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Jun-24-09
 | | Once: It's all been said, so no point in repeating. As White's king is stalemated any uncapturable check is mate. The Ra2 prevents Nf2#, therefore we should look to deflect the rook. 38...Ra5 is the move to do it. 38...Ra5 also has the added bonus of x-ray attacking the Ra1. This adds another threat of 39. Nb5 Nf2+ 40 . Rxf2 Rxa1+ I wondered if white could cause some problems with 39. h3 (to create some luft), but Fritzie cheerfully announces mate in 9: 38...Ra5 39. h3 Nf2+ 40. Rxf2 Rxa1+ 41. Kh2 fxe3+ 42. Rf4 Ra2+ 43. Kh1 e2 44. Nf6+ Kh8 45. Ng6+ Rxg6 46. h5 e1=Q+ 47. Rf1 Rh2# 
click for larger viewThe poor white king no doubt feels suitably persecuted at this point. Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me! |
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| Jun-24-09 | | Fezzik: Bummer,
When I saw the game continuation I thought that I might be the first to suggest 38... a5. However, this close to the time control (probably at move 40), it was very tempting to grab the pawn and head for a more solid endgame. 38... c3 is indeed interesting. I don't think White should take the , but I also don't know where to place the a1. One problem with 38...c3 is that while it too gains a pawn, it doesn't guarantee a win the way 38...a5 did. |
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| Jun-24-09 | | SamAtoms1980: Beleaguered by attack on all sides, the castle's fall was inevitable. Or it would have been... Could it be? Did the great Magnus Carlsen not find the path?! Well, I suppose this proves what a few of us suspected all along... CG.com kibitzers > Magnus Carlsen
. . . . . . . um . . . . . . .
<<<<<NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!>>>>> |
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Jun-24-09
 | | MostlyAverageJoe: What a delightful puzzle with a forced mate in 38 moves! Here's the line and the final position:
38. ... fxe3! <I hope that < User: remolino > will explain why this move deserves an exclamation mark :-> 39. Rg1 Nf2+ 40. Rxf2 exf2 41. Rxg7+ Kxg7 42. Kg2 Kf7 43. c4 Rc5 44. Nf5 Rxc4 45. Nfe3
Rxh4 46. Kxf2 Bxh2 47. Ng2 Rd4 48. Nc3 Rd2+ 49. Ne2 Be5 50. Ke1 Rb2 51. Ne3 Ke6
52. Nd1 Ra2 53. Ne3 d5 54. Kd1 Rb2 55. Ke1 d4 56. Nd1 Ra2 57. Nf2 Ra3 58. Kd2
Kd5 59. Nd3 Ke4 60. Nc5+ Kf3 61. Ne6 Ra2+ 62. Kd3 Rxe2 63. Nxd4+ Bxd4 64. Kxd4
Re4+ 65. Kd5 Kf4 66. Kd6 Re5 67. Kd7 Rd5+ 68. Kc7 Ke5 69. Kc6 Ke6 70. Kc7 Rd6
71. Kc8 Rd7 72. Kb8 Re7 73. Kc8 Kd6 74. Kd8 Re5 75. Kc8 Rb5 76. Kd8 Rb8# 0-1 
click for larger view |
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| Jun-24-09 | | priludico: 38........ fxe3
39 Nxe3 Rxe7
winning a knight
otherwise
38........ fxe3
39 c4 Nf2+
40 Rxf2 exf2
41 Cxb5 Bd4
42 Nf5 Rg1+
43 Rxg1 fxg1Q# |
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| Jun-24-09 | | stacase: 38...Ra5 Hmmmmm what if White were to just leave his Rook at a2 sit there? |
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| Jun-24-09 | | gofer: 38 ... Ra5
39 Rxa5 Nf2#
39 Ra1 anywhere Rxa2 winning easily
39 Ra2 anywhere on the 2nd rank Rxa1 mating
Now, if the rooks dont' move, black is going to play... 39 ... Nf2+
39 Rxf2 Rxa1 mating
So as black cannot protect against Nf2+ it must stop Nf2 from leading to a forced mate. 39 Nf6 just loses the knight to Bxf6 and black is still in the same position, likewise with 39 Ng6 just loses the knight to Rxg6 and black is still in the same position. So we are left with 39 h3 which still fails to the same combination... 39 h3 Nf2+
40 Rxf2 Rxa1+
41 Kh2 fxe3+
42 Rf4 (Ng4 loses faster) Rag1 (threatening mate)
43 Nf6+ Bxf6
44 Rg4 R1xg4
45 hxg4 Rxe7 winning easily
So perhaps,
39 Ra1 anywhere with Rxa2 winning easily is the best white can hope for! 39 Rg1 Rxg1
40 Kxg1 Rxa2
41 exf4 Bxc3
42 f5 Be5 winning easily...
Time to check... |
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Jun-24-09
| | Once: <aginis: hmmm doesn't 38...Bxc3 also come out a bit stronger?> Fritzie reckons that 38...Bxc3 might lead to a small edge for black: 38... Bxc3 39. Rg1. Probably white's best to defuse the Ra5 trick and to challenge the Rg7. Now black's best line seems to be: 38... Bxc3 39. Rg1 f3 (39...Rxg1 is not as strong as it helps white's king to approach the passed pawn) 40. Nxc3 Nxc3 41. Rxg7+ Kxg7 42. Ra1 
click for larger viewFritz reckons this is -1.73. A nice to have advantage, but not resignable. |
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| Jun-24-09 | | hexkill: A shocking example. I guess most of the patzers like me, for example, would see that Rook trick immediately after looking at this position. However, Carlsen missed it! GM Kotov once wrote that top-class players playing out his game from the beginning will see a lot more than those, who are going to come around and look at some point. But in the end, he added "sometimes a person with >>fresh look<< is going to notice something completely new in position: something that remians unseen by both opponents, who are just pondering lines and relying on previous analysis". This seems to be that cause. |
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| Jun-24-09 | | TheaN: Wednesday 24 June 2009
<38....?>
Target: 2:10;000
Taken: 2:48;614
Just beyond par
Material: +&2 / 
Candidates: Nf2†, fxe3, Ra5, Bxc3, Nxc3, oh wait... <[Ra5]> -ML-
Just beyond par, but I think this ain't a regular Wednesday, it's a bit more difficult. Still, the idea is relatively simple, but I didn't see a followup. Even if White were to pass... I see that now. <38....Ra5!> is a strong move. Taking is taboo: /A\
<39.Rxa5?? Nf2‡ 0-1> 'Passing' is too, although, passing here means that f2 remains unprotected. /B\
<39.Nc6??> which is a move with spice as it attack the strong Bishop and the Rook now placed on a5. <39....Nf2†!> which is the all so simple key move of this position. I should have seen this within 2:10, tbh. <40.Rxf2 Rxa1† 41.Rf1 Rxf1‡ 0-1> What's left for White then?
/C\
<39.h3!> looks like it's denying the inevitable. However, Black now has the task of guarding h2, the question is if this should happen now, or during the combination. As starting the combination is more forcing, I'd choose that, but I think it doesn't work: after 39....Nf2†?! 40.Rxf2! (40.Kh2 fxe3† 41.Nf4 Bxf4‡ 0-1) Rxa1† 41.Kh2 fxe3† 42.Rf4! and White isn't mate yet. Black is completely winning, but it seems that: <39....fxe3> does not solve White's problem altogether, leaving: <40.Rf1 Rxa2  >
Time to check. |
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Jun-24-09
| | Once: <MostlyAverageJoe: What a delightful puzzle with a forced mate in 38 moves!> Like it! You and <remolino> are giving us a pythonesque twist on CG.com. A very welcome change from the usual ... But you also make a good point. From the starting position, Herr Fritzie reckons that: 38...Ra5 wins on the spot, as many others have pointed out. Silcon first choice (-4.8 - ie a rook). 38...ef gives black a sizeable black advantage of more than -1.5. Silicon second choice. 38...Bxc3 gives black a pleasant advantage of more than a pawn. Third choice. 38...f3 is = (-0.20). More or less level but with the tiniest of black advantages. Fourth choice. 38...Nxc3 =(0.03) Carlsen's actual pick, but only fifth in the computer's hit parade. Not a good day at the office for thr wunderkind. I do feel sorry a little for him. If a tennis player plays one bad shot, it will usually not affect the match score. But play one poor move at chess and your whole evening can be ruined. And your mistake will be flashed around the world and picked over by us mere kibitzers. |
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| Jun-24-09 | | TheaN: 3/3
Isn't 39.h3 fxe3!? stronger than 39.h3 Nf2†, as I have analyzed above? Gonna check that now... Ah no, of course it ain't: the line I play after Nf2† is correct but THAT leads to mate, fxe3 40.Nxe3 and he protects f1 after the same combination. Strange I didn't see it... well, still claiming the point :). |
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Jun-24-09
 | | agb2002: White has N+2P for B and threatens exf4, Nxf4, Rg1, etc. However, his rook on a2 becomes overburdened after 38... Ra5 because it prevents ... Nf2+ and ... Rxa1+ at the same time: A) 39.Rxa5 Nf2#.
B) 39.Nb4 Nf2+ 40.Rxf2 Rxa1+ 41.Rf1 Rxf1#.
C) 39.h3 Nf2+ 40.Rxf2 Rxa1+ 41.Kh2 fxe3+ 42.Rf4 Bxf4+ 43.Nxf4 Rxe7 + -. |
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| Jun-24-09 | | I Like Fish: 38 ... Rb5-a5
to pull off...
the efftwo guard... |
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| Jun-24-09 | | sileps: Ra5 seems to be the strongest move. If white takes the rook he's instantly checkmated. I'm surprised Carlsen missed this though |
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| Jun-24-09 | | jsheedy: Missed this one. I was eyeing the white k-side, specifically playing ...fxe3, threatening ... Nf2+ winning the exchange. Then, 39. Nxe3, Bxc3, 40. Rf1, Rb2. Even? |
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| Jun-24-09 | | zb2cr: Gee, here I thought I had found the correct solution with 38. ... Ra5. Then I turn to the game and see Black played something else, but we don't have the usual annotation in the .PGN file giving the line that Black should have played. Instead I have to look through the kibitzing to find I was correct after all. For a whole 2 minutes I was subjected to the mental torture of thinking I had bombed the puzzle instead of finding the solution. |
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Jun-24-09
 | | Peligroso Patzer: <Blunderdome: Looks like Vassily could have claimed a draw with the 50-move rule even before reaching this stalemate position.> True, since 47. … Nxh4 was the last capture or pawn move, but 100. Rf7+ forcing a stalemate (or winning Black’s Knight) was so elegant! (And very nice to find in a blitz game; compare: Akopian vs Kamsky, 2009, a regular game in which the ending (in the course of which Kamsky missed two stalemate ideas) was played in time pressure equivalent to blitz.) <Yes,but how to count in blitz?> The real point. To put this game in context for anyone not already familiar with the circumstances, this game was the second blitz playoff game (both drawn) after the four-game rapid mini-match had ended +1 -1 =2 for each player. In that phase, Carlsen won the following must-win game: Carlsen vs Ivanchuk, 2009 to force a playoff. After both blitz games were drawn, the match was decided by this “Armageddon” game: Carlsen vs Ivanchuk, 2009 in which Carlsen again scored the full point in a must-win situation. |
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| Jun-24-09 | | gtgloner: hmm... 38. ... Ra5 looks interesting, but not sure if this is right. Let's see. |
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Jun-24-09
| | Peligroso Patzer: < *** this close to the time control (probably at move 40), it was very tempting to grab the pawn and head for a more solid endgame. *** > This was a blitz game. See my previous post for full context. |
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Jun-24-09
| | Peligroso Patzer: <chillowack: Cute final tactic by Chucky! This must surely be among the most difficult of endings to win--impossible perhaps, unless the opponent makes an error.> Pawnless R+N vs. R is almost always a theoretical draw, and usually not too difficult to draw in practice. (Among theoretically drawn endgames, (I) pawnless R+B vs. R; cf. Akopian vs Kamsky, 2009 and A Rychagov vs Grischuk, 2007; and (II) rook endings with a- and c-pawns [or f- and h-pawns] vs. no pawns; cf. Onischuk vs S B Hansen, 2006; present greater practical challenges for the defense.) The most recent decisive result in a pawnless R+N vs. R ending between world-class players, as far as I am aware, is Onischuk vs L Dominguez, 2008; and, of course, there was the well-known: Judit Polgar vs Kasparov, 1996. |
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| Jun-24-09 | | Whitehat1963: What an amazing way to force a stalemate! |
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| Jun-24-09 | | CHESSTTCAMPS: The future World Champion is down a couple of meaningless pawns, but his pieces are much better placed and white's king is in a very tight box. It is easy to see that black would have Nf2# were it not for the white rook defending f2. Therefore,
the obvious move is:
38... Ra5!
This rook can not be taken and the Ra2 is now pinned and overloaded, so the threat is 39....Nf2+ forcing mate. There is no satisfactory defense: A. 39.h3 Nf2+ 40.Rxf2 (Kh2 fxe3+ forces mate) Rxa1+ 41.Kh2 fxe3+ 42.Nf4 exf2 and mate shortly. B. 39.Nf6+ Bxf6 leaves white defenseless.
C. 39.Rg1 Rxa2 leaves black a rook up.
White likely resigned immediately. |
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| Jun-24-09 | | solskytz: I'm with Carlsen on this one :-) totally eluded me |
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| Jun-24-09 | | YetAnotherAmateur: In defense of Carlson missing this (which even I picked up on): there's a good chance he was under time pressure, and of course didn't have Fritz at his disposal for instant analysis. |
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