Preventing perpetual - a rook sacrifice

Analysis of Moskvitch - Jiganchine, Winnipeg 2002.

White to Move.

 

White is up a huge amount of material, but the placement of his pieces is least fortunate. Black is threatening with perpetual after 45. Kf1 Ne3+ 46. Ke1 Ng2 + 47. Kd1 Ne3. That's a very common setup with the rook and a knight giving perpetual, I first time saw it in Bronstein's annotations in "Zurich 1953". Amazingly, there is only one move that wins for White: 45. Rc7!! By giving up the rook White breaks down the coordination of Black's pieces. 45. ... Rxc7 46.Qh2 +. Or 45. ...Nxc7 46. Kf1 Nd5 47. Qe5.

Computer assisted analysis does lead to funny positions sometimes...

Fullbrook - Neufahrt, BC Closed 2001

Replay Game

Nigel Fullbrook - Gerhard Neufahrt

BC Closed/Vancouver (4.2) 2001

White manages to refute Black's dubious strategy of pushing the 'a' and 'h' pawns and leaving the king in the center 17. b4 axb4 18. axb4 Rxa1 Black might have tried to not surrender the 'a' file, but then White is breaking through in thecenter! 18... Bb7 19. Rxa8 Qxa8 20. c5 bxc5 21. dxc5 d5 22. exd5 cxd5 23. Nf4 is also very good for White 19. Rxa1 Ba6 20. Ba4 b5 20... Bb7 21. d5 21. cxb5 cxb5 22. Bb3 Bb7 23. Qd3 A joke that Black has more pawn islands than he has pawns seems to be quite appropriate here! 23... Qd7 24. Ra7

24... Qc6 24... Bc8 25. Nd5 would not have changed the outcome 25. d5 White wins a piece after 25. d5 Qb6+ 26. Qd4 1-0 [Roman Jiganchine]