Muller: Endgames 5

Muller: Endgames 4

[Event "65th ch-RUS HL w 2015"] [Site "Kaliningrad RUS"] [Date "2015.06.28"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Savina, A."] [Black "Guseva, Marina"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2422"] [BlackElo "2410"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6k1/8/1p3n1P/5P2/P4K1N/6p1/8/8 w - - 0 73"] [PlyCount "38"] [EventDate "2015.06.22"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "RUS"] 73. Kg5 $2 {[%csl Rg5]} ({Possibly afraid of giving up one of her last pawns, White foregoes on exchanging with} 73. Kxg3 Kh7 74. Kf4 Kxh6 {However, here the win was fairly straightforward with} 75. Ke5 $1 Kg7 76. Ke6 Ne4 77. Ng6 Nc5+ 78. Ke7 Nb3 79. f6+ $18 {and the pawn will queen. Still, so late in the game, and with such pressure, lack of time did them no favors.}) 73... Kf7 74. Ng2 Nd5 75. Kg4 Nc3 $2 {[%csl Rc3]} (75... Kg8 76. Kxg3 (76. Kg5 Kf7 77. h7 Kg7 78. f6+ Kxh7 $11) 76... Kh7 {The key difference between here and the previous line, is that the white king is not quite ready yet to support the f-pawn's advance, and thus Black is able to defend thanks to his soon to be freed b-pawn.} 77. Nf4 Nc3 78. f6 Kxh6 79. Kg4 Nxa4 80. Kf5 Nc5 $11) 76. Kxg3 Nxa4 77. Kg4 {A gutsy move, since it does not bring the king to the 'promotion square' of the b-pawn, nor does it bring the knight to help stop it. This still wins for White, but the question is how much White saw when playing this. } (77. Nf4 {was the easier win, using the knight to cut off the king from the h-pawn.} Nc5 78. Ne6 $1 {and not only is Nxe6 losing, but White threatens h7 with the knight cutting off the king from g7.} Ne4+ {The only move.} 79. Kf4 Nf6 80. Ng5+ Kg8 81. Ne4 $1 {The only winning move.} (81. Ke5 $2 {obviously fails to} Ng4+ 82. Ke6 Nxh6 $11) 81... Nd7 ({The pawn endgame holds no respite. } 81... Nxe4 82. Kxe4 Kh7 83. f6 Kxh6 84. Kf5 b5 (84... Kh7 85. Ke6 Kg8 86. Ke7 ) 85. Ke6) 82. Nd6 {Black's dream is to exchange her b-pawn for White's and then give up the knight for the last one, but this dream cannot be realized.} Kh7 83. Kg5 Nf8 84. f6 Ne6+ {and here we see once again, how precise one must be.} 85. Kh5 $1 {is the only winning move.} (85. Kf5 Nd4+ 86. Ke4 Ne6 87. Nf5 Ng5+ 88. Ke5 b5 $11) 85... Nf4+ 86. Kg4 Ne6 87. f7 Kg6 88. h7 Kxh7 89. Kf5 Nf8 90. Kf6 b5 91. Nxb5 {and his endgame is won for White.} Ng6 92. Nc7 Nf8 93. Ne6 Ng6 94. Nf4 Nf8 95. Ke7 Kg7 96. Nh5+ Kg6 97. Kxf8 {etc.}) (77. Kf4 {on the other hand would throw away the win.} Nc5 78. Nh4 b5 {and Black defends.}) 77... Nc5 78. Kf4 $2 {[%csl Rf4] White misses her chance to win the endgame once more.} (78. Nf4 $1 {[%csl Gf4]} Ne4 (78... b5 79. h7 Kg7 80. Ne6+ Nxe6 81. fxe6 Kxh7 82. e7 $18) 79. Ne6 Nf6+ 80. Kg5 Nh7+ 81. Kf4 Kf6 82. Nc7 Kf7 83. Nb5 Kf6 84. Nd6 Nf8 85. Ne4+ Kf7 86. Ng5+ Kf6 87. h7 Kg7 88. Ne6+ $18) 78... Nd7 { The cavalry arrives just in time, and is able to hold the fort.} 79. Ne3 b5 80. Nd5 Kg8 81. Kg5 Kh7 82. Kh5 b4 83. Nxb4 Nf6+ 84. Kg5 Ne4+ 85. Kf4 Nd6 86. f6 Kxh6 87. Ke5 Kg6 88. Nc6 Ne8 89. Ne7+ Kf7 90. Nd5 Nxf6 91. Nxf6 Ke7 1/2-1/2