Gawain Jones vs Xiangzhi Bu (2014)

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Gawain Jones vs Xiangzhi Bu
Politiken Cup (2014), Helsingor DEN, rd 9, Jul-28
Russian Game: Modern Attack. Center Attack (C43) · 0-1

White to move.

ANALYSIS [x]

0-1

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1

FEN COPIED

explore this opening	find similar games	5 more G Jones/X Bu games
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Jul-28-14		luzhin: Astonishing that Jones managed to lose this. 40.f4 just looks terrible on principle.

Jul-28-14		notyetagm: G Jones vs Bu Xiangzhi, 2014 click for larger view 32 ♗c6x♖b7 click for larger view Wow, a GM (Jones) actually lost this position. Could some endgame expert please comment on this endgame? Equal material, opposite-colored bishops, equal king activity looks like drawish to a fish like me. White's problem is with his kingside pawns being on the same colored squares as the enemy bishop but they cannot be defended by his king. Black has the exact same problem but the big difference is that the Black kingside pawns can be defended by the king. Is this difference enough to win??? <STOCKFISH 5> does not see a big advantage for Black in this endgame. http://www.chessbomb.com/embed/2014... <Evaluation Line <-0.3> 32... Be1 33. f3 Bxh4 34. Kb3 Bf2 35. Kc4 Kf8 36. Kd5 h4 37. c4 Ke7 38. Ba6 f6 39. Bb5 f5 40. c5 Be3 41. Ba4 a6 42. Bb3 Kd7 43. Bc4 a5 44. Bb5+ Kc7 45. Be8 g5 46. Bg6 <-0.3> 32... Bf6 33. f3 Bxh4 34. Kb3 Bf2 35. Kc4 Kf8 36. Kd5 h4 37. c4 Ke7 38. Ba6 f6 39. Bb5 f5 40. c5 Be3 41. Ba4 a6 42. Bb3 Kd7 43. Bc4 a5 44. Bb5+ Kc7 45. Be8 g5 46. Bg6 <-0.3> 32... Kf8 33. f3 Be1 34. Kb3 Bxh4 35. Kc4 Bf6 36. Kd5 Bc3 37. Kc4 Bd2 38. Kd5 Ke7 39. c4 f5 40. Bc6 h4 41. c5 Be3 42. Bb5 a5 43. Ba4 Kd8 44. Bb5 Kc7 45. Be8 g5 46. Bg6> Thanks.

Jul-28-14		notyetagm: G Jones vs Bu Xiangzhi, 2014 <luzhin: Astonishing that Jones managed to lose this. 40.f4 just looks terrible on principle.> click for larger view 40 f3-f4? click for larger view

Jul-29-14		engineerX: @notyetaGM: material is not really equal in the position you gave. One should focus on what remains on the board, and Black wins a pawn by force there (whether this should be enough for victory is another matter).

Jul-29-14		engineerX: Actually I think Black played this quite brilliantly, not a surprise for such an endgame expert as him. If white had avoided 40.f4, how would he cope with the Black King's invasion Ke6-e5-f4-g3xg2 followed by marching th h-pawn?

Jul-29-14		notyetagm: G Jones vs Bu Xiangzhi, 2014 <engineerX: @notyetaGM: material is not really equal in the position you gave. One should focus on what remains on the board, and Black wins a pawn by force there (whether this should be enough for victory is another matter).> click for larger view 32 ... ♗c3-e1! <skewer: f2, h4> click for larger view Yes, I noticed that as soon as I finished my post: Black immediately wins a pawn with the <SKEWER> 32 ... ♗c3-e1! of the <UNPROTECTED> White f2- and h4-pawns.

Jul-29-14		waustad: I've probably seen more decisive games with opposite colored bishops in the last year or so than I ever remember from before. Could it be partly due to the influence of Carlsen, or am I just imagining this?

Jul-29-14		tamar: I think top players like Carlsen influence play, but the advance of computers in endgame play is probably a bigger factor. Now a program like Stockfish or Komodo can give a blueprint of how to win or defend these endings that less intuitive players can follow step by step. But the endings are still very difficult, and computers need to go to at least 30 ply before they can be trusted.

Jul-29-14		Tartalacreme: An endgame with bishops is often won for the side with passed pawns on both sides of the board. So with a passed pawn on a7 and a kingside majority, black had legitimate winning chances. This was known long before computers could play chess.

Jul-29-14		SimonWebbsTiger: @<tartalacreme> I think it might have been Botvinnik who formulated the principle that material was also of less importance in opposite coloured bishops than the possibility of creating dangerous passed pawns, so in some cases sacrificing pawns in a breakthrough to create passed pawns and initiative is a way to win. The logic is the opponent's extra pawns are securely blockaded whilst his forces are divided and that they will succumb to one of our passed pawns.

Jul-29-14		tamar: But there are also exceptions that can be learned. For example, if Gawain Jones knew the ending, he could have aimed at this position click for larger view a draw if White heads for the h1 corner.

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