The Instructor

An Historical Serial Continues

Part 2

The
Instructor
Mark Dvoretsky

We continue now to explore the many-part spectacular that is the

famous game between Emanuel Lasker (playing White) and
Edward Lasker (Black), from the powerful New York
Tournament of 1924. You saw the first parts of the serial,
including the opening and middlegame, in last month's column.
Now we direct your attention to the analysis of a so-called
"simple position" (meaning the phase of the game with reduced
material, coming between the middlegame and the endgame), and
then - to the endgame itself.
Serial 4: Rook vs. two knights
Two knights are of course stronger
than a rook - but will this advantage
be enough to win? And there is
another question, a very important one
from a practical standpoint, in the play
of all such situations: who is favored
by a particular exchange of pieces or
pawns?
38...Qc7-c4
Of course not 38...Rxd1?? 39. Qe8 mate.
39. Qe4-e7
"Neither here nor later can White win if he exchanges the Queens,
because Black would spread himself in the endgame over the
Queen's side of the board by capturing the a3-pawn, in addition

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to exchanging the b-pawn, whereupon the remaining pawns on

the King's side would not suffice to bring about a win. Through
the avoidance of the exchange, however, he presently reaches a
defensive position in which he is not entitled to expect a legitimate
win. Nevertheless, he persists in trying to win - and in that lies
the explanation of the sacrifice on the 51st move" (Alekhine).
Well, there's the future World Champion's answer to both of my
questions. However, I cannot say that I agree with him 100%. I
believe that White's advantage was still sufficiently large, and that
he only squandered it as the result of some later inaccuracies,
which have been overlooked by the commentators.
39...Qc4-c8 40. Nd1-f2
It's vital for White to bring one of his knights up to aid the queen,
but how is he to accomplish this?
Worthy of serious consideration was 40. Ne3!?, in combination
with the following little trap: 40...Re8? 41. Nf5!, winning. Black
would have replied either 40...Qd7 or 40...h6 41. Nf5 Qd7, and
White retains his great advantage.
40. Ng5!? Rxd1 41. Qf7+ Kh8 42. Qh5 h6 would lead to a queen
endgame with an extra pawn for White. Alekhine continues with
43. Qxd1 hg 44. Qh5+ Kg8 45. Qxg5 Qc1, and considers that
Black has every right to expect a draw. This is arguable: after 46.
Qd5+ Kf8 47. Qf3, Black's defense is very difficult. Besides,
White could obtain a more favorable pawn structure after 43.
Nf7+!? Kg8 44. Nxh6+ gh 45. Qxd1 Qf5.
40...h7-h6

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41. Qe7-a7
White could have continued 41. Ne4
Re8 42. Qc5, since after 42...Qxc5
(Alekhine was of the opinion that
42...Qe6 would have been better; but
if he is right, then White should have
seized the opportunity to improve the
position of his knight) 43. Nxc5 Re3
44. Nxa6 Rxa3 45. Nc5 (with the idea
of Nf2-d3), White would have saved his b4-pawn from being
exchanged off. On the other hand, after 45...Kf7 or 45...Ra2!?,
with Kf7 to follow, the inevitable king march to the center would
have secured Black against losing.
41...Qc8-e6
Of course Black does not allow the knight to go to e4.
42. Qa7-b7 Qe6-d5!? 43. Qb7-b6?!
Emanuel Lasker decided against 43. Qxa6 Ra8, fearing that after
the inevitable 44...Rxa3 the b4-pawn would turn out weak. But
this would have given White an important tempo for the attack on
the king; meanwhile, the b5-pawn could also be attacked. Thus:
44. Qg6! Rxa3, and now 45. Ne4 Qf7 46. Qc6 (46. Qxf7+?
Kxf7 47. Nd6+ Kf8 48. Nxb5 Rb3=)
46...Rb3 47. Nd6 (47. Qxb5 Rxh3+!
48. Kxh3 Qe6+ 49. Kg3 Qxe4, and
White has only a small edge) 47...Qe6
48. Qc5 Rb2 49. Qd4 Qa2 50. Qe4
Re2, and Black can defend;
45, Ng4! Kf8 46. Ne5 Ra2 47. Ng1
and Ngf3. Here Black may not be able
to save himself, since his king is endangered and the White
knights are successfully coming into play.
43...Rd8-d6 44. Qb6-e3 Rd6-e6 45. Qe3-c3 Qd5-c4 46. Qc3-f3
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Qc4-c6 47. Qf3-d3 Re6-d6 48. Qd3-b3+ Qc6-d5 49. Qb3-b1

Rd6-e6
As before, Black prevents Ne4, and already plans to show some
activity of his own, by playing 50...Re3. On 50. Nd3? there would
follow 50...Re2 51. Nhf2 Ra2 52. Qc1 Qc4 (Ed. Lasker).
50. Nf2-g4
50...Re6-e2!
"Black has correctly weighed the
futility of the sacrifice contemplated
by the opponent and quietly allows it,
the more so as, by some other
continuation, the posting of the Knight
on e5 might have brought White slight
winning chances" (Alekhine).
On the other hand, as Ed. Lasker himself pointed out, 50...Re4!?,
and if 51. Ne5, then 51...Re2 (52. Qg6 Ra2 or 52...Qe4) would
have been good, too.
51. Ng4xh6+
"The hopes of victory bound up with this combination are
shattered by the circumstance that the Knight, because of the
unsafe position of the King, cannot co-operate at the right time.
Moreover, through persistent avoidance of drawing possibilities,
White, in consequence of his weak a-pawn, actually drifts into the
shallows of defeat" (Alekhine).
51...g7xh6 52. Qb1-g6+ Kg8-f8 53. Qg6xh6+ Kf8-e8 54. Qh6g6+ Ke8-d8
Serial 5: Rook vs. knight, with queens

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Aiming for the tournament lead,

Emanuel Lasker did not wish to settle
for a draw, and stubbornly continued
to search for ways to continue the
fight, apparently hoping for errors
from his less experienced opponent.
But since the latter played so
excellently, this playing for the win as so often happens - nearly turned
into playing for a loss.
As Alekhine noted, it was high time for White to force the draw,
using the line 55. Qb6+ Ke8 56. Qb8+ Ke7 57. Qa7+ Kf8 58.
Qb8+ Re8 59. Qa7 Re2. On the other hand, even after the text, he
still retained analogous drawing possibilities for a while.
55. Qg6-g3?! Re2-e8!
An excellent maneuver. The rook aims for g8, where it will once
again attack the pawn at g2; and, more importantly, it will hinder
the knight from getting to g5 and supporting a possible h-file
check.
56. Qg3-f2 Re8-g8 57. Qf2-b2
Here too, White could have forced the draw by 57. Qb6+
(Alekhine).
57...Qd5-d6! 58. Qb2-c3 Kd8-d7 59. Qc3-f3 Kd7-c7 60. Qf3-e4
The adventurous 60. g4!? was worth considering.
60...Rg8-g7 61. Qe4-f5
"White has carried through his plan fully and, by means of fine
Queen maneuvering, assured the co-operation of the Knight. It
seems, however, that this last is at this stage of minor importance,
and does not in any way prevent the fall of the a3-pawn"
(Alekhine).
61...Rg7-e7!
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Having fulfilled its role on the g-file (inducing the enemy queen
to advance), the rook now returns to the e-file.
62. Nh3-g5
"There was still time to make the
Queen's side safe by means of 62.
Qc2+ Kd8 63. Qc3, etc. The tempting
move of the Knight, on the contrary,
should cost the game" (Alekhine).
62...Re7-e3 63. Ng5-e4 Qd6-e7!
Threatening 64...Qh4+.
64. Ne4-f6 Kc7-b8!
"Whereby the fate of the a-pawn is sealed. Black, since his 38th
move, has defended himself quite faultlessly and has now attained
a winning position" (Alekhine).
65. g2-g3
As V. Zak pointed out, Black would have met 65. Nd7+, not with
65...Kc7 (on account of 66. Nf6), but with 65...Ka7.
65...Re3xa3 66. Kh2-h3 Ra3-a1
White gets a perpetual check after 66...Qxb4? 67. Qe5+ Kb7 68.
Qd5+.
67. Nf6-d5

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67...Ra1-h1+!?
"By means of this move and the
following Black forces the exchange of
Queens and a winning, albeit difficult
ending. More compelling, however,
would have been 67...Qd6, thereafter
driving the Knight from d5 by means
of 68...Rd1, and to play for the
capture of the b4-pawn in conjunction
with a direct attack upon the king" (Alekhine).
And if Black insists on the queen exchange, then he should do so
just as in the game. After the "spectacular" 67...Qh7+? 68. Qxh7
Rh1+ 69. Kg4 Rxh7 White's king reaches g4, instead of the more
distant g2 square, as in the game.
68. Kh3-g2
68. Kg4?? Qe2+
68...Qe7-h7 69. Qf5xh7
Forced, as 69. Qf8+? Kb7 would lose rapidly.
69...Rh1xh7 70. Kg2-f3 Kb8-b7 71. g3-g4 Kb7-c6 72. Kf3-e4
Serial 6: Rook vs. Knight Without Queens
A few general comments: Queens
were exchanged three moves ago, but
we begin the sixth installment in our
serial precisely at this point. There
were several critical, watershed
situations in this game, and the
position in this diagram marks one of
the most vital.
There is another reason, also, to
choose this as the starting point for our next serial, and that is the
inclusion, at this precise moment, of yet another powerful
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specialist - G. Kasparov (in his recently published work, My

Great Predecessors). Alas, his inclusion is of a most unfortunate
nature. In order to forestall the creation of any more myths, we
shall examine all of his suggestions most attentively.
72...Rh7-h8?!
A tempting move, carrying with it the threat of 73...Re8+;
however, after it, White manages to save himself. It was almost
impossible to foresee that the rook would stand better on the 7th
rank than on the 8th! The winning move was 72...Rd7!.
73. g5 Rxd5 74. g6 Rd1 and wins (Ed. Lasker);
73. Nf6 Rd8! 74. g5 a5 75. ba b4 76. g6 b3 and wins (Alekhine),
or 76. Ng4 b3 77. Ne5+ Kb5 78. Nd3 Kc4! 79. Nb2+ Kc3 80.
Na4+ Kb4 81. Nb2 Rd2 and wins. Ed. Lasker's variation 73...Rd1
74. g5 a5 75. ba b4 76. g6 b3 77. g7 b2 78. g8Q b1Q+ is less
convincing, since instead of 76. g6?, Black must be prepared for
76. Ng4! b3 77. Ne5+ (after 77...Kb5 78. Nd3, the king cannot get
to the c4 square, in view of the fork Nb2+);
73. Ne3 a5! 74. ba b4 75. Nc4 (75. g5 Kc5! 76. Nc2 b3 77. Na3
Kb4 78. Nb1 Rd1 and wins - Ed. Lasker) 75...Kb5 76. Ne5 b3 77.
Nd3 Kc4 78. Nb2+ (78. Ne5+ Kc3 79. Nxd7 b2) 78...Kc3 79.
Na4+ Kb4 80. Nb2 Rd2 81. Nd3+ Kc3 and wins (Averbakh).
73. Nd5-e3
73. Nf6? Rd8, followed by a6-a5 is hopeless (Alekhine).
73...Rh8-e8+ 74. Ke4-d4 Re8-d8+ 75. Kd4-e4
On 75. Kc3!? Alekhine gives 75...Rd6 76. g5 Kd7, but is not sure
about the objective assessment of the position. Ed. Lasker offers a
more energetic approach: 75...a5!? 76. ba Kc5! 77. g5 b4+ 78.
Kc2 b3+ 79. Kb2 Rd2+. True, White has a stronger defense: 79.
Kc3! (instead of 79. Kb2?), when Black's only (but barely
sufficient) winning chance is 79...Rh8!
75...a6-a5! 76. b4xa5 b5-b4
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77. a5-a6!
A deep move indeed! The a-pawn will
deflect one of Black's pieces, allowing
White to win valuable time to battle
the b-pawn. As Alekhine noted, 77. g5
b3 78. Nc4 Kc5 79. Nb2 Rd2 80.
Nd3+ Kc4 81. Ne5+ Kc3 would lose
for White.
Another attempt is 77. Nc4. Kasparov gives the line 77...b3 78.
Ke3 Kb5 79. Nb2 Kxa5 80. g5 Kb4 81. g6 Kc3 82. Na4+ Kc2 83.
f5 Re8+ 84. Kd4 Ra8 and wins. However, White can save himself
by playing 84. Kf3! (instead of 84. Kd4?) 84...Rf8 85. g7! Rxf5+
86. Kg4 Rf1 87. Kg5. So Black must first destabilize the knight
with 77...Kb5 (instead of 77...b3?) 78. Nb2 Rd2! 79. Nd3 b3
(79...Kc4? 80, Nxb4=) 80. a6 Kc4! 81. a7 Re2+ 82. Kf5 Ra2 and
wins; or 80. Ke3 b2! 81. Nxb2 Rxb2 82. g5 Kc6! and wins.
77...Kc6-c5!
White would have a difficult task to resolve after 77...b3!? 78.
Nc4 Kb5 79. Nb2 Kxa6. The threat of 80...Rd2 is met simply by
80. Ke3, and after 80...Kb5 81. g5 leads us back to the same
drawing line we've already examined: 81...Kb4 82. g6 Kc3 83.
Na4+ Kc2 84. f5 Re8+ 85. Kf3! Rf8 86. g7! Rxf5+ 87. Kg4 Rf1
88. Kg5.
However, Black can walk a fine line to victory, by transferring his
king to the kingside.
80...Kb7!! 81. g5 (81. f5 would change nothing) 81...Kc8! 82. g6
Rd7!
But not 82...Kd7? 83. Kd3= - it's important for White's king to
remain cut off on the d-file. And if Black were to play 81...Kc7?
82. g6! Rd7, then 83. g7! Rxg7 84. Kd3 would lead to a draw.
83. f5 (83. g7 Rxg7 84. Kd3 Rc7 and wins) 83...Kd8 84. f6 Ke8
85. Nd3 Rd6, and White is defenseless. For instance: 86. g7 Kf7
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87. Ne5+ Kg8 88. Ng4 Kh7 89. Nh6 Rd8 90. g8+ Rxg8 91. Nxg8
b2.
The variation just examined leads us to an important conclusion,
one which will repeatedly prove useful to us: Black wins, if his
king can stop the kingside pawns while White's king is cut off on
the d-file.
To save time, White must, in the position of the preceding
diagram, push his kingside pawns at once, and allow 80...Rd2.
But which pawn? It turns out that in the variation 80. g5? Rd2 81.
Nd3 (81. Nc4 Rc2) 81...Kb5! 82. g6 Kc4 he loses; but that 80.
f5!! Rd2 81. Nd3 Kb5 (81...b2 82. Nxb2) 82. f6 is enough to
draw, since after 82...Kc4? 83. f7 the knight controls f2.
78. a6-a7!
Here is the consequence of Black's inaccurate 72nd move: were
his rook still on d7, the pawn could not be advanced to a7; and
after 78. Nc2 (this would actually have been the 76th move)
78...b3 79. Na3 Kb4 80. Nb1 Ra7, Black would have won.
78...b4-b3
Kasparov believes that here, and for a number of moves hereafter,
Black still had a won position. The idea behind his variations is to
bring the king over to blockade the connected passed pawns,
while the rook cuts the enemy king off from the b-pawn, and in
some lines assists the pawn to queen or forces White to give up
his knight for it.
Unfortunately, the grandmaster repeatedly looks only at the
second-best defensive method for White, which is: supporting the
pawns with the king. The correct idea - the one employed in the
game by Emanuel Lasker - is to sacrifice the kingside pawns in
order to get the king closer to the b-pawn, and to set up a fortress
of knight vs. rook and pawn.
This strategic oversight carried with it grave consequences: all of
Kasparov's suggested variations are wrong!

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For example: instead of the text, he offers 78...Ra8!? 79. f5 Rxa7

80. Nd1 Re7+ 81. Kf3 Rf7 82. Nb2 Kd5 83. Kf4 b3.
None of these moves are forced; but
the main problem is that the
concluding position of the variation is
still a draw.
84. Ke3!! Rc7 85. Kd3 Ke5 86. Na4
Kf6 (86...Rc2 87. Nc3 Rg2 88. Kc4 b2
89. Kb3=) 87. Nb2 Kg5 (87...Rc2 88.
Na4) 88. Na4 Kxg4 (or 88...Rc8 89.
Nb2 Kxg4 90. f6 Kf5 91. f7 Ke6 92.
f8Q Rxf8 93. Kc3 Rf3+ 94. Kb4= - roughly the same position
occurs later in the game) 89. f6 Kf5 90. f7 Rxf7 91. Kc3 Rb7 92.
Nb2 Kf4!? 93. Nc4 Rb5!?.
An instructive situation. White can't
afford to win the pawn by 94. Kb2?
Kf3! 95. Nd2+ Ke3 96. Nxb3 Kd3 97.
Ka2 Kc3 - here the knight will
inescapably be lost. Waiting tactics
don't work, either: 94. Nb2? Ke3 95.
Nc4+ Ke2 96. Nb2 Rb8 (zugzwang)
97. Nc4 Kd2 98. Kb2 (Black
threatened 98...Kc1) 98...Rb5 99. Na3
Rb4, and Black's king reaches the c4
square.
Instead, White must go to the same defensive system, but with the
pawn on the 2nd: 94. Nd2! b2 95. Kc2. Here White would be out
of danger, since Black no longer has the flanking maneuver with
his king along the 1st rank.
It should be noted that if, instead of 89...Kf5, Black plays 89...Kf3
(or 89...Kf4), White can no longer continue 90. f7? Rxf7 91. Kc3
Rb7 92. Nb2 (92. Kb2 Ke2 93. Nc5 Rb5! 94. Nxb3 Kd3 and
wins) 92...Ke2 93. Nc4 Kd1 94. Kb2 Rb5 and wins. But White
has no need to hurry with the pawn sacrifice: 90. Nb2! Kf2 91.
Nc4 Ke1 92. Nb2=. We may rightly reach a vital conclusion: that
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in such situations (two connected passed pawns, blockaded by the

king), cutting White's king off on the c-file gives Black nothing.
On the other hand, cutting the king off on the d-file, as we have
already seen, is fatal to White. This is precisely the reason why
the natural move 84. g5? (instead of 84. Ke3!) would be wrong:
Black replies 84...Rd7!! (84...Rc7? 85. g6 Rc2 86. g7 Rg2 87. f6
Ke6 88. Kf3! Rg1 89. Ke3 Kf7 90. Kd3 Rc1 91. Na4=; or
84...Kd6? 85. Ke4! - but not 85. g6? Rd7!! winning - 85...Rc7 86.
g6 Ke7 87. Kd3 Kf6 88. Na4=) 85. g6 Kd6 86. f6 Ke6 87. g7 Rd8
88. Ke3 (88. Kg5 Kf7 wins) 88...Kxf6 78. g8Q Rxg8 90. Kd3 Rc8
wins.
79. Ne3-d1! Rd8-a8
White's task is simpler after 79...Kb6 80. Nb2 Kxa7 81. f5 (but
not 81. Ke3? Kb7! 82. g5 Kc8! 83. g6 Rd7! - see the note to
Black's 77th move) 81...Rd2 82. Nd3, and in the event of the
careless 82...b2?! 83. Nxb2 Rxb2 84. f6, it is now Black who
must, by dint of "only" moves, try to obtain the draw.
The chief danger lies in the advance of
the g-pawn - it is this which must be
prevented at all costs.
84...Re2+!! 85. Kf5 Rf2+ 86. Ke6
Re2+! or 86. Kg6 Kb6 87. f7 Kc6 88.
Kg7 Kd6 89. f8Q+ Rxf8 90. Kxf8
Ke5=.
80. g4-g5
Here 80. Kd3!? was worth considering. Black would have to reply
80...Kb4, putting his king further away from the kingside (after
80...Rxa7 81. Kc3 the draw is self-evident). The continuation
might be 81. f5 (81. g5 is also playable) 81...Rxa7 82. f6 Rd7+
83. Ke2 Kc5 (83...Ka3 84. g5 Rxd1 85. f7 Rd8 86. g6=), and now
either 94. Nb2 Kd4!? 85. Kd2 Rc7 86. Nd1! (but not 86. Na4?
Rc2+ 87. Kd1 Kd3! 88. f7 b2 89. Nxb2+ Rxb2 90. Ke1 Ke3 and
wins) 86...Rc2+ 87. Ke1 b2 88. f7 b1Q 89. f8Q=, or 84. g5 Kd6
85. Kd2! (85. g6? Ke6 wins) 85...Ke6+ 86. Kc1, and draws.
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80...Ra8xa7 81. g5-g6

81...Ra7-d7!
"Many commentators after Alekhine
ignore this moment, but the computer
tells us that White is not to be envied
after 81...Kd6! 82. Kf5 Ke7 83. Kg5
Ra2" (Kasparov).
But if you send the king in the other
direction - 82. Kd3 Ke6 (if 82...Rc7,
then White at least has 83. g7) 83. Kc3 - the self-same computer
says it's a draw. The text sets White more difficult problems.
82. Nd1-b2 Rd7-d2
"82...Kd6!? 83. f5 Rc7 84. Kf4 Rc2 is tempting, too" (Kasparov).
This short variation contains three (3) major errors: 83. f5? (83.
Kd4 or Kd3 draws); 83...Rc7? (83...Ke7! wins); and 84. Kf4? (84.
Kd3 or 84. f6 is correct).
83. Ke4-f3!
"The point of the whole defense: the Knight, of course, cannot be
captured on account of 84. g7, and Black, therefore, in case he
desires to continue playing for a win, must permit the approach of
the hostile King to his passed Pawn" (Alekhine).
83...Rd2-d8 84. Kf3-e4!
"84. f5!? Kd6 85. Kf4 Rc8 86. Nd1 might perhaps have been
better, although after 86...Rc4+ 87. Kg5 Rc1 88. Nb2 Rc2 89.
Nd1 Ke5, the draw is still not in sight" (Kasparov). Armed with
our examination of the previous variations, we can easily
establish that 84. f5? is a mistake: after 84...Kd6 85. Kf4 Black
wins by 85...Ke7! On 85...Rc8? White should not respond with
86. Nd1?, but with 86. Ke4! Rc2 87. g7 Rg2 88. f6 Ke6 89. Kd3.
After the mistaken rook check (86...Ke7!, winning, is correct),
White saves himself by 87. Ke3! Interestingly, even the last move
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of Kasparov's analysis is inaccurate (89...Ke7 is far stronger): in

his concluding position, after 90. Ne3! the outcome is still not
fully clear, for instance: 90...b2? 91. g7 Rc8 92. Nc4+! or
91...b1Q 92. Ng4+!, drawing. We shall have to study the
consequences of 90...Ke4 91. f6 Kxe3 92. f7 Rg2+ 93. Kh6 b2 94.
f8Q b1Q.
84...Rd8-d2
"It appears that it is only here, and not on move 72, that Black
misses the win: 84...Kb4 85. f5 Kc3 86. Na4+ Kc2 87. f6 Ra8 and
wins" (Kasparov). This line is especially odd, given the fact that,
first of all, its concluding position is drawn: 88. f7 Rxa4+ 89.
Ke3! b2 90. f8Q b1Q 91. Qf5+ Kc1 92. Qf1+, and if the king goes
to b2, then the check at b5 will win the rook back. And secondly,
if White answers 86...Kc2? with 87. g7! Ra8 88. Ke3, it appears
he even wins.
85. Ke4-f3! Rd2-d8 86. Kf3-e4! Kc5-d6 87. Ke4-d4
"87. f5?! Rc8 88. Nd3 Rc4+ would be dangerous" (Kasparov). 87.
f5? is bad, because of 87...Ke7!; after 87...Rc8?, on the other
hand, White can save himself by 88. g7 Ke7 89. Kd3.
87...Rd8-c8 88. g6-g7
Of course this is the most accurate - although, contrary to
Kasparov's opinion, White would not lose after 88. f5 Ke7 89.
Kd3, either.
88...Kd6-e6 89. g7-g8Q+ Rc8xg8 90. Kd4-c4 Rg8-g3!
Serial 7: Knight Draws Against Rook Plus Pawn!

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"This is the move I had calculated

would win the game after all. The
other contestants also believed I had
now a fairly easy win as White could
not capture my Pawn. I remember I
left the room at this stage to stretch a
little and was congratulated upon my
victory by Bogoljubov and others who
were in the Press room and told me
the story of the game was already to
be released. However, when I returned to the table, a rude shock
awaited me" (Ed. Lasker).
91. Nb2-a4 Ke6-f5 92. Kc4-b4 Kf5xf4 93. Na4-b2
93. Ka3 is a mistake: 93...Ke4 94. Nc5+? Kd4 95. Nxb3 Kc4 and
Black wins.
"It never occurred to me that White need not capture the pawn at
all and could still draw the game. Emanuel Lasker actually
discovered a new endgame position in which a Rook and a Pawn
cannot win against the Knight, and this position has since become
a classic" (Ed. Lasker).
93...Kf4-e4 94. Nb2-a4
White could also have prevented the king from reaching the d4
square by playing 94. Kc4, but this is of no importance.
94...Ke4-d4 95. Na4-b2 Rg3-f3 96. Nb2-a4 Rf3-e3 97. Na4-b2
Kd4-e4 98. Nb2-a4

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98...Ke4-f3
Threatening Ke2-d2-c2 and wins.
White can't wait any more.
99. Kb4-a3!
In Averbakh's opinion (in his fivevolume Chess Endings), White could
also have played 99. Nb2 Ke2 100.
Nc4 (100. Ka3 Kd2! 101. Nc4+ Kc1 wins) 100...Rg3 101. Ka3,
followed by 102. Kb2.
But he can't: Black wins here by
101..Rc3! 102. Na5 (102. Nd6 Kd3
103. Kb2 Rc6!; 102. Ne5 Ke3 103.
Kb2 Kd4) 102...Kd3! 103. Kb2 Rc5!
104. Nxb3 Rb5 105. Ka2 Kc3.
99...Kf3-e4
99...Ke2 100. Nc5 Kd2 101. Kb2=.
100. Ka3-b4 Ke4-d4 101. Na4-b2 Re3-h3 102. Nb2-a4 Kd4-d3
103. Kb4xb3 Kd3-d4+
Draw.
Once again, let me repeat the words of B. Vainshtein: "This was
probably the most unbelievable, the most paradoxical draw ever
recorded in international play". And I would imagine that you
would agree with him?!

Copyright 2003 Mark Dvoretsky. All rights reserved.

Translated by Jim Marfia

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The Instructor

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