Keep it Together - Chess.com
Keep it Together
For the past few weeks we were busy exploring opposite-colored bishop endgames with other material present on the board. Today I will deviate from the topic by showing you my recent endgame experience from a tournament in Las Vegas. I cannot call my endgame technique a success story but it is improving. The endgame that we will look at today resulted from a losing middlegame position, so I was lucky enough to survive until the endgame.
Do not ask me how I got myself into this troublesome position – I played the opening pretty badly. The opening stage can be summed up as me being under serious attack with many pawn weaknesses. Given the pawn weaknesses on h5 and a4 and probably on c6 and b6 the endgame cannot be good for black. As bad as endgames can be, when one is under deadly attack the endgame becomes one of your few hopes.
Black does not have a clear plan in this position, maybe playing Kh8, Rg6 and doubling with the rooks on the g-file to attack the weakness on g2. White can slowly improve his position by bringing the other rook from a1 and bringing the king away from the g1 square, where it can come under check. Instead, white went for a direct assault, which put me in a worse endgame, which I was praying to get.
Rodriguez, Eric (2382) vs. Zenyuk, Iryna (2329)
21ST ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN OPEN | Las Vegas, Nevada | Round 7| 29 Dec 2011 | ECO: B23 | 1/2-1/2
19... Qd7 20. Nh4 ( 20. Rf2!? Kh8 21. Kh2 b5 22. Nh4 Rg5 ( 22... Qd4 23. Qxd4 cxd4 24. Nhxf5 ) 23. Ngxf5 Rag8 24. Raf1 ) 20... Qd4+! 21. Qxd4 cxd4 22. Ngxf5+ Kf8 23. Nxd4 ( 23. Kh2 c5 ) 23... Bxh3 24. Kh2 ( 24. Nxc6 Bd7 ( 24... Rc8 25. Nb4 ) 25. Nd4 Ke8 26. Rae1 Ng5 27. Ndf5 Ra5 ) 24... c5 ( 24... Bc8 25. Nxc6 Rg4 26. Nf3 Ng5 27. c3 ( 27. Nxg5 Rxg5 ) 27... Nxf3+ 28. gxf3 Rg6 29. Nd4 Ra5 ) 25. gxh3 cxd4 26. Nf5 Rd8 ( 26... Ra5?! 27. Rae1 Rg5 28. Rf4 Rb5 29. h4 Rg4 30. Rxg4 hxg4 31. Kg3 Rxb2 32. Nxd4 Ra2 ) 27. h4
With the last move h4 white not only cut the knight on h7 from the play but also threatens to take the d4 pawn after Rf4. Right away Rf4 does not work because of the Ng5-Nf3 threat. What should black do? During the game there were two plans that appealed to me. One plan was to attack white's weak pawns with the rooks, while the other plan was to develop the knight. Attacking the pawns can be achieved with Rg4 or Rd5, while knight activation can be either through e6 or through Ke8. Which would you prefer?
Rodriguez, Eric (2382) vs. Zenyuk, Iryna (2329)
21ST ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN OPEN | Las Vegas, Nevada | Round 7| 29 Dec 2011 | ECO: B23 | 1/2-1/2
27... Ke8!? ( 27... Rg4?! 28. Kh3 Rd5 29. Rae1 Rb5 ( 29... Rc5 30. e6 Nf6 31. exf7 e5 ) 30. e6!! Rxb2 ( 30... Nf6 31. exf7 e5 32. Nd6 ) 31. exf7 Rxc2 32. Rxe7 Nf6 33. Rb7 Rc6 34. Nh6 ) ( 27... Rd5!? 28. Nh6 Rg7 29. e6 Rc5 30. Rac1 Rc6 31. Nxf7 Ke8 32. Rfe1 Nf8 33. Ng5 Rg6 34. Nf3 ) ( 27... e6? 28. Nd6 f6! 29. Rf4 Ke7 30. Nc4 b5 31. exf6+ Nxf6 32. Ne5 Rc8 ) 28. Rf4 Nf8
We have arrived at a critical position for white. If white does not take the pawn on d4 then after Ne6, black‘s position would be better. There are two moves: N:d4 and R:d4 and only one of them leads to advantage. Trading rooks would be good for white because their king is not so well defended and there is a possibility for attack. On the other hand taking the pawn with the knight leads more or less forcedly into the four-rook endgame where the white rooks are active and can target the weak black pawns? Which one to choose?
Rodriguez, Eric (2382) vs. Zenyuk, Iryna (2329)
21ST ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN OPEN | Las Vegas, Nevada | Round 7| 29 Dec 2011 | ECO: B23 | 1/2-1/2
29. Rxd4 ( 29. Nxd4! Ng6 30. Rg1! ( 30. Re4 Nxe5 31. Kh3 Rd5 ) 30... Rh8 ( 30... Nxf4 31. Rxg8+ Kd7 32. Rxd8+ Kxd8 33. Kg3 ) 31. Re4 ( 31. Rxg6 fxg6 32. Ne6 Rc8 33. Ng7+ Kd7 34. Rd4+ Kc6 35. Ne6 ) 31... Nxe5 32. Rxe5 ( 32. Kh3! Ng4 33. Rf1 e6 34. Nc6 Ra8 ) 32... Rxd4 33. Kh3 Kd7 34. Rb5 Rd6 35. Rb4 Rc8 ) 29... Rxd4 30. Nxd4 Rg4 31. Nf5 Ng6 ( 31... Rf4 32. Ne3 ( 32. Ng7+?! Kd7 33. Rg1 ( 33. Nxh5 Rxh4+ ) 33... Rxh4+ 34. Kg3 Ng6 ) 32... Ng6 33. Kg3 Rxh4 34. Rf1 Rd4 35. Rf5 h4+ 36. Kh3 ) 32. Re1 ( 32. Rg1 Rxg1 33. Kxg1 Kd7 34. Ng7 Nxh4 35. Nxh5 Ke6 )
When you are defending the whole game it is hard to stop defending and realize that there is a chance for an advantage. Since the opening, black could not dream of more than a draw. With tenacious defense and the opponent’s help black equalized. Now, Re1 was not the best move and it is up to black to figure out where there are more chances: in the rook endgame or in the endgame where both rooks and knights are present. During the game I did not evaluate the resulting positions correctly and a draw was agreed four moves later.
Rodriguez, Eric (2382) vs. Zenyuk, Iryna (2329)
21ST ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN OPEN | Las Vegas, Nevada | Round 7| 29 Dec 2011 | ECO: B23 | 1/2-1/2
32... Nxh4 ( 32... Rf4! 33. Ne3 ( 33. Ng3? Rf2+ 34. Kg1 Rxc2 35. Re4 Rxb2 36. Rxa4 b5 37. Rd4 Rb3 ) 33... Rxh4+ 34. Kg3 Rd4 ( 34... b5 35. Rf1 Rd4 36. Rf5 h4+ 37. Kf3 e6 38. Rh5 b4 39. Nc4 b3 40. cxb3 Rxd3+ ) 35. e6! ( 35. Nc4 b5 36. Nd2 Kd7 ) 35... fxe6 36. Nc4 b5 37. Ne5 Nxe5 38. Rxe5 b4 39. Rxh5 b3 40. cxb3 Rxd3+ 41. Kf4 Rxb3 42. Ra5 Rxb2 ) 33. Nxh4 Rxh4+ 34. Kg3 Rg4+ 35. Kf3 Kd7 36. Rh1
The opponent offered me a draw although we could have played the position out. This was the last round of the tournament and tiredness set in. The position is objectively equal. Even if one or the other side loses a pawn somewhere the game would probably remain equal as it is hard to realize an extra pawn in rook endgames. The game can fall under the category of defending, defending, and again defending. I observed an interesting idea that I will share with you in the next article. If the position is bad (as the initial position is here) and you want to give up the fight because every resulting position looks so bad, tell yourself: “I will make one move that does not lose immediately”. It is an excellent start and you would be surprised at the results this idea produces.
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