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***
[A.J. Goldsby I]
***
Position check: White - King on g2, Rook on h7, Bishop on d3, Pawns on
a4, c3, d4, f4, and g5;
Black - King on f8, Rook on c6, Knight on c4, Pawns on
a7, b6, c7, d5, and g6.
32...Ne3+!?;
33. Kf3
Nf5; (The
position LOOKS unclear.)
If I were to rate this position, without knowing this game, I would have to
say Black is better!! (How does White guard his QBP?)
White must
(now) rid himself of the
annoying Knight on f5.
(This is forced, if White is to make ANY progress!)
34. Bxf5
gxf5;
[ Not 34...Rxc3+?;
35.Kg4
gxf5+; 36.Kxf5
Rc4; 37.Ke5
Rxa4;
38.Rxc7
Ra2; 39.f5
Re2+; 40.Kf6,
"+/-" and White is winning. ]
Capa must have foreseen the following maneuver many moves before.
35. Kg3!!
Rxc3+; 36.
Kh4
Rf3; 37.
g6!
Rxf4+;
In an endgame, where pawns are worth their weight in gold,
White gives away TWO of them. (BOTH WITH CHECK!)
What does he have in mind?
38. Kg5 Re4; 39.
Kf6!,
Most players would have captured the Black KBP.
(The Pawn can - at least temporarily - be a shield against checks from the
Black Rook ... while White the White King goes to f6 and threatens
mate.)
But it would have been very inaccurate (and incorrect!) to take the f-pawn now.
White is now threatening a mate against the Black King.
[ 39.Kxf5?
Re1; 40.Kf6
Rf1+; 41.Ke6
Re1+; 42.Kxd5
Rc1;
"<=>"
{Counterplay.} and the win becomes extremely difficult.
]
39...Kg8;
This is Capablanca's plan.
The White King and Rook will
combine to
totally tie down the
Black King, threaten mate(s),
pawn promotion, etc.
In addition, the White Rook will gobble up
every pawn in sight.
Activity of the pieces are of paramount importance!!
[ 39...Ke8?; 40.Rh8+ Kd7; 41.g7, "+/-" and White's pawn promotes. ]
40. Rg7+!;
Forcing the Black King to an
even worse square!
(The corner.)
(With the Black King on this
square, the White g-Pawn
will advance ...
with check!)
40...Kh8;
The corner is the worst possible
square, but it is forced!
[ 40...Kf8!?; 41.Rxc7
Re8;
(41...f4??; 42.g7+
Kg8; 43.Rc8+
Kh7;
44.g8Q+
Kh6; 45.Qg6#
Or 41...Rxd4??; 42.Rc8#
) 42.Kxf5
Re4;
43.Kf6
Rf4+; 44.Ke5
Rg4; 45.g7+
Kg8; 46.Kxd5,
"+/-"
transposes back to the game. ].
41. Rxc7, (Nearly - '!')
This is nice, as White could have considered Rd7!?
41...Re8;
This is forced. If the Black Rook does not return to the first rank,
then Black is mated.
42. Kxf5!,
Now that Black's Rook is stuck on his first rank, White captures
the dangerous f-pawn.
[ White still might win after:
42.Rxa7?!
f4;
Now not 43.Rb7?,
This loses for White.
( Better
is 43.Rh7+
Kg8; 44.Rh1,
etc. "+/=" at best. )
43...f3;
44.Rxb6
f2; 45.Rb1
f1Q+; 46.Rxf1
Rf8+, "-/+" (Black
wins!) ].
42...Re4; 43.
Kf6, ('!')
White again threatens mate!
43...Rf4+; 44.
Ke5
Rg4; 45.
g7+, (Maybe - '!')
... with check!! This is the point of Capa's 40th move.
45...Kg8;
Obviously, with White's King so active, Black cannot take the offending
g-pawn and allow the exchange of Rooks.
[ 45...Rxg7?; 46.Rxg7
Kxg7; 47.Kxd5, "+/-"
White has an easily
won
King-and-Pawn ending. ].
46. Rxa7!,
Taking this pawn first is the most accurate. The d-pawn will not run away!
Capa's technique is super-accurate and remorseless.
[
46.Kxd5!?
a5; 47.Rd7
Rg3; 48.Kc6
Ra3; 49.Kxb6
Rxa4; 50.d5,
"+/"
is probably still winning
for White, but is not nearly as accurate. ].
46...Rg1; 47.
Kxd5,
Now White is up two pawns!! (A cute reversal.)
47...Rc1;
Black attempts to cut the White King off from approaching the last Black
Pawn. But it is hopeless.
48. Kd6!
Rc2;
White slowly slides his King and Pawn up the board.
(This way of slowly improving your position almost never
occurs to beginners!)
49. d5
Rc1; 50.
Rc7!
Ra1;
Now White will sac another pawn.
51. Kc6! Rxa4; 52. d6, Black Resigns. 1 - 0
{ The finish might be...
52...Rc4+; 53.
Kb7!, The same theme as before. White does not
capture. Instead the Black Pawn at b6 will shield White's King from
any further Rook checks.
53...b5; 54. d7 Rd4; 55. Rc8+ Kxg7; 56. d8Q Rxd8;
57. Rxd8
b4; 58.
Rd6,
The win is quite simple now.
[ The line, 58.Kc6 b3; 59.Rb8, "+/-" also wins. ].
58...b3; 59.Rb6
b2; 60.
Rxb2, "+/-"
and as long as White knows how to mate with the King and Rook, he
can win the game easily. }
Fans ... and anyone else ... interested in seeing this game, can get the book,
"The Most Instructive Games of Chess
Ever Played."
[62 Masterpieces of Chess Strategy.] (Game # 1.)
By Irving Chernev.
This game can also be found in the book,
"The Golden Dozen," (The 12
Greatest Chess Players of All Time.)
Also by Irving Chernev. {In the section on Capa.}
In
"The Golden Dozen," Chernev provides
a comment after nearly every
move in the endgame!! This is common-place for Chernev, and why his
books are so instructive and valued by non-masters!
Copyright
(c) A.J. Goldsby I;
(c) 1999, (c) 2000, (c) 2001, & (c) 2002.
1 - 0
I believe this game is one of Capa's best efforts!
It
also EASILY
belongs in the list of,
"The TEN BEST
Rook-and-Pawn Endgames Ever Played." !!!!!
If you would like to see this entire game, but annotated to an even GREATER depth, then Click HERE!! (But NO diagrams.)
***
This is the complete version of this game as it exists on my hard drive in my endgame database, I have NOT shortened it for publication! If you would like a copy of this endgame - in the ChessBase format - to study on your own computer, please drop me a line.
If
you enjoyed this position, and would like to study ANOTHER
Rook-and-Pawn endgame, ("The LUCENA Position");
click HERE.
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HERE
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***
(Page posted on my web-site, January 17th, 2002.)
Copyright, (c) A.J. Goldsby I
© A.J. Goldsby, 1994 - 2005. Copyright © A.J. Goldsby, 2006. All rights reserved.
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