Questionable finales to games
During a tournament once, I happened to notice that a Senior Master friend of mine had fallen into a losing position in his game.
After the round had finished, though, I discovered that he had somehow ended up splitting the point. When I asked him how that could possibly have happened, he replied that he had simply offered a draw to his muchlower-ranked opponent who happily chose to accept. Then, he added that it can sometimes be advantageous to be higher-rated.
Clearly, his foe’s board advantage was offset by a rating-induced fear.
Similarly, at the World Open once, a young student of mine had managed to achieve a clearly superior position against a former U.S. Champion who promptly offered him a draw. After some thought, the youth accepted.
His stated reasoning: He would rather risk the disapproval of his coach for not rejecting the offer than face his own self-punishment should he play on and lose. It was a draw because of fear of reputation.
Practical considerations in last rounds of events regularly produce questionable draws.
When two paired foes know that they need only a draw to finish in the money, for example, quick peace is often made.
Somewhat related to this is the case in which a player has achieved a winning game and yet agrees to a draw. Needing only a halfpoint to win a prize, he takes no chances and disdains the likely game victory.
One of the most unusual ways to end a game may have never happened yet: a draw by “double” (or “mutual”) stalemate.
As implied by the name, the final position would be one in which neither side can make a legal move. Chess composers, challenged by this idea” have competed to create the shortest game in which this oddity could actually occur.
The record holder is Enzo Minerva of Italy, who produced a really crazy game to break the record. Take a look: 1.c4 d5 2.Qb3 Bh3 3.gxh3 f5 4.Qxb7 Kf7 5.Qxa7 Kg6 6.f3 c5 7.Qxe7 Rxa2 8.Kf2 Rxb2 9.Qxg7+ Kh5 10.Qxg8 Rxb1 11.Rxb1 Kh4 12.Qxh8 h5 13.Qh6 Bxh6 14.Rxb8 Be3+ 15.dxe3 Qxb8 16.Kg2 Qf4 17.exf4 d4 18.Be3 dxe3 double-stalemate.
Nine years ago, when World Champion Magnus Carlsen was just 16, he was already achieving seriously good results against the world’s best.
In the famous Linares Tournament then, he defeated former World Champion Veselin Topalov (see today’s featured game). Showing no fear, the teen advanced kingside, breaking through his opponent’s defenses.
Seeing that he was about to lose a knight by Qh7+ followed by Qh8+, Topalov resigned ... in a drawable position! Carlsen then showed him that 64...Qd5+ 65.Kg1 e5 66.Qh7+ Kf8 67.Qh8+ Qg8 is even. Game of the week
Magnus Carlsen-Veselin Topalov Linares-Morelia Tournament Morelia, Mexico; 2/27/07
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.b3 0–0 8.Be2 b6 9.0–0 Bb7 10.Bb2 Re8 11.Rad1 Qe7 12.Rfe1 Rac8 13.e4 Nxe4 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Qxe4 Bb4 16.Rf1 Ba3 17.Bxa3 Qxa3 18.Qc2 Nf6 19.c5 Ba6 20.Bxa6 Qxa6 21.Ne5 Nd5 22.Nc4 Red8 23.a3 Rc7 24.Qc1 Ne7 25.Rd2 Nf5 26.Rfd1 b5 27.Ne5 Qc8 28.Rd3 f6 29.Nf3 Rcd7 30.Qf4 Rd5 31.Qe4 Qd7 32.R3d2 h5 33.h4 a5 34.Kf1 Re8 35.Re1 Kf7 36.Red1 Nh6 37.Re1 Re7 38.Qf4 Rf5 39.Qd6 Qc8 40.Rde2 Rd5 41.Qf4 Nf5 42.Re4 Rd8 43.g4 hxg4 44.Qxg4 Qd7 45.h5 Kg8 46.Kg2 Qd5 47.Qg6 Rf8 48.h6 Qd8 49.d5 Qxd5 50.Rg4 Qd7 51.Rh1 Qe8 52.hxg7 Rxg7 53.Qh7+ Kf7 54.Rxg7+ Nxg7 55.Rh6 Qd8 56.Qg6+ Kg8 57.Qh7+ Kf7 58.Qg6+ Kg8 59.Rh7 Qd7 60.Nd2 f5 61.Nf3 Rf6 62.Qxf6 Kxh7 63.Ng5+ Kg8 64.Qg6 and Black resigned.