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Veselin Topalov vs Alexey Shirov
"Troublesome Priest" (game of the day Mar-14-2016)
Linares (1998), Linares ESP, rd 10, Mar-04
Gruenfeld Defense: Exchange Variation (D85)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 6 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jul-14-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  Dionysius1: Would 48 g3 not just leave the position near enough as it was? Why did White have to take the bishop?
Jul-15-13  shivasuri4: <Dionysius1>, the point here is that White would be forced to move the pawn, either to capture the bishop or move forward. This allows Black to force his king into the queenside.

Here's a possible line after 48.g3. 48...Kf5 49.Kf2 Ke4 50.Bxf6 (if Ke2, 50...d4) Kd3. Now Black proceeds with the ideas of Bg4, d4 and advancing the a-pawn, depending upon where the White king and bishop move. For instance, if White plays Ke1, Black will respond immediately with Bg4, cutting off the king's entry to the queenside.

Jul-15-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  Dionysius1: Thanks <shivasuri4>
Jul-15-13  builttospill: Really the single most clever chess move I've ever seen. Even fools Stockfish. Thinks a3 is the best move (-2.8), but then when I force the issue and make the move Bh3, it takes 23 ply before the evaluation goes from 0 to -2.5, before finally settling at -4.6 after 32 ply. I'm at a loss for words!
Aug-05-13  EvanTheTerrible: One of my favorites.
Oct-30-13  tlgsvm: finally stockfish has found the move after calculating for about 18 minutes and 44 plies deep.
Oct-30-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  tamar: Gull 2.2x64 had 47...Bh3 at 13th choice, absolute worst move at 18 minutes, last behind such lemons as 47...Kd7 at 31 ply.

Finally at 23 minutes, the penny dropped and it shot to first.

Truly a once in a lifetime find over the board.

Nov-20-13  tlgsvm: an update to my previous comment, houdini found the move in only one minute with 23 plies depth.

stockfish 4 has a better score against houdini 3.0 but houdini found this move much quicker. i'm confused which engine is better.

Apr-10-14  Everett: <tlgsvm: an update to my previous comment, houdini found the move in only one minute with 23 plies depth. stockfish 4 has a better score against houdini 3.0 but houdini found this move much quicker.< i'm confused which engine is better.>>

It depends on the position, just like humans.

Apr-13-14  Travis Bickle: Fischeresque ending!!
Aug-03-14  Conrad93: 47. Bh3 isn't that unusual.

This is easy to spot if you know your bishop vs. pawns endgames.

Aug-03-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  plang: ?!? yea right - anyone would have seen it
Aug-04-14  Conrad93: Anyone with knowledge about bishop vs. pawns endgames would have played this an instant.

What seems amazing to us is relatively simple to a GM.

Aug-04-14  Jim Bartle: <Conrad93: What seems amazing to us is relatively simple to a GM.>

Strange. Lots of GMs were astounded by this finish.

Aug-05-14  Whitehat1963: <Anyone would have seen it ..." Really? Good lord! I know my chess-blindness is well established, but I'm still trying to figure out how black wins in the final position. As for 47...Bh3, well, that's far beyond my vision.
Aug-05-14  Whitehat1963: I imagine someone of <Conrad93>'s vision would also have seen these finishes about 10 or 12 moves ahead:

Topalov vs Anand, 2005

Karjakin vs Topalov, 2006

Aug-05-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <Whitehat> As Ralph Kramden would have put it: a mere bag of shells.
Aug-07-14  Wyatt Gwyon: <<Conrad93><Anyone with knowledge about bishop vs. pawns endgames would have played this an instant.>>

Wrong.

Aug-07-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <Wyatt> That statement was so moronic that it was not worth a response--another day at the beach in the Kingdom of Southeast Idiotville: ruler, <Conrad the First>.
Aug-07-14  Jim Bartle: To my knowledge < conrad93> has never commented on a game in progress, despite many opportunities. If he did we would learn if he really could see what claims anyone could see.
Aug-07-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <Jim> That would be a 2700-level treat.

And I am not referring to the pearls of wisdom he would cast from On High, either.....

Aug-07-14  Wyatt Gwyon: <perfidious: <Wyatt> That statement was so moronic that it was not worth a response--another day at the beach in the Kingdom of Southeast Idiotville: ruler, <Conrad the First>.>

This one is right up there with the en passant comment from a few months back.

Aug-07-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <Wyatt> Is en passant that funny little move with that there pawn y'all make, like? Or was it a Freudian slip and did y'all mean <ein pissant>?
Aug-07-14  Whitehat1963: Not to get off topic, but does anyone have opinions on what games might have the most moves worthy of exclamations or double-exclamations on both sides of the board?
Aug-07-14  MarkFinan: R Byrne vs Larry Evans, 1965

Whitehat1963. In my opinion... This game.

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