Something Concrete

Anna Olehivna Muzychuk – 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié)
Women’s Candidates Tournament 2024; Toronto, April 7, 2024
3R4/4K3/5p2/5kp1/8/8/8/8 w - - 1 53

Position after 52. ... Kg6-f5

The game between Muzychuk and 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) only confirmed that they both are still far from their best. A four-Rook ending soon arose from a French Exchange Variation, where a draw could be a fair outcome, but 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) played it badly enough to give Muzychuk a golden opportunity for a win in an asymmetric Rook vs. two Pawns ending. In her daily recap, Woman Grandmaster Anna Denisovna Burtasova summed up the position in the diagram as follows: “One precise move was required in her Rook endgame against two passed Pawns, and Muzychuk sadly did not manage to find it”.
53. Rd5+? Indeed, there are two solutions, as both 53. Kf7! and 53. Rg8! lead to a theoretical win for White; for example: 53. Kf7! g4 54. Rg8 Kf4 55. Kg6 (55. Kxf6?? g3=) 55. ... Kf3 (or 55. ... f5 56. Kh5 Kg3 57. Rg7 Kf3 58. Kh4 Kf4 59. Ra7 g3 60. Rg7+−) 56. Kh5 (56. Kxf6?? g3=) 56. ... g3 57. Kh4 g2 58. Kh3+− and the g-Pawn finished its rush to queen.
53. ... Kf4!= 54. Kxf6 g4 55. Rd4+ Kf3 56. Kf5 g3 57. Rd3+ Kf2 58. Kg4 g2 59. Rd2+ Kf1. Simpler is 59. ... Kg1!=, for if 60. Kf3 (idem to say 60. Kh3) then 60. ... Kh1 61. Rxg2 stalemate.
60. Kf3 g1=N+ 61. Ke3 Nh3 62. Rh2 Ng1 63. Rf2+ Ke1 64. Rf6 Nh3 65. Rf3 Ng1 66. Rg3 Kf1 67. Rg6 Nh3 68. Rg7 Ng1 69. Rg3 Ne2 70. Rf3+ Ke1 71. Rf7 Ng1 72. Kd3 Nh3 73. Rh7 Nf2+ 74. Ke3 Nd1+ 75. Kd3 Nf2+ ½–½.

A draw is something concrete to cling to when everything is going crazy. Photo: Maria Alekseevna Emelianova/chess.com.