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ANNOTATED GAME
Team play: Effect of competitive situation on style of play
White player (2142) vs. marinvukusic (2136)
Annotated by: marinvukusic (2161)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B23), closed, Korchnoi variation
White player (2142) vs. marinvukusic (2136)
Annotated by: marinvukusic (2161)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B23), closed, Korchnoi variation
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45. c6+ |
One of the players from the other team remarked after the game that after a neutral move 45.Kd4 or 45.Kf4 it is hard to see how exactly Black will win this. I must agree - kingside passers are not moving any time soon. But 45.c6 is also a good move, certainly not losing the game. Time remaining: 6 minutes | ||||||
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45... Kc7 |
?! I didn't like 45...bc6; 46.dc6, Kc7; 47.b5, ab5; 48.a6 - I couldn't be sure that I am not missing something there due to time trouble. Actually 48...Ne5; 49.a7, Nc4; 50.Kd4, Nb6 and the pawns are stopped. How to actually win this after 51.Kd3! is a different matter entirely. Time remaining: 2 minutes | ||||||
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46. Bd3 |
?! I was only looking at immediate 46.cb7, after which the game is most likely a draw - the King has to look after the a6 weakling and the Knight can't advance the passers alone. | ||||||
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46... Ne5 |
Luckily (it would only increase the stress), I had no idea at the time that we were in fact losing the match 3:2 at this moment, and this game would eventually decide the winner of the league competition. Time remaining: 1 minute | ||||||
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47. b5 |
? I don't know why White didn't play 47.cb7 - maybe he didn't notice that 47...Nd3 (47...Kb7 is also very drawish as mentioned before); 48.b8Q, Kb8; 49.Kd3 is a dead draw - Black can never move his King to the kingside due to the b5 threat. --- Amazingly, this move does not actually lose the game yet, although it drops the second pawn! | ||||||
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47... axb5 48. Bxb5 |
Time remaining: 4 minutes | ||||||
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48... bxc6 |
Time remaining: 2 minutes | ||||||
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49. dxc6 Nxc6 50. a6 Na7 |
!! I decided here to play the rest of the ending like it is King and 3 pawns vs. King and Bishop (like Na7 and pawn on a6 do not exist). The reason is that I sensed (did not calculate) that losing time on the a6 pawn would allow White to endanger the kingside passers and draw the game. One possible variation (found in analysis) is 50...Kb6; 51.Be2, Nb4; 52.Ke4, Na6; 53.Kd5 and Black pieces are cut off on the edge of the board and therefore can't help the pawns. This move does not win yet, but now White has to play precisely to hold the position. | ||||||
| 2 comments | |||||||
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51. Bc4 Kc6 52. Kf4 |
! White knows that he has to take out the kingside passers with the King (Bishop can't do this). The problem is that after he takes the h pawn he has to be able to simultaneuosly stop the d and g pawns from advancing, and for this the Bishop has to control both d and g file. Time remaining: 5 minutes | ||||||
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52... Kc5 |
My teammate GM Nikolac (who scored fantastic 8/9 on the 1st board and was the best board in the league) immediately after the game proposed slightly more precise 52...d5!?, to keep the Bishop away from the kingside. It does not change the evaluation and analysis shows that both moves are pretty much the same strength, but is interesting to observe how a GM (reduce opponent's options first) has different instincts than a MK (activate the King first). Time remaining: 2 minutes | ||||||
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53. Bd3 |
?! Unnecessary loss of time (allows 53...Kd4), although still not fatal. After either A) 53.Bg8, h6; 54.Bh7, g5; 55.Kg4, d5; 56.Kh5, Kd4; 57.Bf5! (holds the g pawn), Ke5; 58.Kg4!, d4; 59.Bd3= or B) 53.Bf1, h6; 54.Bd3, g5; 55.Kf5!, d5; 56.Be2!= White has saved the game | ||||||
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53... Kd4 54. Bb1 d5 |
Finally, we have arrived to the last critical position. The are several interesting elements to notice: 1. the Bishop can't immediately assist the King in winning the kingside pawns, because it does not control the crucial g file 2. kingside passers can't move because the Bishop has them both pinned at the moment 3. if the Bishop remains on b1 then all Black can do is try to advance the d pawn a bit further 4. (not obvious at the first glance) if the Bishop attacks the d5 with 55.Ba2!, the kingside passers can move - but to their detriment! | ||||||
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55. Kg5 |
?? Horrible mistake, which loses the game on the spot. The only explanation is that due to stress and time trouble White simply did not correctly and fully assess the position. I knew that this was a bad move when I saw it played (since I had a plan how to proceed), but also had no idea at the time which was the correct plan for White. Now after careful analysis I have found 2 different drawing continuations: A) 55.Ba2!, Kc5 (55...Nc6; 56.Kg5, Ke4; 57.Bb3!=;; 55...h6; 56.Bb3, Nc6; 57.Bd1!=); 56. Bb3!, d4; 57.Kg5, d3; 58.Kh6, Kd4; 59.Kh7, g5; 60.Bd1= and B) 55.Kf3!?, Kc3 (55...Kc4; 56.Kf4=;; 55...Ke5; 56.Kg4=); 56.Ke3, d4; 57.Ke2= | ||||||
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55... Ke3 |
! Now it is all over. | ||||||
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56. Ba2 d4 57. Bg8 |
This is a further waste of time, but nothing helps anyway. | ||||||
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57... d3 58. Kh6 d2 59. Bb3 Ke2 60. Kxh7 g5 |
White resigned. --- I hope you enjoyed the game. What can I say at the end? This was a tense and hard-fought game between evenly matched opponents, which was ultimately decided not by superior skill, but by time trouble and nerves. Nevertheless, it does carry certain learning points: 1. In important team matches, a draw is often a good result (especially for Black) while a loss can be catastrophic - this can greatly influence the amount of risk that players are willing to take 2. Opening preparation is important, but it can be dodged by the opponent so solid backup plan is needed 3. I always strived to have a solid position, which was easier to play and allowed me to be calm for the most part of the game (which was a big factor in the endgame) 4. Bishops have huge advantage over Knights in endgames where there are pawns (especially passers) on both wings 5. Activity of Kings is the key to the endgame --- Thank you for looking over this game, I can answer any questions on private. Regards, Marin Vukusic | ||||||
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