From zefrank

Voting CLOSED Until 7pm

Today's Suggested Moves have been posted, and the voting polls will open Monday @7PM EDT and close at Tuesday 12AM EDT (Monday Night), in order to give time for enough deliberation before the votes are cast. Don't have a username/Id yet? Get one here! and take some credit for your contributions!

Remember to check back even if you've already cast your vote! .. there's still some disagreement between potential moves .. and analysis will most likely continue up until Sunday night when the polls close. It's also not too late to submit a vote for another move that has not been evaluated yet .. (although it looks like we have most of the best move options available, people can always miss things).

Use the following tags to help suggest moves, and remember if you want to throw up an example speculative board in the discussion, please refer to the Edit Guide on how to properly format it.

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| Suggested Move: UPDATE THIS
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    a  b  c  d  e  f  g  h

| Suggested Move: UPDATE THIS
}}
  REMOVE THIS LINE TO INSERT BOARD -->

 <!-- MAKE CERTAIN YOU ADD A COMMENT TO JUSTIFY THIS POSITION-->

{{clear}}

Just follow the instructions, and completely delete those lines .. and don't forget to replace 'Speculative Move' with the actual move name. Also bear in mind that anything after the clear tag won't be visible, so don't enter any text underneath it (unless you're adding another section)

Voting Instructions

Cut and paste the following to vote

# '''VOTE''' by ~~~~: add a comment! 

• You may vote for many moves as you like, but only one vote per move.
• When voting closes, the move with the most votes wins.
• If there is a tie, whoever tallies the votes breaks the tie.

Strategy Discussion

Contents 1 Voting CLOSED Until 7pm 1.1 Voting Instructions 2 Strategy Discussion 3 Suggested Move Summary 3.1 Rxf8 3.2 Nxf8 3.3 Kxf8

Please take the time to familiarize yourself with some common middlegame tactics.

Suggested Move Summary

Suggested Position Suggested Move: Rxf8

Suggested Position Suggested Move: Nxf8

Suggested Position Suggested Move: Kxf8

Rxf8

• No Brainer. Eliminates threat without bringing out king out into the open. Also covers the entire f file. Funky citrus 12:45, 1 August 2006 (PDT)
• This is definitely the best option. arc
• And the response to 25. Bxd6 cxd6 26. Bxc4 would be? Moving that rook removes the defense from our c4 pawn.64.7.149.152 12:48, 1 August 2006 (PDT)
  • It seems as though 26. Bxc4 Nc5 and the pawn Ze apparently won soon falls. If 27. Bd3 moves to protect, then 27. .. Bxd5 leads to 28. exd5 Nxd3 winning back the pawn and threatening 29. .. Nf2+ to take white's queen. Otherwise 27. Re1 Rf4 and the pawn dies. Kidnapped
  • After 26.Bxc4, 26...Nc5 or Rf4 are both completely winning. -Axl
• Take a day off, folks. No debate necessary. Other moves are vastly inferior. -Axl
• Yawn!!! No thinking required. Count me in. V 13:09, 1 August 2006 (PDT)
• Why would 26.Bxc4 when 26.Bxd6 cxd6 27.Bxc4 and we lose our c4 pawn plus ze now defends d5.
  • Your numbering is one too high. After 26. Bxc4 we play Nc5 and his pawn will fall amongst other goodies. V 13:20, 1 August 2006 (PDT)
  • Look a little deeper... Earlier we considered 25.Bxd6 cxd6 26.Bxc4 Nc5, but after this exchange on f8, in fact we have better: 25.Bxd6? Rf2! and Black is absolutely crushing. After 24...Rxf8 25.Bxd6 is not playable for white. 25. Bf3 looks best, but we are still winning handily. -Axl
    • Yes, 25. Bf3 is White's best response but then we play 25...Bxd5. Snark 13:58, 1 August 2006 (PDT)
    • Axl, just out of curiosity, what do we play after 25. Bxd6? Rf2! 26. g3 ? (the question mark is to end my question, not the move). V 14:13, 1 August 2006 (PDT) edit: Never mind. You can still answer, but it looks like a slaughter house the more I look at it.
• What's the response to 25. Bxc4?208.60.177.45 13:49, 1 August 2006 (PDT)
  • Nxc4. We trade a pawn and a rook for two bishops, not bad at all especially when our knight on c4, the bishop, and a soon to be Nc5 are so well placed. arc
• Yes, it's open and shut: this is the best move. Snark 13:55, 1 August 2006 (PDT)

• Due to time zones, I'm voting early. Please consider this my vote. Otis 13:40, 1 August 2006 (PDT)

Nxf8

• Gets us out of check, but keeps the rook in place to back up the c4 pawn. 64.7.149.152 12:50, 1 August 2006 (PDT)
• We can't give Ze control of the F file, unless we want to do another rook tradeoff. Funky citrus 12:55, 1 August 2006 (PDT)
  • Ze isn't controlling the F file.
    • Not yet, but he can move his other rook over. PTWhipplebang 13:17, 1 August 2006 (PDT)
• Nxf8?! -- That's going backwards. No way! There's nothing to fear from Bxc4. -Axl
• This is playable but it doesn't save the c4 pawn anyway. After white defends against Bxd5 with 25. Rb2 what do we do? We can nab the e4 pawn with 25. ... Qxe4 26. Qxe4 Nxe4 but then white can go ahead and 27. Bxc4 anyway. I think black is still winning but 24. ... Rxf8 is a more convincing win. Don't forget white's king is in a very vulerable spot right now so having a rook on the open f-file gives us a lot of leverage. Jeff 13:19, 1 August 2006 (PDT)

Kxf8

Added because it is the other option to get us out of check. 64.7.149.152 12:53, 1 August 2006 (PDT)

• What's that, "the sympathy suggestion?" ;) Obviously out of the question -- this move immediately loses the c4 pawn with no compensation. -Axl
  • HAHA! It's standard practice to enter all possible moves if there aren't many. It allows to get a visual grasp of different positions and what's involved. Not necessarily as a real suggestion. V 13:11, 1 August 2006 (PDT)
    • uh... Isn't this actually the only move after which we CAN defend both b and c pawns?
    • We wouldn't be defending the c pawn because the d6 knight becomes pinned.