AylerKupp: (Part 1 of 2) Still, the position after 28.b4 material-wise looks as even as a position can get. For Reshevsky to turn this into a winning position in less than 10 moves is mystifying to me and akin to sorcery.
 click for larger viewSo, what constitutes White's advantage that allows Reshevsky to win the game? All I can think of is that White's bishops are pointing at Black's k-side pawns and Black's bishop are not attacking anything. This allows White to gain the initiative by keeping Black's pawns under attack while increasing the mobility of his pieces and driving Black to passive defense. Compare the position just 5 moves later. After 33.Bc5+ White's bishops control the board, Black's king is stuck on the 8th rank, and White can start his h-pawn's advance to wreck Black's k-side position.
 click for larger viewBy 38.Kxh5 it's over. Black's h-pawn will fall since it can't be defended by either Black's LSB bishop or king and his f-pawn will also fall since it can only be defended by Black's LSB bishop against the combined attack of White's king and LSB. And with a 2 connected passed pawn advantage, it's an easy win. So in hindsight I think that 30...Bb6, keeping White's king tied to the defense of the Pe3 and preventing Bc3-d4 (which would result in an isolated pawn after ...Bxd4) is better. Conversely, White should have played 29.Bd4 preventing ...Bb6. Therefore Black should first play 28...Bb6 and if 29.Kf2 Bf5 preparing to retreat and protect the Pa6 if necessary. Or he should give up the Pa6 after 28...Bb6 30.Bd5 Bxe3+ 31.Kf1 Bd3+ (to protect the Pb4 after Bd5-b7). Notice the reversal, in this case Black's bishops have the same commanding position in the 3rd rank that White's bishops achieved in the game.
 click for larger viewBlack's 34...g6 also looks like a mistake, allowing White a target exploited by Reshevsky's temporary pawn sac 35.h5. Black could try 34...h6 to prevent the h-pawn from being picked off by Bd5-g8 followed by 35...Bb8 and 36...Bc7. As long as Black's DSB stays in the b8-h2 diagonal, Black's LSB on c8, and Black's king stays on e8 (to prevent Bc5-f8) it's not clear to me how White makes progress since Bd5-c6+ is simply answered by ...Kf7. If anyone has any thoughts or opinions on my analysis above, please let me know. |