Rapport's endgame technique

by Marco Baldauf
9/9/2017 – While watching yesterday's tiebreaks of the World Cup, my attention got caught by an endgame played between Richard Rapport and Wei Yi. With impressive ease, Rapport showed an exciting winning plan in a typical scenario "Rook vs Bishop". I consulted my (admittedly rarely used) copy of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual and look at this: Rapport's plan was already shown in a game, coincidentally played in Tbilisi, 46 years ago! | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

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Echoes of a Dvoretsky endgame example

Richard Rapport vs Wei Yi  announced itself as one of the most interesting pairings of the 2nd round of the World Cup 2017. Both players are known for their aggressive style and some sharp games were expected. The two youngsters have played a couple of games against each other.  Last december, they played a four-round mini-match in China. It ended with a draw. However, in the decisive Armageddon Blitz, Rapport won the match.

(Right) Richard Rapport | Photo: Amruta Mokal

In Tbilisi, after two draws in the games with regular time control, again the match was decided in the tiebreak. In the first game, Rapport showed great endgame technique. With just some minutes on the clock, the young Hungarian proved that he is capable of more than crazy games.

 
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We start our analysis of the game after Rapport succeeded in pushing his c-pawn to the 8th rank. Wei Yi had to give up the exchange and is trying to hang on in this endgame. Rapport plays the technical part of the game very precisely. One has to remember that this is a rapid game, where both players have just some minutes on the clock and live by the increment of 30 seconds per move. 32...Kg7 33.Ra8! An important move after which White immediately wins one of the two pawns. Rb4 34.Ra5 the perfect square for the rook: from here, it attacks a4 and d5. Wei Yi decides to exchange the last white pawn on the queenside. Bc7 34...Bf6 35.Rd2! and here Black should not have any chances to survive. 35.Rxd5 Rb2 36.R5xd4 Rxa2 37.R4d2! a very precise move which prevents any counterplay 37.R1d2 Ra1+ 38.Kg2 a3 39.R2d3 Bb6 40.Rd7? 40.Rc4± 40...Bc5! ∆41.Rf3 a2 42.Rfxf7+ Kg8 43.Rg7+ Kh8 44.Rh7+ Kg8= 37...Ra3 37...Rxd2 38.Rxd2+- a3 39.Rd3! 38.Rd3 Rxd3 38...Ra2 39.Rf3! Be5 40.Rd7 Bf6 41.Ra7 Ra1+ 42.Kg2 h5 43.Rf4 a3 44.Rf3 a2 45.Rfa3+- 39.Rxd3 h5 40.Ra3 Bd6 41.Rxa4 This position is theoretically won. But white has to know the only winning plan, starting with 56.Rc7! Dvoretsky dedicates a small chapter to these kinds of positions (Rook vs Bishop, 3 vs 3 on the same side). He concludes that Black can only hope to establish a fortress if the white pawn structure is damaged. In cases like this, the position is theoretically won. Bc5 42.Kg2 Bb6 43.Ra2 Bd4 44.Kf3 f5 45.Rd2 Be5 46.Rd5 Kf6 47.Ra5 Ke6 48.Ra6+ Kf7 49.Ke3 Bc3 50.f4 Bf6 51.Kd3 Bb2 52.Kc4 Bf6 53.Rc6! the rook takes control over c3. Now you do not have to watch out for counterplay connected with Bc3 and Be1. Bb2 54.Kd5 Kg7 55.Ke6 Bd4 56.Rc7+! Kg8 57.Rd7 Bc3 The white king is on its perfect square but cannot make any progress. Black has established a temporary fortress as the black bishop stays on the long diagonale and covers the f6 square while the black king keeps an eye on f7. In order to win, White has to break through with g4! 58.Rd3 Bb2 59.g4‼
Rapport has studied Endgame Manual! Dvoretsky analyses exactly this position from the game Radev-Prybil. Ironically, the encounter took place in Tbilisi as well, 46 years ago. 59...hxg4?! According to Dvoretsky not the most stubborn defence. Better was 59...fxg4 59...fxg4!? 60.f5 gxf5 61.Kxf5 Kf7 62.Kg5 Be5 63.Kxh5 g3 Black gets some counterplay but the white rooks easily stops the pawn 64.Rd2 Kf6 65.Kg4 Kg6 66.Re2 Bb8 it is important that the black bishop has the wrong colour. If it were lightsquared, black would have an all important defensive idea: stalemate. 67.h5+ Kh6 68.Re6+ Kh7 69.Rg6! The perfect square for the rook. It controls the g pawn and the white king can move forward. Bc7 70.Kf5 Bb8 71.Rb6!+- The black bishop is trapped as there are not enough sqaures on the diagonal. 60.h5 Kg7 61.Rd7+ Kh6 62.hxg6 Kxg6 63.Rf7 Bc1 63...Kh5 is a last idea, but White wins anyway. 64.Kxf5 Kh4 65.Rb7 Bd4 66.Rd7 Bb2 67.Rd6! Bc1 68.Rh6+ Kg3 69.Rg6+- 64.Rxf5 Kh6 64...Bxf4 was Pribyl's try, but the white king is too close to g1. 65.Rxf4 Kg5 66.Ke5 g3 67.Ke4 g2 68.Rf8 Kh4 69.Rg8 1-0 (61) Radev,N-Pribyl,J Tbilisi 1971 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Rapport,R2675Wei,Y27481–02017D30FIDE World Cup 20172.3

It is said, that every ambitious chess player should at least once read Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual. That may be true. However, a much easier way to become acquainted with such theoretical positions is to watch the DVD by the endgame expert Karsten Mueller. In his series, he dedicates a whole DVD on the topic "Rook vs Bishop".

Chess Endgames 11 - Rook against Bishop

The more reduced the material, the more important it is to correctly assess the potential of your own and the enemy pieces. This is particularly true in endgames with unbalanced material. This DVD begins with a discussion of asymmetrical material balances, including
rook against bishop, rook and knight against two bishops, two rooks against rook and bishop, queen and rook against queen and bishop, rook and knight against bishop and knight, rook against two bishops.
Video running time: 8 hours 26 min.

The second game of the tiebreak was drawn. Therefore Rapport qualified for the 3rd round, whrere he plays against another Chinese player, Li Chao.

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Marco Baldauf, born 1990, has been playing since he was eight. In 2000 and 2002 he became German Junior Champion, in 2014 he became International Master. He plays for SF Berlin in the Bundesliga.

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