Keith Arkell vs Peter M Gayson (1989)

Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players ·

Kibitzing

Keith Arkell vs Peter M Gayson
British Championship (1989), Plymouth ENG, rd 1, Jul-31
Queen's Gambit Declined: Vienna Variation (D30) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

explore this opening	find similar games	1 more K Arkell/P Gayson game
	PGN: download \| view \| print	Help: general \| java-troubleshooting

TIP: You can learn a lot about this site (and chess in general) by reading the Chessgames Help Page. If you need help with premium features, please see the Premium Membership Help Page.

For help with this chess viewer, please see the Olga Chess Viewer Quickstart Guide.

PREMIUM MEMBERS CAN REQUEST COMPUTER ANALYSIS [more info]

Mar-10-25		FSR: Gayson managed to get to a rook and bishop versus rook ending. Unfortunately Arkell has won that ending many times. He claims to be 18-0 or some such on the superior side of it.

Mar-10-25		perfidious: Eighteen times? Really? While I have no reason to believe or disbelieve Arkell's word, that hardly seems probable. One thing sure: I never had that endgame.

Mar-10-25		beatgiant: I don't find those in our db, but I do find this other example where he wins with rook and bishop versus rook and knight. K Arkell vs A Kosten, 2002

Mar-10-25		keypusher: I've definitely heard the claim though I have not seen the proof. But if anyone would have reached 18 R+B v. R endings, given how he plays and how many games he has played, it would be Arkell.

Mar-10-25		Sally Simpson: <Hi Perfidious> It's true! This game must be a recent addition a few years back I looked for Keith and this ending KRB v KR and could not find one. (I could have missed it) I mentioned this to Keith and he was not surprised adding they only have a very small percentage of his games here. Then someone chipped in saying he had lost that ending three times to Keith! I also recall he quoted a figure higher that 18 which is a figure he gave in a previous interview, I'm sure he said it was now over 20 mentioning he had 3 in the same year after the interview. His prowess with this ending is legendary. "Keith is the man one would least like to face with three pawns versus four on the same side in a rook endgame or, much worse, with a rook against a rook and bishop." Jonathan Speelman, in the Introduction to 'Arkell’s Endings' https://www.newinchess.com/media/wy...

Mar-11-25		Sally Simpson: ...there is more. Keith, one of the U.K.'s few chess professionals plays in a large amount of events, especially weekend events. He recently posted on facebook he was won his 5th FIDE rated tournament this year! Result page of his latest win; https://chess-results.com/tnr112987... I wonder how many games he has played? Certainly a lot more than the 1,440 we have here. Could be treble that since 1977.

Mar-11-25		FSR: <Sally Simpson> I heard the number some years ago, so it doesn't surprise me that it has since increased. Has anyone drawn the ending against him? Theory claims that it's not too difficult - though Svidler was losing in the 2016 Candidates against Caruana, who unfortunately blew the win. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5b... (start at 16:12). There is also the issue of whether if Caruana had found the win, it was possible to execute it within the alloted 50 moves. (Elsewhere, I saw someone claim that Caruana could have done so.) You can see from Jan Gustafsson's comments that even a strong grandmaster (No. 85 in the world at his peak) can be only vaguely familiar with the ending. This site's endgame database is woefully out of date. The last R+B v. R game is from June 2018, namely Mamedyarov vs Karjakin, 2018. https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che... I'm pretty sure the endgame has been seen in the almost seven years since then. According to the database, the superior side wins 42.9% of the time, it's drawn 56.8% of the time, and the inferior side wins 0.3% of the time! Endgame Explorer: RB vs R. The side with the rook won in Z Topel vs N Pares Vives, 2008 and D Pavasovic vs G Arsovic, 2017. Walter Browne mentioned in his biography <The Stress of Chess> that he won on time with the rook against FM Andrew Karklins. IM Goran Arsovic (not to be confused with his twin brother IM Zoran Arsovic) is apparently the world's greatest defender of R+B v. R. With the rook, he won the aforementioned game, and he drew in just 255 moves in I Nikolic vs G Arsovic, 1989, the longest tournament game of all time between humans.

Mar-11-25		keypusher: < FSR: <Sally Simpson> I heard the number some years ago, so it doesn't surprise me that it has since increased. Has anyone drawn the ending against him? > My understanding is that none of his opponents have managed to draw, but according to the 2020 book that Sally linked to he's never faced a GM in the R+B v. R ending.

Mar-11-25		keypusher: Obvious questions I don't know the answer to are whether Arkell has ever defended R+B v. R and, if so, how he did.

Mar-11-25		FSR: <keypusher> I asked him a while ago, and as I recall he thought he had done so once, and had lost.

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
Nothing in violation of United States law.
No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
No trolling.
The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.

NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific game only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

This game is type: CLASSICAL. Please report incorrect or missing information by submitting a correction slip to help us improve the quality of our content.