42.Rh8+ Kxh8
43. Kg6

There's no defence against 44.Re8#. (Well, 43...Re2, but that doesn't really work)

Time to check.

------------

Yes, there was no defence

Looks bored and says the position is "drawish"
Asks if you would like a cup of tea.
Suggests we might need to speed up play as they have an urgent appointment.

Asks whose turn it is.

And <self-seeds> - those thoughts that seem to hit me just before I lose catastrophically: 1. An overwhelming certainty that I have seen a brilliant move. Struggle to stop arm twitching and playing the move out of turn. 2. Vaguely wonder why they have made that pointless knight move. Probably could not think of anything useful. 3. Checked and double checked - there is no way out for them. (Followed by the unexpected - KxQ, and I have to resign).

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42. ♖h8+! ♔xh8, 43. ♔g6! (Δ ♖e8#) - see below:

a) 43...♖e2, 44. ♖xe2 ♗e5, 45. ♖xe5 mating in next move.

b) 43...♖xf2, 44. ♖e8+ ♖f8, 45. ♖xf8#

Thus, Black has no defense against the mating threat of ♖e8# 1-0

<42.?>

Material: White up ♖+♙ vs ♗, endgame with also ♖+3♙

Candidates: Rh6†, f4, <[Rh8†]>

Is there something as a position with 'too few' pieces to launch a tactical strike? In chess there is not, except for two lone kings or with either side having an extra pawn. With more pawns the breakthrough and race tactics arise, and from there on anything else we have learned.

But psychologically, the less there is on the board, the less likely we are looking at tactical blows and try to play the endgame technically. I would say White has no option to play the endgame at hand technically. The major problem is the en prise pawns on f2 and b3, the latter leading to a pretty dangerous passed b-pawn for Black. White must account for it if he wants to stay alive, and has problems saving his kingside pawns. Not pretty.

Tactics. A stalemated Black king, making the 'no tactic' part less likely. The problem for White is that the current position does require all of his pieces, the rooks and the king. The king can't mate, bringing pawns down the board seems likely but is illfated because of the rogue Black rook swooping away at the remaining kingside pawns and the White king. Hence, White has to mate with a rook.

42.Rh6† comes to mind once someone flashes this position. It is such a move that in case of the forced 42....Kxh6 Black cornered himself and White is indeed able to mate with 43.Rh8‡. Problem is, g7 is not an unmovable brick, it is a pawn, so 42....gxh6 destroys the combination there and then. The other way around then?

42.Rh8†. Weird move, for it brings the Black king further away from the White pieces, and seemingly gives him more freedom. The edges of the board are unforgiving however. After:

<42.Rh8† Kxh8 43.Kg6> it is exactly the moves White needed to waste Black. Rxf2 is no longer check, the Black king is trapped (though not stalemated, Kg8 doesn't help). Black may only decide to throw the not that helpful pieces at White before getting mated:

<43....Re2 44.Rxe2 Be5 45.Rxe5> but after that, the pieces go in the box.

Fischer vs Petrosian, Bled 1961

An endgame is very different from an opening. That's why some players will get up from the board as soon as an ending is reached and go for a little walk. They are readjusting their minds to the new rules of a new game within a game.

Something similar happens when we reach a tactical position, when everything starts to get a bit juicy. Then the "rules" of chess change. Okay, not the FIDE rules. But the internal thinking rules that we all develop over time.

If it's a crispy position then we can go into puzzle mode ...

... we can (and should) spend more time on it than normal. If mate is near we shouldn't be so worried about the clock.

... we can entertain extravagant moves that we wouldn't ordinarily consider. Sacrifice the queen or both rooks? Why not? Don't mind if I do.

... we need to be even more careful than usual about the tactical counter-shot from the other guy.

... and even when we are sure we've got it right, we check and double check the variations. After all, to quote James Bond "we have all the time in the world".

I agree, but good players know how to check. Weaker players compound errors. If I add a list of numbers in my head and make a mistake, I am likely to make the same mistake when I "check". If I switch the way I add up (say bottom to top, instead of top to bottom), then I am more likely to spot the error.

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where Bronstein sacr. the rook playing Rh8xh6+! , I tried at first 42.Rh6+ if Kxh6 43.Rh8#, but if gxh6 43.Rd7+ black king can be protected or can escape,

but 42. Rh8+ (decoy) and 43.Kg6 creates the mating net.

And here's a somewhat similar Tuesday puzzle from Liu vs. Ruzon, 2012 (Black to play):

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I suspect that White's 19th move is ♕c3 rather than ♕f3 (both of which would/could be notated "Q-B3" in descriptive notation). The game would then continue 19... ♖e8 20. a3 (getting rid of the knight) 20... ♘d5 21. ♕g3 etc...