[Event “Tal Memorial 2011”]
[Site “Moscow”]
[Date “2011.11.16”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
[Black “Nepomniachtchi, Ian”]
[Result “0-1”]
[PlyCount “104”]
1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. a3 d6 7. O-O Nge7 8. b4 e4 9. Ne1 f5 10. Bb2 O-O 11. d3 Be6 12. dxe4 fxe4 13. Bxe4 Bxc4 14. Nc2 d5 15. Bg2 d4 16. Ne4 Bxe2 17. Qxe2 d3 18. Qg4 Bxb2 19. Rad1 Qc8 20. Qxc8 Raxc8 21. Rxd3 cxb4 22. axb4 Rcd8 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Rb1 Bg7 25. h4 b5 26. Bf1 a6 27. Nc5 Rd2 28. Ne3 Bd4 29. Ne4 Rb2 30. Rxb2 Bxb2 31. Nc2 Nd5 32. Nc5 Ndxb4 33. Nxb4 Nxb4 34. Nd3 Nxd3 35. Bxd3 Kf7 36. f4 Ke6 37. Kf2 Kd5 38. Ke2 Kc5 39. Kd2 a5 40. f5 a4 41. Bc2 a3 42. Bb1 gxf5 43. Kc2 Kb4 44. Ba2 Be5 45. Be6 a2 46. Bxa2 Bxg3 47. h5 h6 48. Kd3 Ka3 49. Bd5 b4 50. Kc2 Be5 51. Bb3 f4 52. Bd5 b3+ 0-1
Nice endgame technique by Ian
The last move mystifies me. Ian has played very well and has a clear winning position at move 51, but surely 52…b3 just throws it away. What am I missing? After 53.Bxb3 wouldn’t it just be a draw? Is there a mistake in the record of the game?
I don’t see the win! It appears as though White can sitll maintain a draw
1. Bxb2 Kb3
2. Ba2 f3
3. Kd2 f2
4. Ke2 Bd4
5. Bb1 Kc4
6. Bg6 … =
The white king can dance around f1 and the white bishop can easily defend h5.
Please show me the winning line…
I can’t figure out why …b3+ doesn’t throw away the win. Bxb3 f3 Bd5 f2 Bg2, and the WK cannot be prevented from playing Kc2-d3-e2, then Bf3, Kf1, and the Bishop never gets zugzwanged along the diagonal, hence Black can never win the h-pawn. What am I missing?!?!?
Aha, now I know the answer. The game score in this post doesn’t have the last two moves: after Bd5, Black played Bf6, then after Kb1, b3. That’s a win. As the game score is currently shown, though, …b3+ is a ??? move.
The final position here is obviously a draw, but apparently there is a mistake here; the last moves were actually:
51. Bb3 f4 52. Bd5 Bf6 53. Kb1 b3 0-1
These moves are from ChessBomb (see earlier post in this blog.)