By Timothy Taylor

There was a famous game between two future World Champions at the Zurich Candidates tournament, 1953. Smyslov, white, had Petrosian on the ropes the whole game. Finally Smyslov advanced his passed d-pawn to the seventh – all seemed lost for Black, but Petrosian found an amazing resource – he played his Queen to e5, reaching this position:

Suddenly Black has threats, namely Mate with …Nf2+ and …Qxh2! Also White’s Queen is threatened, and the exchange of Queens doesn’t work because Black picks up the d-pawn with a Knight fork!

One can imagine how stunned Smyslov must have been! He finally concluded that Petrosian had found a “miracle draw” and played …Qxd3+ and d8=Q, when he can’t win (despite his extra piece) as Black’s passed d-pawn is too strong. A draw was agreed in a few moves.

But was Petrosian’s move so miraculous? Actually, Smyslov could have won almost instantly with the simple but hard to see Qd6!! when Black has no threats whatsoever and White simply queens his d-pawn after one or two spite checks!

For my last TRUE COMBAT IN THE ENDING, I am going to show my own “miracle draw” – but was it a miracle, or, like Petrosian’s dazzling trick, only an illusion?

IM Ionescu vs. IM Taylor

November First Saturday, GM group

Budapest 2003

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 b6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Nc3 Bb7 9.Bf4 Na6 10.Rc1 c5 11.dxc5 Nxc5 12.Nd4 Qd7 13.Qd2 Nfe4 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.b4 Na6 16.b5 Nc5 17.Rfd1 Rac8?

Black can be happy with the opening, and after the correct 17…Bf6 would stand well – but now things start to slide.

18.Qe1 Qg4 19.Be3 Rfd8 20.Qf1! Ne6 21.Bh3 Qg6 22.Bxe6 fxe6 23.Nc6 Bxc6 24.Rxd8+ Bxd8 25.bxc6 Qe8 26.Qd1 Be7 27.Qa4 Bc5 28.Bxc5 Rxc6 29.Kg2 bxc5 30.Rxc5 Rc8 31.Qxe8+ Rxe8 32.Rc7 a5 33.Ra7 Rb8 34.Rxa5 Rb2

Black is in a very bad way, to put it mildly! I am a passed pawn down, and even though I have the active rook, my shattered kingside pawns can be blockaded and attacked, which means, according to Reuben Fine’s Basic Chess Endings, that I am lost – that is, I’m lost, unless a miracle occurs …

Let’s see how the game goes. Note how logical White’s play is – Ionescu is a strong Romanian IM, who nearly made a GM norm in this tournament.

35.e3 Kf7 36.g4

White blocks Black’s King, and opens a path for his own King to attack the weakling at e4.

36…Kf6 37.h4 h6

This may be the first critical position; we will come back to this moment.

38.a4

White makes his passed pawn a threat.

38…Ra2 39.Ra8 h5

Black has to do something! At least I can threaten to infiltrate with my King now, but I am also two pawns down!

40.gxh5 Kf5 41.Kg3 Ra1 42.a5 Rg1+ 43.Kh3 Rh1+ 44.Kg2 Ra1

This may be the second critical position.

45.f3

White forces open a path for his King, so he can support his passed pawn.

45…exf3+ 46.Kxf3 Rf1+ 47.Ke2 Ra1 48.Kd3 Ra3+ 49.Kd2 Ke4 50.a6 Ra2+ 51.Kc3 Kxe3 52.Kc4 e5 53.Kb5

At the cost of a pawn, White has defended his passer, and can now create another passed pawn on the opposite side of the board.

All very logical!

53…e4 54.Rg8 Kf2 55.Rxg7 e3 56.Rf7+ Kg3 57.Re7 e2 58.h6

White is behind Black’s lone passer, while his R-pawns look unstoppable!

58…Kf2 59.h7 Rb2+ 60.Kc6 Rb8 61.a7 Rh8 62.Kb7

White forces the win of a Rook!

62…Rxh7 63.Rxh7 e1=Q 64.Rf7+ Kg3 65.a8=Q

As a result of his logical play, White is now a full Rook and a pawn up!!

There is only one problem: somewhere in the preceding moves, a miracle actually occurred – and despite White’s huge material advantage, the position is drawn!!

65…Qe4+

Black gets a perpetual check, as the White King is tied to his new Queen. Even though in the game I pick up the Rook, I didn’t even need to: the perpetual works regardless.

66.Kb8 Qe8+ 67.Ka7 Qxf7+

I could have also drawn with 67…Qa4+ if I had wanted to be obnoxious!

68.Qb7 Qxb7+ 69.Kxb7 Kxh4, 1/2-1/2.

A typical First Saturday game: a fight until only Kings are left!

So now, I must ask you, readers: Do you believe in miracles? Was the original position somehow drawn?

I must answer honestly: Yes, the final Rook down position is dead drawn … but earlier … uhhh … OK, I was dead busted!

In my opinion, White had two chances to win. First, let’s go back to the diagram after 37…h6.

The move White played, 38.a4, is good, but there is another strong plan which Capablanca used in some of his famous Rook endings: 38.h5! This move tends to fix a Black weakness at g7, since advancing this pawn leads (after an exchange on g6) to an even worse pawn structure for Black, with three separated and isolated pawns. Therefore, Black will have to defend passively.

White, after 38.h5, can play his R to a7, attacking the g-pawn, and tying down the Black King. Then he should advance his pawn to a6, while threatening to go after Black’s weak e-pawn with his King. I believe this slow positional grind, based on two weaknesses (g7 and e4) plus the passed pawn, would win for White.

But the way Ionescu played could also have brought him the full point, if he had noticed a hidden shot!

Let’s follow the game again to the diagram after 44…. Ra1

Here White played 45.f3, which I think is a serious mistake. It may seem logical to bring the King to the queenside to support the passed pawn, but in fact that move gives Black counterplay, as we saw in the game.

Instead, White can force the win with the surprising 45.Rf8+! which seems to drive Black’s King where it wants to go! After the forced 45… Kg4 (45… Ke5 46.Rf7 wins) White has the hidden shot I mentioned above: 46.h6!!. This shatters Black’s pawns, and allows White to simplify to a winning ending. The next moves are forced: 46… gxh6 47.Rf4+ Kh5 48.Rxe4 Rxa5 49.Rxe6 and the subtle point of 46.h6 is revealed: the “diverted” Black g (now h) pawn means that White is left with connected passed pawns.

After, for example, 49…Ra4 50.Kg3 Rg4+ 51.Kf3 Rxh4 52.Re4 Rh1 53.Rg4 the Black King is cut off and White wins easily.

So what’s the moral? Are there no miracles in chess? I think it’s better to say there are no miracles in analysis! But over the board, Petrosian saved a dead lost position, and so did I. World Champions, IMs … you might be able to bamboozle anyone! So don’t despair, keep fighting in your lost positions, and maybe you too will find an amazing save!

I’ll leave you with a philosophical chess question: is a miracle draw really a miracle if your position was objectively dead lost?