Does Black have any hope to draw this game? How should black proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
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Does Black have any hope to draw this game? How should black proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
“Does Black have any hope to draw this game?” — Not if White is Karjakin, and after 1. .. Rxb4+ 2. Kf5 Rxh4 he plays, as in the
game, 3. Re4! That’s probably the only move that wins. I think almost ALL of us, have this game indelibly impressed on our memories.
BTW, congratulations to the USA team, especially Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky for toppling the Russians, Kramnik and Grischuk, today. Sound of big trees crashing was heard around the world.
Kd6
Black has hopes of drawing, otherwise you wouldn’t be asking. If he can capture the b pawn, even if he gives up his pawn, he has chances of drawing against the f and h pawns (with the rooks).
1…Kd6
2.Rh7 Ke6
and the white’s King cannot help
Instantly likely looked:
1. Rxb4+? Ke3! (better than Kf5 I guess)
2. Rxh4 Re6+
3. Kd7 Rxf6
and f-pawn must be too strong.
This has to be wrong!
I guess that for a start b-pawn is little to bother about, but black must definitely see his own f-pawn as a resource:
1. Kd6! Rh7
2. Ke6!
The f-pawn is solid now.
Neither Rh6 nor Rh5 can stop an f5to come, since black is now ready for Rxb4+.
3. … f4 (h5 Rxb4+ Ke3 Rh4, or b5 Rxb5 Ra8 Rb4+ Ke3 Kf5 Rh5+ Kg6)
)
4. Rxb4 Ke3
5. f5! Rh6+
6. Kf7
or
3. … Kf4
4. Rxb4 Kg3
5. f5! Rh6+
6. Kf7
H-pawn a constant challenge of cource, but for white to progress it is not easy, and white’s f-pawn will never do anything. Black’s f5 prevents any advancement of white king also.
Interesting ending. The first instinct, of course, is to take at b4:
1. …..Rb4
2. Kf5 Rh4
I looked at other lines, but, unless black takes the h-pawn now, he will be down two pawns and surely in a losing ending. Continuing:
3. Re4
Took this from Lucymarie above, but I think I could puzzle this out myself without the help of her comment. Black cannot exchange rooks since this leads to a lost K+P ending after white retakes with the pawn. Black must move the rook, who is badly placed on the h-file. The two most relevant lines for black from here are Rh6 protecting the f-pawn, and Rh3 attacking the white pawn. If 3. ….Rh3, I think white just consolidates his advantage with 4.f4 and wins not much differently than I will outline below. Let’s continue with Rh6:
3. …..Rh6
4. Ke6
Not easy at all to see this wins. The instinct, for me at least, is to play Re6+ followed by Rxf6, but this is certainly a draw after I looked at the resulting position for a few minutes: [4. Re6? Kd7! 5.Rf6 Rh5 (Rxf6 loses for sure) 6.Kg6 Rh3 7.f4 Ke7 and this is a fairly standard drawn rook ending. The black king can now not be driven away from the queening squares.] Continuing from 4.Ke6 above which keeps the black king at bay for the moment:
4. …..Rh8 (Rh3 5.f4 will win)
5. Rc4
Driving the king even further away. Continuing:
5. …..Kb5
6. Rc7 Rh4 (trap for 7.Kf6??)
7. Kf5! Kb6
8. Rf7 Kc6 (sets a trap)
9. Kf6!
This is the only winning move. If white is careless here and plays the natural looking Rxf6+ he only draws with perfect defense since the black king goes to d7 and can’t be kept away from the e-file away any longer. These are standard rook endings that a good player must recognize from memory. The rook must stay on the 7th rank on move 9. Continuing:
9. …..Kd6
10.Kf5!
Again, the white king must play to keep the black king from getting any sort of eyes on the f-file. Kf5 is the only way forward from here:
10. ….Rh5 (starting harrassment)
11.Kg6!
Now white can play off the f-file. Black can no longer play Ke6 profitably: [11. …Ke6 12.Kh5 Kf7 13.Kg5! is a winning K+P ending]. Continuing:
11. ….Rh4
12.f4 Rg4 (continue harrassment)
13.Kf5! Rg8
14.Kf6 Rh8
15.f5 Rh6
16.Kg7 Rh5 (draw king down board)
17.Kg6 Rh1
18.Rg7 Rg1
19.Kf7 Rf1
20.f6 Ke5 (nothing better)
21.Rg6 Rf2
22.Rh6
Shortest win. Continuing:
22. ….Kd6 (nothing better)
23.Kf8 Rg2
24.f7 Kd7
25.Rh7 Rg1 (preventing Kg8)
26.Rg7 Rf1
27.Kg8 and the pawn will queen since Ke7 allows f8Q with double check.
I need time to consider the proffered 1. …Kd6 of the commenters above. Definitely not natural looking to my eye, but I cannot rule out it’s effectiveness right now.
The other commenters outside Lucymarie suggested 1. ….Kd6 2.Rh7 Ke6. That does look drawish to me:
1. …..Kd6
2. Rh7 Ke6
As one of them points out, the white b-pawn is still toast, but now black has the f-pawn guarded, his king is now in a much better spot, and this type of rook ending down a pawn (after the fall of b4) is quite drawish in most cases. It might continue this way:
3. Kf4 Rb4
4. Kg3 Kf5
5. Rh5 Kg6
6. Rd5 f5
7. Rd6 Kh5
8. Rf6 Rb5!
9. Kf4 Rb4 and how would white make progress from here?
However, I think white plays too passively with 2.Rh7. More active to my eye is a move like 2.Ra7:
1. …..Kd6
2. Ra7
Basically forces black to take at b4. If black tries 2. …Rh8, then white checks from a6 and then pushes f4 sacrificing the h-pawn to get into a more winning looking endgame. So, let’s see what 2. …Rb4+ brings:
2. …..Rb4+
3. Kf5 Rh4
4. f4
Puts black to the test. However, I am pretty sure that black draws with
4. …..Rh6 and how does white make progress? If he checks from a6, black just plays Ke7 with a fairly easy draw.
I think Kd6 does draw. Right now, I don’t see how white can play into a winning ending. I have to think about this some more.