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07

Sokolov -

Mecking

First of all, it is nice to see Henrique Mecking of Brazil playing again. Over the course of many years, his career has been on and off due to illness. I remember in the 1970s he was a major force in chess.

Here, it looks like white has a strong attack in compensation for being a piece down. Mecking, however, was able to achieve a " lockdown " in the h8 corner and simplification into a winning endgame. Sokolov went for the attack with 37. Qh7+ Kf8 38. Qh8+ Ng8 39. Bh7. It looks very desperate for black, but Mecking held on wtih 39...f5 40. ef6 Qd7 and white resigned. Notice that the white queen is trapped in the corner and simplification is imminent. Say, 41. fg7+ Qg7 42. Qg7+ Kg7 43. Bb1 Nf6 44. f5 Bc4 45. g4 Ne4 and the knight cannot be captured. Black is winning.