[Event "World Senior Team Chess Championship"] [Site "Struga"] [Date "2023.09.23"] [White "Gregory Kaidanov"] [Black "John M Emms"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2549"] [BlackElo "2448"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C54"] [Opening "Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/ChessLifeOnline"] [StudyName "World Senior Team Chess Championship 2023"] [ChapterName "Gregory Kaidanov - John M Emms"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/VlG0lWar/B2DJgG4B"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. b4 Be7 7. O-O d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. b5 Na5 10. Bxd5 Qxd5 11. c4 Qd8 12. Bd2 b6 13. Nxe5 Bf6 14. Bxa5 bxa5 15. d4 Bxe5 16. dxe5 Be6 17. Qe2 Qd4 18. Nd2 Rad8 19. Nb3 Qxc4 20. Qxc4 Bxc4 21. Rfc1 Bxb3 22. axb3 Rd5 23. Rxa5 Rxe5 24. g3 g6 25. Rxc7 a6 26. Rb7 axb5 27. Raxb5 Rxb5 28. Rxb5 Rc8 29. Re5 Rc2 30. g4 Rb2 31. Re3 h5 32. g5 f6 33. gxf6 Kf7 34. Rf3 g5 35. h3 g4 36. hxg4 hxg4 37. Rd3 Kxf6 38. Kg2 Ke5 39. Kg3 Kf5 40. Rd5+ Ke6 41. Rb5 Kf6 42. Rb4 Ke5 43. Rb8 Ke6 44. b4 Kf7 45. Rb6 Ke7 46. Rb5 Kf6 47. Rb7 Kg6 48. Rb8 Kf7 49. b5 Kg6 50. Rg8+ Kf6 51. Rb8 Kg6 52. b6 { The critical moment. Only one move draws for Black. } 52... Kg7?? { The idea of "huddling" will not work when the king can slide in front of the pawn on the seventh rank unless Black can achieve a Vancura setup. } (52... Rb4! { Simply put, Black must defend the pawn. } 53. b7 { and only now, once the pawn comes to the seventh, does the king retreat with } 53... Kg7 { or to h7, but of course not falling into the familiar trap of being caught in "no man's land" with } (53... Kf7?? 54. Rh8 $18)) 53. Kxg4 Rxf2 54. Kg5!! { The only winning move, and an instructive one. Now, White threatens Rb8-b7+, forcing the king onto the back row, after which the rook is liberated from its burden of defending the pawn from the front, as will be illustrated in variations below. If Black tries to chase down the pawn from the rear, White's king uses the opposition to guarantee that it gets in front of the pawn in time to achieve a winning Lucena. } 54... Rb2 (54... Kh7 { is equivalent. } 55. Rb7+ Kg8 56. Rc7 Rb2 57. b7 { wins, with the threat of Rc7-c8+ and the checks running out shortly. }) (54... Rf6 { is the sort of move Black would love to play, provoking an ill-timed b6-b7 push, but of course now White wins with } 55. Rb7+ $18 { as Black cannot block with the rook (the pawn is too far away), but king moves lose the rook. }) (54... Rf1 { attempting to cut the king off also fails because after } 55. Rb7+! Kf8 56. Rc7 { we've reached the same position. }) 55. Rb7+ Kf8 56. Kf6 Ke8 57. Ke6 Re2+ 58. Kd6 Rd2+ { This loses, as Black's king cannot stop the king from getting in front of the pawn. } 59. Kc7 Rc2+ 60. Kb8 Rb2 61. Kc8 Rb1 62. Rb8 Ke7 63. Kb7 Kd7 64. Rh8 Rb2 65. Rh1 Ra2 66. Rd1+ Ke7 67. Kb8 Rb2 68. b7 Ra2 69. Rd4 Ke6 70. Kc7 Rc2+ 71. Kb6 Rb2+ 72. Kc6 Rb1 73. Re4+ { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0