OK, it's a weekend, we have a new world champion, taking a day off is tempting after so many instant replies from AN. But if the 48-hr patterns becomes the norm now, we need to adapt - and learn to use that downtime.

<Thorsson> posted this on the main page:

Thorsson: What should we be analysing now? IMO the capture exf5 is pretty forced, and the capture gxf5 has no more than 2 serious replies. Of the quieter alternatives, Nd7 is an error, and I can't help but feel that Re8 is too. Black voluntarily weakens the f-file? It can't be right.

Rc8 has been analysed a lot, but 17.Nd4 still seems our best (and more than adequate). That leaves us with 16...Qd7, which has received very little attention.

But, even after all the warnings, I still have the impression that some voters doodle around with Fritz and regard its 3-minute findings as significant. I'm trying to counter this tendency. Hence the silly gamelet I quoted above.

(26-ply, 1 of 52 examined)

2. = (0.14): 17.Rf2 exf5 18.exf5 Nd5 19.Bd4 Bh4 20.g3 Nxc3 21.bxc3 Re8 22.Qg4 Bg5 23.Nd2 h5

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail...

As long as we're not going to One man <and his> dog :-)

After 16...exf5 17.exf5

No contest. I hope. Sigh. I'm sure there will be "no-pawn-grabbing" theories, or a half-hearted vote for a premature Bb6, but I am ignoring those for the minute.

The chap who said "Cricket is the only game where you are playing against eleven of the other side and ten of your own," obviously never played chess as a team.

Little point in second guessing Black. I chose Re8 because that is what I would play, without reasoning too deeply.

That is neither here nor there. I can't see us planning ahead for every eventuality.

1. 17...Nd7
2. 17...Qd7
3. 17...Re8
4. 17...d5
5. 17...Qc8
6. 17...Nd5
7. 17...Rc8

The thing to bear in mind is that Black will need to make most of the above moves at one time or another. It will be a very personal thing for him to choose the sequence.

a) He's got to get his King's Rook out of the way if/in case the white Bishop shoots kingside to =h6= by playing Re8 (my choice)

b) He's got to contemplate if his Knight would be of greater use on the Queenside, via Nd7 or go to the center as soon as it is safe.

c) He's got to plan for connecting the Rooks by shifting the Queen.

I reckon it's too early for him to push the d-pawn or occupy the c-file with Qc7/Qc8 or Rc8

So far we have very wisely, kept our options open as regards <our precious DSB>.

Black has been waiting to see which way the Bishop jumps and he has held his strategy in abeyance. In fact he has masterly played a lot of "Pass" moves, holding off with the real plan until we show our hand.

By stealth, design or good fortune, we have managed to hold off playing out our precious, (yes, it needs saying again) DSB.

It will be <our Bishop move that decides the rest of the game>, and possibly its outcome.

Black will try his hardest NOT to commit himself until we do. Lets hang on until we absolutely have to or until Black gives the sign.

Now the move <17...Re8 is a give away>:

By shifting his King's Rook <off the =f8= square>, Black is making room for his DSB, to counter ours going to Bh6 and stirring up trouble in the King's defences. This is the time that Black has to pay up for his move 7...g6. He can't have his apfelstrudel and eat it. No. We already have a good line-up to get at the black King. Even though =f7= is still intact, our Queen, Rook and =f=pawn are all poised for a kingside attack. Just imagine our precious DSB added to that arsenal!

<17...Re8 will mean that for us it is make-your-mind-up time>.

We are fortunate or maybe not, in that we can go either kingside or queenside with good prospects.

Playing Bb6 will give us a good safe game, as in the line on my webpage. ( still at http://www.nickel.nohyphen.com )

But I have to admit that I would love to see what would happen if we DID threaten Black on the kingside.

He has played 16...exf5 to reach this position (White to play):

click for larger view

Our most likely response is 17.exf5 when this position arises:

click for larger view

Some general pointers:

Right, then. Since our next move will be 17.exf5, this gives us a few days to set up the long-awaited strategic forum.

Part of the discussion will be about what the forum is actually for. Do we make a positional assessment of the current board position? Or should we follow the lines of analysis that are posted elsewhere and try to assess the situation 8 or 10 moves down the line? Or both, perhaps?

My take on this is fairly uncomplicated. In an OTB game one spends a lot of time calculating, out of necessity. Positional thinking tends to either hum quietly in the distance like background radiation, or to push itself forward for consideration at 3 or 4 critical points in the game.

CC is different. We have the luxury of tactical calculation and strategic thinking on every single move, and we should make the best of it.

Since the pawn structure has just been altered, much of the earlier positional assessment is now irrelevant. But we can still pose specific questions: how can we optimize our knights? Where should our Rooks go? Is a kingside attack an option or should we concentrate on the centre?

I can see 3 possibilities:

1. We play Rf3 and Raf1. This is particularly good if he plays Rfe8. Objectives f6 & f7.

2. We play Rae1. Objectives are e-file and attack on e7.

Doubling on the f-file is tempting - especially as a timely Bh6 will drive away the Rf8 - but it could be a little tricky to carry out. At least we don't have to worry about ...e5 and ...d5 anymore, and black's newly-isolated d6-pawn makes a much less convincing 'break' candidate. If he does play ...d5 we'll need to blockade it with Nd4 or Bd4.

Of course we can't play Rf3 with the Bc6 dominating the long diagonal. Is this sufficient argument for Nd4 and perhaps Nxc6? Previously I've regarded this exchange as an error, but things change.

There's also Rf2, with a similar idea. But f2 is a good square for our queen in some lines - as long as Black can't reply ...Ng4, hitting the Qf2 and Be3. For this reason, I like the look of h3 at some point - it has other uses as well.

One problem with this, now, is that since ...exf5 he no longer has ...e5 available. Which means ...Kh8 walks into a very nasty pin with ...Bd4. We might even be able to follow up with Qh5 (!) - it looks much better for white.

Things are cooking along quite nicely. I'm thinking of having a break for a while as the game doesn't seem to need that feverish organising and jollying along that got things started.

The spirit of cooperation seems to have caught and been made easier by the game taking a definite shape, especially as the analytical structures being constructed by our top gun analysts seem to be crystallising nicely.

I'll watch what happens for a few more moves, but I don't see my interventions are necessary anymore.

We have just played 17.exf5 to reach this position (Black to play):

click for larger view

I am a bit worried about the number of superficially viable 18th moves for white if black plays something more waiting than forcing at 17. There have been so many potential 18th moves presented recently (including h3, g4, Bb6, Bg5, Bd4, Nd4, Nd2, Na3 Re1 and Qd2 among others) that the next vote could be very close. I would hate to see our recent better cooperation and communication revert to advocacy and herd voting in these circumstances.