Sharp Endgames From Giri-Rapport, Fide GP 2017 (1)

Giri-Rapport 2017. Position after 47…Nxd1. White to move and win. Play the position against a chess engine with 10’+30” Fischer time, corresponding to level 3 in my book.

Round 1 of the ongoing Fide Grand Prix in Palma de Mallorca saw an interesting endgame between two world class players. I have worked with the endgame to show how I used and created material for my recent book on Sharp Endgames.

I will give the solution later this week. By doing so, I will focus on Critical Moments and the 16 parameters connected to them. The solutions will be extensive and reflect how I work with the material in my book.

Working with material as the position above, I will produce extra exercises if it makes sense. You might try to solve the main exercise and think ‘what if White  or Black played this…’, and thus the extra exercises are a way to get the most out of the position. However, I only include extra exercises if I believe them to produce something different from the main exercise.

Here are 2 examples of extra exercises that work:

The game without the pawn on a3. After 47…Nxd1 48.a5 it is Black to move and draw. Question: why it is a draw with only one a-pawn? Recommended time: 10’+30” (level 3).
Position after 48.h4?: Black to move and draw. Recommended time: 8’+30” (level 2).

The last position is of course a clue to the main exercise (don’t play 1.h4?), which is why I would place it in a different chapter in the book. Good luck with the 3 exercises!

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