Monday, 9 April 2018

Snatching Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory

IF one lazy move cost me the game in Jersey round five, it was a series of endgame mistakes that turned a win into a loss in round six.
We reached this ending after just 22 moves in Alek Safarian (2020) - Spanton (1851)
Black is a pawn up and has a 3-1 farside majority.
But after 23.Rd7 it is clear White has the more active rook and king. Even so, Black should win with careful play.
However, AS soon felt justified in offering a draw.
White offered a draw after playing 32.Ke1-f1
Black is still better, but not by as much as I felt in the game. Indeed, I now think the position is almost certainly drawn.
I could find no way to get my king safely over to help promote my a pawn, so I eventually gave up the pawn to win White's h pawn, thinking my passed h pawn would give me an edge.
But soon the position was dead drawn - except that it was easier for White to find good moves.
Black has just played 41...Rb3-b6
The game finished:
42.f5 gxf5+
This is OK, but an even simpler draw is to be had by 42...h5+ 43.Kg5 gxf5.
43.Kxf5 h5 44.Kg5 Rh6? 
The simplest way to draw is 44...h4! 45.Kxh4 Kg6 eg 46.Kg4 f6 47.f4 fxe5 48.fxe5 Rb4+ 49.Kf3 Kf5.
45.f4 h4??
Black seems to be still drawing after 45...Rg6+ 46.Kxh5 Rg1 eg 47.f5 Rh1+ 48.Kg5 Rg1+ 49.Kf4 Rf1+ 50.Ke4 Re1+ 51.Kd5 Rf1 52.f6+ Kg6, as there seems to be no way White can make progress, eg 53.Ra3 Rb1 54.Rg3+ Kf5 (analysis with Komodo9 and Stockfish9).
46.f5
Black is completely busted.
The remaining moves were:
46...h3 47.f6+ Kh7 48.Rxf7+ Kg8 49.Rg7+ Kf8 50.e6 h2 18mins less 51.e7+ Ke8 52.Rg8+ Kd7 53.e8Q+ Kd6 54.Qe7+ Kc6 55.Rc8+ 1-0

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