Tuesday 23 February 2021

Knight v Bishop (part 40)

Black has just captured on d8 in Spanton (171) - Gergely Kiss (207), Pimlico Summer 2019. Who stands better, and by how much?
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This is another ending arising from the Exchange Variation of the Spanish. The analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01 reckon White is winning.
33.b4
This makes it very difficult for Black to activate his pawn-majority.
33...Ke7 34.Ke3 Kd6
KG offered a draw.
35.Kd4 Be2 36.Nc3 Bf3 37.a4 bxa4 38.Nxa4 Bd1 39.Nc5 Bf3 40.Nb7+ Ke6 41.Nd8+ Kd7 42.Nf7 Ke6 43.Nd8+
I originally intended 43.Nh,8 but feared I might have miscalculated and  my knight could get trapped. I therefore decided to return the knight to the white side of the board, knowing  I could always revisit the Nh8 idea if necessary.
43...Kd7 44.Nb7 Ke6 45.Nc5+ Kd6 46.Nd3 Ke6 47.Ke3 Bg2?!
This loses quickly. Best, according to the engines, is 47...Bd1 48.Nc5+ Kd6 49.Na6 Ba4 50.Kd4 Bb5 51.e5+ fxe5+ 52.fxe5+ Kd7 53.Nc5+ Ke7 54.Ke3 Bc4 55.Kf4 Ba2 56.Kg5 Bb1 57.Na6 Ke6 58.Kf4, when 58...Kd7 loses a pawn to 59.Nb8+. This is a long line, but there is nothing difficult about it for White.
48.f5+ gxf5 49.Nf4+ 1-0

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