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25... gxf5 26. exf5 f6
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Establishing contact between the g7-bishop and the rest of the 7th rank. |
 
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27. Re4 Rxe4
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Also playable were 27...Nc5 and 27...Qc8, aiming toward the f-pawn. The text looked fine, though... |
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28. Nxe4 Ne5
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Black's OK with the exchange on e5, which will yield a second central passed pawn. Maybe Black ought to have taken notice they were already securely blockaded. |
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29. Nxe5 dxe5
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Surely White hasn't enough on the K-side? |
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30. Qg2 Bc6
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Maybe it was already time for ...Rf7. I would have liked the King to duck out by 30...Kf6, but that would not have done: 30...Kf7?? 31.Qg6+ Kg8 32.Rg3 Bc8 33.Nf6+! wins for White. But still... no worries, eh? |
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31. Qg4 Rf7 32. Rg3 Bb7
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Played in order to exchange on b4 and then pick up the c-pawn. It also prevented 33.bxc5 bxc5 34.Nxc5. |
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33. bxc5 bxc5 34. h4
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(!) Expecting 34.Qg6, I found this pawn move a bit of a surprise. But now the penny began to drop. White's K-side operations notwithstanding I had up until now thought Black was fine, and able to contain anything White might contrive down the g- and h-files. This pawn was so far away, what could it achieve? But the more I looked at the sequel - and my planned ...Kf8 was still the best I could find - I played the move with the conviction that somewhere, somehow, I had thrown away a decent-sized advantage, and my opponent now had control of the game. But there was a further surprise in store. When I ran this game through the GK engine, it called this pawn advance an inaccuracy, indicating that Black had the whisker of an edge! This has to be 'horizon effect'. My misjudgement was in assessing Black's defensive resources. |
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34... Kf8 35. h5
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Hurtling down the board almost as fast as his opposite did earlier in the game - but with deadlier purpose. |
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35... Qa5
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Hoping for counter-action behind enemy lines (...Qd1ch, specifically). I didn't really like 35...Ke8, but maybe Black's best chance lay in that direction: 35...Ke8 36.Qg6 (36.Nd6+ Ke7 37.Nxf7 Qe1+ 38.Kh2 Qh1# or 37.Nxb7 Qe1+ 38.Kh2 Bh6 with interesting attacking chances for Black) 36...Bxe4 37.Bxe4 Qa5 38.Bd5 Qe1+ and hope for a draw. |
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36. Kf1
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(!) 'You can not pass!' A fine prophylactic move that puts one in mind of GM Tigran Petrosian - or Gandalf facing the Balrog in Moria. The Black Queen is denied entry into White's position. |
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36... Bxe4 37. Qxe4 Rd7
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Partly to keep the White Queen out of d5, but also hoping to make some use of the d-pawn. |
1 comment
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38. Qg2
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Neatly changing the order of march along the g-file. |
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38... d3
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Instead, 38.Qb6 Be4 still left Black without an invasion route. |
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39. Bd1
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(!) This is very subtle stuff. After 39.Bxd3 Qc3 Black might yet have been able to contrive something of interest. |
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39... Qb6
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Now comes a decisive forcing line from White that I ought to have investigated more fully well before this. But maybe it was not to be avoided at that. |
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40. h6
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(!) |
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40... Bxh6 41. Rg8+ Ke7 42. Qg6 Bf8
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Just about forced. Much less inviting was 42...Rd8. |
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43. Bh5 Qb1+
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Black has to find counterplay. Passive defence offers no hope. |
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44. Kf2 Qb7
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(??) A complete disaster. I had intended to play 44...Qb8, and thought I had played it, hitting the submit button before I noticed the slip of the mouse. The idea was 44...Qb8 45.Qf7+ Kd6 46.Qe6+ Kc7 and if 47.Rxf8 Qb2+ and pray for a miracle. |
1 comment
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45. Qf7+ Kd6 46. Qxf8+
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(1-0) After 46...Kc7 (47...Kc6 48.Bf3+ etc) 47.Qxc5+ Qc6 48.Rc8+ wins; or 46...Re7 47.Qxf6+ Kd7 48.Be8+ Kd8 49.Bc6+ etc. To have continued would have been tedious and vexatious... So disappointed was I at this result (though not specifically at that aberrant 47th move), that I just didn't want to look at this game for a long time afterward. I'm still not sure what to make of it... |
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(2352)