Kopayev 1956, p. 267.pgn

In the analysis of the game Duras-Capablanca (1913) we saw several positions which are very similar to Levenfish/Smyslov n. 190 (see the thread “Capablanca-Yates, D. 19, the lines a) 7.Rd2 Re3 8.Rh2 fxe6 9.fxe6, and b) 7.Ra4 fxe6 8.fxe6 , as well as the line 7...fxe6 8.fxe6 when Black is to play). Kopayev analysed 1958 once again the position of D. 4 which could have arisen in the line b) 7.Ra4 fxe6 8.fxe6, but he made several mistakes. 

D. 4



Kopayev 1958, n. 236a

In the line above mentioned line b) 7.Ra4 fxe6 8.fxe6 the White rook was on a4 which does not make any difference. 

1...Rd1+ 2.Ke5 Re1+?

This move of Kopayev from 1958 throws away the draw. 1956 Kopayev considered the right move 2...Ke7 (Shakhmatny Biulleten, n. 1956, p. 267). After 3.Rc7+ the only saving move is 3…Ke8! 3…Kf8? loses, as shown in D. 1a. After 3…Ke8! Kopayev continued 4.Kf6 Rf1+! 5.Kg6 Rg1! 6.Rc4 Rh1!=. 
After 2.Ke5 Black could have drawn also with 2...Ke8=. 

3.Kf6 Rf1+ 4.Kg6 Rh1 5.Rc7 Rg1

We have now transposed to Levenfish/Smyslov n. 190, D. 1a after 5.Kf6 Rf1+ 6.Kf6 Rf1+ 4.Kg6 Rh1 5.Rc7 Rg1 6.Kg6 Rg1. 

6.Rf7+?

We now already that White wins with 6.e7+ . 

6...Ke8 7.Rf4=. 

We have already analysed this position in D. 1a, the line 5.Rh7? after 9.Rf4, and in D. 3a.  

D. 4a



This position is from Kopayevs line a) 7.Rd2 Re3 8.Rh2 fxe6 9.fxe6. 

1...Rd3+! 2.Ke5 Re3+ 3.Kf5 Rf3+ 4.Kg6 

4.Ke4 Rf6 5.Ke5 Ke7=. 

4...Rf4 5.Rh4

5.Rg2 Re4 6.Kf5 Re1 7.Rh2 Rf1+ 8.Kg6 Rf4=. 

5...h5 6.Kxh5 Re4 7.Kg6 Rxe6+ 8.Kh7 Re7+ 9.Kh8 Rg7=. 

We saw in Levenfish/Smyslov n. 190, line 4.Kd7, that Black’s defensive task is easier when his king has access to g7.  

D. 5



Prizant-Fomin 2000
 
Without the pawns on g4 and h6 this is the famous Tarrasch-position (1906). Defensive ideas are often similar. The position is drawn whoever is to play first.  

1...Kg6 

As in Tarrasch position, every move of the rook along a-file draws as well, except 1…Ra6? In the game  Smeets-Wiersma (2003) Black played 1…Ra6? (see the thread „Capablanca-Yates“, D. 22). The game went on 2.Rd6? (2.Ke8+! Kf6 3.e7+-) 2...Ra7+? (2...Ra8!) 3.Ke8 Ra8+ 4.Rd8 Ra7 5.Rd7+ 1–0.

2.Rd8 Ra7+

As in the position of Tarrasch, Black has only 2 saving moves - 2...Ra7+ and 2...Ra6=. 

3.Kd6 Ra6+!

Again, as in Tarrasch position, the only move to draw. 

4.Ke5 Ra5+

Here Black can deviate from Tarrasch position by playing 4...Ra7 but the defence is then more complicated. 
4...Ra75.Rg8+ Kh7 6.Rd8 Kg6 7.g5 h5 (or 7...Ra5+ 8.Rd5 Ra1 9.Kd6 Ra6+! 10.Kd7 Ra7+! 11.Ke8 hxg5=) 8.Rg8+ Kh7 9.Rc8 Kg6! 10.Rc1 h4 11.Kd6 Kxg5 12.e7 Rxe7 13.Kxe7 h3=.  

5.Rd5 Ra7 6.Kd6 Ra6+ 7.Ke7 Ra7+ 8.Rd7 Ra8

White has made no progress. We are back to the initial position. 

9.Rd8 Ra7+ 10.Kf8

D. 5a



10…Rh7!

This is the only drawing move unlike the position of Tarrasch. In the position of Tarrasch Black could play also 10…Kf6 but here it loses because White liquidates to a winning pawn endgame - 10...Kf6? 11.e7! Rxe7 12.Rd6+ Re6 13.Rxe6+ Kxe6 14.Kg7+-.  
In the game Sitanggang-Mirumian Black missed 10…Rh7! and played 10…Kg5? After 11.Rd4 Kf6 12.e7 Rxe7 13.Rd6+ Black resigned. White could have also won by 11.e7 Rxe7 12.Kxe7 Kxg4 13.Kf6+-. 

1) 11.Rd7 Rh8+ 12.Ke7 Ra8! Draw was agreed. We are again back to the initial position.  

12…Ra8! was the only drawing move. As we will see in D. 6 12…Rb8? loses. 

In the game Hracek-Navara 2004  (rev. col.) White (Navara) continued stubbornly to play for a win and unexpectedly Hracek made a fatal mistake. After 13.Rb7 Kg7 14.Kd6+ Kf6 15.Kd7 Kg7 16.Ke7 Kg6 17.Rc7 Kg7 18.Rc6 Kg6 19.Rc5 Black went wrong with 19…Kg7? and resigned after 20.g5! Ra7+ 25.Kd8. 19…Ra7+ or any other move with the rook on a-file would have drawn easily. 

2) 11.Ke8

This move was played in Shankland-Bao 2008. 

D. 5b



11…Kg5?

As in previous example this move loses. The only move to draw was 11...Kf6! After 12.Rd6 Black saves the position with 12…Rh8+! 13.Kd7 Ra8 or 13…Rb8.  

12.Rd4?

White misses the win by 12.Rd7! Rh8+ 13.Ke7 Ra8 (13...Kxg4 14.Rd8+-) 14.Rd8 Ra7+ 15.Kf8 Kxg4 16.e7+-.  

12...Rh8+?

Again 12...Kf6! would have saved the day.  

13.Kd7. Black resigned.

Back to D.3a.

The position of D. 3a was vividly discussed in Germany in view of the game Morphy-de Riviere 1863. The discussion mostly concentrated on the move 6.Kg7. 

II. 6.Kg7

D. 3h



After the game Morphy-de Riviere (1863) this position has been thought as winning for White for a long time. In the 2. and 3. editions of his book on Morphy M. Lange apparently believed that the win is evident and he remarked only that White wins by bringing his king to g7 and capturing the a-pawn. Berger gave in the 1. edition of his Theorie und Praxis der Endspiele (Leipzig 1890, p. 223) a sample line which should prove the win for White. It was only in 1894 when Tarrasch found the saving idea in the line of Berger. 

1) 6...Ke7 

a) 7.Rf7+ Kxe6 8.Rf6+ 

D. 3i



8...Ke5!

This is the saving move of Tarrasch. Berger considered only 8...Ke7? 9.Rxh6 Rg1 10.Rg6 Rg2 11.g5+- (Berger 1890, p. 223).  

9.Rxh6 Rg1 10.Rg6 Kf4 11.Rf6+ Kg5=. 

b) 7.Rf6

D. 3j



Sergeant considered 1916 the position after 6.Rf6 winning for White but did not give any concrete variation. Kopayev proved in 1958 (Kopayev, 1958, n. 236a) that with accurate defence Black draws. 

7…Rh4!

Of course not 7...Rg1? 8.Rg6! 

8.Rg6 h5! 9.g5 Rg4!

Not 9...Rh1? 10.Rh6 h4 11.g6 Kxe6 12.Kh8+-.

10.Kh6 h4! 11.Kh5 Rg1

Or 11...Re4=.  

12.Kxh4

Black has to defend carefully after 12.Rh6 – 12…h3! 13.Kg6 Rg3! 14.Kf5 Rf3+! 15.Kg4 Ra3=. 

12...Rh1+ 13.Kg3 Rg1+ 14.Kf3 Kd6 15.Kf2 Rg4=. 

2) 6...Rh2

The move of von der Lasa who considered this position to be winning for White.  

7.Rf6 Rh4! 8.Rg6 Ke7! 

This position is drawn whoever moves first. Black to move see above, D. 3j after 7…Rh4! 8.Rg6.  

9.Kh8 Kf8 

“Why not 9...h5?” – asked Berger in his treaty. 9…h5 is indeed an easy draw. 

10.Kh7 Ke8

D. 3k



11.Kg8

a) 11…Rh1? 12.Kg7 Rh4 13.Kf6+-.  

b) 11...Ke7 12.Kg7 

Von der Lasa claimed here a win but the position is in fact drawn.   

12...h5! 13.g5 Rg4! 14.Kh6 h4! 15.Kh5 Re4=. 

Or 15...Rg1=. 

c) 11...h5

This is the easiest way to draw. 

12.g5 Rg4!=

White can not improve his position. 

3) 6...Rh4?!

D. 3l



This move was played 1986 in the game Woda - Nowak 1986 (rev. col.). It loses actually a tempo but Black can afford it. By the way, this move was suggested by Sergeant in 1916 as an alternative to 6… Ke7 which he considered as losing because of 7.Rf6. 

7.Kf6 Rh1

We are now back to D. 3a after 6.Kf6, but with White to move. The tempo gained by White is useless which means that in D. 3a instead of 6…Rg1 Black could have played also 6…Rh2 or 6…Rh3. 

a) 8.Rf5

This move was played in Woda-Novak. 

8...Rg1

8...Ra1 9.Kg6 Rg1! 10.Rf4 Rh1=.

9.Rd5

Probably there is a mistake in the notation of ChessBase - 9.Ra5would have been a more logical move. After 9.Rd5 Black could have simply recaptured the pawn.  

9...Rf1+ 10.Kg6 Rf4?

Black makes now a fatal mistake. 9...Rg1! would have drawn - 10.Rd4 Rh1=.

11.Kh5!

Now that the king protects his g-pawn White has time to transfer his rook to g-file. The e-pawn is no more relevant. 

11…Ke7

11...Re4 does not help Black. 12.Rd6 Ke7 13.Rd7+! Kf8 (13...Kxe6 14.Rg7!+-) 14.Rf7+ Kg8 15.Rf6+- or  12…Kf813.Rd8+ Kg7 14.Rd7+ +-.

12.Rd7+ Kxe6 13.Rg7! Rf1 14.Kxh6! Rh1+ 15.Kg6 Rh4 16.g5 White won.   

b) 8.Ra4

We are following now a line which was proposed by the German review “Neue Berliner Schachzeitung” in 1866 (with the insignificant difference that the rook was there on h2). 

8…Rf1+! 9.Kg7 Rh1!

“There is nothing to be done” (Sergeant).  

10. Ra8+ Ke7 

The German review suggested here 11.Ra7+ Ke8? 12.Kh7? and believed that the final position is winning for White. This line was also reproduced by Berger in the 2. edition of his treaty. The last two moves are hardly understandable. Why not 11...Kxe6 with an obvious draw? After 11…Ke8? White can win by 12.e7! in the same way as in the main line of Levenfish/Smyslov n. 190. And after 12.Kh7? the position is in fact drawn. 11...Rg2  12.Rg7 Rh2! 13.Rg6 Rh4! transposes to D. 3k. Black can draw also by 21...Rh4 22.Rg7 (22.Ra4 Ke7 23.Re4 h5=) 22...Kf8 23.Kh8 Ke8 24.Kg8 Rh1=. 

c) 8.e7 Ra1

Black draws also by 8…Rb1, Rc1, Rd1=.
Sergeant considered here 8…Re1? which loses because with the position of the rook on e-file Black can not prevent the familiar transfer of White rook to g6 - 9.Ra4 Rf1+ 10.Kg7 Rh1 11.Ra6 Rg1 12.Rg6+-. Curiously enough Sergeant considered this position as drawn!  “11...Kxe7 12.Kxh6 Kf7 where it is claimed that the probable result is a draw. A possible continuation seems to be 13.Rg7+ Kf8 14.g5 Rg2 15.Ra7 Kg8 when Black cannot both dislodge White's King and provide for the advance of his Pawn” (p. 303). After 16.Kg6 the so called Lucena position is inevitable. 

9.Kg7

Now we have transposed to D. 3b after 9.Kf6 Ra1 10.Kg7. Black draws with 9…Rh1!

D. 3



Reizniece-Daulyte 2011
(rev. col.) 

We have already seen this position in Levenfish/Smyslov n. 190, line 5.Rh7? after 11.Ra4. 

1...Rf1+! 2.Ke5

In Levenfish/Smyslov n. 190, line 5.Rh7? White played 12.Kg6. 

2...Re1+ 3.Kf5 Rf1+ 4.Rf4 Rg1 5.Kg6 Rh1

The game has again transposed to the same line of Levenfish/Smyslov n. 190, after  9.Rf4.
5…Rh1 is the only move to draw. The American genius Morphy played against de Riviere (Paris 1863, with rev. col. and flanks) 5…Ke7? and resigned after 6.Kxh6 Kxe6 7.g5. 

D. 3a



I. 6.Kf6

In the game Woda-Novak (rev. col.) White played 5.Kg7 (II). 

6…Rg1 7.e7

7.Ra4 repeats the position of D. 4

7...Ra1 8.Kg6 Rh1!

D. 3b



9.Re4 

Now we see the difference between the active position of the rook on c4 (in Levenfish/Smyslov n. 190, main line, after 8…Rh1) and on f-file. In Levenfish/Smyslov n. 190 White managed after maneuver Kf6-Kg7 to attack the h-pawn from the 6. rank (c6) and threaten with a check from the eighth rank. Here the same idea does not work –9.Kf6 Ra1 10.Kg7 Rh1 11.Rf6 fails to 11…Rh4! 12.Rf4 Kxe7. After 11.Rf6 White doesn’t 't have the square f6 for his king. 

9…Rh2

Or 9...Rh3=. 

10.Re6 

Two moves later White will try 12.Kg7 (see the game, 12.Kg7).

D. 3c



10...Rg2!

With the White king on g6 Black can not play 0...Rh4? because of 1.Kf5! Rh1 2.Kf6!+- with transposition to the game line after 3.Kf6. Compare the D. 3c with D. 3g.  

11.Re4 Rh2

Now we are back to the position of D. 3b after 9.Re4 Rh2. 

12.Kg7 

D. 3d



1) 12…Rh4?

This move loses. 

13.Kg6? 

White misses the only winning move 13.Kf6! 

D. 3e



Since 13…h5 fails to 14.Rd8 Black has to retreat with  13...Rh1. After 14.Re6 Rg1 15.Ra6 White wins as in Levenfish/Smyslov n. 190: 15…Rf1+ 16.Kg7 Rg1 17.Rg6+- .

13...h5 14.Kg5 Rxg4+ 15.Rxg4 hxg4 16.Kxg4 Kxe7 Draw. 

2) Just waiting with 12...Rh1 or 12...Rh3 was good enough. 

D. 3f



This position is drawn because of the position of the rook on e-file which does not give the possibility to threaten with a check from the eighth rank. 

13.Re6

D. 3g



We saw this position with the king on g6 in D. 3c. This difference is important. In D. 3c Black could draw with Rg2 but here 13…Rg1 loses due to 14.Rg6. 

13…Rh4!

This the only move to draw. In D. 3c this was the losing move. 

14.Re4 h5=. 

Or 14…Rh1, Rh2 or Rh3=.

D. 1



Levenfish/Smyslov n. 190 (rev. fl.)

This position is given as drawn when it is Black`s turn to move. 

1...Ra6+ 2.Rc6

2.Kd7 is useless because after 1…Ra7+ 3.Kd8 Ra8+ White has to backtrack by 4.Kd7 Ra7+ 5.Kd6 Ra6+ 6.Rc6+-. 
2.Ke5? throws away the win because the king has safe squares on g7 and g6 - 2…Kg7! 3.Rc7+ Kg6!=.  

2...Ra8 3.Rc7 Ra6+ 4.Ke5

After 4.Kd7 Ra8 Levenfish and Smyslov consider 5.Rb7? which is a result-changing mistake - 5...Kg7! 6.Kd6+ Kg6 (or  6...Kf6= ). With 5.Kd6 White can come back to the main line. 

4...Ra1

D. 1a



5.Kf6!

Levenfish and Smyslov overlooked this natural move. They considered only 5.Rh7? which only draws - 5…Re1+ 6.Kf5 Rf1+ 7.Kg6 Rg1 8.Rf7+ Ke8 9.Rf4 Rh1 10.Kf6 Rg1 11.Ra4 Rf1+ 12.Kg6 Rh1=. 

5...Rf1+ 6.Kg6 Rg1 7.e7+ Ke8 8.Rc4 Rh1 9.Kf6 Rf1+ 10.Kg7 Rh1 

10...Kxe7 11.Re4+! Kd6 12.Kxh6+-. 

11.Rc6 Rg1 12.Rg6 Kxe7 13.Kxh6+-. 

The ending of D. 1 is of practical relevance. It could have arisen in the famous ending Duras-Capablanca 1913 (rev. col.). 

D. 2



This position has been considered until now as drawn (see also my thread “Capablanca-Yates”, D. 18 after 3…Rg1? 4.Kd5? Kf8! 5.Kd6 Ra1). 

Capablanca played here 6.e6 and went on to win after 6...Ra6+? 7.Ke5 fxe6 8.f6! Kg8 9.Rd6 Ra1 10.Kxe6 Re1+ 11.Kf5 Rg1 12.Rd8+ Kf7 13.Rd7+ Kf8 14.Rh7 Kg8 15.Rxh6 Rg2 16.g5 Rg1 17.Kg6 1–0. 

According to the theory after 6.e6 Black could have saved the day by two drawing moves - 6...Re1 and 6…Ra7. While 6...Re1 indeed draws (see the thread “Capablanca-Yates”), 6…Ra7 suggested by Levenfish/Smyslov (also endorced by Speelman in BCE, p. 290) is in fact a losing mistake. 

6...Ra7?

D. 2a



Given an exclamation mark by Levenfish and Smyslov who considered it even better than 6...Re1.  

I. 7.Rc4!

This is the only winning move. White should be able to interpose his rook.  

7...fxe6 8.fxe6!

And we have now transposed to D. 1. 

II. Instead of 7.Rc4! White has an interesting try but against accurate defence it only draws. 

7.Ke5? fxe6 8.Kf6

D. 2b



8…Rf7+! 9.Kg6 exf5!

Black should be ready to give up his rook and then draw with two passed pawns against the rook. 9...Ke7 loses against 10.Re4 Rf6+ 11.Kh5+-. 

10.Rd8+ Ke7 11.Ra8 Rf6+ 12.Kg7 Rf7+

Or 12...fxg4 13.Ra7+ Ke6! 14.Ra6+ Ke5 15.Rxf6 Ke4! 16.Kxh6 g3!=. 

13.Kg8 fxg4 14.Ra7+ Ke6

Or 14...Kf6 15.Rxf7+ Kg5 or 15...Ke5=.  

15.Rxf7 h5

Black can draw also by 15...g3 or 15...Ke5=.  

16.Kg7 g3=.  

Or 16...h4 17.Rf4 g3! 

After analysing D. 2 I have come to an unexpected conclusion  – this position as well as  D. 18 of the thread “Capablanca-Yates”  is winning for White! So the move 61…f4, played by Capablanca against Duras, is not an error (as supposed by the theory and also by me)! This means that most parts of my analysis of Duras-Capablanca have to be rewritten! But I will come to it in a couple of days. 

Merry Christmas!