Space in the Pawn Endgames

The EICC in Armenia produced plenty of quality chess. One interesting endgame attracted my attention:

[Event "EICC 2014"]
[Site "Yerevan"]
[Date "2014.03.12"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Golod, Vitali"]
[Black "Cheparinov, Ivan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E92"]
[WhiteElo "2573"]
[BlackElo "2681"]
[Annotator "Dejan Bojkov"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/2p5/1p3k1p/1Pp5/6KP/1P6/P7/8 w - - 0 50"]
[PlyCount "140"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[EventCountry "ARM"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2009.03.11"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

{White has two major advantages. One of them is obvious- he has more active
king. The second one is a bit less obvious. It is the extra space. In pawn
endgames the latter is often the reason for a faster passer and a timely
promotion.} 50. a4 $4 {[%csl Rb3][%cal Yf6e5,Ye5d4,Yd4c3,Rc3b3] A hasty
decision which will cost White more than a half point! The b3 pawn is
discovered in a moment when the black king is close to the center.} ({Vitali
Golod should have improved his king first with:} 50. Kh5 $1 {thus keeping the
black king passive. Only after:} Kg7 {White should proceed with:} 51. a4 {
Which grabs extra space on the queen's side. The game then will follow:} Kh7
52. Kg4 Kg6 {and here one more space winner is the move:} 53. h5+ $1 {Both
candidates on b5 and h5 are very close to the promotional squares. The logical
sequence of moves leads to zugzwang after:} {Black cannot escape neither in
case of:} Kg7 (53... Kf6 54. Kf4 Ke6 55. Ke4 $1 {[%csl Rb5,Yb6,Rh5,Yh6][%cal
Ge4f5,Gf5g6,Gg6h6,Ge4d5,Gd5c6,Gc6c7,Rb5b6,Rh5h6] Which gives Black a sad
choice which pawn to abandon:} Kf6 ({Or:} 55... Kd6 56. Kf5 Kd5 57. Kg6 Kd4 58.
Kxh6 Kc3 59. Kg6 Kxb3 60. h6 c4 61. h7 c3 62. h8=Q $18 {and the extra space
counts.}) 56. Kd5 Kg5 57. Kc6 Kxh5 58. Kxc7 Kg4 59. Kxb6 h5 60. a5 h4 61. a6 h3
62. a7 h2 63. a8=Q $18 {[%cal Ra8h1] Just in time. White uses his advantage in
space.}) 54. Kf5 Kf7 55. Ke5 Ke7 56. Kd5 Kd7 57. a5 $1 bxa5 58. Kxc5 Kc8 59. b6
$18 {as the pawn on a5 falls. Please note, that in this line the white pawn on
h5 secures a clear deflection of the black king on the queen's side and
deprives the second player from the rook pawn draw resources.}) ({There is a
second winning attempt. It is the straightforward march for the queen's side
pawns with:} 50. Kf4 {but it fails to-} Ke6 51. Ke4 ({White cannot repeat the
position as after-} 51. Kg4 c6 $1 {Cheparinov can create a passed pawn in time-
} 52. bxc6 ({Or:} 52. a4 cxb5 53. axb5 Ke5 54. Kh5 Kd4 55. Kxh6 Kc3 56. Kg6
Kxb3 57. h5 c4 {In comparison to the line from above White misses his two
extra tempos and the queens are promoted simultaniously-} 58. h6 c3 59. h7 c2
60. h8=Q c1=Q $11) 52... Kd6 53. Kh5 b5 $11 {as} 54. Kxh6 $4 {even loses-} c4
55. bxc4 bxc4 56. Kg6 c3 57. h5 c2 58. h6 c1=Q) 51... Kd6 52. h5 c6 53. bxc6
Kxc6 54. a4 b5 $11 {when Black gets timely counterplay on the queen's flank.})
50... Ke5 51. Kh5 Kd4 52. Kxh6 Kc3 53. h5 Kxb3 54. Kg7 c4 55. h6 c3 56. h7 c2
57. h8=Q {White succeeded to promote first but is in trouble as his pawns on
the queen's flank will be lost.} c1=Q $17 58. Qa8 Qa1+ 59. Kg6 Qxa4 60. Qf3+
Kb4 61. Qf4+ Kxb5 62. Qxc7 Qe4+ {The tables have turned and even though this
position is defendable and Golod managed to keep the balance for a while he
succumbed to the pressure at the end. Indeed, fatigue and frustration did not
cheer his fighting spirit.} 63. Kg7 Qd4+ 64. Kh7 Kb4 65. Qc2 b5 66. Qb1+ Kc5
67. Qf5+ Qd5 68. Qf2+ Kc6 69. Qe1 Kd7 70. Qa5 Qc5 71. Kg6 Ke6 72. Qa6+ Ke5 73.
Qf6+ Ke4 74. Qh4+ Kd3 75. Qh3+ Kc2 76. Qg2+ Kb1 77. Kf7 b4 78. Qe4+ Kb2 79.
Qe2+ Qc2 80. Qe5+ Qc3 81. Qe2+ Ka3 82. Qa6+ Kb3 83. Kf8 Qc5+ 84. Ke8 Qc4 85.
Qg6 Ka4 86. Kf8 b3 87. Qe8+ Qb5 88. Qa8+ Kb4 89. Qe4+ Ka3 90. Qe3 Qb4+ 91. Kg7
Ka2 92. Qe6 Qc3+ 93. Kg8 Qd3 94. Qf7 Qd8+ 95. Kh7 Qd4 96. Qe6 Ka3 97. Qa6+ Kb4
98. Qb7+ Kc3 99. Qc7+ Kd2 100. Qh2+ Kc1 101. Qc7+ Kd1 102. Qg3 b2 103. Qf3+ Kd2
104. Qg2+ Kc3 105. Qc6+ Qc4 106. Qf6+ Kc2 107. Qf2+ Kb1 108. Qe1+ Qc1 109. Qb4
Qc7+ 110. Kg8 Qg3+ 111. Kh7 Qd3+ 112. Kg8 Ka2 113. Qa5+ Qa3 114. Qd2 Qg3+ 115.
Kh7 Qh4+ 116. Kg8 Qg4+ 117. Kh7 Qe4+ 118. Kg8 Kb3 119. Qd1+ Kc3 0-1

The First App

According to Wikipedia an app is a software that causes the computer to perform useful tasks. It is also a software which runs on smartphones or other mobile devises.
The beauty of the new mobile world is that it gives you a chance to make better use of your free time. Whenever you travel for work or for pleasure you are spending time in various vehicles, precious time that you are mostly wasting.
It is no longer like that thanks to the new app culture. One can use his/her time more productively by learning new things.
A chess app is an idea too.
My first app pays a tribute to one of the most ingenious players ever- Paul Morphy. The way that he attacked his opponents revolutionized the game and brought it to the next level.
What was his secret?
You will find the answers in the app, and here is a bit of it:




You can download the app from here.