Odds and Endings

Daniel Fridman – Magnus Carlsen

7th GRENKE Chess Classic; time control: 45 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Karlsruhe, March 26, 2024

8/2p2kb1/3p4/3Pp3/1PP1P3/1KN3R1/5rp1/8 w - - 2 40

Position after 39. ... Kg8-f7

Unsurprisingly, it took very little for Carlsen to make his incomparable technique work all over again. Yet his opponent, starting from the position in the diagram, did almost everything right:
40. c5! Bf8! 41. Kc4 Bh6 42. b5! dxc5 43. d6! At the price of two Pawns, White succeeds in building up a blockade. Of course not 43. Kxc5?? on account of 43. ... Rc2 44. Kb4 Bd2 winning at least a piece.
45. ... cxd6 44. b6 Rb2 45. b7. 45. Nd5 also seems good enough to keep White’s drawing chances alive, but Fridman understandably aims at reducing the number of Pawns.
45. ... Rb4+ 46. Kd5 Rxb7 47. Rxg2 Rb6 48. Ra2 Rb3 49. Ra7+? This volatile check proves to be the losing mistake. After the correct 49. Kc4 Rb4+ 50. Kd5 Rd4+ 51. Kc6 it is hard to see how Black can make progress.
49. ... Kf6 50. Kc4 Rb4+ 51. Kd5 Bd2 52. Ne2

52. ... Rb3! White’s Knight is now almost dominated and Carlsen has no difficulty in winning the ending.
53. Ra2. If 53. Kxd6? then 53. ... Re3! 54. Ng1 Rd3+! 55. Kc6 c4 winning easily.
53. ... Bb4 54. Kxd6 Rd3+ 55. Kc6 Kg5 56. Kb5 Kg4 57. Kc4 Rd1 58. Rc2 Kf3 59. Nc1 Kxe4 60. Nb3 Rd3 61. Re2+ Re3 62. Nc1 Rxe2 63. Nxe2 Kf3. Even without Rooks, White’s domination strategy succeeds anyway.
64. Ng1+ Kg2 65. Ne2 Kf2 66. Nc1 e4 67. Kd5 e3 68. Nd3+ Kf1 0 : 1.