Bad Wörishofen U2000 2019
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| Black has just captured on e5 - who stands better? |
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White has the queenside pawn-majority, which is important when kings are on the kingside (I prefer to call it the farside pawn-majority, because what counts is not on which side of the board the pawn-majority is, but on which side the kings are). However, in this position the farside or queenside pawn-majority is out-trumped by Black's more-centralised king.
35.fxe4?!
Not 35.Ke3? as Black creates a protected passed pawn by 35...f4+ followed by ...e3. But the text lets the black king gain more space, which is why the analysis engines Komodo11.01 and Stockfish11 prefer something such as 35.h4 or 35.a4, albeit giving Black as winning.
35...Kxe4
Not 35...fxe4? as the passed pawn Black gets is weak rather than strong thanks to White's diversionary farside majority.
36.Ke2
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36...f4?!
Gaining space seemed so natural but in fact it endangers the win. The engines like 36...g5 or 36...b5. After the text, Stockfish11 reckons the position is equal, but Komodo11.01 has Black the equivalent of almost four pawns ahead. Stockfish11 seems to be right.
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37.b4?
This makes the win trivial for Black. Stockfish11 gives 37.a4!? as equal. Komodo11.01 reckons 37...b6 is a winning reply, meeting Stockfish11's 38.h4 with 38...h6 39.Kf2 g5 40.hxg5 hxg5, and only after 41.Ke2 does Komodo11.01 switch to assessing the position as equal.
The text lets the two black queenside pawns hold up three white ones.
37...b5 38.Kd2 g5 39.c4!? bxc4 40.Kc3 Kd5 41.a4 h5 42.b5 axb5 43.axb5 g4 44.hxg4 hxg4 45.b6 Kc6 46.b7 Kxb7 47.Kxc4 f3 48.gxf3 g3 0-1
Going back to the position after 36.Ke2, it is worth investigating why 36...g5 is so much better than 36...f4?! Firstly, 37.b4? still fails to 37...b5, but 37.a4 also fails, eg 37...b6 38.Kd2 (preparing h4 by 38.g3 is no help as Black will get a passed f pawn) h5 39.Ke2 (if 39.b4 then simply 39...b5, but other moves also win) Kf4 40.Kf2 h4 41.Ke2 (or 41.c4 a5) Kg3 42.Kf1 g4 43.hxg4 fxg4 44.Kg1 a5 45.b4 Kf4 46.bxa5 bxa5 47.Kf2 Ke4 48.c4 Kd4 49.c5 Kxc5 50.Ke3 Kb4 and Black wins.
This prompts the thought that in the line 36...f4?! 37.a4!? Black could try 37...g5, instead of Komodo11.01's 37...b6, but White has 38.a5, which fixes Black's queenside pawns and seems to draw.
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