The Practical Endgame / Instruction
Problems: Find the Resource!
Each month GM Naroditsky will present two problems taken from actual games that illustrate the theme of this month’s column. Your task is to find the best line of play. Problem I should be solveable by a player at roughly a 1500 rating and Problem II by a player roughly at a 2000 rating.
See the solutions on page 71.
46. Bxf4 Bd4 47. Bc7! the win is a matter of straightforward technique. Quite an amazing and instructive ex -
change of mutual blunders! As it turns out, the fun is just beginning.
41. ... Kf6
Stabilizing the situation. Now, of course, 42. Bb5 is no longer effective. 42. Be1
Creating the rather prosaic threat of Bh4(+)-Bd8, and setting a vicious trap … 42. ... Kg5??
WHITE TO MOVE 43. ... Kf6 44. Be1 Bh6!
Reshevsky does not repeat the same mistake twice, and Denker chooses the worst moment to plant a bishop on b5.
45. Bb5
At the worst possible moment! 45. ... Bxb5+ 46. axb5
BLACK TO MOVE
a2 54. Bc3 Bc5, when there is no way to stop the threats of … Bd4 and … Bg1. In principle, Occam’s Razor does apply
to endgames; it is obviously to reach a desired position while allowing the least amount of tactical complications. After calculating (and incorrectly ruling out) 46. ... Ke6, Reshevsky probably started looking for a way to eliminate the d6-pawn without allowing Bh4-d8. Such a way does indeed exist:
46. ... Bg5?? Another disastrous blunder, and anoth -
er instructive moment. In his quest to prevent White’s bishop from reaching h4, Reshevsky simply forgot about the second tactical idea at White’s disposal:
47. Bxa5! Black is not completely out of the woods.
... which Reshevsky falls right into! Once again, Black simply cannot afford to keep his king and bishop so far away from the d-pawn. 42. ... Bh6 was called for, when 43. Bh4+ is met by 43. ... Bg5 and White can make no further progress.
43. Bc3?? Such negligent play is seldom seen at
a grandmaster level, and it is definitely painful to watch. However, through the lens of this comedy of errors, we can see just how important it is to approach every endgame position from a concrete per- spective. 43. Bb5 wins in a familiar manner: 43. ... Be6 (43. ... Bxb5 44. axb5 Bf6 45. Bc3 is even stronger than last time) 44. d7 Bf6 45. Bc3 Kg6 46. Bb2! with a Zugzwang we have all come to love: 47. Bxe5 will follow regardless of Black’s move!
The natural 46. ... Ke6 meets with 47. Bh4 Kxd6 48. Bd8, when his entire queen- side pawn chain falls apart. Reshevsky clearly evaluated this position as better (or even winning) for White, overlooking an elegant tactical sequence that saves the day: 48. ... c4! 49. bxc4 a4 50. Bxb6 (or 50. Kd3 a3 51. Kc2 a2 52. Kb2 Kc5 53. Kxa2 Kxc4 54. Bxb6 Kxb5 with a draw) 50. ... a3 51. c5+ Ke6 52. Ba5 and now the simple 52. ... Bf8! forces White to give up his c-pawn:
Problem I: 1500 Level GM Hikaru Nakamura (FIDE 2775) GM Michael Adams (FIDE 2745) London Classic, 12.13.2014
Problem II: 2000 Level IM Karthikeyan Murali (FIDE 2497) GM Pavel Eljanov (FIDE 2719) Qatar Masters, 11.26.2014
Snap, crackle, pop! The king obstructs
its own loyal servant from reaching d8, and neither piece can stop the b-pawn after 47. ... bxa5 48. b6. The game is over.
47. ... Ke6 48. Bxb6 Kxd6 49. Kd3 Bh4 50. Kc4 Bf2 51. b4
The final blow.
51. ... Ke6 52. Bxc5 Bg3 53. Bg1 Kd6 54. b6 Be1 55. Kb5, Black resigned.
The avaricious 53. c6?? loses after 53. ...
As we know, endgames demand total concentration and precise calculation on every single move. In many cases, espe- cially when the result of the game hinges on one particular tactical resource, there is simply no room for intuition.
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