An Endgame Exercise from Nakamura-NN
A day or two ago, I watched the last few minutes of an online simul given by Hikaru Nakamura. Of the remaining games, one in particular seemed a sure draw, especially given the player's reasonable "standard" rating of 2047. Here's the starting position of their rook and pawn vs. rook ending:
And here are the remaining moves:
41. Ke3 Rh7 42. f4 Rd7 43. Re4 Kd8 44. Kf3 Re7 45. Ra4 Ke8 46. Kg4 Kf7 47. Kf5 Rb7 48. Ra5 Rc7 49. Kg5 Rb7 50. Rf5+ Kg7 51. Ra5 Kf7 52. Ra6 Rc7 53. f5 Kg7 54. Rg6+ Kh7 55. Rh6+ Kg7 56. f6+ Kg8 57. Kg6 Rb7 58. Rh1 Rb6 59. Ra1 Rb8 60. Ra7 {Black resigns} 1-0
(You can replay the entire game here.)
It's a good ending to analyze: Black did some things right, then made some dubious but not yet fatal decisions, and only then lost the game. And it's worth considering the possibility that White did something wrong, too. Can you figure out what's what without, of course, using external assistance? Answers will be provided in a day or two.
And here are the remaining moves:
41. Ke3 Rh7 42. f4 Rd7 43. Re4 Kd8 44. Kf3 Re7 45. Ra4 Ke8 46. Kg4 Kf7 47. Kf5 Rb7 48. Ra5 Rc7 49. Kg5 Rb7 50. Rf5+ Kg7 51. Ra5 Kf7 52. Ra6 Rc7 53. f5 Kg7 54. Rg6+ Kh7 55. Rh6+ Kg7 56. f6+ Kg8 57. Kg6 Rb7 58. Rh1 Rb6 59. Ra1 Rb8 60. Ra7 {Black resigns} 1-0
(You can replay the entire game here.)
It's a good ending to analyze: Black did some things right, then made some dubious but not yet fatal decisions, and only then lost the game. And it's worth considering the possibility that White did something wrong, too. Can you figure out what's what without, of course, using external assistance? Answers will be provided in a day or two.
Related Posts (on one page):
- Follow-up Puzzle to "An Endgame Exercise from Nakamura-NN"
- An Endgame Exercise from Nakamura-NN: Solution Time
- An Endgame Exercise from Nakamura-NN
Posted by Dennis Monokroussos on
Tuesday July 18, 2006 at 9:26pm
the knight pawn is much easier to defend against because
even
White Kh6, Pg6, Ra7
Black Kg8, Rb8
is a draw
[Event "World op 29th"]
[Site "Philadelphia"]
[Date "2001.06.30"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Nakamura,Hikaru"]
[Black "Wall,Brian D"]
[Result "1/2"]
[Eco "B06"]
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d5 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Bb5+ Nbd7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 Nb6 8.Be2 Bg4
9.h3 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Nbxd5 11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.Qe2 c6 13.c4 Nc7 14.Be3 Bxd4 15.Bxd4 Qxd4 16.Qxe7 Rac8
17.b3 Rfe8 18.Qb4 Qb6 19.Qc3 Ne6 20.Rad1 c5 21.Kh1 Nd4 22.Bd5 a5 23.Rfe1 Qc7 24.Qg3 Qxg3
25.fxg3 b6 26.Rf1 Rc7 27.Rf6 Re2 28.g4 Kg7 29.Rxb6 Rxa2 30.Rf1 f5 31.g5 Re2 32.Rb8 h6
33.h4 hxg5 34.hxg5 Ne6 35.Re8 Kf7 36.Rxe6 Rxe6 37.Re1 Rcc6 38.Re5 Ke7 39.Bxe6 Rxe6 40.Rxc5 Re3
41.Rb5 Rc3 42.Kh2 a4 43.bxa4 Rxc4 44.Rb7+ Ke6 45.a5 f4 46.Rb5 Rc3 47.Kg1 Rc2 48.Rb4 Ra2
49.Rxf4 Rxa5 50.Rf6+ Ke7 51.Rxg6 Kf7 52.Rc6 Rxg5 53.Kf2 Kg7 54.Kf3 Ra5 55.Kg4 Rb5 56.Kh4 Ra5
57.Re6 Kf7 58.Rh6 Kg7 59.Rh5 Ra6 60.g3 Rb6 61.Rd5 Ra6 62.Rd7+ Kg8 63.Kh5 Rb6 64.Kg5 Ra6
65.Kf5 Rb6 66.Re7 Ra6 67.Re6 Ra7 68.g4 Kf7 69.Re5 Ra6 70.Kg5 Kg7 71.Rf5 Rb6 72.Rd5 Ra6
73.Rd7+ Kg8 74.Kf5 Rb6 75.g5 Ra6 76.Re7 Rb6 77.Kg4 Ra6 78.Kh5 Rb6 79.Kh4 Ra6 80.Kg3 Ra4
81.Kf3 Rb4 82.Kg3 Ra4 83.Kh3 Rb4 84.Rd7 Ra4 85.Kg3 Rb4 86.Kf3 Ra4 87.Re7 Rb4 88.Re4 Rxe4
89.Kxe4 Kg7 90.Kf5 Kf7 91.g6+ Kg7 92.Kg5 Kg8 93.Kh6 Kh8 94.g7+ Kg8 95.Kg6 1/2
Brian Wall
Denver, Colorado
Life Master