The power of passed pawns
Two mobile connected passed pawns are very dangerous:
[Event "FIDE World Cup 2013"] [Site "Tromso NOR"] [Date "2013.08.17"] [Round
"3.16"] [White "Vitiugov, Nikita"] [Black "Morozevich, Alexander"] [Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E43"] [PlyCount "192"] [EventDate "2013.08.11"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3.
Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. e3 Bb7 6. Bd3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6 8. O-O O-O 9. Nd2 e5 10.
e4 Nc6 11. Bb2 Re8 12. Re1 Na5 13. Qc2 Ba6 14. Rad1 Qd7 15. Bf1 c5 16. g3 Re7
17. Bc1 h6 18. d5 Nh7 19. f3 Rb8 20. Re3 Qe8 21. Rde1 Nf6 22. Qd1 Qd7 23. h3
Nh5 24. Kh2 Rf8 25. h4 Bc8 26. Qc2 f6 27. Nb3 Nb7 28. Qf2 Qa4 29. Kg1 f5 30.
exf5 Bxf5 31. Qh2 Bg6 32. f4 Nf6 33. Qe2 Bh5 34. Qg2 Ng4 35. R3e2 Ref7 36. Rb2
Nd8 37. Bd3 Re7 38. Rbe2 Rfe8 39. Rf1 e4 40. Rxe4 Rxe4 41. Bxe4 Qxc4 42. Bf3
Qxc3 43. Qd2 Qxd2 44. Nxd2 Nf6 45. Bg2 Bf7 46. Nc4 Nb7 47. Ne3 h5 48. Rd1 b5
49. Bf1 c4 50. a4 a6 51. axb5 axb5 52. Bd2 Nc5 53. Nf5 Nce4 54. Bb4 Rd8 55.
Bg2 g6 56. Ne7+ Kf8 57. Nc6 Ra8 58. Bxe4 Nxe4 59. Rd4 Nxg3 60. Bxd6+ Ke8 61.
Rd1 Ra2 62. Bb4 Ne2+ 63. Kf1 Ng3+ 64. Kg1 Rb2 65. Re1+ Ne2+ 66. Kf1 Bxd5 67.
Bc3 Rb1 68. Rxb1 Nxc3 69. Re1+ Kd7 70. Nb4 Kd6 71. Re5 Kc5 72. Na6+ Kd4 73.
Ke1 {The power of passed pawns Two mobile connected passed pawns are very dangerous:}
Bc6 $2 {Morozevich misses} (73... Be4 $1 {when his pawns will win, e.g.} 74.
Nb4 (74. Nc7 b4 75. Ne6+ Ke3 76. Rc5 Bd5 77. Nc7 Kd4 $19) ( 74. Nc7 b4 75. Kd2
Bf5 76. Re8 Ne4+ 77. Kc1 c3 78. Rb8 Ng3 79. Rxb4+ Kd3 80. Rb3 Kc4 81. Rb6 Ne2+
82. Kd1 Nd4 83. Kc1 Be4 84. Ne6 Ne2+ 85. Kd1 c2+ 86. Kxe2 c1=Q $19) 74... Nd5
75. Nxd5 Bxd5 76. Kd2 c3+ 77. Kc2 b4 $19) 74. Nb4 Be4 75. Kd2 Nd5 76. Nc6+ Kc5
77. Rxe4 Kxc6 78. Re6+ Kc5 79. Rxg6 b4 80. f5 b3 (80... c3+ 81. Kc2 Ne3+ 82.
Kb3 c2 (82... Nxf5 $4 83. Rg5 $18) 83. Rg1 Nxf5 84. Kxc2 Nxh4 $11) 81. f6 c3+
82. Kc1 Nf4 83. Rg1 $1 {The only way to deal with Black's passed pawns.} (83.
Rg3 $2 Ne2+ 84. Kd1 c2+ (84... Nxg3 $2 85. f7 Kd4 86. f8=Q c2+ 87. Kd2 Ne4+
88. Kc1 Nc5 $11) 85. Kxe2 c1=Q 86. f7 Qc4+ $19) (83. Rg5+ $2 Kc4 84. f7 Nd3+
85. Kd1 c2+ 86. Ke2 c1=Q 87. f8=Q Qe1+ 88. Kf3 Qf2+ 89. Ke4 Qxf8 $19) 83...
Kd6 ({The fork} 83... Ne2+ $4 {even loses to} 84. Kd1 Nxg1 85. f7 c2+ 86. Kd2
Ne2 87. f8=Q+ $18) 84. Rf1 (84. f7 $2 Nd3+ 85. Kd1 Ke7 86. Rf1 Kf8 87. Ke2 Nb4
88. Rc1 b2 89. Rb1 c2 90. Rxb2 c1=Q 91. Rxb4 Qc2+ $19) 84... Nd3+ 85. Kd1 (85.
Kb1 $4 c2+ 86. Ka1 b2+ 87. Ka2 c1=Q $19) 85... c2+ $1 ({Of course not} 85...
Ne5 $4 86. f7 Nxf7 87. Rxf7 $18) 86. Kd2 c1=Q+ 87. Rxc1 Nxc1 88. Kxc1 Ke6 89.
Kb2 Kxf6 90. Kxb3 Kf5 91. Kc2 Kg4 92. Kd2 Kxh4 93. Ke2 Kg3 94. Kf1 h4 95. Kg1
h3 96. Kh1 h2 1/2-1/2
The tragedy of one tempo
In opposite colored bishop endings positional considerations are often more
important than material:
[Event "FIDE World Cup 2013"] [Site "Tromso NOR"] [Date "2013.08.13"] [Round
"1.4"] [White "Kamsky, Gata"] [Black "Lou, Yiping"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO
"D03"] [WhiteElo "2741"] [BlackElo "2484"] [PlyCount "176"] [EventDate "2013.08.11"]
[Source "Chess Today"] [SourceDate "2013.08.13"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5
Bg7 4. Nbd2 d5 5. e3 O-O 6. Be2 c5 7. c3 Qb6 8. Qb3 c4 9. Qa3 Nc6 10. b3 cxb3
11. axb3 Re8 12. b4 h6 13. Bh4 e5 14. b5 exd4 15. cxd4 Ne7 16. O-O Nf5 17. Bxf6
Bxf6 18. Bd3 Nd6 19. Rfb1 Be6 20. Nb3 Nc4 21. Qc1 Be7 22. Nbd2 Rac8 23. Qd1
Bf8 24. h3 Rc7 25. Qa4 Nxd2 26. Nxd2 Rc3 27. Rb3 Rec8 28. Rxc3 Rxc3 29. Bf1
Qc7 30. Nf3 Rc2 31. Ne1 Rc1 32. Nd3 Rxa1 33. Qxa1 b6 34. Nf4 Bd6 35. Nxe6 fxe6
36. h4 h5 37. Bd3 Kg7 38. Qb1 Qf7 39. Qc2 Be7 40. g3 Bf6 41. Qc6 Qe7 42. Qc2
Qf7 43. Qc8 Qe7 44. Qc6 Qf7 45. Bf1 Qe7 46. Bh3 Kf7 47. Qc8 Bg7 48. Kh2 Bf6
49. Kg2 Bg7 50. g4 hxg4 51. Bxg4 Bf6 52. Kh3 e5 53. dxe5 Qxe5 54. Qd7+ Be7 55.
Kg2 d4 56. exd4 Qe4+ 57. Kg3 Qd3+ 58. Bf3 Qa3 59. Kg4 Qd6 60. Qxd6 Bxd6 61.
Be4 Bb4 62. f4 Kf6 63. d5 Bd6 64. f5 gxf5+ 65. Bxf5 Ke5 66. Be6 Bb4 67. Bf7
Bc5 68. Bg8 Bb4 69. Kg5 Be7+ 70. Kh5 Kf5 71. Bf7 Ke5 72. Be6 {The tragedy of
one tempo In opposite colored bishop endings positional considerations are often
more important than material:} Kf4 $2 {A step in the wrong direction.} (72...
Kd6 {draws due to the counterplay on the queenside:} 73. Kg4 Kc5 74. Bd7 Kxd5
75. h5 Ke5 76. h6 Kf6 77. Kh5 Bc5 $11) 73. d6 $3 { Kamsky seizes the moment
to break the blockade forcefully.} Bxd6 (73... Bd8 { is met by} 74. Bc8 Ke5
75. d7 Kd6 76. Kg4 Ke5 77. Bb7 Kf6 78. h5 Kg7 79. Kf5 Kh6 80. Bf3 $18) 74. Kg6
Ke5 75. Bh3 $2 {But this loses one all important tempo.} (75. Bc8 $1 {wins,
e.g.} Kd4 (75... a5 76. bxa6 Bb8 77. h5 $18) (75... Bc5 76. h5 a5 77. bxa6 b5
78. h6 Kd6 79. h7 Bd4 80. a7 $18) 76. h5 Kc5 77. Ba6 {Now Black's counterplay
is stopped for good.} Kd5 78. h6 Ke6 79. Kg7 $18) 75... Bc5 76. h5 (76. Bc8
Kd6 77. Kf7 a5 78. bxa6 b5 79. h5 Kc7 80. Be6 Kb6 $11 ) 76... Bd4 77. h6 Kd6
78. Kf7 ({Black's king is now in time after} 78. Bc8 Ke7 79. h7 Kf8 $11) 78...
a5 $1 {Black must get counterplay immediately to overload White's bishop.} 79.
bxa6 (79. h7 $2 {even loses to} a4 80. Be6 Kc5 81. Ke7 a3 82. Ba2 Kxb5 83. Kd6
Kb4 84. Kd5 Bh8 85. Kc6 b5 86. Bg8 Ka4 $19) 79... b5 80. h7 (80. Bf1 Kc6 81.
Ke6 b4 82. Bc4 Kb6 83. Kd5 Bh8 84. Ke4 b3 85. Kd3 b2 $11) 80... Kc7 $1 {The
right path as} (80... Kc6 $2 {runs into} 81. Bd7+ Kxd7 82. a7 $18) 81. Bf1 b4
$1 {Now White's bishop can not protect the a-pawn and stop Black's b-pawn on
one and the same diagonal.} (81... Kb6 $2 82. Bxb5 Kxb5 83. a7 $18) 82. Ke6
(82. Kg8 Kb6 83. h8=Q Bxh8 84. Kxh8 b3 85. Bd3 b2 86. Kg7 b1=Q 87. Bxb1 Kxa6
$11) 82... b3 83. Kd5 b2 84. Bd3 (84. a7 b1=Q 85. a8=Q Qxh7 86. Kxd4 Qd7+ $11)
84... Bh8 85. Kc5 Bg7 86. Be4 Kb8 87. Kb6 Bd4+ 88. Kb5 Ka7 (88... Ka7 89. Bd3
Bh8 90. Kc6 b1=Q 91. Bxb1 Kxa6 $11) 1/2-1/2
Tomashevsky's Tomahawk
Even in the endgame mating motifs in the middle of the board do occur:
[Event "FIDE World Cup 2013"] [Site "Tromso NOR"] [Date "2013.08.14"] [Round
"2.1"] [White "Tomashevsky, Evgeny"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO
"D97"] [WhiteElo "2706"] [BlackElo "2710"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2013.08.11"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Na6 8.
a3 c5 9. d5 e6 10. Bg5 exd5 11. Nxd5 Be6 12. O-O-O Bxd5 13. Rxd5 Qe8 14. Bxf6
Bxf6 15. e5 Be7 16. Qb5 c4 17. Kb1 Qxb5 18. Rxb5 Rfc8 19. Rxb7 Nc5 20. Rxe7
Kf8 21. Rxf7+ Kxf7 22. Bxc4+ Kg7 23. Re1 Rab8 24. Nd2 Rc7 25. Re3 a5 26. Kc2
a4 27. Rc3 Rcb7 28. b4 axb3+ 29. Nxb3 Na4 30. Rd3 Rc7 31. Rd4 Nb6 32. Nd2 Ra7
33. Bb3 Rxa3 34. f4 Ra7 35. Ne4 Rc7+ 36. Kd3 Nd7 37. Be6 Nf8 38. Bd5 Nd7 39.
Ke3 Rb2 40. Kf3 Kf8 41. Rd3 Ke7 42. h4 Rc1 43. Kg3 Rcc2 44. Nc3 Nc5 45. Re3
Rd2 46. Bf3 Rd3 47. Nd5+ {Tomashevsky's Tomahawk Even in the endgame mating
motifs in the middle of the board do occur:} Ke6 $2 {This runs into a powerful
blow.} (47... Kf8 { with good drawing chances is better as given by Baburin
in Chess Today, e.g.} 48. Re1 Rbb3 (48... Ne6 49. Ra1 Nd4 50. Ra8+ Kf7 51. Ra7+
Kf8 52. Nf6 h5 53. f5 Nxf5+ 54. Kf4 Ne7 $11) 49. Nf6 h5 50. Kh2 Nd7 51. Be4
Nxf6 52. exf6 Kf7 53. Bxd3 Rxd3 54. g3 Kxf6 $11) 48. f5+ $3 Kd7 (48... Kxf5
$2 49. Bg4#) (48... gxf5 $6 49. Nf4+ Ke7 50. Nxd3 Rb3 51. Be2 $18) (48... Kf7
49. e6+ Kg8 50. Re5 gxf5 51. Nf6+ Kg7 52. Nh5+ Kg6 53. Nf4+ Kf6 54. e7 Kxe5
55. e8=Q+ $18) 49. e6+ Kd6 50. Re1 (50. Rxd3 Nxd3 51. e7 Rb8 52. f6 Ke6 53.
Nc7+ Kf7 54. Bd5+ {wins as well.}) 50... Rb8 51. e7 (51. e7 Re8 (51... Rxd5
52. Bxd5 Kxd5 53. f6 Ne4+ 54. Rxe4 Kxe4 55. f7 $18) 52. f6 Rxd5 53. f7 Rxe7
54. f8=Q $18) 1-0
Knight's, rook's pawns and knightmares
With a knight precise calculation is often needed:
[Event "FIDE World Cup 2013"] [Site "Tromso NOR"] [Date "2013.08.16"] [Round
"2.3"] [White "Lysyj, Igor"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2648"] [BlackElo "2813"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2013.08.11"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Nbd7 8.
e3 g5 9. Bg3 Ne4 10. Qc2 Nb6 11. Bd3 Nxg3 12. hxg3 Be6 13. Ne5 Qe7 14. f4 O-O-O
15. O-O Kb8 16. a3 Bd6 17. a4 gxf4 18. gxf4 Rhg8 19. a5 Nc4 20. Bxc4 dxc4 21.
a6 Bxe5 22. fxe5 c5 23. Rad1 cxd4 24. exd4 Rg4 25. d5 Bc8 26. axb7 Bxb7 27.
Qf5 Rdg8 28. Rf2 R8g5 29. Qf6 Qxf6 30. exf6 Re5 31. Rdd2 Kc7 32. Rfe2 Rgg5 33.
Rxe5 Rxe5 34. Rd4 Rf5 35. Rxc4+ Kd7 36. Rb4 Bc8 37. Ra4 a6 38. b4 Rf4 39. Ra1
Rc4 40. Na4 Rxb4 41. Nc5+ Kd6 {Knight's, rook's pawns and knightmares With a
knight precise calculation is often needed:} 42. Rc1 $2 {This leaves the a-pawn
the knight's worst enemy on the board.} (42. Nxa6 $1 {draws due to} Rb6 43.
Nc5 $1 Kxc5 44. Rc1+ Kxd5 45. Rxc8 Rxf6 46. Rc7 $11) 42... Kxd5 43. Nd3 Rc4
$2 {Now White's counterplay is in time and the position is objectivly drawn.}
( {After} 43... Rb8 $1 {Black has good winning chances in the Fischer endgame
with rook and bishop against rook and knight.}) 44. Rxc4 Kxc4 45. Ne5+ Kd5 (
45... Kc3 46. Nxf7 Be6 47. Nd8 Bd5 48. f7 Bxf7 49. Nxf7 a5 50. Nd6 a4 51. Nb5+
Kb4 52. Nd4 $11) 46. Nxf7 a5 47. Ne5 $2 {Surprisingly the knight is not quick
enough now. Again it should take a rook's pawn, this time the other one:} (47.
Nxh6 $1 Be6 (47... Ke6 48. Nf5 Kxf6 49. Nd4 a4 50. Kf2 a3 51. Ke3 a2 52. Nb3
( 52. Nc2 $2 Bf5 53. Na1 Ke5 $19) 52... Be6 53. Na1 $11) 48. Nf5 (48. f7 $2
Bxf7 49. Nxf7 a4 $19) 48... a4 49. Ne3+ Ke5 50. Nc2 Kxf6 51. Kf2 Ke5 52. Ke3
$11) 47... Be6 $1 (47... Ke6 $2 {runs into} 48. f7 Ke7 49. Nc6+ Kxf7 50. Nxa5
$11) 48. Nd3 (48. f7 Bxf7 49. Nxf7 a4 $19) (48. Nd7 Kd6 49. Nb6 Bb3 50. Kf2
a4 $19) 48... a4 49. Kf2 (49. Nb4+ Ke5 50. Nc2 Kxf6 $19) 49... a3 50. Nc1 (50.
Ke3 a2 51. Nb4+ Ke5 52. Nc2 Kxf6 53. Kd2 Bd5 54. g3 Kf5 55. Kc3 (55. Ke3 Kg4
56. Kf2 Kh3 57. Na1 h5 58. Nc2 Bc6 59. Na1 Ba4 60. Kf3 Bd1+ 61. Kf4 Kh2 $19)
55... Kg4 56. Kb2 Kxg3 57. Ne3 Be6 $19) 50... Ke5 {Black's a-pawn is White's
knight's knightmare.} 0-1
Karsten Müller in ChessBase Magazine
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