Efstratios Grivas : knight, so as to avoid having the king caught in

a mating net; this would force either the

Rook & Knight vs Rook defending rook to a passive position or the king
to a corner. Pinning can be effected
Concept horizontally or vertically.

In the latest FIDE World Championship in Example 1

Sochi, Russia, the following position was seen XIIIIIIIIY
in the 7th game of the match between World 9r+-+-+-mk0
Champion Magnus Carlsen and the ex-FIDE
World Champion Vishy Anand:
9+R+-+-+-0
9-+-+NmK-+0
Carlsen M. : Anand V. 9+-+-+-+-0
Sochi 2014 9-+-+-+-+0
XIIIIIIIIY 9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+-+0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-mk-+-0 9+-+-+-+-0
9-+K+-+-+0 xiiiiiiiiy
9+-sN-+-tR-0 The simplest case. White's plan is to place his
9-+-+-+-+0 king on g6 and his knight on f6, when mate
9+-+-+-+-0 with Rh7 follows, or the king to h6 and the
9-+-+-+-+0 knight on g6, when Rg7 will again be mate.
Thus, White must guard his 6th rank.
9+-+-+r+-0 1.Kg6 Kg8
xiiiiiiiiy Other tries also fail: 1...Rg8 2.Kh6 Rc8
Although Carlsen pressed for a quite number of (2...Rg1 3.Ng5) 3.Nf4 Kg8 4.Ng6 Rc7 5.Ne7;
moves, Anand defended with accuracy and 1...Rc8 2.Ra7 Rb8 3.Rc7 Ra8 4.Rc6 Re8 5.Kf7
hadn’t really many problems to solve. Ra8 6.Rc5 Ra7 7.Nc7; 1...Re8 2.Ng5 Rg8
104...Rd1 105.Rg6 Kf7 106.Rh6 Rg1 3.Kh6 Rc8 4.Rh7 Kg8 5.Rg7 Kf8 6.Nh7 Ke8
107.Kd5 Rg5 108.Kd4 Rg6 109.Rh1 Rg2 7.Nf6 Kf8 8.Rg8.
110.Ne4 Ra2 111.Rf1 Ke7 112.Nc3 Rh2 2.Rb6 Re8 3.Rc6 Ra8 4.Ng5 Kf8 5.Re6! Rb8
113.Nd5 Kd6 114.Rf6 Kd7 115.Nf4 Rh1 6.Nh7 Kg8 7.Re7 Rb6 8.Nf6 1:0.
116.Rg6 Rd1 117.Nd3 Ke7 118.Ra6 Kd7
119.Ke4 Ke7 120.Rc6 Kd7 121.Rc1 Rc1 Example 2
122.Nc1 ½-½ XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+k+0
Identification
9+-+-+-+-0
This ending is drawn and the defender's task is 9-+-+-+K+0
much easier than in that of Rook & Bishop vs 9+-+-+-sN-0
Rook. 9-+-+-+-+0
Naturally, certain exceptions do exist here as
well. In all of next five exceptional cases, the 9+-+-+-+-0
defending king has been restricted to the last 9-+-+R+-+0
rank. 9+-+-+r+-0
The analysis of these positions has been known xiiiiiiiiy
since the 18th century and is based on the work
1.Re3! Rf2
of Centurini. Barring these five exceptional
White wins after 1...Kf8 2.Nh7 Kg8 3.Re8 or
cases, the attacking side can win the game only
1...Rf8 2.Nh7.
with the kind help of the opponent!
2.Re1 Rf4 3.Ra1 Rf2
The main defensive concept is pinning the
It now becomes apparent why White first of all
FIDE Surveys – Efstratios Grivas 1
forced the black rook to move to f4: 3...Kf8? Example 4
4.Ne6. XIIIIIIIIY
4.Ne4! Rg2 5.Kf6 Kh8 9-+-+r+k+0
5...Rg4 6.Ra8 Kh7 7.Ng5 leads to mate.
6.Ra3! 9+-+-+-+-0
Forcing the black rook to the 4th rank. 9R+-+-+K+0
6...Rg1 7.Ra2 Rg4 8.Ng5! Rf4 9.Kg6 Kg8 9+-+-+N+-0
10.Ne6! Rg4 11.Kf6 Kh8 12.Kf7! Rh4 13.Kg6 9-+-+-+-+0
Rg4 14.Ng5 1:0.
9+-+-+-+-0
The second is more complicated, as the black 9-+-+-+-+0
king is caught in a stalemate position. 9+-+-+-+-0
Example 3
xiiiiiiiiy
XIIIIIIIIY 1...Kf8
No help is offered by the alternatives: 1...Kh8
9-+-+-+-mk0 2.Ne7! Rb8 3.Kh6 Rd8 4.Ng6 Kg8 5.Ra7 or
9+-+-+-+-0 1...Rb8 2.Rf6 Kh8 3.Kh6 or, finally, 1...Rf8
9-+-+-sNK+0 2.Ne7 Kh8 3.Ra1!.
9+-+-+-+-0 2.Rf6 Kg8 3.Nh6 Kh8 4.Kf7! Ra8 5.Nf5 Ra7
6.Kg6 Ra8 7.Kh6 Re8 8.Ne7! Ra8 9.Rf7 Ra6
9-+-+-+-+0 10.Ng6 1:0.
9+r+-+-+-0
9-+-tR-+-+0 Example 5
9+-+-+-+-0 XIIIIIIIIY
xiiiiiiiiy 9r+-+-mk-+0
1...Rg3 2.Kf7 Rg7 3.Ke6 Rb7 9+R+-+-+-0
Or 3...Rg1 4.Rd7! Re1 5.Kf7. 9-+-sN-mK-+0
4.Rg2! 9+-+-+-+-0
Certainly not 4.Rh2 Kg7 5.Rh7 Kf8! 6.Rb7
stalemate! 9-+-+-+-+0
4...Rb6 5.Kf5 Rb5 6.Kg6 Rb2 7.Rg5 Rb5 9+-+-+-+-0
8.Nd5 Rb7 9.Kf6 Rh7 9-+-+-+-+0
The alternatives fail to save Black: 9...Rd7 9+-+-+-+-0
10.Ne7 Rd6 11.Kf7 Kh7 12.Rg7 Kh6 (12...Kh8
13.Ng6) 13.Nf5; 9...Ra7 10.Rg1 Rb7 11.Ra1! xiiiiiiiiy
Rd7 12.Ne7 Rd6 13.Kf7 Kh7 14.Nf5 Rd7 In this example, which side is to move makes
15.Kf6 Rb7 16.Rh1 Kg8 17.Ne7 Kf8 18.Rh8 #; no difference, as White can ‘lose’ a tempo. The
9...Rg7 10.Re5! Rd7 (10...Ra7 11.Re1) 11.Ne7 bad placement of the black king and the
Rd6 12.Kf7 Kh7 13.Re1 Ra6 (13...Kh6 passivity of its rook determine the outcome.
14.Nf5+) 14.Rh1 Rh6 15.Ra1 Rh3 16.Ng8! 1.Rc7! Rb8
Kh8 (16...Rh2 17.Nf6 Kh6 18.Rg1 Rg2 The alternative 1...Kg8 2.Kg6 Kh8 3.Rh7 Kg8
19.Ng8) 17.Nf6!. 4.Rg7 Kf8 5.Rf7 Kg8 6.Ne4 also loses.
10.Ne7 Rh6 2.Ra7 Rd8
Or 10...Rg7 11.Ra5 Rh7 12.Ra8#. Or 2...Kg8 3.Kg6 Kh8 4.Rh7 Kg8 5.Rg7 Kf8
11.Kf7 Rh7 12.Kf8 Rh3 13.Rg8 Kh7 14.Rg7 6.Kh7 Rb7 7.Nb7.
Kh6 15.Ng8 Kh5 16.Nf6 1:0. 3.Nf5 Rb8 4.Rf7 Kg8 5.Ne7 Kh8 6.Ng6 Kg8
7.Rg7# 1:0.

FIDE Surveys – Efstratios Grivas 2

The defending side fails to defend!
Well, defending this ending can be a tricky
business! If the defending king is cornered,
problems begin…
Polgar J. : Kasparov G.
Dos Hermanas 1996
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-mk-+-+0
9+-+-+-+R0
9-+-+-+-mK0
9tr-+-+-+-0
9-+-+n+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
The white king is already on the edge of the
board, so some 'care' is in need...
60.Kg4
60.Rh8 is also drawn: 60...Rg3 61.Re8 Rg2
62.Kh3 Nf4 63.Kh4 Rg7 =.
60...Ke6 61.Rb5 Rg3 62.Kh4 Rg1 63.Rg5 Rf1
64.Ra5
64.Kg4 is good as well: 64...Kf6 (64...Rg1
65.Kh4 Rf1 66.Kg4=) 65.Ra5 Rf4 66.Kh3
(66.Kh5? Ng3 67.Kh6 Rh4 68.Rh5 Rh5#)
66...Kg6 67.Ra2=.
64...Kf6 65.Ra8 Rg1 66.Rf8 Ke5 67.Re8 Kf4
68.Rf8 Ke4 69.Re8 Kf3 70.Kh5
Although the text move spoils nothing, nice is
70.Rf8! Nf4 71.Rg8! Rh1 (71...Rg8 -
Stalemate!) 72.Kg5 Rg1 73.Kh4=.
70...Ng3 71.Kh6
White should not fall for 71.Kh4? Nf5 72.Kh5
(72.Kh3 Rh1#) 72...Ng7 -+. Also good is
71.Kg5 Ne4 72.Kh6 =, but not 72.Kf5? Nd6 -+
or 72.Kh4? Rh1# or, finally, 72.Kh5? Nf6-+.
And maybe the best is 71.Kg6 Ne4 72.Kh6=,
but not again 72.Kh7? Nf6 -+ or 72.Kf7? Nd6.
71...Nf5 72.Kh7
72.Kh5? Ng7 -+.
72...Kf4 73.Rb8
73.Rg8? now, loses to 73...Rh1 74.Kg6 Ne7 -+.
73...Rg7 74.Kh8
Now the white king has been driven to the
corner; White must be on the alert ...
74...Rd7 75.Re8
75.Rf8? now loses to 75...Kg5 76.Ra8 Kg6
FIDE Surveys – Efstratios Grivas
77.Rg8 (77.Rb8 Rh7 78.Kg8 Ne7 79.Kf8 Rh8 -
+) 77...Kh6 78.Rg1 Rd8! 79.Rg8 Rd3 80.Rg1
Rf3 81.Rg4 (81.Kg8 Ne7 82.Kh8 Rf8-+)
81...Ne7 82.Rh4 Kg6! (82...Kg5? 83.Rh6!!
Ng6 84.Kg7 [84.Kh7? Rf7 85.Kg8 Kf6-+)
84...Ne5 85.Re6=) 83.Rg4 (83.Rh6 Kf7-+)
83...Kf6 84.Rg7 Re3-+.
75...Kg5 76.Re6
If Black manages to put the knight on f6 then
his position is winning. But how to do that? If
the knight is going away from his king then
White starts checking. So it's important at the
moment for Black to move his knight in a way
that White has no more any check.
76...Nd4 77.Re1
Or 77.Rb6 Re7 (77...Kf5 78.Kg8 Ne6 79.Rb1
Kg6 80.Rg1 Ng5 81.Kf8=) 78.Kg8 Ne6
79.Rb1! (79.Rb8? Kg6-+) 79...Kg6 80.Rg1
Ng5 81.Kf8!=.
77...Kf6 78.Rd1
78.Rf1 is good enough: 78...Nf5 (78...Ke7
79.Kg7=) 79.Kg8 Rg7 80.Kf8 (80.Kh8? Rg2
81.Kh7 Rg5 82.Kh8 Kf7 83.Rh1 Rg2 84.Rh3
Rf2 85.Kh7 Ne7 86.Kh6 Rf5 87.Kh7 Ng8
88.Rh1 Rg5 89.Rh2 Nf6 90.Kh8 Rg8#)
80...Ra7 81.Ke8=, as the white king has
escaped the dangerous corner.
78...Rd5!
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-mK0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-mk-+0
9+-+r+-+-0
9-+-sn-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+R+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
And now White has only one good move ...
79.Ra1?
Also losing is 79.Rh1? Nf3! 80.Rh6 Kf7
81.Rh7 Kg6! (81...Kf8? 82.Ra7=) 82.Rg7 Kf6
83.Rg4 (83.Rg8? Rh5#) 83...Ng5 84.Rf4 Kg6
85.Kg8 Ne6 86.Rg4 Kf6 87.Rg2 (87.Kh7 Ng5
88.Kh6 Nf7 89.Kh7 Rh5 90.Kg8 Rh8#)
87...Rd8 88.Kh7 Ng5 89.Kh6 Rh8#. White has
to find the only move: 79.Rf1! Nf5 80.Rf2
(keep the knight pinned!) 80...Rd4 (80...Kg6
81.Rg2 Kf7 82.Rf2 Rd8 83.Kh7 Kf6 84.Rf1=)
81.Kg8! (81.Rh2? Kf7 82.Rh1 Rf4 83.Rh7 Kf8
84.Rh3 Ne7 85.Kh7 Kf7 86.Rh1 Ng8 87.Rh3
3
Rg4 88.Rh1 Nf6 89.Kh8 Rg8#) 81...Rd1 is no way back!
82.Rf4!=. 89.Ka3 Nc6! 90.Ka4 Rb4 91.Ka3 Rb5!
79...Ne6! And White resigned, as the end is near ... 0:1.
Very accurate - only winning move!
80.Ra6 Kf7 81.Ra7 Kg6 82.Ra8 Rd7 83.Rb8 Carlsen M. : L'Ami E.
Rc7 84.Kg8 Rc5 85.Ra8 Rb5 86.Kh8 Rb7 Wijk aan Zee 2011
87.Rc8 Nc7 XIIIIIIIIY
Accurate is 87...Rb6! 88.Kg8 Ng5 89.Kf8 Re6 9-+-+-+-+0
90.Kg8 Nh7 91.Kh8 Nf6 92.Rf8 Re7-+.
88.Rg8 Kh6 89.Rg1 9+-+-+-+R0
More stubborn is 89.Rf8, but after 89...Rb6 9-+-+-sN-+0
90.Kg8 Kg6 91.Rd8 Ne6 Black is on the right 9+-+-tr-+-0
track again ... 9-+K+-+-+0
89...Rb8 90.Rg8 Ne8!
XIIIIIIIIY 9+-+-+-+-0
9-tr-+n+RmK0 9-+-+-+k+0
9+-+-+-+-0 9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+-mk0 xiiiiiiiiy
9+-+-+-+-0 Being tired after the long defence, L'Ami did
not manage to hold this theoretically drawn
9-+-+-+-+0 endgame.
9+-+-+-+-0 76.Kd4 Re1 77.Ng4 Kg3 78.Ne3 Ra1 79.Rg7
9-+-+-+-+0 Kf4 80.Rf7 Kg3 81.Nc2 Ra4 82.Ke3 Kg4
9+-+-+-+-0 83.Nd4 Kg5 84.Ke4 Kg6 85.Rf1 Ra5 86.Nc6
Ra4 87.Ke5 Kg5 88.Rg1 Rg4 89.Ra1 Rg3
xiiiiiiiiy 90.Re1 Rg2 91.Ne7 Kg4 92.Nf5 Ra2 93.Rg1
And White resigned, as she cannot stop the XIIIIIIIIY
wining set-up with the knight on f6: 91.Rf8 9-+-+-+-+0
Kg6 92.Rg8 Kf7 93.Rg1 Nf6 94.Rg8 Rg8# 0:1.
9+-+-+-+-0
Onischuk A. : Dominguez L. 9-+-+-+-+0
Biel 2008 9+-+-mKN+-0
XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+-+k+0
9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0
9+-tR-+-+-0 9r+-+-+-+0
9-tr-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-tR-0
9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy
9-+-sn-+-+0 93...Kf3?
9+-+k+-+-0 A blunder. After 93...Kh3 or 93...Kh5 it is still
9K+-+-+-+0 a draw.
9+-+-+-+-0 94.Nh4!
Black resigned because after the text move he
xiiiiiiiiy loses a rook: 94...Ke3 95.Rg3! Kd2 96.Rg2
White holds, as usual, but some traps do exist... 1:0.
88.Rd7?
No less than eight moves would have preserved
a drawish position: 88.Ka1, 88.Re7, 88.Rf7,
88.Rg7, 88.Rh7, 88.Rc5, 88.Rc1 and 88.Rc8.
88...Kc2!
White missed this simple tactic and now there

FIDE Surveys – Efstratios Grivas 4

Zhigalko S. : Kuzubov Y. Kh7 106.Ng5 Kg8 107.Rc6+-.
Moscow 2011 104.Rc4 Rb6 105.Ra4 Kg8?
XIIIIIIIIY The black king stands 'fine' on h7. Black should
9-+-+-+-+0 simply play 105...Rd6! =.
106.Ra7!
9+-+-+-+k0 Back rank occupation ...
9-+-+-mK-+0 106...Kh8 107.Re7 Ra6 108.Kg6 Ra8
9+-+-+-+-0 109.Rb7 Kg8 110.Nc7!
9-+-sN-+-+0 Remember: the knight belongs on f6!
110...Rf8 111.Nd5
9+-+-+-tR-0 And Black resigned due to 111...Ra8 112.Nf6
9-+-+-+-+0 Kh8 113.Rh7# 1:0.
9tr-+-+-+-0
Ivanchuk V. : Karpov A.
xiiiiiiiiy Cap d'Agde 2012
Black has defended well, but here cracks: XIIIIIIIIY
93...Rf1?
Moves like 93...Ra2, 93...Ra5 and 93...Ra6
9-+-+-+-+0
should be OK for the draw. 9+-+-+-+-0
94.Nf5 Kh8 95.Rg2 Rh1 9-+-+-sn-tr0
Or 95...Rf4 96.Rg5 Ra4 97.Rh5 Kg8 98.Ne7 9+-+-+k+-0
Kf8 99.Rh8#.
96.Ra2 Rf1 97.Rg2 Rh1 98.Kf7! Rh7 99.Kf8
9-+-+-+-+0
Rh5 9+-+-+-tR-0
99...Rh3 100.Nd6! Kh7 101.Nf7 Rg3 9-+-+-+K+0
102.Ng5+-. 9+-+-+-+-0
100.Nd6!
Black resigned due to 100...Rh1 (100...Kh7 xiiiiiiiiy
101.Rg7 Kh6 102.Nf7#) 101.Nf7 Kh7 White should be safe, but after all this is a rapid
102.Rg7#. Unfortunately for him, he took game ...
things a bit more ‘lightly’ than he should and 60.Ra3 Ne4 61.Ra8 Kf4 62.Rf8
the time-trouble wasn’t on his side … 1:0. The other pin with 62.Ra4 is safe as well.
62...Ke3 63.Re8
Nabaty T. : Ali Sebbar Pinning the knight!
Caleta 2012 63...Rg6 64.Kh3?
XIIIIIIIIY Losing! White had to find the drawing 64.Kf1!
9-+-+-+-+0 (only move!) 64...Rg7 65.Re5=.
64...Kf3! 65.Kh2
9tr-+-+-+k0 65.Rf8 doesn't help: 65...Nf6 66.Kh2 Kf2
9-+-+NmK-+0 67.Rh8 Rg3 68.Kh1 Rg1 69.Kh2 Ng4 70.Kh3
9+-+-+-+-0 Rh1-+.
9-+-+-+R+0 65...Rg2+ 66.Kh3 Ng5 67.Kh4 Nf7
67...Nh7 is quicker: 68.Kh3 Rg5 69.Kh4 Rg1
9+-+-+-+-0 70.Kh5 Nf6-+.
9-+-+-+-+0 68.Kh5
9+-+-+-+-0 A bit more stubborn is 68.Kh3 Ng5 69.Kh4, as
Black would have to find the winning
xiiiiiiiiy 69...Nh7!.
The black king looks in bad shape, but the 68...Rg5 69.Kh4 Rg6! 70.Rh8!? Nh8 0:1.
‘right’ of the defender is a privilege ...
103...Ra6!
Pinning is the best! An alternative like
103...Ra8? loses after 104.Rh4 Kg8 105.Rc4

FIDE Surveys – Efstratios Grivas 5

Neverov V. : Bogdanovich S. 210.Kh2 Nd4!
Kiev 2013 White resigned because of 211.Rf7 Nf3
XIIIIIIIIY 212.Rf3 Rf3 213.Kh1 Rh3#
9-+-+-+-+0 0:1.
9+-+-+R+-0 The defending side succeeds to defend!
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0 Maybe in the end of the today, the defence is
9-+-+-+-+0 not that difficult. Let’s see some examples!
9+-+ksn-tr-0 Kramnik V. : Kasparov G.
9-+-+-+-+0 London 2000
9+-+-+-+K0 XIIIIIIIIY
xiiiiiiiiy 9-+r+-+-+0
Even though the white king is badly placed, the 9mk-sN-+-tR-0
endgame is still drawn. 9-+-+-+-+0
173.Kh2 Rg5 174.Kh3 Nf5 175.Ra7 Ke4 9+-+-+-+-0
176.Ra4 Kf3 177.Ra3 Ne3 178.Kh4 Rb5
179.Rc3 Kf4 180.Ra3 Re5 181.Ra4 Kf3
9-+-+-+-+0
182.Ra3 Rb5 183.Rc3 Kf4 184.Ra3 Nf5 9+K+-+-+-0
185.Kh3 Rb4 186.Kg2 Ne3 187.Kh3 Kf3 9-+-+-+-+0
188.Ra8 Rf4 189.Ra3 Re4 190.Ra8 Nd5 9+-+-+-+-0
191.Ra3 Ne3 192.Ra8 Re5 193.Rf8 Nf5
194.Ra8 Re3 195.Rf8 Ke4 196.Kh2 xiiiiiiiiy
The alternative good move is 196.Kg2, but not Black was extremely lucky beforehand and he
196.Kg4? Rg3 197.Kh5 Kf4-+. didn't missed his good fortune now!
196...Kf4 197.Rf7 Kg4 198.Kg1 Rf3 199.Rf8 62.Kb4 Kb6 63.Nd5 Ka6 64.Rg6 Kb7 65.Kb5
Rf4 200.Rg8 Kh3 201.Rh8 Nh4 202.Ra8 Kg3 Rc1 66.Rg2 Kc8!
203.Rg8 Kf3 204.Ra8 Nf5 205.Rf8 Ke2 The black king escapes the corner!
White should be OK with any rook move 67.Rg7 Kd8 68.Nf6 Rc7 69.Rg5 Rf7 70.Nd5
except 206.Rf5? and 206.Rh8?. Neverov was Kd7 71.Rg6 Rf1 72.Kc5 Rc1 73.Kd4 Rd1
probably tired after a very long game and so he 74.Ke5 ½-½.
erred ...
XIIIIIIIIY Svidler P. : Grischuk A.
9-+-+-tR-+0 Odessa 2008
9+-+-+-+-0 XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-+0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+n+-0 9+-+r+-+k0
9-+-+-tr-+0 9-+KsN-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0 9+-+-tR-+-0
9-+-+k+-+0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-mK-0 9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+-+0
xiiiiiiiiy 9+-+-+-+-0
206.Kh2?
206.Rh8? Rg4 207.Kh1 Kf1-+. xiiiiiiiiy
206...Kf2! 207.Rh8 2800 players cannot easily miss their defending
The only move to stop mate but now there is no chances - see why:
escape for the king. 67...Ra7 68.Rg5 Kh6 69.Rg1 Kh5 70.Nf5 Ra5
207...Rg4 208.Rh7 Rg2 209.Kh3 Rg3 71.Ne3 Re5 72.Nd5 Re6 73.Kc5 Ra6 74.Kd4

FIDE Surveys – Efstratios Grivas 6

Ra4 75.Ke5 Ra5! And Anand seems to love to defend it! Here is
Pinning the knight! his model game, although against Carlsen as
76.Ke4 Kh6 77.Nf4 Ra4 78.Kf5 Ra5 79.Kf6 well he played accurately.
Ra6 80.Ne6 Kh5 ½-½. 55...Kf6 56.Rc5 Ke6 57.Re5 Kd7 58.Ke4 Ra1
59.Rh5 Ra4 60.Ke5 Ra1 61.Rh6 Re1 62.Kd4
Ivanchuk V. : Carlsen M. Ra1 63.Nc4 Rd1 64.Kc5 Ke7 65.Ne3 Rc1
Leon 2009 66.Kd5 Re1 67.Re6 Kf7 68.Re4 Ra1 69.Ke5
XIIIIIIIIY Re1 70.Kf5 Re2 71.Re5 Re1 72.Re6 Re2
9-+-+-+-+0 73.Rf6 Ke7 74.Nd5 Kd7 ½-½.
9+-+-+-mk-0
Ivanchuk V. : Kramnik V.
9-+-+-+-+0 Nice 2010
9+r+-+-+-0 XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+K+-sn0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0 9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9tR-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+k+0
xiiiiiiiiy 9tR-+-+N+-0
Carlsen seems to love playing this ending! But 9-+-+-+-+0
here Ivanchuk presented a model game of 9+-+-+K+-0
accurate defence. 9-+-+-+-+0
48.Rf1 Ng6 49.Rf5 Rb4 50.Ke3 Ne7 51.Ra5 9+-+-tr-+-0
Kf6 52.Kd3 Ke6 53.Rh5 Nf5 54.Kc3 Rg4
55.Kd3 Ke5 56.Kc3 Rf4 57.Kd3 Kd5 58.Kc3 xiiiiiiiiy
Rf3 59.Kb4 Kc6 60.Rg5 Ne3 61.Rc5 Kd6 As we already had noticed, Kramnik is an
62.Rh5 Nd5 63.Kc4 Rf4 64.Kd3 Rg4 65.Rf5 expert in defence! And even in blindfold
Kc5 66.Rh5 Rf4 67.Rg5 Rh4 68.Rf5 Rh3 games!
69.Ke2 Kd4 70.Rf8 Nc3 71.Kf2 Ne4 72.Kg2 83...Rf1 84.Ke4 Re1 85.Ne3 Kf6 86.Ra6 Ke7
Rg3 73.Kh2 Ke3 74.Rf7 Rg8 75.Rf5 Ng5 87.Kd4 Kd7 88.Nf5 Rd1 89.Ke5 Re1 90.Kd5
76.Ra5 Nf3 77.Kh3 Ng1 78.Kh4 Ne2 79.Rg5 Rd1 91.Nd4 Ke7 92.Rb6 Kf7 93.Rc6 Ke7
Rh8 80.Kg4 Ke4 81.Rg7 Re8 82.Ra7 Rg8 94.Re6 Kf7 95.Re4 Kf6 96.Kd6 Rd3 97.Rg4
83.Kh4 Nd4 84.Kh3 Nf5 85.Ra4 Kf3 86.Ra3 Rd1 98.Kd5 Rf1 99.Rg2 Rd1 100.Rf2 Ke7
Ne3 87.Kh4 Rg1 88.Kh5 Kf4 89.Ra4 Ke5 101.Ke5 Re1 102.Ne2 Kd7 103.Kd5 Rd1
90.Ra5 Nd5 91.Rb5 Ke4 92.Ra5 Nf6 93.Kh6 104.Nd4 Ke7 105.Rf4 Ke8 106.Kd6 Rd3
Ng8 94.Kh5 Nf6 95.Kh6 Kf4 96.Ra4 Kf5 107.Rh4 Kf7 108.Ke5 Rd1 109.Nf3 Rf1
97.Ra5 Ke6 98.Ra6 Kf7 99.Ra7 Kf8 100.Rf7! 110.Rh7 Kg6 111.Rh3 Kf7 112.Kf5 Ke7 ½-½.
½-½.
Karjakin S. : Caruana F-
Aronian L. : Anand V. Moscow 2013
Mainz 2009 XIIIIIIIIY
XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-tr-+-+0
9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0
9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-+-+-+0
9-+-+-+k+0 9+-+-+-+-0
9+-+-+-+-0 9-mkRsN-+-+0
9-+-+-mK-+0 9+-+K+-+-0
9+-tR-sN-+-0 9-+-+-+-+0
9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0
9+-+-tr-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy
xiiiiiiiiy 118...Ka5!

FIDE Surveys – Efstratios Grivas 7

118...Ka3? loses to 119.Kc3.
119.Kc3 Kb6 120.Rb4 Ka6 121.Kc4 Rc8
122.Kd5 Ka5 123.Rb1 Rc3 124.Ne6 Rh3
125.Kc4 Rh4 126.Nd4 Ka6 127.Kc5 Rh5
128.Kd6 Rh6 129.Ne6 Ka5 130.Kc5 Rh5
131.Kc4 Rh4 132.Nd4 Ka6 133.Kc5 Rh5
134.Kd6 Rh6 135.Ne6 Ka5 136.Rb2 Ka4
137.Kd5 Rh5 138.Ke4 ½-½.

Conclusion

Of course the ending is drawish, but still some

advices are good enough for the defending side:
1. Try to pin the knight.
2. Avoid corner the king.
3. Little time left never helps…
4. Study this survey!

If you do all of these, you will always get the

maximum from your position, no matter if you
have the knight or not!

FIDE Surveys – Efstratios Grivas 8