hikaru vs puz2010

Hikaru developed his knights to f3 and c3, then castled early with **7.O-O**, securing his king and connecting the rooks. By exchanging the dark‑squared bishops on **8.h3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3**, he removed a potential defender of Black’s king and kept the position simple, illustrating the principle of simplifying early when you have a lead in development (simplification).

After the queens came off on **22...Qxe3+ 23.Bxe3**, Hikaru placed his rook on the open d‑file with **24.Rad1** and later doubled rooks on the seventh rank after **28.Rd8+ Rxd8 29.Rxd8+**. This forced Black’s king into the centre and created a passed pawn on the b‑file. By pushing **34.a5** and later **36.Rg6**, he used his rooks to support the advancing pawn, demonstrating the power of rook activity on open files (rook on the seventh rank) and the importance of creating a passed pawn (passed pawn).

In the final phase Hikaru’s king marched forward with **45.Kf5 46.Kf4 48.b6**, while his rook chased Black’s rook across the board (**49...Re1 50...Ra1 51...Rxa5**). The decisive breakthrough came when he captured the pawn on g7 with **52.Kxg7**, then took the h‑pawn on **53.Kxh6**, and finally advanced his own h‑pawn with **55.h6** and supported it with **56.Rg6**. This forced Black’s rook into a defensive posture and secured promotion, illustrating the endgame principle of king activity (king infiltration) and using a passed pawn to dominate the opponent’s pieces (passed pawn promotion).