Diagram 1 Anand-Kramnik, Mexico city, 2007
Position after black’s 53rd move.http://www.france-echecs.com/diagramme/imgboard.phpfen=8/6p1/5p2/R4P1p/4k2P/6P1/...Now M. Marin commentates:
“Decades ago, Kholmov has proven that even without the f5-pawn White can hold a draw. The only winning chance for Black is to create a passed pawn on the f-file, but this is impossible in case of accurate defence from White”Suggesting that it is safe for white to give up his f-pawn.
In the game Anand choose
54.Kh2 instead. Kramnik played this drawn position until stalemate.
Marin is right in stating that the endgame can be drawn even if white has given up his f-pawn. But it requires accurate play!
Marin refers to Kholmov-Timoshenko 1982. In fact Kholmov lost from a similar position, after only two inaccurate moves.
Interestingly enough the endgame in question has been studied independently by
Emms (The Rook Endgame Survival Guide,1999) and
Beljavski & Mikhalchishin ("Winning Endgame strategy pg.74/75,2000). John Emms doesn’t mention the Kholmov-game. He recalls that a similar position appeared on the board in a club match. he observed, where the weaker side resigned! Beljavski and Mikhalchishin refer to the Kholmov-Timoshenko game.
Before I dive into the analysis of this endgame, I first present a basic endgame position that is needed to grasp what follows.
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diagram 2http://www.france-echecs.com/diagramme/imgboard.phpfen=R7/P5k1/8/5P2/8/8/6K1/r7w...In diagram 2 white has an easy win. After
1.f6+,Kf7 (1….Kxf6 2.Rf8+,Kg7 3.a1Q +-)
2.Rh8!,Rxa7
3.Rh7+!,K?
4.Rxa7 (+--)
With the skewer-combination white has won the enemy rook.
If white has a g- or h-pawn instead of an f-pawn then there is no win. The winning method aboveis not available, because white has no room for the skewer.
White cant win by using his king to defend his a-pawn. As soon as the king reaches b6 or b7
black start to give checks along the a- and b-file from which the white king has no shelter.
This explains in part why it is so difficult to win endgames with an extra pawn on a7 and attacking rook in front.=================================================================
diagram 3http://www.france-echecs.com/diagramme/imgboard.phpfen=R7/P5k1/6p1/7p/5K1P/5PP1/...White to move wins!
Black to move drawswhite to move (from diagram 3)From diagram 2 we may recall that white needs a free f-pawn to win.
But how to free it? The idea is a double pawn sacrifice. First sac the g-pawn,
and then play h5.
1.g4! White threatens 2.gxh5, creating a free f-pawn at once.
1…hxg is answered by 2.Kxg4 and now white frees his f-pawn with h5!.1… ,Ra4+
2.Kg3!,
2……., hxg4
3.f4!And black cant prevent Kxg4 followed by h5, freeing the f-pawn.
A terrible blunder would have been 3.fxg instead of 3.f4!, as white would have
been left with g+h vs g on the kingside. After the exchange of black's g-pawn he would
be left with either a g- or an h-pawn: in both cases a drawn position.
Black to move (from diagram 3) can prevent this variation
by giving rank checks:
1…….Ra4 2.Ke3,Ra3+
3.Kf2,Ra2+ 4.Kg1,Ra1+
5.Kg2,.Ra3+ 6.Kh3 Finally the white king found shelter
and we have reached diagram 4, which is drawn as we shall see.
diagram 4http://www.france-echecs.com/diagramme/imgboard.phpfen=R7/P5k1/6p1/7p/7P/5PPK/r7...White to move wins
black to move drawswhite to move (from diagram 4)
White wins with
1.g4!, Ra3 2.Kg3! when he reaches a position
that is very similar to the one in diagram 3 (white to move after the second move).
White threatens 3.gxh, while black also looses after playing 2....hxg 3.Kxgblack to move (from diagram 4)
Thus black cant play a waiting move like Ra1,
but must prevent g4 by playing:
from diagram 4:
1……Ra3! When 2.g4 is answered by Rxf3+,
and 2.Kg2,Ra2+ and white has made no progress.
So the only way to play for a win is
2.f4, Ra2
3.g4!, Ra3+
4.Kg2http://www.france-echecs.com/diagramme/imgboard.phpfen=R7/P5k1/6p1/7p/5PPP/r7/6K...Now black has in fact two ways to draw.
The key to this position is that the white King has no shelter from rank checks.Black can either play 4…hxg4 when both Emms and Beljavski provide the same complex drawing variation, or following the lines below.
4….., Ra2+
5.Kf3,Ra3+And now Beljavski/Mikhalchisin give
6.Ke4,hxg4 7.h5,g3! = while Emms continues
6.Ke2,Ra2+ 7.Kd1,Ra1+ 8.Kc2,hxg4=In both cases black uses the rank checks to drive away the white King and only takes on g4
at the most favourable moment.concluding remarks:
(1)M. Marin was right that the endgame is drawn. But it requires accurate play from the weaker side.
All in all I think Anand's choice was more practical.
(2) The a7-pawn with the attacking rook in front offers small winning chances.
The stronger side can generate more winning chances if he leaves his pawn on a6.
This leaves his king a shelter on a7from file-checks (see Müller's column Endgame Corner on
www.chesscafe.com================================================================
To stress the final point, a little test:diagram 6 from Beljavski/Mikhalchishin pg.74 last diagramhttp://www.france-echecs.com/diagramme/imgboard.phpfen=R7/8/5pp1/7p/4k2P/6P1/p5K...Now Beljavski gives as best play:
1.Re8+,Kd4 2.Rd8+,Ke5 3.Ra8! corrected thx to viking!Can you spot the error in this line?
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Rook-endgame, Anand-Kramnik, Mexico City 2007 (Read 6539 times)
