Chess Informant 143

Chess Informant 143 arrived yesterday as book and CD. After a few more hours of post-dinner work, I installed the CD on my notebook and started working through the first article in the magazine. Ivan Sokolov presents some games and game fragments from the Corus Chess tournament that was held in January at Wijk aan Zee with a one-round visit to Eindhoven.

I was well-familiar with Eindhoven when I was reading about the 1975 Wijk aan Zee tournament in high school because my other passion at the time was the military history of World War II. I read Cornelius Ryan, A Bridge Too Far, watched the film based on the book, and even bought and played an Avalon Hill board game based on the battle.

I usually follow this tournament, although this year that amounted to know more than watching Danny King's PowerPlay videos on YouTube. In January 2000, I followed this tournament live on the Internet Chess Club for the first time. No other Grandmaster chess event consistently draws my attention year after year, but the past couple of years, it seems, I have not found the time to follow it closely.

Hence, Ivan Sokolov's highlights, like Danny King's, are most welcome. I recall watching Sokolov play in this event a few years ago. Sokolov presents more than a dozen games and several fragments. His commentary is instructive and entertaining. The second entry is "seemingly 'simple position'" (16) where Anish Giri blundered.

Black to move

When Stockfish thinks for less than half a minute, there is very little difference between the three moves that Sokolov analyzes here. But, then, the engine finds one move that is equal and a slight advantage for White in the other two. This slight advantage, it turns out, is a technical win that is just deep enough that the engine's evaluation is less than reliable. I played one of them against Stockfish last night. The computer diverged from the game's variation, but finding the winning line still was easy.

The candidate moves:

a) 39...Rd7 (played in the game)
b) 39...Kf5
c) 39...h5

The second choice leads down the same road as the game with a winning pawn ending for White. 39...h5 draws.

The game, Firouzja,A. -- Giri,A., continued 39...Re7 40.Kf3 Kf5 41.Rxh4 Kxe5 42.Re4+ Kf6 43.Rxe7 Kxe7

White to move

44.Kf4 Kf6 45.g4 a5 46.a4 h6 47.h4 Ke6 48.g5 hxg5

And this position caught my interest, thanks to Sokolov's commentary. In blitz, I would have made the wrong move without a thought, but there is an important principle here that should be understood. It involves counting.

White to move

How would you finish?