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This was an interesting game of the Ruy Lopez: Jaenisch Gambit, Exchange Variation (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Bxc6). Despite getting a very nice lead out of the opening, inaccuracies, and mistakes in the middlegame by me resulted in my opponent and I enter a drawn endgame. On move 34, we each had four pawns each on the queenside squares.

This endgame is a great demonstration of the power of having connected passed pawns. My opponent played an aggressive immediate attack (35. c4), and this was immediately a game changing blunder [-11]. As with endgames, one square makes all the difference. (35. c3) remains a draw.

The mistake isn’t immediately obvious. I can imagine that White calculated that after the trade in pawns, a forward king move seems to win White another pawn as they have an advantage of a single step by going first.

And that happens, EXCEPT that after the trades, my pawns on d5 and c4 are connected passed pawns. It looks like the White king can capture the undefended d5 pawn, except if it does so, the c-pawn moves forward and promotes, and the king is not fast enough to stop it. White’s connected pawns on the a- and b-files are not passed – I still have a pawn on a7, and that makes all the difference.

This dynamic pattern is extremely important in endgames as it means that one pawn doesn’t need to be defended and is immortal, giving a massive advantage. White cannot both defend their remaining pawns and prevent the connected passed pawns from advancing.

I advance my king, and after capturing both of White’s remaining pawns, the king creates a forcefield for the c-pawn for its final three squares to promotion. With loss inevitable, White resigns. GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/68351646641

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.01.25"]
[Round "-"]
[White "gilamonster54"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C63"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Ruy-Lopez-Opening-Jaenisch-Exchange-Variation-4...dxc6"]
[UTCDate "2023.01.25"]
[UTCTime "02:13:42"]
[WhiteElo "1423"]
[BlackElo "1417"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "02:13:42"]
[EndDate "2023.01.25"]
[EndTime "02:39:47"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/68351646641"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Bxc6 {Ruy Lopez: Jaenisch Gambit, Exchange
Variation} 4... dxc6 5. Nxe5 Qd4 6. Nf3 {Stockfish rates this as the best move
for White, and I haven't actually seen someone play this before [-0.2]} 6...
Qxe4+ 7. Kf1 Bd7 8. Qe1 $6 {[%c_effect
e1;square;e1;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] This was an inaccuracy [-1]. White
could have forced a queen trade on the previous move without losing the right to
castle.} 8... Qxe1+ 9. Nxe1 O-O-O 10. Nf3 Bd6 11. d3 Nf6 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bh4 $2
{[%c_effect h4;square;h4;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g5f6;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false] A mistake [-5] but I
don't capitalise on the advantage} 13... Rdg8 $2 $9 {[%c_effect
g8;square;g8;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
g7g5;keyPressed;none;from;g7;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false] A missed opportunity
[-0.4]} 14. Bg3 $4 {[%c_effect
g3;square;g3;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h4f6;keyPressed;none;from;h4;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false] However, this was a
blunder [-5.4]} 14... g5 $2 $9 {[%c_effect
g5;square;g5;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f5f4;keyPressed;none;from;f5;opacity;0.8;to;f4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f4;persistent;false] Another missed
opportunity [-0.7]} 15. Bxd6 cxd6 16. Nc3 h5 $2 {[%c_effect
h5;square;h5;type;Mistake;persistent;true] My thinking was that I could push
these pawns into the White king's position. Stockfish thinks that this attack
won't work [+0.5]} 17. Ke2 $9 h4 18. Kd2 $2 {[%c_effect
d2;square;d2;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h2h3;keyPressed;none;from;h2;opacity;0.8;to;h3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h3;persistent;false] A complicated
position. Stockfish doesn't like this move [-3.3]} 18... g4 $2 {[%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h4h3;keyPressed;none;from;h4;opacity;0.8;to;h3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h3;persistent;false] Stockfish thinks that
h3 is best, forcing a capture and allowing the infiltration of a rook [-1.6].}
19. Nd4 f4 {[%c_arrow
c6c5;keyPressed;none;from;c6;opacity;0.8;to;c5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c5;persistent;false] Stockfish doesn't
believe in the kingside attack [-0.8]} 20. Rae1 g3 $2 {[%c_effect
g3;square;g3;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c6c5;keyPressed;none;from;c6;opacity;0.8;to;c5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c5;persistent;false] Back to neutral
[0.00]} 21. fxg3 {And there is a long series of trades into an equal endgame
where the moves are practically forced, insofar the best moves are reasonably
easy to see for both Black and White} 21... hxg3 22. hxg3 Rxh1 $1 {[%c_effect
h1;square;h1;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 23. Rxh1 Rxg3 24. Rg1 Bh3 25. Nde2
Rxg2 $1 {[%c_effect g2;square;g2;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 26. Rxg2 Bxg2
27. Nxf4 $1 {[%c_effect f4;square;f4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 27... Bf3
28. Ke3 Bg4 29. Ng6 b5 30. b4 Be6 31. a3 Nd5+ {[%c_arrow
d5e3;keyPressed;none;from;d5;opacity;0.8;to;e3;persistent;false,d5c3;keyPressed;none;from;d5;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false,e3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e3;persistent;false]
This forced the knights off the board [0.00]} 32. Nxd5 Bxd5 33. Ne7+ {[%c_arrow
e7d5;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false,e7c8;keyPressed;none;from;e7;opacity;0.8;to;c8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false,c8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c8;persistent;false]
I had intended a knight vs bishop endgame, but I didn't see that White could
force the final pieces off as well [0.00]} 33... Kd7 $1 {[%c_effect
d7;square;d7;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 34. Nxd5 cxd5 {And we enter a
drawn endgame [0.00]} 35. c4 $4 {[%c_effect
c4;square;c4;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c2c3;keyPressed;none;from;c2;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false] However, this
assertive push was a blunder [-11] as it undoubles my pawns on the d-file, and
transforms the position such that I have connected passed pawns, which gives a
winning endgame advantage} 35... dxc4 36. dxc4 bxc4 37. Kd4 d5 $1 {[%c_effect
d5;square;d5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d4d5;keyPressed;none;from;d4;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false,c4c3;keyPressed;none;from;c4;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false,c3c2;keyPressed;none;from;c3;opacity;0.8;to;c2;persistent;false,c2c1;keyPressed;none;from;c2;opacity;0.8;to;c1;persistent;false]
And this is winning for Black [-16]. White's king cannot capture the d5 pawn as
it then cannot prevent the c-pawn from promoting.} 38. Kc3 $2 {[%c_effect
c3;square;c3;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
a3a4;keyPressed;none;from;a3;opacity;0.8;to;a4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
a4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;a4;persistent;false]} 38... Kc6 39. Kd4
Kb5 $1 {[%c_effect b5;square;b5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 40. Kc3
{Fundamentally, White's king cannot both defend the pawns, and stop the mobility
of my passed pawns} 40... a5 41. bxa5 Kxa5 42. Kb2 Ka4 43. Ka2 d4 44. Kb2 d3 45.
Kc3 Kxa3 46. Kd2 Kb2 {[%c_effect
b2;square;b2;type;Winner,d2;square;d2;type;ResignWhite][%c_arrow
c4c3;keyPressed;none;from;c4;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false,c3c2;keyPressed;none;from;c3;opacity;0.8;to;c2;persistent;false,c2c1;keyPressed;none;from;c2;opacity;0.8;to;c1;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false,c2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c2;persistent;false,c1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c1;persistent;false]
The White king now cannot prevent the c-pawn from promoting and resigns. GG $1}
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