What a Mess

I had White in this position with the move in a three minute online blitz game yesterday. We had each used just over a minute getting here.

White to move

Black has two extra pawns, both passed, but perhaps White's piece activity balances matters somewhat.

27.Bxf8??

Simplification into a major piece ending does not help when two pawns down, but what else was White to do?

The immediate 27.f5! was a consideration, but the optics of an exchange on d6 gave me pause.
Attacking the queen with 27.Rc7 was also worth considering.

27...Rxf8-+ 28.f5 gxf5?

28...exf5 was best

29.gxf5 Qg5+ 30.Kf1??

Here, simplification into a rook ending was the correct idea. 30.Qg3 Qxg3 31.Kxg3 and Black's extra pawns have little prospect of advancing.

Black to move

30...Qc1+??

Black does not perceive that he has the advantage. 30...Rfc8 shows that White's king lacks protection. After the subsequent 31.Rg2 Rc1+ 32.Kf2 Rc2+ 33.Kg1 Qxg2+ 34.Qxg2+ Rxg2+ 35.Kxg2. Black's extra pawns are decisive.

31.Kg2 Qg5 32.Kh1 Qc1+ 33.Kh2 Qh6+ 34.Qh3 Qxh3+ 35.Kxh3

Black to move

Are rook endings ever simple?

35...a4??

35...exf5 36.Rxf5 a4=

36.f6??

White thinks that this move helps confine the king when, in fact, it allows Black to pursue an attack with Rab8. 36.Rg2+ leads to checkmate.

36...Kh7= 37.Rb4 Rh8??

Black must think that his king escapes check with a discovered check.

37...Rab8 and White's only recourse is a perpetual. 38.Rh4+

38.Rg2!

Cutting off the king. 

Black resigns

A few of the positions in this game and in the analysis should prove useful for the young players whose after school chess club begins this afternoon.

Blown Opportunities

On Saturday I played the first three rounds of the Eastern Washington Open in Spokane with no intention of playing on Sunday as I had told my wife we could watch football together while I smoked some ribs. All of my games were against youth players, presumably underrated. I won two and lost one, causing my rating to go down 12. In every game, the losing player had a decisive advantage at least once during the game. Those blown opportunities are presented below.

My first round opponent finished the event in seventh place with 3.0. He had a draw and win against the other two A Class players whom he faced. Our game was his only loss.

White to move

21.f5!?

Liam played a forcing sequence, although 21.e5 or 21.Ng5 would have offered a more sure route to advantage.

21...Nxe4 22.Nxe4 Qxd2??

22...Nxf5 is equal

White to move

There are four ways to capture the queen.

23.Rxd2??

23.Bxd2 and White has a clear advantage.

The move played allowed me counterplay and a few moves later I had three pawns for a knight. In a minor piece ending with six pawns to three, my opponent erred again and gave up another pawn, then traded one of his bishops for my last piece, giving me an easy four pawns vs. bishop ending.

My second round opponent, Declan Pham, finished in third place with 3.5 and gained 141 rating points, lifting him over 1500, still well below his playing strength. The others with 3.5 were two A Class players and an expert. He beat another A Class player in round three and drew one in the final round. His only loss was to strong A Class player Michael Cambareri in round four.

He took advantage of my passive opening play to seize the initiative with Black, then he won a pawn. Things were looking grim for me, but he overestimated his control of the long diagonal when he snatched a second pawn.

White to move

19.Bb2??

I also overestimated his control of the diagonal. He went on to win a long endgame where I never had a chance except throwing up some smokescreens that obscured his advantage.

19.Qxc3 was a winning move in light of of 19...e4 20.Qe1 Bxa1 (the move that I feared) 21.Bf4! Qe7 22.Qxa1

A bishop and knight for a rook and two pawns is still a material deficit, but Stockfish insists that I would have had a clear advantage. What I might have been able to perceive was that White also gains domination of the dark squares and that makes the Black king somewhat vulnerable.

My third round opponent, John, played a strong game against me in the Inland Classic last February, but I was able to get some initiative against his uncastled king. He remembered that loss and told me before our game, "I learned to castle." "Oh," I said, "so, you are better?" "Yes", he said. "So, you'll beat me?" "Yes." "Good to know."

He had several opportunities to do so.

White to move

My opponent offered a draw. I informed him that the rules required that he make his move first and that I would record the draw offer on my scoresheet.

22.Qc5

22.Bxa6+- wins a pawn and severely weakens my queenside.

He also missed some opportunities earlier in the game to disrupt the coordination of my pieces and pick up some material.

Beginning at move 29 we had a knight ending. The game lasted 83 moves. Along the way, I missed a clear advantage here.

Black to move

40...Kg8

I considered 40...exf5, but neither looked beyond nor accurately assessed the position after 41.Kf4 h4. Black would have had a decisive advantage. The game went on with me pressing for a win without a real advantage. John's last chance to hold the draw came with his 60th move.

White to move

60.Nc5??

Both 60.Nb4 and Kd4 allow White to extinguish Black's remaining pawns with a knight sacrifice.

After 60...Nc4+ 61.Kd4 Nxa5, Black's win is only a matter of time, as White will eventually be forced to give up the knight for one pawn. John's rating also dropped in this event, but he will bounce back. He's getting good experience playing adults and learning from his errors.

Queen vs. Two Rooks

White sees an opportunity to force an exchange of Black’s queen.

White to move

21.Ra8??

This forcing sequence of exchanges was the losing idea. Until then, White was doing well against a much higher opponent.

21.Nb5 would have been sensible.

21...Qxa8 22.Rxa8 Rxa8-+ 23.f4

23.Nd1 seems more stubborn but still loses after 23...Ra1 24.Kf1 Rbb1 25.Ke2 Rxd1 26.Qxd1 Rxd1 27.Kxd1 and Black has a bishop with both sides having an equal number of pawns.

23.Bxc3 24.Qxc3 Raa2

White to move

White spent a few minutes on the next move, apparently sensing how desperate the position had become.

25.e4 Rxg2+ 26.Kh1 Rgb2 27.e5 Ra1+ 0-1

I have never agreed with the statement that a bad plan is better than no plan. A bad plan was White's undoing in this game.

Decisions

I had Black and the sense that I was winning.

Black to move

48...Rxg3??=

This failure threw away the win. 

48...f4! was the key move. Black also could have played 48...Kg7 with a later f5-f4.

49.Kf6 Kh7 50.Rc7+ Kh6 51.Rc8 Kh7 52.Rc7+ Kg8

To avoid the repetition, Black's king must go on a journey. Black still believes that he is winning.

53.Kxg6

Black to move

White has a passed pawn and threatens checkmate. Black has three passed pawns. Are they enough?

53...Kf8=

Only move

54.h5 Rh3 55.h6 g3 56.Rf7+

Only move

56...Ke8

Only move

57.Rxf5 g2

White to move

58.Rg5

58.Re5+ was the other possibility, but then Rg5 would be necessary.

58...Rh2 59.h7 b4 60.Kg7

Now, I had the suspicion that I was about to lose. After some thought and feelings of desperation, I reasoned that two pawns on the seventh rank would be a lot of trouble for White's rook and I saw that the b-pawn was close enough.

60...b3

A draw could be had with 60...Kd7 61.h8Q Rxh8 62.Kxh8 Kc6 63.Rxg2 Kb5 and White's king is too far away to help the rook against Black's last pawn.

61.h8Q+ Rxh8 62.Kxh8 b2

White to move

Two connected passed pawns one square from promotion are more than a rook can handle, but these pawns are separated.

63.Rg8+??

63.Re5+ Kd7 64.Re1 and White holds

63...Kf7-+ 64.Rg7+ Kf6 65.Rxg2 b1Q

White to move

66.Kg8?!

White steps into an elementary checkmate in four.

66.Rf2+ makes a game of it. Queen vs. rook is a technical win, but often a very difficult win.

66...Qb3+ 67.Kh7 Qh3+ 68.Kg8 Qxg2+ 69.Kh8 Qg7#

There are some lessons here for both sides.

Queen vs. Advanced Pawn

White played an excellent game to reach a simple win and then made two consecutive moves that made it appear that everything prior to that was a fluke. Time was not a factor with 4:19 remaining in a 10-minute game.

White to move

53.b4??=

53.g6 wins quickly.

53...Kxg5 54.Kb5??

Now, Black is winning. Perhaps White saw that both players would promote and failed to anticipate who would have the first check for if Black did, the check would lead to a skewer. Otherwise, this move looks like an effort to lose.

54...h4 55.Ka6 h3 56.b5 h2 57.b6 h1Q 58.b7

Black to move

The technique here is simple, but Black's execution was a bit clumsy. The simple idea that every student should learn is to drive the White king in front of its pawn, then step the king closer. Eventually, there will be an opportunity for checkmate.

With the advanced pawn on the b-file (or g-file), checkmate opportunities come sooner. Black was oblivious to this fact.

58...Qa1+ 59.Kb6 Qb2+

59...Qe5 is better, controlling the promotion square, another element of the basic technique of battling a pawn one square from promotion. To prevent Black from occupying b8 with the queen, 60.Ka7 is forced. Now, 60...Qa5 61.Kb8 Kf6 brings checkmate closer.

60.Kc7 Qg7+ 61.Kb8 Kf6

61.Kf5 was better, stepping closer without restricting the queen's mobility.

62.Ka7 Qg1+

62...Qc7 lead to a more rapid checkmate. Pinning the pawn is a third element of the basic technique.

63.Ka8

Black to move

63...Qg2

Although this move works towards eventual checkmate, less clumsy would have been the simple checkmate in five. 63...Qa1 64.Kb8 Qc3 65.Ka7 Qa5+ 66.Kb8 Ke7 67.Kc8 Qd8#

64.Ka7 Qa2+ 65.Kb6 Qb3+ 66.Kc7 Qc4+ 67.Kd7 Qb5+ 68.Kc7 Qc5+ 69Kd7 Qb6 70.Kc8 Qc6+ 71.Kb8

Black to move

71...Ke7

Black, who has spent many hours teaching the elementary checking technique to young students, could show more finesse and attention to opportunities in the position.

Here, for example, 71...Qc5! forces 72.Ka8 and a mate in three identical to that found in the mate in five above at move 63.

72.Ka7 Qa4+

Better was 72...Qc5+ 73.Ka6 Qb4 (controlling the promotion square via X-Ray) 74.Ka7 and again mate in three.

73.Kb6 Qb4+ 74.Kc7 Qc5+ 75.Kb8

Black to move

75...Kd7

Black knows this checkmate well, but should know also the pattern of mate in two that has presented itself several times earlier in the game. 75...Qa5 76.Kc8 Qd8#

76.Ka8 Qa5+ 77.Kb8 Kc6 78.Kc8 Qc7#

Black was relieved that his opponent threw the game through two consecutive blunders, converting a win to a draw, and then a draw to a loss.

Black showed a simple winning technique, but missed opportunities to end matters more quickly offer some learning opportunities and some positions that might be beneficial teaching young students this fall.

The basic element of this endgame is simple: check until there is an opportunity to move the king closer without allowing the advanced pawn to promote. Prevention includes checks, pins, and controlling the promotion square. Be alert to possible checkmates to show better technique.

Rook vs. Two Minor Pieces

An unexpected win this morning motivated some study of rook and pawns vs. knight, bishop, and pawns. Errors characterized the game, but the ending interests me.

I was slightly better early in the middle game when I blundered into a slightly worse position, and then blundered again into a lost position, but I played on. My opponent blundered away the win to reach an ending that had strong drawing chances despite a dynamic imbalance. He missed an idea that gave him a slight advantage at one point, and then dropped a piece to give me a winning advantage.

White to move

33.Rxh7+??

Had White played 33.Rxb7, I might have decided that it was time to respect my opponent's superior position (as well as a rating 300 higher than mine) and gracefully resign.

33...Qxh7 34.Rxh7+ Kxh7

The position is equal. ChessBase's "Report" feature is useful for studying this sort of ending. A quick glance through the nearly 300 games that are found in MegaDatabase seem to indicate that the minor pieces prevail more often than the rook. Searching my personal database for this material turns up three previous games and I'm always the side with the rook. I have a win, draw, and loss in the three games.

Later in the game, after a pair of pawns are exchanged, the same search mechanism turns up 22 games, most of which were decided by such tactical errors as the rook and king walking into a fork by the bishop or the knight.

We continued.

35.h4 Kg6 36.hxg5 fxg5

White to move

With mobile pawns and each side having a majority, anything is possible. The rook's greater mobility seems promising, but White also could develop an advantage to play for a win. More than likely, good play on both sides should lead to a draw.

37.Ne5 Kf5 38.Nf7 Re7 39.Nd6+ Kg6 40.Nc8

A fork!

Black to move

40...Rh7+ 41.Kg1 a6

Both pieces escape.

42.Nd6 Rd7 43.Kf1 Kf6?!

43...Rc7 44.Ke2 Rc3 45.Nxb7 Rxa3=

The position is easier to draw, but Black was oblivious to the dangers.

44.Ke2 Ke6 45Ne4 Kf5 46.Nd6+ Ke6 47.Ne4 Kf5

Black is anticipating a repetition.

White to move

48.Ke3!?

Activating the king is the right idea, but there is a better way.

48.Nc5! Rh7 49.Kd3 and we see that White intends to dispose of Black's pawn majority. White missed an opportunity to gain a clear advantage. Even so, White is better.

48...Re7 49.f3 g4 50.Bh4

50.Kd4 was the right idea.

50...Re6 51.Bg3 gxf3 52.gxf3 Rb6

Black activates his rook for counterplay.

White to move

53.Nd6+ Kg6?

53...Ke6 was needed.

54.Nc4?

54.Ke4 and White again has a clear advantage. In this case, the f-pawn will work its way up the board with the help of the two minor pieces and the king until Black is forced to give up the rook.

54...Rb3+ 55.Ke4 b5 56.Ne5+ Kg7

White to move

57.f4??

Inexplicable.

Play might have continued 57.Nc6 Rxa3 58.Bd6 Ra2 59.Nd4 and neither Black pawn can advance.

57...Rxg3-+ 58.Nd3 Kf7 59.f5 Rg4+ 60.Ke5 Ra4 61.Kd5 Rxa3 62.Ne5= Kf6 63.Nc6 Kf6 63.Nc6 Kxf5 64.Kc5 Rc3+ 65.Kb6 Rxc6 and White resigned.

After the game, I spent some time looking through endgame books to see who had written about this material imbalance. Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual has four pages.

This position from Beliavsky,A. -- Dolmatov,S., Minsk 1979 shows a creative idea worth remembering.

Black to move

38...c4!! 39.Bxc4 Rc8 40.Bd3 a3! and the game continued another 16 moves. Both the game and Dvorersky's analysis are worthy of study.

Groping in the Dark

At what level of play can someone be considered good at chess?

During his lecture at the Spokane Chess Club last on the eve of the Inland Classic, IM John Donaldson was discussing Bobby Fischer's remarkable rise after 1955. Donaldson has written several excellent books on Fischer, most recently Inside the Mind of Bobby Fischer: Revisiting His Writings and Annotations (2025). Fischer's rating in 1955 was mid-1700s. Donaldson mentioned some recent analysis of games from Fischer's first rated event that led to that rating and quipped, "he was not very good". 

In contrast to this critical historical assessment of the early career on one of the greatest chess players ever are innumerable threads in social media asking, for example, whether 1100 is a good rating. Most comments in such threads--this one has more than 350--note that 1100 is well above the average on the site. Similarly, a player near the bottom of the standings in the tournament that we played in this past weekend with a USCF rating in the 900s is at the 59th percentile. That player scored a 500+ point upset in the first round, then lost the rest of his games. These players are offered comfort in the knowledge that they are better than half of all rated players, and substantially better than the majority of casual chess enthusiasts who never enter competition.

My rating just above 1860 puts me at the 94th percentile. I told Donaldson on Sunday morning that his comment about Fischer was helping me come to terms with the fact that I'm not very good and never will be. John did not say much about this remark, but we had several conversations throughout the weekend, including him soliciting my insights into finding historic chess games online and a brief discussion of the writing of John Steinbeck, whose published books I am working my way through.

My perspective is grounded in comments I made last spring about the defects in the play of A-class players (see "Two Donner Quotes") and my sense in round two on Saturday that I was unable to comprehend and correctly assess the positions through much of the game. I believed that I was slightly worse early on, but had provoked some pawn structure weaknesses that were exploitable in the ending. When my B-class opponent blundered, I immediately recognized that my winning chances had become very good. In the brief post-game discussion, he immediately mentioned that terrible move that turned a roughly equal position into one where he was clearly worse.

From the point of view of the elementary students whom I coach, and that of the average USCF player, those of us in A-class are strong. Compared to masters and above, we are quite weak. Maybe we have some knowledge, but we also fall prey to bad habits, misevaluate positions through appalling ignorance, and fail to calculate with any precision.

Stripes,James (1865) -- Lopez,Francisco (1614) [A49]

Inland Classic Spokane Valley (2), 21.02.2026

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nbd2

Black to move

This move does not seem to me particularly strong, but I've been playing it in similar positions online the past few months. My idea is to maintain the flexibility to play e4 or c4, depending on how my opponent responds. Of course, blocking the mobility of the dark-squared bishop should be seen as a loss of tempi. 

I had the Black side of this position in round four, when my opponent played 5.c4 instead of my 5.Nbd2. That game continued 5...0-0 6.0-0 Nbd7 7.Nc3 c5 I was already feeling a bit lost in terms of my understanding of how Black should proceed here. 8...e5 is more common and scores much better.

5...Nc6 6.c3 0-0 7.0-0 e5 8.dxe5 Nxe5

8...dxe5 9.e4 a5 10.Qc2 Be6 11.Rd1 Qc8 0-1 Stavrianakis,I (2316) -- Stojanovic,D (2488) Belgrade Trophy 26th 2012

9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.Qb3 c6 11.Rd1 Qc7

White to move

Black's pieces are more mobile.

12.a4

12.Ne4 Nxe4 13.Bxe4 Be6 14.Qb4 Rfd8 15.Be3 Rxd1+ 16.Rxd1 Bf8 17.Qa4 a6 18.Qc2 Rd8 19.Rxd8 Qxd8 20.b4 f5 21.Bg2 Qd7 22.a4 ½-½ Lupinski,I -- Remenyi,B Wch U18 Girls 5th Guarapuava 1991 

12...Be6 13.Qc2 Bf5

Black should play 13...a5, neutralizing White's effort to create a weak point.

14.e4 Bg4 15.f3?!

Black to move

15...Be6=

15...Qb6+ 16.Kf1= (16.Kh1 Be6 17.a5 Qf2 18.Rf1 Qe2 19.Qd1 Qxd1 20.Rxd1 Rad8with a slight edge for Black)

16.Nf1

16.a5

16...h6

16...a5

17.a5 Rfd8 18.Be3

White to move

By this point, I was beginning to formulate a plan. When I played 12.a4, the intent was to provoke a weakness on the queenside. Now, the nature of that weakness is coming to light. Even so, this weakness offered me no advantage until my opponent's tactical error.

18...Kh7

18...b6 19.axb6 axb6=

19.Rxd8! Qxd8 20.Qf2 a6

I was optimistic that swapping the heavy pieces would leave Black with a vulnerable b-pawn that my king could threaten. However, if Black's king defends the pawn, it is not clear that I could make progress elsewhere.

20...b6 21.axb6 axb6 22.Rxa8 Qxa8 23.Bxb6 and White is slightly better; 

20...Bf8 21.Nd2=

21.Qe2?!

This move was rooted in shallow calculation and failure to understand the most important elements of the position

21.Nd2 would have been better with the idea of controlling c4.

21...Qe7 22.Bb6 Nd7|

Somehow I overlooked this move.

White to move

23.Be3 Rd8 24.Rd1 Nf8

I was happy for the opportunity to exchange the heavy pieces and continue with a minor piece struggle, thinking that I had some chances to exploit the hole on b6.

25.Rxd8 Qxd8 26.Bb6 Qd6

26...Qb8 27.b4=

27.Qd2 Qe7 28.Qd8

Forcing a minor piece ending (or is the resulting position still a middlegame?

28...Bf6 29.Qxe7

29.Qb8! Bg7 (29...Nd7 30.Qxb7) 30.b4 White may have a slight edge 30...Qd7 31.Bc5 Qc8 32.Qxc8 Bxc8 33.Kf2

29...Bxe7=

White to move

30.Ne3 Nd7 31.Ba7

31.Bc7 f6 32.b4 c5 33.Nd5 Bf8 34.Bf1

31...Bc5

31...Nc5 32.Nd1 Na4 33.Kf1

32.Bxc5 Nxc5 33.Bf1 f6

I expected 33...Nb3 when I tried to work out a line that could give me an advantage.

34...Bc8?!

34...Kg7; 

34...Bxc4 35.Nxc4=]

35.Kf2 White is playing for an advantage, but does not have much chance of winning.

35.b4 Ne6 36.Bxe6 Bxe6

35...Kg7 36.Ke2

36.b4 Na4 37.Nd1

36...Kf8 37.b4 Ne6 38.Ng4

38.Bxe6 might be best 38...Bxe6

38...Kg7 39.Kd3

39.Nf2!

39...Ng5 40.Ke3= 

Black to move

40...Nf7??

40...Bxg4 41.fxg4 Nf7 42.Bxf7 Kxf7 43.Kd3 Ke6 44.Kc4 Kd6 45.h4 h5 46.g5

Black to move

Analysis diagram

46...f5 (46...fxg5?? 47.hxg5 Kd7 48.Kc5 Kc7 49.c4 Kd7 50.Kb6 Kc8 51.b5 axb5 52.cxb5 cxb5 53.Kxb5 Kc7 54.Kc5+-) 47.Kd3 Ke6=

41.Bxf7+- h5

41...Kxf7 42.Nxh6+ Ke6 43.Ng4+-

42.Nxf6

42.Nxe5 fxe5 43.Be8! Bh3 44.f4+-; 

42.Bxg6 hxg4 43.Bh5 gxf3 44.Kxf3+-

42...Kxf7

42...Kxf6 43.Be8 (43.Bb3 was my intended move, but Be8 is better)

43.Nh7 Kg7 44.Ng5 Bd7 45.Kd3 Kf6 46.h4 Ke7 47.Kc4 Kd6 48.f4 exf4 49.gxf4 Bg4 50.Nf7+ Ke7 51.Ne5 Bh3 52.Nxg6+ Kd6 53.Kd4 Bc8 54.f5 Kc7 55.Kc5 Bd7 56.Nf4 Be8 57.e5 1-0

Once I had a clear advantage, I played as if I understood the game. But, my memory of this game lingers as several hours of confusion.

Should have been easy

Late Thursday night during a thunderstorm, I played a few three minute games online. Two draws from dead lost positions became lessons in elementary endings to end the spring term for my before school elementary chess club.

In the first, my opponent ran desperately short of time in a bishop ending where he had an significant advantage in number of pawns. After promoting a pawn and using the queen to capture my last pawn, he had a forced checkmate in seven, but only 4.0 seconds left.

Black to move

50...Qe4+

My opponent opts for a sequence where premoves can be played to save time.

50...Qc7 leads to mate in six moves more.

51.Kd6 f4 52.Kc5 f3 53.Kd6 f2 54.Kc5 f1Q

A second queen appears and 3.0 seconds remain on the clock. It is also forced mate in three. Black has done well and should win.

There are two schools of thought on this position:
1) a decent player resigns in such a hopeless position, and
2) its is foolish to resign in a blitz game when your opponent has three seconds left.

55.Kd6

Black to move

What should a player know about checkmate with two queens?

From the hardest position against a lone king, it is mate in four. Checkmate can occur in the middle of the board. Checks are often the best move.

Most players, however, seem to think the ladder mate is simplest and therefore best. In this case, it can be accomplished with premoves.

55...Qff5

This move does not get closer to checkmate. That is, mate is still three moves in the future.

55...Qf6+ executes an easy ladder mate unless White opts for 56.Kc5 Qfc6#
I would probably play 55...Qa6 in a heartbeat.

56.Kc7 Qee6 57.Kd8

Black still has 2.8 seconds remaining and a simple mate in one.

57...Qff7??

The premove squandered half a point.

The second undeserved draw had gross errors by both players. Time was a less critical factor with both having more than half a minute on the clock.

White to move

58.Rh6??

I would play 58.Rb6

One of very few non-winning moves in this simple rook ending.

58...Rh1+ 59.Kg4 Rg1??

Black here is stuck in unimaginative routine moves that were wholly unnecessary when simply calculation shows that 59...Rxh6 draws easily.

60.Kf4 Rf1+

White to move

I started with this position with the young students, explaining that moving the king towards the rook puts an end to harassing checks. Ke4-d3-e2 (or f6+ if the rook gives up the checks).

61.Ke5 Re1+ 62.Kf4 Rf1+ 63.Kg4 Rg1+

At this point the game is technically drawn, as a repetition is about to occur. It is sad that a player rated in the mid-1900s does not know how to win this ending.

64.Kh5 Rh1+ 65.Kg4 Rg1+ drawn by repetition.