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24... Qg4+ 25. Kf2
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The best move. After the exchanges, White feels quite safe with his king on the dark square f2. The only lingering issue is a future ..Bh4 (impossible now due to the pin), which White must watch for.
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25... Kd8
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Avoiding the pin and enabling...Bh4 , but via the wrong square! Of course 25... Kf8?? allows Rh8#, but ...Kd8 is too provocative, given the mobilization of White's pieces on the queenside. Now Black is subject to a fierce (and probably winning) attack.
Alternative variation: [Much stronger is the counter-attacking] 25... Nc5 [when White has to balance his mating dreams with the frailty of his king after Rh8 :] 26. Bc6 Kd8 27. Rh8 Kc7 28. Rxc8 Qxc8 29. Qxe7 Kxc6 30. Qxf7 Qg4 [and the game will soon draw by perpetual, as both kings are wide open but not quite in danger (unless their queen goes pawn-grabbing, of course!)]
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26. Rh8+ Nf8
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The only move. after 26..Bf8?, White can activate his last passive piece via Bb4! with a deadly pin and mating motifs that force Black to shed material, e.g.
Alternative variation: 26... Bf8 27. Bb4 Kc7 28. Bb7 [threatening Qc6 and mates] Qe6 29. Qxe6 fxe6 30. Bxc8 Bxb4 31. Bxd7 Kxd7 [ And White easily wins the ensuing endgame, owing to Black's isolated pawns.]
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27. Bb3
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The key move. White completely neutralizes ..Bh4 by covering the crucial d1 square and preventing the devastating...Qd1 . At the same time, he clears the d-file and the h1-a8 diagonal for the White queen, thereby enhancing Her Majesty's power.
Alternative variation: [The one-move threat] 27. Qd4 [ allows the Black king to escape to the queenside.] Kc7 28. Bb4 Bxb4 29. Qxb4 Qd7
Alternative variation: [And standard developing moves allow Black to draw via ..Bh4 , e.g.:] 27. Bc3 Bh4 28. Kf1 Qd1 29. Kg2 Qg4 [ and White should probably take the draw via Kf1, instead of the risky:] 30. Kh1 Qh3 31. Kg1 Bf2 32. Kxf2 Qxh8
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27... Qf5
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Desperation, but there is nothing else. Of course if White exchanges queens he lets Black off the hook, but he is unlucky to do so in the midst of a winning attack!
Alternative variation: 27... Bh4 28. Kf1 [ gets nowhere with d1 covered]
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28. Qb7
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An excellent square for the queen, threatening and gaining time with the attack on the b6 pawn.
Alternative variation: [ Also playable is the materialistic] 28. Qd4 Kc7 29. Qc4 Kb7 30. Qxf7 Qxf7 31. Bxf7 [relying on active pieces and the 2 bishops for victory in the endgame. To me, however, this seems to be another case of cashing in the attack too soon!]
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28... Qb5
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Forced. Black must defend b6 and a6 (and thus the weakening. ..b6 opening defense to Qb3 reveals its positional drawbacks. Of course it's perfectly playable, so long as Black's initiative doesn't peter out!)
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29. Bc3
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The gain of time created by White's last move allows this developing move, which fully mobilizes the White army. Inevitably, Black's queenside pawns will fall off the board (victims of the bishop pair, which has finally gained brutal side-by-side activity) and White will enter a winning endgame. Black's next move seeks to avoid this scenario, but (as he quickly realizes) it's not so easy!
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29... Rxc3
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Sacrificing material to dull a dangerous attack is a common modern defensive procedure that Black is surely aware of, but here it simply doesn't work. There are far graver threats than the c3 bishop, and now Black's back rank is exposed and the f8 knight will inevitably drop.
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30. bxc3
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After this move, Black resigned. It seems he could not find any more useful moves! A great game. It is worth investigating how White's initial attack from the opening slowly petered out, allowing Black to seize the initiative with active piece play. When Black goes in for the sharp ...Rh5, he underestimates White's resources should he falter in attack, and ultimately succumbs to a case of "cashing in" his initiative for small material gain (a weak wing pawn), allowing White to grab the baton and ultimately create threats that Black could not answer. It may also be worth noting the nature of Black's material gain (the h3 wing pawn) - many modern authorities quite rightly consider wing pawns to be rather worthless in the middlegame, and some go as far as to claim that their owner would prefer them off the board, to activate his rooks. Certainly here White profited greatly in dynamic terms from losing his wing pawn, which cost Black time to capture and opened the crucial h-file for the White rook. Something worth thinking about - don't sell yourself short in attack! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this game - cheers!
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