Alexey Shirov vs Zoltan Almasi (1997)

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Alexey Shirov vs Zoltan Almasi
Bundesliga (1996/97), Germany
Spanish Game: Exchange. Bronstein Variation (C69) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

explore this opening	find similar games	16 more Shirov/Z Almasi games
sac: 38.Be5+	PGN: download \| view \| print	Help: general \| java-troubleshooting

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Jul-30-13		whithaw: This is an excellent game. Hard to believe that there are no comments.

Jul-30-13		Shams: Wow, tremendous resourcefulness from Shirov. The bishop is like a child star: everything in White's army is geared toward making it happy. :)

Mar-19-20		FSR: 36.Rh6+ Kg8 37.Bxg7 must win. Black loses his queen if he captures either way, and he's obviously smashed if he doesn't capture.

Mar-19-20		Steve.Patzer: I chose 36. Rh6+

Mar-19-20		al wazir: <FSR: 36.Rh6+ Kg8 37.Bxg7 must win. Black loses his queen if he captures either way, and he's obviously smashed if he doesn't capture.> Yeah, that's the line I looked at longest, but it's not so obvious: 37...Ng3+ 38. fxg3 (38. Kg1 Re1+ 39. Kh2 Nf1+ draw) Qf5+ 39. Kg1 (39. Qf2 Qxf2+ 40. Kxf2 Kxg7) Re1+ 40. Kh2 Kxg7. Where's the win?

Mar-19-20		murkia: The engine narrowly prefers Rh6+ over Bxg7.

Mar-19-20		scormus: I didn't think was easy. I wanted to pick the <FSR> line but was also put off by the prospect of the <al wazir> continuation. To maintain the initiative W has to play 41 Rc6. The mating threats force B to defend and the W Q+R should have more play than the B Q+R and capture enough B pawns to win, eventually. But I don't see a direct win from there For me it's an ebgine job to solve

Mar-19-20		An Englishman: Good Evening: Thought the solution consisted of 36.Rc7. What did I overlook this time?

Mar-19-20		OhioChessFan: If 36. Rc7, 36...Qe6 holds the position.

Mar-19-20		Cheapo by the Dozen: I went with the game line, because I thought White could snatch at least the kingside pawns, and probably another as well, for a pretty favorable Q vs. R+N endgame.

Mar-19-20		agb2002: White has a bishop for a knight and two pawns. Black threatens Rxe5. White has Rh6+, Bxg7+ and Rc7. In the case of 36.Rh6+ Kg8 37.Bxg7 Ng3+ 38.fxg3 (38.Kg1 Re1+ 39.Kh2 Nf1+ 40.Kg(h)1 Ng3+ with perpetual check) 38... Qf5+ 39.Kg1 Kxg7, unclear. In the case of 36.Rc7 Qe6 with the double threat Ng3+ and Qxb5. In the case of 36.Bxg7+: A) 36... Qxg7 36.Rh6+ Kg8 37.Rg6, winning the queen and ready to attack the scattered black forces, looks very good for White. B) 36... Kxg7 37.Rc7 looks similar to A. C) 36... Kg8 37.Rg6 (37.Rh6 Ng3+ as above) C.1) 37... Nf4 38.Be5+ C.1.a) 38... Nxg6 39.Qxg6+ Kf8 40.Qh6+ Kg8 (40... Ke7 41.Qf6#; 40... Kf7 41.Qg7+ Ke6 42.Qf6#) 41.Qh8+ Kf7 42.Qg7+ Ke6 43.Qf6#. C.1.b) 38... Kf7 39.Qf6#. C.1.c) 38... Kf8 39.Qf6+ Qf7 40.Rg8+ Kxg8 41.Qh8#. C.1.d) 38... Kh7 39.Rh6+ Kg8 40.Rh8+ Kf7 41.Qf6#. C.2) 37... Kh7 38.Rh6+ Kg8 (38... Kxg7 39.Qf6+ Kg8 40.Rh8#) 39.Rh8+ Kxg7 (39... Kf7 40.Qf6#) 40.Qh6+ Kf7 41.Rh7+ Kg8 42.Qg6+ Kf8 43.Qf6+ and 44.Rh8#. C.3) 37... Qxg7 38.Rxg7+ Kxg7 39.Qxa6 as in A. C.4) 37... Ng3+ 38.Rxg3 just loses the knight. C.5) 37... Kf7 38.Qf6+ and mate follows. C.6) 37... Qf7 38.Bf6+ Kf8 39.Qd6+ Re7 40.Bxe7+ Qxe7 41.Rg8+ wins. D) 36... Kh7 37.Rh6+ as in C.1.

Mar-19-20		FSR: <al wazir> I was completely wrong, and you are almost right. Komodo 13 eventually concludes that your 39...Re1+ loses to 40.Kh2 Kxg7 41.Rd6 Re7 42.Qd8 Rf7 43.h4 (+6.04, at least if you're a computer). But 39...Kxg7! 40.Kh2 Qg5 41.Rd6 h4! 42.Qd4+ Kf7 43.gxh4 Qe5+ only gives White a small advantage (+0.53).

Mar-19-20		scormus: Anybody consider the prosaic 36 Rh6+ Kg8 37 Rxh5 I wondered then rejected it as unsuitable for a puzzle. But to be honest it's what I might choose OTB.

Mar-19-20		RandomVisitor: After 35...Re8 click for larger view Stockfish_20031417_x64_modern: <46/76 1:11:13 +13.08 36.Bxg7+ Qxg7 37.Rh6+ Kg8 38.Rg6 d4> 39.Qf6 Qxg6 40.Qxg6+ Kf8 41.Qh6+ Kg8 42.Qxh5 Re6 43.Qf5 Re8 44.Qg6+ Kf8 45.h4 Re7 46.h5 d3 47.Qd6 Ke8 48.h6 Rf7 49.Qxd3 Nf4 50.Qd6 a5 51.h7 Rxh7 52.Qb8+ Kd7 53.Qb7+ Kd6 54.Qxh7 Nd5 55.Qb7 Kc5 56.Qa7+ Kc4 57.Qxa5 Nc3 58.Qa6 Kc5 59.Qa7+ Kc4 60.Qa5 b4 61.Ke1 b3 62.Qa6+ Kb4 63.Kd2 Nb1+ 64.Ke3 46/67 1:11:13 +6.94 36.Rh6+ Kg8 37.Rxh5 Qe6 38.Qxe6+ Rxe6 39.Kxe2 a5 40.Kd3 a4 41.Rg5 g6 42.Bc3 Rd6 43.Kd4 Rf6 44.f3 Rc6 45.Rxd5 b4 46.Bxb4 Rc2 47.Rg5 Kh7 48.Kd3 Rc1 49.Bc3 Rg1 50.Kc2 Rh1 51.Rg4 Rf1 52.Kb2 Rg1 53.Ka3 Rc1 54.Rh4+ Kg8 55.Bf6 Kf7 56.Bb2 Rg1 57.Rg4 Rd1 58.Kxa4 Rd2 59.Kb3 Rf2 60.Bc3 Rf1 61.Rg5 Rd1 62.Be5 Re1 63.Bb2 Rd1 64.Rg4 Rh1

Mar-19-20		Granny O Doul: Just avoid 36. Rh6+ Kh8 37. Rh8+ Kxh8 38. Qh6+ Kg8, when White has given his rook away for nothing.

Mar-19-20		Brenin: After White's weak pawn sacrifice 20 Bb2, Black threw away a win with his passive 30...Rg8 (Re8 or Rf7 kept the advantage) and 32...Rd8 (Ne2+ with equal chances).

Mar-20-20		W Westerlund: How does White win in the final position?

Mar-20-20		vonKrolock: Mate in 2 after 41...Kf7 42.Qg7+ Ke6 43.Qf6# *not C+

Mar-20-20		RandomVisitor: A long computer run after 20.Bb2 shows that in a complex position and under best play, white has some compensation for the pawn... click for larger view Stockfish_20031417_x64_modern: <64/103 18:06:35 -0.13 20...Bxb4 21.Ne3> a5 22.Qe2 a4 23.Qxb5 a3 24.Bc1 Rfb8 25.Qc4 Bd6 26.Qc3 a2 27.Qc4 Qe8 28.Rxa2 Rxa2 29.Qxa2 Qxe4 30.f3 Qb1 31.Qc4 Qb5 32.Kf2 h5 33.Qe6 Qb3 34.Qxb3 Rxb3 35.Nf5 Rb1 36.Re1 Kh7 37.Nxd6 cxd6 38.Bf4 Rb2+ 39.Re2 Rb4 40.Bxd6 Rxd4 41.Bh2 Ra4 42.Rd2 Nd4 43.g4 Ne6 44.Ke3 Ng5 45.Bd6 Rc4 46.gxh5 Rh4 47.Kf2 Rxh5 48.Bg3 Nf7 49.Bf4 g5 50.Be3 Rxh3 51.Kg2 Rh5 52.Rd7 Kg6 53.Kg3

Mar-20-20		W Westerlund: vonKrolock: Thank you.

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