Lessons from Fagernes VIII

THE following position was reached in my round-eight game.

White has just captured on c4 - what should Black do about the triple-threat to the d6 pawn?

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The game saw the passive 24...Ne8?!, which sets a trap, ie 25.Nb6 Rxc1 26.Nxd7?? Rxe1+ 27.Bg1 Rg6, but this is easily avoided by playing 26.Rxc1, after which my main analysis engines, Stockfish15.1 and Komodo14.1, give White at least the upper hand.

Even worse is 24...d5? 25.Nd6! (this is stronger than 25.Ne5, according to the engines) Rxc1 26.Rxc1 Bg6 27.Qb4 with huge pressure against Black's queenside, eg 27...b5 28.Qc5 Kh7 29.Nc8 Bf5 30.Qc7 Qxc7 31.Rxc7 Ne8 32.Rc5 (32.Rxf7?! Rc6) Nf6 33.g4 Bg6 34.Be5 Ne8 35.Rxd5.

Black had a simple solution in 24...Rc6, which maintains a reasonable amount of activity, and gives equal chances, according to the engines.

LESSON: a passive move, however trappy, is usually inferior to an active one.