![]() Position after move 24. |
The critical move here was white a4! that negated black positional advantage and forced a
tactical error, allowing bf5. PGN: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 e6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 Bd7 6.O-O Nc6 7.Qc3 Nf6 8.Nbd2 Rac8 9.e5 dxe5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Qxe5 Bc6 12.Bd3 Bd6 13.Qg5 O-O 14.Nc4 Be7 15.Qf4 Qd5 16.Ne3 Qh5 17.f3 Rfd8 18.g4 Qh3 19.Qg3 Qxg3+ 20.hxg3 Bc5 21.Kh2 Rd7 22.a4! e5 23.Bf5! e4 24.fxe4 [0-1] >>> The threat is now - e5, combined with the pin on the rooks. This puts black in a zugwang. If black continues bxn, bxb, then he is forced into nxe4 (to prevent e5) and white can continue either r-f4, or c4, and black will loose the exchange and be facing a lost end game. The position has interesting balance - the key is finding the right move sequences. If white plays b x r immediately then he looses, because blacks rook will give check on c2. |