Endgame

Krishnan Sasikiran – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
10th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, January 28, 2012
Catalan Opening E06

Comments in quotation marks by Grandmasters Joel Benjamin, “Liquidation on the Chess Board: Mastering the Transition Into the Pawn Ending”, New in Chess, Alkmaar, 2015, p. 220, and Karsten Müller, “CBM training: Endgames from Gibraltar”, ChessBase.com, February 4, 2012.

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 0-0 6. 0-0 dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Be4 11. Qc1 Bb7 12. a3 h6 13. Rd1 Qc8 14. b4 Nbd7 15. Nc3 Ne4 16. Qc2 Nxc3 17. Qxc3 Bd6 18. Rac1 Nb6 19. Ne1 Nc4 20. Rb1 Rd8 21. e4 e5 22. Be3 Re8 23. Nc2 Nxe3 24. Qxe3 exd4 25. Nxd4 Qg4 26. h3 Qg6 27. Nf5 Qe6 28. Nxd6 cxd6 29. Qf4 Rad8 30. Re1 Qa2 31. Ra1 Qb2 32. Qc1 Qf6 33. Qc7 Bxe4 34. Bxe4 Rxe4 35. Qxd8+ Qxd8 36. Rxe4 Qc8 37. h4 Qc3 38. Rd1 Qxa3 39. Rxd6 Kh7 40. Rdd4

“The basic plan of two Rooks against a Queen is to double-team a Pawn and to liquidate into a Pawn ending. Black has an extra Pawn so it feels like the position should be safe”. (Benjamin).
40. ... Qc1+. “Trading off White’s Queenside Pawns with 40. ... a5 41. bxa5 Qxa5 has its virtues. White would have to eliminate the b-Pawn before he could liquidate, but he might be able to achieve that. After 42. Rd1 Qc3 43. Rb1 g5 44. Reb4 Kg6 45. hxg5 hxg5 46. Rxb5 f6 47. Rd5 Qf3 48. Rd6 Kh5 49. Rbb6 f5 Black may be holding”. (Benjamin).
41. Kg2 Qc6 42. Kh2 h5.“Black is aiming for a fortress, but Black would be advised to take a more proactive approach; 42. ... g5 would make a coordinated attack on the f-Pawn difficult to arrange”. (Benjamin).
43. Re5 g6 44. Rf4 Qd7 45. Re3 Kg7 46. Ref3 Qd5? “侯 (Hóu) is hesitant to make a weakness. After 46. ... f5 my chess engines try to claim a slight edge for Black, which seems quite laughable. However, to organize an attack on the g6-Pawn or the seventh rank White will risk losing the b4-Pawn and perhaps some counterplay on his King as well”. (Benjamin)

“Two Rooks are stronger than the Queen but this depends of course a lot on the position. The Queen needs targets and the Rook stability:“. (Müller).
47. Rf6! “Sasikiran blocks the f-Pawn and forces Black to act quickly”. (Müller).
47. ... Qa2? “This way Black can not start real counterplay. The retreat 47. ... Kg8? is met by 48. Kg2 Qe4 49. Rxf7 Qxb4 50. R3f4 and Black should also be lost despite her passed Queenside Pawns, e.g. 50. ... Qc5 51. R7f6 a5 (51. ... Kg7 52. Rxa6 b4 53. Rff6 Qd5+ 54. Kh2 Qd3 55. Rfb6 Kh6 56. Ra2 Qc3 57. Rb7 Qd4+ 58. Rc2+−) 52. Rxg6+ Kh7 53. Rg5 Qc6+ 54. Kh2 a4 55. Rf7+ Kh8 56. Rxh5+ Kg8 57. Rf4 a3 58. Rg4+ Kf7 59. Rf5+ Ke7 60. Rg7+ Ke8 61. Rh5 Kf8 62. Ra7 Qf6 63. Kg1 b4 64. Rb5+−. The only way to fight on was the direct 47. ... a5! 48. bxa5 b4 when White has the choice between a Queen endgame with an extra Pawn or two Rooks against Queen: 49. R3f4 (49. Rxf7+ Qxf7 50. Rxf7+ Kxf7 51. a6 b3 52. a7 b2 53. a8=Q b1=Q with a Queen endgame which should be tenable) 49. ... b3 50. Rb6 Qxa5 51. Rxb3 Qd5 52. Rb6 f5 and White can fight on but Black has practical drawing chances”. (Müller).

48. Kg2! “Preparation for the simplification. Sasikiran wins an all important tempo for the Pawn endgame. 48. Rxf7+? violates the endgame principle do not rush: 48. ... Qxf7 49. Rxf7+ Kxf7 50. Kg2 (50. f3 Ke6 51. Kg2 Kd5 52. Kf2 Kc4 53. g4 Kxb4 54. f4=) 50. ... Ke6 51. Kf3 Kd5 52. Ke3 Kc4 53. f4 Kxb4 54. g4 Kc5 55. f5 Kd5 56. fxg6 Ke6 57. gxh5 Kf6=”. (Müller).
48. ... Kg8. “Now it’s too late for 48. ... a5 due to 49. bxa5 Qxa5 (49. ... b4 50. a6 b3 51. Rxf7+ Kh6 52. Rb7 Qxa6 53. Rff7+−) 50. Rxf7+ and White’s attack is too quick, e.g. 50. ... Kh6 (50. ... Kg8? 51. Rf8+ Kg7 52. R3f7+ Kh6 53. Rh8 mate) 51. Rb7 Qa6 52. Rff7 Qc6+ 53. Kh2 g5 54. Rh7+ Kg6 55. Rbg7+ Kf5 56. Rxg5++−”. (Müller).
49. Rxf7! Qxf7. “The Pawn endgame is lost, but 49. ... Qd5 50. R7f6+− also offers no real hope”. (Müller).
50. Rxf7 Kxf7 51. Kf3! “The King comes first to stop Black’s Queenside counterplay based on the breakthrough ... a6-a5. Afterwards White’s Kingside majority will decide the day”. (Müller).
51. ... Ke6. “After 51. ... a5 52. bxa5 b4 53. Ke4+− White’s King is in the square and Black’s King is not”. (Müller).
52. Ke4 Kd6 53. f3 Kc6

54. g4! “This advance wins the resulting races”. (Müller).
54. ... Kc7. “The breakthrough 54. ... g5 backfires due to 55. gxh5 gxh4 56. h6 h3 57. h7 h2 58. h8=Q+−. After 54. ... Kb6 55. gxh5 gxh5 56. f4 a5 57. bxa5+ Kxa5 58. f5 b4 59. f6 b3 White must deal with the b-Pawn: 60. Kd3! (60. f7? b2 61. f8=Q b1=Q+=) 60. ... Ka4 61. f7 b2 62. Kc2 Ka3 63. f8=Q++−”. (Müller).
55. gxh5 gxh5 56. f4 Kd6 57. f5 Kd7 58. Ke5 Ke7 59. f6+ 1 : 0. “侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) resigned due to 59. ... Kf7 60. Kf5 a5 61. bxa5 b4 62. Ke4!+− and White’s King stops the b-Pawn (62. a6? b3 63. a7 b2 64. a8=Q b1=Q+=)”. (Müller).

“Today I played Black against Indian Grandmaster Sasikiran. Overall the game was pretty fine for me, but alas! I missed one opportunity after another. The end eventually came in a King and Pawn ending”, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) commented afterwards. Photo courtesy of her herself.