Rooks and knights and an unfortunate king!

by Oliver Reeh
7/27/2018 – Black has given a check on b2. Playing 44.Ka4 as White immediately gives one a very uneasy feeling (rightly so!). But the alternative 44.Kc4 also loses. Can you work out why?
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King on the rim

We all know a knight on the rim is dim, but what about a king?

Tired of all this calculation work? Next week will be a cakewalk for you - nine moves in an endgame with the same piece! 

 
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 Nf6 6.e3 c6 7.a4 0-0 8.Ba3 Re8 9.Nf3 b6 10.Qb3 Ba6 11.Be2 Qc8 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.Bxa6 Qxa6 14.Rc1 Rc8 15.Nd2 Nc6 16.Qb5 Qxb5 17.axb5 Na5 18.f3 Ne8 19.Ke2 Nc4 20.Ra1 Ncd6 21.Bxd6 Nxd6 22.Kd3 Nxb5 23.c4 dxc4+ 24.Nxc4 Nc7 25.Rhc1 Nd5 26.Nd6 Rd8 27.Nb5 a5 28.Nc7 Nb4+ 29.Kc4 Rac8 30.Kb5 e5 31.dxe5 Nd3 32.Rc3 Nxe5 33.Kxb6 Rb8+ 34.Ka7 Rb2 35.Rxa5 f6 36.f4 Nf7 37.Rd5 Rc8 38.Rcc5 Rxg2 39.h4 Re2 40.Kb7 Rf8 41.Rd3 Nd8+ 42.Kb6 f5 43.Kb5 Rb2+ Black has given a check on b2. Playing 44.Ka4 as White immediately gives one a very uneasy feeling (rightly so!). But the alternative 44.Kc4 also loses. Can you work out why? 44.Ka4 Moving the king onto the edge of the board, with the black rook blocking the b-file, is certainly something White didn't like to do. But 44.Kc4
Black wins by force. The first move, please!
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Black to play and win.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Sadzikowski,D2588Piorun,K26330–12018E40Lotto POL-ch 20182

88 times, IM Oliver Reeh leads you step by step through the most brillant game conclusions of the world champions - in interactive Fritztrainer format, enabling you to enter the winning moves yourself.

Oliver Reeh in ChessBase Magazine

Do you like these lessons? There are plenty more by tactic expert Oliver Reeh in ChessBase Magazine, where you will also find openings articles and surveys, endgames, and of course annotations by the world's top grandmasters.

ChessBase Magazine #184

The editor’s top ten:

  1. CBM 184The deciding moment in the candidates tournament: Fabiano Caruana annotates his final round victory over Grischuk.
  2. “Fresh and unexpected”: Vladimir Kramnik explains how he crushed Aronian with Black after innovating with 7…Rg8.
  3. A new plan against the Najdorf? Peter Heine Nielsen annotates Carlsen's successful experiment with 5.Qd2!? in Shamkir.
  4. “Fantastic fighting game”: Karsten Mueller analyses the endgame in the trail-blazing duel between Kramnik and Caruana (video)
  5. Salvation after a series of draws: Ding Liren comments on his win over Mamedyarov in the candidates tournament.
  6. Attack like a WCh challenger: Find the best continuation – “Move by Move“ with Simon Williams in the game Meier-Caruana!
  7. “Domination on both flanks”: enjoy Daniel King’s video analysis of the game Caruana-Aronian and let him whip up some enthusiasm for the Ruy Lopez!
  8. A popular weapon against the Najdorf: let Robert Ris introduce you to the secrets of the variation with 7.Nf3.
  9. “Like Karpov in his prime”: Rustam Kasimdzhanov annotates Caruana's win over MVL at the Grenke Chess Classic.
  10. Promising in the long term: Yannick Pelletier recommends 6…h6 in the Vienna Variation of the Queen's Gambit (video)

Links

Oliver Reeh has been working for ChessBase for many years as a translator and presenter of the internet show TV ChessBase, and he also looks after the tactics column in ChessBase Magazine, for which he has also been responsible as editor-in-chief since 2019. The International Master has contributed to the CB "MasterClass" series and is the author of the DVDs "Strike like the World Champions" and "Master Class Tactics - Train your combination skills!" Volumes 1 & 2. Oliver Reeh lives in Hamburg.

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