[Event "Pro Chess League 2023"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2023.02.14"] [Round "3"] [White "Robson, Ray"] [Black "Livaic, Leon"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2702"] [BlackElo "2571"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D36"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Reshevsky Variation"] [StudyName "PCL: Instructive moments from weeks 1 and 2"] [ChapterName "Robson, Ray - Livaic, Leon"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/r4rOm8dU/Cbpc1v2w"] [Orientation "white"] { Endgame woes } 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. Qc2 h6 7. Bh4 Be6 8. e3 Nbd7 9. Bd3 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 11. Nf3 Nxg3 12. hxg3 Bg7 13. O-O-O Qa5 14. Bf5 Nf8 15. Ne5 Qc7 16. f4 O-O-O 17. Na4 Bxe5 18. fxe5 Kb8 19. g4 Nd7 20. Kb1 Rde8 21. Nc5 Nxc5 22. Qxc5 f6 23. Bg6 Reg8 24. Bf5 Bxf5+ 25. gxf5 fxe5 26. Rdf1 h5 27. f6 h4 28. g4 Rf8 29. a4 Rf7 30. Rf5 exd4 31. exd4 h3 32. Ka2 h2 33. Qc2 Qd6 34. Rxg5 Rxf6 35. Rh5 Rxh5 36. gxh5 Rh6 37. Qxh2 Qxh2 38. Rxh2 Kc7 39. b4 Kd6 40. Kb3 b6 41. Kc3 Ke6 42. b5 cxb5 43. axb5 Kf5 44. Kd3 Kg5 45. Rg2+ Kxh5 46. Rg7 Rg6 47. Rh7+ Kg4 48. Rxa7 Rd6 49. Re7 Kf5 50. Re5+ Kf6 51. Kd2 Rd8 52. Ke3 Rd7 53. Kf4 Rd8 54. Rh5 { Black can hold the draw with two moves. Both are instructive. More importantly, neither involve saddling the rook with passive defense. } 54... Rb8?? (54... Rg8 55. Rh6+ (55. Rxd5 Ke6 56. Rh5 Rg1!) 55... Ke7 56. Rxb6 Rg1! 57. Ke5 Rg5+ 58. Kf4 Rg1 59. Rc6 Rb1 60. b6 Kd7 61. Rh6 Re1!) (54... Kg6 55. Re5 Kf6 { is simplest. }) 55. Rh6+ (55. Rxd5? { Calculation and evaluation often mingle. Black draws easily here after } 55... Ke6 56. Re5+ Kd6 { when White has no way to progress with the d-pawn. Because of this, I wonder if Black remembered to seriously consider alternatives to the capture. }) 55... Ke7 56. Ke5! { Now the point is clear: the rook has nowhere to go to get out of White's forced trade into a winning pawn ending. } 56... Kd7 57. Rh7+ { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0