[Event "White to move, find the best move."]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "TCA, Newsletter"]
[Black "Issue #1, Easy"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1bqk2r/1p2bpp1/p1npp2p/2n5/3NP1PP/2N1B3/PPP1QP2/2KR1BR1 w kq - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]

 *

[Event "White to move and mate in 4"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "TCA, Newsletter"]
[Black "Issue #1, Medium"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1bqr1k1/pp2np1p/2np1Bp1/2p5/2B1p2Q/3P1N2/PPP3PP/R4RK1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]

 *

[Event "White to move, find the best move"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "TCA, Newsletter"]
[Black "Issue #1, Hard"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4qnk1/2Q2p1p/p3p1pP/1p2P1N1/1P6/P7/5PP1/6K1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]

 *

[Event "Tasmanian Open 2015"]
[Site "Havenview Primary School"]
[Date "2015.06.07"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "LOH, Joshua"]
[Black "ROUT, Ian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A70"]
[WhiteElo "2147"]
[BlackElo "1939"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2015.06.07"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "AUS"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. Bd3 {White
choses the lesser played Knaak version of the Modern Benoni, certainly this is
not a mistake, not even an inaccuracy, but not seen as often over the board.} (
{A more common variation for the quiet player is} 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O
{with white retaining a space advantage, but an equal game for both sides.}) ({
If white is feeling aggressive, the pawn push variations lead to complex play
with plenty of traps for the unwary black player.} 7. f4 Bg7 8. Bb5+ (8. Nf3
O-O) 8... Nfd7 $1 {Black must know this else fall to e5.} (8... Nbd7 9. e5) (
8... Bd7 9. e5) 9. a4 O-O 10. Nf3 {with equal chances for both sides.}) 7...
Bg7 8. h3 {stops a piece arriving on the g4 square, but this wasn't a huge
threat.} (8. Nf3 Bg4 (8... Ng4 9. O-O Ne5 10. Nxe5 Bxe5 11. Be3 {[%csl Ra8,Rb8,
Gc3,Rc8,Gd1,Gd3,Rd8,Ge3,Gf1]}) 9. h3 Bxf3 (9... Bd7 10. Bf4 {[%csl Yd6]}) 10.
Qxf3 {[%csl Gc1,Gd3]}) 8... O-O 9. Nf3 b5 $1 {A thematic pawn sacrifice that
takes apart white's centre and frees black's position.} 10. Bxb5 ({the other
capture is no better for white.} 10. Nxb5 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 Re8 12. Nd2 Ba6 13. a4
(13. Nc3 $6 f5 14. Ne2 fxe4) 13... f5 14. O-O fxe4) 10... Nxe4 11. Nxe4 Qa5+
12. Nfd2 Qxb5 13. Nxd6 Qa6 14. N2c4 Nd7 15. O-O Ne5 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. Nxc8
Raxc8 {[%csl Ya1,Ga6,Yc1,Gc8,Yd1,Ge5] after the dust clears white is up a pawn,
but that pawn is very difficult to convert.  The IQP will be blockaded and
round up, and now it's white who's behind in development.} 18. Qc2 Rfd8 (18...
Bh2+ {is an interesting move that black could go for, but it's double edged.}
19. Kxh2 Qxf1 20. d6 c4 (20... Rfd8 21. Bh6 Qxa1 $4 22. Qc3 {[%csl Rg7][%cal
Rc3g7]} Qh1+ 23. Kxh1 f6 24. Qc4+ Kh8 25. Qf7 Rg8 26. Qxf6+ Rg7 27. Qxg7#) 21.
Qc3 (21. Bh6 Qxa1 22. Qc3 f6 {[%csl Yf6][%cal Yf8f6,Rh6f8,Gc8f8]}) 21... f6 {
with an interesting and unbalanced endgame}) 19. Rd1 Bd4 20. Be3 Rxd5 21. Bxd4
cxd4 {the game now revolves around whether or not white can capture the IQP,
with only heavy pieces left on the board, this is unlikely.} 22. Qd3 Qf6 23.
Rac1 Rb8 24. b3 Qd8 25. Rc4 Qa5 26. Rd2 Rb4 27. Rc8+ Kg7 28. Re2 Re5 29. Rec2
Re1+ 30. Kh2 Qe5+ 31. Qg3 d3 32. Qxe5+ Rxe5 33. Rd2 Rd4 34. Rc3 Re2 35. Rdxd3
Rxd3 36. Rxd3 {The key move here is Rxa2, while objectively both that and Rxf3
are both drawn, leaving no player with a pawn majority makes the draw simpler.}
1/2-1/2

[Event "?"]
[Site "Denmark"]
[Date "1971.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PEDERSEN, E.."]
[Black "GALLMEYER"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B96"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1971.??.??"]
[EventCountry "DEN"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 b5 8. e5
dxe5 9. fxe5 Qc7 10. exf6 Qe5+ 11. Be2 Qxg5 12. O-O Qe5 13. Bf3 $6 (13. Kh1 {
and especially}) (13. Nf3 $1 {are thought to be more dangerous for black.})
13... Ra7 14. Nc6 $5 Qc5+ $6 ({According to present day theory} 14... Nxc6 15.
Bxc6+ Bd7 16. Bxd7+ Rxd7 17. Qf3 Bd6 {is fine for black}) 15. Kh1 Rd7 ({Not} 
15... Nxc6 $2 16. Ne4 Qb6 ({After} 16... Qd4 17. Nd6+ Qxd6 18. fxg7 Rg8 19.
gxf8=Q+ Qxf8 20. Bxc6+ Bd7 21. Qf3 {black will suffer due to his exposed king})
17. fxg7 Bxg7 18. Nd6+ Ke7 19. Bxc6 f5 20. Nxf5+ $1 exf5 21. Re1+ Kf6 (21...
Kf7 22. Qd5+ Kg6 23. Qd6+ {transposes, as} Bf6 {loses to} 24. Be8+) 22. Qd6+
Kg5 23. h4+ {with a decisive attack}) 16. Nxb8 $1 {This queen sacrifice, first
played in the current game is the only way for white to continue his attack. 
Contrary to R. Maric's analysis in Informator 12, it should lead to a draw
against best defence.} Rxd1 17. Raxd1 {the threat of Bc6+ forces black's reply}
gxf6 18. Ne4 Qc7 $2 {the fatal error} (18... Qf5 $1 {is the best defence} {
After} 19. Rd3 (19. Nxf6+ Qxf6 20. Bc6+ Ke7 21. Rxf6 Kxf6 {is equal}) 19... Qf4
$1 {white is forced into a drawish liquidation with} 20. Nxf6+ {etc.}) 19.
Nxf6+ Ke7 20. Bh5 $1 {Threatening a beautiful mate in 4} Bg7 (20... -- 21. Nc6+
Qxc6 22. Ng8+ Rxg8 (22... Ke8 23. Bxf7#) 23. Rxf7+ Ke8 24. Rg7#) 21. Nc6+ $1
Qxc6 ({Or} 21... Kf8 22. Nd7+ Bxd7 23. Rxf7+ Kg8 (23... Ke8 24. Rff1#) 24. Ne7#
) 22. Ng8+ $1 Ke8 (22... Rxg8 23. Rxf7+ Ke8 24. Rc7+ Kf8 25. Rd8+ {and mate on
the next move} Qe8 26. Rxe8#) 23. Bxf7+ Kf8 24. Rd8+ {With no defence to the
mate threat} 1-0

[Event "Top 12 French Team Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2015.06.09"]
[Round "11.2"]
[White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Black "Feller, Sebastien"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B76"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2626"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "GRA"]
[BlackTeam "EVR"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]
[WhiteClock "0:20:22"]
[BlackClock "0:29:07"]

{For this month's newsletter contribution I have selected an interesting pawn
endgame from the recent French Team Championship, which was Sebastian Feller's
first tournament since being convicted and banned for cheating at the 2010
Khanty-Mansiysk Chess Olympiad. For those that are not aware of the story, at
this tournament, Feller won a gold medal as the best individual for his board
at the tournament, using a sophisticated cheating system whereby Cyril Marzolo
would analyse Feller's live games with a computer and send a number coding the
computer's move via. text message to Arnaud Hauchard, who would then
communicate the move to Feller by which table of the match he stood behind and
in what order. The plan was caught when someone innocently checked Hauchard's
phone (provided by the French Chess Federation) and noticed the curious coded
messages. This aside, Feller had a respectable result in his return to
competitive chess (brought about by his returning his prize and gold medal
from the Olympiad to FIDE), scoring -1 against a quite strong field. Here
we'll go right to the pawn endgame as a test of your calculation skills.} 1. e4
c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6
9. O-O-O Bd7 10. g4 Rc8 11. Kb1 Ne5 12. h4 Qa5 13. Nd5 Qxd2 14. Nxe7+ Kh8 15.
Bxd2 Rce8 16. g5 Nxe4 17. fxe4 Rxe7 18. Bb4 Bg4 19. Bxd6 Rd7 20. Bxf8 Bxd1 21.
Bxg7+ Kxg7 22. c3 Bf3 23. Nxf3 Nxf3 24. Be2 Nd2+ 25. Kc2 Nxe4 26. Bf3 Ng3 27.
Re1 h6 28. b4 Nf5 29. Bg4 hxg5 30. hxg5 f6 31. gxf6+ Kxf6 32. a4 Kg5 33. Bh3
Rh7 34. Bxf5 gxf5 35. Kd3 Rd7+ 36. Ke2 Re7+ 37. Kf2 Rxe1 38. Kxe1 Kf4 {Now for
the first exercise - is this position a win for Black or a draw?} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Top 12 French Team Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2015.06.09"]
[Round "11.2"]
[White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Black "Feller, Sebastien"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2626"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/pp6/8/5p2/PP3k2/2P5/8/4K3 w - - 0 39"]
[PlyCount "17"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "GRA"]
[BlackTeam "EVR"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]
[WhiteClock "0:20:22"]
[BlackClock "0:29:07"]

{It transpires that the pawn endgame is a draw, but only if White finds} 39.
Kd2 $1 (39. Ke2 $2 {was played in the game.}) (39. Kf2 $4 Ke4 40. Ke2 f4 {
followed by ...f3 and ...Kd3 is clearly out of the question.}) 39... Kf3 ({If} 
39... Ke4 40. a5 f4 41. c4 Kd4 42. a6 $1 bxa6 43. c5 Kd5 44. Kd3 a5 45. bxa5
Kxc5 46. Ke4 Kb5 47. Kxf4 Kxa5 48. Ke3 Kb4 49. Kd2 Kb3 50. Kc1 $11 {and White
reaches the key square in the nick of time.}) (39... Kg3 40. Ke2 Kg2 41. Ke3
Kg3 42. Ke2 f4 43. Kf1 Kf3 44. a5 Ke4 45. c4 {holds in more or less the same
fashion as the previous variation:} Kd4 (45... a6 46. b5 Kd4 47. bxa6 bxa6 48.
Ke2 Kxc4 49. Kf3 Kb5 50. Kxf4 Kxa5 51. Ke3 Kb4 52. Kd2 Kb3 53. Kc1 $11) 46. a6
$1 bxa6 47. c5 Kd5 48. Ke2 a5 49. bxa5 Kxc5 50. Kf3 Kb4 51. Kxf4 Kxa5 52. Ke3
$11 {and so on.}) 40. a5 a6 (40... f4 41. c4 Kg2 42. a6 $1 bxa6 43. c5 f3 44.
c6 f2 45. c7 f1=Q 46. c8=Q {is a draw - Black's extra pawn is useless, Black
can't win the b4-pawn by force and his king is too exposed to checks to have
any winning chances at all.}) (40... Ke4 41. a6 bxa6 42. Ke2 Kd5 43. Kd3 f4 44.
c4+ Ke5 45. c5 {is also a draw, as should be clear by now.}) 41. c4 Kg2 42. b5
f4 43. bxa6 bxa6 44. c5 f3 45. c6 f2 46. c7 f1=Q 47. c8=Q $11 {and this is a
pretty easy draw, even if Black wins the a5-pawn.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Top 12 French Team Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2015.06.09"]
[Round "11.2"]
[White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Black "Feller, Sebastien"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2626"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/pp6/8/5p2/PP3k2/2P5/8/4K3 w - - 0 39"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "GRA"]
[BlackTeam "EVR"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]
[WhiteClock "0:20:22"]
[BlackClock "0:29:07"]

{As we know, in the actual game White blundered with} 39. Ke2 $2 Ke4 {Now it
turns out the plan of creating a passed pawn with} 40. a5 {doesn't work, but
now for the second puzzle: what move should Black play to win the game?} (40.
Kd2 f4 41. Ke2 f3+ 42. Kf2 Kd3 {wouldn't be any good for White who loses all
his queenside pawns.}) 1/2-1/2

[Event "Top 12 French Team Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2015.06.09"]
[Round "11.2"]
[White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Black "Feller, Sebastien"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2626"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/pp6/8/P4p2/1P2k3/2P5/4K3/8 b - - 0 40"]
[PlyCount "12"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "GRA"]
[BlackTeam "EVR"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]
[WhiteClock "0:20:22"]
[BlackClock "0:29:07"]

40... f4 $4 {This impatient move throws away half a point - in such positions
the pawn should be as far back as possible so the White king takes longer to
grab the pawn! We'll understand the importance of that as we play through the
game continuation.} (40... a6 {just won:} 41. Kd2 (41. c4 Kd4 42. c5 Kc4 {is
easy enough.}) 41... f4 42. Ke2 f3+ 43. Kf2 Kd3 44. Kxf3 Kxc3 $19 {and both
the queenside pawns fell.}) 41. c4 (41. a6 {also drew:} bxa6 42. c4 Kd4 43. c5
{and we've transposed to the game continuation.}) 41... Kd4 (41... a6 {is too
late now:} 42. b5 Kd4 43. Kf3 Kxc4 44. bxa6 bxa6 45. Kxf4 Kb4 46. Ke3 Kxa5 47.
Kd2 {and the king easily makes it to the drawing zone in time.}) 42. a6 $1 {
This draws immediately, as does} (42. c5 a6 (42... Kc4 $4 43. a6 $1) 43. b5 $1
Kxc5 (43... axb5 $2 44. a6 bxa6 45. c6 $18) 44. bxa6 bxa6 45. Kf3 Kb4 46. Kxf4
Kxa5 47. Ke3 Kb4 48. Kd2 Kb3 49. Kc1 $11) 42... bxa6 43. c5 Kd5 44. Kf3 a5 45.
bxa5 Kxc5 46. Kxf4 {The position is of course a very basic draw as we know
already. I hope you enjoyed the puzzles and learned something about pawn
endgames (in this case - when you will have to exchange your non-rook's pawn
for your rook's pawn, leave your other pawn back as far as possible so it
takes longer for their king to reach the drawing zone). That is all for now
and I'll return next month with another game of interest. Happy chessing!}
1/2-1/2

[Event "White to move, find the best move."]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "TCA, Newsletter"]
[Black "Issue #1, Easy"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1bqk2r/1p2bpp1/p1npp2p/2n5/3NP1PP/2N1B3/PPP1QP2/2KR1BR1 w kq - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]

 *

[Event "White to move and mate in 4"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "TCA, Newsletter"]
[Black "Issue #1, Medium"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1bqr1k1/pp2np1p/2np1Bp1/2p5/2B1p2Q/3P1N2/PPP3PP/R4RK1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]

 *

[Event "White to move, find the best move"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "TCA, Newsletter"]
[Black "Issue #1, Hard"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4qnk1/2Q2p1p/p3p1pP/1p2P1N1/1P6/P7/5PP1/6K1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]

 *

[Event "Tasmanian Open 2015"]
[Site "Havenview Primary School"]
[Date "2015.06.07"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "ROUT, Ian"]
[Black "LOH, Joshua"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A70"]
[WhiteElo "1939"]
[BlackElo "2147"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2015.06.07"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "AUS"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. Bd3 {White
choses the lesser played Knaak version of the Modern Benoni, certainly this is
not a mistake, not even an inaccuracy, but not seen as often over the board.} (
{A more common variation for the quiet player is} 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O
{with white retaining a space advantage, but an equal game for both sides.}) ({
If white is feeling aggressive, the pawn push variations lead to complex play
with plenty of traps for the unwary black player.} 7. f4 Bg7 8. Bb5+ (8. Nf3
O-O) 8... Nfd7 $1 {Black must know this else fall to e5.} (8... Nbd7 9. e5) (
8... Bd7 9. e5) 9. a4 O-O 10. Nf3 {with equal chances for both sides.}) 7...
Bg7 8. h3 {stops a piece arriving on the g4 square, but this wasn't a huge
threat.} (8. Nf3 Bg4 (8... Ng4 9. O-O Ne5 10. Nxe5 Bxe5 11. Be3 {[%csl Ra8,Rb8,
Gc3,Rc8,Gd1,Gd3,Rd8,Ge3,Gf1]}) 9. h3 Bxf3 (9... Bd7 10. Bf4 {[%csl Yd6]}) 10.
Qxf3 {[%csl Gc1,Gd3]}) 8... O-O 9. Nf3 b5 $1 {A thematic pawn sacrifice that
takes apart white's centre and frees black's position.} 10. Bxb5 ({the other
capture is no better for white.} 10. Nxb5 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 Re8 12. Nd2 Ba6 13. a4
(13. Nc3 $6 f5 14. Ne2 fxe4) 13... f5 14. O-O fxe4) 10... Nxe4 11. Nxe4 Qa5+
12. Nfd2 Qxb5 13. Nxd6 Qa6 14. N2c4 Nd7 15. O-O Ne5 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. Nxc8
Raxc8 {[%csl Ya1,Ga6,Yc1,Gc8,Yd1,Ge5] after the dust clears white is up a pawn,
but that pawn is very difficult to convert.  The IQP will be blockaded and
round up, and now it's white who's behind in development.} 18. Qc2 Rfd8 (18...
Bh2+ {is an interesting move that black could go for, but it's double edged.}
19. Kxh2 Qxf1 20. d6 c4 (20... Rfd8 21. Bh6 Qxa1 $4 22. Qc3 {[%csl Rg7][%cal
Rc3g7]} Qh1+ 23. Kxh1 f6 24. Qc4+ Kh8 25. Qf7 Rg8 26. Qxf6+ Rg7 27. Qxg7#) 21.
Qc3 (21. Bh6 Qxa1 22. Qc3 f6 {[%csl Yf6][%cal Yf8f6,Rh6f8,Gc8f8]}) 21... f6 {
with an interesting and unbalanced endgame}) 19. Rd1 Bd4 20. Be3 Rxd5 21. Bxd4
cxd4 {the game now revolves around whether or not white can capture the IQP,
with only heavy pieces left on the board, this is unlikely.} 22. Qd3 Qf6 23.
Rac1 Rb8 24. b3 Qd8 25. Rc4 Qa5 26. Rd2 Rb4 27. Rc8+ Kg7 28. Re2 Re5 29. Rec2
Re1+ 30. Kh2 Qe5+ 31. Qg3 d3 32. Qxe5+ Rxe5 33. Rd2 Rd4 34. Rc3 Re2 35. Rdxd3
Rxd3 36. Rxd3 {The key move here is Rxa2, while objectively both that and Rxf3
are both drawn, leaving no player with a pawn majority makes the draw simpler.}
1/2-1/2

[Event "?"]
[Site "Denmark"]
[Date "1971.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PEDERSEN, E.."]
[Black "GALLMEYER"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B96"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1971.??.??"]
[EventCountry "DEN"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 b5 8. e5
dxe5 9. fxe5 Qc7 10. exf6 Qe5+ 11. Be2 Qxg5 12. O-O Qe5 13. Bf3 $6 (13. Kh1 {
and especially}) (13. Nf3 $1 {are thought to be more dangerous for black.})
13... Ra7 14. Nc6 $5 Qc5+ $6 ({According to present day theory} 14... Nxc6 15.
Bxc6+ Bd7 16. Bxd7+ Rxd7 17. Qf3 Bd6 {is fine for black}) 15. Kh1 Rd7 ({Not} 
15... Nxc6 $2 16. Ne4 Qb6 ({After} 16... Qd4 17. Nd6+ Qxd6 18. fxg7 Rg8 19.
gxf8=Q+ Qxf8 20. Bxc6+ Bd7 21. Qf3 {black will suffer due to his exposed king})
17. fxg7 Bxg7 18. Nd6+ Ke7 19. Bxc6 f5 20. Nxf5+ $1 exf5 21. Re1+ Kf6 (21...
Kf7 22. Qd5+ Kg6 23. Qd6+ {transposes, as} Bf6 {loses to} 24. Be8+) 22. Qd6+
Kg5 23. h4+ {with a decisive attack}) 16. Nxb8 $1 {This queen sacrifice, first
played in the current game is the only way for white to continue his attack. 
Contrary to R. Maric's analysis in Informator 12, it should lead to a draw
against best defence.} Rxd1 17. Raxd1 {the threat of Bc6+ forces black's reply}
gxf6 18. Ne4 Qc7 $2 {the fatal error} (18... Qf5 $1 {is the best defence} {
After} 19. Rd3 (19. Nxf6+ Qxf6 20. Bc6+ Ke7 21. Rxf6 Kxf6 {is equal}) 19... Qf4
$1 {white is forced into a drawish liquidation with} 20. Nxf6+ {etc.}) 19.
Nxf6+ Ke7 20. Bh5 $1 {Threatening a beautiful mate in 4} Bg7 (20... -- 21. Nc6+
Qxc6 22. Ng8+ Rxg8 (22... Ke8 23. Bxf7#) 23. Rxf7+ Ke8 24. Rg7#) 21. Nc6+ $1
Qxc6 ({Or} 21... Kf8 22. Nd7+ Bxd7 23. Rxf7+ Kg8 (23... Ke8 24. Rff1#) 24. Ne7#
) 22. Ng8+ $1 Ke8 (22... Rxg8 23. Rxf7+ Ke8 24. Rc7+ Kf8 25. Rd8+ {and mate on
the next move} Qe8 26. Rxe8#) 23. Bxf7+ Kf8 24. Rd8+ {With no defence to the
mate threat} 1-0

[Event "Top 12 French Team Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2015.06.09"]
[Round "11.2"]
[White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Black "Feller, Sebastien"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B76"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2626"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "GRA"]
[BlackTeam "EVR"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]
[WhiteClock "0:20:22"]
[BlackClock "0:29:07"]

{For this month's newsletter contribution I have selected an interesting pawn
endgame from the recent French Team Championship, which was Sebastian Feller's
first tournament since being convicted and banned for cheating at the 2010
Khanty-Mansiysk Chess Olympiad. For those that are not aware of the story, at
this tournament, Feller won a gold medal as the best individual for his board
at the tournament, using a sophisticated cheating system whereby Cyril Marzolo
would analyse Feller's live games with a computer and send a number coding the
computer's move via. text message to Arnaud Hauchard, who would then
communicate the move to Feller by which table of the match he stood behind and
in what order. The plan was caught when someone innocently checked Hauchard's
phone (provided by the French Chess Federation) and noticed the curious coded
messages. This aside, Feller had a respectable result in his return to
competitive chess (brought about by his returning his prize and gold medal
from the Olympiad to FIDE), scoring -1 against a quite strong field. Here
we'll go right to the pawn endgame as a test of your calculation skills.} 1. e4
c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6
9. O-O-O Bd7 10. g4 Rc8 11. Kb1 Ne5 12. h4 Qa5 13. Nd5 Qxd2 14. Nxe7+ Kh8 15.
Bxd2 Rce8 16. g5 Nxe4 17. fxe4 Rxe7 18. Bb4 Bg4 19. Bxd6 Rd7 20. Bxf8 Bxd1 21.
Bxg7+ Kxg7 22. c3 Bf3 23. Nxf3 Nxf3 24. Be2 Nd2+ 25. Kc2 Nxe4 26. Bf3 Ng3 27.
Re1 h6 28. b4 Nf5 29. Bg4 hxg5 30. hxg5 f6 31. gxf6+ Kxf6 32. a4 Kg5 33. Bh3
Rh7 34. Bxf5 gxf5 35. Kd3 Rd7+ 36. Ke2 Re7+ 37. Kf2 Rxe1 38. Kxe1 Kf4 {Now for
the first exercise - is this position a win for Black or a draw?} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Top 12 French Team Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2015.06.09"]
[Round "11.2"]
[White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Black "Feller, Sebastien"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2626"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/pp6/8/5p2/PP3k2/2P5/8/4K3 w - - 0 39"]
[PlyCount "17"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "GRA"]
[BlackTeam "EVR"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]
[WhiteClock "0:20:22"]
[BlackClock "0:29:07"]

{It transpires that the pawn endgame is a draw, but only if White finds} 39.
Kd2 $1 (39. Ke2 $2 {was played in the game.}) (39. Kf2 $4 Ke4 40. Ke2 f4 {
followed by ...f3 and ...Kd3 is clearly out of the question.}) 39... Kf3 ({If} 
39... Ke4 40. a5 f4 41. c4 Kd4 42. a6 $1 bxa6 43. c5 Kd5 44. Kd3 a5 45. bxa5
Kxc5 46. Ke4 Kb5 47. Kxf4 Kxa5 48. Ke3 Kb4 49. Kd2 Kb3 50. Kc1 $11 {and White
reaches the key square in the nick of time.}) (39... Kg3 40. Ke2 Kg2 41. Ke3
Kg3 42. Ke2 f4 43. Kf1 Kf3 44. a5 Ke4 45. c4 {holds in more or less the same
fashion as the previous variation:} Kd4 (45... a6 46. b5 Kd4 47. bxa6 bxa6 48.
Ke2 Kxc4 49. Kf3 Kb5 50. Kxf4 Kxa5 51. Ke3 Kb4 52. Kd2 Kb3 53. Kc1 $11) 46. a6
$1 bxa6 47. c5 Kd5 48. Ke2 a5 49. bxa5 Kxc5 50. Kf3 Kb4 51. Kxf4 Kxa5 52. Ke3
$11 {and so on.}) 40. a5 a6 (40... f4 41. c4 Kg2 42. a6 $1 bxa6 43. c5 f3 44.
c6 f2 45. c7 f1=Q 46. c8=Q {is a draw - Black's extra pawn is useless, Black
can't win the b4-pawn by force and his king is too exposed to checks to have
any winning chances at all.}) (40... Ke4 41. a6 bxa6 42. Ke2 Kd5 43. Kd3 f4 44.
c4+ Ke5 45. c5 {is also a draw, as should be clear by now.}) 41. c4 Kg2 42. b5
f4 43. bxa6 bxa6 44. c5 f3 45. c6 f2 46. c7 f1=Q 47. c8=Q $11 {and this is a
pretty easy draw, even if Black wins the a5-pawn.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Top 12 French Team Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2015.06.09"]
[Round "11.2"]
[White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Black "Feller, Sebastien"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2626"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/pp6/8/5p2/PP3k2/2P5/8/4K3 w - - 0 39"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "GRA"]
[BlackTeam "EVR"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]
[WhiteClock "0:20:22"]
[BlackClock "0:29:07"]

{As we know, in the actual game White blundered with} 39. Ke2 $2 Ke4 {Now it
turns out the plan of creating a passed pawn with} 40. a5 {doesn't work, but
now for the second puzzle: what move should Black play to win the game?} (40.
Kd2 f4 41. Ke2 f3+ 42. Kf2 Kd3 {wouldn't be any good for White who loses all
his queenside pawns.}) 1/2-1/2

[Event "Top 12 French Team Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2015.06.09"]
[Round "11.2"]
[White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Black "Feller, Sebastien"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2626"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/pp6/8/P4p2/1P2k3/2P5/4K3/8 b - - 0 40"]
[PlyCount "12"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "GRA"]
[BlackTeam "EVR"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]
[WhiteClock "0:20:22"]
[BlackClock "0:29:07"]

40... f4 $4 {This impatient move throws away half a point - in such positions
the pawn should be as far back as possible so the White king takes longer to
grab the pawn! We'll understand the importance of that as we play through the
game continuation.} (40... a6 {just won:} 41. Kd2 (41. c4 Kd4 42. c5 Kc4 {is
easy enough.}) 41... f4 42. Ke2 f3+ 43. Kf2 Kd3 44. Kxf3 Kxc3 $19 {and both
the queenside pawns fell.}) 41. c4 (41. a6 {also drew:} bxa6 42. c4 Kd4 43. c5
{and we've transposed to the game continuation.}) 41... Kd4 (41... a6 {is too
late now:} 42. b5 Kd4 43. Kf3 Kxc4 44. bxa6 bxa6 45. Kxf4 Kb4 46. Ke3 Kxa5 47.
Kd2 {and the king easily makes it to the drawing zone in time.}) 42. a6 $1 {
This draws immediately, as does} (42. c5 a6 (42... Kc4 $4 43. a6 $1) 43. b5 $1
Kxc5 (43... axb5 $2 44. a6 bxa6 45. c6 $18) 44. bxa6 bxa6 45. Kf3 Kb4 46. Kxf4
Kxa5 47. Ke3 Kb4 48. Kd2 Kb3 49. Kc1 $11) 42... bxa6 43. c5 Kd5 44. Kf3 a5 45.
bxa5 Kxc5 46. Kxf4 {The position is of course a very basic draw as we know
already. I hope you enjoyed the puzzles and learned something about pawn
endgames (in this case - when you will have to exchange your non-rook's pawn
for your rook's pawn, leave your other pawn back as far as possible so it
takes longer for their king to reach the drawing zone). That is all for now
and I'll return next month with another game of interest. Happy chessing!}
1/2-1/2

