What do?

I'm thinking about pushing my e-file pawn up and see whether I might be able to pin white's queen and light-squared bishop. But in order to do that, of course I'd first need to get that knight off g3. I'm somewhat worried about an attack on my left flank, but I think my king might be safe for now.

>>349287
>pin white's queen and light-squared bishop
That'd be a fork, not a pin.

>>349289
Oh, yeah - sorry. Thanks. I've forgotten a lot of (my rather limited) knowledge of chess.

>>349290
Anyhow, I don't like the look of
Qf3 e5
Nd4-f5

You won't have any easy way to drive his knight out of a strong position without weakening the pawns in front of your king.

>>349292
Sorry, I don't understand. What about his queen and the e5 square? And what about the knight on d4 and the f5 square?

I understand the fear about weakening the pawns in front of my king, but I'm not quite sure how exactly the squares you mention are implicated in an attack that might threaten that defense. I just don't see what you must be seeing. I'm a noob. Halp.

>>349295
If you push e5 immediately, he'll be forced to move his knight on d4, right? It'll almost certainly go to f5, where it'll put pressure on your black-square bishop and your pawn on g7.

Now, what do you do next?

>>349300
If, after I move my pawn to e5, that knight moves to f5, I could take that knight with my light-squared bishop. Or I could then also do g6 - which would, I guess, allay whatever threat of attack there is pending on the light-colored squares in front of my castled king.

I'm missing something, I presume.

>>349302
g6 weakens your pawn structure at the point of his attack. His knight will take your bishop, and his black square bishop will pin your e pawn against your (now-unprotected) knight. There'd be a lot of pressure on your black diagonals, and you'd have no black-square bishop.

If you take the knight with your bishop, he can take back with his queen and eliminate the possible fork right away, while lining up queen & bishop on h7. You'd be clearing out one of your key defenders while helping him set up his attack. (He could also take back with the knight, which might be better for him - I'm a bit out of practice myself.)

>>349306
Actually, g6 would just hang your knight or your bishop.

Anyhow, back to the initial position, I'd probably trade off knights to alleviate pressure, then push e5, with the intention of putting your bishop on c6 in the near future.

File: chess2.png (51KB, 844x548px) Image search: [Google]

51KB, 844x548px

>>349310
I'm thinking of Nxd3.

>>349313
Don't trade a knight for a bishop so hastily.

Your bishops and knights are in a terrible position. You need to do Ng6 and if he does Qf3 again, do d5. If he doesn't threaten your rook again with the queen, do e5 followed by d5. Pressure with your front pawns, allow the bishops to move and you can have your Queen's rook moving as well.