            |
[A.J. Goldsby I]
***
Position check: White - King on g1, Rook on e5, Pawns on a2, c3, e4,
f2, g3, and h2;
Black - King on h8, Rook on c8, Pawns on a6, b7, g7, and
h6.
A MODEL R+P Endgame.
This ending is from the game, GM Vassily Smyslov - GM Samuel Reshevsky;
From
the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Match Tournament.
Moscow/The Hague; 1948.
(Round # 11, April 11, 1948.).
Earlier in the game, Black had been completely outplayed. But Black had been defending magnificently, so White had done his best and reached this ending.
Black has just forked White's Rook and Bishop, it is ...
- White to play - in this position.
***
34. Re6
Nxb6; 35.
Rxb6
Rxc3; 36.
Rxb7
Rc2;
Now what should White play?
37. h4!, (Maybe - '!!')
Smyslov's play is very creative and inspired.
( It is a waste of time for White to try to save the QRP. )
White also gains space and restrains Black's K-side.
[ The line: 37.a4!? Ra2; 38.Rb4!? Kh7; is less clear. ].
37...Rxa2;
Smyslov, through extremely clever play, has forced an ending that is very favorable
to him - he is a pawn up. (In Reshevsky's defence, it looks very draw-able for Black.
In fact the general opinion of the spectators {AND ... MANY
Masters!!}; at the
time is that this was a drawn game!)
Smyslov now demonstrates the proper plan for
White. It is mainly to bring the
King to the g6 square, under the cover of his 4-2 Kingside majority of pawns.
Then the game wins itself! The execution of this plan requires great care, however.
38. Kg2!
a5;
Black is basing all his hopes on the counterplay generated by his passed pawn.
With his next move, White fixes Black's King-side.
(This is a VERY NECESSARY part of White's plan!
White needs f5 - and maybe even g6 - for his King.)
39. h5!
a4; 40.
Ra7!,
A Rook on the seventh rank is a powerful force. The White Rook both hems in
the Black King and keeps the Black QRP under constant watch - no matter how
far up the board the Pawn runs!!
--->
ROOKS BELONG BEHIND PAWNS!!!
(No matter what color the Pawns
are!)
[ A false try would be: 40.Rb4?!
Kg8; 41.Kf3
a3; 42.Ra4
Kf7; which allows
Black MUCH greater play than in the game.
(This is a line suggested by an Internet student who is rated nearly
2000 U.S.C.F. Rating, over-the-board.) ].
40...Kg8; 41.
g4
a3; 42.
Kg3
Re2;
Black counter-attacks White's e-pawn and tries to generate counterplay.
[ Or Black could have tried: 42...Ra1!?; 43.f3 a2; 44.Kf4 Kf8; 45.e5, "+/-" ].
43. Kf3!?; (Really - '!')
Notice that White does not rush. He slowly, patiently and ever so methodically
executes his strategy for winning this endgame. This type of thorough follow-through
is typical of the really great Masters in such positions; and can be found in the endings
of such legends as Capablanca and Fischer.
With his last move, White now has everything guarded.
[ Really bad is: 43.Rxa3??
Rxe4;
and now the position is a theoretical draw.
Black's basic strategy is to avoid an exchange of Rooks, exchange as many
pawns as he can and go for the Philidor drawing position.
He also wants
repetition and static defense.
(3 pawns vs. 2 pawns; and 2 vs 1, with the pawns on the same side is
normally a draw. {Everything else being equal.}
For an example of this, see game # 16, Fischer - Spassky;
World Championship Match,
Reykjavik; 1972.
See also "Practical Rook Endings," page # 33, by GM E. Mednis.) ].
43...Ra2; 44.
Ke3, (Maybe - '!')
White has no fears of a lateral
check from the Black Rook.
[ 44.e5!?, may just transpose back to the game. ].
44...Kf8; 45.
f3!,
All the Pawns are now protected and the White King safely guards the base
of White's K-side pawn-chain.
This move also keeps the f4-square open for
the White King.
[ 45.f4?
Ra1; <=> The problem here is it takes
too many moves to create
a
new hiding place for the
White King. ].
[ The line:
46.e5!?
a2; 47.Ke4??,
(47.Kf4, "+/" may transpose
back to
the game.) 47...Re1+;
48.Kf5
a1Q; 49.Rxa1
Rxa1; "-/+" clearly
demonstrates why the White King cannot allow the Black Rook to check
from behind. ].
46...a2;
Notice the Black Rook now
has virtually zero mobility. (!!)
47. e5
Kg8; 48.
Kf5
Rf1;
The only try.
[ Even worse is:
48...Kf8?!; (Maybe -'?')
49.f4
Ke8;
(49...Kg8; 50.Kg6,
"+/-" )
50.Ke6
Kd8;
(Or 50...Rg1??; 51.Ra8#)
51.Kf7
Kc8; 52.Kxg7
Rf1;
53.Rxa2
Rxf4; 54.Rg2
Re4; 55.Kxh6
Rxe5; 56.g5,
"+/-" ].
49. Rxa2
Rxf3+; 50.
Kg6,
Really an exclam.
White 'crowds' the Black King and now threatens a back-rank mate.
Notice if the White pawn on e5 were on e6 instead, Black would play
50...Rf6; Check & Mate!!!!!
---> Notice how White has every single detail covered!
[ 50.Ke4? Rf1; and the game may now be a draw. ].
50...Kf8;
There isn't anything that is clearly better.
[ Also losing was: 50...Rf8;
51.Ra7
Re8; 52.Rxg7+
Kh8; 53.Rh7+
Kg8;
54.Rd7!
Re6+; 55.Kf5
Ra6; 56.e6
Kf8; 57.Kf6
Kg8;
( Or Black could try 57...Ra8; 58.Rh7
Kg8; 59.Rxh6,
"+/-")
58.Rd8+
Kh7; 59.Kf7
Ra1; 60.Rd5!,
(Two other ways to win were: 60.e7
Rf1+; 61.Ke8
Kg7; 62.Kd7!
Rd1+;
63.Kc6
Rc1+; 64.Kd5
Rd1+; 65.Kc4
Rc1+; 66.Kd3
Rd1+; 67.Kc2,
"+/-"
Or 60.Rd7
Rf1+; 61.Ke8+
Kg8; 62.Rd4!
Ra1; 63.e7
Ra7; 64.Rd7
Ra8+;
65.Rd8
Ra7; 66.Rb8
Kg7; 67.Kd8,
"+/-" ) 60...Rf1+; 61.Rf5
Rg1;
62.Rf4!
Ra1; 63.e7
Ra7; 64.Kf8,
"+/-"
DEFINITELY NOT 50...Rg3??; 51.Ra8# ].
51. Ra8+ Ke7; 52. Ra7+, Black Resigns. 1-0
***
A beautiful ending, and one that was considered revolutionary at the time!
No
one had ever clearly demonstrated
that this idea could win BY FORCE ...
... and so clearly!!!
Smyslov's plan was very deep
and beautiful.
It is also a highly
instructive ending!
***
For a superlative
job of annotating this game, see:
(# 1.) "The Most Instructive Games
of Chess Ever Played,"
by (The late, Great) Irving Chernev. (Game # 10, page # 52.)
See also: (# 2.) "125 Selected Games,"
by GM V. Smyslov.
Game # 17, starting on page # 47.
(# 3.) "The World Chess Championships."
By GM S. Gligoric.
(Great Encounters in Contemporary Chess.), starting on page # 68.
(I also heavily consulted Kasparov's annotations of this game for ChessBase.)
(This is some ... BUT NOT ALL ... of the sources I have consulted.)
***
(After
52...Kf8; 53.
Rxg7
Rf4; 54.Kxh6,
White has too many passed pawns.)
{ White is winning easily, he is 3 pawns ahead. "+/-"
}.
***
It is very interesting to note that although this game has been annotated many times (in the U.S., in Chess Review and in magazines in the former Soviet Union; also in many books) by some of the greatest chess writers, (Reshevsky, Horowitz, Chernev, Botvinnik, and Kasparov; just to name a few.); the real errors that lost this game may have never been pointed out until now.
(I point out - and prove in my analysis many
new things about this game. For instance, Kasparov heavily criticized 12...Re8; giving it a full question mark, and even calling it the losing move. Yet the move is every logical looking and may not be all that bad, it is even the first choice of many strong computer programs. Chernev calls Black's 13th move, {13...Bxe5;} "A sad necessity," {and Gary Kasparov agrees!}; but in
actuality it may be inferior to some of Black's alternatives. Black's 14th move, {...dxe5;} is NOT questioned by ANY annotator, yet violates at least three of the precepts and ideas laid forth by GM Soltis in his
book, "Pawn Structure Chess." And finally, although White is MUCH better, it may be
the COMBINATION of Black's 19th and 20th moves that finally lost the game for him!)
ALL of the above ideas seem to be unique and original. I have seen NO other annotator make these observations, other than myself.
Copyright
(c) A.J. Goldsby I;
(c) 1999, (c) 2000 - 2003. © A.J. Goldsby, 2004.
1 - 0
I believe this end-game is one of Smyslov's very best efforts!
This end-game of Smyslov's
EASILY belongs in the list of,
"The TEN
BEST Rook-and-Pawn Endgames Ever Played." !!!!!
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.
Study the COMPLETE GAME on "Chess-Games-dot-com."
If
you enjoyed this position, and would like to study ANOTHER
Rook-and-Pawn endgame, ("The LUCENA Position"); click HERE.
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***
(Page posted on my web-site, January 17th, 2002. Last up-dated: Monday; June 21st, 2004.)
(Last edit or save on: Sunday, June 11, 2006 10:15 AM .)
Copyright, (c) A.J. Goldsby I
© A.J. Goldsby, 1994 - 2005. Copyright © A.J. Goldsby, 2006. All rights reserved.
