King and 2 pawns vs. King, Rook and pawn

Avatar of rivuchess
| 7

Hello dear members, it's @rivuchess here. Today we will learn how to force a drawing endgame from a losing one. This is a game I played in a club blitz tournament. The tournament was CQC live 2 arena. I will also give some additional lessons other than the original one. I edged out my compatriot on 0.5 points with this draw and came first. Here is the game:-

I am black. I was also in time trouble when I remembered the drawing technique from a game of Magnus vs. Van Wely. Getting into time trouble was natural because the time control was 3mins + 2secs (increment). 

                                                   Lessons:-

1.  20.Rxc3 is considered a mistake because on the next move Black figures a connected pawn storm and I could have paid for it very dearly on the 34th move. I generally would not have made these blunders if it were rapid as I am habituated in rapid, not blitz. If you watch games of Bronstein, you will see he demolished gms with such storms. The best move is 20.Rxg3. I ask you all to find the correct continuation on the 34th move in the comments with logic.

2. If a rook can't track down a passed pawn defended by king horizontally and then block the promotion square with help of king, then it's a drawn endgame. I have displayed it exclusively in my game. This is why learning the Philidor Position is important.

If you have any doubts, feel free to PM me!happy.png