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Gosta Stoltz vs Aron Nimzowitsch
Berlin 1928  ·  Sicilian Defense: Closed. Fianchetto Variation (B24)  ·  0-1
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Given 6 times; par: 96 [what's this?]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Dec-02-03  Alchemist: A very instructive endgame position, especially since at first glance white seems to have the better position. Of course the king cannot take on f4 after gxf4+ or white would queen his b-pawn. Sacrificing a pawn to gain a passer is a game winning strategy in king-pawn endgames.
Dec-02-03  strobane: Why can't white play 53. b6 instead of gxf4+?
White would queen first with check!
Dec-02-03
Premium Chessgames Member
  crafty: 53. b6 Kd6 54. gxf4 g3 55. b7 Kc7 56. Ke2 d3+   (eval -9.14; depth 20 ply; 1000M nodes)
Dec-02-03  dorn: <strobane> Because of 53...Kd6. Black King can easily stop b pawn, while white King cannot stop d and g pawns.
Dec-02-03  mikejaqua: What about 54. f5 ..? It seems to me that white can then queen since black can't stop both f and b pawns. White queens second but at least black does not queen with check.
Dec-02-03
Premium Chessgames Member
  crafty: 54. f5 g3 55. Ke1 d3 56. b6 g2 57. Kf2 d2   (eval -10.90; depth 17 ply; 500M nodes)
Dec-03-03
Premium Chessgames Member
  Doctor Who: This was a pleasant change from the usual "give-up-the-queen-and-mate-with-minor-pieces" type puzzles we usually see.
Dec-03-03
Premium Chessgames Member
  euripides: The king's position after 53... d6 is very precise. Neither king can ultimately stop the divided pawns, but White has to play two moves with whichever pawn ends up as decoy before the Black king has to move and he can queen the other pawn. Therefore Black gains a move over what the pawn position alone would suggest - which makes it vry easy to mis-assess the position.
Dec-03-03
Premium Chessgames Member
  euripides: Would 51 Ra3 draw ? Black could play 51... Ke4 52 a5 and then 52...Rxb5 53 a6 Rb8 54 a7 Ra8 looks drawing or 52...d3 53 a6 Ke3 54 Rxd3+ Kxd3 55 a7 and then Black may be forced to settle for a perpetual. If so, perhaps Stoltz mis-assessed the ending for the reason suggested in the previous post.
Dec-04-03  dorn: <euripides: Would 51 Ra3 draw?> I think so. With rooks on the board the ending looks drawn. Maybe 51...f4 (after 51.Ra3) is better still I don't see a winning continuation. So 51.Rd2 in my opinion was a crucial mistake in equal position.
Nov-07-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  aw1988: Ra3 would definitely draw. Junior gives a dead even 0.00 at 51 seconds and spits out the line:

Ra3 (I decided to put it on before the actual move to see if it would find it or not) f4 a5 fxg3 Rxg3 Kf4 a6 Kxg3 a7 Rb1+ Kd2 Ra1 b6 Ra2+ Kc1 d3 b7 d2+ Kd1

Nov-07-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  aw1988: 2:34, Junior slightly prefers black...

4:35, same score (-0.02)...

Nov-07-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  aw1988: Bingo. Yes, it's a draw for sure.

1. Ra3 Rb1+ 2. Kf2 Kd6 3. a5 Rxb5 4. a6 Rb8 5. a7 Ra8 6. Ke2 Kc6 7. Kd3 =(-0.03) Depth: 24 00:17:11 1410893kN

Jun-23-06  blingice: Fantastic endgame pawn play by both sides. I do think that Stoltz should've attacked the pawns more with his rook. Then again, he stood a chance against Nimzowich, and I'm rated 1450 in 15 0 standard on FICS.
Jan-20-07  GeauxCool: Pawn Endgame 52-62. Evaluate 53...Kd6 here.
Apr-08-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  Peligroso Patzer: <euripides: Would 51. Ra3 draw ? *** >

<Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual, 3rd Edition>, by DVORETSKY, Mark, Russell Enterprises, Inc., ©2011, at p. 32, diagram 1-53, gives two drawing moves for White at #51, either:

(I) <51. Ra3!> (as per <euripides>) with the continuation <51. … Ke4 52. a5 d3 53.a6 Ke3 54. Rxd3 Kxd3 55. a7> <=>; or

(II) <51. a5! Rxb5 52. Ra3> <=>.

Fortunately, Stoltz went astray and allowed Nimzowitsch to demonstrate an elegant refutation of White’s blunder (<51. Rd2?>).

Oct-21-12  drunknite: a great endgame study for sure, earlier in the game is 19 Bh3+ any better? with idea being 19...Kb8 20 Kb1 in order to threaten Ne4
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