White to play

White has material advantage and can secure Favored Draw by perpetual check. The hasty

move 1.Rf8+?? is a blunder because Black king can escape to the d-file where further

checks are impossible: 1...Ke3 2.Re8+ Kd2. Promotion 3...e1Q can be prevented only by

3.Rxe2+, and the game will end as Equal Draw.

Another blunder would be an attempt to bring White king closer: 1. Kd5?? Kf2 2.Rf8+ Ke3 3.Re8+ Kd2. White king must move to the c-file (for example: 1.Kc5), and White rook will be able to deliver checks from f8, e8, and d8.

If White king seeks shelter on e1 or moves away from the pawn, Re8 is the correct move.“

(Source: Enhanced Venceslav Rutar Scoring.pdf, p. 3 of 10, , dated December 30, 2024)

II

On the topic of accuracy, here is an easy exercise. In the game between D. Baramidze and G. Ginsburg (Feb. 2, 2010) in the German Bundesliga, the following position arose:

Position after 45.Qxg4

Black continued with 45...Qxe1 and aimed for a draw by perpetual check.

Would you have done the same according to Rutar Scoring?

The game continued 46.Qb7+ Kf8 47.Qxb3 Qg1+ 48.Kh3 Kg7 49.Qd3 Kh6 50.Qe4 Qf1+ 51.Kg3 Qg1+ 52.Kh3 Qf1+ 53.Kg3 ½–½

Position after 53.Kg3

Apparently, Black has achieved nothing more than a disfavoured draw here.

If we go back to the position after 45.Kxg4, we find that 45...Qxe3 restores material equality and, according to our tiebreak evaluation, is preferable.

III

How would you assess the following position according to Rutar Scoring?

Position after 48...Bxd5

This would have been the logical continuation in the correspondence chess game V.N. Chupin – E.G. Pivinsky (2022) if Black had made another move instead of accepting White's draw offer.
White is down a pawn. If he accepted a draw here, the result would count as 1:3 for the tiebreak.

Of course, he would not do this, but would play 49.Bc8 and threaten 50.a6 and 51.Bb7. Black would have no choice but to prevent this with 49...Bc4 and give up his bishop...

After 50.a6 Bxa6 51.Bxa6, however, things would look bad for him. His two pawns are helpless against the bishop and will soon be lost if White continues correctly and puts Black in zugzwang.The logical result for the tiebreak would therefore be 3:1.

Let's go back one move in the game to see if Black could have played better under the conditions of our tiebreak rules.

Position after 47.Bxa6

How should Black have continued instead of 47...Nd5 to avoid a forced 1:3 score?
As an exercise, readers may try to figure this out for themselves.

Answer and Analysis

We are considering two alternative approaches.

A) Black would prefer to centralize his king as quickly as possible in order to gain control over White's passed a-pawn.
47...Kf8
Black then parries the threat of 48.Bc8, 49.a6, Bb7 etc. with 48...Ke8.
1) 48.Bc8 Ke8
a) 49.a6 Kd8 50.Bb7 Bxb7 51.axb7 Kc7 52.Nc6 Kxb7 53.Nd8+ Kc7 54.Nxf7 Kd7 and will easily secure a favoured draw.

Position after 54...Kd7

b) More tricky is 49.Kf2, after which Black still has good prospects for a favoured draw with 49...Nd5. White must come up with something else instead of capturing on d5 or g2.

Position after 49...Nd5

But:
2) Instead of immediately threatening with the a-pawn (48.Bc8 etc.), White can exploit the dilemma in Black's piece setup: 48.Kf2! This forces 48...Nd5, and after 49.Kxg2 Nxb4 50.Bb5,

Position after 50.Bb5

Black will have to sacrifice his knight for the a-pawn, giving White a favoured draw.

B) 47...Ba8!? Black must first neutralize the threat of Kg3-f2, whether he likes it or not.

Position after 47...Ba8

1) 48.Bc8 Another attempt to immediately advance the a-pawn, as the black king is still on g8. But now the black knight is ready for action: 48... Nf5+ 49.Kf4 Nd6 50.Bd7 Kf8 51.Bc6 Bxc6 52.Nxc6 f6 53.a6 Nb5 54.a7 Nc7 55.Ke4 Ke8 56.Kd4 Kd7 57.Kc5.

Position after 57.Kc5

A very unusual and complicated position, in which Black is playing for two outcomes: either 1:3 (favoured draw for him) or 2:2 (equal draw), but White can hardly hope for more than 2:2.

2) 48.Kf4!? 

Position after 48.Kf4

Since White must actively support the white attack with his king anyway, he immediately takes action.

48...Nf5 49.Ke5 Kf8 50.Bd3

Position after 50.Bd3

Black faces a difficult choice: Allowing 51.Bxf5 (after 50...Ke7) or striving for more with 50... Ne7; e.g. 51.Kd6 f5!? A very double-edged position in which White must not underestimate the f-pawn. It looks as if both sides are giving their best here and an equal draw is the most likely and fairest outcome.

We see how rich and lively endgam..es can be with Rutar scoring, when the pieces in classical chess have already been retired. From a purely practical point of view, perseverance is just as important as creativity and accuracy in analysis.

IV

In the correspondence chess game J. Mercadal Benejam – S. Lakatos (2022), the following position arose.

Position after 31...Kxb7

White had just sacrificed a rook on b7. Now two moves had to be considered.: 32.Nh4+ and 32.Ne5+.

It happened 32.Ne5+ Kc8 33.Qxa4 Qxe5 34.Qxg4+ Rd7 35.c6 ½–½

Position after 35.c6

The material balance is 18:21 in favour of Black, so White would hardly agree to a draw according to Rutar Scoring, especially since the rook on d7 appears to be irretrievably lost. But it is Black's turn to move...

After the forced sequence of moves 35...Qa1+ 36.Bf1 Rh1+ 37.Kxh1 Qxf1+ 38.Kh2 Qxf2+ 39.Kh1 Qf1+, however, the situation looks very different. Black has secured his material advantage (now 14:16 from White's perspective) with perpetual check. If White would try to escape with his king via h4 and g5, he would lose the game because of ...Qh1+ followed by ...Qxc6.

Position after 38...Qxf2+

Could White have played better beforehand?

And would, for example, 32.Nh4+ be more promising in terms of Rutar Scoring? With this move, the knight does not participate in the attack against the black king, but it blocks the h-file, saves itself, and White can possibly capture the knight on a4, thereby improving his material balance to 21:22.

How should Black respond, and what might the result look like?

Answer and Analysis

Position after 34.Nh4+

Black has three moves to choose from: 32...Kb8, 32...Kc8, and 32...c6. Each of these moves is followed by 33.Qxa4, attacking the g4 pawn. Black's defence and counterattack differ in each of these positions from the other two options.

A) 32...Kb8 33.Qxa4 Ka7 (33...Qa1+ 34.Kh2 Rxh4+ 35.gxh4 Qe5+ 36.Kg1 Qa1+ favours White, as does 36...Qxc5 37.Qxa6) 34.Qxg4

Position after 34.Qxg4

1) 34...Qa1+ 35.Kh2 Qxa3 36.Qe4, after which Black still has a small material advantage (1 unit) after both 36...Rb8 and 36...Qb3, but his heavy pieces are tied up in defence more than he would like. His main trump card is the a-pawn. White will improve his piece structure with Bf3, Kg2, Nf5 and create even more counterplay.
2) 34...Rb8 35.Bf3 Qc3 36.Kg2 Qxc5 37.Ng6 Rh6 38.Qe4 Qc1. Black has a material advantage of 2 units, but still has a vulnerable king position, while the white king is temporarily protected by a chain of pawns.

B) 32...Kc8 33.Qxa4 Here, Black has the choice of defending his g4-pawn or sacrificing it.

1) 33...Rdg8 34.c6 Black will have to give up his a-pawn to defend the g-pawn. 34...Qa1+

Position after 34...Qxa1+

a) 35.Bf1 Qb2 36.Qxa6+ Kb8 37.Qc4 Rg5 38.Qf4 or
b) 35.Kh2 Qb2 36.Qxa6+ Kb8 37.a4
Neither looks attractive for Black given the current material balance.

2) 33...Rfd8 Black sacrifices his g4 pawn and weakens White's king position with f2-f4.

34.Qxg4+ Kd8 35.f4

Position after 35.f4

a) 35...Qd4+ 36.Kf1. Since perpetual check with ...Qa1+ and ...Qd4+ only leads to an equal draw, Black must choose between 36...Qxc5 or increased pressure on the g-file by putting a rook on g8.

a1) 36...Qxc5 37.Bh3 Qc1+ 38.Kg2 Qc6+ 39.Kh2 Rhg8 Here, White could force a queen exchange with 40.Qe6, gaining a material advantage (+1 unit).

a2) 36...Rhg8 37.Ng6 Qxc5 38.Kf2 Qd4+ 39.Kf1 Qa1+ and an equal draw is inevitable.

a3) 36...Rfg8 37.Ng6 Qxc5 Perpetual check with Qa1+/Qd4+ is again not an option for Black, but White has everything under control, even though he is currently one unit down (-1). and his knight is in an excellent position. 38.f5 Black must even be wary of exchanges such as 38a5 39.a4 Qe3 40. Qc4 Nxg6 41.fxg6 Nf8+ 42.Bf3 Nxf3+ 43.exf3 Qxf3 and Black can capture the two white g-pawns, but then loses his a-pawn and faces a disfavoured draw

b) 35...Rfg8 36.Qf5 Qd4+ 37.Kf1 Rxg3 38.Nf3 Qg7

b1) 39.Qd5+ Ke7 40.Qe4+ Kf8 White is still one unit (-1) behind, which is why perpetual check is of no use to him.

b2) 39.Ng5 Rxg5 40.Qxg5+ Qxg5 41.fxg5 Rf8+ 42.Ke1 Rf5

b21) 43.d4 Rxg5 or

b22) 43.g6 Rxc5 each with material equilibrium, which White seems to be able to maintain.

C) 32...c6 Black closes the diagonal h1–a8 to give his king slightly better protection and gain space. The b6 square is weakened as a result, but it remains to be seen whether White has time to exploit this. The pawns on the white squares a6 and a6 are also targets for White's attack.<

Position after 32...c6

33.Qxa4 Among the many moves available to Black, 33...Rdf8 appears to be the most logical, attacking f2. White is forced to loosen his pawn shield around the king. 34.Qb4+ Ka8 35.f4 gxf3 36.Bxf3 Rb8

Position after 36...Rb8

It is advisable not to let the white queen advance to b6. 37.Qe4 Ka7 Black does not need to secure the c6 pawn, because exchanging queens on c6 would lead to a lost endgame for White. Black easily wins back the pawn on c5 and also takes the white a-pawn. 38.Nf5 Rhe8 39.Qf4 Qe5

Position after 39...Qe5

1) 40.d4 Qxf4 41.gxf4 Rb3 42.Nd6 Rh8 43.f5 Rh4 44.f6 Rxd4 45.Be4 Rb8 46.f7 Rf8 47.Bxc6 Rg4+ 48.Kf2 Rg5 49.Ke3 Rxc5 50.Bf3 (50.Be8 Re5 51.Ne4 Rfxe8 52.f7xe8=Q Rxe8 isn't better) Rc7 51.Kd4 Rcxf7 52.Nxf7 Rxf7

Position after 52...Rxf7

With a one-unit advantage Black will undoubtedly achieve a favoured draw here.

Position after 39...Qe5

2) 40Nd6!? Re7 41.Qxe5 Rxe5 42.d4 Re6 43.Kf2 Rb3 44.Bxc6 (44.a4? Rb4 45.Bxc6 Rx4 46.Kf4 Re5 47.Ne4 Kb8 48.Ke3 Rb4 49.Rd3 Kc7 The bishop cannot maintain its strong position, so the a4 pawn is lost and White loses the game without any counterplay.