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Wilhelm Steinitz vs Isidor Gunsberg
Steinitz - Gunsberg World Championship Match (1890), New York, NY USA, rd 9, Dec-29
Indian Game: Yusupov-Rubinstein System (A46)  ·  1/2-1/2

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Feb-16-07  Articcircle: Intresting rookendgame.Instead of 73....Kf3? Gunsberg could have won as follows 73...Kd5! 74.Ra5+ Kc6 75.Ra6+ Kb7 76.Rxa2 Rxa2 77.Kxg6 Kc7 78.h5 Kd7 79.h6 Ke7 80.h7 Rg2+ 81.Kh6 Kf7! 82.h8=N+ Kf6 83.Kh7 Rg1 and Black wins.

Or 75.Kxg6 Rg1+ 76.Kf7 a1=Q 77.Rxa1 Rxa1 78.h5 Rh1 79.Kg6 Kd7 80.h6 Ke7 81.h7 Kf8 and Black wins

Mar-30-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: How about 69. Kh6 to draw for White? White's king can shuttle between h6 and h7 avoiding Black's rook checks. If 69...Kg8 70. Rg8+ followed by Ra7 again.

If after 69. Kh6 Black's king heads for the queenside to chase off White's rook, then after eventual ...Ke8-d8-c8-b8, White Ra3, Black ...Kb7-b6-b5-b4, White Ra8, Black ...Kb3, White Rb8+ followed by Ra8 etc. and Black can't free his rook.

Apr-22-07  Whack8888: <beatgiant> after 69. Kh6 does the pawn sacrifice g5 work? It seems as though White cannot capture the pawn without opening up his king for the check--70. Kxg5 Rg1+ and 70. hxg5 Rh1+.

If White declines I think either that pawn or the a pawn will be able to queen.

Feb-28-08  Knight13: Steinitz decided to stop letting his rook be passive and played 47. Rh1!
Aug-11-09  WhiteRook48: draw only because black missed the win
Mar-04-10  kibitzwc: (1454) Steinitz,William - Gunsberg,Isidor [D30]
World Championship 3rd New York (9), 29.12.1890
[Fritz 12 (5m)]
D30: Queen's Gambit Declined: Systems without Nc3 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.e3 c5 4.c4 d5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Bd2 dxc4 8.Bxc4 0–0 9.0–0 Nc6 10.Qe2 Qe7 11.e4 Bxc3 12.Bxc3 e5 13.Qe3 Be6 14.Be2 Ng4 15.Qc1 last book move 15...Rac8 16.h3 Nh6 17.Qe3 f6 18.a3 Nf7 19.b4 a6 20.a4 [¹20.Rfd1!?=] 20...Nxb4µ 21.Bxb4 [21.Rab1 Nc2 22.Qd2 Qa3µ] 21...Qxb4 22.Rfb1 Qe7 23.Rb6 Rc7 24.Rab1 Rfc8 25.Ne1 [25.Bd1 Nd6 26.Bb3 Rc3 27.Bxe6+ Qxe6–+] 25...Nd8 [25...Nd6 26.f3–+] 26.Nd3 [26.Bg4 Bxg4 27.hxg4 h6–+] 26...Qa3 27.Kh2 Rd7 28.Rxe6 [28.Rc1 Rxc1 29.Nxc1 Qxe3 30.fxe3 Rd2–+] 28...Nxe6 29.Bg4 Re8 [¹29...Qe7!? 30.Nb4 Qf7–+] 30.Bxe6+µ Rxe6 31.Nc5 Qxe3 32.fxe3 Ree7 33.Nxd7 Rxd7 34.Kg3 Kf7 35.a5 Kg6 36.Kf3 Rc7 37.Rb2 Rc5 38.Ra2 Rb5 39.Ke2 Kf7 40.Kf3 Ke6 41.h4 h5 42.Ra1 g6 43.g4 hxg4+ 44.Kxg4 Rb4 45.Kf3 f5 46.exf5+ Kxf5 47.Rh1 Rb5 [47...e4+!? 48.Kg3 Rb3 49.Rf1+ Ke5µ] 48.e4+³ Kf6 49.Rd1 Rxa5 [49...Ke6 50.Rg1³] 50.Rd6+ Kg7 51.Rd7+ Kh6 52.Rxb7 Ra3+ 53.Kf2 Ra5 54.Rb6 [54.Kf3!?=] 54...Kh5µ 55.Rc6? [¹55.Rf6!?µ] 55...Ra4 56.Kf3 Ra3+ 57.Kf2 Kh6?? [¹57...g5 58.hxg5 Kxg5–+] 58.Re6= Ra5 59.Kg3 [59.Rb6 Ra2+ 60.Ke3 Kh5³] 59...Kg7 [59...Kh5!? 60.Re7 Ra3+ 61.Kf2 Kxh4 62.Rxe5 g5³] 60.Kg4= Kf7 61.Rb6 Ra1 62.Rb7+ Kf6 63.Rb6+ Kg7 64.Re6 a5 65.Rxe5 a4 66.Ra5 a3 67.Kg5?? [¹67.Kf4=] 67...a2–+ 68.Ra7+ Kf8 69.Ra8+ Kf7 70.Ra7+ Ke6 71.Ra6+ Ke5 72.Ra5+ Kxe4 73.Ra4+ Kf3?? [¹73...Kd5 74.Kh6 g5 75.Ra5+ Kc6–+] 74.Ra3 Kf2 75.Kxg6 Rg1+ 76.Kf7 a1Q 77.Rxa1 Rxa1 78.h5 Rh1 79.Kg6 Rg1+ 80.Kf6 ½–½
Apr-03-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  SwitchingQuylthulg: <kibitzwc: 73.Ra4+ Kf3?? [¹73...Kd5 74.Kh6 g5 75.Ra5+ Kc6–+]>

Apparently new 7-piece tablebases say 73...Kd5 doesn't win - I don't know if this is the drawing solution they give, but it seems quite likely:

73...Kd5 74.Kh6 g5 75.Ra5+ Kc6 76.Ra3 gxh4 77.Rc3+!


click for larger view

with a regular tablebase draw. After 77...Kb5 78.Rc2 Black can't make any further progress; any attempt to protect the a-pawn with the king results in White checking him from the kingside, while any attempt to move the rook will drop the a-pawn. Black can't even sacrifice the h-pawn on his own terms to enable ...Rh1+ as White can take with the rook and then keep it on the h-file.

Dec-25-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  woldsmandriffield:


click for larger view

This ending is analysed by Levenfish & Smyslov who claimed that 73..Kd5 would win. After the moves 74 Ra5+ Kc6, however, L&S considered only 75 Kxg6 or 75 Ra6+. Black has the incredible resource 75 Kh6!! shielding the King from a ..Rg1 check.


click for larger view

The reason L&S overlooked 75 Kh6!! is probably due to the reply 75..g5! but White still has a draw with 76 Ra8 (76 Ra3 also works). Now:

A) 76..g4 77 Rc8+ Kb5 78 Rc2 =
B) 76..gxh4 77 Rc8+ Kb5 78 Rc2 =

Due to the fact that Kh6 can earlier be met by ..g5, L&S concluded that White’s only defensive plan was a give up the Rook for the a and g pawns. This is an example of bounded rationality: Black in fact had another defensive option available.

Dec-26-19  spingo: Thank you for that example of bounded rationality.
Dec-26-19  Count Wedgemore: After reading <woldsmandriffield>'s interesting post it seems clear that Levenfish & Smyslov's analysis of that ending was superficial and somewhat flawed. Well, they didn't have engines and tablebases to help them out, so I'd give them a pass.

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