BRITISH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS - THE GAMES

[Maxim Devereaux]

Still not so happy with Gawain... my gut instinct say no to pawn endgames, so he must cede the d-file soon. A plain Q ending ought to be okay for him, but he needs to find the right spot for his queen now after 28.Qe2, I'd suggest.

EDIT: He's played ...e5 now. I wanted to play this too, but thought it could be a problem after 29. Rd1 Qf5+ 30. Qe4 Qxe4+ 31. fe, as Black might still not be able to go for a pawn ending, so would lose the d-file and have a passive rook. We'll see what his plan is... maybe one or both of these pawn endings (i.e. with the White pawn on either f3 or e4) are okay after all.

I'm liking David's ...d5 better and better now. He must just be doing well in this position, I suspect. It's certainly very hard for me to see what most of White's pieces are doing.

Sure enough, Jovanka played ...Nd6. Bxd6 Bxd6 Rac1 Nb8! seems logical to prevent any invasion on c6, and Black must still be fine.

EDIT: Now he's played Rd1, if the pawn ending with the White pawn on e4 is okay for Black, but on f3 isn't, he can also reply to Qf5+ now with say Kc3, and then Black may exchange rooks, but can't swap pawns with ...e4 afterwards because of Qd8+ and Qd4+ winning e4.

[Paul Cooksey]

I'm liking David's ...d5 better and better now. He must just be doing well in this position, I suspect. It's certainly very hard for me to see what most of White's pieces are doing..

20 Nb1 looks like a ! to me. White has found a way to reorganise, I think.

[John Moore]

Both king and pawn endings look dodgy for Black. Wonder why Gawain played the helpful Rd5 giving Mickey c4 for free.

[Maxim Devereaux]

I'm liking David's ...d5 better and better now. He must just be doing well in this position, I suspect. It's certainly very hard for me to see what most of White's pieces are doing..

20 Nb1 looks like a ! to me. White has found a way to reorganise, I think.

Well, it looked necessary, I agree, since almost none of White's other pieces could move, but I still like Black.

EDIT: Hmm... pawn ending it is :-/

...c5 32. a3 a5 33. b4! cb 34. ab ab (a4 doesn't work, to get past a and e pawns, since White is home after b5) 35. Kc2 f5 36. Kb3 Kf7 37. Kxb4 Ke6 38. c5 Kd5 39. Kb5 e4. Both players queen, and then Black loses his queen to Qd8+ and Qe8+. Going earlier with the pawns on move 36 doesn't look like it works either. Maybe on move 38 you can go e4 instead. 38. ...e4 39. fe fe 40. Kc4 e3 41. Kd3 Kd5 42. Kxe3 Kxc5 43. Kf4 h6 44. Ke5 wins too, I guess.

[John Moore]

Well we have a K and P ending - and a tough one to judge although White looks a little better with his q side majority. That is of course avoiding the issue since you can calculate these a long way.

[Paul Cooksey]

Well, it looked necessary, I agree, since almost none of White's other pieces could move, but I still like Black.

I'm recalling Shorts joke, when asked why GMs avoid hanging pawns more than isolated ones; if you lose an isolated pawn you have no weaknesses, but if you lose one of your hanging pawns things are really bad

[John Moore]

Is it really right to play c5 and a5 in this position. Where's my pocket book of endgames.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Well we have a K and P ending - and a tough one to judge although White looks a little better with his q side majority. That is of course avoiding the issue since you can calculate these a long way.

Isn't White just winning that pawn endgame? An immediate b4 might finish it.

[Paul Cooksey]

Well we have a K and P ending - and a tough one to judge although White looks a little better with his q side majority. That is of course avoiding the issue since you can calculate these a long way.

But definitely a two result position for Adams

[Paul McKeown]

I'm useless at pawn endgames, but that one looks drawn to me. White's passed pawn will be a c-pawn (that is why a5 and c5), which is easily stopped by Black.

[Maxim Devereaux]

Improvement over my line perhaps. 35. c5! now, since Black must go via f8. This may be why he's thinking over it...

[Paul McKeown]

Mind you, I'm useless at pawn endgames, hate them, bound to be wrong.

[John Moore]

Yes Max c5 is neat

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I'm useless at pawn endgames, but that one looks drawn to me. White's passed pawn will be a c-pawn (that is why a5 and c5), which is easily stopped by Black.

I wonder if any draws have been offered or rejected? At what point do GMs offer and accept draws in pawn endgames?

[Paul McKeown]

Furthermore the g-pawn is on g3 not g2, therefore in most single pawn endgames, Black can afford to lose his g-pawn.