24th April 2002

White has the open files, black can't castle.
What is white's best move?

a) Nd5 - b4 The threatened bishop can just retreat to b7 - 2 points
b) Nd5 - c7 Forking queen and rook - and more importantly then opening up the lines for whites queen and rook to force a 'back rank' mate 4 points
c) Nd5 - e7+ Swapping of knight for bishop and getting a strong position 3 points
d) Nd5 - f6+ Losing the knight for no good reason 1 point
e) Qc3 x c6 Winning a piece as after Qxc7 Ne7+ wins back the queen 4 points
f) Qc3 x e5 Losing the queen for no good reason 1 point