The wrong choice of ending
1/27/2010 – In round 7 in Wijk, Nigel Short was within touching distance of a win over Ex-World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. In the position in the diagram he had to
decide whether to exchange queens or to gobble up another pawn with Qxc5. Short chose
50.Qxc5, but after 50...Be6! 51.g4 Bxf5 52.Qxf5 Qb2+ the
activity of the black queen turned out to be the decisive drawing factor, despite Black being two pawns behind. But how should the minor piece ending after
50.Qxf6 gxf6
be evaluated? Can the extra pawn be made to tell in the struggle of knight against bishop? Yes, says GM Karsten Müller in ChessBase Magazine Online.
