Breaking a fortress
The second-round game between Mukhiddin Madaminov and Sethuraman S.P. saw the former gaining an extra bishop in an endgame with closed pawn structures on both flanks. Winning such a position is seldom trickier than one might expect, since the defending side might have chances to put up a fortress.
Here, for example:
Sethuraman is definitely in trouble, but his 57...Bd6 made things easier for his 17-year-old opponent. Instead, 57...Kh6, planning to simply go back and forth with the king from h5 to h6 would have forced Madaminov to create a more convoluted plan to win the game.
In the line after 57...Kh6, the following position could have been reached with precise play by both sides.
At this point, White needs to give up his dark-squared bishop with 64.Bxb4, effectively breaking Black’s fortress. The passed pawn on the c-file will win the game for White.
This interesting game also incited the curiosity of endgame expert Charles Sullivan, who, among other things, pointed out that exchanging queens to simplify into this endgame setup had been a mistake by the young Uzbek IM.
With an extra bishop, Madaminov here naturally traded queens with 45.Qxg4. However, 45.Kg2 was much stronger, as demonstrated by Sullivan. Incredibly, as the analyses by both experts show, Black could have increased his chances of drawing the game with very precise play in this structure, despite being a piece down!
This is just one of five endgame positions from the Asian Championships analysed by GM Müller. Find the remaining instructive endings in our replayer below.
| Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nc3 d6 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.0-0 e5 8.e4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Re8 10.Qc2 Nc5 11.Nb3 Ne6 12.Rd1 Bd7 13.h3 a5 14.a4 Qc8 15.Be3 Nd8 16.Kh2 Nc6 17.Nd4 Nb4 18.Qd2 Bc6 19.Nxc6 bxc6 20.f4 Qe6 21.Rac1 Nd7 22.Bf2 Rad8 23.b3 Qe7 24.Na2 c5 25.Nxb4 axb4 26.Qc2 Bc3 27.Be1 Bg7 28.Rd2 Nf8 29.Qd3 Ne6 30.Ra2 h5 31.h4 Nd4 32.Bf2 Nc6 33.a5 Ra8 34.e5 Rxa5 35.Rxa5 Nxa5 36.Ra1 dxe5 37.Rxa5 e4 38.Qe2 e3 39.Bg1 Qd6 40.Ra8 Rxa8 41.Bxa8 Bd4 42.Bd5 c6 43.Be4 Qe6 44.Qf3 Qg4 45.Qxg4 hxg4 46.Bd3 f5 47.Kg2 Kg7 48.Kf1 Kh6 49.Ke2 Bf6 50.Bxe3 Be7 51.Kd2 Bd6 52.Bf1 Kg7 53.Bg2 Kf6 54.Bxc6 Kf7 55.Kd3 Be7 56.Kc2 Kg7 57.Be8 57...Bd6?! 57...Kh6!? 58.Kd3 Kh5 59.Bd2 Kh6 60.Bb5 60.Bxb4? cxb4 61.Kd4 Bf6+ 62.Kc5 Bc3= 60...Kh5 61.Bd7 Kh6 62.Bc8 Kh5 62...Kg7 63.h5 Kh7 64.hxg6+ Kxg6 65.Bd7 Bf8 66.Be8+ Kf6 67.Bh5+- 63.Bb7 Kh6 64.Bxb4 cxb4 65.Kd4 Bf6+ 66.Kd5 Bc3 67.c5 Be1 68.c6 Bxg3 69.c7+- 58.h5! 58...gxh5 59.Bxh5 Kh6 60.Bxg4 fxg4 61.Kd3 Kg6 62.Ke4 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
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| Madaminov,M | 2431 | Sethuraman,S | 2606 | 1–0 | 2023 | E68 | | 2 |
| Madaminov,M | 2431 | Sethuraman,S | 2606 | 1–0 | 2023 | E68 | Asian Continental Championship Open 2023 | 2 |
| Daneshvar,B | 2555 | Isanzhulov,A | 2408 | 1–0 | 2023 | A06 | | 2 |
| Orozbaev,E | 2267 | Puranik,A | 2602 | ½–½ | 2023 | C47 | | 1 |
| Tin,J | 2570 | Aitbayev,A | 2416 | 1–0 | 2023 | D52 | | 3 |
| Vokhidov,S | 2583 | Arfan,A | 2416 | 1–0 | 2023 | B43 | | 2 |
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Most players prefer to attack rather than defend. But what is the correct way to do it? GM Dr Karsten Müller has compiled many rules and motifs to guide you, along with sharpening your intuition for the exceptions.
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