At the annual RA Fall Open in Ottawa, a rarely seen stalemate theme occurred in an otherwise easily winning position. White's play throughout the game was not superb, yet he found a creative way to obtain best chances at salvaging a draw. Take a look!
[Site "Ottawa CAN"]
[Date "2013.09.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Qin, Zi Yi (Joey)"]
[Black "Pacey, Kevin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C09"]
[WhiteElo "2273"]
[BlackElo "2163"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "128"]
[EventDate "2013.09.13"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
{This game is remarkable for its ending and not so much the opening.} 1. e4 e6
2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Bb5+ {An unremarkable line in the French
Tarrasch} (5. Ngf3 Nf6 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. Bxd7+ Nbxd7 8. O-O Be7) 5... Nc6 (5...
Bd7 6. Qe2+ Be7 (6... Qe7 7. Bxd7+ Nxd7 8. dxc5 Nxc5) 7. dxc5 Nf6 8. Nb3 O-O)
6. Ngf3 Bd6 7. O-O (7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. O-O Nge7 9. Nb3 Bd6 10. Re1 O-O) 7... cxd4
(7... Nge7 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Nb3 Bd6 10. Re1 O-O $11 {This type of position is
relatively equal. Some players would enjoy the White position here while
others wouldn't be too happy playing against the isolated pawn.}) 8. Nb3 Nge7
9. Nbxd4 O-O 10. h3 (10. c3 Bg4 11. Qa4 $11) 10... a6 11. Bd3 h6 12. c3 Bc7 13.
Bc2 {with the intention of causing Black difficulties after Qd3} Qd6 {
Interesting manoeuvering by both players} 14. Re1 Nxd4 15. Qxd4 Bf5 16. Bxf5
Nxf5 17. Qd3 Ne7 18. Be3 (18. Bf4 Qxf4 19. Rxe7 Rad8) 18... Ng6 19. Rad1 Rad8
20. Qf5 Rfe8 21. Rd2 {White takes aim at d5} Re4 22. Red1 Ne7 23. Qh5 ({Joey
should have preferred the ending.} 23. Qxe4 dxe4 24. Rxd6 Bxd6 25. Ne5 $14)
23... Re8 24. g4 $4 Rxe3 $19 25. fxe3 Qg3+ 26. Rg2 Qxf3 27. Rf1 Qxe3+ 28. Kh1 {
White is completely lost yet doesn't throw in the towel} g6 29. Qh4 Nc6 30. a4
d4 31. cxd4 Nxd4 32. Qf6 Qxh3+ 33. Kg1 Qe3+ 34. Kh1 Re7 35. b4 Ne2 36. Rf3 Qg5
37. Rgf2 Qxf6 38. Rxf6 Ng3+ 39. Kg2 Kg7 (39... Ne4 40. Re2 h5 $19) 40. R6f3 Ne2
41. Kf1 Nd4 42. Rd3 Re4 43. Rg2 Ne6 44. Rd7 Rxb4 45. Rf2 Bf4 46. a5 Ng5 47. Kg2
Be3 48. Re2 Rxg4+ 49. Kh2 Bf4+ 50. Kh1 Nf3 $4 (50... h5 {or almost anything
else would have won easily.}) 51. Rxf7+ $3 {and Joey finally gets his chance!}
Kxf7 52. Re7+ Kf6 53. Re6+ Kg5 54. Rxg6+ Kf5 (54... Kh4 55. Rxh6+ Kg3 56. Rh3+
Kf2 57. Rh2+ Ke3 58. Re2+ Kd4 59. Re4+ Kc5 60. Rc4+ Kb5 61. Rc5+ Ka4 62. Rc4+
Kxa5 63. Rc5+ Kb6 64. Rc6+ Ka7 65. Rxa6+ Kb8 66. Ra8+ Kc7 67. Rc8+ Kd7 {and I
can't see a way for black to avoid endless checks}) 55. Rg5+ Ke4 56. Re5+ Kd3
57. Re3+ Kc2 58. Rc3+ Kd1 59. Rc1+ Ke2 60. Re1+ Kf2 61. Re2+ Kg3 62. Rg2+ Kh4
63. Rh2+ Kg5 64. Rh5+ Kxh5 {and Black decides that there's no point in testing
White anymore.} 1/2-1/2
It's interesting to note that my chess computer was unable to realize that the position after 51.Rxf7 is completely drawn. I had to play out tens of moves just to convince myself that there was nowhere for the Black king to hide!
