nummerzwei: White holds on with just 41.exf6 Kxf6 42.f4 - Black gets two connected passed pawns in the center of the board, but they are of little use since White can put his king on e4: click for larger viewe.g. 42...gxf4 43.Kxf4 a5 44.Ke4 axb4 45.axb4 Rxb4 46.Rf2+ Kg5 47.Rd2 = Wojtaszek overlooked the well-hidden mating attack with 42...d3!! and 44...Re1!, but, additionally, I suspect that he decided against the line above because he was afraid of the pawn ending after 43...Rf5+ 44.Ke4 Re5+ 45.Kd3 Rxe2 46.Kxe2  click for larger viewHowever, not only is this not dangerous for White, he is in fact winning as Black cannot promote his central pawns in time: a1) 46...e5 47.b5 e4 48.a4 Ke5 49.a5 Kd5 50.g4 +- a2) 46...e5 47.b5 e4 48.a4 Ke5 49.a5 Kf4 50.b6 axb6 51.axb6 d3+ 52.Kd2 +- b1) 46...Ke5 47.b5 Ke4 48.g4 d3+ 49.Kd2 Kd4 50.g5 +- b2) 46...Ke5 47.b5 Ke4 48.g4 Kf4 49.a4 Kxg4 50.a5 +- The line with 7...dxc4 and 8...b6 is rock-solid, with few winning chances for Black. This game stands out as one of the few Black victories in games among top players. |