Putt for dough

Better to win the ending than to win the opening. Such is the nature of chess that 40 good moves can get destroyed by playing one bad move. Especially if this one bad move is when there are very few moves to choose from.
Magnus Carlsen had a fortunate win over Hou Yifan at the Tata Steel event, when his opponent swapped into a king and pawn ending, and immediately moved the wrong pawn. Instead of 45 ... a5, which held the draw, she player 45 ... h5 and Magnus pounced with 46.Kb4. With the king invading via a5 and b6, Yifan had to retreat her king, but this allowed Carlsen to swap the queenside pawns, and Yifan resigned as her other pawns were about to fall.


Carlsen,Magnus (2844) - Hou,Yifan (2673) [C42]
78th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (11.1), 29.01.2016