An instructive endgame
During the Christmas holidays last year I traveled to Edmonton to play in the "Weekend Before Xmas" Team tournament, along with team mates Jeff and Jamin. The event was well-attended and an enjoyable experience. Staying with friends in Edmonton meant that little sleep was to be had during the evenings, but remarkably my chess didn’t seem to suffer too much.
The following game was a critical one in this tournament. Our team, the "Benko Brothers" faced the other leaders, the "Raging Kramniks", with whom we were tied.
Yearwood (2154) - Sasata (2321)
Weekend Before Xmas Team Tournament (4)
Edmonton, 2006
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bg4 6. d3 Qf6 7. Be3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Qxf3 9. gxf3 Bd6 10. Nd2 Ne7 11. Nc4 Ng6 12. Kh1 O-O 13. Rg1 Be7 14. d4 exd4 15. Bxd4 Rad8 16. Bc3 f5 17. Ne5 fxe4 18. Nxg6 hxg6 19. Rxg6 Bf6 20. Rag1 Bxc3 21.bxc3 Rd7 22. fxe4 Rxf2 23. R6g2 Rf4 24. Rg4 Rxg4 25. Rxg4 Kf7 26. Rg3 Ke6 27. Kg2 Rd2+ 28. Kh3 Kf6 29. Rg2 Rd7 30. Kg3 g5 31. Kf3 Rh7 32. Rf2 Rh4 33. Ke3+ Ke6 34. Rg2 Rh5 35. Kd4
Let’s join the action here, after White’s 35th move. Superficially, White’s position looks disastrous, with weak pawns all over the place. Closer examination reveals, however, that Black’s task is not that simple. White’s centralized king keeps his counterpart at bay, and White can defend his pawns in a tenuous equilibrium. During the game I thought that Black had no more than a small advantage. However, by this time my teammates’ games had both finished, and we were sitting at 0.5/2, so I had to try to make something happen.
To make progress, at some point Black has to try to win the pawn at a2, even if that means allowing White’s rook counterplay on the seventh rank. I decided to slowly advance the queenside pawns before undertaking these measures.
35… b6 36. Ke3 c5 37. Rg3
Interesting… Roy ‘taunts’ me to take on h2, and provides easy access to the rest of the weaklings. What is the method to his madness?
37… Rxh2 38. Rxg5 Kf6?!
At the time, the obvious follow-up capture seemed to allow White dangerous counterplay: 38… Rxc2 39. Rg6+ Kd7 40. Rg7+ Kc6 41. Rg6+ Kb7 42. Kd3 Rxa2 43. e5. However, my buddy Rybka assures me that the danger was merely illusory. For example, 43.. a5 44. e6 Kc6 45. e7+ Kd7 46. Re6 Ke8 47. Rc6 Kxe7 48. Rxc7+ Kd6 -/+
39.Rf5+
Okay, so one winnning opportunity has passed, but I still have some positional advantage, and carry on with the original game plan. However, White should not have major difficulties holding the position.
39… Ke6 40. Kd3 Rh3+ 41. Kd2 a5 42. Rg5 Rh6 43. Kd3 c6 44. Ke3 a4 45. Kf4 Rh4+ 46. Rg4!?
Though I managed to maintain a calm outward demeanor, internally, I was floored this move. It seemed to me that White had just played a horrible blunder that lost instantly, and it seemed so incredibly obvious. All Black has to do is trade rooks, advance the queenside pawns, and then sacrifice with a …b3 push for a queening breakthrough. To stop the a-pawn, White’s king would have to give up protection of e4, resulting in a simple winning king and pawn ending. Easy, right? Wrong!
46… Rxg4+ 47. Kxg4 Ke5 48. Kf3 c4 49. Ke3??
Only now does White make the game-losing move, although I was oblivious at the time. Amazingly, if White stops my a-pawn by playing a3 himself, Black cannot win this ending! Witness: 49. a3 c5 50. Ke3 b5 51. Kd2 (forced - White must be in the ’square’ of the a-pawn before Black plays …b5-b4) 51… Kxe4 52. Kc1. I invite you to confirm for yourself the drawn nature of this position. No amount of triangulation or move-losing will alter the fact that White can maintain the
opposition if I manoeuvre my king to the d1-d2 squares, so the only remaining try is something like 52… b4 53. cxb4 cxb4 54. axb4 c3 55. b5 Kd5 56. Kb1 Kc5 57.Ka1 Kxb5 58. Ka2 =.
49… a3 50. Kf3 c5 51. Ke3 b5 52. Kf3 b4 53. cxb4 cxb4 54. Ke3 b3 0-1
Just as I, uh, ‘planned’. Roy, obviously displeased with the outcome, took out his frustrations on a defenseless pencil. A very instructive ending for me, and I hope you learned something from it as well.