The endgame

King and Fawn Endings The presence of a protected passed pawn does not guarantee necessarily the win.

32 Shirov - Timman Wijk aan Zee 1996

Following l.g5, Black terminated his resistance, obviously considering that the protected passed f6-pawn is a very serious argument. Naturally, that decision was a little bit too emotional and the subsequent analyses proved that it was never too late to resign ... 1.. .'~d6 2.h4 It is also a draw after 2.fS gxfS 3.h4 <.!teS 4.<.!tf3 f4 S.hS <.!tfS 6.g6 hxg6 7.h6<.!tf6 8.<.!txf4 gS (Shirov). 2 ... 'it>xc6 3.f5 'it>d6 But not 3 ... gxfS? 4.hS<.!td6 S.g6 hxg66.h6. 4.f6 'it>d7 It is not good for Black to play the move 4 ... c6, as it was recommended in some sources, because of S.<.!tg3! 'it>d7 (or S... <.!te6 6.<.!tf4 <.!td6 7.hS! gxhS 8.g6 hxg6 9.'it>gS - analogously to the previous example) 6.hS gxhS 7.'it>h4 28

cS 8.'it>xhS c4 9.<.!th6 c3 10.0 c2 11.f8~ c1~ 12.~0+ <.!tc6 13.~f6+ <.!tbS 14.<.!txh7, and his defence is tremendously difficult. 5.'it>f3 'it>e6 6.'it>f4 'it>f7 7.'it>e5 Black must play very accurately. In particular, he should watch about the possibility h4-hS on the kingside. For example 7.'it>g4<.!te6 8.hS <.!tf7! (After the indifferent move 8 ... <.!td6, White would follow with 9.hxg6 hxg6, and then he goes with his king to the c6square, countering 'it>d8 with the move f6-0, winning the game.) 9.hxg6+ <.!txg6! 7 ..• 'it>e8 8.'it>d5 'it>d7 9.'it>c5 'it>e8 with a draw (Shirov). The protected passed pawn is also quite useful for defensive purposes. In that case, it can compensate the material advantage of the opponent, since it is not always possible to win the game without the participation of the king. The simplest example on that theme can be seen in the following diagram.

33

Draw

Strategy Black's king cannot leave the square a8-a5-d5-d8. It is also worth mentioning that there are some constructions, which are practically as effective as having a protected passed pawn. They are sufficient to restrict the mobility of the enemy king. See an example of that kind - we can call that construction as having "a potential passed pawn".

king cannot enter the square of Black's a-pawn. 3 ... aS! White was threatening here 4.a4! b4 5.a5!, winning. 35

34 Kovalevskaya - Demina Moscow 1999 Black has completed his defensive construction. He cannot create a passed pawn indeed, but White cannot clarify the situation on the queenside. Black has a potential threat to create a passed pawn and White's king is restricted in its mobility, so he cannot promote his passed pawns on the kingside without it. 4.@d3 f5 5.@d2 @f6 6.a3 l.\WfJ? Human desire to enter a king @g6 7.@e3 @f6 8.@d2 and the and pawn ending with an extra opponents agreed to a draw. In pawn is quite understandable; case of 8.f3, Black can even play nevertheless, this is a mistake. It 8 .. .f4+ 9.gxf4 (But not 9.@xf4 b4 is amazing, but the majority of and White suddenly gets checkcomputer programs suggest that mated: 1O.axb4 a4 1l.b5 a3 12.b6 a2 13.b7 a1~ 14.b8~ ~xd4#) 9 ... move, at least at first sight. 1..•\WxfJ+ 2.<~xfJ bS! 3.@e3 @f5 1O.h5 @f6. This is the key moment. White fails to compromise his oppoThere is also another construcnent's queenside with the move tion - we can call it a permanent 3.a4, because of 3 ...bxa4 and his threat of a breakthrough.

29