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Mads Hansen vs Anders Gjerdrum Hagen
Politiken Cup (2012), Helsingor, rd 6, Aug-01
Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation. Smith-Morra Declined (B22)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
May-30-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  sleepyirv: Ick, the pawn isn't hanging in the 52...Qxf6 line so 55. Qg5 doesn't work but White still has the advantage.
May-30-13  Dr. Funkenstein: I saw the game move, but after 52. ...h5 I didn't see the forced mate with Ng4+ stupidly and went with 53. Nd5 threatening the queen (and a check, so f6 doesn't work) meaning black doesn't have time to move a pawn and the same mate with Rg8 and Qh8 is on...hmm....
May-30-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: I like my solution better than the one played, and I think any unbiased analyst will agree: 52. Nd5 Qa3 (52...Bxd5 53. Qxe7; 52...Qd8 53. Rc8!) 53. Rc6 (now black has no useful checks) Kh4 54. g4+ fxg4 55. Nf4#.
May-30-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: <al wazir> After 52.Nd5 Qd8:


click for larger view

I don't see what's so exclammy about 53.Rc8, since Black can play 53...Bxc8 now.

After 52...Qd8 White might try 53.Rc6 since his knight is immune, but is there a continuation as clear as the game? (Of course, my vision may be biased this morning.)

May-30-13  agb2002: White has a knight for a bishop and two pawns.

Black threatens 52... Qxf6 and 52... Rxa4.

The first idea that comes to mind is 52.Rc8, intending 53.Rg8#:

A) 52... Bxc8 53.Qxe7 is hopeless for Black.

B) 52... Qxf6 53.Rg8+ Kh7 54.Qxf6 Kxg8 55.Qd8+ Kh7 56.Qxb6 Rxa4 57.Qd8 followed by b6, etc.

Other moves don't seem to work:

52.Ng8 Qd8 with the double threat 53... Qxg8 and 53... Qd4+.

52.Ng4 fxg4 53.Rc8 f6 - +.

52.Nd5 Qd8 53.Rc6 Kh7 54.Rd6 Qc8 threatening Qc5+.

May-30-13  M.Hassan: "Medium"
White to play 52.?
White is a pawn down.

After spending time on Knight move and pawn move and realizing none works, it took me quite some time to see the Rook move as the first move of the puzzle:

52.Rc8
<if...Bxc8 53.Qxe7>
52..........Qxf6
53.Rg8+ Kh7
54.Qxf6 Kxg8
Although Black has lost his Queen for a Rook and a Knight, he is not terribly weaker than White.Queen should now aim at removing of a and b pawns and the game may continue thus:

55.Qd8+ Kh7
56.Qxb6 Rxa4
57.Qa7 g4
58.b6 g3
59.Kf1 because of danger of mate
Black is very likely to loose a piece for the b pawn and becomes weaker and White's win becomes imminent.

May-30-13  whiteshark: Why not <55.Qg7#>? The extra movement to h8 might have cost him the game in a blitz play. Now call me purist...
May-30-13  Abdel Irada: <<•> Bang the Gjerdrum Slowly? <•>>

Having traded jabs for 51 moves, White now embarks on a combination that will leave his opponent on the ropes.

<<•> 52. Rc8 ... >

This threatens 53. Rg8# and of course the rook is immune because the black bishop is pinned. Black really has very little choice.

<<•> 52. ...Qxf6 >

Not so helpful is (a) 52. ...h5 53. Rg8†, Kh6 54. Ng4†! and White mates in one.

<<•> 53. Rg8†, Kh7

54. Qxf6, Kxg8

55. Qd8†, Kh7

56. Qxb6, Rxa4

57. Qc7 >

In principle, Black should be okay, with rook, bishop and two pawns for a queen. Practically, however, he is lost. The advanced passed b-pawn, escorted by the queen, will be very hard to stop; Black will have to give up a piece for it, and the resulting queen-vs.-rook ending is trivial.

May-30-13  Abdel Irada: <whiteshark: Why not <55.Qg7#>? The extra movement to h8 might have cost him the game in a blitz play.>

Flagging doesn't matter if you have mate on the move.

May-30-13  mistreaver: Thursday. White to play. Medium. 52.?
White has dangerous knight and queen duo. But he also has to take care of his somewhat exposed king. At first i wanted to move my rook on c7, but then i realized that knight is hanging. Then i saw what i think is the solution.
52 Rc8!!
The threat is Rg8 mate. Black cant take with the bishop because his queen falls, and if he takes the knight he loses his queen after Rg8+. However i don't see a convincing defence other then
52...Qxf6
53 Rg8+ Kh7
54 Qxf6 Kxg8
when white should win, altough his task is somewhat complicated. Time to check.
-----------
Okay, i missed the defence based on h5, but the refutation does not represent that much of a problem.
May-30-13  James D Flynn: I didn't find a clear win but I just played over the game and saw how Black committed suicide in a drawn position. I therefore include my analysis. Black is 2 pawns up, however, White’s pieces are more aggressively placed and he can now win Q for N and R by 52.Rc8 Qxf6 53,Rg8+ Kh7 54.Qxf6 Kxg8, The resulting position is not a simple win. White can win the b6 pawn by 55.Qd8+ Kh7 56.Qxb6 Rxa4 but if White plays 55.Qa7(or Qc7) Ra1+ 56.Kh2 Bd5 57.b6 a4 58.b7 Bxb7 59.Qxb7 Re1 and Black can abandon the a pawn, place his R on e6 where it is defended by the f7 pawn and defends the a6 pawn and simply move his K when checked to and adjacent square where it defends the f7 pawn , it is then hard to see how White would penetrate. Another possibility for White is 52.Nd5 attacking the Q and also the pawn on b6: 52.Nd5 Qd8 53.Rc6(pinning the B and adding an attacker to b6). However, the N can only move by giving check because any other N move is answered by Qd1+. 53……Kh7 54.Rd6
May-30-13  James D Flynn: I am surprised most of my fellow Kibitzers judged the endgame after 56.Qxb6 an easy win.I judge it drawn even if Black gives up his B or the White b pawn. He is not forced to do that he can place his R on b1 and his B on d5 White would then have to manoeuvre to attack the B and R simultaneously but the R has many squares on the b file and the B many on the log diagonal.
May-30-13  Abdel Irada: <Abdel Irada: <whiteshark: Why not <55.Qg7#>? The extra movement to h8 might have cost him the game in a blitz play.>>

Also, as long as we're indulging counterfactual scenarios, if this had been a *correspondence* game, White could have saved a step with <54. Ng4† and 55. Qh8# /if any/>.

May-30-13  zb2cr: I missed this one badly.
May-30-13  Nick46: Hagen-Dazs got creamed by Mad's handsome endgame.
May-30-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  OhioChessFan: Wow, missed it bad.
May-30-13  kevin86: it's amazing how white could encircle the black king with so few pieces while black's pieces stand by as statues.
May-30-13  BOSTER: If you know such pos.(diagram)


click for larger view

White to play, draw.
You can't say that after 56.Qxb6<Phony Benoni> <his own b-pawn looks decisive>, (54...Bb3 55.Qd8+ Kg7 56.Qxb6 Bxa4 57.Qxa5 Bxb5 58.Qxb5) , or <A.I.> <practically black is lost> <53.Rg8+ Kh7>. What is wrong with 53...Kxg8?

May-30-13  TimothyLucasJaeger: <James D Flynn> After 56 [sic its really 58th move] ... Bd5 in your line, white can fork queen and rook with Qe5.

I suspect the position after 56 Qxb6 is won for white, but i find it surprising that black did not attempt to defend it rather than walk into mate.

May-30-13  Abdel Irada: <I suspect the position after 56 Qxb6 is won for white, but i find it surprising that black did not attempt to defend it rather than walk into mate.>

I'm not sure what time control was in use, but one common one allows two hours for the first forty moves, one hour for the next twenty, and another hour for the remainder of the game.

Under such a control, Black may well have been under acute time pressure. Otherwise, his decision is indeed a mystery.

May-30-13  waustad: Yet another time where I get the right moves in the wrong order. I guess that means that I saw the tactical themes but didn't calculate right.
May-30-13  Shamot: A long time ago there was a correspondence game being played between two players in two different countries. It would take at least 2 weeks for the mail to arrive, so you can imagine that the game was spreaded over a long span of time. At the end when the game entered the critical stage each player would wait impatiently for the mail to arrive to look at his opponent’s move. It was getting tense by the week. After making a very critical move one player was waiting anxiously for his opponent’s move and opened the envelope as soon as he received it ..... only to find “ j’adoube “ written on the paper.
May-30-13  Patriot: The only candidate that seems worth trying is 52.Rc8, threatening 53.Ng8 next.

52.Rc8

52...Qxf6 53.Rg8+ Kh7 54.Qxf6 Kxg8 55.Qd8+ and 56.Qxb6

52...Qxf6 53.Rg8+ Qg7 54.Qxg7+ Kh5 55.Rh8

May-30-13  Dr. Funkenstein: James D Flynn makes a strong point that the endgame is not as easy as it looks after 56. Qxb6 Rxa4 57. Qc7 Ra1+ 58. Kh2 Rb1 (his initial Bd5 idea is refuted by Qe5 as someone posted above) and now it's hard to get the pawn through after black plays Bd5 and the two pieces cover b7.

Therefore, is Rc8 really the best move going into this endgame? I'm curious what the engine eval on this is....

May-31-13  TimothyLucasJaeger: <Dr. Funkenstein> i dont' think black can successfully align both his rook and bishop to defend b7 without allowing white a tactic to secure a piece.

E.g. 52 ... Qxf6 53 Rg8+ Kh7 54 Qxf6 Kxg8 55 Qd8+ Kh7 56 Qxb6 Rxa4 57 Qc7 Ra1+ 58 Kh2 Rb1 59 b6 Bd5 60 Qc2 Rb5 61 Qxf5+ Kg7 62 Qd7 Rc5 63 b7

Note that if the black king goes to g7 instead on move 55, white can meet Bd5 with Qe5+.

The best i can see for black is to head for a fortress-type position as <James D Flynn> proposed, by conceding the bishop for the b-pawn.

We end up with something like:


click for larger view

Now white must be careful. If he trades his f-pawn for blacks's g-pawn, for example, black should be able to draw by keeping his king on g8/g7 and his rook on e6/g6.

However, if white instead puts his f-pawn on f5 (if necessary meeting black's gxf with his own gxf), he should be able to deprive black's rook of its fortress squares and have a good chance of forcing black into zugzwang.


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