cb4 or Bxb4.

I have 3 non-stupid moves. 24...Qe7 is basically stupid, though, as 25. Bxc5 wins a knight I believe.

Then there's 24...Qc7 25. d6 Qc6 26. Nxc5 which loses a pawn and leaves me a bit unhappy.

Finally, 24...Rxe4, giving up the exchange, is a possibility. Then:

1) 25. Rxe4 and maybe 25...Bf5, but otherwise 25...Nxd5 should get me a pawn for the exchange.

2) 25. Nxe4 Qxd5 26. Qxd5 N6xd5 (so I still threaten ...Nc2 forking rooks) 27. Nxc5 Bb5 28. Bxb5 axb5 and I threaten ...Nc2 to get back the exchange as well as ...Nxf4 and ...Bxb2 winning a pawn. This seems most promising as it creates some imbalance to give me a chance at doing something, whereas 24...Qc7 loses a pawn for absolutely nothing.

I think this was probably his best practical chance, definitely. If I'm looking at it right, I think black gets a pawn for the exchange and some really active piece play. Any queen retreat would have lost the c5 pawn and given white a commanding position, so this looks much better I think.

I looked at the position for a while, and I think I have to capture with the knight here. 25. Rxe4 Bf5 is hard to meet. If the rook retreats to e1, then Nc2 comes with the fork. If the rook retreats to e2 to stop the fork, then 26...Nc4 and black might actually be better, or at least equal. That position doesn't look fun at all.

I'm assuming he's going to play 25...Qxd5, after which I don't see anything better for white than 26. Qxd5 but I'll look at it more when we get there. Right now I think I more or less have to play 25. Nxe4 so we'll go from there after he responds.

I quickly scanned the board for any outrageous sacrifices, but nothing seems to gain traction. So with my queen under attack, I'm a bit limited here. I can't imagine anything working if 25...Qxd5 doesn't. The challenge then becomes if I can actually hold onto the pawn.

Does White have Rad1 in this position? If Qxd2 Rxd2, White's rook is strong on d2.

If Bc6 then Qc1, maybe?

If this doesn't work I think it's going to be hard for White to make much out of his extra exchange.

surely White is winning after Qxd5 N6xd5 Nxd5 Bb5 (ganstaman's move, seems as good as any). maybe just rab1/?

Yeah I guess Rb1 looks ok. If Nf4 after Rb1, then Bg3 looks strong, so maybe White just extinguishes Black's play and can gradually win.

White also has the option to take on a6 after Bb5, but I don't think it wins.

Still up an exchange for a pawn, but black is certainly getting plenty of activity here. I didn't really want to trade queens, but what else is there? Black's queen is powerful from d5 and it's tough for white to challenge it. I thought about trying to decline the trade with something like Qe2, but then Bb5 comes in and black's pieces are getting ridiculous activity. I also looked at protecting the queen with something like Rad1, but Ba4 looks really annoying there too.

I really can't find anything better for white other than 26. Qxd5 N6xd5 27. Nxd5 Bb5 and then what? I don't have anything concrete yet, but the b2 pawn is hanging and needs protection. I think black has some pretty good counterplay here.

I can't find a forced win right now after the end of that small variation, but 26. Qxd5 looks best so I'll play that now and figure out the rest after ganstaman makes his reply.

A) 26...N4xd5 27. Bxc5 Bxb2 28. Rxa6 leaves me down a clean exchange with the queenside cleaned out of pawns, but everything's feeling a little loose (my knights are defending each other and feel very limited in mobility).

B) 26...N6xd5
B1) I previously suggested 27. Nxc5 Bb5 28. Bxb5 axb5 looks ok

B2) 27. Bxc5 Nc2 28. Bd6 Rxb2 should be fine as well, I think.

Nxc5 Bb5 Nxa6 looks better for white than B1 to me

There was some line I saw after this that I thought was not so strong for White. Ok Bxa6 (only move I think) Bxa6 Nc2 now what can White do -- Bc4 maybe Nxe1 Bxd5 Nd3 and I don't think there is a win
or Bc4 Nxe1 Rxe1 Nxf4 Bg3 g5 b3 - White is better, but is it enough for a win with the opposite coloured bishops?

Of course it's very possible that I'm missing something..

In the line I gave I think maybe Ra5(Rad1) instead of Bc4 may be very strong, if Nxe1 Rxd5 and White should be winning.
It's also necessary to check the line Nxa6 Bxa6 Bxa6 Bxb2 Rb1 Nxa6 Rxb2 Rxb2 Re8 Kg7 Bd4 Kh6 Bb2 - this is probably winning for White too.
And Black can also play Bc3 instead of Nxa6 in this line, after which I don't see a win.

Pretty interesting position...

I looked at the position for a while but I can't imagine playing anything other than Nxc5. It's natural and forcing. I'm expecting ganstaman to replay with 27...Bb5 and then we'll go from there. I don't see anything that jumps out at me, but maybe I'll see something when I look deeper.

Can't help but feel something went wrong for White if he traded off in a position where black was cramped with lots of pieces still on the board just to reach an endgame which may not be winnable.

My Bd7 is under attack, and my a6 pawn has 1 defender and 3 attackers. My previous plan for solving both these problems was 27...Bb5 28. Bxb5 axb5, and then I still threaten to take on f4 and b2 as well as play ...Nc2, so I should have something for the exchange.

Another line that needs a quick look: 27...Bb5 28. Nxa6 Bxa6 29. Bxa6 Nc2 30. Rad1 Nxe1 31. Rxd5 Nc2 32. Bc4, planning Rd7 looks good for white. Maybe things will look clearer as we move through this line, but I could also play 29...Bxb2, which seems alright.

The main problem I see is that I'm a little low on alternatives: 27...Bf5 28. g4 Bc2 29. R[a,e]c1 and my pieces feel a little loose, and I'm still losing the a6 pawn.

For the last few moves I've sort of been envisioning this position and hoping ganstaman would play something else because I don't see anything immediately crushing here or an obvious way to exploit the extra material. Two main candidate moves stick out, and I'll talk a little about each one.

28. Rab1
This is the solid approach, with white simply defending the b2 pawn. What I don't really love about the position is white feels so passive there. Sure the rook is defended, but how does white make progress? The rook is tied down to that square and has no real scope at all, it's purely defensive in nature. The g7 bishop feels like a beast there, constantly hitting b2 and also covering the a1 square which, at some point if white loses the b-pawn, can help queen the a-pawn. So that move looks playable but I'm having difficulty finding my play from there. Plus black's pieces look extremely active. No me gusta.

28. Nxa6
This move is certainly more interesting, and the longer I look at the position, the more I like it. It's a bit more concrete than the previous move, so I'll look at a few variations.

28. Nxa6 Bxb2 29. Nxb8 is terrible.

28. Nxa6 Nxa6 29. Bxb5 Rxb5 30. Rxa6 Rxb2 31. Rb1 and it looks like black might be getting in trouble with some tactics of Ra8+ followed by Rxb2 and Bd4+

28. Nxa6 Nxa6 29. Bxb5 Nab4 30. B-moves and white has the two bishops on the open board (even though the pawns are on one side)

28. Nxa6 Bxa6 29. Bxa6 Bxb2 30. Ra5 and again I think white is doing fine.

After thinking about it more, and this could be totally wrong, I actually like the idea of eliminating the queenside pawns. Usually that seems backward, because usually if you get pawns on one side of the board, it helps the defender. But here I like doing it (could be WAY wrong) because I think black's pieces are better posted to attack white's pawn and queen his. With the queenside pawns off the board, I think the winning chances lie 100% with white and black is purely defending at that point.

A few moves ago I looked at 28. Bxb5 simply because when calculating ahead, exchanges are easiest for me to look at. But I don't like that here after something like 28...axb5 29. Rab1 and white feels passive while black has some play. As the game has gone on, I've liked that idea less and less. I'm curious to see how ganstaman recaptures here. I probably missed some variations above and I hope I didn't miss a tactic.

One last note: part of me wants to go with Nxa6 because it's not a move I'd typically play. I have a very boring, slow style that is really hurting my progress right now and even if this move doesn't work out as well, I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone a bit.

Did Tex just completely miss Nc2 forking the rooks in the Bxa6 continuation?

I have to think something like Rad1 has to be best. Tactically defends f4 (maybe--idea is that it prevents Bd4+ after 1...Nxf4 2.Bg3) while activating the rook, and can always trade a6 for b2 later.