Chess is a conflict, not between 2 intelligences, but between 2 wills.
Edouard, Romain(2620) vs. Cornette, Matthieu(2543)
85th ch-FRA - Belfort/France
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1  abcdefgh      | This endgame doesn’t look really dangerous for black. Actually there are some dangers. Of course the simplest would be to sacrifice the Knight for the f pawn, but that’s not easy. 38. Rg3 Th8 39. f4 Cb5 40. f5+ Rd7 41. Rg4 Cc7 42. Te5 Tg8+ 43. Rh5 Ce8 checking Rxe8 just in case :-) 44. Rh6 avoiding Ng7+ of course 44... Tg2 45. Ta5 Tg4 46. Td5+ Rc6 47. Te5 and black has to be careful 47... Cd6 ( 47... Rd7?? 48. Txe8 +- ) ( 47... Cc7?? 48. f6 Tf4 49. Rg6 ) 48. Cxd6 Rxd6 ok, it must still be a draw, isn’t it ? 49. Te6+ Rd7 50. Te5 from here both players had to play only with 30 sec per move. Even if it’s only a R+p against R+p endgame, it’s not that easy to play... 50... Rd6 ( 50... a5 running now with the pawn is the simplest 51. f6 ( 51. Txa5 Re7 = ) 51... a4 52. f7 Tf4 53. Rg7 Tg4+ 54. Rf8 a3 = ) 51. Te6+ Rd7 52. Tg6 Tf4 53. f6 a5 black would like to sacrifice his rook and be in time with the King to join the pawn and draw 54. Rg7 a4 55. Tg5 Re6 ( 55... a3 56. Ta5 Tf3 57. f7 Tg3+ 58. Rf8 Tf3 = reaching something very similar to 50...a5 ) 56. Tg3 Rd5? ( 56... Txf6 = was a golden opportunity 57. Te3+ Rd5 58. Rxf6 Rc4 59. Re5 Rb4 maybe black wasn’t sure of this endgame and had no time to check ) 57. Tc3! white keeps on creating problems. Now black can’t sacrifice the rook any more because the a pawn would be lost. 57... Tg4+ ( 57... Rd4 58. Tc8 a3 59. Ta8! +- ) 58. Rf8 Re6 it seems the black King is not sure what to do : trying to join the a pawn or trying to stop the f pawn ( 58... Tc4 59. Tf3 Tc8+ 60. Rg7 Rc4 = ) 59. f7 Tb4? ( 59... Tf4 = 60. Re8 Txf7 with the same idea than some moves ago 61. Te3+ Rd5 = ) 60. Tc6+ ( 60. Tf3 Rd5 61. Rg7 Tb8 62. Tf4 Ta8 63. Txa4 Txa4 64. f8=D +- ) 60... Rd7 61. Ta6? giving a last chance to his opponent ( 61. Tf6 was the good way to proceed 61... Tg4 62. Ta6 +- ) 61... Tg4 62. Ta7+ Rd8? the final mistake, not the easiest to avoid ( 62... Rd6 63. Re8 Te4+ 64. Rd8 Tf4 = ) 63. Ta5! Rd7 64. Ta6 and suddenly black is in zugzwang and lose the game ! 64... Rd8 65. Td6+ Rc7 66. Re7 So, keep on trying and believe in your position ! 1-0 |
About a matter of will :
ReplyDelete- in the previous New in Chess there is an article about Bent Larsen and the title is : the will to win!
- Romain Edouard is a very good example. In the next day he lost an exchange against Hamdouchi but smashed him in the zeitnot.
- The tenacity of Nakamura defending his losing rook ending against Van Wely yesterday, and drawing it, is worthwhile too.
- Carlsen's attitude in a lot of games may be the best modern example.
- If you look at the past, of course Fischer and Kasparov :-)