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29... Rb8
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Obvious... and strong. White's planned invasion via b7 has to be aborted, and time lost, to Black's advantage. |
 
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30. Qd3 Rb6
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Consolidating on the Q-side. Sensible option. It often happens that winning material has a disruptive, disorganising effect that requires being seen to before going over to attack. |
1 comment
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31. Nc5 Qf7 32. f4
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Intending after ...exf44 to play Rf2-e2-e6 and win the Knight on c6. However, after 32...exf4 33.Re2 Nb4 Black would have kept his lead: 34.Qxd4 Nc2 35.Qd7 Ne3 -(Not 35...Qxd7??)- 36.Qxf7ch Rxf7. There would be just too many Black pawns running about... |
1 comment
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32... Nb4
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[?] Omitting ...exf4 allows White to regain some lost ground. |
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33. Qh3
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[?!] Exchanging Queens by 33.Qc4 seems more likely to yield the draw. Presumably White has 34.Nd7 in mind, attacking both rooks. |
1 comment
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33... Rd8
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That ends White's threat. But GK recommends 33...Rg6, threatening ...Rxg5 as more effective. |
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34. Be4
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[!?] White is eyeing h7 very closely here. I think I would have preferred 34.f5, myself, as a promising line of attack, but the text seems a good alternative. |
1 comment
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34... exf4 35. g6
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The point. The h-pawn is cut off from all help and must fall. Though localised, White's subsequent attack down the h-file is quite strong. |
1 comment
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35... Qxa2
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[?] Wishing to keep the Queen on the a2-g8 diagonal (for reasons that will soon become apparent), Black finds the only safe square. This also ties the rook down to defending the d2-knight. But this is a mistake that brings White back to at least level terms. Instead, 35...Rxg6! 36.Bxg6 Qxg6 37.Ne6 Re8 38.Nxc7 Nd3 leading to a ending with N vs 3P that looks promising for Black. |
1 comment
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36. Qxh5
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White's attack looks pretty strong. Black may have his work cut out to hold... |
1 comment
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36... Rf6
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[?] Interestingly enough, in the previous move's analysis, GK gave this as OK. Now it reverses its view. A clear instance of what the 'horizon effect' can mean. Black's best defence seems to be 36...Nd5 though White can then play 37.Qh7ch kf8 38.Qh8ch Ke7 39.Qxg7ch Kd6 40.Bf5!! ... The threat is 41.Nde4ch, winning the Queen, and of course 40...Kxc5 41.Ne4ch won't change that. Absent a safe square for the Queen, Black must succumb: [A] 40...Qa1? 41.Nde4ch Kc6 42.Bd7ch Rxd7 43.Qxd7#; or 40...Kc6 41.Bd7ch and one way or another Black's Q will fall. |
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37. Qh7+
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[?!] A good move played too soon equals a bad move - or at least not the best. White rushes his attack! However, it must be acknowledged that the right move is not so easy to find: 37.Re2! the threat is this: 38.Nd7!! Rxd7 39.Bxd5ch!! Qxd5 40.Re8ch Rf8 41.Qh7#. A possible defence is 37...Kf8 but then comes 38.Bf5! Qg8 39.Nd7ch Rxd7 40.Bxd7 Rxg6 41.Qxg6 and there will be no escaping the mating net. In this line 39.Be6 also wins, but not so quickly. |
3 comments
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37... Kf8
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Forced, of course... |
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38. Qh8+
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[?!] White must have overlooked, forgotten or otherwise underestimated the Black Queen's long retrograde defensive move. Had he seen it betimes, he might have tried cutting off the Queen altogether from the defence of the King: 38.Ncb3! Rdd6 39.Qh8ch Ke7 40.Qxg7ch Kd8 41.Qg8ch! Ke7 42.Qh7ch Kd8 43.g7 with a decisive edge: 43...Rh6ch 44.Kg1! Rxh7 45.g8=Qch Kd7 46.Qxh7ch Kd8 47.Rxf4 and wins. Of course this is going really deep into the position, but even just two or three moves in, it is clear that Black is in a bad way. |
1 comment
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38... Qg8
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The saving resource! White's attack is almost completely thrown back... |
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39. Qh4
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[?!] A further square's retreat would have kept some attack glimmering, threatening Nd7ch. For instance: 39.Qh3 Nd5 (say) 40.Nd7ch Ke7 41.Bxd5! Qxd5 42.Nxf6 Kxf6 43.Rxf4ch and even with the scanty material remaining, White still has significant winning chances. Instead White was eyeing the exchange on f4. |
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39... Rdd6
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Instead, ...Nd5 would have cut across White's next... |
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40. Rxf4 Nd5
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Probably better than 40...Rxf4 41.Qxf4. Black is starting to consolidate once more. |
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41. Bxd5 Qxd5
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After this, has White any more attack? |
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42. Qh8+
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[??] I am quite at a loss to explain this. For the second time this check leads where the it did the first time: nowhere. The thing is, this check has a powerful potential - it just needs to be timed correctly, as earlier analysis has indicated. Instead 42.Rxf6ch! Rxf6?? 43.Qh8ch! Qg8 44.Nd7ch would have been lethal. Black would have had to play 42....gxf6 and even then 43.Nde4 would have kept Black on the defensive: 43...Qa2ch 44.Kh3 Qa3ch 45.Ng3 Qxc5 46.g7. |
2 comments
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