Originally posted by Jusuh
I dont see the point here. Rxc5+ wins trivially. Almost all moves win.

The point was to find the most effective continuation for White, which means preventing blacks threats. Namely, they are the b and g files. Once those are secured, Black can just pack up and go home.

Originally posted by kmac27
h3 does threaten Rxc5 doesn't it? its not really passive

True, but Rxc5 is a threat after Kf1 too. The question is whether you also want to activate your king or not. For me, I'll add another plus to my position by activating my king. The king is passive on h2.

Originally posted by BLReid
The point was to find the most effective continuation for White, which means preventing blacks threats.

Black has the initial single threat of a back rank mate. After White cancels out that (regardless of how he does it), Black has no threats. So why so much emphasis on "preventing blacks threats"? One single move and it's gone. How is White going to wrap things up? That's more to the point.

Originally posted by Varenka
Black has the initial single threat of a back rank mate. After White cancels out that (regardless of how he does it), Black has no threats. So why so much emphasis on "preventing blacks threats"? One single move and it's gone. How is White going to wrap things up? That's more to the point.

Not really so much emphasis. It's just the smart thing to do. I think most of us have agreed that 1. Rb5 is the best first move, the rest is just fundamentals.

Originally posted by BLReid
Not really so much emphasis. It's just the smart thing to do. I think most of us have agreed that 1. Rb5 is the best first move, the rest is just fundamentals.

The initial post asked "without any serious mistakes by black, what is the quickest way to mate?"

Nobody is suggesting there is only one way to win this position. The question is "what is the quickest way?". I claim that Rb5 is not the quickest way to win.

Originally posted by Varenka
The initial post asked "without any serious mistakes by black, what is the quickest way to mate?"

Nobody is suggesting there is only one way to win this position. The question is "what is the quickest way?". I claim that Rb5 is not the quickest way to win.

Fair enough

But the immediate Rxc5 still doesn't look like the best move to me.