[Event "85th Tata Steel Masters 2023"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2023.01.21"] [Round "7.7"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A17"] [WhiteElo "2696"] [BlackElo "2811"] [Annotator "Mueller,Karsten"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/5p2/1p2k1p1/2p1P2p/5P2/P1R3PK/1P5P/3r4 b - - 0 47"] [PlyCount "22"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[#]} 47... f6 {[#] Activity counts. Rook endings should usually be defended actively:} 48. Rb3 $2 {Now Black's activity gives him the draw.} (48. exf6 { wins, and Black must now defend passively, e.g.} Kxf6 49. Rb3 Rd6 50. Kh4 Kf5 51. h3 Re6 52. Rb5 Rd6 53. a4 Kf6 (53... Rc6 54. b4 Kf6 55. a5 bxa5 56. bxc5 Ra6 57. Rb6+ $18) 54. g4 Rc6 55. Kg3 Rd6 56. Kf3 hxg4+ 57. hxg4 Re6 (57... Ke7 58. Rb3 Kf6 59. Ke4 Rd4+ 60. Ke3 Rxa4 61. Rxb6+ Kg7 62. b3 Rd4 63. Rb5 $18) 58. b4 cxb4 59. g5+ Kf7 60. Rxb4 Kg7 61. Re4 Rc6 62. Ke3 Kf7 63. Rb4 Ke6 64. Ke4 Rd6 65. Rc4 Ke7 66. Rc7+ Ke6 (66... Kf8 67. Ke5 Rd1 68. Rb7 Rb1 69. Kf6 $18) 67. Rg7 $18) 48... fxe5 49. Rxb6+ Kf5 {[#]} 50. Rc6 (50. fxe5 {is met by} Rd2 51. a4 g5 $11) 50... Rc1 51. fxe5 Rc2 52. a4 g5 53. g4+ ({Of course not} 53. a5 $4 g4+ 54. Kh4 Rxh2#) 53... hxg4+ 54. Kg3 Rxb2 55. e6 Rb3+ 56. Kf2 Rb2+ 57. Ke3 Kf6 58. Rxc5 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters 2023"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2023.01.24"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D34"] [WhiteElo "2696"] [BlackElo "2713"] [Annotator "Mueller,Karsten"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/8/5R2/5kP1/5p1K/5P2/8/r7 b - - 0 79"] [PlyCount "20"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[#]} 79... Ke5 {[#] The right cut-off. One attacking weapon in rook endings is to cut off the defending king. But not all cut-offs are equally strong:} 80. Rb6 $2 {This cut-off is wrong as now Black's counterplay is always in time.} ({ The other cut-off} 80. Rf8 {wins, but matters are deep, e.g.} Rg1 (80... Rf1 81. Kg4 Rg1+ 82. Kh5 Rf1 83. Kg6 Rxf3 84. Re8+ $18) 81. Kh5 Rg3 82. Kg6 Rxf3 83. Re8+ Kd4 (83... Kd6 84. Re4 Rf1 85. Kf6 f3 86. g6 f2 87. Re2 $18) (83... Kd5 84. Kf5 Re3 (84... Rf1 85. Re4 f3 86. Rf4 Kd6 87. Kf6 Kd7 88. g6 $18) 85. Rd8+ $18) 84. Kf5 Rf1 85. Re4+ Kd5 86. g6 {[#] The point, as the pawn will queen with check.} ({Of course not} 86. Rxf4 $2 Rxf4+ 87. Kxf4 Ke6 $11) 86... f3 87. g7 Rg1 88. Rg4 Rxg4 89. Kxg4 f2 90. g8=Q+ $18) 80... Rh1+ 81. Kg4 Rg1+ 82. Kh5 Rg3 83. Rb3 Kf5 84. Rb5+ (84. Kh4 Kg6 $11) 84... Ke6 85. g6 Rxf3 ({ Very surprisingly, even} 85... Kf6 $6 {is playable due to} 86. Rb6+ Kg7 87. Rb7+ Kf6 88. Rf7+ Ke5 89. g7 Rxf3 90. g8=Q Rh3+ 91. Kg6 Rg3+ 92. Kh7 Rxg8 93. Kxg8 Ke4 $11) 86. g7 Rg3 87. Kh6 f3 88. Rb8 ({Of course not} 88. Rg5 $4 Rxg5 89. Kxg5 Kf7 90. Kh6 Kg8 $19) 88... Rh3+ 89. Kg6 (89. Kg6 Rg3+ 90. Kh7 Rh3+ 91. Kg8 Ke5 92. Kf7 Rg3 93. g8=Q Rxg8 94. Rxg8 f2 95. Rg5+ $11) 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters 2023"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2023.01.25"] [Round "10.7"] [White "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C96"] [WhiteElo "2681"] [BlackElo "2696"] [Annotator "Mueller,Karsten"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/8/p3k3/P4p2/6K1/8/R7/4r3 w - - 0 67"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[#]} 67. Kf3 {[#] Activate the rook. This is a main principle in rook endings. So, if possible, the activation should be prevented:} Re5 $2 {Now White can activate his rook.} ({Only} 67... Ke5 $1 68. Rb2 ({After} 68. Re2+ $6 Rxe2 69. Kxe2 Ke4 70. Kf2 Kf4 $19 {Black would even win without the a-pawns, so Bähr's rule is not needed.}) (68. Ra3 f4 69. Rc3 Rf1+ 70. Ke2 Ra1 71. Rc5+ Ke4 72. Rc4+ Kf5 73. Rc5+ Kg4 $19) 68... Ra1 69. Re2+ Kf6 70. Rb2 Rxa5 71. Kf4 Ra4+ 72. Kf3 a5 73. Rb5 Kg5 $19) 68. Ra4 $1 {The only move. In the following, Van Foreest defends excellently.} Rb5 69. Kf4 $1 Kd6 70. Ra1 Rc5 71. Rb1 $1 { The rook must be activated.} Rxa5 72. Rb6+ $1 Kc5 (72... Kc7 {is met by} 73. Rf6 Kb7 74. Rxf5 $11) 73. Rf6 $1 Kc4 74. Rc6+ Kb5 (74... Kd5 {is met by} 75. Rf6 Ra1 76. Rxf5+ Kd4 77. Kg3 $1 a5 78. Kg2 $11 {and White has a Vancura book draw.}) 75. Rf6 Ra4+ 76. Kf3 $1 {[#] The only move.} (76. Kxf5 $2 a5 77. Rf8 Rh4 78. Kg5 Rc4 $19 {loses as White's king is cut off along the fourth rank.}) 76... Ra3+ 77. Ke2 Ra2+ 78. Ke1 Ra1+ 79. Ke2 Ra2+ 80. Ke1 Rc2 81. Rxf5+ Kb4 82. Kd1 Rc4 83. Rf8 a5 84. Rb8+ Ka3 85. Rb5 a4 86. Kd2 Ka2 87. Rb8 Rh4 88. Kc2 Rh2+ 89. Kc1 a3 90. Rb7 Rb2 91. Rc7 Rb6 92. Rc2+ Ka1 93. Rc3 Ka2 94. Rc2+ Kb3 (94... Rb2 95. Rc3 $11) 95. Kb1 $1 {The only move.} Rd6 96. Rb2+ {[#] The beautiful point.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.25"] [Round "10.5"] [White "Tabatabaei, M. Amin"] [Black "Beerdsen, Thomas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D12"] [WhiteElo "2686"] [BlackElo "2515"] [Annotator "3700"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/p4pp1/3kp1p1/1p1p4/1P1P3P/4PPK1/1P4P1/8 w - - 0 28"] [PlyCount "21"] [EventDate "2023.01.14"] {[#]} 28. Kg4 f6 $2 (28... Ke7 29. Kg5 Kd7 30. g4 Ke7 31. h5 gxh5 32. gxh5 Kf8 33. h6 Kg8 34. hxg7 Kxg7 35. e4 f6+ 36. Kf4 dxe4 37. fxe4 Kf7 $11) 29. h5 gxh5+ (29... g5 30. h6 gxh6 31. Kh5 f5 32. Kxh6 f4 33. exf4 gxf4 34. Kg5 e5 35. Kf5 exd4 36. Kxf4 Ke6 37. Kg3 d3 38. Kf2 $18) (29... Ke7 30. hxg6 Kd6 31. f4 f5+ ( 31... Ke7 32. f5 Kd6 (32... e5 33. Kh5 Kd6 34. g4 Kd7 35. g5 Ke7 36. gxf6+ Kxf6 37. Kg4 $18) 33. fxe6 Kxe6 34. Kf4 Kd6 35. Kf5 Ke7 36. e4 dxe4 37. Kxe4 Ke6 38. d5+ Kd6 39. Kd4 f5 40. g3 $18) 32. Kg5 Ke7 33. g3 Kd6 34. g4 fxg4 35. Kxg4 Ke7 36. Kg5 Kd7 37. f5 exf5 38. Kxf5 Kd6 39. e4 dxe4 40. Kxe4 Ke6 41. d5+ Kf6 42. Kd4 Kxg6 43. Kc5 Kf7 44. Kc6 g5 45. d6 g4 46. d7 g3 47. d8=Q $18) 30. Kxh5 Ke7 (30... g5 31. Kg6 Ke7 32. g4 a6 33. b3 $18) 31. Kg6 Kf8 32. g4 Kg8 33. f4 a6 34. g5 fxg5 (34... f5 35. b3 Kf8 36. Kh7 Kf7 37. Kh8 Kg6 38. Kg8) 35. fxg5 Kf8 (35... Kh8 36. Kf7 Kh7 37. g6+ Kh8 38. Kxe6 $18) 36. Kh7 Kf7 37. g6+ Kf6 38. b3 1-0 [Event "Tata Steel Challengers"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.22"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Ivic, Velimir"] [Black "Pechac, Jergus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2585"] [BlackElo "2637"] [Annotator "3700"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2R5/5k2/1p6/2p2PBp/b6K/2p3PP/P3r3/8 w - - 0 36"] [PlyCount "13"] [EventDate "2023.01.14"] {[#]} 36. Rc7+ Kf8 $2 (36... Kg8 $1 37. Kxh5 Be8+ 38. Kh6 c2 39. Bf4 (39. Rg7+ Kf8 $1 (39... Kh8 40. Bf6 c1=Q+ 41. Rg5# {[%CAl Rf6h8,Rg5g8]}) 40. Rb7 Re1 41. Rxb6 c1=Q 42. Bxc1 Rxc1 43. g4 $11) 39... Re1 40. Rg7+ Kh8 (40... Kf8 41. Bd6+ Re7 42. Bxe7#) 41. g4 Rh1 42. Re7 Rxh3+ 43. Kg5 Bb5 44. Rb7 Rf3 45. Bc1 Rf1 46. Kf6 Bc4 $11) (36... Ke8 $2 37. Kxh5 c2 38. Kg6 Re5 39. g4 Bb5 40. Rb7 Bf1 41. Rxb6 $18) 37. Bh6+ Kg8 38. f6 Rf2 39. Rg7+ Kh8 (39... Kf8 40. Ra7+ Ke8 41. Rxa4 Rxf6 42. Bg5 $18) 40. f7 c2 41. Rg8+ Kh7 42. Bf4 $1 (42. Bf4 Rxf4+ (42... c1=Q 43. f8=Q $18) 43. gxf4 c1=Q 44. f8=Q Qe1+ 45. Rg3 $18) (42. f8=Q $4 Rxf8 43. Rxf8 Kxh6 44. Rf1 b5 $19) 1-0