Ever Had a Bad Position?

    If so, what can you do about it? Not all inferior positions are lost. In many cases the position might be bad enough that defeat is assured and it’s safe to resign, but sometimes a disadvantage does not spell defeat. 

    In the following game Znosko-Borovsky has a dangerous K-side attack looming and Euwe’s 21...Bc5? lead to a lost position. But, then on move 28 Znosko-Borovsky tried to squeeze more out of his position than it was worth and in doing so his advantage completely disappeared. As part of his plan to do better, on move 31 it was his turn to make a game losing blunder and Euwe didn’t let the opportunity get away.

    White lost the game on time and according to engine output he was clearly lost with an almost fivr Pawn disadvantage, so you would think that Euwe would have an easy win. However, when I looked at the position it wasn't so clear how black would accomplish it. After letting Stockfish analyze the final position for about 30 minutes it took another 30 moves to reach a clear win. Exceeding the time control was an unfortunate happening for Znosko-Borovsky because in those 30 moves anything could have happened.

 

 

[Event "Broadstairs"] [Site ""] [Date "1921.03.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Eugene Znosko-Borovsky"] [Black "Max Euwe"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C83"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "1921.??.??"] {C83: Open Ruy Lopez: 9 c3 Be7} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 {The Open Ruy Lopez was a favorite of Euwe. Black tries to make use of the time white will take to regain the Pawn to gain a foothold in the center.} 6. d4 b5 {Euwe has no interest in the risky Riga Variation (6...exd4)} 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Qe2 Nc5 12. Nd4 Nxd4 13. cxd4 Nd7 { By eschewing the usual 13...Nxb3 black concedes the advantage to his opponent. In 1921, the 20 year old Euwe was good, but not the mighty player and great opening theoretician he was to become.} 14. f4 {Seizing his chance.} f5 { He cannot prevent the advance of white's f-Pawn.} 15. exf6 Rxf6 16. f5 Bf7 17. g4 c5 18. g5 {[%mdl 2048] Obviously white has a very dangerous attack.} Rc6 19. Nf3 {Bringing up another attacker.} cxd4 20. Qg2 d3 21. Kh1 {This excellent move brings about an important moment for black. He is facing numerous threats from white, the most dangerous being the advance of the g-Pawn. He could parry this attack by giving up the exchange with 21...Rc5, but this sacrifice would only cause a delay in whites's attack and still leave black in dire straits.} Bc5 {This is no help at all. Offering to sacrifice the exchange is still his best option.} (21... Rc4 22. Bxc4 {Taking the bait only allows black to equalize.} dxc4 23. f6 Bd6 24. g6 hxg6 25. Ng5 Nxf6 26. Nxf7 Kxf7 {White's attack is over with no damage to black.}) (21... Rc4 22. Bd2 {In order to bring the other R into play.} Rac8 23. Rae1 {Black has a number of defensive tries, but nothing that manages to equalize' all he can do is just try to hold on.}) 22. g6 {[%mdl 512] Well playted! This breaks up black's K-side.} hxg6 23. Ng5 Nf6 24. Nxf7 Kxf7 25. fxg6+ Kg8 26. Rxf6 $1 {[%mdl 512]} Rxf6 27. Bxd5+ Kf8 {How good is white's position? Engines put his advantage at 5 Pawns and a clear win after the obvious 28.Bxa8} 28. Bg5 {After this white's advantage disappears. Znosko-Borovsky hopes to do better by a direct attack on black's K, but Euwe defense is sufficient to hold off the attack.} (28. Bxa8 Rf2 29. Bg5 Rxg2 30. Rf1+ Kg8 31. Bxd8 Rxg6 32. Bd5+ Kh8 33. Be4) 28... Ra7 {The idea of this clever move is not to save the R, but that it commands the second rank and prevents white from playing g7 (after 29.Bxf6 gxf6).} 29. Bxf6 gxf6 { The defence has succeeded brilliantly and it's now a whole new game.} 30. Re1 { Even though this brings the R into play it is a tiny slip works to black's advantage.} (30. Qf3 {keeps things even after} Kg7 31. Qh5 Qh8 32. Qxh8+ Kxh8 33. Rd1 Re7) 30... Re7 {White should exchange Rs when Qs and Bs of the opposite color make a draw highly likely/ As is often the case, it's hard for the former attacker to adjust psychologocally to the changes circumstances.} 31. Rf1 Kg7 32. Qf3 Re5 {Active defense of the f-Pawn.} 33. Be4 d2 {A little tactical finrssr; the threat is ...Rxe4!} 34. Qh3 {White threatens Qh7+ and mate. When black defends against that threat the Q will go to d7 with check and pick off the P onm d2. Hiw clever is that?!} Qh8 35. Qd7+ Re7 36. Qxd2 Rxe4 {Now white has a Q fork.} 37. Qd5 Re5 {Both pieces are defended.} 38. Qf7+ Kh6 {The only move and here white lost on time. Does he have anything that saves the game? The answer is no, but black's win is going toi be quite laborious! The ending given here is after about 30 minutes analysis by Stockfish.} (38... Kh6 39. Qh7+ Qxh7 40. gxh7 Kxh7 41. Rxf6 Re1+ 42. Kg2 Rg1+ 43. Kh3 Rg6 44. Rf7+ Kh6 {Black has some worl to do, but the ending is won...} 45. b3 Kg5 46. Kg3 Bd6+ 47. Kg2 Rf6 48. h4+ Kf5 49. Ra7 Bc5 50. Rc7 Bb6 51. Rg7 Bd4 52. Rd7 Ke4 53. Re7+ Be5 54. Kh3 Rf2 55. h5 b4 56. Kg4 Rg2+ 57. Kh4 Rxa2 58. h6 Rh2+ 59. Kg5 Rg2+ 60. Kh4 Rh2+ 61. Kg5 a5 62. Rf7 Bc3 63. Kg6 Kd3 64. Rf5 Kc2 65. Rxa5 Kxb3 66. Ra8 Kb2 67. Rb8 Kc2 68. Kf7 b3 69. Rb6 b2 {The win is obvious.}) 0-1