I’m 2100 USCF. I looked at the first position for a few minutes and read the AI reasoning. My assessment:
For myself, I thought 1...Qxb5 was natural and strong, considering 2. Nxb5 c6 3. Nc3 or Na3 with black control over b3 and c4, and 2. axb5 looks odd after Nc5. Black’s minor pieces look superior in both cases.
I thought that it was strange that neither AI mentioned 1...Qxb5 2. Nxb5.
I thought that 1...Qc5 with the plan of c6 looked kind of artificial. I thought a better structure for the black queenside would be with the pawns on dark squares, providing an outpost for the knight on c5, and the long diagonal completely vacated.
AI A’s refutation of Qxb5 was total nonsense, as AI B pointed out. The final position is obviously better for black.
In the end, I would play Qxb5 and feel confident Black is doing well. I can’t refute Qc5 though, I think it’s probably sort of OK too. But if only one is a good move then I think it’s Qxb5.
I am learning that my choice of puzzle probably wasn’t the best as there is not a huge discrepancy in the accuracy of the moves. …Qc5 is the stronger move, however.
I think that black is happy to play …c6. This restricts the c3 knight, g2 bishop, and blocks the semi open c-file. Therefore, axb5 is more natural to me, and it also gives the a1 rook something to pressure.
I was mostly worried about having too much text and too many lines, which is why I omitted moves like Nxb5, but clearly it would have been better to try to have more, shorter lines of analysis.
AI A’s refutation of Qxb5 is my genuine thoughts. There’s no doubt that the resulting position is better for black, but when I played out some variations, it seemed that white has enough to draw. What is probably missing in the explanations is how dominant black is after getting …Bb3 in. And if white does trade on c5, then black gets a superior version of the …Qxb5 line, because the pawn is worse on a4.
Interesting. I agree, I didn’t even notice that Bb3 would be attacking a4, I was just thinking of it as a way to control the d-file. I hadn’t really thought about how good that position would be if white just did “not much.”
I also hadn’t really thought about exactly how much better black was after the final position in the Qxb5 line (with Bxd5 exd5), it was just clear to me black was better and the position was personally appealing to me (it looks kind of one-sided, where white has no particular counterplay and black can sit around maneuvering all day to try to pick up a pawn.) Very difficult for me to guess whether it should be objectively winning or not.
Thank you. I’ll reply properly tomorrow. Please don’t try the open debate however, you’re a better player than I am and liable to solve the position for everyone.
I’m 2100 USCF. I looked at the first position for a few minutes and read the AI reasoning. My assessment:
For myself, I thought 1...Qxb5 was natural and strong, considering 2. Nxb5 c6 3. Nc3 or Na3 with black control over b3 and c4, and 2. axb5 looks odd after Nc5. Black’s minor pieces look superior in both cases.
I thought that it was strange that neither AI mentioned 1...Qxb5 2. Nxb5.
I thought that 1...Qc5 with the plan of c6 looked kind of artificial. I thought a better structure for the black queenside would be with the pawns on dark squares, providing an outpost for the knight on c5, and the long diagonal completely vacated.
AI A’s refutation of Qxb5 was total nonsense, as AI B pointed out. The final position is obviously better for black.
In the end, I would play Qxb5 and feel confident Black is doing well. I can’t refute Qc5 though, I think it’s probably sort of OK too. But if only one is a good move then I think it’s Qxb5.
I am learning that my choice of puzzle probably wasn’t the best as there is not a huge discrepancy in the accuracy of the moves. …Qc5 is the stronger move, however.
I think that black is happy to play …c6. This restricts the c3 knight, g2 bishop, and blocks the semi open c-file. Therefore, axb5 is more natural to me, and it also gives the a1 rook something to pressure.
I was mostly worried about having too much text and too many lines, which is why I omitted moves like Nxb5, but clearly it would have been better to try to have more, shorter lines of analysis.
AI A’s refutation of Qxb5 is my genuine thoughts. There’s no doubt that the resulting position is better for black, but when I played out some variations, it seemed that white has enough to draw. What is probably missing in the explanations is how dominant black is after getting …Bb3 in. And if white does trade on c5, then black gets a superior version of the …Qxb5 line, because the pawn is worse on a4.
Interesting. I agree, I didn’t even notice that Bb3 would be attacking a4, I was just thinking of it as a way to control the d-file. I hadn’t really thought about how good that position would be if white just did “not much.”
I also hadn’t really thought about exactly how much better black was after the final position in the Qxb5 line (with Bxd5 exd5), it was just clear to me black was better and the position was personally appealing to me (it looks kind of one-sided, where white has no particular counterplay and black can sit around maneuvering all day to try to pick up a pawn.) Very difficult for me to guess whether it should be objectively winning or not.
Fun exercise, thanks for making it!
Thank you. I’ll reply properly tomorrow. Please don’t try the open debate however, you’re a better player than I am and liable to solve the position for everyone.