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WCC Round 14 Endgame

ChessEndgameOver the boardTournament
In the final round Ding blundered in a critical position. This post analyzes the endgame and demonstrates how to *easily* hold the draw.

I'll be analyzing the position where Ding played the tragic Rf2??

https://lichess.org/study/QYSVoK2Y/o0E12u64#0

First let's see what happens after a rook trade.

https://lichess.org/study/QYSVoK2Y/lO5iOfxV#0

Now let's analyze the position after a bishop trade.

https://lichess.org/study/QYSVoK2Y/YQ74zrVu#0

And the only way to make progress with the rooks and bishops on the board is to block the 4th rank.
You can't do it with the bishop on e4, as it's a draw after the trade, and you cant do it with the rook, as it's also a draw.

Last trick is to defent the f5 pawn with the rook, and cross the 4th rank with the bishop on c4 avoiding the trade.

https://lichess.org/study/QYSVoK2Y/FFjzDMbp#0

When I saw Ding's move in GothamChess' recap i was so flabbergasted, I tried to defend the position against stockfish with 9+30 time control and i ended with over an hour.

https://lichess.org/ZLylTw267CBH#0

And I even misplayed the position allowing computer to trade both pieces.
But why even bother with the post? It's my way of getting the negative feelings with connected with this move out of me. I love chess very much and I followed the mach closely, it's just very anticlimactic for the mach to end with such a move. I don't mean any disrespect to Ding and I'm not saying I would've played better than him in the WCC match. We are all human and we make mistakes, it's just part of our nature. I'm just dissapointed we don't get the tiebreaks and the last game ends in such a way.

Thanks for reading
Peace