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ANNOTATED GAME
"Great Snakes, Batman! A 100-mover!"
sago (1964) vs. ionadowman (2024)
Annotated by: archduke_piccolo
(2332)
Chess opening: Robatsch (modern) defence (B06)
sago (1964) vs. ionadowman (2024)
Annotated by: archduke_piccolo
(2332)
Chess opening: Robatsch (modern) defence (B06)
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80... a2 |
So close! Surely White must quickly be doomed? Not so. White's little army prove to be stout defenders. | |||||||
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81. Bb2 Rc2 82. Bd4 |
White's pieces are centralised, yet well within reach of the decisive theatre of war. Meanwhile, Black's K is far from the scene of action. Is White OK after all? | |||||||
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82... b5 83. Nb4 Rg2 |
Hoping to break up White's harmonious defence by inducing 84.Kf3? Rg4! 85.Nc2 Rxd4!! 86.Nxd4 Ke5 and if 87.Nb3 Kd5 or 87.Nc2 b4! 88.Na1 Kd4 wins. | |||||||
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84. Bh8 |
Nothing doing. | |||||||
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84... Rg3+ 85. Kd2 Rg1 86. Nc2 |
(!?) A crucial decision. Well, I thought so, at the time. At this point I was worried that White might be tough-minded enough to try 86.Nxa2 Rg2 87.Kc3 Rxa2 88.Kb4 leaving Black with a R b-P vs B endgame - notoriously difficult to win. I spent quite a bit of time on this ending after 88...Ra8 89.Bg7 (say) Ra7 90.Bd4 Rb7. Black's plan would then be to bring the K over to defend the pawn (no trivial task when the WK has access to c5!), so that the rook would then be free to clear a path to the queening square. As it transpired, the game would have been winnable, but the process would have been a long one. | |||||||
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86... Rb1 |
Threatens ...b4. | |||||||
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87. Na1 Ke4 |
Bringing in the reserves. | |||||||
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88. Kc2 Kd5 89. Nb3 Rh1 |
Once again threatens ...b4. White tries to hold this up for as long as he can. | |||||||
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90. Bc3 Rh2+ 91. Bd2 |
If instead 91.Kd3, Black can play ...b4 at once (92.Bxb4 Rb2! 93.Kc3 Rxb3 ) or 91...Rh3 92.Kc2 b4! 93.Bg7 Kc4 etc. | |||||||
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91... Rh3 92. Bc3 b4 |
(!) A tactical shot similar to the last note to clear Black's path. 93.Bxb4 Rxb3 wins quickly. | |||||||
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93. Bb2 |
(!) | |||||||
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93... Kc4 94. Nd2+ Kb5 95. Nb3 Rh2+ 96. Kc1 |
Slowly, White is being driven back. The bishop has to be preserved. | |||||||
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96... Rg2 |
(!) Purely a waiting move, to place White in "Zugzwang". Had Black played at once 96....Ka4, 97.Nc5 would have driven him back, since the a3-square is inaccessible. But now White has to slacken his guard over that square. | |||||||
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97. Bh8 Ka4 98. Na1 |
Now if 98.Nc5 Ka3, end of story. | |||||||
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98... b3 99. Bd4 |
To guard g1, and prevent 99...Rg1 100.Kb2 Rb1 101.Kc3 b2 (or 101...Rxa1). If 100.Kd2 Rb1 wins just the same. | |||||||
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99... Kb4 |
(!) Another waiting move, to force the removal of the bishop's ward on g1. But isn't the simpler 99...Rh2 just as effective, since there can be no posssible guard against Rh1 ? There is a slight difference: 99...Rh2? 100.Bb2 Rh1 101.Kd2 Rb1 102.Kc3 (=). Black's 99th move prevents the WK reaching the c3-square. | |||||||
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100. Bb2 |
Now that White has been driven in to his last lines of defence, Black launches the final assault. | |||||||
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100... Rg1+ 101. Kd2 Rb1 102. Bc3+ Kc4 103. Bh8 b2 |
Having opened with a Great Snake, there is something python-like about this final image: the dark diagonal forming the slender body, and the jaws agape, about to engulf the White knight. There's no stopping the pawns now. After, say, 104.Nc2 Black had the pleasant choice of the spectacular: 104...Rd1 ! 105.Kxd1 b1=Q ; or the simple: 104...a1=Q 105.Nxa1 bxa1=Q 106.Bxa1 Rxa1 with an elementary K R vs K win. Of course I would have gone for simple. White resigned at this point. (0-1) | |||||||
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