Van Wely Offers L’Ami Perpetual, Stalemate, or None of the Above

The 3rd Remco Heite GM tournament recently was played in Wolvega, The Netherlands. The winners of the previous events, Van Wely in 2006 and Macieja in 2008, participated. There were six players competing in a round robin. The final crosstable shows Luke McShane 3.5, Anish Giri 3.0 (second on tie breaks), Erwin L’Ami 3.0, Bartlomiej Macieja 2.5, Peter Heine Nielsen 1.5 (fourth on tie breaks), and Loek van Wely 1.5.
The game that I selected to show was between the two Dutch players, L’Ami (pictured) and Van Wely. The opening is the Slav Defense. The players reached a position in which White had an isolated queen pawn (IQP). This is a very important type of position that can be reached from many openings. Alternative ideas and game references are shown. The two rook ending was so favorable for L’Ami that Van Wely tried to sacrifice his pair of rooks. This act of charity was possible because Van Wely’s king and pawns had no legal moves. If L’Ami captured the rooks at the first opportunity without thinking, the game would end in stalemate. If L’Ami could not ever capture the rooks without producing stalemate, then the game would be drawn by repetititon. L’Ami’s choice was to find a position, if possible, in which the last rook perpetually checking his king could be terminated in such a way that Black would have a move.