Cramling Defends Difficult Endgame, Continues To Lead Vs. GothamChess

GM Pia Cramling continues to lead in the Battle of Generations against IM Levy Rozman (GothamChess) after a draw in the third classical game. She had some initiative in the opening with the black pieces, but Rozman's bishop pair proved to be more important after the queens were traded off. She successfully defended the endgame, and neither player made any significant mistakes.

Cramling will have the white pieces in the fourth and final classical game, which will be on Thursday, October 31, starting at 9 a.m. ET / 14:00 CET / 6:30 p.m. IST. After that, we will see rapid and blitz on Friday and Saturday.

Score After Classical Game 3 Of 4

After a 14-move draw on the previous day, the players arrived energized and ready for a fight. Cramling played ambitiously in the opening, but it was Rozman who pressed after the queens came off the board.

Cramling gained space in the opening exchanging her bishop pair (5...Bxc3) for more space and a slight initiative, a "double-edged" decision as she explained in her first confession during the game. Black had more central control, but White's two bishops could be a long-term advantage, as we will see in the game.

Five moves later, the players traded queens and Rozman found the strong response 13.b4!, without which he said he would have been under some pressure. He already foresaw the next three moves that occurred.

He speculated in his confession that his opponent missed that he could actually capture the pawn after 15...Rfd8 16.bxc5!, with the idea of 16...Rxd3 17.Nb4, as you can see in the screenshot below. Indeed, Cramling admitted that she missed this two-move idea from far away.

"I was happy in the opening," said Cramling, who early on thought she was better, "but then I realized when he had this Nb4 my position was not that good... I realized I will have to fight not to become worse, because he gets the activity, he has the bishop pair."

I realized I will have to fight not to become worse.

—Pia Cramling

After more trades, we entered a dangerous endgame for the black pieces, where White could potentially create an outside passed a-pawn. In several positions, like the one below, Cramling was concerned about the immediate 24.Bxa7 and the march of the a-pawn. In the game, Rozman played 24.Rxb3 Bxb3 25.Rb1 and the game petered out.

It turns out that, objectively speaking, all moves led to a draw. An engine could draw after 24.Bxa7 all the same. After the game, which exhibited 98 percent accuracy by both sides, Rozman jokingly apologized: "In the age of computers, nothing is interesting anymore. Sorry it was so equal and nobody made a huge mistake."

In the age of computers, nothing is interesting anymore.

—Levy Rozman

You can check out the full game annotated below, with comments and lines by the players and commentators included.

Like the day before, both players were content with a draw—and this time we had a rich game. Rozman concluded, "It's good to know the brain worked pretty well today," while Cramling couldn't complain either, saying, "in the end, it was only White who could try something."

You can listen to Rozman's video recap below.

You can also watch GM Hikaru Nakamura's recap below.

There are still 19 games left to be played, but after tomorrow's classical game it will only be in speed-chess time controls. Cramling explained that this format is something completely new for her: "I played some matches, but in the old times when we played matches it was only classical," adding that potential tiebreaks were possible but not guaranteed.

Another win for Cramling would be huge, while a win for Rozman would even the score. Classical games have the most weight, with winners earning three points per win. In the rapid, a victory will earn two, and in blitz just one. 

The Battle of Generations is an over-the-board match between GM Pia Cramling and IM Levy Rozman featuring multiple time controls: four classical games (90+30), six rapid games (15+10), and 12 blitz games (3+2). It takes place at the Svarta Hasten in Stockholm, Sweden. The prize fund is $10,000, with $6,000 going to the winner.

Previous Coverage: 

• Day 2: 14-Move Draw Leaves Cramling In Lead
• Day 1: Pia Cramling Wins With Black In Game 1 Vs. GothamChess
• Chess Legend Pia Cramling To Face Off With Levy Rozman In Battle Of Generations