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| Black has just captured on b4 in R Hux (2054) - Spanton (2013), World Open Warm-Up Tournament (Philadelphia) 1995. Who stands better, and by how much? |
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The position is dead-equal, according to Stockfish12 and Komodo12.1.1, but only if White finds the correct continuation.
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39.Ke2
This looks natural, and during the game I am fairly sure I thought it was forced, but the engines give 39.Bxf6! Then 39...a2 40.Ke2 Nc2 41.Kd2 forces 41...Nb4 with equality, according to the engines, but Black must avoid 41...a1=Q? 42.Bxa1 Nxa1 43.Kc3, which wins for White. A better try for Black is 39...Nxd3 40.Ke3 Nxc5, but the position is drawn, according to the engines, eg 41.Kd4 Nb3+ 42.Kd3 a2 43.g4 a1=Q 44.Bxa1 Nxa1 45.Kc3 etc.
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39...f5
This is probably enough for an advantage, but winning seems to be the engines' 39...Nd5!?, eg 40.Kd2 Kd7 41.Kc2 Ke6 42.Kb3 Kf5 43.Kxa3 Kg4 44.Bf2 Kf3 45.Be1 Ke2 46.Ba5 Kf2! 47.g4 Kf3 48.Kb3 Kxg4, when Black is effectively a pawn up.
40.Kd2 a2
This prevents 41.Kc3.
41.Ba1
Making 42.Kc3 possible.
41...Kd7 42.Kc3
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42...Nd5+
It seems the engines' 42...Na6!?, which is decentralising but puts pressure on c5, may be better.
43.Kb3 Ke6 44.Kxa2 Nb4+ 45.Kb3 Nxd3 46.Kc4 Nf2 47.Bc3 Ne4 48.Be1 Ke5 49.Ba5
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49...Nf2
Not 49...Nxg3?? 50.Bc7+ etc.
50.Bc7+ Ke4 51.Bd6 Ng4 52.Kb4!?
Stockfish12 is fine with the text but Komodo12.1.1 prefers 52.Kc3 or 52.Bb8.
52...Kd5 53.Kc3 Nf2
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54.Kc2
Not 54.Kd2?? Ne4+ etc.
But the engines like the somewhat surprising 54.Bc7!?, the point being 54...Kxc5 wins a pawn but is a tablebase draw.
54...Ne4 55.Bc7 Nxc5
This position too is a draw. Indeed, according to the Syzygy tablebase, White has 10 moves here that draw. Stockfish12 calls the position dead-equal, but Komodo12.1.1's verdict of a slight edge for Black is a better over-the-board assessment, at least for humans.
56.Kd2 Ke4 57.Ke2 Ne6
But now White has just two moves that maintain the draw.
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58.Ba5?
58.Bb8 and 58.Bd6 draw.
After the text, Black has one winning move.
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58...Nd4+!
58...c5 only draws after 59.Bb6 or 59.Bc3, according to Syzygy.
Note that after 58.Bb8, the move 58...Nd4+ is only a draw after 59.Kd2!
59.Kf2
Not 59.Kd2?? Nb3+.
After the text, Black again has to find an only-move.
59...c5! 60.Bb6 c4
Also winning is 60...Nb3.
61.g4?!
Very strange, but White is lost anyway, and perhaps RH hoped he would somehow be able to sac the bishop for the b pawn while picking up the other black pawn with his king.
61...fxg4 62.Kg3 c3 63.Ba5 c2 64.Bd2 Kf5 0-1
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