Petr Kostenko vs Alexander Utnasunov (2001)

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Petr Kostenko vs Alexander Utnasunov
Chigorin Memorial Open (2001), St. Petersburg RUS, rd 1, Oct-26
English Opening: Symmetrical. Rubinstein Variation (A34) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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sac: 46.Rxg4+	PGN: download \| view \| print	Help: general \| java-troubleshooting

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Oct-04-22		Brenin: The f-pawn wants to queen, but Rc8 or Rf6 will stop it, so 46 Rxg4+ Kxg4 47 Be6+ Kg5 48 f7 Rf3 49 Bf5, and Bleck can't prevent f8=Q.

Oct-04-22		alshatranji: Interesting problem. It requires a little more finesse than the typical "easy". No straightforward mating tactics.

Oct-04-22		King.Arthur.Brazil: The King followed <Brenin>.

Oct-04-22		jrredfield: I saw 46 Rxg4+ right away but missed 47 Be6+ instead going with 47 e5. Soon after, I saw the utter folly of that move allowing the rook to have free reign with the White K. According to Komodo Dragon, 47 e5 leads to a mate in 15 for Black. The engine confirms 47 Be6+ with 48 ... Kg5 being the only difference from the line <Brenin> posted. After White queens, Black can still drag it on rook checks, so mate is still quite a ways off.

Oct-04-22		Shubes82: I know Be6+ is a check, but it kind of felt like an intermezzo to me when I was solving. Cool puzzle though, �I know this f-pawn HAS to queen�right?!�

Oct-04-22		mayankk06: It's a pawn race with material equality. White's furthest f-pawn queens on a dark square but White's remaining Bishop is a light-squared one. Both the Kings are far from action. Counterintuively White still has a sequence of forcing moves to get the pawn to Queen in a few moves. A Rook sac 46 Rxg4+ Kxg4 followed by Bishop check 47 Be6+ Kg5, pawn push 48 f7 Rf3 Bishop blockade 49 Bf5 and the pawn will Queen next.

Oct-04-22		agb2002: Black threatens Rc2+ and Kg3. White can avoid the mating net, control c8 and be able to block the f-file after 46.Rxg4+ Kxg4 47.Be6+: A) 47... Kg5 48.f7 Rf3 49.Bf5 and the pawn promotes. B) 47... Kf4 48.f7 Rc2+ 49.Kg1 Rc1+ 50.Kf2 Rc2+ 51.Ke1 Rc1+ 52.Kd2 wins. C) 47... Kf3 48.f7 Rc2+ 49.Kh3 Kc1 50.f8=Q+ wins.

Oct-04-22		mel gibson: That is complicated - I saw the text move but I wasn't sure. Stockfish 15 says: 46. Rxg4+ (46. Rxg4+ (♖g7xg4+ ♔f4xg4 ♗g8-e6+ ♔g4-g5 f6-f7 ♖c3-c2+ ♔h2-g1 ♔g5-f6 f7-f8♕+ ♔f6xe6 ♕f8xb4 ♖c2-c6 ♕b4-b5 ♖c6-c7 ♔g1-h2 h4-h3 e4-e5 ♖c7-e7 ♕b5-c5 ♖e7-d7 ♕c5-c6+ ♔e6-e7 ♕c6-f6+ ♔e7-e8 e5-e6 ♖d7-a7 ♕f6-h8+ ♔e8-e7 ♕h8-h7+ ♔e7xe6 ♕h7xa7 ♔e6-d5 ♔h2xh3 ♔d5-c4 ♕a7-a4+ ♔c4-d5 ♕a4-a5+ ♔d5-d6 ♔h3-g3 ♔d6-e7 ♔g3-f4 ♔e7-e6 ♕a5-d8 ♔e6-f7 ♔f4-f5 ♔f7-g7 ♕d8-e7+ ♔g7-h6 ♕e7-b7 ♔h6-h5 ♕b7-h7+) +M26/67 660) White wins _ mate in 26.

Oct-04-22		murkia: I chose Bd5. The cg Engine says mate in 11(37 ply) for White which is better than the text move. When not forced it prefers the text move. Interesting behaviour or what?

Oct-04-22		Chessius the Messius: Did not find it that simple. 46... Ke5 47. f7 Rc8 48. Rg1 b3 49. Rb1 but that was not the question 🤪

Oct-04-22		AlicesKnight: On a Tuesday look for a sacrifice; Rxg4+ followed by Be6+ covers c8 against the R after f7 - but the B also covers g4 to prevent the black K going there with threats of trapping the white K in the corner.

Oct-04-22		raymondhow: < I chose Bd5. The cg Engine says mate in 11(37 ply) for White > I think you mean mate in 11 for Black.

Oct-04-22		Chessius the Messius: It's not mate in 11 after 46. Bd5. Let's be serious! 46. Bd5 Rc2+ 47. Kg1 Rc1+ 48. Kf2 Rc2+ 49. Ke1 mate in 6. For Black.

Oct-04-22		syracrophy: The central ♙ mass, the extra ♙ + ♔side ♙s proved too much for Black. The ending was nice & instructive.

Oct-04-22		cocker: Black should have eliminated the f-pawn with 45 ... Kxf6. Even after 46 Rxg4, Black has good chance of draw.

Oct-04-22		saturn2: White gets a queen with a little trick.

Oct-04-22		TheaN: <46.Rxg4+ Kxg4 47.Be6+ +-> is curtains, as the check forces the Black king away, and 47....Kg5 48.f7 Rf3 49.Bf5 +- forces promotion. Declining the sac with 46....Ke5 might be Black's best option for a draw, but White can simply follow suit with 47.f7 +- anyway, and White's just a piece up with similar threats. The intermezzo 47....Rc2+ is pointless in either line, as White can simply hide on the back rank 48.Kg1! because the Black king is far away.

Oct-04-22		TheaN: <cocker: Black should have eliminated the f-pawn with 45 ... Kxf6. Even after 46 Rxg4, Black has good chance of draw.> In fact, 45....Kxf6 evaluates 0. This is because in order for White to stop Pb4 he'll either have to surrender the pawn or bishop. The bishop's ill fated as the rook endgame is a draw, but the pawn's ill fated too as R+B vs R is also a draw. That 'good chance' is entirely dependent on Black knowing R vs R+B as that's what will remain if White gives up the pawn. In comparison to 45....Kf4 which was instantly lost, a much better attempt yes.

Oct-04-22		chrisowen: Ink rut its winch goodies a Rxg4 its abluff frazzle duh its axiom jug bien its cigar Rxg4 etc;

Oct-04-22		johnnydeep: I considered the game line through to 47.Be6+ but it wasn't clear to me that white queening its pawn was unstoppable. My end game analysis blows.

Oct-04-22		Jimfromprovidence: Here's a weak attempt at a swindle but an attempt nonetheless. It starts with 47...Kf4, seeing 48 f7 Re2+ 49 Kg1?? 49... Kg3! click for larger view

Oct-04-22		Halldor: I found this easily since I started trying to find a way to queen the pawn. An exchange sacrifice made a kind of Bishop fork possible, which blocks the c8 square for the black Rook svo the pawn can’t be stopped.

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