In this game I came back after being a rook down. The
highlight is an unusual and difficult engame where I had
a rook, bishop, and 5 connected passed pawns (on files d
through h) vs. two rooks, a bishop, and an a-pawn. (material
difference of four pawns for a rook). My opponent's a-pawn
stood on a2 for several turns without being queen despite
the fact that it was not blocked. When he did queen it, he
was then up by two pieces (R + B) but by then my d, e, and f
pawns made it to the 6'th rank. One weak move by my
opponent allowed my to get one of the pawns through and
pull out the win.

r3r1k/pp1b1p/nq4p//P1pPP/2P1QPP/6BP/R5K/ w

My one big plus is a great pawn center that black has no
obvious way of breaking but this shouldn't be a match for
an extra rook. Black can sac a minor piece in order to
bust up my position.

27. Qc1 Kf8? (soon to be the source of some trouble for black)
28. Rb1 Qc7
29. Qh6+ Ke7
30. Qh4+ g5 (why not f6 immediately?)
31. Qxg5+ f6
32. Qg7+ Kd8
33. Qxf6+ Kc8

All of the sudden, things are looking much more promising.
Black's extra rook is currently stuck in the corner and
my central pawn phalanx is looking dangerous.

34. Bf1 Be6? (Bxa4)
35. d5 Bd7
36. Qd4 Bxa4
37. Bxc4 Qc5! (forcing an exchange of queens)
38. Ra1 Bd7
39. Bxa6 Qxd4+
40. Bxd4 bxa6
41. Rxa6 Kb7

A strange looking ending and a hard one to play.
There are several places where I'm still not sure of
the best thing to do.

42. Rg6 a5
43. Rb6+ Kc8
44. e5 (gotta make use of those pawns)
44. a4
45. e6 a3 (or 45..Bxe6 46.Rxe6 Rxe6 47.dxe6)
46. Kf2 (or 46.exd7+ Kxd7 47.Kf2 preventing the e8 rook
from penetrating or 46.Rb1 to stop the a-pawn)
46. ... a2 (or 46...Ba4 47.f4
47. Be5??? (I have no idea of what I was thinking here. The
choice is between 47.exd7 Kxd7 48.Ba1 and 47.Ba1 Ba4)
47. ... Ba4?? (The ?? may be harsh as this is a logical looking move
but the following line is decidedly better 47...a1=Q
48.exd7+ Kxd7 49.Rd6+ Kc7 50.Rc6+ Kb7 51.Bxa1 Ra2+
52.Kf1 Rxa1+ 53.Kg2)
48. Ke3 (f4 seems better. Don't delay moving those pawns.)
48. ... Re7
49. h4 Bd1
50. f4 (or 50.Kf4 or 50.Ba1)
50. ... Kd8? (a1=Q)
51. f5 (push those pawns up! better than 51.Ba1 Bg4)
51. ... Rea7 (better than a1=Q 52.Bxa1 Rxa1 53.f6)
52. f6 Ra3+
53. Kd2 a1=Q
54. Bxa1 Rxa1

Now, I'm two pieces down but my advanced pawns give me reason to hope.


55. d6 Bg4? (The decisive error! Analysis shows that 55...Bh5 is
essential to stopping the f-pawn 56.g4 Rf1 etc.)
56. f7 Rd1+
57. Ke3 Re1+
58. Kf4 Ra4+!
59. Kg5 Re5+
60. Kh6 Rxe6+
61. Kg7 Ra7
62. Rb8+ Kd7
63. f8=Q

Now all of the sudden, I am ahead! But it's not over yet.
The win is somewhat tedious.


63.... Kc6+ 64.Kh8 Re5 65.Qf6 Rh5+ 66.Kg8 Bd7

Now I decide to try to take advantage of Black's exposed king and
loose pieces to either win a piece or trade off rooks.

67.Qf3+ Rd5 68.Qc3+ Rc5 69.Qb3 (threatening Rb6#) Rca5 70.Rb6+ Kc5
71.Qb4+ Kd5 72.Qd2+ Kc5 73.Qe3+ Kd5

That didn't do much so I decide to extricate my King and make use
of it. First, I want to put it on f6 where it is safe and where it
could help support any of the three remaining pawns and possibly
help block the shaky black king.

74.Kg7 Ra4 75.Kf6 Re4 76.Qd3+ Rd4 77.Qf3+ Kc4 78.Qe2+ Kc5
79.Qe5+ Kxb6 (If 79...Kc4, then 80.Rb4+ Kxb4 81.Qxd4+ exchanging
rooks anyway. 80.Qxd4+ Ka6

Relief! With the pair of rooks gone, I shouldn't have a problem
now. It's time to make use of my remaining pawns and wrap it up.

81.h5 Rb7 82.h6 Bb5 83.Qe4 Kb6 84.h7 Rb8 85.Qe7 Rc8 86.e7 Bxe7
87.Qxe7 Rh8 88.Qg7 resigns