The World Cup in knockout format is a gruelling event where the winner has to play nearly seven opponents and beat each one of them to qualify for the next Candidates. Kramnik did that successfully in the year 2013. He was in excellent form as he dispatched one adversary after another. However, even in that situation he was unable to find a winning combination in his game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. We now invite you to solve the same position and see if you can fare better than the Big Vlad!
If you are of the opinion that study like play never occurs in a tournament game, then I invite you to solve the position that was reached between Kramnik, who was playing white against Maxime Vachier Lagrave in round five of the World Cup 2013.
The following position arose three years ago, on the 27th of August 2013, after a long gruelling battle and incessant pressing by White.
White to play, after Black played 61...Kxf7 (capturing a white pawn)
Although he is a pawn and a knight up, White has only one way to win. Can you find it? Before you look at the answer I would motivate you by saying: calculate to the end, because even the great Kramnik couldn't find the win. Here is some pre-analysis:
Being a pawn and a knight up, its easy to think that the win is simply a matter of technique. But the funny thing here is that there is only one way for White to win. As we know, the g5 pawn is the most important asset for White, and a position with R+N vs R is a theoretical draw.
After talking about generalities let's move onto the specifics. Black is threatening Rf5, when the g5 pawn will be lost (62...Rf5 63.g6+ Kg7 or 63.Nh7 Kg6 64.Ra5 and 65...Kxg5).
Of course 62.g6? is a poor move, as after Kg7 the f8 knight is attacked, and if it moves then Kxg6 wins the pawn. 62.Ke2 is also out of question as after 62...Rf5 63.g6 Kg7 the g-pawn is lost and so are the hopes of winning. 62.Nh7 Kg6 63.Rb7 Rh1 is also a draw. So only two logical moves are left to be examined 62.Ke4 and 62.Nd7. You decide which is the correct move!
In the following PGN replay remember that you can analyse by moving pieces on the board and even switching on an engine to help with your analysis. But first go through the game and try to solve the three training questions it poses.
A beautiful study-like position, wouldn't you agree? Even the classy former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik could not find the solution over the board, which just goes to show that with the shorter time controls and such high pressure events, chess can be monstrously difficult!
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