Great post - Even better game! Thanks
Analysis: even->winning->fighting for a draw -> the epic story
Sort:
Your analysis of 52...Bf6 is inaccurate. 62. ...Kg5 is a blunder that costs Black half a point. 62... Kg4 wins easily.
I was slowly trying to digest and understand your annotations, until I came across "39... Qxg4+ oops", haha
Anyhow, I enjoyed watching the pieces flow, as well as the tactic in the middle to win back the pawn.
When is it safe to push forth the pawns in front of the king? The center wasn't really locked, but whatever you did seemed natural. I think I saw some of Botvinnik's annotations to some of his own games describing variations he had calculated, which involved a similar "armada of floating pawns" if you will.
(?) Black looks like he is about to win the a5 pawn. How can White continue to keep the material equality?
The mentality White must have is:
1) a trade of bishops must be avoided at all costs unless the resulting pawn endgame is drawn.
2)White's ideal plan is to trade off all the White pawns and leave Black with only 1 Pawn + bishop vs White's bishop.
3) Calculate, calculate, calculate. White must take advantage of any tricks possible, while also avoiding tricks/traps as well.
What did I learn?
Dirty tricks help in chess. Fighting for draws can make or break a good result in a tournament and separate the strong willed from the weak. Good luck!
Also, feel free to post any comments or suggestions. And if you have any personal fighting to the end games, post those as well!