How can you lose a won game in one move in the endgame?
More than 3 hours of play. You are almost at the finish line. But the opponent is still playing and trying to save the game in every way possible. And then... You make a mistake in the ending...
I bet we've all been there.
That's why all chess coaches tell us to study endgames. But it's much more interesting to try to discover tactical combinations than to learn "boring" endings where there aren't that many combinations.
Today I'll share with you one of my recent games, which is a great case study on "how to lose a winning endgame".
I "managed" to lose quality in the transition from the opening to the middle game. Later I improved the material disadvantage a bit, but we still ended up in an endgame that I should have lost if Black had played correctly.
41. Kd4 Bc8 42. Kc4 Ba6+ 43. Kd4 Kb5 44. Kc3 Bb7 45. g3 g5 46. f4
My only chance was that the a5 and b4 pawns would occupy Black's king, and my king would "think of something" on the kingside.
It would seem that Black can play almost anything and still win. But with the move 46.... h6? ...he lets the win slip away. Just play, for example, 46.... Bg2 47.h4 gxh4 48.gxh4 f6 (black now blocks white's king from going quickly to the kingside) 49.Kb3 (Now White's king is able only to guard the b4 pawn) Bh3 50.Kc3 Be6 (this maneuver is crucial - Black has to cut off White’s king from protection of his pawns) 51.Kd4 (As you have already known, White's king sooner or later have to move to the square where he can no longer guard the b4 pawn) Kxb4 and Black wins.
The game continued as follows
47. fxg5 hxg5 48. h4 gxh4 49. gxh4 Bf3 50. Kd4 Bh5 51. Ke5 Ka6 52. Kf6 Kb5 53. Kg5 Bg6 54. h5 Bd3 55. Kf6 Kxb4 56. a6 Bxa6 57. Kxf7 Bd3 1/2-1/2
Here Black doesn't win anymore, so it's a draw.
Uf. I was lucky this time.
The game shows how important is to be focused until the complete end of the game. And to learn endgames.
My Chess Week
This week I didn't catch up much with chess. My vacation is coming up so I have to prepare everything at work and there is a lot of it.
Still, I played at least two games in rapid chess and what was important - I analyzed them. Which I didn't do that much before and that was bad for my learning.
I signed up for the spring tournament, which starts in two weeks. I'll be playing one classic game a week and I'm looking forward to it.
And we've started a team match on chess.com against the Buenos Aires team. I am playing two games against a stronger opponent. I'll try to play them solidly and learn as much as I can from them.
Tactical puzzle of the week
White to move and win. It is incredible in this “normal” position, right?
That’s all for this week! Have a great Easter!
And… Please, make me happy by telling your chess friends about The Queen's Pawn Newsletter :-)