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I must admit, I hadn't foreseen this last move from Garry. I was concentrating my analysis on 34 Kf2 (with the idea of bringing the king across to halt the b-pawn) but all that is by the by.

In fact, retreating the bishop with 34 Bf4 partially serves the same purpose. After, for instance, 34...Bd4+ 35 Kg2, White's king might still wander over to the other side of the board to stop the b-pawn, but its route will be via f3-e4-d3 and c2 - but don't worry, Black gets a few moves in between! That is just a plan for White. Anyhow, I am racing ahead. Let's look at the move 34 Bf4 in more detail, and Black's possible responses.

Garry is offering to trade bishops. Should Black go in for this? I would strongly advise not to. The bishop on e5, magnificently situated on the longest diagonal of the board, is the pride of the World's position. Throughout the game it has been a thorn in the World Champion's side (and middle for that matter). In this endgame the bishop performs a special role: it guides the b-pawn down the board, and covers h8, the queening square for White's h-pawn. After the exchange, with Black's king CUT OFF by the rook from the side of the board, the h-pawn would run through to the eighth rank.

In other words, moving the bishop is advisable. As I see it, there are two basic options: 34...Bd4+, as I gave above, gaining a little time by checking so as to push the b-pawn forward; or moving the bishop back to h8, getting well out of the way of White's pieces and pawns.

As Black can avoid the exchange of bishops so easily, there has to be another reason behind Garry's move 34 Bf4: to clear the way for the g-pawn to advance, of course. He can see that, on its own, the h-pawn won't make it to the finishing post, so Garry is enlisting the support of its comrade the g-pawn. Such CONNECTED PASSED PAWNS (pawns standing on adjacent files with a free run to the queening square) are a force to be reckoned with, though they are still some way from their goal.

All very tense! For a detailed discussion of the position I'll see you in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm London.

Bd4+ to Kasparov's Bf4

I would play 34....Bd4+, to lose no time.

Bd4+ to Kasparov's Bf4

In this position Black's only move may be 34...Bd4+ to preserve the bishop and to save a "tempo" for the "b" pawn. I thought of 34...b3, to allow White to trade our bishop and in exchange to give us an extra "tempo", but Black would not be able to hold the position anymore; his advanced "b" pawn would be very weak and White's pawns would be unstoppable. White's reply at 34...Bd4+ should be 35.Kh2!? instead of the usual 35.Kg2 which allows, in some lines a knight check: 35.Kg2 b3 36.g4 b2 37.g5 Nb4 38.h6 Nd3, with the threat of 39...Nxf4+ or 39...Nc1.

Etienne is competing at the French National Championships, so we will have a temporary break in his commentary.

Bd4+ to Kasparov's Bf4

I recommend the World plays the move 34...Bd4+ (Bishop on e5 to d4 check)

The World Champion is offering to exchange Bishops - a trade we must absolutely DECLINE. Our beautiful Bishop radiates energy on the a1-h8 LONG DIAGONAL where it serves the DUAL purpose of helping control the advance of White's passed pawns while aiding the advance of Black's PASSED b-PAWN. Therefore we must move our BISHOP. There is only one suitable move - in fact our move is FORCED - we must play 34...Bd4+ giving CHECK to the White King. After Kasparov moves his King (most logical is 35.Kg2), Black will be able to continue with his plan of advancing his pawn rapidly to b2 in order to limit the action of the White Rook.

What is the purpose behind Kasparov's move (34.Bf4)? He is using the threat to exchange our Bishop in order to initiate a plan of CENTRALIZING his King. If White's King were to complete a MANEUVER with Kg1-g2-f3-e2/e4-d3-c2, Kasparov could once more engineer a challenge to our Bishop with the MANEUVER Bf4-d2-c3, while at the same time using his King to contain Black's COUNTERPLAY on the Queenside. Although White apparently loses a TEMPO with 34.Bf4, he shall regain it when the Black Bishop must ultimately vacate the d4-square for other duties.

Notice that there is no logical alternative to 34...Bd4+. For example, if 34...Bh8? White will quickly drown the Black Bishop (on h8) with pawns after 35.g4! b3 36.g5! and White's position is overwhelming.

After 34...Bd4+ 35.Kg2, Black should continue with his Queenside counterplay with 35…b3, and after the logical and obvious centralizing move 36.Kf3, Black must play the direct and logical CENTRALIZING move 36...Kd5! (depriving the White king of the e4-square). In the ENDGAME, the King becomes a more powerful entity, and can be used in the fight for squares - we will threaten to use OUR King to assist the advanced Black b-PAWN in its goal of reaching the PROMOTION SQUARE on b1.

Irina /SmartChessOnline/

Check out Irina's SMART-FAQ (Up-to-date analysis and downloads by and for the World Team) /SmartChessOnline/SmartChessOnline/archive/MSNKasparov/the_game.htm