Yuri Averbakh vs Andre Lilienthal (1949)

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Yuri Averbakh vs Andre Lilienthal
Moscow Championship (1949), Moscow URS, rd 1
King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation. Rare Defenses (E90) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Given 10 times; par: 80 [what's this?]

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Oct-08-05		chessfreako: Why did Andre Lilienthal resign? It's a drawn position!

Oct-08-05		percyblakeney: I think black doesn't have any good way to defend against the threat Kf4-Ke5-Kf6.

Oct-08-05		Benzol: Averbakh gives this ending in his book 'Bishop vs Knight Endings'. The sealed move was 42.♔f4 and he gives the following variation 42...a4 43.♔e5 ♗g4 44.♔f6 ♗h5 45.♔e7 ♗g4 46.a3! ♗d1 47.♘e6+ ♔b7 48.♔d6 ♗xb3 49.♘d8+ ♔c8 50.♘xc6 a4 51.♘e7+ and wins. If 43...♗a3 44.♔f6 ♗d3 45.♔e7 followed by 46.♘e6+ forcing back the Black King.

Oct-08-05		chessfreako: Y can't he play 42. .. ♗e8? It seems to hold the position

Oct-08-05		Benzol: <chessfreako> The Bishop is on the c8 square. See move 41...♗c8.

Oct-08-05		chessfreako: i'm sorry I mean 42. .. Bd7 then move it to 43. .. Be8. But thanks anyway I already know why it's a loss. Thanks! :)

Aug-23-06		think: This is definitely lost for black because there is nothing stopping white's king to penetrate via f4 and e5. Then if black protects c6, g6 will be taken, and vice versa. (I'm into Latin phrases starting with v today)

Mar-20-20		woldsmandriffield: An interesting game in which Averbakh makes something out of virtually nothing. Had Averbakh played 14 b3 then 14..Ng3 is strong, creating the possibility of 15 Re1 Rxe3 16 fxe3 Qg5 when Black has an extremely promising position. After 14 Nxe4 Nxe4 15 b3 the move 15..Ng3 lacked bite and Black was tempted to snare the two Bishops with 15 Re1 Nxe2+ when he should probably have gone 15..Nf5 16 Nxf5 Bxf5 with a level gane. Lilienthal's plan of 18..a6 & 19..Qh4 was not very incisive and he might have done better to push 18..a5..a4. The next puzzle is why Black did not try 23..Re8 when White has nothing. Trading Queens turned a one-result game (draw) into a two-result game (draw or a White win). Averbakh must have been pleased to see 29..d5 30 c5 and fixing the Pawns creates a weak c6 pawn and dark squared weaknesses in the centre. Lilienthal evaded the trap 33..Rb8? 34 Re7+! but he might have set a trap of his own: 33..a5 eg 34 g3 Rb8 and now 35 Re7+? loses to 35..Kxe7 36 Nxc6+ Kd7 37 Nxb8 Kc7 38 Na6 Kb7 I have not read the analysis in Bishop vs Knight Endings and pondered why, after the exchange of Rooks, marching the K to a5 and putting the Knight on b5 does not win. The reason is 37 Ke3 Kc7 38 Kd3 Bd7 39 h4 an now Black can defend a6 along the a6-f1 diagonal. Averbakh's 40 g5! was decisive If now Black replies 40..f5 he creates huge holes on d4 and e5 and fixes a terminal weakness on g6.

Aug-03-21		plang: 6..Nc6 is a rarely played alternative to 6..e5. In Bogoljubov-Yates Baden-Baden 1925 Black had played 8..Nbd7 (by transposition) and had gone on to win; 8..e6 was new but it has not been repeated. 20..Qh5 was not an ideal location for the queen and White could have played for a middle game advantage with 22 Rxe2! and if 22..Bxh3 23 Bxg7 White is better in all lines: eg. 23..Qg4 24 Ne1..Kxg7 25 Re3 and wins or 23..Bxg2 24 Kxg2,,Qg4+ 25 Kh2..Qxf3 26 Bc3..Qh5+ 27 Kg3..f5 28 f3 and wins. 22..Re8 23 Qxe8+!..Bxf8 24 Rxf8+..Bf8 25 Bf6..Qf5 26 Be7..Qd7 27 Rxf8+..Kg7 28 Ng5 would have been winning for White. 23..Re8 would have given White fewer chances in the endgame. Averbakh considered 29..d5? to be the move that gave White real winning chances with the weakness at c6 and the superiority of the knight over the bishop. If 35..Rb8 (trying to prevent b4) the 36 Re7+ wins. Averbakh's chess is relatively easy to follow and his annotations are excellent. If you are looking to improve your positional and endgame skills he is a good player to learn from.

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