From zefrank

Contents 1 Speculative Moves Lacking Support 1.1 Ba5 1.2 a5 1.3 a3 1.4 dxc4 1.5 Nc6 1.6 Nxc3

Speculative Moves Lacking Support

The following moves have been discussed and have been found lacking. Please feel free to add other lines above, but these all seemed to be flawed.

Ba5

• Mostly included for completeness, though it keeps pressure on Ze's knight and doesn't clutter our queen --AtteSmythe 12:01, 7 July 2006 (PDT)
• Ze's next move would probably be b4, capturing our Bishop. Shadowcrash 12:05, 7 July 2006 (PDT)

• How would we respond to 10. b4 ? 87.74.55.84 12:04, 7 July 2006 (PDT)
• I can't really SEE a good response to 10. b4 .. one of the reasons why we avoided being forced or voluntarily moving Ba4 for the last several moves. Another potential candidate for dumpster in a few hours. ßrigade^rant

• clear blunder. Kingpatzer 12:19, 7 July 2006 (PDT)

a5

• Allows the option: 10 axb4 axb4 which sacrifices our bishop for maintained tempo and a treat on Ze's knight. 87.74.55.84 13:05, 7 July 2006 (PDT)
• 10. axb4 axb4 11. Rxa8 and black can resign. Kingpatzer 13:15, 7 July 2006 (PDT)

a3

• Allows the option: 10 axb4 cxb4 which sacrifices our bishop for maintained tempo and a treat on Ze's knight. 87.74.55.84 13:05, 7 July 2006 (PDT)

• You need to consider that we're not 'sacrificing' here, we're exchanging a pawn for a bishop. Sacrifice entails (almost) immediate advantage, like sacrificing a piece in order to mate your opponent, or pick up decisive material gains. ßrigade^rant

• this is interesting for about 20 seconds until you realize where it leads :) 9. ... c5 10. axb4 cxd4 11. Nxe4 fxe4 12. Bxe4 dxe4 13. Qxe4 Rf7 (to prevent Qxa8) 14. Ng5 (Ne5 is also possible) Qxg5 15. Qxa8 and black is completely lost. If instead 11. ... dxe4 12. Bxe4 fxe4 (d3 goes no where better) 13. Qxe4 Rf7 and we're back to losing a rook. Kingpatzer 13:48, 7 July 2006 (PDT)

dxc4

• Counter-attacks at Ze's bishop and begins to open the d file for our queen. 87.74.55.84 13:05, 7 July 2006 (PDT)
• 10. Bxc4 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Qd6 12. Bd2 and white has a clear advantage due to his pawn structure. black's not lost, but he's going to be hurting for the rest of the game. An inferior choice to Bxc3 Kingpatzer 13:19, 7 July 2006 (PDT)

Nc6

• Developes our knight, and allows us to respond to 10. axb4 with Nxb4, forking Ze's queen and bishop. Again we sacrifice our bishop but maintain tempo; in fact, here 10. axb4 may not even be Ze's best play. 87.74.55.84 13:05, 7 July 2006 (PDT)
• I think we still end up down a piece however you slice it. Why wouldn't he take the bishop? to save his pawn? The potential fork of 10...Nxb4 won't capture anything else without losing the knight. This would be dropping a piece for a pawn at best.
• loses immediately to 10. cxd5 when both knight and bishop are attacked. if 10. ... Nxd4 11. exd4 Bxc3 12. dxe6 Bxe6 13. axb4 is a forced line that ends with black a piece down with no compensation. Kingpatzer 13:22, 7 July 2006 (PDT)

Nxc3

• Another version of the exchange variation, which has the added benefit of exchanging a Knight for a Knight. However, Ze can choose to recapture either the Bishop or the Knight, which is a slight disadvantage to us. ßrigade^rant
• I see this move as similiar to Bxc3, except it gives Ze the choice of taking our Bishop or our Knight. If he chooses to take the Bishop, our night is still in jeopardy, forcing a retreat to e4 and giving him the next move. This is identical to Bxc3, except we waste a move. If he takes the Knight, our Bishop if forced to retreat, giving Ze greater position in the middle and still gives him control. Shadowcrash 12:04, 7 July 2006 (PDT)
  • I agree .. I was just sticking this out here to get the ball rolling. When things (editing en mass) calm down, I'll stick this in the dumpster unless someone proposes keeping it here. ßrigade^rant
• Nxc3 is a subtle, but very real, blunder. after 10. axb4 the half-open A file is going to be heavily exploited to black's regret. Kingpatzer 12:17, 7 July 2006 (PDT)