keerik wrote on 02/11/11 at 16:13:48:
And what about straight 18.h4? It seems to be critical line.
On 18.h4 I had prepared a fresh idea for my game: 18...Rb8+ and then
A) 19.Ka1 Be8 20.h5 Nd7. For example 21.Rb1 Rc8 22.hxg6 fxg6 followed by Nb6 and/or Bf7. I think Black is quite okay here.
B) 19.Kc1 Ba4 20.h5 Nd7 21.hxg6 hxg6 22.Bh6 Bf6 with good chances for Black. It is important that the bishop is on a4 in this line and not on e8. If the bishop were on e8, Black would get killed by the spectacular 23.Nf5!!
I think 18...Rb8+ is a clear improvement over 18...h5, since I really don't like 18...h5 19.g5 for Black. After 18...Rb8 the h-file opens up, but it doesn't seem to bring White the wished result.
If 18.Ka1 Black can also play the same manouver (Be8, Nd7) starting with 18...Rc8.
Another idea is 18.Bc1!?, which was played by A. Greet against G. Jones (our dragon expert Jones playing the Black side, of course). I think I have found a way to equality here, too, starting with 18...Rb8+.
Hence in my view 18.g5 is the critical move.
18.Kc1! is another test featuring twice in Chesslive.de - white won both. Last game was Bok-Cheparinov in Biel, 21 July 2011, 1-0 (49).