Not all rook endings are drawn

by Karsten Müller
1/1/2021 – In the quarterfinal of the Airthings Masters Magnus Carlsen was defeated by Daniil Dubov after losing two spectacular games, in which Carlsen missed good chances. In another game of the match Carlsen had good chances in a rook ending with an extra pawn. But could he have won? Zoran Petronijevic and Karsten Müller took a close look!
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Carlsen was winning

Rook endings have drawish tendencies but not all rook endings are drawn. In the typical rook ending, in which both sides have three pawns on the kingside while White has an extra pawn on the queenside, White has good winning chances if his extra pawn is the c-pawn.

This ending occurred in the match between Magnus Carlsen and Daniil Dubov, and objectively Carlsen was indeed winning. However, finding a win in such an endgame in a rapid game with only seconds on the clock is not easy. But in the analysis after the game Zoran Petronijevic found a win for White:

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.e4 0 e5 0 2.Nf3 0 Nc6 0 3.Nc3 0 Nf6 0 4.Bb5 0 Nd4 1 5.0-0 0 Nxb5 0 6.Nxb5 0 c6 0 7.Nc3 0 d6 1 8.d4 4 Qc7 2 9.Bg5 0 Be7 1 10.a4 2 h6 1:10
11.Bh4N 3 Predecessor: 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.d5 0-0 13.Qd3 Be7 14.Nd2 Bd7 15.a5 Rac8 16.a6 b5 17.dxc6 Bxc6 18.Nxb5 Bxb5 19.Qxb5 Qxc2 ½-½ (44) Perez Ponsa,F (2554)-Pichot,A (2630) chess24.com INT 2020 11...Nh5 27 12.Bxe7 1:00 Qxe7 3 13.a5 2:00 Nf4 1:22 14.Ne2 1:48 Nxe2+ 0 15.Qxe2 0 0-0 10 16.Rfd1 40 Bg4 47 17.h3 53 Bxf3 13 18.Qxf3 0 Rad8 30 19.a6 1:01 b6 0 20.Ra3 1:56 exd4 2:23 21.Rxd4 6 Qe5 1 22.Rad3 1:57 c5 2:24 23.Rd5 1 Qxb2 2 24.Qe2 49 Rfe8 0 25.e5 1:22 c4 2:06 26.Rd1 1:03 Rc8 14 27.Rxd6 1:06 Qxe5 1:40 28.Qxe5 2 Rxe5= 2 29.Rd7 1 Rce8 38 30.Rxa7 55 Re1+! 4 31.Rxe1 0 Rxe1+ 1 32.Kh2 0 Ra1 0 33.Kg3 7 b5= 5 34.Ra8+ 0 Kh7 2 35.a7 0 Kg6 3:11 36.Kf4 4 b4 5 37.Rb8 5 Rxa7 0 38.Rxb4 1 Rc7 10 39.Ke3 18 Kf5 32 40.Kd4 45 Re7 6 41.Rxc4 24 White is a pawn up but with best play Black should be able to draw. In case of 41.g4+ Black should play Kg6 42.Rxc4 Re2 43.f4 Rh2 44.Rc3 Kf6= 41...Re2 6 42.g4+ 45
42...Kg5? 15 After this mistake Black is lost. Better was 42...Ke6 and Black's rook is active enough to save the draw. 43.Rc5++- 0 Kf6 18 43...Kg6 does not help either. 44.c4 Rd2+ 45.Ke3 Rc2 46.h4 Kf6 47.Rf5+ Ke6 48.Rf4 Ra2 49.Kd4 h5 50.gxh5 Ra5 51.h6 gxh6 52.Kc3 Ra2 53.c5 Kd5 54.Rf5+ Ke6 54...Kc6 55.Kb4 Rb2+ 56.Kc4 Rc2+ 57.Kd4 Rd2+ 58.Ke5 Kxc5 59.Kf6+ Kd4 60.h5 Rd1 61.Kg7 Ke4 62.Rxf7+- 55.Rh5 Rxf2 56.Rxh6+ Kd7 57.h5 Rf1 58.Rd6+ Kc8 59.Kd4 Kc7 60.Ke4 Rf2 61.Rh6 f5+ 62.Kd5 f4 63.Rh7+ Kb8 64.Rf7 f3 65.Rf5 Rh2 66.Kc6! f2 67.Kb6 Kc8 68.c6+- 44.Rf5+ 4 Ke6 1 45.c4 1 g6 21 45...Rd2+ loses after 46.Kc3 Ra2 47.Kb3 Rd2 48.Rf3 f6 49.Kc3 Ra2 50.Kb4 Kd6 51.h4 Ra1 52.h5 Rg1 53.Rg3 Rf1 54.Rd3+ Kc6 55.Rf3 Kd6 56.Rf4 Rc1 57.Rd4+ Kc6 58.Re4 Kd6 59.Rf4 Ke5 60.Rf5+ Kd6 61.f3 Kc6 62.Rf4 Kd6 63.Re4 Rb1+ 64.Kc3 f5 65.gxf5 Rf1 66.Kd4 Rxf3 67.c5+ Kc6 68.Re6+ Kd7 69.c6+ Kc7 70.Ke5 Re3+ 71.Kf4 Rd3 72.Rg6 Rd5 73.Rxg7+ Kxc6 74.Re7+- 46.Rf3 3 Rd2+ 10
47.Kc3 47 Easier was 47.Kc5 f5 Black seeks chances on the kingside. 48.gxf5+ gxf5 49.Kb4 Ke5 49...Rb2+ 50.Kc3 Ra2 51.Kb3 Rd2 52.c5 Rd4 53.Kc3 Rd1 54.Kc4 Rc1+ 55.Kb5 Rc2 56.Kb6 Kd7 57.Rd3+ Kc8 58.f3 Rf2 59.Ra3 Kb8 60.Re3 Rb2+ 61.Kc6 Rb4 62.Re5 Rf4 63.Re8+ Ka7 64.Re3 Kb8 65.Rd3 Kc8 66.Kd6 Ra4 67.Rd5 f4 68.Rf5 Rc4 69.Kc6 Kd8 70.Kd5 Ra4 71.Kd6 Rd4+ 72.Ke5 Rd1 73.Kxf4+- 50.Kc3 Ra2 51.Kb3 Ra5 52.Kb4 Ra2 53.c5 f4 53...Ke4 54.Rc3 Rxf2 55.c6 Rb2+ 56.Kc5 Rb8 57.c7 Rc8 58.Kd6+- 54.Kb3 Ra6 54...Ra8 55.Rd3 Ke4 56.Rc3 Rb8+ 57.Kc4 Ke5 58.Rd3 Rc8 59.f3 Kf5 60.h4 Kg6 61.Rd5+- 55.Rc3 Kd5 56.Kb4 Kc6 57.Rf3 Ra2 58.Rxf4 Rb2+ 59.Kc4 Rc2+ 60.Kd4 Rd2+ 61.Ke5 Kxc5+- e.g. 62.h4 h5 63.Rf5 Re2+ 64.Kf6+ Kd6 65.Rf3 Re6+ 66.Kg5 Re5+ 67.Kg6 Ra5 68.Re3 Ra8 69.f4 Rg8+ 70.Kxh5+- 47...Ra2 3 48.Kb3 8 48.Kb4 which transposes to the previous line was stronger. 48...Rd2 5 48...Ra8 does not help: 49.Kb4 Rb8+ 50.Kc3 Ra8 51.Re3+ Kd7 52.Kb4 Rf8 53.Rf3 Rb8+ 54.Kc5 Ke7 55.Rc3 Kd7 56.Re3 f6 57.Kd5 Rb2 58.Rf3 Rd2+ 59.Kc5 Ke6 60.Kc6 Rd6+ 61.Kb5 Rd2 62.c5 Kd5 63.Rb3 Rxf2 64.Rd3+ Ke5 65.c6 Rb2+ 66.Ka6 Ra2+ 67.Kb7 Rb2+ 68.Kc8 f5 69.gxf5 gxf5 70.c7 h5 71.Rc3 Rg2 72.Rc5+ Kd6 73.Rxf5+- 49.Kb4 5 f5 29 The game move is not a mistake. Black is lost anyway. For instance: 49...Rb2+ 50.Kc5 Rd2 50...f5 51.gxf5+ gxf5 52.Re3+ Kd7 53.Rd3+ Ke6 54.f4 h5 55.Kc6 Rf2 56.c5 Rxf4 57.Rc3 Rb4 58.Kc7 f4 59.c6 h4 60.Kc8 Kd6 61.c7 Ke7 62.Rd3 Ke8 63.Rd5 Ke7 64.Re5+ Kd6 65.Rh5 Ke7 66.Rxh4+- 51.Kc6 Rd6+ 52.Kb5 Rd2 53.c5 Kd5 54.Rb3 Rc2 55.Rd3+ Ke4 56.Rd6 Ke5 57.Kc6 Rc4 58.Rd5+ Ke6 59.Rd3 Ke7 60.Kb6 Rb4+ 61.Kc7 Rf4 62.c6 Rxf2 63.Kc8 Rc2 64.c7 Rb2 65.Rc3 Rb4 66.Re3+ Kf6 67.Kd7 Rd4+ 68.Kc6 Rc4+ 69.Kb6 Rc2 70.Rb3 Ke6 71.Kb7+- 50.Re3+ 8 50.gxf5+ gxf5 51.Kc3 Ra2 52.Kb3 Ra1 53.Rd3 Rc1 54.Kb4 h5 55.c5 f4 56.f3 Kf6 57.Rc3 Rb1+ 58.Ka5 Ra1+ 59.Kb5 Rb1+ 60.Ka6 Ke7 61.Rd3 Re1 62.Kb5 h4 63.c6 Re3 64.c7+- 50...Kd6 9
51.f3? 5 After this move White cannot win anymore. Better was 51.gxf5 gxf5 52.Rf3 Rb2+ 53.Kc3 Ra2 54.Rxf5 Ra3+ 55.Kd4 Rxh3 56.c5+ Ke7 57.Re5+ Kd7 58.Rd5+ Kc7 59.f4+- 51...Rb2+!= 7 52.Rb3 5 52.Kc3 isn't better: Rh2 53.Kd4 Rxh3 54.c5+ Kc6= 52...Rh2! 4 53.Rd3+ 2 Kc6 7 54.gxf5 1 After 54.f4 Rf2= Black can hold. 54...gxf5 1 55.Rd5 0 Rxh3 8 56.Rxf5 1 h5 7 Black's strong passed pawn secures the draw. 57.Rf6+ 4 Kd7 1 58.Kb5 4 h4 7 59.c5 4 Rh1 22 60.c6+ 0 Ke7 7 60...Kc7 also leads to a draw. 61.Rh6 16 h3! 10 62.Rh7+ 1:31 62.c7 Kd7 63.Rh7+ Kc8 64.Kc6 Rc1+ 65.Kd6 Rd1+ 66.Ke5 Re1+ 67.Kd4 h2 68.Rxh2 Kxc7= 62...Kd6 13 63.c7 6 Rc1! 18 64.Kb6 8 h2 3 65.Rh6+ 10 Kd7 4 66.Rxh2 2 Rb1+ 33 67.Kc5 2 Kxc7 18 68.Rd2 1 Rc1+ 0 69.Kb4 6 Rc6 7 70.Rd3 6 Rf6 16 71.Kc5 6 Rf8 17 72.Kc4 12 Kc6 6 73.Kc3 11 Rf5 0 74.Kd2 20 Rd5 10 75.Ke3 2 Rxd3+ 1 76.Kxd3 2 Kd5 1 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2862Dubov,D2699½–½2020C48Airthings Masters KO 20201.2

Rules of thumb are the key to everything when you are having to set the correct course in a complex endgame. In this final DVD of his series on the endgame, our endgame specialist introduces you to the most important of these rules of thumb.

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Karsten Müller is considered to be one of the greatest endgame experts in the world. His books on the endgame - among them "Fundamentals of Chess Endings", co-authored with Frank Lamprecht, that helped to improve Magnus Carlsen's endgame knowledge - and his endgame columns for the ChessCafe website and the ChessBase Magazine helped to establish and to confirm this reputation. Karsten's Fritztrainer DVDs on the endgame are bestsellers. The mathematician with a PhD lives in Hamburg, and for more than 25 years he has been scoring points for the Hamburger Schachklub (HSK) in the Bundesliga.

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