| Sep-17-22 | | Brenin: White has to activate his Q-side Ps, and somehow create a diagonal for that wretched B on c1, so the only hope of activity is 20 b5 cxb5 (20 ... axb5 21 Nxc6 Rxa1 22 Nxe7+ Kh8 23 Bd2 and the advanced Q-side Ps should give White a win) 21 c6 bxc6 22 Ba3 Rd7 (22 ... Re6 23 Nf4) 23 b7 Rb8 24 Rec1 followed by Rxc6, and the advantage is White's, though there is still plenty for him to do to force the win. |
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| Sep-17-22 | | jrredfield: I looked at both 20.b5 and 20.Nxc6 as my top choices. I settled on Nxc6. I was looking for a way for White to break through on the left side to procure a passed pawn, and it appears either move works, but after more analysis I can see the advantage of b5, not having to lose the Knight. Komodo Dragon prefers the text move 20.b5 but still gives the move I went with a bit of a winning score, though barely. depth 32:
White +4.47: 20.b5 axb5 21.♘xc6 ♖ee8 22.♘a7 ♘e6 23.♗a3 ♗f8 24.♘xb5 ♖ed8 25.♗b4 ♖ab8 26.♖a7 g5 27.♘ec3 h5 28.♘c7 ♖d7 29.♘xe6 fxe6 30.♘b5 ♔f7 31.♖ea1 ♗e7 32.♖a8 ♖dd8 33.♖xb8 ♖xb8 34.♖a7 ♘e8 35.♗a5 White +2.40: 20.♘xc6 bxc6 21.b5 cxb5 22.c6 ♘e6 23.b7 ♖b8 24.♗a3 ♖bxb7 25.cxb7 ♖xb7 26.♗b4 ♘e8 27.♖xa6 ♘8c7 28.♖a2 ♗f8 29.♗xf8 ♔xf8 30.♖b1 ♔e7 31.♖ab2 ♔d6 32.♘c3 ♔c6 33.♔f1 ♘g7 34.♘a2 ♘a6 35.♖c1+ ♔d7 36.♔e2 ♘e8 37.♖cb1 ♔c6 38.♘c3 |
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Sep-17-22
 | | al wazir: I thought 20. Nxc6 bxc6 21. b5 cxb5 22. Nc3 or 22. c6 looked promising, but I can't make it work. |
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| Sep-17-22 | | mel gibson: I got this one right today after about 2 minutes of looking at it. Stockfish 15 says:
20. b5
(20. b5 (b4-b5 c6xb5 ♗c1-a3 ♖e7-d7 c5-c6 b7xc6 ♖e1-c1 ♘f8-e6 b6-b7 ♖a8-b8 ♖c1xc6
♘e6-d8 ♖c6-c8 ♖d7xb7 ♖c8xd8+ ♖b8xd8 ♘a5xb7 ♖d8-b8 ♘b7-a5 ♖b8-c8 ♗a3-e7
♘f6-e8 ♘a5-b3 ♖c8-c6 ♗e7-c5 f7-f5 ♘e2-c3 ♘e8-c7 ♖a1-c1 h7-h5 ♘c3-a2 h5-h4
♘a2-b4 ♖c6-e6 ♔g1-f1 g6-g5 ♗c5-b6 ♖e6xb6 ♖c1xc7 ♗g7-f8 ♘b4xd5 ♖b6-h6 ♖c7-a7
g5-g4 ♖a7-a8 ♔g8-f7 g2-g3 h4-h3 ♖a8-a7+ ♔f7-g8 ♘b3-c5 ♖h6-c6 ♖a7-a8 ♔g8-g7
♘d5-b4 ♖c6-b6 ♘c5xa6 ♗f8-d6) +5.73/48 328)
score for White +5.73 depth 48. |
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| Sep-17-22 | | mayankk06: I was in the 20 Nxc6 camp as well - the idea being to create double passed pawns after 20 ... bxc6 21 b5 where 21 ... cxb5 22 c6 seems forced as the a6 pawn is pinned. However Black is still a piece up and whether it can trade one of those extra pieces for the menacing pawn pair is something I can't really see through with any clarity. |
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Sep-17-22
 | | An Englishman: Good Evening: So much easier than Thursday or Friday (both of which I flubbed), can't help but wonder if this game crossed my path once before. |
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Sep-17-22
 | | Teyss: I was concerned that after 20...axb5 21.Nxc6 Rxa1 22.Nxe7+ Kh8 23.Bd2 Ra8 followed by ...Re8 the N might be lost. 
click for larger view But the simple 24.Bb4 followed by c6 or 24.Nc3 forcing Rd8 win. |
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Sep-17-22
 | | sorso: 20...axb5 21. Nxc6 Rxa1 22. Nxe7+ Kh8 23. c6 bxc6 24. b7 N8d7 25. Nxc6 Ra6 26. b8=Q+ Nxb8 27. Nxb8 Rb6 |
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| Sep-17-22 | | Chessius the Messius: 20... axb5 21. Nxc6 Rxa1 22. Nxe7+ Kh8 23. Nc3 Ra5 24. Bd2 Ra8 25. Nxb5 |
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| Sep-17-22 | | Chessius the Messius: Oops, go a bit deeper still: 25... Re8 26. c6 bxc6 27. Nxc6 N8d7 28. Ba5 Bf8 29. b7 |
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| Sep-17-22 | | Chessius the Messius: Black can play directly 23... Ra8, but Nexd5 wins. |
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| Sep-17-22 | | vajeer: I got the puzzle. But I played out a slightly different end game with computer that leads to a tougher two knights against black pawns end game. Computer may be assigning a winning percentage. But I am sure it will a difficult task to pull off with some tricky pitfalls. |
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| Sep-17-22 | | vajeer: Unfortunately I can,t post the game I have snapshot showing the moves and final position. But can't attach it here. |
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| Sep-17-22 | | TheaN: I too played <20.Nxc6?! ± to +-> which essentially plays into the same weakness as 20.b5!, yet the resulting positions are very different. Obviously, Nxc6 throws the knight for two sixth rank pawns, b5 throws the pawn for active pieces. The pawns compensate enough, but because Black can activate his knights quite fast it's not definitely won: 20.Nxc6 bxc6 21.b5 cxb5 22.c6 Ne6, and now for example 23.b7?! Rb8 24.Rxa6 Nc7 and Black has a decent fortress on the queen side. White should continue with 23.Ba3! ± and activate the pieces anyway. I think I still prefer it to throwing the pawns and winning a piece instead, the resulting end game looks a bit messy. To me, both moves are a decent solve. |
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| Sep-17-22 | | TheaN: To compare, both positions after move 23 with best play: 20.Nxc6 bxc6 21.b5 cxb5 22.c6 Ne6 23.Ba3:
click for larger view20.b5 cxb5 21.c6 bxc6 22.Ba3 Rd7 23.Rec1:
click for larger view
To me, the first position looks a lot more risky than the second. Yes, in the second Black will have to give something for the b-pawn eventually, but has a and b left as compensation. In the former, Black's a piece up, but is in no way close to stopping b and c. |
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Sep-17-22
 | | chrisowen: I monkey around it squabble b5 fan duh its axiom jug its ion b5 go! |
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| Sep-17-22 | | agb2002: The advanced pawns and the defenseless rook on a8 invite to play 20.Nxc6 Bxc6 21.b5 cxb5 22.c6: A) 22... Re6 23.b7 Rb8 24.c7 wins an exchange at least. B) 22... Ree8 23.b7
B.1) 23... Ra7 24.Nc3 (24.Rxa6 Rxa6 25.c7 Raa8)
B.1.a) 24... Ne6 25.Nxb5 axb5 26.Rxa7 Nc7 (due to Ra8) 27.b8=Q Rxb8 28.Rxc7 wins decisive material. B.1.b) 24... a5 25.Nxb5 Ra6 26.c7 wins decisive material. B.2) 23... Rab8 24.Rxa6, followed by Ba3, Rc1, etc., seems to provide more than enough compensation for the knight. C) 22... Ne6 23.Ba3 Ree8 24.b7 Rad8 (24... Ra7 25.Bc5 or 24... Rab8 25.Bd6 wins decisive material) 25.Bb4, followed by Rxa6, Rc1, Ba5, looks good for White. |
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| Sep-19-22 | | Saniyat24: The 3 Knight's Game...! |
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