Position after 93.Be7
I am not 100% certain that I have the correct scores. However, from the moves which I just received, Gata just missed a forced draw with 93…Rxe7. His move 93…Rb8+ leads to a mate in 11 according to the endgame tablebase.
GM Akopian (2696) – GM Kamsky (2720) [C07]
Nalchik Grand Prix (5), 19.04.2009
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4 Qd6 7.0–0 Nf6 8.Nb3 Nc6 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Be7 11.b3 0–0 12.Bb2 Qf4 13.Qe2 Rd8 14.Rad1 Bd7 15.Bd3 Bc5 16.Nf3 Bc6 17.Ne5 Be4 18.Rde1 Bf5 19.g3 Bxd3 20.Nxd3 Qf5 21.Nxc5 Qxc5 22.c4 Ne8 23.Rd1 Qc6 24.Rd3 Rxd3 25.Qxd3 f6 26.Rd1 Rc8 27.Qd7 Qxd7 28.Rxd7 Rc7 29.Rd8 Kf7 30.Ba3 e5 31.g4 g6 32.Kg2 h5 33.h3 a6 34.Bb4 b5 35.cxb5 axb5 36.Rb8 Rc2 37.Rb7+ Kg8 38.Rb8 Kf7 39.Rb7+ Kg8 40.gxh5 gxh5 41.a4 bxa4 42.bxa4 Ra2 43.a5 Ra4 44.Kf3 f5 45.Ke2 Nf6 46.Kd1 Nd5 47.Bd2 Ra2 48.Rb5 Nf4 49.Rxe5 Ra1+ 50.Kc2 Ra2+ 51.Kc3 Nxh3 52.Rxf5 Nxf2 53.Bc1 Re2 54.Rxh5 Kf7 55.Kb3 Nd3 56.Ba3 Ne5 57.Rh7+ Ke6 58.Re7+ Kd5 59.a6 Rg2 60.Ka4 Nc4 61.a7 Rg8 62.Rb7 Ra8 63.Rb5+ Kc6 64.Bc5 Kc7 65.Rb4 Rg8 66.Rxc4 Kb7 67.Ka5 Rc8 68.Rb4+ Ka8 69.Rb5 Re8 70.Bd4 Rc8 71.Rd5 Kb7 72.Bb6 Rg8 73.Kb5 Re8 74.a8Q+ Kxa8 75.Kc6 Re6+ 76.Kc7 Re7+ 77.Kd6 Rh7 78.Kc6 Rh6+ 79.Kc7 Rh7+ 80.Kc8 Rh8+ 81.Bd8 Rh7 82.Ra5+ Ra7 83.Rb5 Rb7 84.Rh5 Rf7 85.Ra5+ Ra7 86.Rb5 Rb7 87.Re5 Rh7 88.Re1 Rb7 89.Ra1+ Ra7 90.Rb1 Rb7 91.Re1 Rh7 92.Re2 Rb7 93.Be7 Rb8+ 94.Kc7 Rb7+ 95.Kc6 Ra7 96.Bd8 Rh7 97.Bc7 Rh6+ 98.Bd6 White wins 1–0
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Yes, I would question the validity of the moves. Hard to believe the forced draw could be missed here.
This combination of material is usually a theoretical draw, but it is difficult to defend.
I envy grandmaster endgame techniques.
These are the moves alright. Just a horrible blunder is all.
I still don’t understand from the final position why Kamsky lost.
‘This combination of material is usually a theoretical draw, but it is difficult to defend.’
For a master it is easy to defend, of course. Kamsky was no master of this endgame, just another blogger.
Multiple sources say that it is difficult to defend. For instance, John Nunn, in Secrets of Practical Chess, page 161 says “In general it should be a draw, but the defense recuires considerable accuracy and grandmasters have been known to lose it even in the days of adjournment.”
I was watching the live game online and the official website posted a draw. I thought it was a draw at the time. but now I can see that Re8, Bc5 and Ra8 wins
Benko devoted several Endgame Labs to R&B vs. R in 2008. But I was startled that Kamsky and his opponent missed the stalemate possibility too. Time pressure and/or fatigue? That’s one disadvantage of the new rule where there is only one time control and the rest of the game is incremental if you are lucky. Perhaps, no kidding, games could be played under tight security as “Jeopardy” is, allowing players to leave off for a refreshment break but sequestered so there is no chance of them analyzing, and fresh time controls put in for a second session.