2 for 8.e4
2 for New Rule.
22 hours remaining before the move , 8.e4 is submitted to CHESS .
Announcement : Please don't forget to vote for the new rule , and yes , you can vote more than once for it , but in 2 weeks time you're allowed one vote only for the new rule and more new rules if they come up , since the game will take time.
Fritz has varied from the line given in MCO. e4 is the obvious follow up to f3. A logical alternative is a3 to prevent black's bishop coming to b4. Whether we want to do that depends on how much of a problem we think the pin could be. The knight supports e4, but we also have the pawn doing that, and our opponent would have to give up a piece to take it. On the other hand after e4 we still have to get the bishop out of the way before castling. We should be wary of something like 8. e4 Bb4 9. Bc4 Bxe4 10 fxe4 Nxe4 11. 0-0 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bxc3 when CHESS has 3 pawns for the piece. We can improve on this line by not castling and playing 12. Qa4+ which wins the bishop, but even after that black has a potentially dangerous check. I'm just saying that we need to keep our wits about us - black is going to want to undermine our centre and pinning the knight is an obvious place to start.
At the moment I think 8. e4 is best and that the pin isn't going to cause problems, but can anyone see a tactical problem if we allow the pin?
Originally posted by SicilianNajdorfHey slow down - I haven't voted yet - when I do I'll say "I vote for" so it's clear. I was saying my current preference is for e4 but want to hear arguments in favour of other moves. Anyway, since noone has made any and it's in your database (I was writng the post as you made your one) to keep things simple:
5 for 8.e4
21 hours + 15 minutes remaining before the move , 8.e4 is submitted to CHESS.
I vote for 8. e4 (5)
Don't worry about it 🙂, but we need to be clear when we're voting and when we're discussing to avoid this, everyone's fairly unanimous right now, but later it could cause real trouble with someone stating a preference or making a suggestion and then voting for a different move. I don't think it's neccessary yet, but we should seperate the discussion
btw. - have you set this up as an actual game on RHP?