Wijk aan Zee 2008

GM Mihail Marin at work in a tournament
The following express commentary was provided by Romanian grandmaster Mihail
Marin, who is the author of a number of very popular ChessBase
training CDs and articles for ChessBase Magazine. GM Marin will study the games
of the World Championship tournament in much greater detail and provide the
full results of his analysis in the next issue of ChessBase
Magazine.
Round three commentary by GM Mihail Marin
A peaceful round: all the games ended in draws, some of them rather quickly.
In three cases the presence of opposite coloured bishops allowed predicting
the final result dozens of moves before the end of the games...
And yet, we had a star game, in which a very interesting theoretical ending
was played, arousing the enthusiasm of none other than Garry Kasparov. I have
annotated the final part of Radjabov-van Wely extensively, aiming to reveal
all its essential aspects.

The actors of the Monday night drama: Teimour Radjabov, Azerbaijan, (white)
and...

Loek van Wely, many times Dutch champion (black)
Radjabov,T (2735) - Van Wely,L (2681) [D43]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (3), 14.01.2008 [Mihail Marin]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5
9.Be2 Bb7 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 Bg7 12.Nxd7 Nxd7 13.Bd6 a6 14.Bh5 Bf8 15.Bxf8 Rxf8
16.d5 cxd5 17.exd5 Nf6 18.dxe6 Qxd1 19.Bxf7+ Ke7 20.Raxd1 Rfd8 21.Ne2 Be4 22.f4
b4 23.fxg5 hxg5 24.Ng3 Rxd1 25.Rxd1 Bh7 26.Nh5 c3 27.Nxf6 Kxf6 28.bxc3 bxc3
29.Rc1 c2 30.Kf2 Rd8 31.Ke2 Rd4 32.h3 Be4 33.Bh5 Kxe6 34.g3 Ke5 35.h4 gxh4 36.gxh4
Black has been pressing for a long time, but now he allows his opponent an
unexpected transposition to a theoretical endgame. 36...Rd5? Garry Kasparov
pointed out that van Wely had missed an "/portals/all/_for_legal_reasons.jpg" win with 36...Bf5.
John Nunn, who had all the necessary tablebases installed, confirmed that it
was "elementary". 37.Bf3! Rd1 38.Bxe4 Rxc1 39.Kd2 Rg1 40.Bxc2 Kd4
41.Bd3 a5 42.a4 Rh1 43.Bb5 Rh2+ 44.Kd1 Ke3 45.Kc1 Rxh4

This is an important theoretical position. The evaluation and the recommended
methods of play have varied along the decades. Of course, things have been settled
from theoretic point of view after the creation of the six men tablebases, but
in many cases one does understand very little about the endgame by learning
that a cople of moves draw, while all the others lose in 38 moves or less.
In the subsequent analysis I have mainly relied on the lines provided by Averbakh
in his five-tomes endgame manual (the best ever published, in my humble opinion).
It is remarkable that his analysis does not contain "real" mistakes.
Although the tablebases sometimes recommend lines that win in one or two moves
earlier (36 instead of 38, for example), I have stuck to the human lines, because
they are easier to explain as a part of the same general plan. (In fact, there
is a lot to be explained, because Averbakh's lines have huge instructive value,
but only if you draw the rules yourself, because the verbal explanations are
rather restrained.) Computer lines sometimes rely on casual tactics, which are
nice, but are more difficult to remember if you get this endgame in an over-the-board
game.
Among other things, chess is supposed to be an exciting, educative and entertaining
game, or, to put it briefly, just fun. By watching the "cold" recommendations
of the tablebases, one risks getting a feeling of false strength, similar to
that of driving a BMW at 200 kms per hour, which has nothing to do with one's
physical condition. It tends to generate exaggerated criticism of top GMs, who
sometimes overlook "such an obvious win". The notion of "fun"
is basically related with the pure human effort in difficult and complex situations;
the current position is complex enough, as we shall convince ourselves soon.
Here is a small episode that illustrates quite well what I mean. When this
endgame was reached, none other than Garry Kasparov became enthusistiacally
involved in the evaluation of the position, mentioning the crucial game Salwe-Rubinstein
(see below) and also two of his own games (against Pinter and Jussupow, both
played in 1993; more about these games later). The great champion tried to remember
how or if at all it could be won, what were the best chances, etc. rather than
simply connecting to the tablebases. A human effort from a great player who
loves chess passionately...
Let us return to our analysis now. To start with, the diagrammed position is
drawn.
Black's only winning chance consists of sacrificing the exchange for the a4-pawn,
but he cannot achieve this under favourable circumstances. Things would be different
if the pair of pawns would be placed on any other file, but it is known that
rook pawns offer additional saving chances in pawn endings. In order to reach
the desired result, White has to avoid three (!) main situations.
- His king has to avoid being pushed onto the b-file or further.
- His king has to avoid being pushed onto the fifth rank or further.
- His king has to avoid being trapped in the immediate neighbourhood of the
pawn!
The first two points are easy to explain. In case of an exchange sacrifice,
the king has to be in time to reach the b1-square. However, the latter aspect
is far from obvious and, for many decades, remained unnoticed by theoreticians.
Let us move on now and take contact with the mentioned situations as they arise
in some of the sidelines and with the methods of achieving (or, on the contrary,
avoiding) certain situations.
46.Kc2 Rh7 47.Ba6 Rc7+
48.Kd1! The only good move! 48.Kb2? would lead to the situation corresponding
to point (3), which was met (with reversed wings) in a famous game Salwe-Rubinstein,
Prague 1908, quoted in most ending books. Rubinstein managed to win the game,
but only by a... mistaken method! He chased the king away from the dangerous
zone and eventually succeeded in pushing it until the fifth rank, after which
the win was relatively easy.
In 1954, Baranov discovered that Black can avoid being pushed too far and that
the logical result would have been a draw. His conclusions are valid up to this
moment, but only for the case when the defending king escapes the zone surrounding
the pawns. Later, the renown endgame expert Maizelis (who was one of Averbakh's
collaborators for the first edition of his books, published in the late '50s),
discovered the dangers facing the king in the neighbourhood of the pawns. Lysytzin's
famous endgame manual, first published in 1956, only mentions Baranov's conclusions,
without showing how Rubinstein could have won... without the help of his opponent.
Anyway, after 48...Kd2 49.Kb3 Rc6 50.Bb5 Rc3+ 51.Kb2 we reach a position from
Maizelis' analysis.
Analysis diagram
Black's pieces are not optimally placed yet. In order to win, he has to carry
out a major regrouping. His king should reach b4, in order to restrict the bishop's
mobility, but the enemy king should not be allowed to escape from the dangerous
zone at the same time! 51...Rh3 52.Bd7 Rh4 53.Be8 Rb4+ 54.Ka3 Kc3 Black has strengthened
his domination, but the b4-square is not available yet. 55.Bf7 Rb1
Analysis diagram
56.Ba2!?
White stubbornly keeps his king on a3, keeping b4 defended, but
his bishop will not be able to return to the b5-e8 diagonal under favourable circumstances.
The voluntary retreat
56.Ka2 leads to a crucial position after
56...Rc1
57.Be8 Kb4 58.Kb2 Rc5
Analysis diagram
Black has completed his regrouping and White will get in successive zugzwang positions.
It is typical for such endings that the rook restricts both enemy pieces at the
same time. The next step is to push the enemy king on the back rank.
59.Bb5
Rc8 Apart from king retreats, which is precisely what Black aims to provoke,
White has only one move:
60.Bd7, but this places the bishop on a vulnerable
square, allowing the rook to switch to lateral attacks, without letting the king
escape from the corner! This will be an important element in several phases of
the line actually played in the game Radjabov-Van Wely.
60...Rd8! 61.Bb5 Rd2+
62.Kc1 Kc3 Black has made further progress and now the same method as on the
previous step ensures him the win.
63.Kb1 Kb3 64.Kc1 Rd8
Analysis diagram
White is in zugzwang again. The only move that maintains the pawn defended
and avoids mate in one is 65.Bc6 but this loses the bishop to 65...Rc8.
Let us go back to the position after 56.Ba2. 56...Rc1 (Avoiding the
trap 56...Ra1?? with complete domination and... draw by stalemate!)
57.Bb3 Ra1+ 58.Ba2 Kd4. The king retreats in order to enable lateral attacks
of the rook. With the a4-pawn vulnerable now, White cannot save the game. 59.Kb2
Re1 60.Bf7 (A desperate attempt to return with the bishop on the b5-e8
diagonal. 60.Bb1 leaves the c4-square undefended, allowing a relatively
easy win after 60...Kc4 61.Bf5 Kb4 62.Bd7 Rd1 63.Bb5 Rd2+ and so on,
like in the variation starting with 56.Ka2 above. 60.Bb3 keeps the c4-square
defended, but deprives the own king of the b3-square and places the bishop on
a vulnerable square. 60...Kc5! 61.Kc3 Re3+! With the bishop on a favourable
square, the white king could escape now to the right wing, but here this is
impossible. 62.Kb2 Kb4 63.Bd1 Rg3 64.Bc2 Rg2 65.Kc1 Kc3 and it is all
over.) 60...Re7 61.Bh5 (Or 61.Bg8 Kc5 62.Kc3 Re3+ 63.Kb2 Kb4
with a familiar position.) 61...Kc4 62.Bf3 Kb4 63.Bc6
Analysis diagram
Finally, the bishop has returned on the "good" diagonal, but Black
has carried out his essential regrouping in the meanwhile. 63...Rc7 64.Be8 Rc5
65.Bb5 Rc8 and we have reached a familiar zugzwang position.
I will return now to the aforementioned games of Kasparov. In both cases, the
situation was slightly different: the defending part had an advantage of space
(here, this would mean that pawns are on a5 and a6). If the king is free, the
attacker has to push it one file further than in our current game, namely untill
the opposite edge of the board.
In Kasparov's game against Pinter, the Hungarian GM managed to avoid this and
achieved a draw. Of more interest is the Jussupov game. Just like in the lines
above, the king was trapped in the surroundings of the pawns. Apparently, this
should be less dangerous, because the king has more space available, but on
the other hand the bishop's "good" diagonal is shorter! Curiously,
the evaluation remains the same: the side with a rook should win by successive
zugzwang positions. For a while, Kasparov conducted his attack in the best way,
but then let the enemy king escape, with inevitable draw...
Back to the game in Wijk: 48...Rc6 49.Bb5 Rc3 50.Ba6 Ra3 51.Bb5 Ra2
52.Kc1! We can notice an important element. Being a long-ranged piece,
the bishop, too, can act on both wings. Here, the control of the d3-square is
as important as the defence of the pawn. For instance, the careless 52.Bc6? would
lose to 52...Rd2+! 53.Kc1
(53.Ke1 allows
53...Rc2 with a double
(and deadly) threat.
) 53...Kd3 followed by ...Kc3.; However, 52.Be8 is
playable, too. After 52...Rd2+ 53.Ke1! the bishop is safe on e8, because the interposition
of the black king on the e-file prevents the double attack ...Re2+.
52...Kd4
53.Kd1 Kc3 54.Ke1 Rd2 55.Ba6 Rd4 56.Bb5 Kc2
Finally, Black switches plans. He will try to push the enemy king as far as possible.
57.Ke2 Re4+ 58.Kf3 Re7 59.Kf2 Kc3 60.Kf3 Kd4 61.Ba6 Re3+
62.Kf2! One important defensive method is the diagonal opposition. In
case of the careless 62.Kf4? Black achieves the situation from point 1) with 62...Re6
63.Bb5 Rf6+ 64.Kg3 when 64...Kc3 followed by the exchange sacrifice on a4 ensures
an elementary win.
62...Ke4 63.Bb5 Kf4 64.Ba6 Re4 65.Bb5 Re6 66.Bc4 Re4 67.Bb5
Rd4 68.Ke2 Rd6 69.Bd3 Rh6 70.Bb5 Ke4 71.Bd3+ Kd4 72.Bb5 Rh2+ 73.Kf3 Ra2 74.Bd7
Ra3+ 75.Kf2 Kd3 76.Kf3 Kd2+
77.Kf4! The king has to approach the dangerous 5th rank in order to maintain
the diagonal opposition. 77.Kf2? loses to 77...Rd3 78.Bb5 Re3 with zugzwang. If
the bishop moves, it will be attacked by the rook, followed by a check on the
c-file, while 79.Kf1 Rf3+ immediately drives the king into the forbidden zone.
77...Re3
78.Bb5! Again, the control of the d3-square is essential. After a careless
move such as 78.Bc6? Black establishes a frontal opposition with 78...Kd3 79.Bb5+
Kd4 , forcing the king to go upper than he would have wished. 80.Kf5
(80.Bd7
is met by the familiar manoeuvre
80...Re7 81.Bb5 Rf7+) 80...Re4 81.Bc6
Re5+! 82.Kf6
(Or
82.Kf4 Re6!) 82...Re3 83.Kf5 and now Black starts
his decisive attack on the opposite wing with 83...Kc5 84.Bb5 Kb4 85.Kf4 Ra3 86.Ke4
Rxa4 87.Bxa4 Kxa4 88.Kd3 Kb3 winning.
78...Re7 79.Kf3 Kc3 80.Ba6 Kd4 81.Bb5
Re6
82.Kf2! Radjabov deals correctly with the last dangerous moment for White
in this game. 82.Bd7? loses to 82...Re3+ 83.Kf2 Kd3 and so on.
82...Re5 83.Kf3
Kc5 84.Kf2 Kb6 85.Bd3 Kc5 and, having convinced himself that Radjabov knows
"/portals/all/_for_legal_reasons.jpg" about this endgame, Van Wely resigned himself to the inevitable.
1/2-1/2.
- Click to replay
the above analysis and the three quoted games. Note that in our JavaScript
replay you can click on the notation on the right and the board on the left
will follow the moves.
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