With the move 26. Ne4, white appears to leave black no good options for stopping him from carrying out his plan, so black plays 26...Kf1, perhaps hoping to get his king in a position to be more active in the endgame defense. Note that after 27. NxBg5, 27...Qxg5 28. Qxg5 is forced -- for if black plays 27...hxg5, then white mates or wins the queen after 27...hxg5 28. Qh6+ Kg8 29. f6! Also note how the nice finesse move 29. f6! (as actually played in the game) forces the exchange of white's weakest pawn for two of black's pawns, leaving white with a won rook, bishop and pawn ending. The move 30. Rxe5, although obvious at this point, underscores the subtle reason for playing 25. Rxd8 earlier, which was to keep the white rook on the crucial e-file in order for this combination to work.

Had this not been a world champion correspondence game, at first glance I would have thought 15. Bd3, dropping a pawn to 15...Bxh2, to be a novice's blunder. Whether it was a sound gambit offer or not, white shows he had a plan to make life very difficult for black afterwards. In any event, the play after this speculative foray alone makes the game interesting and worth a look.