05 August 2024

Active Rook

Black's position is not comfortable. Neither rook is well-placed. The rook on a5 could become trapped, while the one on f8 is passively defending a pawn that currently has only one attacker.

Black to move
30...Rd8

Black chose the only reasonable move.

31.Ree7

Opting for two pigs seems reasonable, but the engines are concerned about White's king.

31...Rf5

Postgame analysis with chessdotcom's system identified this move as good, but not best. The engine prefers 31...Rd1+ 32.Kf2 Rf5+, which I considered. But, I decided the checkmate threat led to a clearer sequence that did not activate White's king. Black's king is going nowhere. 

On my computer, Stockfish 16 sees a 0.08 difference between the two moves.

32.h3

An alternative would be moving one of the rooks to d7.

32...a5 33.Rab7 Rf6

Black anticipated this position when he played 30...Rd8. White's targets are secure, making progress difficult.

White to move
34.Re5?!

It appears that this move, played after 40 seconds thought in a ten minute game, is aimed at hitting Black's b-pawn with both rooks in order to create a passed pawn on the c-file.

34...Rd1+

Meanwhile, Black has intentions to hit the g-pawn and make his opponent's king sweat a bit. Stockfish favors Rd2, which is rooted in the same plan. My move was played instantly without much thought, but as it forces Kh2, which can be followed with Rd2.

35.Kh2 Rd2 36.Re4 h5!

Keeping White's rook off g4.

37.Re8+ Kh7

White to move
38.Rbb8??

After this blunder, Black has an advantage. The magnitude of the advantage is greater the stronger the engine. Chessdotcom's analysis feature puts Black's advantage at 1.8 pawns, but Stockfish 16 running on my computer has it at 3.38.

Black's king will be checked, but so will White's.

38...Rff2 39.Rh8 Kg6 40.Rxb6 f6

White's moves have been aggressive, but not best. When White's checks come to an end, the problem of White's vulnerable king grows.

White to move
41.Rb5?

King safety had to be addressed.

41.Rxg2+ 42.Kh1 Rg3?!

Here I missed a simple 42...Rge2 leading to forced mate after some spite checks. After the next move, however, mate was again on the horizon.

43.Rhxh5 Rc3 White resigned