user-1: I reached this position when playing against ChessMaster's cyber personality Laura. The engine recommends the line starting with 25. Rg3:
[FEN ""]
[White "Bad_Bishop"]
[Black "Laura"]
[StartPly "48"]

  1. d4             Nf6           
  2. Nf3            c5            
  3. d5             d6            
  4. c4             Qa5+          
  5. Bd2            Qa6           
  6. Qc2            Bg4           
  7. Nc3            Nbd7          
  8. e4             Bxf3          
  9. gxf3           h6            
 10. h4             e6            
 11. O-O-O          Ne5           
 12. Be2            exd5          
 13. exd5           Be7           
 14. f4             Ned7          
 15. Rhg1           Kf8           
 16. Rg2            Ne8           
 17. h5             Bf6           
 18. b3             Qa3+          
 19. Kb1            Bxc3          
 20. Bxc3           Ndf6          
 21. Rdg1           Rg8           
 22. Bf3            Qa6           
 23. Qe2            Qb6           
 24. Re1            Qd8 25. Rg3 b5 26. cxb5 Nc7 27. Qd3 Rb8 28. Ba5 Qc8 29. a4 Qb7 *

To me 25. Rg3 is not intuitive and I did not consider it all in choosing a move. Granted, in the line that ChessMaster recommends, black throws away a pawn, but my question is, what is the purpose behind 25. Rg3 and why is it the best move?

user14893: This is a very complicated position.
No obvious winning plans. White has the bishop pair and much more space, but the
f2,f4 and h5 pawns are all isolated, and black is very compact and defends everything.
Stockfish shows +300cps advantage, but is not able to convert until maybe move 25 or so, frequently even reaches fortresses.
So, I am not certain what this position is: it might be a white win(I hope so), but it might also be some kind of fortress position.
In order to be certain one way or another, one needs deep analysis, which might take a couple of days.

user24906: It seems like e3 is the square that the Rook on g3 is heading for - after moving the Bishop on f3. (somewhere out of the way) This gives the g3 Rook certain access between the two f-file pawns.
The idea is to allow both Rooks to work together on the e-file.

user14202: All of White's other pieces are placed well except the Bishop on f3.  If Black moved the a8 rook back and forth then White would probably like to play Rg3, Bg2-h3, and maybe Rg3-e3.
Simply put Rg3 increases the scope of the rook and the bishop.

-1: <p>I reached this position when playing against ChessMaster's cyber personality Laura. The engine recommends the line starting with 25. Rg3:</p>

<pre><code>[FEN ""]
[White "Bad_Bishop"]
[Black "Laura"]
[StartPly "48"]

  1. d4             Nf6           
  2. Nf3            c5            
  3. d5             d6            
  4. c4             Qa5+          
  5. Bd2            Qa6           
  6. Qc2            Bg4           
  7. Nc3            Nbd7          
  8. e4             Bxf3          
  9. gxf3           h6            
 10. h4             e6            
 11. O-O-O          Ne5           
 12. Be2            exd5          
 13. exd5           Be7           
 14. f4             Ned7          
 15. Rhg1           Kf8           
 16. Rg2            Ne8           
 17. h5             Bf6           
 18. b3             Qa3+          
 19. Kb1            Bxc3          
 20. Bxc3           Ndf6          
 21. Rdg1           Rg8           
 22. Bf3            Qa6           
 23. Qe2            Qb6           
 24. Re1            Qd8 25. Rg3 b5 26. cxb5 Nc7 27. Qd3 Rb8 28. Ba5 Qc8 29. a4 Qb7 *
</code></pre>

<p>To me 25. Rg3 is not intuitive and I did not consider it all in choosing a move. Granted, in the line that ChessMaster recommends, black throws away a pawn, but my question is, <strong>what is the purpose behind 25. Rg3 and why is it the best move?</strong></p>
 14893: <p>This is a very complicated position.
No obvious winning plans. White has the bishop pair and much more space, but the
f2,f4 and h5 pawns are all isolated, and black is very compact and defends everything.
Stockfish shows +300cps advantage, but is not able to convert until maybe move 25 or so, frequently even reaches fortresses.
So, I am not certain what this position is: it might be a white win(I hope so), but it might also be some kind of fortress position.
In order to be certain one way or another, one needs deep analysis, which might take a couple of days.</p>
 24906: <p>It seems like e3 is the square that the Rook on g3 is heading for - after moving the Bishop on f3. (somewhere out of the way) This gives the g3 Rook certain access between the two f-file pawns.
The idea is to allow both Rooks to work together on the e-file.</p>
 14202: <p>All of White's other pieces are placed well except the Bishop on f3.  If Black moved the a8 rook back and forth then White would probably like to play Rg3, Bg2-h3, and maybe Rg3-e3.
Simply put Rg3 increases the scope of the rook and the bishop.</p>
