Karsten Müller: endgames from current events

[Event "FIDE GP Beijing"] [Site "Beijing CHN"] [Date "2013.07.07"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Wang, Yue"] [Black "Kamsky, Gata"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A35"] [WhiteElo "2705"] [BlackElo "2763"] [Annotator "Mueller,Karsten"] [PlyCount "161"] [EventDate "2013.07.04"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. e3 Bg7 5. d4 d6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Nf6 8. b3 O-O 9. Bb2 b6 10. Qd2 Bb7 11. d5 exd5 12. cxd5 Nb4 13. e4 Re8 14. a3 Na6 15. Bd3 Nc7 16. Rfe1 Qd7 17. Rad1 Ng4 18. a4 a6 19. Nb1 f6 20. Na3 b5 21. h3 Nh6 22. Bxf6 Bxf6 23. Qxh6 Bb2 24. Nc2 Rf8 25. Ne3 Qg7 26. Qg5 Rad8 27. axb5 Nxb5 28. Nc4 Bc3 29. Re3 h6 30. Qg3 g5 31. Bf1 Bf6 32. Na5 Nd4 33. Nc6 Bxc6 34. dxc6 Nxc6 35. Bc4+ Kh7 36. Rxd6 Be5 37. Nxe5 Rxd6 38. Nxc6 Qa1+ 39. Kh2 Rxc6 40. e5 Qd4 41. Rd3 Qf4 42. Rd7+ Kh8 43. e6 Qxg3+ 44. Kxg3 Re8 45. Kg4 Rcxe6 46. Bxe6 Rxe6 47. Kh5 Rc6 48. g3 Kg8 49. Re7 Kf8 50. Rh7 Rf6 51. g4 a5 52. Rb7 Ke8 53. Rb5 Rxf2 54. Kxh6 Rf3 55. Kxg5 Rxh3 56. Kg6 Rc3 57. g5 Kd7 58. Kf5 Kc6 59. Rb8 {Wang's King on Wheels In rook endings the activty of the king often plays a crucial role:} a4 $2 {This pawn sacrifice loses as White's a-pawn is very dangerous.} ({If Black wants to give a pawn then} 59... c4 60. bxc4 (60. g6 $6 Rxb3 $11) 60... a4 {was the right way, e.g.} 61. Ra8 (61. g6 Rg3 62. Ra8 a3 { transposes.}) 61... a3 62. g6 Rg3 63. Kf6 Kc5 64. g7 Rf3+ (64... Kxc4 $2 65. Rxa3 $18) 65. Ke7 Rg3 66. Rc8+ (66. g8=Q Rxg8 67. Rxg8 Kxc4 68. Rg3 Kb4 $11) 66... Kb4 67. Kf7 a2 68. Ra8 Rf3+ 69. Kg8 Rf2 $11) (59... Rg3 {is playable as well:} 60. g6 Kc7 61. Rb5 Kc6 62. Rxa5 Rxb3 63. g7 Rb8 64. Kf6 Kd5 65. Kf7 Kd4 66. g8=Q Rxg8 67. Kxg8 c4 $11) 60. bxa4 Rf3+ 61. Ke6 Re3+ 62. Kf6 Rf3+ 63. Kg7 c4 64. g6 Kc5 ({After} 64... c3 {White's king hides in front of the g-pawn:} 65. Kh7 Rh3+ 66. Kg8 Kd5 67. g7 Kd4 68. Rc8 Kd3 69. a5 Rh5 70. a6 Ra5 71. Kf7 Rf5+ 72. Kg6 $18) 65. a5 Kd4 (65... c3 66. a6 Rd3 67. Kh6 Rh3+ 68. Kg5 Rg3+ 69. Kf4 Rxg6 70. a7 Ra6 71. a8=Q Rxa8 72. Rxa8 $18) 66. Rc8 $5 Ra3 67. Kf6 Rf3+ 68. Ke6 Rg3 69. Kf5 Rf3+ {Now the king comes back to fight against Black's passed pawn:} 70. Kg4 Rf1 71. a6 Ra1 (71... Rg1+ 72. Kf5 Rf1+ 73. Ke6 Rg1 74. Kf7 Rf1+ 75. Ke7 Re1+ 76. Kd7 Rg1 77. a7 $18) 72. Kf3 (72. g7 $4 Rg1+ $11) 72... Ra3+ ( 72... Rxa6 73. g7 Rg6 74. g8=Q Rxg8 75. Rxg8 Kd3 76. Rd8+ Kc2 77. Ke2 c3 78. Rc8 $18) 73. Ke2 Re3+ (73... Ra2+ 74. Kd1 Kd3 75. Rd8+ Kc3 76. g7 $18) 74. Kd2 Re7 ({Against} 74... c3+ {the nice king dance} 75. Kc2 Re2+ 76. Kb3 Rb2+ 77. Ka3 Rb6 78. g7 Rxa6+ 79. Kb3 Rb6+ 80. Kc2 Rb2+ 81. Kc1 $18 {does the job.}) 75. Rd8+ Kc5 76. Rg8 Kb4 77. g7 Ka5 (77... c3+ 78. Kc2 Re2+ 79. Kd3 c2 80. Rb8+ Ka3 81. a7 $18) 78. Kc3 Rc7 79. a7 Rxa7 80. Kxc4 Ka6 81. Kd5 (81. Kd5 Ka5 82. Ke6 Ra6+ 83. Kf5 Ra7 84. Kg6 Ra6+ 85. Kh7 $18) 1-0

[Event "FIDE GP Beijing"] [Site "Beijing CHN"] [Date "2013.07.10"] [Round "6"] [White "Wang Yue"] [Black "Wang Hao"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D24"] [WhiteElo "2705"] [BlackElo "2752"] [Annotator "Mueller,Karsten"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2013.07.04"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. g3 a6 6. Bg2 Nbd7 7. O-O Rb8 8. a4 Bb4 9. Qc2 O-O 10. Rd1 b5 11. axb5 axb5 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14. Be3 Bb7 15. Bxb7 Rxb7 16. Qe4 c6 17. Qxc6 Qc8 18. Qxc8 Rxc8 19. Nxb5 Nxe5 20. Na7 Rf8 21. Bd4 f6 22. Rdc1 Ra8 23. Bxe5 fxe5 24. Nc6 Rxa1 25. Rxa1 Bf8 26. Ra2 Rb5 27. Kf1 h6 28. h4 g6 29. Ra4 Rc5 30. Na5 c3 31. bxc3 Rxc3 32. Nc4 Bg7 33. Nd6 Rc6 34. Ra8+ Bf8 35. Ne4 Rc4 36. Nd2 Rd4 37. Nf3 Rd5 38. Ra4 Kf7 39. Kg2 Bg7 40. Ne1 Bf6 41. Kf3 Rd7 42. Nd3 h5 43. Nc5 Rc7 44. Ne4 Ke7 45. Ra5 Bg7 46. Ra6 Bf6 47. Rb6 Kf7 48. e3 Be7 49. Rb5 Bf6 50. Kg2 {Good knight bad bishop As White's knight is much better than the bishop, it is not easy to defend despite the reduced material:} Rc6 $2 {The first concession.} ({Black should wait with} 50... Kg7) ({or with} 50... Ke7) 51. Rb7+ Be7 52. Kf3 Ra6 53. Nc5 Ra5 54. Nd7 Ke8 55. Ke4 Bd6 $2 {Now Wang Yue can regroup his knight forcefully, which will win a pawn under favorable circumstances.} ({So the pawn should be sacrificed immediately with} 55... Ra4+ $1 56. Kxe5 Kf7 {and it is not clear, if White can win as now Black's pieces cooperate well in defense, e.g.} 57. Nb8 Rc4 58. f4 Ke8 59. Nd7 Kf7 60. Ra7 Rb4 61. Nc5 Rb5 62. Kd4 Rb4+ 63. Kd3 Rb5 64. Nd7 Rb3+ 65. Ke2 (65. Ke4 Ke8 66. Kf3 Rd3 67. Ne5 Rxe3+ 68. Kxe3 Bc5+ 69. Ke4 Bxa7 70. Nxg6 Kf7 71. Ne5+ Kf6) 65... Ke8 66. Kf2 Rb2+ 67. Kf3 Rb3 68. g4 hxg4+ 69. Kxg4 Rxe3 70. Ne5 Ra3 71. Rb7 Bf6 72. Nxg6 Ra1 {and Black can defend in both cases.}) 56. Nf6+ Kf8 57. Nh7+ {Wang Hao's resignation was a bit premature, but White should indeed be winning in the long run, e.g.} (57. Nh7+ Kg8 (57... Ke8 58. Ng5 Be7 (58... Ra4+ 59. Kf3 e4+ (59... Be7 60. Rb8+ Kd7 61. Ne4 Rc4 62. Rg8 $18) 60. Kg2 Be7 61. Nxe6 Ra5 62. Nf4 g5 63. hxg5 Rxg5 64. Rb8+ Kf7 65. Rh8 Bd6 66. Nxh5 Be5 67. Rh6 $18) 59. Nxe6 Bf6 60. f3 {This puts Black in zugzwang. } Ra2 (60... Bh8 61. g4 Ra4+ 62. Kd5 hxg4 63. fxg4 Ra5+ (63... Rxg4 $2 64. Kd6 $18) 64. Nc5 $18) 61. Nc7+ Kf8 62. Kd5 Kg8 63. Ke6 Bg7 64. e4 Rg2 (64... Ra3 65. g4 Rxf3 66. Ne8 Bh8 67. g5 Rf8 68. Re7 $18) 65. f4 exf4 66. gxf4 Ra2 67. e5 Ra4 68. Nd5 Ra6+ 69. Rb6 $18) 58. Ng5 Ra4+ 59. Kd3 Ra3+ (59... Rb4 60. Rf7 $16) 60. Ke2 Ra2+ 61. Kf1 Ra6 62. Nxe6 Bf8 63. Ng5 $16 {and White's king should be able to invade Black's camp sooner or later.}) 1-0

[Event "Renova FIDE GP Zug"] [Site "Zug SUI"] [Date "2013.04.21"] [Round "4"] [White "Morozevich, A."] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E34"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2786"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2013.04.18"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. Nf3 Qf5 7. Qb3 Nc6 8. Bd2 O-O 9. Rc1 Bd6 10. h3 e5 11. g4 Qd7 12. g5 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 exd4 14. gxf6 dxc3 15. Bxc3 Re8 16. Qd5 Qf5 17. Qxf5 Bxf5 18. fxg7 c6 19. Rg1 Be5 20. e3 Rad8 21. h4 Rd6 22. Bxe5 Rxe5 23. h5 h6 24. Be2 Be6 25. Rd1 Rxd1+ 26. Bxd1 Bxa2 27. Bc2 Rg5 28. Rxg5 hxg5 29. h6 Be6 30. b4 b6 31. Kd2 a5 32. bxa5 bxa5 33. e4 f6 { Morozevich's March In bishop endings the invasion of the king is often one winning plan:} 34. Ke3 $2 {The king takes the wrong route.} ({It should head for the queenside instead:} 34. Kc3 $1 c5 (34... Bf7 35. Ba4 Kh7 36. Bb3 Bg8 ( 36... Kxh6 37. Bxf7 Kxg7 38. Be8 c5 39. Kc4 Kf8 40. Ba4 Ke7 41. Kxc5 Ke6 42. Kd4 $18) 37. f3 c5 38. Bd5 a4 39. Kc4 a3 40. Bxg8+ Kxg8 41. Kb3 $18) (34... g4 35. Ba4 Kh7 36. Bb3 Bg8 37. Kc2 c5 38. Bd5 Kxh6 39. Bxg8 Kxg7 40. Be6 $18) 35. e5 fxe5 36. Be4 {and Black will fall in zugzwang sooner or later:} g4 (36... c4 37. Kb2 Bf7 38. Ka3 Be8 39. Bf5 c3 40. Kb3 $18) 37. Kb2 c4 (37... a4 38. Ka3 Bb3 39. Bf5 Kf7 40. Bh7 Kf6 41. g8=Q Bxg8 42. Bxg8 e4 43. Kxa4 $18) 38. Ka3 c3 39. Ka4 c2 40. Bxc2 Bd5 41. Kb5 a4 42. Kc5 Bb3 (42... a3 43. Kxd5 a2 44. Bb3 a1=Q 45. Ke4+ Kh7 46. g8=Q+ Kxh6 47. Kf5 Qb1+ 48. Kf6 $18) 43. Bf5 Kf7 (43... e4 44. Bxe4 a3 45. Kb4 a2 46. Kxb3 a1=Q 47. Bd5+ Kh7 48. g8=Q+ Kxh6 49. Qf8+ $18) 44. Bh7 Kf6 45. g8=Q Bxg8 46. Bxg8 a3 47. Kb4 Kg6 (47... e4 48. Kxa3 e3 49. fxe3 g3 50. Bd5 $18) 48. h7 a2 49. Bxa2 ({The underpromotion} 49. h8=N+ { wins as well.}) 49... Kxh7 50. Be6 $18) 34... Kh7 35. e5+ f5 (35... Kxh6 { draws as well, e.g.} 36. Bf5 (36. exf6 a4 37. Bxa4 Kg6 38. Bxc6 Kxf6 39. Bd7 Bg8 $11) 36... Bg8 37. e6 Kxg7 38. e7 Kf7 39. Be6+ Kxe7 40. Bxg8 a4 41. Ke4 Kf8 42. Ba2 Kg7 43. Kf5 Kh6 44. Kxf6 Kh5 45. Kf5 Kh4 $11) 36. Kd4 Kxh6 37. Bxf5 Bd5 38. Bc2 (38. e6 Kxg7 39. Ke5 a4 40. e7 Bf7 41. Be6 a3 42. f3 $11) 38... Kxg7 39. Kc5 {The king continues his long march, but Black will managed to exchange all pawns.} g4 40. Kd6 Kh6 41. e6 Bxe6 42. Kxe6 g3 (42... Kg5 43. Ke5 Kh4 44. Kf4 Kh3 45. Bf5 Kg2 46. Ke3 g3 47. Be4+ Kh3 48. f4 a4 49. f5 a3 50. f6 a2 51. f7 a1=Q 52. f8=Q $11) 43. fxg3 Kg5 44. Bd1 a4 45. Bxa4 Kg4 46. Bxc6 Kxg3 1/2-1/2

[Event "Renova FIDE GP Zug"] [Site "Zug SUI"] [Date "2013.04.23"] [Round "5"] [White "Giri, A."] [Black "Morozevich, A."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E65"] [WhiteElo "2727"] [BlackElo "2758"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2013.04.18"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 c5 6. O-O d6 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. dxc5 dxc5 9. Bf4 Nd4 10. Nxd4 cxd4 11. Na4 Qa5 12. c5 Rd8 13. Rc1 Nd5 14. Bd2 Qa6 15. b4 b5 16. Nb2 Be6 17. Qc2 Rac8 18. Nd1 Nf6 19. Bg5 Bf5 20. Qd2 h5 21. Re1 Ne4 22. Bxe4 Bxe4 23. Bxe7 Re8 24. Bd6 Bb7 25. f3 Qc6 26. Bf4 Re6 27. Nf2 Rce8 28. h4 Re3 29. Nh3 Ra3 30. Ng5 f6 31. Nh3 Qe6 32. Nf2 Rxa2 33. Qxd4 g5 34. c6 Bxc6 35. Qd6 Bd5 36. Qxe6+ Rxe6 37. e4 gxf4 38. exd5 Rxe1+ 39. Rxe1 { Morozevich's mighty bishop In endgames with rook and bishop against rook and knight the activity of the minor pieces is often very important:} f5 $1 {This frees the bishop and restricts White's knight at the same time.} (39... fxg3 $2 40. Ne4 f5 41. Nxg3 Bd4+ 42. Kf1 Rf2+ 43. Kg1 Rxf3+ 44. Kg2 Rf2+ 45. Kh3 {and}) (39... Bf8 $2 40. Rb1 {are also better for Black, but White can offer more resistance.}) 40. Rd1 {This is too slow, but the alternativs do not help either:} (40. gxf4 {is met by} Bd4 {and the pin decides, e.g.} 41. Rf1 Kf7 42. Kg2 Ke7 43. Kg3 Bxf2+ 44. Rxf2 Rxf2 45. Kxf2 Kd6 46. Ke3 Kxd5 47. Kd3 Kc6 48. Kd4 Kb6 $19) (40. d6 fxg3 41. Re8+ Kf7 42. d7 Bf6 43. d8=Q Bxd8 44. Rxd8 Rxf2 $19) 40... fxg3 41. Nh3 (41. Nh1 f4 42. d6 Ra1 43. Rxa1 Bxa1 44. d7 Bf6 $19) 41... Bc3 42. d6 Bxb4 43. Rd5 (43. d7 $2 {runs into} Bc5+ 44. Kf1 (44. Kh1 Rh2# ) 44... g2+ 45. Ke1 Bf2+ 46. Nxf2 g1=Q#) 43... Ba5 44. d7 Bb6+ 45. Kf1 (45. Kh1 $2 Rh2#) 45... g2+ 46. Ke1 Bd8 47. Rxf5 Ba5+ {Morozevich chooses the check from the queenside. He can also opt for the check from the kingside:} (47... Bxh4+ 48. Kd1 Ra1+ 49. Kc2 Rh1 50. Rxh5 Bd8 $19) 48. Kd1 Rd2+ 49. Kc1 Rxd7 50. Rxb5 Bb6 51. Rxh5 (51. Rg5+ Rg7 $19) 51... Rg7 (51... g1=Q+ {is also possible immediately due to} 52. Nxg1 Bxg1 53. Rg5+ Rg7 $19) 52. Kd2 Rg3 53. Rg5+ Rxg5 54. hxg5 Kg7 55. Kd3 g1=Q {Finally Morozevich cashes in.} 56. Nxg1 Bxg1 57. f4 Kg6 (57... Kg6 {and Giri resigned as he will fall in zugzwang sooner or later, e.g.} 58. Ke4 Bb6 59. Ke5 Bc7+ 60. Ke4 Bb8 61. Kf3 Kf5 $19) 0-1