Much better, I thought, than 15. O-O. This position feels like an ending, because of the inevitable exchange of heavy artillery coming up soon, so the king should be centralized to support the white center pawns.
… Qa7
Preparing to triple, but my opponent has overlooked something:
i ain’t using a chess engine but 15. Kd2? what makes the following exchanges inevitable? if black keeps the the queens on, white’s gotta be busted with the king stuck in the centre.
It seems a virtual certainly that there will be either a rook exchange or a queen exchange. If there is a rook exchange, but black manages to keep the queens on, white still has his queen also, to interpose against any checks.
I still want to know what Stockfish (or a similar engine) thinks of 15. Kd2.
I’m not sure it’s a “horrible” idea, but it seems like you’re likely to drift into a somewhat worse position after …Be7. Most likely you lose a pawn, but Black ends up with a bad bishop so the position can be held.
Bill, I haven’t had time for more than cursory analysis, but I think 15 Kd2 is an error. My gut tells me this because of the pawn structure. Black’s play should be mainly on the K-side, and White’s on the Q-side. (Black has the c7-f4 pawn chain, White has the advanced b and c pawns that could arguably break Black’s chain with b5-b6, or anchor the Q-side with (b5 and) c6. If Black’s d-pawn moves, P-d6 for White followed by Nd5 can be good.
So, I feel like keeping your K permanently in the center and moving it slightly to the Q-side is off.
One idea that comes quickly is 15…Bxf3! Now if 16 Qxf3 White loses material. If 16 Rxa6 then Qxa6 16 Qxf3 dxc5 17 bxc5 Qa3 seems to give Black good q-side and central play. If 16 gxf3 then …dxc5 17 bxc5 and either Be7 or Ra3 look solid for Black, and 16…Bh4 also looks very interesting.
Instead, it seems like it makes more sense to delay a K-decision and play on the center or queenside: 15 Rc1 dxc5 16 bxc5 Ra5 17 Qb3 Qa6 18 00 Rxc5 19 d6+ with the intention of leaving Black with the isolated b-pawn and playing Nd5 soon, should give solid play for White.
15…Qa7 16 Nb5 Ra2+ looks weak, 17 Rxa2 Qxa2 18 Qc2 looks like it exposes Blacks Q-side pawns.
19 Qd2 should lose for White I think. 19…Qa4 (or a6) 20 Nxc7 Qa3+ 21 Kc2 dxc5 looks good for Black - play on the Queenside, c-file, and also maybe Bxf3 followed by Qxf3.
Quickdraw had several tag lines, probably the most common was “I’ll do the thinkin’ around here, and don’t you forget it.” Others were “Now hold on there” and “Oooh, that smarts” after shooting himself in the foot, a common occurrence.
“Before the endgame, the Gods have placed the middle game.” Even so, there’s only one open file, a closed center, and White has better minors, so why not, Bill Smythe asks?
15.Kd2 is most likely not best here, but Stockfish 14 thinks it’s playable.
15.Kd2 dxc5 16.bxc5 Qa7 17.Rxa6 Qxa6 18.Qa4! (or even 18.Qb3!?) and Stockfish eventually realizes that knights are better than bishops here.
15.Kd2 Bxf3 16.gxf3 dxc5 17.bxc5, and White gets great play. E.g. 17…Bh4 18.Rxa6 Qxa6 19.Qb3! Bxf2 20.d6+ Kh8 21.dxc7 and White is slightly better. Or 17…Ra3 18.Qc1 Ra5 19.Rd1 is equal (but slightly easier for a human to play as White). Note that 20.Nb5 is in the air because of the pin.
The doubting disciple of Steinitz, Dr. Tarrasch, would probably find 15.Kd2 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Bh4! (Bad Bishop goes to work) 17.Rxa6 Qxa6 18.Qe2 Qa3 19.Rb1 h6. Doesn’t the White king really want to be on (say) f1 here? Either White sacs the f2 pawn and grovels for a draw or goes hyperdefensive to grovel for a draw. I’d rather play Black here.
