35...Bxb3 36. Qf3 bxa4! 37. Qg4+ Be6

35...Bxb3 36. Qf3 Bc4+! 37. Kg1 Bc5+! 38. Kh1 Rb8 (in case 39. axb5 axb5 40. Nxb5)

35...Bxb3 36. Qf3 Bc4+! 37. Kf2 Bc5+! 38. Ke1 Re8+

So, I want to make up for it. You can replace me with that good fellow named cogano. No problem with me. I think that he would help you guys out more than I can right now.

College is demanding more than what I've been providing, so I don't want any major distractions right now (chess is a major distraction. Those ladies from the sororities are a distraction, too, but what can i do?). So, considering all this, I think it would be better if I leave the game and let you play on with the help of cogano.

I'm not leaving cg.com. I'll be stopping by every now and then, but I won't be posting as much as the last few months.

I wish you all good luck and hope you (we?) can still win the game. GO DARK HORSES!

<Nako> I second <RonB52734> in wishing you luck & success with your studies. As for sororities ladies, <RonB52734> is closer to you & more than experienced than I am to offer you any relevant useful help! I think you should take him up on his offer! ;) LOL

They may be looking at:

35...Bxc3 36.Nxb5 axb5 37.Qxb3 bxa4 38.Qd5+ forking the rook. But the solution is to play 36...Bc4+ instead of 36...axb5 and I think we're ok.

35...Bxb3 36. Qd4+ Kc7 one possibility is 37. Nd5+ but I consider this unlikely, since it leads to Bxd5 and Qxd5 us moving the rook.

If 36. bxa4 should the follow up be 36...a5? Then we'd have to devote a lot of attention to that a5 pawn.

No, upon second look, it looks like white will retake with N. Because if we're not careful, white will play Nb6+ forking the R and K.

So, 35...bxa4 36. Nxa4 Rb8!? or 35...bxa4 36. bxa4.

I read before that you were considering playing Bxb3 & wondering what its merits & risks are. Here's my analysis of that:

1...Bxb3, 2.Qd3+. Here, Black has a choice of 6 flight-squres. If we play Ke6, Ke7 or Ke8, then 3.Qe4+ will follow, forking our rook. If we play 2...Kc6, then again 3.Qe4+ forking the rook (not to insult your intelligence. I just prefer to be thorough, which means including even those most obvious possibilities, even losing ones!) That leaves playing Kc7 & Kc8. If we play 2...Kc8, then we might be able to force a draw through perepetual check through something like: 3.Qf5+ Kc7, 4.Qe5+ Kd7, 5.Qd4+ (to also continue attacking the g7-pawn!) Kc8, 6.Qg4+ Kc7, 7.Qf4+ Kc6 & the cycle repeats. So in terms of checks, White's prospects are limited.

These checks are nonetheless important because the last square the Queen lands on will determine what we are able to do, once the a-file opens for the rook & we begin co-ordinating bishops & rook against the White King. I am going to assume that White will check us as described above, then proceed with axb5 (a capture that I explain below).

That leaves moving the knight, King or one of the pawns. If White moves the King, say with 4.Kg1, then we can try something like 4...Bc5+, followed by b4, in the hope that we'll then be able to capture with Bxa4, & reconnect the a & b pawns. If Kf2, then Rc8, followed by Bc5. Sure White will likely use checks to avoid pinning Queen to King, but those will also be perpetual, & will thus lead to a draw! Obviously, Ke1 or Ke2 is suicidal, for it pins Queen to King!

As for the knight, there really isn't any useful move for it right now. I mean in the immediate future. In the immediate future, a move like 4.Nd1 or 4.Na2 would lose it to the bishop. & even if White captures said bishop by forking it with the King, he's still lost, because he would've given up a pawn & knight for it! 4.Ne2 is obviously foolhardy because it pins it to the King & allows us the paralyzing 4...Bc4. 4.Nd5 is even worse, in my humble opinion, because White would have a harder chance (if he would come to have any at all!) evening out the material exchange by capturing the bishop. That leaves 4.Nb1 & 4.Ne4. In the immediate future, 4.Nb1 may seem useless, but it may later allow the knight to jump to a more useful square & join the Queen's attack on our position. That brings me to 4.Ne4. I'm torn here, because we have the option of playing 4...Bxa4 (Which allows us to capture the pawn but maintain our a & b pawns connected & avoid doubling them!) or 4...Bc4+. But the White knight being
on e4 prevents us from then following with 5...Bc5+, regardless whether they move their King to g1 or f2!

If White plays 4.axb5, we can follow suite with 4...axb5, even though the knight will then recapture, because that allows us something like:

Again, I assume the play proceeded first as:

1...Bxb3, 2.Qd3+ Kc8, 3.Qf5+ Kc7, 4.Qe5+ Kd7, 5.Qd4+ Kc8, 6.Qg4+ Kc7, 7.Qf4+ Kb6

THEN

8.axb5+ axb5, 9.Qd4+ Kb7, 10.Qe4+ Kb8. (Kc6 is obviously out of the question, as that loses the rook!) Now it's either back to repeated/perpetual check or moving the King to avoid OUR checks!

E.g.: 11.Kg1 Ra1+, 12.Kh2 Bd6+, 13.g3 b4, (of course NOT 14.Na2 or Na4. 14.Nb5 is useless & 14.Ne2 pins it against the King!) 14.Nd5 Ra2+,

15.Kh1 [15.Kg1 Bc5+ (our b4-pawn may be advanced so far, but it's also pinned against the King!) Bxd5, 16.Qxd5 Ra6, 17.Qb5+ Ka7, 18.Qd7+ Ka8, 19.Qxg7 Bc5.