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31. Rd1
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I did this because I thought that I could get, at worst, a very active position vs. a very passive position, or at best a completely winning endgame. It turned out that the computer went for the 'completely winning endgame'! (It knew something I didn't).
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31... Qe7
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I guess queen for rook and bishop wouldn't be desirable for black in the approaching endgame. I thought that if this occurred I would be just winning due to my queen checks on c7.
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32. Rxd8
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I was committed now. But even at this point I didn't know how (or if) I could exploit blacks position. I thought that my queen was perfectly placed on e5 and that alone should mean some kind of advantage.
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32... Qxd8
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I wanted to avoid the queen vs queen endgame at all costs. My strategy of keeping my queen on the board does not extend to these type of positions.
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33. Bd5
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I thought that this was getting a little too complicated for me now. I wanted black to take the bishop off because Qxf5 apparently wins a pawn, but I just could not calculate or assess the position after black played Qf6. For two reasons. 1. The line ...Bxd5, Qxf5 Qf6, Qxf6 Kxf6, exd5. <--- This pawn is falling and I have a lost endgame. 2. If I DON'T take off the black queen he has (from f6) Qa1+ and Qxa3, which annoyingly defends a7. I saw nothing more than a draw here by perpetual. So the only way for me to achieve my 'winning endgame' (I actually think I blundered severely later and was lucky that the computer didn't play the winning move) was to aim for a big pawn centre.
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33... Qf6
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As expected. I thought that if the computer played Bxd5 then it must have a solid continuation. If not, then I knew it had foreseen a white move that I had not which would refute it. Such is the dependence on luck when playing a computer!
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34. f4
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Trying to cement my bishop on d5 and hoping to achieve a passed pawn. It feels like I have built a solid wall right across the valley. But just like Helm's Deep, there is an exploitable weakness.
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34... Qxe5
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And now I have my passed pawn. Something to work with in the ending.
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35. fxe5
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Now it cannot possibly think about taking off my bishop, simply giving me two huge connected passed pawns. My plan here was very long winded and more abstract thought than hardcore calculation. Primarily concerned with pawn breaks such as b4, and c5 if allowed, and king over to the queenside to help force the issue, I paid little heed to blacks own pawn breaks. But I trusted my strong bind on the kingside with pawns on g2 and h3. Overall I wasn't overly optimistic about getting a win but I was happy that I wouldn't lose. Or shouldn't.
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35... f4
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I expected Kg6, so I was planning Kf2 for this. Only after f4 did I realise that Kg6 just left the bishop en pris. But I did spot the potential danger of facing a majority of pawns on the kingside here. I was very pleased that his (its, sorry) bishop was pinned or else it could help attack weaknesses on my kingside while pawns were pushed. This was duly noted, and I ordered my king to f3.
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36. Kf2
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The start of a long journey, Short style.
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36... Bxd5
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? I thought that this cannot be good. A highly counter-intuitive capture. But I looked, and I slowly began to realise that maybe the computer has found my wall's weakness.
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37. cxd5
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Still, beautiful central connected passed pawns. Get my king to e4 and march. The glass is half full. The glass is half full.
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37... g5
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Probably so the computer can play the following devious move without having to defend f4 after I go Kf3. This is a very sneaky preparatory move. And I think I missed the idea just as much as the computer did! I think this is a perfect example of how humans think differently than machines. We see plans based on what has come before. Computers dont have plans, they just crunch numbers and bang out the best move, objectively speaking, every time.
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38. Kf3
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I think this move, or more generally this idea, should have lost me the game. It is still hard to see why, but I suspect that my king cannot venture too far up the board due to the huge potential for black on the queenside. If I had had one hour in this position I would have most probably played 38. a4.
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38... b5
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!! In my opinion the best move of the game, and one which I just cannot calculate. The threat is ...c4, and I just didn't see whether I can continue to meander my king through light squares to support my own pawn promotion, or if I should be on guard duty for the rest of the game. It is one of those things. Black never HAS to play c4, without it my king cannot get to d4 and help in dissolving the threat. It is simply a very dangerous reserve waiting on the sideline. And if my king runs too far then the black pawns will be too quick to catch. In truth, I had no idea what to do here. And at such a critical juncture I had only seconds left. For 2 more moves. In short, I decided to go for it. And I do believe that 40. Kf5 is losing to 40...c4. Who else thinks these pawn endings are the hardest part of chess?
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39. Ke4
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Three squares to go for each of my new central pawns, one king to block. One thing I knew for certain was that the black kingside pawns were going nowhere. I also anticipated that the computer would wait. Wait for me to commit to Kf5, and then push c4. Waiting for me to put my head in the lions mouth. I think in these situations ignorance definitely is bliss.
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39... h6
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I thought a better 'waiting move' would have been 39...a5. But still lying low in the long grass. Sneaky machine.
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40. Kf5
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I reach move 40 with about 3 seconds. I had told myself here 'If I lose to 40...c4, then I am happy that I at least understood something about this endgame.' And of course, the computer was up about 50 minutes at this stage. That made me laugh.
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40... a5
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? I now allowed myself another 30 minutes. And it seems that this move is a case of awful timing from the computer. Why not play this on the last move and threaten a4? Why wait now to play c4? At a greater depth I suspect c4 would be played. Its such a pressing issue. I actually felt a tinge of anti-climatic disappointment that I wasn't utterly blown away in this endgame. This pathetic move actually hands me victory. And an easy one thankfully!
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2 comments
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