Black will lose his knight and maybe his bishop; Black cannot play 21...Rc8 because of 22.e8=Q Rxe8 23.Qxc7+ Ka8 24.Qxd7.
Saving his bishop means that he will go down 3 pawns.
Why did my opponent resign in this game?
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It's a little amusing to see how early some people resign! It's like they're afraid of doing something wrong and ending up humiliating themselves, when I think they should at least take a deeper look, and not give up so easiliy.
I'm afraid I don't really have time to look at the whole game, but looking at the final position, yeah, it looks like an equal position. Sure, the black pawn is pinned to the queen and the king is exposed and under attack, but it really isn't possible to find a forced mate or even a decisive material gain. The king has the a8 square free, and you really don't have any other attackers than the queen and bishop out, meaning that making a decisive breakthrough is hard, especially seeing as black's pieces are connected to the battle too.
I think your best bet really is to ask your opponent why he resigned, if you're interested. It words sometimes! For example, I had an opponent resign way too early, and after I asked him why he said that he was afraid about the condition of his kingside after h4 follows.
As far as I can tell, this position is quite equal too, so I was quite shocked when he resigned!
Thomas, 21... Rc8 22. e8=Q?? Rhxe8 -+
Black can take the promoted queen with the h-rook, and white is losing. Horribly.
The position isn't equal, white is winning. Break down the position, white has all the play and black has so many weaknesses and disorganized pieces. White has to play actively and accurately though. Black just has to hope white screws up down the line.
I insist that the position is equal and if you don't believe it you can just plug the position into an engine. White has many weaknesses too, primarily the lack of active pieces (the two rooks are completely cut out from the game) and the exposed king giving black many attacking possibilities, or at least perpetual check possibilities.
Sure it isn't an easy position for black, and it's possible to mess up, but with good play that can be avoided.
Black can't get at whites king because his pieces are stuck and disorganized and white has pawns to hide, black doesn't. Name a plus that black has in that position. A piece for three pawns (one which is on e7!)? White has
1. Great queen and bishop
2. Pawn on e7
3. Pawn cover for his king
4. Many targets to attack
5. Possibly a won endgame if pieces are traded in a timely manner (maintain piece activity advanced pawns well).
And black will be losing the g pawn soon after Rc8 with h4.
By the way engines aren't playing either side and the players aren't near that strength. Citing an engine evaluation isn't worth much as practical evaluations that both players could reasonably see/use.
bestpony wrote:
I insist that the position is equal and if you don't believe it you can just plug the position into an engine. White has many weaknesses too, primarily the lack of active pieces (the two rooks are completely cut out from the game) and the exposed king giving black many attacking possibilities, or at least perpetual check possibilities.
Sure it isn't an easy position for black, and it's possible to mess up, but with good play that can be avoided.
haven't plugged the game into engine yet, but i agree that the position is equal. Sure 21...Rc8 is nearly forced, but White can't finish Black off immidiately. Taking on g5 trades off an attacking piece and opens g-file for Black rook, advancing the Q-side pawns takes too much time, and 22.Rae1 the move I had prepared isn't really promising.
I am starting to think that my opponent was psychologically destroyed after being deperived of the possible ...Qd1+
So this is a correspondence game I was playing, and I was pretty much worse off for the whole game. I was surprised by my opponent's resignation since the final position looked equal...
Also, any analysis is welcome! KG lovers shall unite!