The analysts for the World Team in the Kasparov vs. The World are all rising young chess superstars. These are the next generation of names that will rise to the top of the chess-playing world. If you're unsure what move to play against World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, our analysts can point you in the right direction with their thoughtful responses.

Phew...it's a hot day in London, and it's a hot one on the chessboard too. The World offered an exchange to relieve the pressure, but Garry was having none of it, sliding the queen down the diagonal, deep into the heart of Black's position. The bishop on g7 is now under attack; and the queen and bishop are lined up against Black's pawn on e7 - though for the moment it is guarded by the knight on c6.

The World's 19...Qb4 was by no means a forced move. Debate raged on the bulletin boards and in my Zone theatre chat to determine the best way to counter Garry's attack; and we had no less than three different moves recommended by our analysts. The complexity of the position and the lack of conclusion in our discussions was reflected in the voting percentages: 19...Qb4 topped the poll with just 35.09%; closely followed by 19...Nd4 with 33.85%; and 19...Qd4 scored a respectable 13.08%, which still leaves almost 20% of the votes going to other moves.

Although White is taking the initiative, I feel that Black still ought to be holding his own. However, the past couple of days have shown that even 18 hours can be insufficient to reveal the best continuation, even with the help of computers.

Incidentally, I have found that my analysis has been far more productive WITHOUT the help of a chess-playing computer: in this kind of strategically unbalanced position their assessments are often way off the mark; though they do come into their own when checking tactics or sacrifices. My tip is this: analyse the position on your own to start with, then, if necessary, go back and check the variations using one of those infernal cans of silicon.

Let's get down to specifics. The World Champion is attacking the bishop on g7 with the queen, so it must move, or be protected. At first glance there are three plausible moves: 20...Bxb2; 20...Qxb2; and 20...Be5.

Straightaway we should dismiss 20...Bxb2. This just exacerbates Black's problems. White would reply with 21 Rab1, PINNING the bishop to the queen. The bishop would be unable to move as the rook would then take the queen, so Black would have to waste more time untangling, with 21...Qa3 for instance, to prevent White snaring the bishop, and then quite simply 22 Qxh7 followed by 23 Qxg6. My advice: DON'T GO THERE.

20...Qxb2, protecting the bishop on g7 and swiping a pawn in the process, is much better, though it is still an open question whether this is too greedy: White's rooks have wonderful open files.

The alternative is 20...Be5, blocking the e-file. This has received a lot of attention on the bulletin boards. The point is that 21 Qxh7 (not clever) can be met by 21...Rh8 followed by 22...Bxh2+ and Black wins.

Instead of 21 Qxh7 White has a number of alternative ways to try to break Black's position. So far, nothing absolutely concrete has been found for White, though in many cases I think it looks quite terrifying for the World.

So is to be 20...Qxb2 or 20...Be5? This is the crunch decision. I'll let you know what I think the best move is in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10GMT) today, then you'll have to make up your own mind.

Good luck!

Danny King

Be5 to Kasparov's Qf7.

Intuitively, I like this move the best as the bishop establishes itself on a great central square, eyeing up the pawn on h2. In my opinion, the alternative move 20...Qxb2 is, at the moment, still too risky.

Be5 to Kasparov's Qf7

I think that this move is the strongest move avaiable for black in the given position. Wrong it would be to reply 20...Bxb2 since white can pin the bishop with 21.Rab1! Qg4 - because white threats 22.Bf6! - 22Bxe7!. Interesting but I doubt that it is enough it is 20...Qxb2?! since after 21.Rab1 black doesn't have a good square for the queen and white activates his rooks with an increasingly pressure on black's weakness on b6, b7 and e7. After 20...Be5 I analyzed two of the white's moves:

21.h3 - threatening to capture the pawn on h7 - and 21.f4 being the most "kasparovian". After 21.h3 black can play 21...Rxa4 - which leads to an unclear position:

22.Rxa4 Qxa4 23.Qxh7 and 24.Qxg6 or 21...Rh8 , the safe alternative, most widely recommended by computers: 22.Ra2 - removing the pin on b2 and protecting b2 and a4 - 22...f4!? - my first choice move - and 22...h6!?. I do not analyze this variation more in depth in here because I do not belive that this move is going to be try by Kasparov in our game. Anyway, black has at least an equal game in all of the lines. So, let's move on to the next option for white:

21.f4 - the most agressive and probably the best move for white; other tries like 21.Re1 or 21.Rc1 are met by 21..h6 and Qh4 - 21...Bxb2( because now we can escape the pin with a check on the diagonal g1-a7)22.Rae1 Re8 23.Qxh7 Qd4+ 24. Kh1 Qg7 25.Qh3 Bc3 followed by 26...Bd4, Rh8, Rh7 and possibly a doubling on the "h" file leave black with a nice game and some winning chances.

We have to play 20...Be5 now, as being the only move which can keep the balance, and see which move we are going to play against, analyze (re-analyze!) it, find a plan and move accordingly.

Be5 to Kasparov's Qf7

As White has a big advantage after 20...Bxb2 21.Rab1, I recommend to play 20...Be5 even if Black is worse off after, for example, 21.h3.

Be5 to Kasparov's Qf7

I recommend the World plays the move 20...Be5 (Bishop on g7 to e5)

SUMMARY

With the move 20.Qf7, the World Champion avoids an exchange of queens, and aims to bring PRESSURE to bear on the Black e7-point, following up at an appropriate moment by putting a ROOK on e1. There are two candidate moves for Black in the position, namely 20...Qxb2, and 20...Be5. After feedback from the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board, and from analysis in the last FAQ prior to my deadline before making my move suggestion, I came to the conclusion that 20...Qxb2 is incorrect. Instead, I propose the move 20...Be5. On the e5-square, the Black bishop will clog the e-file as a holding action against the activity of a White Rook coming to e1. Another idea of 19...Qb4, and 20...Be5 is to create play against White's Bg5 with h7-h6 (and/or f5-f4) at opportune moments.

ANALYSIS SECTION

After 20...Qxb2 21.Rfe1

(In my opinion, alternatives for White are less exact, for example after 21.Rad1 Rf8, or 21.Rab1 Qd4 22.Rfd1 Rf8, the "White Queen ejection" plan gives Black a fine game. This plan for Black was developed on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board by Jason Van Eaton).

Black has two ideas:

A) 21...Qxa1 22.Rxa1 Bxa1, leads to an endgame where Black has a ROOK + KNIGHT + 2 PAWNS against White's QUEEN. It was necessary to study this plan with great interest, as the two BBS analysts who first proposed it have consistently demonstrated their strength in analyzing complex positions throughout the course of the game. In this endgame (first explored by "FastIM" and Otto ten Haar), Black must demonstrate his counterplay from advancing his PASSED b-PAWN is sufficient against the advance of the White PASSED h-PAWN. The idea shows great courage and imagination. However, I was unable to overcome a plan for White examined by GM Ron Henley - namely White blockades the Black b-PAWN with his QUEEN on b3, and proceeds to engineer a trade of bishops (the Black bishop is the natural long-range defender of the White QUEENING SQUARE on h8). After this, Black's only remaining minor piece (his short-range KNIGHT) will not be able to fight on both sides of the board. This conclusion was based on available analysis at the time of writing this report.

B) Instead 21...Be5 22.Rad1 Rxa4, transposes to heavily analyzed variations emanating from 19...Qd4. According to the latest FAQ (as I write this), problems still exist for Black in this variation.

Hence I maintained my attention on 20...Be5.

Black plans to create play against White's Bg5 with h7-h6 (and/or f5-f4). White can play 21.h3 (safeguarding his h2-point, and directed against the Black plan of h7-h6 - ejecting the White bishop -followed by Qb4-h4 (TEMPO on h2) and Qh4-f6, securing the g6-point, and challenging the White queen on f7, while at the same time placing more "juice" on the h8-a1 DIAGONAL.

After 21.h3, Black must consider the ramifications of the sharp endgame resulting from 21...Rxa4 22.Rxa4 Qxa4 23.Qxh7 Bxb2 24.Qxg6 Qe4, or securing the kingside h7-point with 21...Rh8, intending to work against White's bishop with f5-f4, and h7-h6.

Irina /SmartChessOnline/