Unlock Your Genius April 2009 (Problems)

by tapestry , Hampshire, Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 21:45 (5832 days ago) @ Tony Kosten

? ? After Rf8, White should definitely play Rfd1 (intending e4), though I'm
? ? not clear what the strongest continuation is after Black plays Rf7 to
? ? address the e4 threat. The endgame after Bxa5 Rxc1 Rxc1 Nxe5 h3 looks
? ? promising.
?
? Good, but why is it promising?

I wonder if it is promising for white because of the queenside pawns and potential for a passed pawn and the bishop against a knight with pawns on both sides of the board. Also black's kingside pawns could be vulnerable. I think black has good chances to hold though as the black knight could settle on e4 and the black king could defend in the centre, but the black squares in black's position look a vulnerability.

I wonder if rather than h3, white should play Rc8. My reasoning is that in order to activate the white king the black rook needs to be pushed off the f file. So if, after 1. Bc7 fe, 2. de Rf8 3. Rfd1 Rf7 4. Bxa5 Rxc1 5. Rxc1 Nxe5, 6. Rc8 either forces the black king to the edge of the board or the exchange of rooks.
So after 6...Rf8 7. Rc7 Rf7 8. h3 with a view to using the king to hold the centre and pushing the queenside pawns.

Alternatively, if 6. h3 black could try an 6...Nc6 (blocking the c file). After 7. Bc3 Rf5 with a plan for black to play ...Kf7, ...e5 and ...Ke6.

Thanks for the prompt to Karpov - Unzicker. I remembered something along those lines somewhere but it was very hazy. Looking through some of the books lining my shelves, I now see that Gelfer (Positional Chess Handbook), Tisdall (Improve Your Chess Now) and Kotov (Play Like a Grandmaster) all quote this game. Hopefully, seeing this idea again now will mean it'll stick in my memory more vividly.