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[Event "Chicago Open"]
[Site "Wheeling"]
[Date "2018.05.26"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Wilson, Matthew"]
[Black "Eckert, FM Doug"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C95"]
[WhiteElo "2093"]
[BlackElo "2238"]
[Annotator "Wilson,Matthew"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "R7/8/8/8/3pk3/4r1p1/6K1/8 b - - 0 62"]
[PlyCount "43"]
62... d3 $6 {Black is still winning after this move, but
it does allow White to prolong the battle.} 63. Rd8 $1 {
Black is in zugzwang! But the FM doesn't lose his cool.} Re2+ 64. Kxg3 Ke3 {
Heading for the Lucena position, an endgame that you must know if you're
serious about chess.} 65. Re8+ Kd2 66. Rd8 Re7 67. Kf3 Rf7+ 68. Kg3 (68. Ke4
Ke2 69. Rxd3 Re7+ $1 70. Kd4 Rd7+ {wins the rook}) 68... Rf6 {Black would like
to park the rook on f5 in order to build the famous Lucena bridge. The reason
that I played 68.Kg3 was to kick the rook away with Kg4 if it ever came to f5.
So instead Black puts the rook on f6, but that's too far away for his
construction plans to work.} 69. Rd7 Ke2 70. Re7+ Kd1 71. Rd7 d2 72. Rc7 Rf5
73. Rc8 ({If White tries to sabotage the bridge with} 73. Kg4 {, then} Rf1 $1 {
wins easily.} 74. Kg3 Ke2 75. Re7+ Kd3 76. Rd7+ Kc3 77. Rc7+ Kb4 {
and the checks are certainly not perpetual. So I tried a different plan.})
73... Ke2 74. Re8+ Kd3 75. Rd8+ Ke3 76. Rd7 (76. Re8+ Kd4 77. Rd8+ Rd5 {
is the key idea in the Lucena. Instead, I keep my rook on the d-file, since
the pawn is not threatening to promote at this moment.}) 76... Rg5+ $1 {
Pushing my king back.} 77. Kh3 Ke2 78. Re7+ Kf3 {Threatening mate and promotion
} 79. Rf7+ $1 {Foiling Black's plan, but he has other ways to win} Ke2 80. Re7+
Kd1 81. Rc7 {
Or else 81...Rc5 followed by 82...Kc1 and Black wins without any difficulties}
Re5 (81... Rg1 82. Kh2 Re1 83. Kg2 Ke2 84. Re7+ Kd3 85. Rd7+ Kc3 86. Rc7+ Kb4 {
is also good enough. White quickly runs out of checks}) 82. Kg3 Ke1 83. Kf4 Re8
({Ending my last hope. After} 83... d1=Q 84. Kxe5 {
I could test if he knew how to win queen vs. rook}) 0-1
This is the game that pushed me over the 2100 barrier: a win against a National Master.
[Event "Chicago Open"]
[Site "Wheeling"]
[Date "2018.05.28"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Wilson, Matthew"]
[Black "Shanmugasundaram, NM Raj"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B45"]
[WhiteElo "2093"]
[BlackElo "2283"]
[Annotator "Wilson,Matthew"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/3n1p2/p1r5/5bp1/2B5/PP3P2/1B1R1KP1/8 w - - 0 38"]
[PlyCount "67"]
{My clock ticked down to 12 seconds. I went for the combination.}
38. g4 $1 (38. Rd5 Rc5 {
is less convincing}) 38... Be6 39. Bxe6 fxe6 40. Rxd7 Rc2+ 41. Ke3 Rxb2 42. Rd3
{The dust has settled after the time scramble. I was quite confident here. I'm
up a pawn. I don't have any weaknesses, but Black does.} Kf7 43. b4 {I had vague ideas of Rd3-d6xa6, but those variations never seem to work. 43.Kd4 was
simpler, but Stockfish thinks the two moves are about equally good.} a5 {
White threatens to raid the queenside, so Black figures that it's better to
trade his a-pawn than it is to risk losing it for nothing.} (43... Kf6 44. Kd4
Rc2 45. Rc3 Rf2 {If Black trades rooks, then he loses the pawn ending, even if
he inserts 45...e5+ first} (45... Rd2+ 46. Kc5 Ke5 47. a4 $1 {is similar}) 46.
a4 $1 Ra2 47. a5 Rf2 48. Kc5 Ke5 {
Here my notes continue with 49.Kb6, which is good enough, but Stockfish's} 49.
b5 $1 {wins easily}) (43... Ke7 44. Kd4 Kd6 $4 {falls into an unusual trap:}
45. Kc3+ $1) 44. bxa5 Rb5 45. a4 $1 ({Maybe} 45. a6 Ra5 46. Rd6 {also works,
but I was nearly certain that the text was winning. Know your classics! After..
.}) 45... Rxa5 46. Ra3 {...White has an improved version of the famous
Alekhine-Capablanca ending. Unlike in that game, here White can create a
second passer and Black's pawns are more vulnerable.} Ke7 47. Kd4 Kd6 48. Kc4
Re5 (48... Kc6 49. Kb4 Kb6 50. Re3 $1 ({During the game, I was planning on} 50.
Rd3 {, but then} Re5 {and the rook has found the ideal defensive post}) 50...
e5 51. Rd3 $1 {and Black collapses}) 49. a5 Kc7 (49... Rc5+ 50. Kd4 Rc7 51. a6
Ra7 52. Ra5 Ke7 53. Ke5 {Zugzwang!}) 50. a6 Kb8 51. Kd4 {My original intention
was to insert 51.a7+ Ka8 here. However, in some lines, White can benefit from
keeping the pawn safe on a6, where it doesn't have to be defended. E.g., 51.
Kd4 Re1 52.Re3 and it will take Black's king two tempi to snap up the pawn.}
Rd5+ 52. Ke4 Rb5 {Stockfish announces mate in 43!} (52... Ka7 53. f4 gxf4 54.
Kxf4 {White will simply march the g-pawn up the board. There isn't much that
Black can do about it.}) 53. Ra4 Rb1 (53... e5 54. Kf5 Ka7 55. Kxg5 e4+ 56. Kf4
$18) 54. Ke5 Re1+ 55. Kf6 Re3 56. Kxg5 Rxf3 57. Re4 $1 {The rest is
straightforward, even with just a minute left on my clock (there was a 10
second delay)} Kc7 58. Rxe6 Kd7 59. Rf6 Ra3 60. Kg6 Ke8 61. g5 Ra5 62. Kh6 Ke7
63. Rb6 Ra1 64. g6 Rh1+ 65. Kg7 Ra1 66. Kh7 Rh1+ 67. Kg8 Rc1 68. g7 Rc2 69. a7
Ra2 70. Kh7 Rh2+ 71. Rh6 1-0
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