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21. Bxh6 f5 22. Bxg7 Qxg7 23. Qf4
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After going a piece up, White correctly aims to place his pieces on the most active squares possible, aiming to tie Black's pieces down to defensive roles and then overload them. |
  1 comment
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23... Qg6 24. Rf1 h5 25. Re3
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White could have taken on f5 right away, but this move is okay, since Black cannot save the pawn. |
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25... Ra7 26. Bxf5
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This is still fine. The mistake comes later. |
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26... Raf7 27. Be6
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(!) White has an easy win with 27. Bxg6 Rxf4 28. Rxf4 Rxf4 29. Bxh5, but this move could have led to something even better.... |
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27... Qxe6 28. Rxe6
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(??) 28. Qg5+ wins on the spot. The possible lines are: (a) 28... Qg6 29. Qxg6+ with mate in four; (b) 28... Kh7 (or Kh8) 29. Rxe6 Rxf1+ 30. Kh2 and White is queen for rook up but the mating threat forces Black to give back the rook; (c) 28... Rg7 29. Rxf8+ Kxf8 30. Qxg7+ Kxg7 31. Rxe6 and White is only a rook up but can take on c6 and create a passed pawn next move. I give this two question marks, by the way, because as well as missing an easy win it gives up White's extra piece. |
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28... Rf7xf4 29. Rxf4 Rxf4 30. Rxc6
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White does at least come out two pawns up, usually a winning advantage in an endgame. |
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30... g3
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To pick off the h4 pawn, which cannot be defended. Black probably saw that he loses the g-pawn in return, but exchanging kingside pawns is to Black's advantage since if both pairs go, his king can take up a defensive post on the queenside. |
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31. Rg6+
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Why not 31. Rxa6, to finish three pawns up instead of two after 31... Rxh4 32. Rg6+ and 33. Rxg3? Firstly because Black could prevent that with 31... Kf7, when play might continue 32. Rb6 Rf5 (Rxh4 33. Rxb5 is easily winning) and White still needs to find a way to develop his king. More importantly, 31. Rg6+ should be an easier win because of 33. Rh3! See next note. |
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31... Kf7 32. Rxg3 Rxh4 33. Rf3+
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(?!) Pushing Black's king where it wants to go. Better is 33. Kf2 activating the king, but better still is 33. Rh3! Re4 (forced; exchanging rooks would be suicide) 34. Rxh5 Re2 35. Rf5+ and 36. Rf2 defends White's three-pawn advantage and Black can resign. |
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33... Ke6 34. Rf8 Kd5 35. Ra8
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Instead, White attacks the pawns from behind: a good plan, since Black will have difficulty keeping everything defended. |
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35... Re4
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This zwischenzug does, however, make ...Re6 defending a6 a possibility. If White takes on a6 immediately, Black will be able to play the counterattacking move Re2. |
1 comment
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36. Kf2
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White pragmatically chooses to prevent Re2 so as to keep his connected pawns. However, 36. Rxa6 Re2 37. b3 Rc2 38. Rh6 Rxc3 (Rxa2 39. Rxh5+ Kc6 40. Rc5+ is even worse) 39. Rxh5+ leaves White with a three-pawn lead and the win should be straightforward. For instance, 39... Kc6 40. g4 Rc2 41. a4 b4 42. Rh3 followed by 43. Rg3 and Black is without hope. |
1 comment
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36... Kc4
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And Black chooses not to defend the a-pawn, going into a temporary three-pawn deficit. Passive defence would lose quickly: 36... Re6 37. Rh8 Rf6+ 38. Ke3 Rf5 39. Rh6 a5 40. Ra6 a4 41. Rb6 Kc4 42. Ke4 and Black must either surrender the rook or allow 43. Rc6 mate! |
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37. Rxa6 Kd3 38. Ra5
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(?) Black is about to capture on b2, so b5 will be defended anyway. Instead 38. Rh6 Re2+ 39. Kf1 (not g3) Rxb2 40. Rxh5 Rxa2 41. Rh3+ leaves White two pawns up and with his rook in an active position. Even better, the g-pawn can be advanced, thanks to its double move, without interfering with the rook's defence of c3! The game might continue 41... Kc2 42. g4 Ra3 43. g5 and now after Rxc3 White exchanges rooks and wins the pawn race. It's even possible that 38. Ra5 turns a winning position into a draw, in which case it deserves two question marks, but the ensuing endgame is too complicated for me to be certain about whether or not this is the case. |
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38... Re2+ 39. Kg3 Rxb2 40. Ra3
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The sad consequence of 38. Ra5: the only way to save the c-pawn is to condemn the rook to passivity. However, Black cannot take c3 even if he attacks it with rook and king, since White has ensured the a-pawn remains on the board, and the d-pawn would promote long before Black could do anything with his b-pawn. So the queenside will remain in an impasse, while White tries to round up Black's h-pawn. |
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40... Kc4 41. Kh3 Rd2
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Aiming for d3 to limit the movement of White's king. A very interesting alternative Black could have tried was 41... b4. After 42. cxb4 Rxb4 Black wins the d-pawn, leaving him only one pawn down with White's extra pawn on a rook's file, which should be drawn. If 42. Rb3, Rxb3?? loses (43. axb3 bxc3 would be nice for Black, but is illegal because of the check) but 42... Rxa2 43. Rxb4+ Kxc3 wins all White's queenside pawns, with a draw. However, it seems White does have a winning continuation: 42. Ra4, when 42... Kxc3 43. d5 b3 44. axb3 Rxb3 45. d5 Rb6 46. Kh4 Rd6 47. Kxh5 is a theoretical win for White, and 43... Rd2 44. Ra5 Kc4 45. g3 Rd3 (Rxd5 loses) 46. Kh4 also seems to win. |
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42. g3 Rd3 43. Rb3
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White realises he cannot win the h-pawn with his king alone without losing the g-pawn. However, mobilising the rook will lose the a- and c-pawns, a sad effect of the rook's passive placement. It's not clear at all how White can win from this position, or even whether he can win. If he does exchange the kingside pawns, Black's rook will be on the g-file, cutting White's king off from the action, and again, if White tries to mobilise his rook to free his king, he will lose at least the c-pawn immediately. But if White does not exchange, his king and rook are both tied down to defence, and the only mobile pawn, d4, cannot advance without being taken. |
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43... Rd2
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A change of plan: Black abandons the pin to go after the a-pawn. This works, because after 44. Kh4 Rxa2 the rook is unprotected, so White must play 45. Rb1, allowing 45... Kxc3 46. Rxb5 Rh2+ 47. Kg5 Kxd4 with a draw. So White is forced to repeat the position with 44. Ra3 Rd3, and if White can find nothing better than Rb3 then the game will end in a draw by repetition. |
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44. Rxb5
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(??) Instead of a dull draw by repetition we have a dull blunder leading to a quick loss. The interest in this endgame is in the analysis :) |
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44... Kxb5 45. Kh4 Rd3 46. Kxh5 Rxg3
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White resigns, quite correctly, since the pawns cannot create a meaningful threat, and Black will soon round them up. With best play Black mates no later than move 64. The only question is whether the position before White's last blunder really was "easily winning" as fatcat2 originally claimed. |
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