[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2022.04.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Mitchell, Martin"] [Black "Lovell, William"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D26"] [WhiteElo "2258"] [BlackElo "1896"] [Annotator "peter"] [PlyCount "132"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 a6 6. O-O b5 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. a4 b4 9. Nbd2 Nbd7 10. e4 c5 11. e5 Nd5 12. Ne4 cxd4 13. Bg5 Qb8 14. Re1 Nc5 15. Nxd4 Nxd3 16. Qxd3 h6 17. Bd2 Be7 18. Qg3 Kf8 19. Rac1 Kg8 20. Nd6 Bxd6 21. exd6 Kh7 22. Nc6 Bxc6 23. Rxc6 Rc8 24. Rec1 Qb7 25. Qd3+ Kg8 26. Qc4 Rxc6 27. Qxc6 Qxc6 28. Rxc6 Kf8 29. d7 Rd8 30. Rxa6 Rxd7 {[#]} {Having survived a very dodgy middlegame, William reached this endgame where he is only slightly worse} 31. a5 $2 {White is hoping his pawn is fast enough to cause chaos but this is a misjudgment} (31. Ra8+ {With this and his next move Whtie can apparently win a pawn but his own back rank is a problem as...} Ke7 32. Rb8 (32. Kf1 $14) 32... Nc3 $1 {leaves White needing to find an accurate move to avoid being worse or even lost} 33. Be1 $11 (33. Kf1 $17) (33. bxc3 $2 bxc3 $19)) (31. Kf1 $14 {was probably best, avoiding the back rank tricks and starting to centrlaise the king}) 31... Rc7 32. b3 Rc2 33. Be1 Rb2 34. Rb6 Rxb3 35. Rb8+ Ke7 36. a6 Ra3 37. Rb7+ Kf6 38. a7 b3 39. f3 b2 40. Rxb2 Rxa7 {By a logical sequence of moves we have arrived at a position where Black is a pawn up but all the pawns are on one wing. This is presumably drawn with perfect play but Black has practical chances.} 41. Kf2 (41. h4 {grabbing some space looks sensible and this move is known to be helpful in defending R+3 vs R+4}) 41... Ke5 42. Re2+ Kf6 43. Rb2 g5 {Instead Black grabs space and tries to constrict White, an exellent way to make progress. Master endgame grinder Keith Arkell's book on endgames is full of examples where space grabbing is his first step in trying to put pressure on his opponent.} 44. Bd2 h5 45. Rc2 Ra4 46. Bc1 Kf5 ( 46... g4 {immediately was another reasonable option}) 47. h3 {This has the big advantage of making playing g4 less attractive to Black (as it will be met with hxg4) but creates another problem, a weakness on g3. Overall, it was probably a good decision to play it but White needed to be more mindful of the downside a few moves later.} (47. Bd2 g4 {constitutes progress for Black as he will either be able to split White's pawns or end up with a passed e-pawn}) 47... h4 48. Bd2 Nf4 {And now we reach the second turning point in the endgame} 49. Bxf4 $2 {Rook and three vs rook and four on the same side of the board is very often drawn. However, this position is lost because of the weakness of g3, as seen in the game and the variations starting 53.fxe4. If the pawn had been on h2 instead of h3 White would be able to hold. White had a number of options for sitting tight and most likely should be able to hold the endgame with precise play.} (49. Be3) (49. Kf1) (49. Rc5+ e5 50. Ra5 Rc4 51. Ra2) 49... Kxf4 $19 50. Re2 e5 {Black sets about creating a passed e-pawn} 51. Rb2 f5 52. Rc2 e4 53. Rb2 (53. fxe4 {also loses e.g.} fxe4 54. Rc3 (54. Rb2 Ra3 55. Rc2 e3+ 56. Ke2 (56. Kf1 Kg3) 56... Kg3 57. Kf1 e2+ $19) 54... Ra2+ (54... Rd4 55. Ke2 Rd3 56. Rc4 Ra3 57. Rc2 Kg3 $19) 55. Kf1 Rd2 56. Rc5 (56. Ra3 Rd3 57. Ra2 Rb3 58. Kf2 (58. Rc2 Kg3) (58. Ra5 Ke3 59. Kg1 (59. Ra1 Rb2) 59... Rb1+ 60. Kh2 Kf2 61. Rxg5 e3 $19) 58... e3+)) 53... e3+ 54. Ke2 Rd4 55. Rb5 (55. Ra2 Rd2+ 56. Rxd2 exd2 57. Kxd2 Kg3) 55... Rd2+ 56. Kf1 Rf2+ 57. Kg1 Kg3 58. Rxf5 Rxg2+ 59. Kf1 Kxh3 60. Re5 Rf2+ 61. Ke1 Rxf3 62. Rxg5 Rg3 63. Rh5 Kg4 64. Rh8 Kf3 65. Rf8+ Kg2 66. Ke2 h3 {Very nicely played!} 0-1