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ANNOTATED GAME
Arm Wrestle
tombulous (1896) vs. archduke_piccolo (2120)
Annotated by: archduke_piccolo
(2340)
Chess opening: French (C04), Tarrasch, Guimard main line
tombulous (1896) vs. archduke_piccolo (2120)
Annotated by: archduke_piccolo
(2340)
Chess opening: French (C04), Tarrasch, Guimard main line
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79... Be3+ |
! - A useful intermezzo. Even if unessential, one should not pass up a tempo if it will help the cause. This check means that even after the removal of the Black pawn, there will still be an obstacle to a straight run by White's a-pawn. Black will have gained an extra move to round up the g-pawn. (Ironically, later on Black 'has' to play a waiting move - a tempo-losing move - but 'time' is one of the three elements of chess: material, space and time). | ||||||||
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80. Kc4 axb4 81. Kxb4 Ke4 |
Any K-move to the 4th rank would have done. | ||||||||
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82. Kb5 Kf5 83. Kc6 |
Aiming for b7, combined with the advance of the a-pawn. Had Black time to snaffle the g-pawn and then to reel in the a-pawn? Let's see, shall we? | ||||||||
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83... Kxg6 84. a5 |
Just two moves and White will have his drawing position of K on b7 and P on a6. Black has, before the pawn can move to a7, to get his knight SAFELY onto one of the squares b5, c6 or c8. How will he achieve that? | ||||||||
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84... Nf5 |
During the game, I thought 84...Ne6 would have been a mistake, but in fact it is just as effective as the text. The aim here is ...Nd6, whence he can choose from the 2 squares b5 and c8 according to which is available. | ||||||||
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85. a6 |
Edges closer, whilst the knight is being held off by the King. No use would have been 85...Kb7 as 86.Nd6ch immediately brought the pawn to book. | ||||||||
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85... Kf6 |
! - | ||||||||
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86. Kb7 |
? - Better was Kd7 or Kd5. White has to be careful himself, here, as he doesn't want his king to be cornered with no escape. Once it becomes clear that Black can stop and win the pawn without the loss of a piece, White could at once take his chances in the infamous king-bishop-knight vs king end game. Though it is a winning endgame, it is not so easy. I have had such endings before - three times, and won all three. But they were all pick-up games, and from positions a deal more favourable to me than would probably have obtained in this game. At this point I was certain we were in for my second ever 100-mover, stretching maybe into 120 moves or more. For the first 100-mover check out: http://gameknot.com/annotation.pl/great-snakes-batman-a-100-mover?gm=18341 | ||||||||
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86... Nd6+ |
After this, Black can not cover both b5 and c8. | ||||||||
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87. Kb8 Nb5 88. Kb7 |
? - Now was White's last chance to prolong the game... | ||||||||
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88... Na7 |
Blockade complete. But it is worse than that. Suddenly White's King can no longer escape into mid-board. It turns out that White had to play 88.a7 to keep some chance, however slender, of saving the game. Would I have won the K-B-N vs K end game? I'm about 75% sure I would have, but that leaves plenty of room for doubt. | ||||||||
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89. Kc7 Ke7 |
How to round up the enemy King. Box him in and and tighten the screws. But be sure to leave him with at least ONE square to move to, until you are ready to deliver the KO. | ||||||||
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90. Kb7 Kd7 91. Ka8 |
There is always the hope I might get careless and play ...Kc7?? Stalemate. | ||||||||
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91... Kc6 |
At this point, White had realised the writing was on the wall and resigned. The game wasn't going to reach 100 moves, neither - I think he might have played it out otherwise. It is a forced mate in 6 more moves, which I'll set down as though they were played. | ||||||||
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92. Kb8 Bd4 |
A waiting move. Equally effective would have been ...Bf2 and ...Bg1, or even ...Bc5. Not ...Bb6, though. There, it would get in the way. | ||||||||
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93. Ka8 Nc8 94. Kb8 |
Not 94.a7 Nb6ch 95.Kb8 Be5# | ||||||||
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94... Nb6 95. Ka7 |
And not 95.a7 this time, neither, as at once would then come 95.Be5#. | ||||||||
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95... Nd7+ 96. Ka8 Kc7 |
Leaving Black with but one move... | ||||||||
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97. a7 Nb6# |
One of those game that I was lucky to win, with nothing much in it - maybe a slight edge for White - for 35 moves, and even when the balance tipped Black's way, it was not easy to see a way to win, even when Black gained a passed pawn of his own. It wasn't until it became clear that White would have to give up a rook to prevent the Black h-pawn's promotion that Black's winning prospects looked realistic. | ||||||||
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puzzle #186195