The Wrecking Ball

When Black, in this game, passes up going Kingside with his monarch to find safety for later going Queenside, he might have been wary of the mangled quotation: Do not ask for whom the wrecking ball tolls, it tolls for thee...

Wall, Bill - Guest1151077
PlayChess.com, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qa5

Adding yet another position that the Queen goes to on Bill's behalf. See "Spicy!"

9...Nf6 10.O-O 

The only other example of this 9.Qa5 line in The Database saw 10.d3 b6 11.Qc3 Bb7 12.O-O c5 13.f4 Rf8 14.f5 Ne5 15.Bf4 Nh5 16.Bxe5 dxe5 17.Qxe5+ Qe7 18.Qc3 Rd8 19.Nd2 Nf6 20.Nf3 Nd7 21.h4 Nf6 22.Ng5 Bc8 23.a4 h6 24.Nf3 Bb7 25.Ne5 Qd6 26.a5 Qd4+ 27.Qxd4 Rxd4 28.axb6 axb6 29.Ra7 Bxe4 30.dxe4 Rxe4 31.Ra8+ Ke7 32.Ng6+ Kd6 33.Rxf8 Re2 34.c4 Rxb2 35.Rd1+ Kc6 36.Ne5+ Kc7 37.Rf7+ Kc8 38.Nc6 Black resigned,  AsceticKingK9 - mckenna215, ChessWorld JG6, 2011. 

10...Rf8 11.d4 Nxe4

Greedy. Continuing to castle-by-hand with 11... Kf7 was indicated. Oddly enough, Black will choose later to castle-by-hand on the Queenside. 

12.Re1 Ne7

Calmly giving up the wayward Knight. Bill and Houdini 3 suggest two ways to look for counter-play and get something for the material: 12...d5 13.f3 c6 14.Qxd8+ Kxd8 15.fxe4 dxe4 16.Nc3; or 12...Qh4 13.g3 Qf6 14.Rxe4+ Kf7 15.Bg5 Qf5 16.Qxf5+ Bxf5 17.Re1.

13.Rxe4 Bf5 14.Re3  

White is a pawn up, and has the safer King.

14...Kd7 

Wisely looking to King safety. 14...Bxc2 would be answered by 15.Na3.

15.Nc3 Nc6 16.Qa4 Kc8 

17.d5 Ne7 18.Bd2 Ng6 19.Rae1 Bd7 20. Qd4 Rf7 

White is improving the placement of his pieces, while Black seems to be doing the opposite.

21.Ne4 Qh4 22.Rc3 

Threatening 23.Nxd6+. Now it is Black's Queen who will feel misplaced.

22...Kb8 23.Bg5 Qg4 24.f3 Qf5 25.Qc4 Bc8 

26.Nxd6 cxd6 27.Re8 Black resigned

Checkmate is inescapable: 27...a5 28.Rxc8+ Qxc8 29.Qxc8+ Ka7 30.Be3+ b6 31.Rc7+ Rxc7 32.Qxc7+ Ka6 33.Qxb6#.

Sunday Tournament Update

With one game left to complete in the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, and that one largely unbalanced, the final standings can be predicted as follows



AsceticKingK9                27/28


mckenna215                 23.5/28


braken                          19.5/28


Rikiki00                       19.5/28


Knight32                      18.5/28


shm19cs                       16.5/28


blackburne                     15/28


Magni                            14/28


Haroldlee123                 12/28


DREWBEAR 63           11/28


pixifrufru                         9/28

Baron wd von

Blanc, heart pirate        8.5/28


Luke Warm                     8/28

klonka59                         5/28


martind1991                   3/28

What Do You See?

The following position is from the game braken - mckenna215, Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2011, one of the few drawn games in that large 15-player double-round-robin tournaments.

The situation is relatively balanced, but Black's two Bishops are likely to prove more than White's Rook can handle. The game will be decided by what each player can see in the position.

21. Ne7 Ne6

Black allows the win of two pieces for the Rook. I think he simply missed White's 23rd move.

22.Rxe6 Nxe6 23.Qg6+

A smart idea. After the routine 23.Qxe6 Black has 23...Qe8, and the pin on the White Knight is annoying. There are even lines where the Knight can be trapped and won for a pawn or two, pushing the game closer to the split point.

23...Kh8 24.Qxe6 Kh7 25.Nxd5 Qa3

White has won a pawn, and Black seeks counterplay on the Queenside.

Instead of a battle of N+P vs B, or an exchange of minor pieces into a Q+Ps vs Q+Ps endgame, things should now shift to an attack on Black's King with 26.g4!? 

26.Ne3

Not wanting to lose the a-pawn, but giving Black the counterplay he was seeking.

26...Qc1+ 27.Nf1 Qxc3

The game has changed again. Now Black is looking to take the d-pawn and be up a pawn, with a freed Bishop to dominate the humbled Knight.

White says "no, thank you" and forces the draw by repetition.

28.Qe4+ Kg8 29.Qe8+ Kh7 30.Qe4+ Kg8 31.Qe8+ Kh7 Drawn

Retrospective

I was looking through a number of the games in the nearly-finished ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament when I was surprised by the following position from mckenna215 - blackburne

Never mind White's extra Queen – what was his King doing at h8?

I rolled back the game a number of moves, and looked at the position again, with Black to move.

It is clear, now, what happened in the game: Black's Queen chased the White King to safety at h8. But, is that all we can say? Let's roll the game forward...

25...Qa1+ 26.Kf2 Qb2+ 27.Kg3

White's King, feeling claustrophobic, heads for the wide open spaces. He could well have stayed closer to home with 27.Kf1 Qc1+ 28.Ke2 Qb2+ 29.Kd3 Qb1+ 30.Kd2 Qb2+ 31.Qc2 when his Queen's arrival would save the day.

27...Qxc3+ 28.Kf4

Now here Black played 28...Qxd4+, and the game eventually ended on a slip or a spite check with 29.Kg5 Qg4+ 30.Kf6 Qf4+ 31.Kg7 Qg5+ 32.Kh8 Qf6+ 33.exf6 Black resigned.

Had he found 28...Qd2+, the second player would have been able to make use of his light-squared Bishop and his "dark-squared" Queen to keep the enemy monarch from going further afield. One possible line might be 29.Kf3 Qd1+ 30.Ke3 Qe1+ 31.Kd3 Ba6+ when 32.Kc2 would allow Black to continue checking with 32...Qe2+, and 32.Nc4 would allow Black to win the Knight, e.g. 32...Qb1+, when his piece for White's extra pawn might well hold the draw.

To be fair to White, had he played 28.Kh4 instead, his King would have escaped: 28...Qxd4+ 29.Kg5 Qg4+ 30.Kf6 Qf4+ 31.Nf5. 

My Horse is Faster Than Your Horse

If the finish of the following game can be considered somewhat of a horse race, then it proves to be a mismatch, and a victory for White (and the Jerome Gambit).


mckenna215 - DREWBEAR 63
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament
ChessWorld, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4

This move, as opposed to 6.Qh5+, saw a bit of a revival in this tournament.

6...Bd6

Not a cautious move. mckenna215 scored two points against it in the Thematic Tournament.

7.dxe5 Bxe5 8.Qd5+ Kf8

8...Ke8 9.Qxe5+ Qe7 10.Bf4 Qxe5 11.Bxe5 d6 12.Bxg7 Black resigned, mckenna215 - Magni, Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2011.

9.Qxe5 d6 10.Qf4+ Qf6

Perhaps Black is already thinking about finding safety in the endgame: so, off with the Queens!

11.Nc3 Qxf4 12.Bxf4 Nf6 13.0-0-0 Be6 14.Nb5

White's Knight abandons the e-pawn to go in search of larger prey. Black's Knight grabs the pawn, but cannot keep up.

14...Nxe4 15.Nxc7 Nxf2 16.Rhf1

The line-up of pieces on the f-file spell disaster.

16...Nxd1 17.Bxd6+ Black resigned

The double, discovered check assures that White will be a piece (and a pawn) ahead: 17...Kg8 18.Nxa8 h5 19.Kxd1 Kh7 20.Rf8 Rxf8 21.Bxf8

Sunday Tournament Update

With five games left in the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, the leaders have been decided, but battles still rage up and down the finish line.

AsceticKingK9 has taken first place with 27 points out of 28 games, mckenna215 has taken second with 23.5 points out of 28 games, and braken has taken third with 19.5 points out of 28 games.

However, with a recent win Rikiki00 has lept to a tie with Knight32 for fourth place with 18.5 points, and with one game still in play he could, with another win, move into a tie for third.

Down the ladder, Luke Warm is holding onto eleventh place with 8 points, but, with a final win, pixifrufru could leap over him to 9 points out of 28 games. Both could be bypassed by Baron wd von Blanc, heart pirate, who has 7.5 points with two games to complete.

Even martind1991, holding down last place with 2 points out of 23 games, can vault over his nearest rival, klonka59, if he finishes strongly. 

Sunday Tournament Update

The standings of the current ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament

AsceticKingK9                                                  25/26
mckenna215                                                      23.5/28
braken                                                               19.5/28
Knight32                                                           18.5/28
Rikiki00                                                            17.5/26
shm19cs                                                            15.5/27
blackburne                                                          15/28
Magni                                                                 12/26
Haroldlee123                                                      11/27
DREWBEAR 63                                                11/28
pixifrufru                                                             8/27
Baron wd von Blanc, heart pirate                       7.5/26
Luke Warm                                                          6/26
klonka59                                                              4/24
martind1991                                                         1/15

Sunday Tournament Update

As the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament continues to wind down, with no further resolution of the top finishers (beyond AsceticKingK9 in first place, followed by mckenna215) since last report, I thought I'd flash back to the recent Chess.com  "Kentucky Opening" (also known as the Jerome Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) tournament and present the players, their scores, and their order of finish.

GazzaT (2468)          7-0-1
Topper76 (1474)       5-2-1
tapirus (2089)           3-3-2
Yigor (1665)             3-5-0
mrdenetop (1983)     0-8-0


graphic by Jeff Bucchino, The Wizard of Draws

Changing of the Guard

The Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament that is finishing up at ChessWorld is showing the emergence of new faces –AsceticKingK9 and mckenna215, for example, taking first and second place – to stand alogside Jerome Gambit Gemeinde veterans like blackburne and DREWBEAR63.

It will be worth studying the games of the top two finishers to see what they have added to Jerome Gambit theory (for both Black and White). I hope to have all of the Thematic Tournament games added to The Database by New Year's Day, 2012.

In the meantime, take a look at a rather unusual "Modern Delayed-Classical Jerome Gambit" between New and Old Guard.

AsceticKingK9 - DREWBEAR 63
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.0-0 h5

This is, among many things, a reminder to White that the second player can respond to the Gambit in many ways and still retain a theoretical advantage. DREWBEAR63 has played this move at least twice before.

6.Nxe5+

The most direct response. Also seen have been:

6.c3 d5 7.d3 Bg4 8.Nbd2 h4 9.exd5 Qxd5 10.Ng5+ Ke7 11.Qxg4 Nf6 12.Qh3 Raf8 13.c4 Qd4 14.Nb3 Qd6 15.Bd2 Nh5 16.Rae1 Ng3 17.hxg3 hxg3 18.Nh7 gxf2+ 19.Kh1 fxe1Q 20.Rxe1 Qg6 21.Bg5+ Ke8 22.Qc8+ Kf7 23.Rf1+ Kg8 24.Rxf8+ Bxf8 25.Qxf8+ Kxh7 26.Qf2 Qh5+ 27.Bh4 Kg8 28.g3 g5 29.Qf5 gxh4 30.Qe6+ Qf7 31.Qg4+ Kf8 32.gxh4 Qf1+ 33.Qg1 Rxh4 checkmate, Crusader Rabbit - DREWBEAR 63, JGTourney4 ChessWorld 2009; and 


6.d4 exd4 7.Ng5+ Kf8 8.Bf4 Bd6 9.e5 Nxe5 10.Qxd4 Qf6 11.Nc3 c5 12.Qe4 Rb8 13.Nd5 Qg6 14.Qxg6 Nxg6 15.Bxd6+ N6e7 16.Bxb8 Nxd5 17.Bd6+ Ke8 18.Rae1+ Nde7 19.Re5 Rh6 20.Bxe7 Nxe7 21.Rfe1 Re6 22.Nxe6 dxe6 23.Rxh5 Kf7 24.Rxc5 b6 25.Rc7 a6 26.Rd1 Kf6 27.Rd8 Kf7 28.Rdxc8 Kf6 29.Rf8+ Black resigned, TWODOGS - DREWBEAR 63, JGTourney5 ChessWorld 2010.

6...Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6

Giving back a piece directly with 7...Bxd4 was simpler and more likely to help Black keep his advantage. Instead, White is allowed to continue winning tempi.

8.dxe5 Bxe5

9.Qd5+ Kf6 10.f4 Kg6 11.fxe5 Qe7

White has open lines against the enemy King, and Black's Queen cannot provide enough protection.

12.Nc3 c6 13.Qd3 Nh6 14.Qg3+

White's position has grown strong enough that he could also offer a piece with 14.Nd5, because of 14...cxd5 15.exd5+ Nf5 16.Qxf5 checkmate. 

14...Kh7

Castling-by-hand does not help at this point.

15.Bxh6 Kxh6 16.Rf5 Qe8 17.Qg5+ Kh7 18.Raf1 d5 19.Rf7 Black resigned

As in many Jerome Gambit victories for White, Black's Queenside tells the story, even as his Kingside awaits the checkmate.

Sunday Tournament Update

There is an old caution that If you strike the King, you must kill him. Anything less than a terminal blow will allow the monarch to strike back...

Two weeks ago I reported that the player leading the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, AsceticKingK9, had suffered his first and only loss, on time; and that in his remaining two games, he was past the time limit, so his opponent could claim wins there, too.

A look at the ChessWorld site today indicates that AsceticKingK9 is back at the board and playing, again, giving the possibility of him finishing the tournament with 27 points in 28 games. 

Second place has already been wrapped up by mckenna215, with 23.5 points in 28 games.

Rikiki00 continues to creep forward in the race for third, fourth and fifth place, now having 17.5 points in 25 games. He is hoping to bypass Knight32 with 18.5 points out of 28 games and Braken  with 18.5 points out of 27 games. 

Sunday Tournament Update

Little has changed at the top of the standings in the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, where almost 90% of the games have been completed.

AsceticKingK9 remains the un-catchable winner with 25 points out of 28 games.

He is followed by mckenna215, with 23.5 points out of 28 games.

Rikiki00 has snagged a point in the race for third, fourth and fifth place, now having 16.5 points in 24 games. He is hoping to bypass Knight32 with 18.5 points out of 28 games and Braken  with 18.5 points out of 27 games. 

Sunday Tournament Update

Elvis has left the building.

After rocketing to the top of the chart with a score of 25 points in 25 games in the Chess World Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, AsceticKingK9 has lost his first game – on time – to Haroldlee123. His remaining two games, against martind1991, are over the time limit as well, but have not yet been claimed.

Not that it matters. 25 points is enough to win the tournament. (Oddly enough, early on I predicted that the winner would score 24 points. AsceticKingK9 exceeded that number, but 24 would have been enough to put him ahead of the second place finisher. Lucky guess!?)


Second place has been wrapped up by mckenna215, with a score of 23.5 out of 28 games. 


Third, fourth and fifth places remain a tangle. Knight32 has 18.5 points out of 28 games. Braken has the same score, with one game remaining. Rikiki00 has 15.5 points in 23 games.


It should be pointed out that Haroldlee123, currently in 10th place with 8 points out of 22 games, nonetheless now has upset wins over both AsceticKingK9 and mckenna215. 

Sunday Tournament Update

With over 80% of its games completed, the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament continues to be a monstrous battle between its top two competitors.

AsceticKingK9 leads with 24 points out of 24 games. Can he go all the way to 28/28 ?

Mckenna215 is close, with 22.5 points out of 26 games. If he wins his remaining 2 games, he will still need to receive some help from a handful of other players to overtake AsceticKingK9 and take the crown.

It is clear that the player who does not take first place will garner second.

There is an interesting battle shaping up for third place, however, between braken (18.5 points out of 27 games), Knight32 (18.5 points out of 28 games) and Rikiki00 (15.5 points out of 23 games). Braken's last game is against Rikiki00, and the winner would be the odds-on favorite to scramble to the top of the heap.

Draws continue to be almost non-existant, making up less than 2% of the completed games!

Sunday Tournament Update

 AsceticKingK9 is clearly the "top dog" as the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament heats up, with 2/3 if its games completed. The leader has 20 points out of 20 games, which is hard to beat!

Right behind AsceticKingK9 is mckenna215, with 19.5 points out of 22 games.

Players who also have a mathematical chance of overtaking the "King" are Rikiki00, with 10.5 points out of 17 games, and "dark horse" Luke Warm, with 1 point out of 5 games.

Meanwhile, braken, with 17.5 points out of 26 games, holds third place and challenges for second place.

White is scoring 38% over all. The Jerome Gambit Declined (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8/Ke7) has yet to be successful in 8 games. The "classical" Jerome Gambit lines (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+) have scored 43%, while the "modern" lines (not 5.Nxe5+) have scored 31%.

Sunday Tournament Update

With almost 60% of the games in the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament completed, it is possible to rule out a half of the players from the list of possible top scorer – but it is not possible to go much further than that. (A player with the score of 0-1 in a 28 game event could finish up 27-1.)

Two players continue to burn up the track:  mckenna215, with 18.5 points out of 20 games; and AsceticKingK9, with 17 points out of 17 games. First place may come down to the outcome of the two games they play against each other.

White continues to score 39%.

We have seen an example of mckenna215 grinding out a difficult endgame ("A Not-so-Simple 'Simple Endgame' "). Here is AsceticKingK9, with White, finishing up an opponent who allowed his developmen to lag, fatally.

13.Rxf8+ Kxf8 14.Qf3+ Kg8 15.Rf1 d6 16.Qf8+ Kh7 17.Ngf6+ gxf6 18.Nxf6+ Kg6 19.Qg8 checkmate.

Surely there is more great chess to come!

Sunday Tournament Update

The ChessWorld Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament continues, with all of the players firing off moves and many of the games proving to be exciting, entertaining, and instructional affairs.

To date, over 40% of the games have been completed, with White scoring 39% – an unimpressive figure when compared, say, to the Ruy Lopez, but about as robust a number as has been seen in other thematic tournaments, and a downright hearty one for an opening that has several established refutations.

9 of the 210 games (4%, an astonishingly "high" number as compared to only about 9/10th-of-a-percent of the games in The Database) feature the Jerome Gambit Declined with either 4...Kf8 or 4...Ke7.  

63 of the games, a full 30%, are developing along "classical" Jerome Gambit lines (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+), the highest that I have seen in a thematic tournament. 

The remaining 138 games follow "modern" Jerome Gambit lines (not-5.Nxe5+).

The current leaders are mckenna215, with 12.5 points (out of 14 games) and braken, with 11.5 points (out of 17 games).

In a tournament where each player plays 28 games, however, just about anything can happen over the course of the marathon. For example, AsceticKingK9 has 10 points out of 10 games, an impressive 100% score so far. Not far behind is Rikiki00 with 9.5 points out of 12 games.

Neither martind1991 nor Luke Warm have lost (or completed) any games, so their "perfect" scores have not been marred, either.

A Not-so-Simple "Simple Endgame"

In the following game, both players seemed interested in reaching a simple Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame. Apparently Black, a pawn down, assessed the position as drawn; while White believed that he could possibly out-play his opponent. Both of them were right. Except about the "simple" part.


mckenna215 - Knight32
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament
ChessWorld, 2011

30.Bxa7

At first glance, this move seems extravagant: White gives up his Kingside passed pawn in order to have a 3-to-2 edge in pawns on the Queenside. However, Black's King is well-placed to blockade the White h-pawn, should it ramain on the board. White's move simply changes the game from "drawn" to "really drawn".

But, don't go away.

30...Bxh3 31.b4 c6

Putting your pawns on the same colored squares as your Bishop is the basic drawing strategy.

32.c4 Bd7

After the game was over, Black might have asked himself why he did not simply start to run his King over to c8, and save himself some hassles. The text move does not upset the draw, it just makes it possible, some time in the future, for it to become more complicated.

33.Kd2 Kg7 34.Kd3 Kf7 35.Kd4

35...Ke6

Coming out to "confront" the enemy, Black's King wastes important tempos. After 35...Ke8 followed by 36...Kd8 and 37...Kc8, he could have protected his pawns and allowed his Bishop to move where it needed to.

36.Kc5 Bc8

37.b5

Routine play, reducing the 3-to-2 pawn majority to a 2-to-1 pawn majority. This is one step further toward producing a passed pawn, but that may not be the best goal to work toward, especially if White reaches a 1-to-0 pawn majority only to have Black sacrifice his Bishop for it.

The text ignoresWhite's winning plan: get his King to c7, where it chases away the Black Bishop and wins the b-pawn.

To accomplish this, White needs to advance his King, 37.Kb6, and then exhaust Black's extra tempos, eventually forcing the monarch away: 37...Kd7 38.c5 Kd8 39.Bb8 Kd7 40.a5 Kd8 41.Bg3! Kd7 42.Bh4 when Black's King must give up his protection of the c7 square and allow White's King to move in.

That is hard work, but that is what it sometimes takes to extract a full point from a "drawn" endgame.

37...cxb5 38.cxb5

The pawn structure foreshadows a draw. Imagine White's a-pawn advancing to a6, where it is captured by Black's b-pawn, and then White's b-pawn recaptures. Unless Black's Bishop can be kept off of both the a6-c8 diagonal and the a8-h1 diagonal, there will be nothing to stop it from capturing the remaining passer should it step on a light square.

Can White's King advance and scare off the Black Bishop? It can, but if Black's King can get around to White's pawns, then it can capture one of them while White is capturing Black's last pawn. Then, the Black Bishop will stop the remaining White pawn, as in the previous paragraph.

38...Kd7

Ouch! Black blocks his Bishop.

This is a good move if White plays 39.Kb6, as Black answers 39...Kd6. But what if White moves his Bishop?

39.Bb8 Ke6

It now looks like White's King can swoop in and execute the plan given in the notes to White's 37th move. But, no: the pawn exchanges have changed everything. White has to play 40.Bg3, holding onto the b8-h2 diagonal so that White's trip to the White pawns takes longer...

40.Kb6 Kd7

This is not an endgame, it is a commercial for a headache medication!

With 40...Kd5 Black would again have established a drawn position, even against the scary-looking 41.Kc7 Bg4 42.Kxb7, as 42...Kc5 puts the White King in place to grab one of the pawns, e.g. 43.Ka6 Kb4 44.a5 Be2, etc. One pawn will not be enough for White to win.

Now Black's King is again in the wrong place (and it blocks its Bishop, again, too).

41.Bg3 Kd8

42.a5

Having given his King and Bishop chances to  untangle the game, White now nominates one of his pawns.

42...Kd7

Instead, the tactical shot 42...Bd7 holds the draw, for all the old reasons, starting with 43.Kxb7 Bxb5.

43.Ka7

Yes!

43...Kd8

According to Houdini, the best defense is 43...Ke8, after which White has a mate in 87...

44.b6

Yes!

Not 44.Kb8 when 44...Bd7 is equal.

44...Kd7 45.Kb8 Kd8 46.Bf4 Kd7 47.Bc7 Black resigned

A smooth finish: Black's King will have to move, abandoning his Bishop and pawn.

Thank you, mckenna215 and Knight32 for a very educational game!