Endgame Focus 3

MY round-three game at Kenilworth did not reach an ending, but in round four I had black against the defending 65+ champion, who has a Fide of 2100 and an ECF of 2045.

The full game can be seen at K4 but here I want to focus on the ending.

White has just captured on b2 - how would you assess this ending?

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White is a (passed) pawn up and has the better minor piece for cooperating with a rook. White is winning, according to Stockfish14.1, although Komodo12.1.1 'only' gives White the upper hand.

23...d6!?

The engines prefer 23...Nc5.

24.Be3!?

The engines' 24.a4 looks strong, but KB had a specific idea in mind.

24...Nc5 25.Bxc5!?

Objectively this reduces White's advantage but KB explained afterwards he played it to simplify the winning procedure.

25...dxc5 26.Ke2 Ra3?!

Played to slow White's queenside play, but KB thought this a waste of time and that the black king should be activated. The engines agree.

27.Kd2 c4?!

Further tempo wasting, it would seem.

28.Rb4?!

Probably stronger is the engines' 28.Kc1, eg 28...c3 29.Rb8+ Kg7 30.Kb1 and 31. Rb3.

28...Rxa2

Stockfish14.1 reckons White is winning after 28...c3+!? 29.Kd3 but Komodo12.1.1 gives White just a slight edge.

29.Rxc4 Kg7 30.Re4

Cutting the black king off from the passed pawn's file - a standard winning technique.

30...h5

Black's only hope is to bring about exchanges on the kingside that give the chance of creating a rival passed pawn.

31.h4?!

Usually it is a good idea to gain space and to deny the opponent gain-of-space, but advancing the white kingside pawns makes it easier for Black to force exchanges. White should almost certainly be pushing his passer as soon as possible, eg after 31.Re2.

31...f5?

Much better, according to the engines, is 31...f6!?, as will be explained in the next note.

32.Re2?

Better is 32.Rd4 followed by f4 to seal the kingside.

32...Ra4 33.g3 f4 34.Kd3 Kf6 35.Re4 Ra3+ 36.c3 fxg3 37.fxg3 Kf5 38.Re3 g5 39.hxg5 Kxg5 40.Kd4 Kg4 41.Rd3?

41.c4 wins, as will be seen later.

41...Rb3 42.Re3 Ra3?

Repeating a position that I had wrongly calculated out to a draw. The real drawing moves are 42...Rb8 and 42...Rb1.

43.c4 Rxe3 44.Kxe3 Kxg3 45.c5 h4 46.c6 h3 47.c7 h2 48.c8=Q Kg2

By now I had realised Black is lost, eg 48...h1=Q 49.Qg8+ Kh2 50.Kf2 etc.

The game finished:

49.Qc2+ Kh3 50.Qe4 1-0