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Alexey Shirov vs Michael Adams
Hastings (1991/92), Hastings ENG, rd 13, Jan-11
Benko Gambit: Accepted. Pawn Return Variation (A57)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Given 13 times; par: 53 [what's this?]

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Kibitzer's Corner
May-14-15  fispok: What a king hunt. Another strong case for centralized pieces being stronger.
Dec-16-18  boringplayer: How does White proceed after 20...e5. instead of the text, 20...fe5?
Dec-16-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: I think 28. Ra2 Qb8 29. Bf4 wins. Eventually.
Dec-16-18  TeaChess: Got the idea but thought black would play 29... Nf6, too much to calculate.
Dec-16-18  mel gibson: I didn't have a clue.
Stockfish 10 agrees with the text & says:

28. Rxg7

(28. Rxg7 (♖g5xg7 ♔h8xg7 ♖a4-e4 ♖f8-f5 ♗e3-d4
♕b2-c1+ ♔g1-h2 ♔g7-f7 ♕c5-d5+ ♔f7-g6 ♗d4xe5 ♖f5xe5 ♕d5-c6+ ♔g6-f7 ♖e4-g4 ♖e5-g5 ♕c6-c4+ ♔f7-g7 ♕c4-d4+ ♔g7-g8 ♕d4-d5+ ♔g8-h8 ♖g4xg5 ♕c1xc3 ♕d5-d6 ♕c3-b2 ♕d6xa6 ♕b2-b8+ ♖g5-g3 ♕b8-e5 ♕a6-c6 ♖e8-g8 ♕c6-c3 ♕e5xc3 ♖g3xc3 ♖g8-a8 ♖c3-a3 ♖a8-a6 ♔h2-g3 ♔h8-g7 ♔g3-f4 ♔g7-f6 g2-g4 h7-h6 h3-h4 ♔f6-e6 ♔f4-e4 ♔e6-d7 ♔e4-d5 ♔d7-c7 h4-h5 ♔c7-b7 ♖a3-b3+ ♔b7-c8 ♖b3-c3+ ♔c8-d7 ♖c3-c5 ♖a6-a8 ♔d5-c4 ♔d7-d6 ♔c4-b4 ♖a8-g8 a5-a6 ♖g8xg4+ ♔b4-b5 ♖g4-g7 ♖c5-c6+ ♔d6-d5 ♖c6xh6) +3.41/38 92)

score for White +3.41 depth 38

When Black resigns it's mate in 12.

39. Qg6+ Ke7
(♔f6-e7 ♖g4-e4+ ♔e7-d7
♕g6xe8+ ♔d7-c7 ♖e4-e7+ ♔c7-d6 ♕e8-d8+ ♔d6-c5 ♕d8-c8+ ♔c5-d4 ♕c8xc1 ♖d5-h5 ♕c1-e3+ ♔d4-d5 ♕e3-d3+ ♔d5-c6 ♕d3-c4+ ♔c6-d6 ♖e7-e6+ ♔d6-d7 ♕c4-c6+ ♔d7-d8 ♖e6-e8+) -M12/70 42

Dec-16-18  Mayankk: I missed the subtle point that Re4 has to precede Bd4 as otherwise Black threatens a perpetual with Qc1+ Kh2 Qf4+. Tricky.
Dec-16-18  RKnight: <Mayankk> Yes very tricky. I also tried 29 Bd4, then found the perpetual, then I gave up without finding the correct move order. Should have looked harder.
Dec-16-18  Ceri: <mel gibson: I didn't have a clue. Stockfish 10 agrees with the text & says:>

I'm trying to get to "understand" Stockfish 10.

Mine at 38 ply gave:

38/64 2:12 +3.81 28.Rxg7 Kxg7 29.Re4 Rf5 30.Bd4 Qc1+ 31.Kh2 Kf7 32.Qd5+ Kg6 33.Bxe5 Rfxe5 34.Rg4+ Rg5 35.Qd3+ Kg7 36.Qd4+ Kg8 37.Qd5+ Kh8 38.Rxg5 Qxc3 39.Qd6 Qb2 40.Qxa6 Qb8+ 41.Rg3 (2.338.274.174)

and at 48 ply gave:

48/87 23:04 +4.16 28.Rxg7 Kxg7 29.Re4 Rf5 30.Bd4 Kf7 31.Qc7+ Kf8 32.h4 Qb8 33.Bxe5 Qxc7 34.Bxc7 Rc8 35.Bd6+ Kg7 36.Bb4 h6 37.Kh2 Kf7 38.Kh3 Re8 39.Rd4 Re3+ 40.g3 h5 41.Nd5 (25.052.792.348)

It agrees with yours for mate in 12 in the resignation position.

The differences in the evaluations could be down to the different platforms and hash table size. My hash is 8,192.

Cheers,

Ceri

Dec-16-18  thegoodanarchist: Alexey was Shirov himself.
Dec-16-18  patzer2: Missed on today's Sunday (28.?) puzzle with 28. Re4, which gives Black equality after 28...Ng6 = (0.00 @ 37 ply, Stockfish 10).

I looked at 28. Rxg7!! Kxg7 29. Re4 Rf5 and immediately gave up on the variation because of the threat 30...Qa1+ 31. kh2 Nf3+ -+ winning the White Queen with a discovered attack with check.

What I missed is the pin 30. Bd4!, which eliminates the discovered attack threat and proves the exchange sham sacrifice 28. Rxg7!! sound by giving White a won position against the exposed Black King.

For my two Grandsons, who are active in scholastic chess, I'd point out the reflex material grab 33. Rxe4? is a mistake which loses to the Queen fork 33...Qf4+ -+ (-1.73 @ 33 ply, Stockfish 10).

Another instructive follow-up combination is 38. Nd5+! Rxd5 39. Qg6 +- (mate-in-12, Stockfish 10) which forces Black's resignation due to the threat 39...Ke7 40. Re4+ Kd7 41. Qxe8+ Kc7 42. Re7+ Kd6 43. Qd7+ Kc5 44. Qc8+ Kb4 45. Qxc1 +- (mate-in-six, Stockfish 10).

P.S.: So where did Black go wrong?

The computer indicates the losing move was 26...Kh8?, allowing 27. Qxc5 +- (+1.74 @ 30 ply, Stockfish 10). Instead, snatching the pawn with 26...Qxb2 27. Qxc5 Ng6 28. Ne4 Re5 ± (+0.87 @ 32 ply, Stockfish 10) appears to give Black reasonably good drawing chances.

A few moves earlier, I didn't like 23...Nd7?! allowing 24. Rg5 ⩲ (+0.55 @ 30 ply, Stockfish 10) because it appears too passive and seems to give White a strong attacking initiative.

Instead, I prefer the more active defense 23...Rae8 = (0.00 @ 33 ply, Stockfish 10) because the pawn grab 24. Qxd6? isn't possible due to 24...Rxe3 -+ winning a piece.

Dec-16-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  dorsnikov: Got the first move but could not follow up correctly.
Dec-16-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  Jimfromprovidence: For those interested in pursuing it, I found that 30...Kg8, below, instead of the text 30...Qc1+ is a difficult winning line for white.


click for larger view

Dec-16-18  agb2002: White is one pawn up.

Black has the resource Nf3+ followed by Qxc3 to simplify the position.

This chance and the lack of mobility of the black queen suggest 28.Rxg7 Kxg7 29.Rb4 (avoids an eventual Qb8) 29... Qc2 (29... Qa1+ 30.Rb1 traps the queen, 30... Nd7 31.Qg5+, etc.) 30.Re4:

A) 30... Rf5 31.Bd4

A.1) 31... Kf6 32.Nd5+ and 33.Qxc2 wins.

A.2) 31... Qc1+ 32.Kh2 Qg5 33.Rg4 wins decisive material (33... Kh6 34.Rxg5 Nf3+ 35.gxf3 Rxc5 36.Rxc5, etc.).

A.3) 31... Qxe5 32.Nxe4 Kg6 (threatens Nf3+) 33.Qb6+ + - [Q+B+P vs 2r].

B) 30... Ng6 31.Qc7+

B.1) 31... Kg8 32.Bd4 Qc1+ 33.Kh2 Qh6 34.Qc4+ wins.

B.2) 31... Kh8 32.Bd4+ wins.

B.3) 31... Kf6 32.Nd5+ followed by 33.Qxc2 wins decisive material.

C) 30... Nf7 31.Rg4+ wins decisive material (31... Kh8 32.Bd4+ and mate in three; 31... Kf6 32.Nd5+ and 33.Qxc2).

D) 30... Nd7 31.Rg4+ Kf7 (else as above) 32.Qd5+ Kf6 (32... Ke7 33.Rg7+ wins) 33.Bg5+ Kg7 34.Be7+ Kh8 35.Qd4+ and mate in two.

E) 30... Nf3+ 31.gxf3 Rxe4 32.fxe4 wins decisive material

Dec-16-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  Breunor: Boringplayer,

I out your question to Stockfish. The computer likes exf5:

1) +0.10 (27 ply) 21.exf5 Qf7 22.Ra4 Rae8 23.Bg5 gxf5 24.Rxf5 Nxc3 25.bxc3 Qe6 26.Ng3 d5 27.Rh4 c4 28.Qd1 Qe1+ 29.Qxe1 Rxe1+ 30.Kh2 Ne4 31.Rxd5 Nxg3 32.Kxg3 Re5 33.Rhd4 Ref5 34.Rxf5 Rxf5 35.Rd8+ Kf7 36.Bf4 Bxc3 37.Rc8 Bxa5 38.Rxc4 h5 39.Be3 Bd8 40.Kh2 a5 41.Bd4 Bf6

on e5:

1) +0.46 (19 ply) 21.Ng3 Nd4 22.Bg5 Kh8 23.b3 Qxb3 24.Raf2 Nb5 25.Nge2 gxf5 26.Rxf5 Nd4 27.Rxf6 Nxe2+ 28.Qxe2 Bxf6 29.Bxf6+ Rxf6 30.Rxf6 Qxc3 31.Rxd6 Qxa5

Why it is better is beyond my pay grade

Dec-16-18  mel gibson: <The differences in the evaluations could be down to the different platforms and hash table size. My hash is 8,192.

Cheers,

Ceri>

I don't know how to set the hash table.
I have 16 Gig of RAM but Stockfish 10 is only using a tiny part of it. I can't seem to make it use more RAM.
I have an i7 2600k quad core.

Dec-16-18  messachess: It's 'find the next move' chess. Not a combination of that many moves. I'm guessing.

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