The power of the bishops: Harikrishna vs Firouzja, Wijk 2021, Round 8

by Karsten Müller
1/25/2021 – In the first round of the Tata Steel Tournament 2021 Alireza Firouzja lost against Magnus Carlsen, but then he scored 5½/7, and with 5½/8 and an Elo-performance of 2882 he is now sole leader. In round 8 Firouzja won an interesting game against Pentala Harikrishna in which he showed how powerful the bishops can be. Karsten Müller had a close look. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit - Tata Steel Tournament 2021
All endgame DVDs by Karsten Müller in one package! More than 70 hours of instruction! from "Basic knowledge for beginners" (volume 1) to "Practical Rook Endgames" (volume 8) to the ever-popular "Golden Guidelines of Endgame Play" (volume 14).

The power of the bishops

 
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1.e41,173,50054%2421---
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Bf4 Nc6 5.e3 Bf5 6.Bb5 e6 7.Nc3 Nge7 8.Rc1 a6 9.Be2 f6 10.g4 Bg6 11.Nf3 Bf7 12.Bg3 h5 13.g5 Ng6 14.gxf6 h4 15.fxg7 Bxg7 16.Be5 Ngxe5 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Nd4 Rc8 19.0-0 Nc6 20.Bg4 Nxd4 21.exd4 Rc6 22.Ne2 h3 23.Rc3 Rh4 24.Rg3 Qc7 25.Re1 Kf8 26.Qd3 e5 27.Qa3+ Qd6 28.Qxd6+ Rxd6 29.Bxh3 exd4 30.Nc1 Rdh6 31.Bg2 Rxh2 32.Nd3 R2h5 33.f4 Rc6 34.Bf3 Rhh6 35.Rg2 Rhg6 36.f5 Rh6 The power of the bishops The bishop pair is a mighty weapon in the endgame. So White must be very careful: 37.Nf4? The knight should remain on its blockading post. Now a knightmare follows. After 37.Rh2! Black is only symbolically better due to White's control of the light squares. 37...d3‼ This frees the mighty black forces. Especially the dark squared bishop will reign supreme. The unopposed bishop of the pair should as a guideline be made as strong as possible. 38.Nxd3 Bd4+ 39.Nf2 Rc2 40.Kf1 Rxb2 41.Re2 Rb1+ 42.Re1 Rhb6? The quicker 42...Rxe1+ 43.Kxe1 Ke7 was better according to the computer and should win, e.g. 44.Nd3 Kd6 45.Nf4 Rh1+ 46.Kd2 b5 47.Ne6 Bf6 48.Ke3 Rh4-+ 43.Nd3 Bc3 43...Rxe1+!? 44.Kxe1 Ke7 was a real alternative. 44.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 45.Kf2 Ke7?! 45...a5!? offered better chances according to the computer. I can not determine, if it wins or not and have to sit on the fence. 46.Rh2 Kf6 47.Ke3! Kg5 48.Nc5? The wrong way to activate the forces as the knight is needed in the defense. 48.Rh7 d4+ 49.Ke4 Bxa2 50.Rh5+ Kf6 51.Rh6+ Kg7 52.Rd6 Rb5 53.f6+ Kh6 54.Bg4 and White is so active that his light squared powerplay draws despite the two pawn deficit. 48...Rb5? This is too slow. 48...b6! wins, e.g. 49.Nb3 49.Nd3 Rb5 50.Ke2 Ra5-+ 49.Nxa6 Re1+ 50.Kd3 d4 51.Re2 Rd1+ 52.Ke4 Rf1 53.Rg2+ Kf6 54.Nc7 d3 55.Bg4 d2 56.Nd5+ Bxd5+ 57.Kxd5 d1Q+ 58.Bxd1 Rxd1+ 59.Kc6 Ba5-+ 49...Rb2 49...a5!? 50.Rh7 50.Rxb2 Bxb2 51.Nd4 Kf6 52.Be2 a5 53.Bd3 Ba3 54.Kf4 Bh5 55.Kg3 Bc5 56.Ne2 Kg5 57.Nc3 Bf7 58.Bc2 Bb4 59.Nb5 Be8 60.a4 Bh5-+ 50...Kf6 51.Bh5 51.Nd4 a5 52.Ne6 Kxf5 53.Rxf7+ Kxe6 54.Rh7 Rxa2 55.Rh6+ Bf6-+ 51...Bxh5 52.Rxh5 a5 53.Kd3 Be5 54.Rh6+ Kxf5 55.Rh5+ Ke6 56.Rh6+ Ke7 57.Rh7+ Kd6 58.Rh6+ Kc7 59.Rh7+ Kc6 60.Rh6+ Kb5-+ 49.Rh7 Bg8 50.Rc7?! The first step on a wrong road. 50.Rh5+! Kf6 51.Ne6 Bxe6 51...Ra5 52.a4 Bf7 53.Rh7 Kxf5 54.Rxf7+ Kxe6 55.Rxb7 Rxa4= 52.fxe6 Kxe6 53.a4 Ra5 54.Bd1 defends. 50...Kxf5 51.Nxb7? Now Black's attack is very well coordinated as White's rook and knight are offside and dominated in a certain way. 51.Kd3! offered very good drawing chances, e.g. b6 51...Be5 52.Rc8 Be6 53.Nxe6 Kxe6 51...Bb4 52.Nxb7 Kf4 53.Bd1 52.Rc8 Rxc5 53.Rxg8 Be5 54.Rf8+ Ke6 55.Re8+ Kf6 56.Rh8 and in all cases White can still harbor hopes to defend. If Black is winning it is extremely deep. 51...d4+ 52.Kf2 52.Kd3 does not help, e.g. Rb2 52...Kf4!?-+ 53.Nd6+ Kf4 54.Ne4 Kxf3 55.Nxc3 dxc3 56.Kxc3 Rxa2-+ With rooks bishop and wrong rokk's pawn is usually winning and this is of course no exception. 52...Rb2+ 53.Be2 Kf4 54.Nd6 Bd2 55.Kf1 Rb1+ 56.Bd1 d3!? A strong finish. But 56...Rxd1+ 57.Ke2 Ba5-+ wins as well. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Harikrishna,P2732Firouzja,A27490–12021D1083rd Tata Steel Masters 20218.3

The post-game interview with Alireza Firouzja

Tata Steel Tournament 2021

Round 8 results

 

Standings after Round 8

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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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