Mar-04-19
 | | manselton: 25. ... Red8 <White is a pawn up but the Black Rooks occupy the open files and White's Q-side Pawns may come under attack. Much depends on the next few moves as to whether White can stabilize the position and retain his material advantage.> Shereshevsky
click for larger view And now 26.Rdd1!! <A strong but by no means obvious move. 26.f2-f4 or 26.Rfd1 both suggest themselves. Taimanov, a concert pianist as well as a strong GM, wrote, in Shakhmaty v SSSR 1950 No.1 > "First and foremost, White must defend the 1st rank and not concede the d-file. The tempting 26.f4 is wrong due to 26...exf4 27.exf4 Ne7! 28.f5 Nd5 
click for larger view When 29.f6 fails due to 26...Rxd6" 26.Rfd1 Rxd6 27.Rxd6 Ra4! would have led to great complications e.g. 28.Rd7+ If 28.Bc3 Ra3 is unpleasant for White. <Taimanov> 28...Ke6 29.Rxb7 Ra2 30.Bc3 Rc2 31.Be1 e4! 
click for larger view And in view of the threat of ...Ne5-d3 White must go in for the variation 32.f4 exf3 33.gxf3 Ne5 34.Bg3 Nxf3+ 35.Kf1 Nxh2+ 36.Bxh2 Rxh2 37.Rxg7 Kd5 with a draw. <Taimanov> |
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: 28. Rd2 <White has parried the main threats and kept his extra pawn.>
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: 28. ... e4! <Again setting White difficult problems. Black threatens > 29...Ne5 and 30...Nc4
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: 29. ... exf3 
click for larger view <If instead >29...Ne5 30.fxe4 Nc4 31.Rf2+ and 32.Bd4 <achieves nothing for Black as the Rook is defended.> |
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: 30.Rf2! And not 30.gxf3? Ne5
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: 31. g3! <Correctly solving the exchanging problem after 31.gxf3 g5! all of White's pieces are awkwardly placed.>
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: 34. Bd4! <Again suppressing the opponent's counter-play.>
click for larger view Instead 34.Bxg7? is a mistake due to 34...Rg2+ 35.Kh1 Re2 and despite being 2 Pawns up White cannot win. 
click for larger view a) 36.h4 Re1+ 37.Kh2 Ng4+ 38.Kh3 h5 e.g. 39.Rf5 Ne3 
click for larger view b) 36.Bc3 Nd1
c) 36.h3 h5 And White cannot maintain his advantage. i) 37.Bd4 Nc2 38.Bc3 Rxe4
ii) 37.Rf6+ Ke7 38.e5 Re1+ 39.Kh2 Re2+ 40.Kg1 Rg2+ 41.Kh1 Rxg3
42.Bf8+ Ke8 43.Bd6 Rxh3+ 44.Kg1 Nd5 45.Rf8+ Kd7 With a draw. <Taimanov.> 
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: 38... h5 <The position has clarified. White is a pawn up in a minor piece ending. Now, operating according to the principle of the two weaknesses, White should advance his e-pawn> (Black's first weakness is White's passed pawn in Shereshevsky's terminology.) <in combination with an attack on h5 by his King - or in some cases an attack on b7 and c6.>
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: 41. Bd4 <Notice how the Knight constantly comes under the domination of the Bishop. 41.Kg5 would have allowed some counter-play.>
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: 42...Kf6 
click for larger view If 42...Ng4 43.Bg1 Black ends up in an unusual Zugzwang. a) 43...Ne5 4.Bd4 Nf7 45.Bg7! and wins
b) 43...Kf6 44.Bd4+ Kg6 45.e5 and wins
c) 43...Nf6 44.Bd4 Nh7 45.Bg7 Kf7 46.Be5 Ke6 47.Bd4 Black must allow the advance of the White King. <Taimanov> |
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: 43...Nf1 <Else 44.Bd4+ wins immediately.>
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: 44...Kf7 
click for larger view If 44...Ke6 45.Bc3 Kf7 46.Be1 Kf6 47.e5+ Ke6 <If 47...Kg6 then 48.Bf2 then as in the game.> 48.Kg5 Kxe5 49.Kxh5 Ne3 50.Kg5! Nd5 51.g4 Ke6
<If 51...b6 52.cxb6 Nxb6 53.Kh6 and the g-Pawn is irresistable. Taimanov> 
click for larger view 52.Kg6 Ne7+ 53.Kg7 And Black is defenceless against the following plan: Bd2, g4-g5 and K-march to the Q-side. <Taimanov> 
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: 45... Kg6 
click for larger view <If instead 45...Ke6 46.Kg5 or if 45...Kf6 46.Be1 and Bc3+> |
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: Superb ending by Taimanov! |
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: Running over the ending with Stockfish-10 appears to throw up drawing chances with the counter-intuitive 33...Kg8!? or 33...Kg6!? instead of 33...Ke6 
click for larger view Either of these moves defends g7. True, White can force a Rook ending with 34.Bxg7 but in general this exchange increases the drawing chances e.g. 34.Bxg7 Rg2+ 35.Kh1 Kxg7 36.Rxe3 Rb2 37.h4 Rxb4 38.Kg2 Kf6 39.e5+ 
click for larger view And now 39...Ke6? 40.Rd3 Kxe5 41.Rd6 and Black cannot take on c5 because the K+P ending is lost <White's King is inside the square of queening of the b-Pawn. Black's King will end up on c5 outside the square of queening of the h-Pawn.> 39...Ke7! and White can attack the h-Pawn with his King or his Rook a) 40.Kf3 Rb5 41.Kg4 Rxc5 42.Kh5 b5 43.Kxh6 b4 44.g4 Rc4 45.Kg5 Rc3 46.Re1 c5 = At least I cannot find a win. b) 40.Rd3 Rb5 41.Rd6 h5 42.Rh6 Rxc5 43.Rxh5 b5 44.Rh7+ Ke6 45.Kf3 b4 46.Rb7 Rc4 47.h5 Kxe5 48.h6 Rc1 49.Rxb4 Rh1 and Black has held the game. 
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Mar-04-19
| | manselton: Continuing the last note let's look at 34.Bd4 instead of 34.Bxg7 
click for larger view Not exchanging the Knight leaves it actively marauding in White's position. 34...Nc2 35.Bc3 Ra3 36.Kf2 a) 36...Rb3?! 37.e5 Nxb4 38.e6 Nd5 39.Be5 White has a clear advantage. b) 36...g5! 
click for larger view Then 37.Ke2 <Not 37.e5 g4!> 37...Rb3 38.h4! (Attacking a target is much better than Kd2) 38...Nxb4 39.Bd4 Rxf3 40.Kxf3 Kf7 41.Kg4 Kg6 42.hxg5 hxg5 43.e5 Nd5 44.e6 Nc7 45.e7 Kf7 = Again Black appears to hold. 
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| Mar-04-19 | | hashtag: #Maseltov |
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Mar-04-19
| | woldsmandriffield: Very interesting game and commentary.
26 Rdd1 is an extraordinary move. The variations quoted seemed convincing but at the same time it is hard to believe that a Rook retreat to the 1st rank really is the best move. Gave up & showed the position to a silicon beast and it found another remarkable continuation 26 f4 exf4 27 h4! h5 28 g4! 
click for larger view27 h4 just wasn’t on the radar but the move demonstrates that aggression pays! |
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Kibitzing
sac: 21.Nd6
icon.