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26... Bxd6
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This is convenient since I needed to get that bishop out of the way to let the a-pawn advance anyway.
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27. Ke2
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White's KR says "YES!"
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27... a3
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The Plan.
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28. Rhc1 b4 29. Rxc6 a2
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Losing the c-pawn and even the bishop was going to be acceptable if I could drive home Little Pawn A and/or Little Pawn B. At this point, as far as I can tell, white can only stop that at the cost of a rook.
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30. Ra1 b3 31. Rxa2 bxa2 32. Ra6 Rb2+ 33. Kf3 Bb4
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...maneuvering to get the bishop aimed at the queening square.
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34. Ng4 Bc3 35. f6 Rd2
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Clearing the way for the bishop; also, threatening the pawn on d3 (which would clear a path forward for the black d-pawn).
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36. fxg7 Kxg7 37. Nxh6 a1=Q 38. Nf5+
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The cost of all that is that black's king has just about buggerall left in the way of defense, and white still has dangerous pieces about.
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38... Kf8 39. Rh6
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Threatening Rh8# if black isn't alert! Given the situation, it makes sense to allow black every possibility to hang himself through carelessness. This reminds me of 32... Ne4 in Reshevsky vs Najdorf (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1101450), a game I enjoyed playing through recently.
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39... Kg8 40. Nd6 Qe1
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The computer says this is mate in 7. I didn't realize that at the time, but I knew it was mate if white took the rook - the mating sequence beginning with QxP is all forced moves.
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41. Nxe8 Qxf2+
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...and indeed.
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42. Kg4 Qf4+ 43. Kh3 Rxd3+ 44. Bf3 Rxf3+ 45. Kg2 Qg4+ 46. Kh2 Rh3#
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That was an excellent, hard-fought battle, with a lot more tension than the breezy comments made in comfortable hindsight would indicate. Games where white and black have differing plans and are racing to advance their own while thwarting the other are always fascinating.
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2 comments
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