"Thanks to the time spent on studying Sasikiran vs Aronian game, the present endgame felt relatively straightforward to hold." This is what Surya Shekhar Ganguly had to say after he drew his penultimate round against Vallejo Pons at the Bangkok Open 2016. In this article we present our readers with both the endgames. Going over it meticulously will teach you stuff which even 2700+ grandmasters would not know. These analyses are taken from Chess Informant 128 and we thank Surya and our friends from Serbia for this wealth of knowledge.
Ask a strong player of the 70s and 80s as to how he was working on chess back then and his reply would always be, "Chess information in those days was very slow moving. There was only one source of knowledge and that was the Informant!"
Chess Informant was established in 1966 with an aim to arm the world with the knowledge possessed by Soviet chess players. Top games would be published in it along with the analysis by strong grandmasters. In a world where there were no computers, databases and coaches, you can imagine what an important source of knowledge this was!
However, soon the digital revolution started. Information was much easily available. No longer did you have to wait for the Informant to get the latest games. This could be easily done online. One of the drawbacks of Informant's analysis was that there were no written comments to the games, only variations. With the emergence of computer engines this became quite possible to do in the comforts of your house. In a way the importance of Chess Informant started to gradually reduce.
Since 2012, the Serbian publishing house has made some huge changes in the format of publication of the Chess Informant. Mainly thanks to the efforts of its dynamic CEO Josip Asik, the quarterly periodical is no longer dull and dry as it used to be. There are word based analysis by high class players and there is a lot that one can learn by going over the material.
Josip Asik along with Hikaru Nakamura after winning the Pro-Biz Cup at the London Chess Classic 2015. Josip, the CEO of Chess Informant, is a strong chess player with a FIDE Master title.
At the recently concluded Dutch Open 2016, which was won by Sandipan Chanda, I was able to finish one of my games under two hours. With Amruta still battling out against her opponent, I was left with some time to kill. I went to the book stall and surveyed the various books with their glossy brand new covers lying there! There were books by Gambit, Quality Chess, New in Chess, Thinker's Publication, Everyman Chess etc. My attention was drawn towards the latest issue of the Chess Informant - 128.
How I won the Bangkok Open by Surya Ganguly was the article that made me dive into the Informant!
Surya scored 7.5/9 to win the title ahead of many strong players like Vallejo Pons, Loek van Wely, Nigel Short etc.
Ganguly's tournament victory was confirmed thanks to his final round win over Loek van Wely. However, this would never have been possible had he not saved the difficult rook endgame that he found himself against Vallejo Pons in the penultimate round. Surya was a pawn down in the rook endgame and was facing an uphill task to draw the game. However, he had analyzed a similar endgame between Sasikiran and Levon Aronian way back in 2010 and that was the reason why he could easily hold this. Let's hand over the mic to Surya now.
Vallejo Pons vs Ganguly, Bangkok Open, round 8
Black to play. What would you do? (White pawn is on g3)
The correct move is 60...Kd5! This is how Ganguly explains, "One easy way to remember this endgame is that the king is almost always ideally placed on d6 and d5, ensuring that White will not have enough time to protect the pawn with his rook (rook on e4/e3 and pawn on g4/g3) which would enable him to advance with his king - since Black’s active king will attack the rook which won’t be able to cut off the black king and protect the g-pawn at the same time."
This knowledge is precious and will take you hours to understand by working with engines. Surya makes it clear that one must keep his king active on d6 or d5 in order to draw such endgames. Here's the endgame along with annotations by Ganguly:
[Event "Bangkok"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"] [Black "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B47"] [WhiteElo "2691"] [BlackElo "2647"] [Annotator "Ganguly,Surya Shekhar"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "7r/8/3k4/6p1/4R1K1/6P1/8/8 w - - 0 54"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [SourceTitle "128 Bangkok by Ganguly"] [Source "Chess Informant"] [SourceDate "2016.06.17"] [WhiteClock "0:02:13"] [BlackClock "0:09:33"] 54. Kxg5 {Diagram [#] I knew about the game Sasikiran 2653 - Aronian 2781, Bursa (World Team Championship) 2010, when Sasi won on top board and I was playing on board 3. We had a very close look at this endgame then. Thanks to the time spent on studying that game, the present endgame felt relatively straightforward to hold.} Rg8+ {Diagram [#] The difference with Sasi - Aronian is that here White’s rook is placed on e4 instead of e3 which makes my move (Rg8) possible and not losing as in Sasi - Aronian.} ({Just as an example of how tricky these endgame can be, apart from the move that I played in the game and} 54... Kd5 {which has a similar idea, everything else loses!}) 55. Kh4 Rh8+ 56. Kg4 Rg8+ 57. Kh4 Rh8+ 58. Kg4 Rg8+ 59. Kh3 Rh8+ 60. Kg2 {Diagram [#]} Kd5 { One easy way to remember this endgame is that the king is almost always ideally placed on d6 and d5, ensuring that White will not have enough time to protect the pawn with his rook (rook on e4/e3 and pawn on g4/g3) which would enable him to advance with his king - since Black’s active king will attack the rook which won’t be able to cut off the black king and protect the g-pawn at the same time.} (60... Kd7 {is also good enough in this particular position. However, I knew my defensive method and wanted to stick to it.} 61. Kf3 Rf8+ 62. Rf4) 61. Re7 Rg8 {Black maintains his ideally placed position. At this stage a number of moves hold.} 62. Re1 Kd4 63. Re6 Kd5 64. Re2 Kd4 (64... Kd6 65. Re3 Kd5 $11) 65. Re7 Kd5 66. Kf3 Rf8+ 67. Ke2 Rg8 68. Re3 Kd4 69. Kf2 Rf8+ {This expedites the outcome but in the process Black has to make a few only moves which I was confident of playing.} (69... Kd5 {was easiest if one doesn’t want to calculate forced lines.} 70. Kf3 Rf8+ $11) 70. Rf3 Rg8 71. Rf5 Ke4 {The first only move.} 72. Rh5 Rf8+ $1 {The second.} 73. Kg2 Rf5 $1 { And finally the last one!} 74. Rh8 Rf7 75. Rh5 Rf5 76. Rh8 Rf7 77. Rh1 Kf5 78. Rf1+ Kg6 79. Rxf7 Kxf7 80. Kh3 Kg7 81. Kh4 Kh6 82. Kg4 {A very fighting and creative game from both sides.} 1/2-1/2
After you have gone through Ganguly's game against Vallejo Pons, it is now time for some hard core training with the game Sasikiran Krishnan versus Levon Aronian from the World Teams 2010.
Sasikiran in the Indian jersey at the World Teams 2010
Before you can study Ganguly's in-depth annotations, it would make good sense to find answers to the positions given below. These are in some ways memory markers and will help you when you land in such similar positions in the future.
Sasikiran vs Aronian, World Teams 2010
Aronian finds himself in a difficult scenario. How should Black hold the game?
52...Kd6!! "As I mentioned in my game against Vallejo, a basic rule is that generally a king is well placed on d6-d5 and Black should normally not allow White to transfer his rook in front of the pawn, as then he might lose the game."
In this position Aronian gave the check 53...Rg8+ which turned out be a mistake. Armed with Ganguly's explanations, what would you play here?
"53...Kd5!! is absolutely the only way. It is very important to activate the king first in order to have ‘Kd4’ options as and when required, but Black should play Kd4 only when White can’t transfer his rook to g-file. Otherwise d6 and d5 are nice squares."
White is trying to be tricky with the move Re1. The ball is in Black's court. What would you play?
"57...Kd6!! The best squares for the king are d6 and d5. It is important to remember this :) 57...Kd4 loses to 58.Re6! When the Black king is cut off."
White's waiting strategy with Re1 and Re2 has bore fruit. Black has carelessly moved his king to d7. How should White win?
"59.Re4!! The rook comes to aid of the g4 pawn and now the white king is ready to run down the board. It is very important that black can now disturb the rook on e4 with his king but unfortunately he sitting far away on d7."
This one is really tricky. How should White win the game?
"The correct move is 57.Ra3!! White is threatening to transfer his rook to the g-file by giving side checks! These lines are very deep with many variations. I don’t want to make it a big theoretical endgame lesson, therefore here I am just giving the main line so as to show how difficult these endgames can be."
Now that you have a good solid idea about the most critical positions, it would be a good idea to go over Ganguly's analysis in the Informant given below and consolidate all the knowledge.
[Event "Bursa"] [Site "?"] [Date "2010.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D15"] [WhiteElo "2653"] [BlackElo "2781"] [Annotator "Ganguly,Surya Shekhar"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "7r/3k4/8/8/8/4R1P1/6K1/8 w - - 0 51"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [SourceTitle "128 Bangkok by Ganguly"] [Source "Chess Informant"] [SourceDate "2016.06.17"] {As mentioned above, having knowledge of the following Sasi - Aronian game helped me a great deal to defend the endgame against Vallejo. Let’s have a look at the final phase of this encounter. Prior to this game I had a very basic knowledge of such endings and witnessing live how a top class player like Levon can lose from a theoretically drawn position made a huge impact on me and probably also the whole team.} 51. Kf3 Rf8+ 52. Kg4 {The first important position. Black must find the following only move.} Kd6 $3 {As I mentioned in my game against Vallejo, a basic rule is that generally a king is well placed on d6-d5 and Black should normally not allow White to transfer his rook in front of the pawn, as then he might lose the game.} (52... Rg8+ $2 { Diagram [#] A casual check like this and the game is over!} 53. Kf5 {, threatening g4, then} Rf8+ (53... Kd6 {allows White to shift the rook to the g-file:} 54. Re6+ Kd5 55. Rg6 $18) 54. Kg6 Rg8+ (54... Kd6 {is the best try but Black is already lost. See the note to Black’s 54th move in the main game.}) 55. Kf7 Rg4 56. Kf6 $1 $18 {and Black can’t stop White from getting the g-file.}) 53. Kg5 Rg8+ $4 {Levon steps onto the mine. Black once again had to make the only move to hold the game.} (53... Kd5 $3 {Diagram [#] is absolutely the only way. It is very important to activate the king first in order to have ‘Kd4’ options as and when required, but Black should play Kd4 only when White can’t transfer his rook to g-file. Otherwise d6 and d5 are nice squares.} 54. g4 (54. Kg6 Kd4 $1 $11 {there are other moves too, but this is simplest. White can’t protect the g3 pawn and cut off the black king at the same time.}) 54... Rg8+ $8 55. Kh4 (55. Kh5 Rh8+ $8 {leads to a similar position}) 55... Rh8+ $8 56. Kg3 Rg8 $8 {Just when it looks like Black has side-stepped all the traps, White sets one more:} 57. Re1 $1 {Diagram [#]} Kd6 $3 {The best squares for the king are d6 and d5. It is important to remember this :)} (57... Kd4 $4 58. Re6 $1 {and White cuts off the rank and wins the game:} Kd5 59. Rh6 $1 {and White will go Kh4-Kh5-Rh7-g6-Kh6 after whichy Black will soon be forced to give up his rook.}) 58. Re2 $1 {Trying his luck once more!} Kd5 $3 {Again the only move.} (58... Kd7 $4 {is moving away too far and gives White time to protect his g4 pawn with the rook, while Black’s king remains too far away to disturb his plans:} 59. Re4 $3 {Diagram [#]} Kd6 60. Kf4 Rf8+ 61. Kg5 Rg8+ 62. Kf6 $18) 59. Re7 {Trying a similar idea to Re6-Rh6 in the Kd4 variation.} Kd6 60. Rh7 {The same position with the black king on d5 and white rook on h6 is winning for White, however here things are different.} Ke6 $1 61. Kh4 Kf6 $1 {That’s the difference. With the rook on h6 and king on e5 White had the f5 square under control and Black was unable to bring his king back, but here the king is entering the safe zone,} 62. Kh5 Rg5+ $1 $11 {, a simple move but yet again Black would be lost without it.}) 54. Kf6 $18 Kd5 $6 {This was not the most precise defence and makes White’s task very easy. Diagram (#)} ({Upon} 54... Rf8+ $1 {White would have had to show impeccable technique to win the game:} 55. Kg7 $1 Rf5 56. Kg6 $1 Rf8 { Once again the best try.} 57. Ra3 $3 {Diagram [#] White is threatening to transfer his rook to the g-file by giving side checks!} (57. g4 $2 Rg8+ $11) ( 57. Rb3 $3 {. with a similar idea, is also good enough}) 57... Rg8+ {These lines are very deep with many variations. I don’t want to make it a big theoretical endgame lesson, therefore here I am just giving the main line so as to show how difficult these endgames can be.} 58. Kf7 $1 Rg4 59. Kf6 Rg8 60. Rd3+ $1 Kc5 61. Ke6 $1 (61. Kf5 {also wins but it is one move shorter than 61. Ke6 according to the tablebase.}) 61... Kc4 {The most tricky line is} 62. Ra3 $3 {()} Kb4 63. Rf3 Kc5 64. Kf7 Rg4 65. Kf6 {simultaneously threatening both Kf5-g4 and Rf5-Rg5.} Kd5 66. Kf5 Rg8 67. Rd3+ {After seven moves of crazy manoeuvring White has reached a similar position but this time with kings on f5-d5 instead of f6-d6. Sometimes endgames can be insanely difficult.} Kc4 68. Ra3 $3 {The only move but by now a well-known idea. For the third time White had to play this move in order to win the game.} Kb4 69. Rf3 Rf8+ 70. Kg4 Rg8+ 71. Kh5 Rh8+ 72. Kg6 Kc5 {Diagram (#)} 73. g4 $1 {After 22 moves finally the time has come for White to push the pawn!} Rg8+ 74. Kf5 $1 Kd6 75. Rd3+ Ke7 76. g5 $18 {and Black is not in time to get his king to the g-file and activate his rook as well.}) 55. Re5+ $1 {Of course! White simply transfers his rook to the g-file.} Kd6 56. Re3 {Gaining 30 seconds on the clock? But this again allows Black to go back to stubborn defence, which would have forced White to display great technique.} Kd5 57. Re5+ Kd6 {Diagram [#]} 58. Rg5 $1 {Finally!} Rf8+ 59. Kg7 Rf3 60. g4 {The rest is easy and automatic.} Rf4 61. Kh6 Ke7 62. Rg7+ Kf8 63. g5 Rf1 64. Ra7 Rg1 65. Kg6 Rg2 66. Ra8+ Ke7 67. Ra5 Kf8 68. Ra8+ Ke7 69. Rg8 {and Levon resigned. Having known and studied this game made it much easier for me to play the endgame against Vallejo!} 1-0
Wasn't that some amazing bit of endgame analysis!
With authors like Surya Shekhar Ganguly the quality of Chess Informant is top notch. How else can you learn endgames as complicated as this without a trainer? We heartily recommend Chess Informant 128 and thank Ganguly for these annotations. Without doubt he is one of the best annotators in the world right now, thanks to the pains and efforts he takes in his analysis.
