From zefrank

Voting CLOSED Until 7pm

Today's Suggested Moves have been posted, and the voting polls will open Wednesday @7PM EDT and close at Thrusday 12AM EDT (Wednesday 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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 <!-- MAKE CERTAIN YOU ADD A COMMENT TO JUSTIFY THIS POSITION-->

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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 cxd6 3.2 Rf2! 3.2.1 Include Exclamation 3.2.2 Exclude Exclamation

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

Suggested Move Summary

Suggested Position Suggested Move: cxd6

Suggested Position Suggested Move: Rf2!

Suggested Position Suggested Move: !

cxd6

• The obvious option. What else is there to say? MalteseFalcon 11:17, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
• Maybe not so obvious after all :-P PTWhipplebang 12:18, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
  • I never said it was the best move :) MalteseFalcon 12:20, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
    • But definitely the most obvious.Kidnapped
      • Very true. I stand corrected. PTWhipplebang 13:00, 2 August 2006 (PDT)

Rf2!

• Mate threat. g3 forced by white. Correction: g3 loses. Rg1 best by white. (I think)V 11:21, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
  • No, 26. g3 loses (see below).
  • Can't white also do an Rg1? What's the response to that one? 64.7.149.152 11:46, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
    • 26. Rg1 cxd6 and 27...Nc5 will win the e-pawn. -Axl
• Rf2 also sets up the skewer, pinning the bishop, preventing Bxc4. Otis 11:23, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
• And we can still move cxd6 next move if we want to... mick129 11:24, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
• Even better, we can move Bxd5!208.60.177.45 11:27, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
  • Scratch that. Qh6. The game is actually over in three moves. 25. Bxd6 Rf2 26. g3 Qh6 27. ??? Qh2 (and whatever the notation for 'mate' is).bobby_mac^{rap at me} 11:38, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
    • Ugh. I didn't consider Bf3. That would stall checkmate...but we'd get his queen.bobby_mac^{rap at me}
    • Sorry...I got overexcited by this. There are plenty of moves Ze can make to stall mate. We're still playing for awhile. But this is a great move.bobby_mac^{rap at me}
    • That would be ++ This move just made my day. MalteseFalcon 11:39, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
    • Well, there's 25. Bxd6 Rf2 26. g3 Qh6 27. h4 and our attack is pretty much warded off. We can however then recapture Ze's bishop and we still come out on top TtT
      • I believe that 27. ... Qe3 by us, black, gives us the win as it threatens mate in two and white will lose at least a piece trying to defend. V 12:27, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
  • Yep, squeeze him. This game is as good as over. Otis 11:28, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
• Please count this as a vote for me when the polls open. And someone set the board up for the rematch... Good night, Ze. Otis 11:29, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
• This is definitely the move to make but it's not a forced mate. But Ze will have to give up heavy material to avoid it. For instance, 25...Rf2 26. Rg1 cxd6 27. Nc1 Bxd5 etc. Snark 11:44, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
  • Yeah, this line seems more likely Geedubber 11:47, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
• Main line: 25. Bxd6 Rf2 26. g3 Qh6 27. h4 Qe3 Mate threat in two. I'm wondering about 28. Rf1 I know we can take back a bishop or trade. Can anyone clear this up? It looks real good either way though. V 11:41, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
  • I think 26. Rg1 is White's best defense. But it's still pretty hopeless. Snark 11:46, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
  • This is my vote as well, but I don't see a forced mate. 25. ... Rf2! 26. Rg1 and white can hold it together and probably struggle through to the endgame before losing. Jeff 11:47, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
• After 25...Rf2, 26.Rg1 is forced (only attempt at defense), after which we recapture on d6 with an overwhelming advantage. Ze obviously wasn't reading the Fabuloso discussion last move. His 25.Bxd6 loses almost immediately! The position is resignable for White after we play Rf2. It's a shame, really; this has been fun. Now, we will eviscerate him utterly... -Axl
• Did some more looking. (25. Bxd6 Rf2! 26. g3 Qh6 27. h4 Qe3) 28. Rf1 loses. RxB wins outright. If he takes with the Queen, after the trade, he can't protect both his rook and his bishop. And our knight is very well positioned to protect the f8 square. If he moves it away, we can maneuver to get both rook and queen on the second row (and/or take back bishop on d6). Just a matter of time after that. I will look at Rg1 now. V 11:59, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
  • I think 26. Rf1 loses to 26...Qxg2 checkmate. Snark 12:01, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
    • Can't get there from here. V 12:04, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
      • Huh? Sure we can. Are you looking at the right position? Snark 12:06, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
        • First, there's noting on g2. It has moved to g3 already. And the queen is on e3. V 12:11, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
          • You said 26. Rf1. If that's White's 26th, then move the pawn on g2 has not moved. What position are you talking about? Snark 12:13, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
            • Oops! Fixed V 12:15, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
  • Um, what is 26. and 27.? arc
    • On the second board to your right of the page. V 12:24, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
      • Hmmm, I think you should make that more clear because your comment will slide as stuff gets added above. arc
        • If you and Snark are ok with it, maybe we should delete these corrections (not my initial message tho). I made a notation mistake and it's fixed now unless someone objects to removal. Remove the ones below too. Thanks V 12:59, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
• Maybe we should be hardchargers and quickly update the Wiki with our move Rf2! Skip voting. That will shock Ze. Snark 12:00, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
• (25. Bxd6 Rf2! 26. g3 Qh6 27. h4 Qe3) 28. Rg1 loses to RxB too. If he takes with queen, we're up. Otherwise, he can't protect both the queen and his bishop. So we'd be a piece up with his position completely destroyed. I don't see a way out for white. V 12:04, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
  • I think you need to check the position you're using for analysis. 26...Rxe2 after 26. Rg1 gives away all of our advantage. Snark 12:08, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
    • Fixed position. Meant at move 28. Rg1 V 12:15, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
• Besides the fact that this is the best move, it ALSO has an exclamation point after it! Arc
  • Nobody votes against exclamation points. I too think we should skip the voting an submit this right now. SUBMIT NOW V 12:18, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
    • The only problem with that is that some hard charger could submit a move tomorrow that is terrible! Maybe someone will show up that can show why this move is terrible in the meantime, but I doubt it! arc
    • Notation question from chess novice: What qualifies a move to have the exclamation point? Or is it more subjective? Either way I love it. Also, I'm all for hard-charging when the situation demands it, but I don't think it would hurt to vote just in case. PTWhipplebang 12:25, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
      • Not sure. I just put it there based on previous moves discussion. It is subjective I guess. However, is there anyone that doesn't think this move kicks ass? Let's vote on the exclamation! HAHA JK V 12:30, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
      • The ! after a move in chess is generally a subjective indication that the move is really good but the reason it is good is not immediately obvious. This move doesn't really qualify IMO but I'm not going to spoil the fun :-) Jeff 12:31, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
        • It is generally bad form to mark a move as either "?" or "!" DURING the game. That is saved for post-mortem analysis. No matter how good a move is in correspondance chess, you just don't add punctuation. It is akin to gloating at your opponent. It's rude. Kingpatzer 12:46, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
          • I certainly agree it's obnoxious, but didn't we start this game taunting each other? There's not much trash talking in grandmaster play either. :-) Snark 12:56, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
          • I assumed this whole thing was a joke. I agree that actually including the "!" would definitely come off as arrogant. PTWhipplebang 12:51, 2 August 2006 (PDT)
            • It's all fun and games until someone gets their eye poked out with a "!". arc
• yeah, this destroys white's game utterly! Kingpatzer 12:38, 2 August 2006 (PDT)

Include Exclamation

1. VOTE by PTWhipplebang 12:33, 2 August 2006 (PDT): Everybody loves punctuation!
2. VOTE by MalteseFalcon 12:36, 2 August 2006 (PDT): I don't think Ze will have seen this coming. The '!' is appropriate.

Exclude Exclamation

1. VOTE by Kingpatzer 12:39, 2 August 2006 (PDT) : not subtle enough to qualify and providing valuations with moves is rude.
2. VOTE by arc 3:54, 2 August 2006 (EST) : I think the exclamation point in and of itself deserves its own move.