Triangles

Lawyers in a courtroom, it is said, should not ask questions to which they do not already know the answer. Chess players are well advised to adopt a similar attitude to pawn endgames – steer clear unless you can anticipate the outcome with certainty. In endgames with more wood on the board, overlooking a nuance need not be catastrophic. In pawn endgames, nothing is minor, and any oversight can be decisive. Yet their apparent simplicity has the lure of a siren song.

Grandmasters are usually more circumspect, so I was gobsmacked by Alireza Firouzja’s endgame howler in the recent Norway Chess tournament.

Magnus Carlsen-Alireza Firouzja

Norway Chess, June 2024

In the diagram position, Firouzja was faced with a critical decision and he must chart a narrow path to secure the draw. The correct course is to avoid the exchange of rooks with 77…Rb1. This abandons the pawn on h6, but the resulting endgame remains tenable with accurate play, a fact which both players would undoubtedly have known. Perhaps Firouzja was spooked by the possibility of 78 Kf6, threatening mate with Rd6-d8. The drawing path is narrow: 78…Kg8 79 Rd8+ Kh7 80 Rd7+ Kg8 81 Kg6 Rg1+ 82 Kxh6, and after the cool 82…Rg2 83 f6 Rf2 White has no way to win. Instead, presumably in a state of panic, Firouzja sought salvation in the pawn endgame. 77… Rxd6 ?? 78 Kxd6 Kf7 79 Ke5 Ke7 80 f6+ Kf8 81 Kf4 Ke8 82 Ke4 Black resigns At move 81, Carlsen had the move with his king on e5 and pawn on f6, against Firouzja’s king on f8. Firouzja resigned because 82…Kf8 83 Ke5 would wangle the same position with Black to move, which allows Carlsen to break through, e.g. 83…Kf7 2 Kf5 penetrates on g6, or 83…Ke8 2 Ke6 Kf8 3 f7 etc. Carlsen’s dance with Ke5-f4-e4 was a triangulation, designed to pass the move to the opponent.