Endgame of the Month 4

GHOSTS, DEMONS, AND OTHER THINGS THAT GO BUMP ON THE CHESSBOARD

Cmilyte-Lahno, Chisnau 2005

WHITE TO MOVE AND DRAW

Here we see how good players can botch even the most basic endgames. In most cases such meltdowns occur due to some sort of hallucination, fatigue, and/or time pressure (I once lost a very basic drawn book endgame by suddenly seeing that my opponent's Rook had a move I had never imagined before: it would leap from a4 to h1 all at once and wipe me out! After the game, I tried to show him the amazing Ra4-h1, and suddenly realized that I was quite insane). But whatever the reason might be, it's nice to know that we're not the only ones that throw games away.

The position in the diagram is drawn, but there's only one way to achieve this. In time pressure (I assume it was time pressure, otherwise it's hard to understand why she went berserk), one can imagine what demons suddenly appeared and prompted ...

1.h6??

White allows Black to achieve a basic LUCENA. Yes, it IS important to thoroughly know the Lucena Position because it occurs quite often in practical play.

If you don't know the Lucena, click on the link and check out my old article:
THE SACRED KEY TO ALL ROOK ENDGAMES: THE LUCENA POSITION.

1...Rh1

This targets the h-pawn, threatens …c1=Q, and also creates a hiding place on c1 for black's King.

2.h7 Rxh7

Of course, 2...c1=Q?? 3.Rxc1 leaves Black with nothing better than 3...Rxh7 with a draw.

3.Rd8+ Kc3

Heading for the comfort of the c1-square and a classic LUCENA POSITION. 3...Ke4 also won (we'll look at that a bit later), but I suspect that Black was also in time pressure and just wanted to ice the game by reaching a position that she knew (beyond any shadow of a doubt!) was an easy win. A smart thing to do if you're low on time!

4.Rc8+ Kd2 5.Rd8+ Kc1

THE LUCENA POSITION

White could have resigned here, but if there was a mutual time scramble, then it's hard not to keep playing and hope for some sort of miracle.

6.Ke2 Re7+

Simpler was just 6...Rb7 (allowing black's King a check free zone on the b-file) followed by 7...Kb1 and 8...c1=Q.

7.Kd3 Rc7, 0-1. White's resignation makes sense, but I have to admit that 7...Rc7 was a bit strange. One would have expected 7...Rb7 8.Rc8 and now Black wins in three different ways:

1) 8...Kb1 (intending 9...c1=Q) 9.Rxc2 Rd7+ 10.Kc3 Rc7+ and White loses her Rook.

2) 8...Kd1 9.Rxc2 Rd7+ 10.Kc3 Rc7+ and again the Rook is lost.

3) 8...Rb3+ 9.Ke2 Kb1 (and NOT 9...Kb2?? 10.Kd2 with a draw since White now captures on c2 with check!) 10.Kd2 Rb2 (As we saw earlier, 10...Rb7 would also do the job: 11.Rxc2 Rd7+, picking up the enemy Rook) After 10...Rb2 White has to give up.

I promised to take a look at the position occurring after 3...Ke4 (instead of 3...Kc3, which was played in the game). However, before analyzing that position, take a look at the following basic but highly important situation:

DEAD DRAW, BUT A TRICK LURKS

After 1.Kf3 Black draws by keeping his Rook behind the pawn and his King on g7 or h7: 1...Ra2 (pass) 2.Ke4 (White's Rook is dead since if it moves Black takes the pawn, so it's up to White's King to somehow achieve something.) 2...Ra3 (pass) 3.Kd5 Kh7 (a different pass to relieve the boredom) 4.Kc6 Ra1 5.Kb7 (DANGER! White is defending the b-pawn and threatens to move his Rook from its prison on a8! Action must be taken!) 5...Rb1+ (Get away from that pawn!) 6.Kc7 Ra1 (and all is once again under control) 7.Kb7 (He's trying this again?) 7...Rb1+ 8.Kc6 Ra1, 1/2-1/2.

That was simple, but after 1.Kf3 more than one player has thought, "Why am I allowing my King to stay out of play? Why not rush him over to the queenside and gang up on White's pawn?" And, once this idea takes shape, Black is doomed:

1.Kf3 Kf7?? (Even more obvious was 1...Kf6?? 2.Rf8+ followed by a8=Q) 2.Rh8! (threatening a8=Q) 2...Rxa7 3.Rh7+ Ke6 4.Rxa7, 1-0.

Now that we're fully armed with this new trick, we can return to move 3 of the actual game and the following position:

BLACK HAS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO WIN

In the game, Black did the smart thing and went for the Lucena Position by 3...Kc3. However, 3...Ke4 also wins thanks to the trick we just looked at: 4.Re8+ Kd5 5.Rc8 (more checks allows the King to approach the annoying Rook. For example 5.Rd8+ Ke6 6.Re8+ Kd7) 5...Rh1 (Threatening ...c1=Q) 6.Rxc2 Rh2+ and white's Rook is history.

So how was White supposed to play our initial position?

Cmilyte-Lahno, Chisnau 2005

WHITE TO MOVE AND DRAW

White's only hope is to use his King to help his h-pawn move up the board. White will have to sacrifice his Rook for black's pawn, but in this case the remaining white pawn will prove enough of nuisance that a draw can't be avoided:

1.Kf3!

The h-pawn is all White has, so she has to use it. At times these races work, and at other times they don't (depending on how close the enemy King can get and how far the pawn manages to run). But in the present case White might as well have tried this (even with seconds on her clock) since the Lucena Position gives no hope at all.

1...Rf1+ 2.Kg4 c1=Q 3.Rc1 Rc1 4.h6 Ke4 5.Kg5 Ke5 6.h7 Rh1 7.Kg6 Ke6 8.Kg7 Rg1+ 9.Kf8 Rh1 10.Kg7, 1/2-1/2.