Pawn Wars

In a game played ten years ago, Sergei Rublevsky had a one pawn advantage.

White to move

He played 33.Rxd5!

A forcing sequence resulted. 33...Bxd5 34.Bxd5 Kf7 35.Re1 Raa6 36.Kg1 Ke7 37.Rxe6 Rxe6 38.Bxe6 Kxe6

White to move

Rublevsky was able to win the pawn ending. The game was published as Chess Informant 91/236.

Sergei Rublevsky

Sergei Rublevsky has cracked into the top 25 on the FIDE list several times, almost earned a berth to the Candidates tournament to qualify for Mexico City 2007 (losing to Grischuk), and has defeated both Karpov and Kasparov in tournament play.

In 2005 he unleashed a beautiful combination against Alexander Riazantsev that chess engines rarely find.

Position from Riazantsev - Rublevsky, 2005

Black to move

This game was selected as one of the best games published in Informant 94, but placed twelfth in the voting. Hence, it is an easily overlooked brilliancy.