I didn’t include that below, but I did briefly consider your line, but I think black is forced to take the draw by repetition after 2.Rg2 Rg6 3.Bb7 Nh3+ 4.Kh1Nf2 5.Kg1 Nh3+ because white is up a piece and is threatening to exchange rooks at g6 and after that his own king is extremely vulnerable to the queen and bishop- not a pretty looking thing.
Pretty sure there is nothing gained by sacrificing at e4- white has everything protected well, and the threat of Qxh7 protects the rook at e1. So black must deal with the threat on the bishop at b7 either directly or indirectly- either exchange the bishops at e4 or find some other threat.
1. …………Be4
2. Re4! Qh6 (needed to guard the knight when it comes to g7)
3. Rg2 Ng7 (Kh8 4.Qe5 Ng7 anyway)
4. Reg4 R6d7
And, I like white’s position better, though I doubt the edge is all that much- black can hold this I would think, though it would be painful to play since black would always be on the defense.
While I think black could simply play 1. ….Ng7 preemptively and open a line for the rook to g6, white could just preemptively play 2.Rg2. Also, black could try Nd4 attacking the queen, but again white can play Rg2+:
1. ………….Nd4
2. Rg2!? Rg6! (Kh8?? 3.Qe5+ and the bishop is lost now)
3. Rg6! hg6
4. Qg6 and white has the upper hand surely.
In my opinion, this basically leaves 1. …Nf4- it does carry a threat as well as prevents an immediate Rg2 for white……
1. ………….Nf4!?
2. Bb7 Nh3
And now white has unpleasant options- 3.Kg2 allows 3. ….Rg6+ and white will have to give up the queen at g6 just to prevent mate. Let’s look at the moves to the h-file:
3. Kh1 Rf6!
I looked at Rf8 here, but then 4.Bd5+ looks awful for black to me because Kh8 is mate in 1 and Kg7 allows 5.Qe5 with check and I can’t find a convincing line for black that makes up for the bishop that was sacrificed because blocking the check with Rdf6 allows white to exchange the queens at g3 to save the king. With 3. …Rf6, black makes Bd5 toothless since the black king is happy on h8 in that line. Continuing:
4. Rg2 Kh8 (better than the Ng5 discovered check, I think)
And where can white put the queen? If white tries 5.Qg4, black mates in two starting with Nf2 double check (maybe an argument for 3.Kh2 instead). Basically, any queen that isn’t Qxf6+ allows that line. So, I have to believe white does best at this point to give up the queen for the rook:
5. Qf6!? Qf6
6. Nd2 Nf2 and I have to believe black’s edge is decisive- I don’t see that white has any compensation at all for the material. So let’s return to move 3 in this line where white could have put the king on h2:
1. ………….Nf4
2. Bb7 Nh3
3. Kh2 Ng5 (I don’t see anything clearly better than this)
4. Kg1 Qe1 (the knight at g5 is protected indirectly by the white king on the g-file)
5. Bd5 Kh8
6. Rg2 h6 And black is up an exchange and a pawn, and his position looks ok to me otherwise- surely decisive.
I guess, if 1. ….Nf4 is the right move, white probably can’t take with 2.Bb7, but probably needs to get the queens off the board- white won’t lose a piece because of the skewer that comes later on the 7th rank
1. …………..Nf4
2. Qh7!? Qh7
3. Bh7 Kh7 (Kf7 4.Bf5 looks even better for white)
4. Re7 Kh8!
5. Rb7 Rg8 (better than an immediate Nxh3)
6. Kh2 Rh6 and though white is up a pawn right at this moment, it is not only ephemeral, but black has a powerful attack. I would need a lot more time than I have right now to fully evaluate this line after move 6, but I would definitely rather be black here.
I don’t see any slam dunk other option for White other than to liquidate as much wood as he can. Black has a tremendous attack coming even with the small amount of material left on the board.
5….Rg8+ – allowing White time to bring the Rb7 back into play is disastrous. If White can double R’s on the 2nd rank, then I think White can hold on to his extra pawn.
6. Kh2 – this is better than 6. Kh1 as after Kh1 Black plays …Rdg6 and now if White moves the b7 R to, say e7, N:h3 is lethal since 8. Rh2 is met by Rg1#.
6…. Rh6 – threatening R:h3#, and forcing white to play:
7. Kh1 – to free h2 for a piece after 7…R:h3+
7…. Rhg6 and now we are at the same position as would have been reached after 6. Kh1 Rdg6. White has no good move.
8. Kh2 N:h3 and the N can’t be recaptured. Black is threatening …Rh6 with a discovery to follow
8. Rd2 – threatening to create threats of his own – is just too slow. 8….Rg1+ 9. Kh2 R:f1 and Black just has too many threats. Among them are ….Rg2# if the Rd2 leaves the 2nd rank, or …Rf3 if it doesn’t.
It looks like best for White is to take on b6 and then exchange a pair of R’s to tr to get into a piece down ending.
1. … Ng5 and now h7 is well covered
2. Rg2 Rg6 renews the threat of Nxh3
or 2. Bxb7 Qxe1 looks safe.
or 2. Re3 Bxe4
I didn’t include that below, but I did briefly consider your line, but I think black is forced to take the draw by repetition after 2.Rg2 Rg6 3.Bb7 Nh3+ 4.Kh1Nf2 5.Kg1 Nh3+ because white is up a piece and is threatening to exchange rooks at g6 and after that his own king is extremely vulnerable to the queen and bishop- not a pretty looking thing.
And the main reason I immediately preferred Nf4 over Ng5 was that Nf4 prevents white from defending with Rg2.
I was thinking 1. .. Ng5 2. Bxb7 Qxe1 3. Rg2 could be met by Qe3+??
Pretty sure there is nothing gained by sacrificing at e4- white has everything protected well, and the threat of Qxh7 protects the rook at e1. So black must deal with the threat on the bishop at b7 either directly or indirectly- either exchange the bishops at e4 or find some other threat.
1. …………Be4
2. Re4! Qh6 (needed to guard the knight when it comes to g7)
3. Rg2 Ng7 (Kh8 4.Qe5 Ng7 anyway)
4. Reg4 R6d7
And, I like white’s position better, though I doubt the edge is all that much- black can hold this I would think, though it would be painful to play since black would always be on the defense.
While I think black could simply play 1. ….Ng7 preemptively and open a line for the rook to g6, white could just preemptively play 2.Rg2. Also, black could try Nd4 attacking the queen, but again white can play Rg2+:
1. ………….Nd4
2. Rg2!? Rg6! (Kh8?? 3.Qe5+ and the bishop is lost now)
3. Rg6! hg6
4. Qg6 and white has the upper hand surely.
In my opinion, this basically leaves 1. …Nf4- it does carry a threat as well as prevents an immediate Rg2 for white……
1. ………….Nf4!?
2. Bb7 Nh3
And now white has unpleasant options- 3.Kg2 allows 3. ….Rg6+ and white will have to give up the queen at g6 just to prevent mate. Let’s look at the moves to the h-file:
3. Kh1 Rf6!
I looked at Rf8 here, but then 4.Bd5+ looks awful for black to me because Kh8 is mate in 1 and Kg7 allows 5.Qe5 with check and I can’t find a convincing line for black that makes up for the bishop that was sacrificed because blocking the check with Rdf6 allows white to exchange the queens at g3 to save the king. With 3. …Rf6, black makes Bd5 toothless since the black king is happy on h8 in that line. Continuing:
4. Rg2 Kh8 (better than the Ng5 discovered check, I think)
And where can white put the queen? If white tries 5.Qg4, black mates in two starting with Nf2 double check (maybe an argument for 3.Kh2 instead). Basically, any queen that isn’t Qxf6+ allows that line. So, I have to believe white does best at this point to give up the queen for the rook:
5. Qf6!? Qf6
6. Nd2 Nf2 and I have to believe black’s edge is decisive- I don’t see that white has any compensation at all for the material. So let’s return to move 3 in this line where white could have put the king on h2:
1. ………….Nf4
2. Bb7 Nh3
3. Kh2 Ng5 (I don’t see anything clearly better than this)
4. Kg1 Qe1 (the knight at g5 is protected indirectly by the white king on the g-file)
5. Bd5 Kh8
6. Rg2 h6 And black is up an exchange and a pawn, and his position looks ok to me otherwise- surely decisive.
I guess, if 1. ….Nf4 is the right move, white probably can’t take with 2.Bb7, but probably needs to get the queens off the board- white won’t lose a piece because of the skewer that comes later on the 7th rank
1. …………..Nf4
2. Qh7!? Qh7
3. Bh7 Kh7 (Kf7 4.Bf5 looks even better for white)
4. Re7 Kh8!
5. Rb7 Rg8 (better than an immediate Nxh3)
6. Kh2 Rh6 and though white is up a pawn right at this moment, it is not only ephemeral, but black has a powerful attack. I would need a lot more time than I have right now to fully evaluate this line after move 6, but I would definitely rather be black here.
Yancey,
I think your last line is correct. It is an error for Black to capture on h3 prematurely with the N, since that allows Rh2 pinning the N.
1….Nf4 2. Q:h7+ Q:h7 3. B:h7+ K:h7 4. Re7+ Kh8 5. R:b7
I don’t see any slam dunk other option for White other than to liquidate as much wood as he can. Black has a tremendous attack coming even with the small amount of material left on the board.
5….Rg8+ – allowing White time to bring the Rb7 back into play is disastrous. If White can double R’s on the 2nd rank, then I think White can hold on to his extra pawn.
6. Kh2 – this is better than 6. Kh1 as after Kh1 Black plays …Rdg6 and now if White moves the b7 R to, say e7, N:h3 is lethal since 8. Rh2 is met by Rg1#.
6…. Rh6 – threatening R:h3#, and forcing white to play:
7. Kh1 – to free h2 for a piece after 7…R:h3+
7…. Rhg6 and now we are at the same position as would have been reached after 6. Kh1 Rdg6. White has no good move.
8. Kh2 N:h3 and the N can’t be recaptured. Black is threatening …Rh6 with a discovery to follow
8. Rd2 – threatening to create threats of his own – is just too slow. 8….Rg1+ 9. Kh2 R:f1 and Black just has too many threats. Among them are ….Rg2# if the Rd2 leaves the 2nd rank, or …Rf3 if it doesn’t.
It looks like best for White is to take on b6 and then exchange a pair of R’s to tr to get into a piece down ending.