A Tale of Three Endgames

"Those who say they understand Chess, understand nothing"- Robert Huebner

The recently concluded World Cup brought a lot of joy to the spectators in the form of dramatic and captivating games. One such game was Aronian-Dubov. The endgame that arose with a Rook and Pawn versus a Bishop and Pawn looked rather simple. But as the game went on it was not at all clear whether the position was a fortress or white had a way to breach it. While discussing the game with my friends Grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna and later with International Master Konguvel, I came to understand how complex the position actually was and how little was I understood when taking a casual look at the position. My Special Thanks to Vishnu for inspiring me to take a deeper look and Blog rather than being lazy and to Konguvel for pointing out Dvoretsky's Endgame and sharing his thoughts. Here are my thoughts about Aronian's endgame.

                           Aronian-Dubov 2nd Game 4th Round World Cup

This is the position after White's 47th move of the game. Here black played 47....Kf6

While watching this endgame live, I had the feeling that the plan played by Dubov was most natural and if there was a fortress it should be in the position with black's bishop on the b1-h7 diagonal. But later after some analysis, I realised this was very far from the truth! The 2 endgames analyzed by Dvoretsky in his Endgame Manual give good clarity about this endgame.Basically, there are three scenarios for white. His pawn on g2, g3 or g4. In all cases, it is actually better for black to maintain his bishop on the c8-h3 diagonal rather than b1-h7 diagonal in order to fight for a draw. Also, he should not just stay passive, but try to create counterplay by attacking white's pawn while white tries to get his king to black's territory.

After some manoeuvring, the following position was reached after the 54th move of Black.

Here White could have won simply with 55.Rc7+ Kg6 56.g4! Bd3 57.Rc3 Bb1 58.Rb3 Bc2 59. Rb2 Bd3 60. Kd4! forcing black's bishop out of the key diagonal and entering f5 with the king to win the game.

This is a key zugzwang position. It would be a good idea to know that white is aiming for such a position. This was shown to me GM Vishnu while watching the game online. He admitted the idea of this Zugzwang was found by his wife Doctor( and chess player) Raghavi.

The next critical moment in the game was reached after Black's 72nd move. On his 73rd move, white chose g2-g3.But it turns out that it was a big mistake letting black draw the game!

 Here Black could have drawn the game with 73...Bf5+ and maintaining his Bishop on the c8-h3 diagonal.

A similar position has been analysed by Dvoretsky in his Endgame Manual.  To understand this position I give below Dvoretsky's analysis of his game against Chistiakov.

  
 

[Event "Moscow ch"] [Site "?"] [Date "1966.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Chistiakov, Alexandr"] [Black "Dvoretsky, Mark"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Dvoretsky,Mark"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/8/p2R4/6pk/8/5KP1/8/5b2 b - - 0 48"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "1966.??.??"] [SourceTitle "DEM"] [Source "ChessCafe/CB"] [SourceDate "2003.10.29"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2003.10.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] 48... Bh3 (48... g4+ $2 49. Kf4 Be2 50. Kf5 $18 {is hopeless.}) 49. Rxa6 Bd7 50. Rd6 Bg4+ 51. Ke3 Bc8 $11 52. Rd8 Be6 53. Rd4 Bc8 {The only winning attempt is a transfer of the king to f6 followed with Rd5. Black responds with a counter-attack against the g3-pawn.} 54. Kd3 Bf5+ 55. Kc4 Be6+ 56. Kc5 Bc8 57. Kd6 Bf5 58. Rc4 Bh3 59. Ke5 Bd7 60. Kf6 Bh3 61. Rc5 ({After} 61. Rd4 Bc8 62. Rd5 {a position from the game Romanovsky – I. Rabinovich arises (from Leningrad 1924, with reversed colors). P. Romanovsky drew the game after} Kg4 63. Rxg5+ Kf3 64. Rc5 Bh3 $1 (64... Bb7 $2 {is erroneous in view of} 65. Rc3+ $1 Kg4 66. Rc7 {/\ Rg7+}) 65. Rc3+ Kg4 $11 {/\ Bg2-f3}) 61... Kg4 $1 62. Rxg5+ Kf3 63. Ke5 Bg4 64. Kd4 Kxg3 (64... Bh3 $1 {is perhaps simpler.}) 65. Ke3 Kh3 ( {It would have been nice to stay farther from the dangerous corner (h1) but} 65... Kh4 $2 {loses to} 66. Kf4 $18) 66. Kf4 Bd7 $4 {A grave blunder in a drawn position.} ({Black should have kept the f3 square under control:} 66... Bd1 $11) ({or} 66... Be2 $11) 67. Rg3+ Kh2 68. Kf3 $18 {The black king stays locked in the dangerous corner.} Ba4 69. Rg2+ Kh3 70. Rg3+ Kh2 71. Kf2 Bc2 72. Rc3 Bd1 73. Rc1 Bb3 74. Rc6 1-0

This is the next critical moment in the game. Here instead of playing 76....Kg7  Dubov could have played 76.... Kf5!

Black should use his king actively and aim to attack the pawn on g3 as in Dvoretsky's game. He will aim to reach the following drawn position.

Here I would like to digress and show the game Rubinstein-Tartakower analysed by Dvoretsky which is also very important to understand similar endgame.

[Event "Wien"] [Site "?"] [Date "1922.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Rubinstein, Akiba"] [Black "Tartakower, Savielly"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Dvoretsky,Mark"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6r1/8/8/6p1/6P1/3k1K2/8/2B5 b - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "1922.??.??"] [SourceTitle "DEM"] [Source "ChessCafe/CB"] [SourceDate "2003.10.29"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2003.10.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] {Chances of salvation can result from either an active defense (an attack against the hostile pawn by the bishop or the king). Or building a barrier that prevents an invasion of the hostile king (squares of one color are controlled by the bishop, squares of the other color – by the pawn). Black must protect his pawn with the king, bring the rook to the 5th rank, and finally move his king ahead again by going around the rook. This plan has no alternatives, but is not sufficient for a win.} 1... Kd4 2. Bd2 Ke5 3. Be3 Kf6 4. Bd4+ Kg6 5. Be3 {White is still keeping the pawn in the crosshairs.} ({ Another equally good defensive method consists in building a barrier:} 5. Be5 Rc8 6. Bg3 $11) 5... Rb8 6. Bd2 Rb5 7. Ke4 Kf6 8. Bc3+ Ke6 9. Bd2 Kd6 (9... Re5+ 10. Kf3 Kd5 11. Bc3 Re6 12. Bd2) 10. Be3 Kc6 11. Bd2 Kb6 12. Be3+ Ka5 13. Bd2+ Ka4 14. Be3 ({The bishop sacrifice on g5 is already in the air, but it does not work right now:} 14. Bxg5 $2 Rxg5 15. Kf4 Rg8 16. g5 Kb5 17. Kf5 Kc6 18. g6 Kd7 19. Kf6 Rf8+ $19) 14... Kb3 15. Bc1 Kc2 16. Bxg5 $1 {(It is time!)} Rxg5 17. Kf4 $11 Rg8 18. g5 Kd3 19. Kf5 Kd4 20. g6 Kd5 21. Kf6 1/2-1/2

Here again Black could have drawn with 82....Be4 83.Rf2+  Kg6 84 g4 Bd5+  85. Kf8 Be6 86.Rg2 Kf6 is a draw. Of course, things are already very tricky here.


Later on the 90th move, White achieved the following won position

I have merely touched upon a few critical moments from this fascinating endgame. For a detailed move by move analysis of this endgame check out my full comments on the replayable board below. I do not intend this to be a final word by any means. Instead, I would ask the interested readers to delve deeper into this and similar endgames to discover their pearls of wisdom.

[Event "FIDE World Cup 2017"] [Site "Tbilisi GEO"] [Date "2017.09.13"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Dubov, Daniil"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2666"] [Annotator "Sundararajan Kidambi"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/5k2/1R2b3/1p4p1/8/8/5KP1/8 w - - 0 47"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2017.09.03"] [EventType "tourn (rapid)"] [Source "ChessPublishing"] [SourceDate "2016.09.08"] {The ongoing World Cup brings a lot of joy to the spectators in the form of dramatic and captivating games. One such game was Aronian-Dubov. The endgame that arose with a Rook and Pawn versus a Bishop and Pawn looked rather simple. But as the game went on it was not at all clear whether the position was a fortress or white had a way to breach it. While discussing the game with my friends Grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna and later with International Master Konguvel, I came to understand how complex the position actually was how little was I understood when taking a casual look at the position. My Special Thanks to Vishnu for inspiring me to take a deeper look and Blog rather than being lazy and to Konguvel for pointing out Dvoretsky's Endgame and sharing his thoughts. I give my thoughts on the Aronian game and also Dvoretsky's analysis of his game against Chistiakov and Rubinstein's game against Tartakower. [#]} 47. Rxb5 {While watching this endgame live, I had the feeling that the plan played by Dubov was most natural and if there was a fortress it should be in the position with black's bishop on the b1-h7 diagonal. But later after some analysis I realised this was very far from the truth! The 2 endgames analysed by Dvoretsky give good clarity about this endgame.Basically there are three scenarios for white. His pawn on g2, g3 or g4. In all cases it is actually better for black to maintain his bishop on the c8-h3 diagonal rather than b1-h7 diagonal in order to fight for a draw. Also he should not just stay passive, but try to create counterplay by attacking white's pawn while white tries to get his king to black's territory.} Kf6 (47... Kg6 $5 48. Rb6 $1 {Is the only move to win! Black's King has to be prevented from getting to h5.} (48. Kf3 Kh5 49. Rb8 (49. Ke4 Kh4 (49... Kg4)) (49. Ra5 Bd7 50. Ra6 Bc8 51. Ra7 Be6 $11) 49... Bd5+ $11 {[#] Black will keep attack on g2 and hold the game.}) 48... Kf5 49. Kg3 Ke5 (49... Bd7 50. Kf3 Bc8 51. g4+ Ke5 52. Rg6 $18) 50. Rb5+ Kf6 51. Kf3 Bf5 52. Ke3 Bd7 (52... Kg6 53. Kd4 Bd7 54. Rc5 Kf6 55. Ke4 Kg6 56. Ke5 {[#] Once the King reaches e5 the position is won. Even if now white has already played g4 and white's rook supports it from c4. However if White's pawn is on g3 this would still be a draw because black has the resource Bh3! as in the game Chistiakov-Dvoretsky. So the pawn being on g2 is very important as it cuts of the h3-square from black's bishop. Also if the pawn was on g3 then Black's King can attack it easier than if it was on g2. And Black's Bishop is not able to reach a8-h1 diagonal to attack g2-pawn.} Bg4 {From here the Bishop blocks his own King's access to g4.} 57. Rc6+ Kh5 (57... Kg7 58. Rc4 Be2 59. Rd4 $18) 58. Kf6 Kh4 59. Rc5 $18) 53. Rc5 Be8 54. Kd4 Bf7 { For the moment black makes it as difficult as possible for white's King to reach e5.Nevertheless he cannot really prevent in the long run.} 55. Ra5 Be8 ( 55... Bb3 {[#]} 56. Kc5 $1 {Using a tactical opportunity to cross the 5th Rank Barrier} (56. Ke3 Bd1) 56... Ke6 57. Kc6 g4 {Once black is forced to make such a commital pawn move, he is lost.} (57... Kf6 58. Kd6 Bc4 (58... Bg8 59. Ra3 Kf5 60. Ke7 Kf4 61. Kf6 {Again Domination of the Bishop by White's King and Rook.} Bh7 62. Rc3 Bb1 63. Rf3+ Kg4 64. Rb3 Bc2 65. Rb5 $18) 59. Ra8 Kf5 (59... Be2 60. Ra2 Bc4 (60... Bd1 61. Rd2 {[#] Driving the bishop away to a less favourable square.} Bh5 (61... Bg4 62. Rf2+) (61... Bb3 62. Rf2+ Kg6 63. Ke5 Kh5 64. Rd2 Kh4 65. Kf5 Bf7 66. Rd3 $18) 62. Rf2+) 61. Rc2 Bd3 62. Rf2+ Kg6 63. g4 Ba6 64. Rc2 Bd3 65. Rb2 $1 $18) 60. Ke7 Be2 61. Ra4 $1 Bd1 62. Rb4 $18 { [#] Inch by Inch white has gained access to his king white at the same time preventing black from attacking the pawn on g2. Now white's idea is to simply get his king to h6.}) 58. Rg5 Bd1 59. Kc5 $18 Kf6) 56. Ra8 Bf7 (56... Bd7 57. Kd5 Kf5 58. Kd6 {[#] traps the Bishop! Dominating the Bishop with the King and Rook is a recurring theme in such endgames.}) (56... Bb5 57. Rb8 Ba4 (57... Bd7 58. Kd5 Kf5 59. Kd6 Ba4 60. Rb4 $18) 58. Kd5 Kf5 59. Rb4 Bd1 60. Kd6 $18) 57. Ke4 Bg6+ 58. Kd5 Kf5 59. Ra4 $18) {So after analysing the position the following conclusion can be reached. White should aim to reach King e5 with his pawn still on g2. Black can delay this, but not prevent it. If the King can safely reach e5 white can win with g4 supported by his rook on the 4th rank. White should not play his pawn to g3 as this gives the extra h3-square to black's bishop and also makes the pawn on g3 itself more vulnerable to attack by Black's King. Chistiakov-Dvoretsky 1966 analysed by Dvoretsky in his phenomenal book Endgame Manual shows the ideas in that position clearly.} 48. Kf3 Bf5 49. Rc5 Bd3 50. Ke3 Bf5 51. Kd4 Bb1 52. Rc1 Bg6 53. Rc6+ Kg7 54. Ke5 Bb1 55. Ra6 (55. Rc7+ Kg6 56. g4 Bd3 57. Rc3 Bb1 58. Rb3 Bc2 59. Rb2 Bd3 60. Kd4 $1 {[#] is a simple Zugzwang. This was shown to me by GM Vishnu Prasanna while discussing the game while it was going on.Though, as he admitted that the actual discoverer of this idea was his wife Doctor( and even more talented Chess player!) Raghavi.White had several chances to reach this position, but perhaps did not visualise this exact position and was always trying to find different plans. Knowing this idea, can simplify the task of understanding this endgame considerably!}) 55... Bc2 56. Rd6 Kf7 57. Rf6+ Kg7 58. Rf2 Bb1 59. Rb2 Bd3 60. Rd2 Bb1 61. Ke6 Be4 62. Re2 Bd3 63. Rd2 Be4 64. Ke5 Bb1 65. Rd4 Kf7 66. Ra4 Bc2 67. Ra5 Bb1 68. Rc5 Kg6 69. Rc1 Bd3 70. Rd1 Bc2 71. Rd2 Bb1 72. Ke6 Be4 73. g3 $4 {[#] The difficulty of playing such endgames become clear when you find the world's best players making mistakes here. In no way am I questioning the ability of a fine endgame player such as Levon, but only emphasising the tremendous depth and complexity amidst apparent simplicity of the royal game! I have the benefit of hindsight, unlimited time and a key game of Dvoretsky analysed by the great chess trainer, compared to the players who had to slug it out in the dying hours of the game with very limited time on the clock.} Bb1 (73... Bf5+ $1 {draws the game! Black maintains the Bishop on c8-he diagonal and draws like in the Dvoretsky game.}) 74. Rb2 Bd3 75. Ke7 Be4 76. Rb6+ Kg7 $6 (76... Kf5 $1 {If black would have chosen activity over passively defending he could have saved the game.} 77. Rb4 $1 Bf3 78. Kf7 Be2 79. Ra4 Bf3 80. Kg7 Be2 (80... Bg4 81. Kh6 Bh3 $2 {This is not the right place for the Bishop here.} 82. Ra5+ Kg4 83. Rxg5+ Kf3 84. Kh5 $18) 81. Kh6 Bf3 82. Ra5+ Kg4 83. Rxg5+ Kh3 {[#] draws. This is slightly different from the Chistiakov-Dvoretsky game. SInce White's King is on h6 rather than on f6 it is imperative to control the h5-square with the Bishop. Hence Bishop should be on d1-h5 diagonal and King on h3. In the Dvoretsky game since White's King was on f6 the roles of Black's pieces were reversed and his Bishop needed to be on h3 and King on f3 to draw.}) 77. Rb5 Kg6 78. Rb4 Bc2 79. Kf8 Kf6 $2 ({Even as late as this, black should prefer activity and could have saved the game.} 79... Kh5 $1 80. Kg7 Bd3 81. Kf6 Ba6 82. Ra4 Bc8 83. Ra5 Kg4 84. Rxg5+ Kf3 85. Rc5 Bh3 86. Rc3+ Kg4 $11 {With the idea Bg2-f3 as in Chistiakov-Dvoretsky}) 80. Kg8 Bd3 81. Rd4 Bc2 82. Rd2 Bb1 (82... Be4 83. Rf2+ (83. Rd4 Kf5 {would have led to a position already analysed in the note to the 76th move}) 83... Kg6 84. g4 Bd5+ 85. Kf8 Be6 86. Rg2 Kf6 {is a very simple draw. But even if lets say White's king was on e5 the position would still remain a draw as in the game Rubinstein-Tartakower.}) 83. Rf2+ Kg6 84. Rb2 (84. g4 $1 {was the winning move which Aronian gets back to on the 90tth move.}) 84... Bd3 85. Rb6+ Kf5 86. Rb4 Kf6 $2 {The final mistake. There was no need to step back with the actively placed King.} (86... Be2) ({or} 86... Be4 {draws as we have seen earlier}) 87. Rd4 Bc2 88. Rd2 Bb1 89. Rf2+ Kg6 90. g4 $1 $18 {Now whites winning.Black's bishop has no way to attack the pawn on g4.} Be4 91. Rd2 Kf6 92. Rb2 $2 { Perhaps very difficult to realise that white loses a tempo when quite short of time. But that is actually the case} (92. Re2 $1 {The Point is that Black cannot play} Ke5 (92... Bd3 93. Rb2 Ke5 (93... Be4 94. Rf2+ Ke5 95. Kg7 Kd4 96. Kh6 $18 {White is one tempo faster with the king and he wins.}) 94. Kg7 Kf4 95. Rb4+ $18 {again white is on time to win the pawn on g5.}) 93. Kg7 Kf4 94. Rxe4+ Kxe4 95. Kg6 Kf4 96. Kh5 $18) 92... Bd3 (92... Ke5 93. Rf2 Kd4 {with the idea Ke3 and Bf3. White's King is too far away and this would be a draw.}) 93. Rb6+ Ke5 94. Kg7 Kf4 95. Rb4+ Be4 96. Rxe4+ Kxe4 97. Kg6 {A very tough game where Aronian held his nerves towards the end. A spectacular show for the audience!} 1-0