TRG Yearbook 2011 - Booklet L

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FIDE TRG Yearbook 2011
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216
FIDE Trainers Commission

Yearbook 2011
First published in Greece by FIDE 2012

First Edition 1.250 copies
Copyright FIDE 2011 (office@fide.com - www.fide.com)
The rights of Alexander Beliavsky, Uwe Boensch, Jeroen Bosch, Efstratios Grivas, Miguel Illescas, Alexey Kuzmin, Andrew Martin, Adrian Mikhalchishin, Georg Mohr, Jovan Petronic and
Susan Polgar to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted in accordance with the
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5706440
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8600309
16700155
14602814
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ISBN-13: 978-960-99379-2-4
ISSN-08: 2241-0953
FIDE ID
5200288
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FIDE ID
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10608559
7601433
4805640
4802004
25030744
7102267
4805658
SURNAME - NAME
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214
Contents
Title-Description
Colophon ....
Contents ................
Foreword - Kirsan Ilyumzhinov .....
Symbols .................
FIDE Trainers Commission (TRG) - Efstratios Grivas .......
FIDE Trainers System (Guide ) .......
Nominated FIDE Lecturers / Seminar Leaders....
World Team CC 2009 - Efstratios Grivas ..................................................
Pawns on the Same Rank - Efstratios Grivas ..
Break - Adrian Mikhalchishin .
FIDE Trainers Badge .
Problems of Middlegame Planning - Adrian Mikhalchishin
TRG Publications .....
Training of Calculation - Part 1 - Alexey Kuzmin ..
Training of Calculation - Part 2 - Alexey Kuzmin ..
Seminar List 2011 .
The Maroczy Pawn Structure - Georg Mohr ...
An Isolated Pawn in the Endgame - Georg Mohr ..
Queen Power or Power of the Masses? - Jeroen Bosch
Rook and Pawn(s) versus Two Minor Pieces - Jeroen Bosch ..
A Very Special Ending - Uwe Boensch .
Finding Moves - Uwe Boensch ...
FIDE TRG Trainers Awards 2008-2009-2010 ..
Calculate Deeper - Susan Polgar ..
FIDE TRG Trainers Awards - The Tree of Chess Trophy ...
Zwischenzug - Susan Polgar ...
Fdration Internationale des checs (FIDE)
Basic Defence - Andrew Martin .
Meaningless Moves - Andrew Martin
http://trainers.fide.com - The Trainers Site! ..
Blocking the f6-square - Efstratios Grivas ...
Legendary Endings - Adrian Mikhalchishin
Anthem of FIDE .
Fools Mate - Miguel Illescas .
Lucenas Mate - Miguel Illescas
The King Checkmates! - Jovan Petronic ..
Drawing in Style - Jovan Petronic .
Queen Endings Winning and Defending Techniques - Alexander Beliavsky .
Queens with Opposite Coloured Bishops - Alexander Beliavsky ......
FIDE Trainers Commission (TRG) - Council & Members .
Seminar List ...
FIDE/TRG Awards 2011 .
Index of Games ..
Trainers Lists .... ..
1
2
3
4
4
5
6
11
12
36
43
52
53
58
59
63
68
69
75
82
89
101
104
108
109
112
113
117
118
126
132
133
145
153
154
158
164
176
186
193
199
199
201
203
207
Foreword
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Chess has existed as a sport played at a competitive level for centuries. The common code governing the Laws of Chess is relatively recent, and the foundation of Fdration Internationale des
checs (FIDE), in Paris in 1924, is even more modern. FIDE currently has 174 member federations in all continents. Titles for players were introduced by FIDE in 1950, and titles for Arbiters
and Organizers followed. Now we are moving to a new phase, with titles for Trainers.
Chess is on the increase in schools across the world. It is part of the mainstream curriculum in
many countries. It is a goal of FIDE to make chess an educational tool, and generate worldwide
popularity for the game. Examples of the many educational advantages of chess are: shows the
need to make people realise the importance of advance planning; develops analytic and accurate
thinking; shows the necessity for a combative spirit; teaches fair play and emphasises the need for
preparation and hard work for success. However, with the increasing population of chess players,
comes the need for trainers to assist with their development.
This is the TRGs Yearbook for 2011. A manual for trainers, which fulfils a considerable need in
modern chess literature, concentrating on the technical side of the game, but also covering various
other topics and providing information. The best trainers have contributed to the book, which is an
essential tool in the preparation of trainers at all levels for the future. It will ensure that the next
generation of players will be at a great advantage over those that have gone before.
Symbols
+
++
#
!!
!
!?
?!
?
??
+
check
double check
checkmate
brilliant move
good move
interesting move
dubious move
bad move
blunder
White is winning
White has a large advantage
White is slightly better
equal position
+
1-0
-
0-1
(D)
unclear position
with compensation
Black is slightly better
Black has a large advantage
Black is winning
the game ends in a win for White
the game ends in a draw
the game ends in a win for Black
see next diagram
White to play
Black to play
4
24617326
24617539
6308724
2053993
7100205
4802691
10600396
24636762
10600507
9909141
11300310
14000261
10600230
5000530
2810557
24657751
7100035
7100248
12506796
4800940
7700156
7102810
1323938
4801431
2218003
6308759
6301886
4800800
4801172
4800087
10000070
10800280
5005035
10800255
5001552
11300302
11300051
5007054
4804457
2006596
14600153
905321
7700164
8500959
3501469
7102496
14503743
24633453
7100400
5706416
7100680
10800204
11000147
6307493
7700148
10400265
4805631
6401341
8700303
14700026
6308783
2032376
6000100
7102259
2207869
1307029
5002559
14603187
Drescher Thomas
Duerr Hanno
Duman Huseyin
Duque Raymond
Fahrurazie
Farhan Naseer Jasim
Fathy Elameir
Feldmann Guido
Frhat Ali
Friyagama Sarath
Gaealafshwe Barileng
Geldyev Kochmurad
Georg Magdy
Gokhale Jayant Suresh
Granite Tal
Greiser Christian
Gunawan Ronny
Hainansyan
Hajvaziri Sina
Hameed Amir
Harper Ryan
Hasanudin Sulaeman
Heddergott Daniel
Hussein Ali Hadi
Iglesias Valle Enrique
Ilyas Umit
Isik Engin Yasar
Ismael Namir Mohammed
Jalal K. Al-Din
Jumaa A. Gatea
Juulius Anuari
Kagambi Lawrence
Kalyan Kumar Y.
Kanegeni Mattew Camau
Kasi A.L.
Kealeboga Baone
Kgosimore Moatlhodi
Khasim Sk
Khudhair Khalaf Khalid
Kitson Colley
Kolar Srecko
Lakic Nikola
Lee Cecil
Lekan Adeyemi
Leon Cordero Eumelia
Lestari Baiq Vina
Lovrencic Vladimir
Luhm Stephan
Lumongdong Lisa Karlina
Mah Hassan Omar
Majella Yoseph R.
Makatia Alexander Pani
Mamombe Kudzanai
Marasli Tutku Kahraman
Merritt Mario
Mohammad Jawad
Mohammed Hanon Shlaga
Morel Ivan Rafael
Mubanga Francis
Nazarov Anvar
Osmanli Hanife
Pabon Tony
Palian Saras
Patricks Ryan
Pellicer Celemi Jose Luis
Planchamp Jacob
Raj Sen
Rajkovic Radisa
Germany
Germany
Turkey
US America
Indonesia
Iraq
Egypt
Germany
Egypt
Sri Lanka
Botswana
Turkmenistan
Egypt
India
Israel
Germany
Indonesia
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Trinidad & T.
Indonesia
Switzerland
Iraq
Spain
Turkey
Turkey
Iraq
Iraq
Iraq
Uganda
Kenya
India
Kenya
India
Botswana
Botswana
India
Iraq
US America
Slovenia
Bosnia & Her.
Trinidad & T.
Nigeria
Cuba
Indonesia
Croatia
Germany
Indonesia
Malaysia
Indonesia
Kenya
Zimbabwe
Turkey
Trinidad & T.
Bahamas
Iraq
Dominican R.
Zambia
Tajikistan
Turkey
US America
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Spain
Switzerland
India
Slovenia
7101783
7700032
2204037
4402863
4400372
14602458
4800818
4805534
6308813
10800301
727830
14502178
7102844
15000796
7100701
7102852
5208777
4800958
2208733
3203077
14505363
4203437
200760
7102402
4300815
9900144
2048302
10700102
7700105
6302998
10602887
7101520
4190092
Ramlan Samuel
Raphael John
Rodriguez Lopez Jose Luis
Rosales Sarria Daniel
Ruiz Alciguel
Rusjan Dusan
Sami Abbas Abdula
Sattar Naser Hussein
Seckin Mehmet
Sijenyi Stephen Ouma
Simai Laszlo
Slamar Velimir
Soewarrno Didi S.
Stojanovski Dejan
Supriyono Eko
Syahrir H.
Tacorda Rommel
Taleb Salem
Tallarico Tallarico Ovidio Mar
Tanti Joseph
Trbojevic Mladen
Tsarouhas Vasilios
Van Speybroeck Philippe
Verdiana Norasya
Wheeler Bruce
Wifesuriya G. Luxman
Wilson F.Leon
Wilson Peter John Barry
Yee Frank
Yildiz Mustafa
Yusef Ahmed
Zainuddin Yusuf Achmad
Zakharova Adelaida
Indonesia
Trinidad & T.
Spain
Colombia
Colombia
Slovenia
Iraq
Iraq
Turkey
Kenya
Hungary
Croatia
Indonesia
FYROM
Indonesia
Indonesia
Philippines
Iraq
Spain
Australia
Croatia
Greece
Belgium
Indonesia
New Zealand
Sri Lanka
US America
England
Trinidad & T.
Turkey
Egypt
Indonesia
Russia
FIDE INSTRUCTOR (DECEASED)

FIDE ID
5204763
4201248
SURNAME - NAME
Abalos Wilfredo (+)

Papatheodorou Theodoros (+)
FEDERATION
Philippines
Greece
NATIONAL INSTRUCTOR (LICENCED)

FIDE ID
16100093
7100736
9200274
5700655
7902980
9201343
9200738
6333028
9201661
6368778
9201688
11100184
6342230
6355994
2030403
2028948
7902999
7903006
7903014
11300531
10609431
11300264
14301857
7903022
4424476
8700613
5203627
4406079
SURNAME - NAME
Abdi Hassaan Ahmaed

Abu Bakar Nurdin
Abulhul Tarik
Ahmad Ismail
Aissani Sofiane
Al Betro Khaled
Al Felo Al Said Juma
Alev Engin Deniz
Algehani Aref
Askar Bulent
Atwer Milad
Austin Dirk
Aydeniz Gurkan
Aydin Delal
Beckwith Stan
Belachew Yimam Abera
Beldjoudi Ferhat
Bensahnoune Salim
Bir Boubekar
Boikayo Cinky
Bongo Akanga Barthelemy
Bontzi Chazha
Bornheim Darren
Bouriche Ounis
Buitrago Shirley
Buumba Obrian
Cabe Arlan Ferreria
Ceballos Diego Fernando
FEDERATION
Somalia
Indonesia
Libya
Malaysia
Algeria
Libya
Libya
Turkey
Libya
Turkey
Libya
Barbados
Turkey
Turkey
US America
Ethiopia
Algeria
Algeria
Algeria
Botswana
Gabon
Botswana
South Africa
Algeria
Colombia
Zambia
Philippines
Colombia
213
4208528
3802396
1004786
3500950
4201299
6308791
4200985
4204735
4203739
1904248
4208595
5020050
4626958
4203585
14301296
4201639
4139488
14503727
14307154
3800474
4502752
5001595
1304445
4402030
4404033
3601854
14306794
14204479
916765
6302343
14306409
3900754
6352057
5900077
1318918
1311441
1312537
24676012
6302572
9200150
8700389
14306026
4301935
3100022
4207378
4206029
14602768
14602776
14302926
4207750
14306948
25030736
3808734
14304333
13002864
4213882
14304325
12400939
6301150
6318754
14503689
12403555
2077710
3800563
3900444
24615420
12403571
4204913
Patriarheas Georgios
Pazos Rodriguez Marco Antonio
Peng Zhaoqin
Perez Felix
Perifanis Georgios
Pesmen Haydar
Petraki Maria
Petsetidi Maria
Pilalis Christos
Pinela Henrique
Pitselis Grigorios
Praful Zaveri
Preuss Thomas
Prevenios Mihail
Price Eddie
Psomiadis Stavros
Pylaeva Ekaterina
Radosavljevic Petar
Raja Aparna
Ramirez Cesar
Raud Tiina
Ravichandran V.
Regez Markus
Renteria Rolando
Rios Juan
Rojas Solano Jessenia
Rust Keith Frederick
Ruziev Ahmat
Sakotic Jasna
Salepci Osman Firat
Salverda Anton
Sanchez Castillo Sarai
Sargin Menderes
Savva Panikos
Schenker Roberto
Scherrer Heinrich
Schnelli Roman
Semmler Reinhardt
Seyhanoglu Deniz
Shabash Abdullatief Mohamed
Simutowe Musatwe
Slamang Mohamed Kassiem
Smith Vivian Joyce
Sosa Luis
Soukos Konstantinos
Soultatis Kostas
Srebrnic Ana
Srebrnic Vojko
Steenkamp Johan
Stefanidi Anna Maria
Stocklose Sven
Sundarrajan KP
Tacuche Martinez Fernando
Takawira Erick
Thandar Aye Win
Theoharidis Georgios
Tinashe Tafira
To Quoc Khanh
Tofan Ybrahim
Toluk Ahmed
Tomasic Roland
Tong Thai Hung
Tonkonogy Anatoly
Torres Jean
Torres Jose
Trappmann Peter
Trinh Van Dong
Troupis Konstantinos
Greece
Peru
Netherlands
Cuba
Greece
Turkey
Greece
Greece
Greece
Portugal
Greece
India
Germany
Greece
South Africa
Greece
Russia
Croatia
India
Peru
Estonia
India
Switzerland
Colombia
Colombia
Ecuador
South Africa
Uzbekistan
Montenegro
Turkey
South Africa
Venezuela
Turkey
Cyprus
Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland
Germany
Turkey
Libya
Zambia
South Africa
New Zealand
Puerto Rico
Greece
Greece
Slovenia
Slovenia
South Africa
Greece
South Africa
India
Peru
South Africa
Myanmar
Greece
Zimbabwe
Vietnam
Turkey
Turkey
Croatia
Vietnam
US America
Peru
Venezuela
Germany
Vietnam
Greece
4201094
4203402
4901614
4200586
6308830
6321151
6304940
4401387
14306417
4212070
805777
14526956
5502853
4301234
1308262
14306239
14306824
1300881
7900384
6301665
4671678
6305474
6302980
14500450
8400091
3900614
805319
Tsarouhas Konstantinos
Tsekouras Theodoros
Tserendorj Sainbayar
Tsorbatzoglou Theodoros
Tumer Hikmet
Tureller Ahmet
Unver Cumali
Valle Efrain
Vermaak Frans-Willem
Vidalis Evagelos
Vignato Giovanni
Vrhovnik Damir
Wada Nabil
Wang Victor
Wasas Csongor
Wiesmann Dominique
Willenberg Roland
Wolpe Clyde
Wueest Andrin
Yahiaoui Abdelkrim
Yalim Suleyman
Yanik Sural Emine
Yener Cemil
Yildiz Emre
Zaja Ivan
Zamora Roberto
Zavala Arevalo Vicencio Noel
Zoldan Matteo
Greece
Greece
Mongolia
Greece
Turkey
Turkey
Turkey
Colombia
South Africa
Greece
Italy
Croatia
Tunisia
New Zealand
South Africa
Switzerland
South Africa
South Africa
Switzerland
Algeria
Turkey
Turkey
Turkey
Turkey
Croatia
Honduras
Venezuela
Italy
FIDE INSTRUCTOR (INACTIVE)

FIDE ID
SURNAME - NAME
FEDERATION
4800613
9400958
7800568
3604195
4800443
4801849
5301874
7600127
10602348
11200987
24610593
4803680
4136586
4804902
6302777
7100892
4800435
6308686
13000063
4801636
5211301
2219107
7700237
938556
14506670
2006588
2212269
7101511
7700130
6001130
1201050
2260824
2601729
14402270
4805003
4805623
919101
Abdul Hadi Maftool

Abdul-Havla Sallah Sabri
Abdus Salim
Achig Balarezo Jose
Ahmad Abdul Khaliq
Ahmed Abdul Sattar Abdulwhhab
Akhrass Roland
Al Argha Hisham
Albadri Abd Al Sattar
Al-Ghasra Sadeque
Anliker Peter
Ari Ahmad Mohammed
Ariskin Aleksey
Asaad Ismael Tawfeeq
Asilkefeli Hasan
Askali Nurdin
Atia Madhi
Atilla Turgay
Aung Thant Zin
Aziz Jawad Obada
Bersamina Norlito
Blasco De La Cruz Luis
Bowles Andrew
Bozilov Novica
Brulic Denis
Buky John P.
Cao Armillas Jesus
Chkartina Gerhana
Chong Kurtis B.
Connor David
Crisan Ioan
De Andres Oterino Carlos
Demian Valer Eugen
Devedzic Osman
Dhafer Abdul Ameer Madhloom
Dhamir Jabar Al-Yhyi
Djerkovic Miladin
Iraq
Yemen
Pakistan
Ecuador
Iraq
Iraq
Lebanon
Syria
Iraq
Bahrain
Germany
Iraq
Russia
Iraq
Turkey
Indonesia
Iraq
Turkey
Myanmar
Iraq
Philippines
Spain
Trinidad & T.
Serbia
Croatia
US America
Spain
Indonesia
Trinidad & T.
Hong Kong
Romania
Spain
Canada
Bosnia & Her.
Iraq
Iraq
Canada
212
FIDE Trainers Commission (TRG)

Efstratios Grivas
Concept
Were all born with a natural sense of curiosity. Its what drives us to create new things and develop new ideas. At TRG, were committed to nurturing our members pursuit of advanced scientific and technological knowledge through its many research initiatives. TRG is partnering with
leading global trainers in a variety of fields including seminars, training methods, publishing and
research. The results of this cooperation can be applied in ways that benefit TRG intellectually and
culturally by transforming it into a cutting-edge leader in the creation of human chess-knowledge.
But most of all, TRGs research aspirations aim to inspire the trainers, and the whole chess world,
to discover new ways of unlocking their potential.
The FIDE Trainers Committee, predecessor of the Trainers Commission (which was formed at
the start of 2009) was created in 2000 during the Istanbul Olympiad and was chaired by GM Yuri
Razuvaev, now Honorary Chairman. The Committee created a real and decent training environment and established the guidance for its functioning for about eight years; its role is impossible to
overvalue. Now, in our second period, we have to re-examine our position at the moment and to
create new tasks for the future.
The most important task of TRG was the introduction of a system of titles and licences, as demanded by the IOC. The main idea was that the titles will boost the importance of trainers positions in the chess world. Licences are necessary for keeping up the level of the trainers, but until
the Sofia 2010 FIDE Presidential Board, these licences were not approved for worldwide use.
Now we have instruments to improve the level of trainers, but we need cooperation from the
Continental and National FIDE affiliated federations to implement the system correctly and effectively. Our important role is to protect trainers and to help them to conduct their duties effectively
and with dignity. For further information see http://trainers.fide.com/trg-council.html and
http://trainers.fide.com/trg-members.html.
Aims
The FIDE Trainers Commission (TRG) is the official body of the World Chess Federation that
deals with trainers worldwide. TRG is responsible for and operates the following subjects:
1) Deals with any subject concerning trainers (http://trainers.fide.com).
2) Keeps the record of the list of trainers (http://trainers.fide.com/fide-trainers-system.html).
3) Keeps the record of the financial status of the trainers (as above).
4) Awards the highest training title worldwide, that of FIDE Senior Trainer (FST).
5) Endorses and records FIDE Academies (http://trainers.fide.com/fide-academies.html).
6) Prepares and follows its annual Budget (http://trainers.fide.com/minutes.html).
7) Runs the annual FIDE Trainers Awards (http://trainers.fide.com/awards-hall-of-fame.html).
8) Draws up the necessary Guidelines and Rules and proposes them to FIDE PB and GA.
9) Organizes the worldwide Educational Seminars for FIDE titles.
10) Organizes and supports various Youth Camps (http://trainers.fide.com/seminars.html).
11) Organizes Informative Meetings in various events (http://trainers.fide.com/minutes.html).
12) Lists its Recommended Books (http://trainers.fide.com/recommended-books.html).
13) Supports trainers with monthly Surveys, free of charge (http://trainers.fide.com/surveys.html).
14) Cooperates with CACDEC, ECU (European Chess Union) and IOC/ARISF (International
Olympic Committee / Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations), assuring
sponsored FIDE Trainers Seminars (for CACDEC federations) annually (2009-2012).
15) Supports trainers with valuable general information (http://trainers.fide.com).
5

FIDE Trainers` System (Guide)
FIDE Titles / TRG Seminars
The TRG, by taking into account previous decisions of FIDE Presidential & Executive Boards,
General Assemblies, and various proposals of recent years, revised and finalised the present guide.
This guide will apply to the FIDE Trainers System, dealing with FIDE Titles and TRG Seminars.
All previous decisions on these matters will have no validity any more and are replaced by the
present.
1. Trainers Titles
1.1. FIDE & TRG recognise the following titles (in descending order of expertise):
1.1.1. FIDE Senior Trainer (FST)
1.1.2. FIDE Trainer (FT)
1.1.3. FIDE Instructor (FI)
1.1.4. National Instructor (NI)
1.1.5. Developmental Instructor (DI)
1.2. Title Descriptions / Requirements / Awards:
1.2.1. FIDE Senior Trainer (FST)
1.2.1.1. Scope / Mission:
a. Lecturing in Seminars as Lecturer / Seminar Leader (if approved).
b. National examiner.
c. Trained players particularly with rating above 2450.
1.2.1.2. Qualification / Professional Skills Requirements:
a. Proposal/endorsement from his/her national federation.
b. FIDE Trainer or minimum 10 years experience as a trainer in general.
c. Holder of the title GM or IM.
d. Achieved a career top FIDE ELO rating of 2450 (strength).
e. Knowledge, besides his/her native language, of at least one of the FIDE approved languages:
Arabic, English, French, German, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
f. Has published material, such as manuals, books or series of articles.
g. Proof of World/International successes, as below:
g1. Trainer of Olympic medal winning team.
g2. Trainer of aWorld Champion.
g3. Trainer of a Challenger for the World Championship (final match).
g4. Trainer of the Continental team gold medal winner.
g5. Trainer of the Continental individual champion.
g6. Trainer of more than 3 World Champions in Youth and Junior categories.
11602384
8400040
1902121
3601625
6300839
4404939
6301894
5004403
1308912
5001331
2053969
4208773
929239
6304540
6309658
4238117
2000547
14601125
14602261
2102773
5023467
15200051
9201220
9200762
6306772
6303870
6342221
6305644
3501426
11100095
7900937
1323911
2015382
3602745
14301652
14300818
4206754
4200659
7900821
6300979
6301924
4410041
14301709
4204042
1323920
14301504
4202520
6318444
7900511
6342280
7903057
6302017
1308335
3902510
5108934
6000525
3821102
7903073
19800037
14301946
3800792
5500192
14300788
5500044
4111923
4204727
1309072
6350623
Cimina Andra
Colindres Daniel
Crespo Leonardo
Crespo Roberto
Dalkiran Halil Sertac
Delgado Carlos
Demiralp Murat
Deshmukh Prasad P.
Deubelbeiss Rene
Dhar-Barua Saheli
Diaz Geber
Dimitriadis Alexandros
Dimitrijevic Aleksandra
Dogan Ali Ekber
Dogan Nazmi Can
Dokimakis Stylianos
Donaldson Elena
Drinovec Ales
Drobne Marjan
Duarte Tatiana Peres
Dutta Prasenjit
Eichab Charles Sidney
El Ghadamsy Mohamed
Elflow Khalood
Enzin Hatice
Erencek Ali Ediz
Eryucel Mehmet Emre
Esen Nejdet
Fandino Roquelina
Farley Terry
Farouk Djaballah
Fessard Pascal
Figler Ilye
Franco Villon Jorge Antonio
Fredericks Malcolm
Frick Denise
Galanos Dimitrios
Gazis Efstathios
Ghimouz Chakib
Gokerman Ersan
Goksel Doga Cihan
Gomez Samael
Goosen Anton
Goritsas Christos
Graeff Karl
Greeff Melissa
Gripeos Kiriakos
Guctekin Nuri
Gueroui Nacereddine
Guvendik Muharrem
Haddouche Belabbas
Hatipoglu Metin
Held Thomas
Hernandez Ulises
Herrera Garcia Pio Arnoldo
Ho Yin Ping
Huancahuile Choque Robert
Ibbou Sid Ali
Ibrahima, Konate
Irving Laura
Iturry Quinonez William
Jlassi Sofiane
Jurgensen Graham Ian
Kaabi Mejdi
Kadishev Leonid
Kakadelis Stratos
Kappeler Kaspar
Kara Aydin
Latvia
Honduras
Ecuador
Ecuador
Turkey
Colombia
Turkey
India
Switzerland
India
Venezuela
Greece
Bosnia & Her.
Turkey
Turkey
Greece
US America
Slovenia
Slovenia
Brazil
India
Namibia
Libya
Libya
Turkey
Turkey
Turkey
Turkey
Cuba
Barbados
Algeria
Switzerland
US America
Peru
South Africa
South Africa
Greece
Greece
Algeria
Turkey
Turkey
Colombia
South Africa
Greece
Switzerland
South Africa
Greece
Turkey
Algeria
Turkey
Algeria
Turkey
Switzerland
Venezuela
Mexico
Hong Kong
Peru
Algeria
Mali
South Africa
Peru
Tunisia
South Africa
Tunisia
Russia
Greece
Switzerland
Turkey
6303943
6342264
7900988
6305334
13200720
14301660
5900158
1308980
14601028
4202325
14602725
14300206
6325211
5001684
6310028
5001935
5017025
6000770
1306804
14300800
1301969
14305674
6001122
1313592
5202612
3805751
4300785
11000120
11300361
5201071
4203143
4401565
13304356
5200024
16400143
14306379
5900166
3611728
5501067
6342450
4205588
14600480
6300618
14306387
5204615
2134381
9304290
5006430
6800246
5014247
15200027
4402898
14300400
14306395
12400408
12400270
808199
15200434
7900414
14305860
6342272
6310133
6302408
3800164
3801578
4202554
1313266
5900280
Karamahmutoglu Eser
Karatas Melih
Khelfallah Omar Badreddine
Kilic Ihsan
Kim Sang Yoon
Klaver Cornelis
Klerides Paris
Knaus Max
Kodric Martin
Kondopoulos Dimitrios
Kovac Silvo
Kromhout Ewan
Kulac Olgun
Kunte Mrunalini
Kuru Ferhat
Lahiri Santanu
Lakshmi Priya TT
Lam Mingo Kwok Wai
Laube Giovanni
Laubscher-Solomons Anzel
Leutwyler Martin
Lewis Mark
Li Jackson
Lienhard Andreas
Lincoln Yap
Luque Ayala Daniel
Lynn Kenneth William
Makoto Rodwell
Makwati Mahommad Israel
Mariano Cristine Rose
Markantonis Vasilios
Martinez Sergio
Martirosyan Ani
Mascarinas Rico
Mbedza Richard
Mc Avoy Paul
Melas Renos
Menendez Marcos
Messaoudi Bechir
Mete Aykut Ilker
Mihailidis Anastacios
Mihevc Ivo
Miyak Burak
Morris Richard
Moseros Jose
Moura Charles
Muneera Mohammed Kaak
Muralimohan K.
Murphy Margaret
Muthu Kumaran R.
Nakapunda Otto Zandell
Navia Edwin
Nelson Jaco
Ngidi Patson
Nguyen Thai Binh
Nguyen Thi Tuong Van
Nicolo Filippo
Nitzborn Max Baron
Nouali Djouher
November Edwin
Oezen Ali
Ozen Burak
Ozturk Emir
Pacheco Asmat Jorge
Pacheco Gallardo Jorge Garri
Pandelidis Ioannis
Pantillon Patrik Andre
Papatryfonos Constantinos
Turkey
Turkey
Algeria
Turkey
South Korea
South Africa
Cyprus
Switzerland
Slovenia
Greece
Slovenia
South Africa
Turkey
India
Turkey
India
India
Hong Kong
Switzerland
South Africa
Switzerland
South Africa
Hong Kong
Switzerland
Philippines
Peru
New Zealand
Zimbabwe
Botswana
Philippines
Greece
Colombia
Armenia
Philippines
Malawi
South Africa
Cyprus
Ecuador
Tunisia
Turkey
Greece
Slovenia
Turkey
South Africa
Philippines
Brazil
UA Emirates
India
US Virgin Isl.
India
Namibia
Colombia
South Africa
South Africa
Vietnam
Vietnam
Italy
Namibia
Algeria
South Africa
Turkey
Turkey
Turkey
Peru
Peru
Greece
Switzerland
Cyprus
211
25007599
14400057
4141342
4500334
3500845
1701193
5700051
3500900
4800095
14201062
5200245
8100144
13900765
900664
5100046
4201183
14500531
14501619
2048345
905046
901385
6500374
600059
10600060
4402006
12501930
5000041
13300393
1602675
4800249
3202232
5100690
4140117
12504270
601357
2600030
7000596
4102932
5105650
900265
5002109
3501280
5200644
4618920
4401204
3502031
12501034
13200712
3201805
1604988
1604520
7100426
13700634
13501151
916366
12501689
3202046
9000240
1208624
6500331
3500462
5100089
3500098
14600269
9900055
5800714
6301142
6300030
Krishna Chitrada
Kurajica Bojan
Kuznetsov Kiril
Lauk Ular
Lebredo Zarragoitia Gerardo
Lind Jan-Olof
Long Peter
Lopez Jimenez Armando Candido
Madhi S Abdulrazak
Madjidov Jasur
Maninang Rafaelito
Mansour Sameer
Marcziter Dmitrij
Markovic Ivan J.
Martin Del Campo Cardenas R
Mastoras Ilias
Medancic Ricardo
Medic Mirjana
Mercuri Lou
Milanovic Vojislav
Miljanic Boro
Minero Pineda Sergio Erick
Miralles Gilles
Mohamed Farag Amrou
Molano Minaya Juan Manuel
Moosavian S. Seyed Hamed
Murugan Krishnamoorthy
Nadanian Ashot
Neubauer Martin
Noah A. H. Al-Ali
Nutu-Gajic Daniela
Ocampo Vargas Raul
Oleinikov Dmitry
Pahlevanzadeh Mehrdad
Partmentier Xavier
Pelts Roman
Pineau Jacques
Pukshansky Michael
Quintana Hernandez Marcos Ivan
Rajkovic Dusan
Ramesh Ramachandran
Ramon Pita Vivian
Ranola Yves
Richter Michael
Rios Parra Mauricio
Rivero Gonzalez Carlos
Roghani Arash
Ryu Eunseop
Sandler Leonid
Schein Karl-Heinz
Schneider-Zinner Harald
Situru Nathanael
Son Asya
Sorokina Anastasia
Stojanovic Mihajlo
Tehrani Afshin
Tindall Brett
Tissir Mohamed
Urcan Olimpiu
Valdes Leonardo
Velez Betancourt Nestor Tomas
Verduga Zavala Denis
Vilela De Acuna Luis Jose
Vombek Daniel
Weeramantry Sunil
Wu Shaobin
Yeke Serkan
Yilmaz Turhan
India
Bosnia & Her.
Russia
Estonia
Cuba
Sweden
Malaysia
Cuba
Iraq
Uzbekistan
Philippines
Jordan
Germany
Serbia
Mexico
Greece
Croatia
Croatia
US America
Serbia
Montenegro
Costa Rica
France
Egypt
Colombia
Iran
India
Armenia
Austria
Iraq
Australia
Mexico
Russia
Iran
France
Canada
Japan
Russia
Mexico
Serbia
India
Cuba
Philippines
Germany
Colombia
Cuba
Iran
South Korea
Australia
Austria
Austria
Indonesia
Kazakhstan
Australia
Serbia
Iran
Australia
Morocco
Romania
Costa Rica
Cuba
Mexico
Cuba
Slovenia
Sri Lanka
Singapore
Turkey
Turkey
8602867
12500704
7600631
Zhang Jilin
Zibaei Abdollah
Zuhair Ahmad
g7. Trainer - Founder of chess schools, which have developed a minimum of 3 IGM or 6 titled
players (GM, IM, and WGM).
g8. Trainer, who originated and developed educational systems and/or programmes.
China
Iran
Syria
FIDE TRAINER (DECEASED)

FIDE ID
702048
14500280
7100043
14600200
4626974
13800019
SURNAME NAME
Bagonay Attila (+)

Bukal Vladimir (+)
Handoko Edhi (+)
Orel Oskar (+)
Schlemermeyer Wilhelm (+)
Yurtaev Leonid (+)
FEDERATION
Hungary
Croatia
Indonesia
Slovenia
Germany
Kyrgyzstan
FIDE INSTRUCTOR (LICENCED)

FIDE ID
9200312
7901038
2020564
505498
6302416
4200527
34100706
4276426
9201122
3601587
9200380
4203020
5900123
4202210
6308660
5900468
901679
9200177
3600670
6343813
6330584
14304627
7901950
7900244
7900899
14510359
3900622
6301053
4404793
1314807
14400839
14306360
5500311
19600135
5500370
4201590
7903030
14105624
14506203
14602105
14307170
14501015
4401530
11200090
1307940
3815234
24614386
4416112
14300249
4700716
3903524
5801575
5500184
2060981
SURNAME - NAME
Abdallah Khaled Elnami

Abderahmane Yahiaoui
Airapetian Chouchanik
Akkanen Timo
Akyildiz Baris
Alexakis Dimitrios
Alexandrov Vadim
Alexiou Konstantinos
Ali El Haj Nizar
Alvarado Eliu
Al-Zayat Ahmed
Anagnou Konstantinos
Antoniou Antonis
Argiroudis Stamatis
Arik Abdullah
Aristotelous Vassilis
Arsovic Zoran
Asabri Hussein
Aucay Pelaez Mauro Javier
Azgin Sezer
Babaoglu Cumhur
Ball Lawrence
Bedroune Soufyane
Belkacem Krim
Benabadji Abderrahmane
Berke Ana
Blanco Acevedo Maria Carolina
Bolcan Engin
Bolivar Jeyson
Bonferroni Carlo
Boric Elena
Botha Martin
Bouaziz Mehdi
Boubacar Mohameden
Bouflija Hedi
Bousios Hristos
Bouzida Mhamed
Braslavskyy Oleksandr
Bratosevic Mladen
Brcar Andrej
Breytenbach Jan
Brigljevic Milan
Buitrago Juan Carlos
Bukhalaf Ebrahim
Burnier David
Campossano Camo Rodrigo
Carlstedt Jonathan
Castillo Shirley
Cawdery Daniel
Cela Shkelqim
Chacon Jose
Chan Peng Khoon Gerald
Chouari Wajdi
Ciamarra Michael
FEDERATION
Libya
Algeria
US America
Finland
Turkey
Greece
Russia
Greece
Libya
Ecuador
Libya
Greece
Cyprus
Greece
Turkey
Cyprus
Serbia
Libya
Ecuador
Turkey
Turkey
South Africa
Algeria
Algeria
Algeria
Croatia
Venezuela
Turkey
Colombia
Switzerland
Bosnia & Her.
South Africa
Tunisia
Mauritania
Tunisia
Greece
Algeria
Germany
Croatia
Slovenia
South Africa
Croatia
Colombia
Bahrain
Switzerland
Peru
Germany
Colombia
South Africa
Albania
Venezuela
Singapore
Tunisia
US America
210
1.2.1.3. Title Award:

a. The application (Appendix 1) should be sent through his/her national federation (mandatory).
b. It is strongly noted that the most important criteria of a FST title (obligatory / mandatory requirements) are: f. (Published material) and g. (World/International successes) and TRG will
mainly focus on that. All other requirements can be treated as non-mandatory.
c. For the FST Title Award a ballot among the five TRG Board members will take place and a
70% positive number (Yes = 20% * Abstain = 10% * No = 0%) will be needed. If the application
fails, the FIDE Trainer title may be awarded. The applicant is obliged to accept this procedure and
fulfil the necessary payments.
d. TRG reserves the right to investigate and accept or reject any statement of the applicant, without
any further explanation.
1.2.2. FIDE Trainer (FT)
a. Boost international level players in achieving playing strengths of up to FIDE ELO rating 2450.
a. Proof of national trainer education and recommendation for participation by the national federation.
b. Proof of at least 5 years activity as a trainer.
c. Achieved a career top FIDE ELO rating of 2300 (strength).
d. TRG seminar norm.
a. By successful participation in a TRG Seminar.
b. By failing to achieve the FST title (rejected application).
1.2.3. FIDE Instructor (FI)
a. Raised the competitive standard of national youth players to an international level.
c. Trained players with rating below 2000.
a. Proof of national trainer education and recommendation for participation by the national federation.
b. Proof of at least 2 years activity as a trainer.
c. Achieved a career top FIDE or national ELO rating of 2000 (strength).
1.2.4. National Instructor (NI)

a. Raised the level of competitive chess players to a national level standard.
b. Instructed/trained players with rating up to 1700.
c. School teacher.
a. Minimum two years experience as Developmental Instructor (level).
b. Achieved a career top FIDE or national ELO rating of 1700 (strength).
c. Trainees have a minimum top-10 placing in recognized national level competitions.
1.2.5. Developmental Instructor (DI)
a. Spread the love for chess among children and methodically bring them to a competitive level.
b. Instructor for beginners, elementary, intermediate and recreational level players.
c. School teacher.
a. Knows the FIDE Laws of Chess (Basic Rules of Play and Competition Rules).
b. Achieved a career top FIDE or national ELO rating of 1400 (strength).
c. TRG seminar norm.
1.3. Procedures / Financial:
a. After successful graduation from the seminar course, each participant will receive a participation
certificate signed by the Lecturers / Seminar Leaders.
b. After the detailed report submission by the Lecturers / Seminar Leaders to TRG, the latter will
submit the title applications/proposals to FIDE for approval by an official body (PB, EB or GA).
c. Following approval, the trainer will receive the official diploma and badge (the badge shall include the photograph of the trainer and the licence validity) from FIDE, if the following conditions
are fulfilled:
c1. Requirements (Qualification) for each title as described above.
c2. Diploma of the successful participation in the FIDE Trainer Seminar (except for FST).
c3. Written examinations (except for FST).
c4. Payments of FIDE fees (participation and titles), according to the following table:
Title Awarded
FIDE Senior Trainer
FIDE Trainer
FIDE Instructor
Title Award (one-time)

300 Euros
200 Euros
100 Euros
Licence Fee (valid for 4 years)

180 Euros
120 Euros
60 Euros
5206030
3900819
2004860
4642325
13301233
7000219
5000149
4626966
6301290
901318
1900404
1210319
14301768
14500191
14603683
4401166
14500760
4401174
14506254
916498
4611535
6303293
13400150
4202570
14500485
4205626
4300190
6300510
14300192
10600809
3800580
6300065
2902257
2300117
101028
4206282
4127757
4611322
915874
4115341
4500199
6300472
4401107
4402057
1004670
14300427
5005353
4401247
4611616
300101
4200110
1305662
5804140
8600031
6303684
8603090
6300081
2900289
14500310
14501350
8600694
14502682
14503263
Polistico Eliodoro
Prasca Sosa Rafael
Prosviriakov Vladimir
Prusikin Michael
Ramazian Arshak
Ramos Domingo
RavikumarVaidyanathan
Relitzki Achim
Reyhan Dogan Heval
Ristic Nenad
Rocha Sergio
Rogozenco Dorian
Rubery Mark
Rukavina Josip
Sakelsek Tadej
Saladen Rafael
Sale Srdjan
Sanchez Victor
Saric Ante
Scekic Milos
Schoene Ralf
Secer Ata
Sideifzade Fikret
Simeonidis Ioannis
Sindik Ervin
Skaperdas Konstantinos
Smith Robert Wayne
Solakoglu Ozgur
Solomon Kenny
Sorial Hanna
Soto Jorge
Soylu Suat
Stefanova Antoaneta
Steingrimsson Hedinn
Szmetan Ricardo
Tassopoulos Marios
Tchernyi Viktor
Tischbierek Raj
Trajkovic Predrag
Tregubov Pavel
Tsiganova Monika
Ulucan Teoman
Uribe Mauricio
Valderrama Gilberto
Van Delft Merijn
Van der Nat Nicholas
Visweswaran K.
Vittorino Carlo
Voekler Bernd
Vokac Marek
Vragoteris Antonios
Vuilleumir Alexandre
Wong Ngiam Yee
Xu Jun
Yagiz Yasin Emrah
Yu Ruiyuan
Yurtseven Can
Zahariev Zahari
Zelcic Robert
Zelenika Srdjan
Zhang Zhong
Ziger Silvestar
Zivkovic Vjekoslav
Philippines
Venezuela
US America
Germany
Armenia
Japan
India
Germany
Turkey
Serbia
Portugal
Romania
South Africa
Croatia
Slovenia
Colombia
Croatia
Colombia
Croatia
Serbia
Germany
Turkey
Azerbaijan
Greece
Croatia
Greece
New Zealand
Turkey
South Africa
Libya
Peru
Turkey
Bulgaria
Iceland
Barbados
Greece
Russia
Germany
Serbia
Russia
Estonia
Turkey
Colombia
Colombia
Netherlands
South Africa
India
Colombia
Germany
Czech Rep.
Greece
Switzerland
Singapore
China
Turkey
China
Turkey
Bulgaria
Croatia
Croatia
Singapore
Croatia
Croatia
FIDE TRAINER (INACTIVE)

FIDE ID
10600485
10600035
SURNAME - NAME
Abdel Aziem Ramadan

Abdelnabbi Imed
FEDERATION
Egypt
Egypt
4800605
8100160
4800079
10600019
12501468
4800192
3500268
13401505
13400347
5100321
3503267
4800427
602612
901008
14401614
3500012
6300421
12500070
6301037
2105187
4400658
4000102
3201937
2801639
14505207
14400235
4200446
1600028
3503283
5200105
4400763
4401190
14400049
7102593
10600086
10600043
3201791
902268
2900211
12500550
2200341
7100060
5000807
14502160
6500170
3503178
14600722
13400061
6300383
4637976
13300130
12500828
6500226
3507556
700223
14500060
903345
903108
14501104
4200438
12501166
4124871
4628250
4801180
6325700
900290
902152
14502879
Abdul Ghani Hayder

Aboudi Marwan
Adil Ali Jalal
Afifi Assem
Akbarinia Sayed Arash
Al-Ali Hussein Ali Hussein
Aldama Degurnay Dionisio
Aliyev Namig
Allahverdiev Anar
Almeida Saenz Alfonso
Altuna Pena Jose Luis
Amjad Al. M. Al-Bahadly
Anic Darko
Antic Dejan
Arapovic Vitomir
Arencibia Walter Rodriguez
Ari Zeki
Aryanejad Hossein
Atakisi Umut
Barbosa Marco Antonio
Beltran Carlos Armando
Berend Fred
Berezina Irina
Berkovich Mark
Bogut Zeljko
Boric Muhamed
Botsari Anna-Maria
Brestian Egon
Buela Valdespino Danilo
Chiong Zacarias Romero Luis
Clavijo Usuga Jorge Maria
Cuartas Medina Jaime Alexander
Dizdarevic Emir
Djamil Djamal
El Arousy Abdul Hammed
El Taher Fouad
Feldman Vladimir
Gavric Miladin
Genov Petar
Ghorbani Mohsen
Gil Javier
Ginting Nasib
Gokhale Raghunandan
Golubovic Boris
Gonzalez Bernal Acosta
Gonzalez Ivan
Gostisa Leon
Guliev Loqman
Gurcan Selim
Gutheil Heinrich
Gyozalyan Tigran
Haghshenas Getabi Ebrahim
Hernandez Basante Francisco
Hernandez Same Ramon Pastor
Horvath Gyula
Hulak Krunoslav
Joksic Sinisa
Jovicic Milos
Jurkovic Hrvoje
Kalesis Nikolaos
Karimi Hadi
Kashtanov Ruslan
Khairallah Faysal
Khaled Kh. Kh. Albu-Salih
Kose Faruk
Kosic Dragan
Kovacevic Slobodan
Kozul Zdenko
Iraq
Jordan
Iraq
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Mexico
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Mexico
Cuba
Iraq
France
Serbia
Bosnia & Her.
Cuba
Turkey
Iran
Turkey
Brazil
Colombia
Luxembourg
Australia
Israel
Bosnia & Her.
Bosnia & Her.
Greece
Austria
Cuba
Philippines
Colombia
Colombia
Bosnia & Her.
Indonesia
Egypt
Egypt
Australia
Bosnia & Her.
Bulgaria
Iran
Spain
Indonesia
India
Croatia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Slovenia
Azerbaijan
Turkey
Germany
Armenia
Iran
Costa Rica
Cuba
Hungary
Croatia
Serbia
Serbia
Croatia
Greece
Iran
Russia
Lebanon
Iraq
Turkey
Montenegro
Serbia
Croatia
209
5000190
14000016
6700284
3501418
6300154
6301606
7900058
423149
4000749
4401824
6300677
14300770
6300715
300756
14107619
5600014
14300052
5500010
4103920
12400726
14502941
6308708
9200215
6308716
4400623
14500086
1900030
12400092
12400084
6900224
907596
6300413
5500079
14501694
6301304
12404543
5003377
13600788
6300359
6301495
6301410
4400801
5800382
24169560
3600270
4176090
4100590
1900080
4400330
13400126
4200063
14500906
14900149
4200055
12501565
5200466
14103222
300977
2209519
13700243
4300114
1000330
14600170
6300553
4656598
300160
7900660
13302795
Anilkumar N.R.
Annageldyev Orazly
Arias Lemmys
Arribas Maritza
Asaturoglu Rupen
Ataman Alper Efe
Aziz Madani Benhadi
Babenko Sergey
Bakalarz Mietek
Barrientos Sergio
Bayram Yakup
Bhawoodien Shabir
Bilyap Enis
Biolek Richard
Bodnar Alexander
Borg Geoffrey
Bouah Lyndon
Bouaziz Slim
Brodsky Igor
Bui Vinh
Bukal Vladimir Jr.
Capan Ozan
Chahrani Ibrahim
Cihangir Hulusi
Contreras Henry
Cvitan Ognjen
Damaso Rui
Dang Tat Thang
Dao Thien Hai
De la Riva Aguado Oscar
Dekic Josip
Demirel Tolga
Doghri Nabil
Doric Nenad
Duman Aydin
Duong Thanh Binh
Ebenezer Joseph
Edzgveradze Natalia
Erdogan Hakan
Erdogdu Aziz Mert
Erturan Yakup
Escobar Forero Alder
Evans-Quek Suan Shiau
Eyvazov Elkhan
Fierro Baquero Martha
Fokin Stanislav
Fominyh Alexander
Frois Antonio
Garcia Alvaro
Gasimov Raqim
Gavrilakis Nikolaos
Gazarek Danko
Gazik Igor
Gesos Pavlos
Ghorbanian M. Reza
Gloria Eric
Goloshchapov Alexander
Gonsior Evzen
Gonzalez De La Nava Amador
Granovskiy Alexandr
Green Ewen
Grooten Herman
Grosar Aljosa
Guner Bulent
Haag Ulrich
Haba Petr
Haddouche Mohamed
Hambardzumian Yuri
India
Turkmenistan
El Salvador
Cuba
Turkey
Turkey
Algeria
England
Luxembourg
Colombia
Turkey
South Africa
Turkey
Czech Rep.
Ukraine
Malta
South Africa
Tunisia
Russia
Vietnam
Croatia
Turkey
Libya
Turkey
Colombia
Croatia
Portugal
Vietnam
Vietnam
Andorra
Serbia
Turkey
Tunisia
Croatia
Turkey
Vietnam
India
Georgia
Turkey
Turkey
Turkey
Colombia
Wales
Russia
Ecuador
Russia
Russia
Portugal
Colombia
Azerbaijan
Greece
Croatia
Slovakia
Greece
Iran
Philippines
Ukraine
Czech Rep.
Spain
Kazakhstan
New Zealand
Netherlands
Slovenia
Turkey
Germany
Czech Rep.
Algeria
Armenia
700622
5000386
4200357
6300634
700185
6300111
13600087
14300702
5000262
300993
14100533
4203569
4135997
6302734
13300598
10607846
14200473
13600710
4500075
6300391
4129776
15001270
2802015
14300141
6305008
6300863
4205006
6303285
6301584
14600935
6301010
8600562
14900483
2100045
1300091
12404268
4200187
14100584
4105346
14502690
2005484
4401549
13302035
13000233
14600099
4107101
700916
14600048
901202
5000106
13301888
12501255
4401450
14500949
13300741
904279
12400025
12400114
12400815
6300405
3900053
1100572
6303633
5201322
14500116
12500666
14600218
13500090
Hardiscay Peter
Hariharan Venkatachalam
Haritakis Theodoros
Haznedaroglu Kivanc
Horvath Tamas
Ipek Ali
Janjghava Lasha
Johannes Manyedi Mabusela
Joshi G.B.
Jurek Josef
Kachur Alexander
Kaloskambis Mihail
Kargin Arseny
Keler Faruk
Khachatryan Vahagn
Khaled Hassan
Khegay Anjela
Khomeriki Giorgi
Kiik Kalle
Kilicaslan Hasan
Kim Alexey
Kizov Atanas
Klinova Maria
Kobese Watu
Koc Serkan
Kocak Mustafa Sabri
Kokolias Konstantinos
Korkmaz Necmettin
Kose Serkan
Kovac Boris
Kucumenler Tarkan
Liang Zhihua
Likavsky Tomas
Lima Darcy
Lombard Andre
Luong Trong Minh
Makropoulou Marina
Maksimenko Andrei
Malyshev Vasilij
Mandekic Ivan
Marinello Beatriz
Mateus Martha
Matevosyan Sedrak
Maung Maung Lwin
Mencinger Vojko
Meshkov Yuri A.
Mihok Laszlo
Mikac Matjaz
Mirkovic Slobodan
Mishra Neeraj Kumar
Mkrtchian Simon
Moradiabadi Elshan
Morales Jhon
Mufic Goran
Nersisyan Garnik
Nestorovic Dejan
Nguyen Anh Dung
Nguyen Tan Tung
Nguyen Thanh Son
Olcayoz Alper
Ostos Julio
Ostrowski Leszek
Ozerkman Mehmet
Paciencia Enrique
Palac Mladen
Paridar Shadi
Polajzer Danilo
Poley Vladimir
Hungary
India
Greece
Turkey
Hungary
Turkey
Georgia
South Africa
India
Czech Rep.
Ukraine
Greece
Russia
Turkey
Armenia
Egypt
Uzbekistan
Georgia
Estonia
Turkey
South Korea
FYROM
Israel
South Africa
Turkey
Turkey
Greece
Turkey
Turkey
Slovenia
Turkey
China
Slovakia
Brazil
Switzerland
Vietnam
Greece
Ukraine
Russia
Croatia
US America
Colombia
Armenia
Myanmar
Slovenia
Russia
Hungary
Slovenia
Serbia
India
Armenia
Iran
Colombia
Croatia
Armenia
Serbia
Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam
Turkey
Venezuela
Poland
Turkey
Singapore
Croatia
Iran
Slovenia
Belarus
208
National Instructor
Developmental Instructor
50 Euros
50 Euros
30 Euros
30 Euros
d. The FIDE fee for a participant to a TRG seminar is 100 euros and it must be paid to the affiliated federation/body, co-organizer of the Seminar. The affiliated federation/body, co-organizer
will be invoiced by FIDE for the total amount of the participants fees.
e. It is allowed for a participant to pay his Title Fee in advance to the affiliated federation/body coorganizer or to FIDE directly. In this case he/she must inform FIDE in writing of this action. In the
case that his/her title fails to be approved by FIDE, the Title Fee is not refundable.
f. A titled Trainer will be charged a Licence Fee after two calendar years have passed since the
title was awarded. Each licence will be valid for four (4) years. (ex) World Champions and the
FST of the 2004 Direct Approval (founders) are exempt from these licence regulations. Failing to
fulfil the licences obligations will lead to a suspension from the trainers titles lists.
g. English is the official language for communication and applications between TRG and Trainers.
2. TRG Seminars
2.1. Order of Procedures:
2.1.1. Application of the co-organizing body to TRG.
2.1.2. Approval of programme and lectures.
2.1.3. Approval of Lecturers / Seminar Leaders.
2.1.4. Announcement on FIDE and TRG web-sites by completing the obligatory draft forms.
2.1.5. Results submission to TRG for approval.
2.1.6. TRGs submission of the proposed results and payments to FIDE.
2.2. Lecturers / Seminar Leaders:
2.2.1. All TRG seminars are conducted by Lecturers / Seminar Leaders (FST title holders). Lecturers / Seminar Leaders are highly skilled professionals, each with many years of experience in the
chess training field. They combine the expertise of a professional trainer and expert practitioner,
offering proven teaching and facilitation skills that will ensure an active and participatory learning
experience.
2.2.2. All Lecturers / Seminar Leaders (Appendix 2) are appointed by the TRG once per year and
an application (and approval) is needed in order to add a new FST to the list.
2.2.3. In each 30-hour seminar two Lecturers / Seminar Leaders will be in charge. Exceptions are
allowed if approved beforehand by TRG. For a 15-hour seminar one Lecturer is allowed.
2.2.4. Assistants (other titled trainers, psychologists, etc) are allowed.
2.2.5. The Syllabus guideline will be used in TRG seminars. A copy must be given (free or by
debit) to all participants before the written examinations.
2.2.6. When organizing seminars for National Instructor and Developmental Instructor titles, it
could be possible that they will be conducted by FIDE Trainer or FIDE Instructor title holders. But
this has to be approved in advance by TRG.
2.2.7. A recommended estimated cost for Lecturers fees for TRG seminars is 3,500 euros for a
30-hour seminar and 1,750 euros for a 15-hour seminar. That amount includes neither travel exFIDE TRG Yearbook 2011
penses nor board & lodging. Various other expenses (auditorium, bulletin, coffee-breaks costs)
will be the responsibility of the co-organizer.
2.2.8. A co-organizer is granted the right to charge each participant a participation fee up to 450
euros. Any such participation fee is deemed to include the FIDE fee of 100 euros (1.3.d).
2.2.9. In each seminar programme (prospectus) the following must be analyzed:
2.2.9.1. Dates.
2.2.9.2. Location.
2.2.9.3. Titles analysis.
2.2.9.4. Order of events and course plan.
2.2.9.5. Various costs and payments.
2.2.9.6. Lecturers.
2.2.9.7. Various other information.
TITLES
31.12.2011
FIDE Senior Trainer
FIDE Trainer
FIDE Instructor
National Instructor
Developmental Instructor
TOTAL
LICENC
ED
86
199
286
152
196
919
INACTI
VE
20
143
138
52
24
377
DECEAS
ED
TOTAL
1
6
2
1
0
10
107
348
426
205
220
1306
FIDE SENIOR TRAINER (LICENCED)

FIDE ID
2.2.10. All participants must complete their personal ID-Card (Appendix 3) and return it to the
organizers.
2.2.11. The seminars daily attendance and the results of the written examinations are of great importance for the applicants.
2.2.12. The conduct of seminars via the Internet may be permitted, but only after TRGs approval
of each specific case.
3. Guideline for TRG Academies:
3.1. An endorsed FIDE Academy must accept the following requirements/obligations:
3.1.1. Shall carry on all its official papers the FIDE title, flag, logo and symbols.
3.1.2. Shall follow FIDE & TRG proposed Guidelines and Educational Programme.
3.1.3. Shall follow the FIDE Trainers Syllabus.
3.1.4. Shall follow the FIDE Official Books, among others.
3.1.5. Shall pay the Registration Fee (200 ) and annual fee (300 per year) to FIDE. These fees
do not apply to the founding FIDE Academies of Berlin, New York and Singapore.
3.1.6. Shall cooperate with Lecturers / Seminar Leaders, approved by the TRG.
3.1.7. Shall cooperate with FIDE certified trainers approved by the TRG.
3.1.8. Shall cooperate with Internet sites proposed by TRG.
3.1.9. Shall provide the necessary information for TRGs archives and website.
3.1.10. Shall cooperate in harmony.
3.2. An endorsed Academy will have the following rights:
3.2.1. Can directly register its trainees (maximum two players per category - wild cards) to World
Youth and World and Continental School Championships.
3.2.2. Can directly submit its internal tournaments for FIDE Rating calculations.
3.2.3. Can resell FIDE Official Books and FIDE Trainers Syllabus up to +100% above cost.
3.2.4. Can organize official FIDE Training Camps.
3.2.5. Can issue FIDE official attendance certificates.
3.2.6. Can propose its best student for the FIDE Candidate Master title (once per year).
Trainers Lists
10
1401815
2000156
2801906
13700049
2803895
13601326
4100140
4109112
14602377
312614
4611268
1001280
4101669
14500094
715620
201260
2200040
14500124
604011
4108990
14100053
2800438
13610228
4100484
2804140
14107074
4200039
13400231
2000040
200930
1700707
700177
700061
2200015
4102711
300128
14403790
4618777
700282
4100026
4100018
14100576
308633
1350023
4100794
4101685
5000084
5800242
13300024
2200074
900354
400300
14602385
SURNAME NAME
Aagaard Jacob
Alburt Lev
Alterman Boris
Asanov Bolat
Avrukh Boris
Azmaiparashvili Zurab
Bareev Evgeny
Belavenets Liudmila
Beliavsky Alexandr
Berezjuk Sergej
Boensch Uwe
Bosch Jeroen
Bykhovsky Anatoly
Cebalo Miso
Chernin Aleksandr
Chuchelov Vladimir
De la Villa Garcia Jesus
Dizdar Goran
Dorfman Iosif
Dvoretsky Mark
Eingorn Viacheslav
Gelfer Israel
Georgadze Tamas
Glek Igor
Golod Vitali
Grabinsky Vladimir
Grivas Efstratios
Guliev Sarhan
Gulko Boris
Gurevich Mikhail
Hall Jesper
Hazai Laszlo
Horvath Joszef
Illescas Miguel
Janovsky Sergey
Jansa Vlastimil
Jelen Iztok
Jussupow Artur
Kallai Gabor
Karpov Anatoly
Kasparov Garry
Khodarkovsky Michael
Konopka Michal
Kovalev Andrei
Kuzmin Alexey
Landa Konstantin
Lanka Ravi
Leong Ignatius
Lputian Smbat
Magem Badals Jordi
Marjanovic Slavoljub
Martin Andrew
Mikhalchishin Adrian
FEDERATION
Denmark
US America
Israel
Kazakhstan
Israel
Georgia
Russia
Russia
Slovenia
Czech Rep.
Germany
Netherlands
Russia
Croatia
Hungary
Belgium
Spain
Croatia
France
Russia
Ukraine
Israel
Georgia
Germany
Israel
Ukraine
Greece
Azerbaijan
US America
Turkey
Sweden
Hungary
Hungary
Spain
Russia
Czech Rep.
Slovenia
Germany
Hungary
Russia
Russia
US America
Czech Rep.
Belarus
Russia
Russia
India
Singapore
Armenia
Spain
Serbia
England
Slovenia
14600013
2224267
4103173
2500515
2300010
902004
13300288
14200139
14900068
700088
2049732
2800012
4100301
700010
4500040
500084
1100041
2000032
4103343
1000039
2203650
14100487
14901536
700193
14100096
13600052
4100522
14101408
13700014
8600147
13300520
4400011
13800035
Mohr Georg
Moreno Carnero Javier Eduardo
Nikitin Aleksandr
O'Connell Kevin
Olafsson Helgi
Petronic Jovan
Petrosian Arshak
Pinchuk Seregey
Plachetka Jan
Polgar Susan
Postovsky Boris
Psakhis Lev
Razuvaev Yuri
Ribli Zoltan
Rychagov Mikhail
Sahu Sekhar
Schmidt Wlodzimierz
Seirawan Yasser
Shvedchikov Anatoli
Sosonko Gennadi
Suarez Roa Jose Francisco
Sulypa Oleksandr
Timoscenko Gennadij
Tompa Janos
Tukmakov Vladimir
Ubilava Elizbar
Vasiukov Evgeni
Vaysman Alexander
Vladimirov Evgeny
Xie Jun
Yegiazarian Arsen
Zapata Alonso
Zilberman Nathan
Slovenia
Spain
Russia
Ireland
Iceland
Serbia
Armenia
Uzbekistan
Slovakia
US America
US America
Israel
Russia
Hungary
Estonia
India
Poland
US America
Russia
Netherlands
Spain
Ukraine
Slovakia
Hungary
Ukraine
Spain
Russia
Ukraine
Kazakhstan
China
Armenia
Colombia
Kyrgyzstan
FIDE SENIOR TRAINER (INACTIVE)

FIDE ID
7100019
13300105
4100263
4100476
4100093
2800373
3500179
12500011
2008564
600016
4100468
4124235
3500020
2014610
3200019
2019574
14100479
3500055
8600040
4103017
SURNAME NAME
Adianto Utut
Ambartsoumian Armen
Balashov Yuri
Dokhoian Yury
Dolmatov Sergey
Friedman Aviv
Garcia Martinez Silvino
Harandi Khorso
Kaidanov Gregory
Lautier Joel
Makarichev Sergey
Nesis Gennadij
Nogueiras Jesus
Palatnik Semon
Rogers Ian
Sher Miron
Srokowski Jaroslav
Vera Gonzalez Reinaldo
Ye Jiangchuan
Zaitsev Igor
FEDERATION
Indonesia
US America
Russia
Russia
Russia
Israel
Cuba
Iran
US America
France
Russia
Russia
Cuba
US America
Australia
US America
Ukraine
Cuba
China
Russia
FIDE SENIOR TRAINER (DECEASED)

FIDE ID
14100215
SURNAME NAME
Podgaets Mikhail (+)
FEDERATION
Ukraine
FIDE TRAINER (LICENCED)

FIDE ID
6309259
11200081
SURNAME - NAME
Ahmadov Ziya
Al Afoo Shaker
FEDERATION
Turkey
Bahrain
207
Polugaevsky Lev
Polugaevsky Lev
Pomar Salam. Arturo
Ponomariov Ruslan
Potkin Vladimir
Pritchett Craig
Prokop Frantisek
Psakhis Lev
Pupier Terry
Queen Power
Ragozin Viacheslav
Rajlich Iweta
Rajlich Vasik
Rajlich Vasik
Rausis Igors
Rauzer Vsevolod
Ravi Thandalam
Ravikumar Vaidyanathan
Ree Hans
Rendle Thomas
Riazantsev Alexander
Rodriguez Daniel
Rodshtein Maxim
Romero Holmes Alfonso
Rowe Duane
Rozanov Pavel
Ruck Robert
Sachdev Tania
Salwe Georg
Sardarov Edward
Sasikiran Krishnan
Schallopp Emil
Schlechter Carl
Schlechter Carl
Schmit Aaron
Schut Lisa
Seitz Jakob Adolf
Seuss Oswald
Shirov Alexei
Short Nigel
Short Nigel
Short Nigel
Short Nigel
Shulman Yuri
Siebrecht Sebastian
Simagin Vladimir
Sjugirov Sanan
Slavin Alexei
Smeets Jan
Smyslov Vassily
Sokolov Ivan
Spassky Boris
Spassky Boris
Spassky Boris
Spassky Boris
Spielmann Rudolf
Spielmann Rudolf
- Ljubojevic 74
- Mecking 78
- Martin 184
- Gashimov 145
- Jobava 82
- Beliavsky 76
- Hromadka 116
- Lputian 94
- Rowe 171
- Example 1 88
- Bannik 184
- Zielinska 170
- Horvath 161
- Szieberth 161
- Ehlvest 75
- Belavenets 80
- Gdanski 160
- Martin 128
- Ftacnik 45
- Pert 121
- Ilinsky 46
- Polgar 113
- Esen 35
- Beliavsky 190
- Pupier 171
- Beliavsky 188
- Beliavsky 197
- Lahno 96
- Znosko Borov. 180
- Vistaneckis 49
- Aronian 32
- Paulsen 177
- Janowski 179
- Wolf 179
- Lang 172
- David 84
- Cancelliere 181
- Hurme 168
- Aronian 99
- Epishin 57
- Felgaer 72
- Ivanchuk 120
- Nakamura 118
- Can 23
- Vocaturo 99
- Beilin 115
- Brodsky 140
- Adams 124
- Nunn 140
- Gufeld 148
- Mamedyarov 47
- Arakhamia 116
- Fischer 101
- Korensky 137
- Tal 92
- Jacobsen 181
- Tartakower 180
Spoelman Wouter
Stein Leonid
Stein Leonid
Stephan Werner
Stohl Igor
Stoll Ferdinand
Sveshnikov Evgeny
Sveshnikov Evgeny
Svidler Peter
Svidler Peter
Svidler Peter
Szieberth Adam
Tal Mikhail
Tal Mikhail
Tartakower Saviely
Tartakower Saviely
Termibaev Serik
Thomas George Alan
Tiviakov Sergei
Tivolt Ferenc
Tomashevsky Evgeny
Topalov Veselin
Topalov Veselin
Trifunovic Petar
Ubilava Elizbar
Uhlmann Wolfgang
Uhlmann Wolfgang
Vaganian Rafael
Vajda Arpad
Van Berkmortel Theo
Vedder Henk
Veingold Aleksandr
Vescovi Giovanni
Vistaneckis Isakas
Vitiugov Nikita
Vlassov Nikolai
Vocaturo Daniele
Voitsekhovsky Stanislav
Vorobiov Evgeny
Vovk Yuri
Vysochin Spartak
Walter Max
Wang Yue
Welling
Wicklander Mathew
Wirig Anthony
Wolf Heinrich
Wright Ian
Wu Shaobin
Yagupov Igor
Yurtaev Leonid
Zamit Spyridon
Zielinska Jolanta
Znosko Borov. Eugene
Zorigt
Zvjaginsev Vadim
- Navara 99
- Dorfman 146
- Vaganian 50
- Lehmann 146
- Chloupek 81
- Litzka 174
- Kupreichik 53
- Wu 123
- Apicella 38
- Aronian 49
- Dominguez 49
- Rajlich 161
- Najdorf 136
- Spassky 92
- Spielmann 180
- Vajda 181
- Yurtaev 76
- Lasker 165
- Giorgadze 113
- Domotor 170
- Banikas 30
- Carlsen 130
- Lutz 139
- O'Kelly 183
- Mikhalchishin 56
- Botvinnik 136
- Matanovic 78
- Stein 50
- Tartakower 181
- Hitzgerova 172
- Berkhout 169
- Bezold 169
- Gelfand 30
- Sardarov 49
- Arun 34
- Wirig 170
- Siebrecht 99
- Aronian 70
- Aronian 70
- Biliy 162
- Czerwonski 127
- Nagy 182
- Carlsen 50
- Eingorn 45
- Wright 172
- Vlassov 170
- Schlechter 179
- Wicklander 172
- Sveshnikov 123
- Mukhametov 47
- Termibaev 76
- Grivas 137
- Rajlich 170
- Salwe 180
- Korzin 51
- Pelletier 139
206
4. Trainers
Starting on 01.01.2012, the following will apply:
4.1. No trainer will be offered free board & lodging at official FIDE events such as Olympiads,
World, European, Continental, Pan-American, and Asian Team Championship, and World and
Continental Youth Individual Championships, if he/she does not hold any official FIDE / TRG
title.
4.2. No trainer will be offered access in the official playing hall at official FIDE events such as
Olympiads, World, Continental, European, Pan-American, and Asian Team Championship, and
World and Continental Youth Individual Championships, if he/she does not hold any official FIDE
/ TRG title.
4.3. Each national federation shall nominate an Official Contact Person with the TRG. By this
action, TRGs communication and further cooperation with the FIDE affiliated federations will
become easier and more effective.
Approved by FIDE PB (Bursa-January & Sofia-April 2010)
Approved by FIDE GA (Khanty Mansiysk-September 2010)
Approved by FIDE EB (Krakow 2011)
N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
NOMINATED FIDE LECTURERS / SEMINAR LEADERS

FIDE ID
SURNAME
NAME
COUNTRY
13601326
Azmaiparashvili
Zurab
GEO
4100140
Bareev
Evgeny
RUS
4611268
Boensch
Uwe
GER
715620
Chernin
Aleksandr
HUN
14100053
Eingorn
Viacheslav
UKR
3600270
Fierro
Martha
ECU
4100484
Glek
Igor
GER
14107074
Grabinsky
Vladimir
UKR
4200039
Grivas
Efstratios
GRE
200930
Gurevich
Mikhail
TUR
2200015
Illescas
Miguel
ESP
4618777
Jussupow
Artur
GER
14100576
Khodarkovsky
Michael
USA
5000084
Lanka
Ravi
IND
400300
Martin
Andrew
ENG
14602385
Mikhalchishin
Adrian
SLO
14600013
Mohr
Georg
SLO
3500020
Nogueiras
Jesus
CUB
2500515
OConnell
Kevin
IRL
2014610
Palatnik
Semon
USA
902004
Petronic
Jovan
SRB
14100096
Tukmakov
Vladimir
UKR
3500055
Vera Gonzalez
Reinaldo
CUB
4400011
Zapata
Alonso
COL
BORN
1960
1966
1958
1960
1956
1977
1969
1974
1966
1959
1965
1960
1958
1962
1957
1954
1965
1959
1949
1950
1964
1946
1961
1958
11
World Team CC 2009

Efstratios Grivas
History
As I mentioned above, this was the 7th
WTCC, a four-year cycle event which started
in 1985. The table of honour is as follows:
N YEAR
TOWN
COU
WIN
1
1985 Lucerne
SUI
URS
2
1989 Lucerne
SUI
URS
3
1993 Lucerne
SUI
USA
4
1997 Lucerne
SUI
RUS
5
2001 Yerevan
ARM
UKR
6
2005 Beer Sheva
ISR
RUS
7
2009 Bursa
TUR
RUS
The Championship
The 7th World Team Chess Championship
was held in January 2010 (3-14) in the Turkish
city of Bursa (around 100 km south-east of
Istanbul).
The ever-energetic Turkish Chess Federation
(www.tsf.org.tr) and its President and FIDE
Vice-President Ali Nihat Yazici is doing an
excellent job in promoting chess in the country
and at the same time they do not ignore their
international responsibilities as, unfortunately,
is quite common in most of the other FIDE
affiliated federations.
So, it was a natural decision for the TCF to
host the event, which was actually planned for
2009 but, due to lack of appropriate dates, was
moved to early 2010.
Ten teams were officially invited to this
event; the three 2008 Olympic winners (Armenia, Israel and USA), the four Continental
Champions (Brazil, Egypt, India - replacing
China who withdrew at the last minute - and
Russia), the host country (Turkey) and two
wild cards (Azerbaijan and Greece) proposed
by the organizers and approved by the FIDE
President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
One might have missed the participation of
Ukraine, but that is another story!
Technical
The host country Turkey was the organizer
and the event was mainly sponsored by the
TCF, the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, the
Bursa Province and the luxurious 5-star Hotel
Almira - Bursa, where all participants and
technical staff were provided with Board and
Lodging (http://www.almira.com.tr/en-US/).
12
Kosteniuk Alexandra
Kotov Alexander
Kotov Alexander
Kotov Alexander
Kotov Alexander
Kovanova Baira
Kovcan V.
Kramnik Vladimir
Kupreichik Victor
Lahno Kateryna
Lahno Kateryna
Lamothe Luc
Landa Konstantin
Lang Torsten
Lange Wilfried
Larsen Bent
Lasker Edward
Lasker Emanuel
Lasker Emanuel
Leal Paulo Tarcisio
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Legendary Endings
Lehmann Heinz
Levenfish Grigory
Lindenthal Andreas
Listengarten Leonid
Litzka Matthias
Ljubicic Filip
Ljubojevic Ljubomir
Ljubojevic Ljubomir
Ljubojevic Ljubomir
Loos Roland
Lputian Smbat
Lu Shanglei
Lucenas Mate
Lutz Christopher
Majdan Ioanna
Makarichev Sergey
Maliutin Boris
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
Mangini Jose Thiago
Maroczy Geza
- Polgar 48
- Botvinnik 59
- Botvinnik 60
- Botvinnik 62
- Chekhover 183
- Pogonina 143
- Antal 47
- Carlsen 41
- Sveshnikov 53
- Khotenashvili 144
- Sachdev 96
- Dessmark 175
- Gagarin 54
- Schmit 172
- Danielsson 185
- Chandler 85
- Thomas 165
- Euwe 85
- Levenfish 50
- Crocitti 174
- Example 1 145
- Example 2 146
- Example 3 146
- Example 4 147
- Example 5 147
- Example 6 147
- Example 7 148
- Example 8 148
- Example 9 149
- Example 10 149
- Example 11 149
- Example 12 150
- Example 13 150
- Example 14 150
- Example 15 151
- Example 16 151
- Example 17 152
- Example 18 152
- Example 19 152
- Stephan 146
- Lasker 50
- Pfefferle 174
- Chepukaitis 45
- Stoll 174
- Nataf 172
- Caruana 142
- Jussupow 90
- Polugaevsky 74
- Fahnenschmidt 172
- Psakhis 94
- Ji Dan 48
- Example 1 158
- Topalov 139
- Hoang 48
- Averbakh 51
- Gregory 180
- Pashikian 22
- Sokolov 47
- De Oliveira 171
- Pillsbury 167
Marshall Frank James

Martin Andrew
Martin Rengel
Matanovic Aleksandar
Matveev Vladimir
McConnell James
McVeigh James
Mecking Henrique
Mieses Jacques
Moroz Henryk
Morozevich Alexander
Morphy Paul
Mozny Milos
Mrdja Milan
Mueller Karsten
Mukhametov Eldar
Muse Mladen
Nagy Geza
Najdorf Miguel
Nakamura Hikaru
Nakamura Hikaru
Napier William Ewart
Nataf Igor Alexandre
Navara David
Negi Parimarjan
Nikolic Predrag
Nimzowitsch Aaron
NN (Uknown)
Nordhaug Ingerid
Novikov Igor
Nunn John
Obierak Wladyslaw
O'Kelly de Gal. Alberic
Papaioannou Ioannis
Papaioannou Ioannis
Papaioannou Ioannis
Pashikian Arman
Paulsen Wilfried
Pavasovic Dusko
Pavey Max
Pelletier Yannick
Pert Richard
Petrosian Tigran
Petrosian Tigran
Petrosian Tigran
Pfefferle Georg
Piket Jeroen
Pillsbury Harry Nelson
Piskov Yury
Pogonina Natalija
Polgar Judit
Polgar Susan
Polgar Susan
Polgar Susan
Polgar Susan
- Napier 178
- Ravikumar 128
- Pomar 184
- Averbakh 77
- Uhlmann 78
- Batuev 174
- Morphy 160
- Fell 172
- Polugaevsky 78
- Janowski 177
- Kochyev 79
- Ubilava 56
- Obierak 175
- Grischuk 63
- Papaioannou 27
- McConnell 160
- Filip 51
- Gleizerov 126
- Bischoff 163
- Yagupov 47
- Barczay 54
- Walter 182
- Tal 136
- Gelfand 33
- Short 118
- Marshall 178
- Ljubicic 172
- Spoelman 99
- Beliavsky 187
- Beliavsky 192
- Davidson 182
- Greco 159
- Gaasland 174
- Kaidanov 91
- Smeets 140
- Moroz 175
- Trifunovic 183
- Adams 138
- Grivas 138
- Morozevich 27
- Mamedyarov 22
- Schallopp 177
- Beliavsky 193
- Horowitz 184
- Zvjaginsev 139
- Rendle 121
- Huebner 87
- Keres 185
- Keres 36
- Lindenthal 174
- Bologan 83
- Burn 179
- Maroczy 167
- Akopian 164
- Kovanova 143
- Kosteniuk 48
- Chiburdanidze 110
- Cuijpers 113
- Hulsey 109
- Rodriguez 113
205
De Dovitiis Alejo
De Firmian Nick
De Oliveira
Delmar Eugene
Denni Helene
Dessmark Andres
Dolmatov Sergey
Dominguez Leinier
Domotor Jozsef
Dorfman Cicero
Duz-Khotimirsky Fedor
Ehlvest Jaan
Eingorn Vereslav
Englisch Berthold
Epishin Vladimir
Esebua Megi
Esen Baris
Euwe Max
Euwe Max
Euwe Max
Fahnenschmidt Gerhard
Felgaer Ruben
Fell Nathan
Fier Alexander
Filip Miroslav
Finding Moves
Finding Moves
Finding Moves
Fischer Robert
Fischer Robert
Flohr Salo
Fools Mate
Fools Mate
Fools Mate
Fools Mate
Fools Mate
Forintos Gyozo
Fries Nielsen Niels Jorgen
Ftacnik Lubomir
Gaasland Glenn
Gagarin Vasilij
Gashimov Vugar
Gashimov Vugar
Gavasheli Ana
Gdanski Jacek
Gelfand Boris
Gelfand Boris
Gelfand Boris
Gelfand Boris
Genin Alexandre
Giorgadze Giorgi
Gleizerov Evgeny
Gligoric Svetozar
Goldberg Alexander
Golombek Harry
Gonzalez Emmanuel
Greco Gioacchino
Gregory Bernhard
Grischuk Alexander
Grischuk Alexander
- Koh Jung 46
- Browne 55
- Mangini 171
- Congdon 176
- Boz 116
- Lamothe 175
- Beliavsky 191
- Svidler 49
- Tivolt 170
- Stein 146
- Bannik 135
- Rausis 75
- Welling 45
- Bird 177
- Short 57
- Gavasheli 175
- Rodshtein 35
- Alekhine 133
- Gruenfeld 88
- Lasker 85
- Loos 172
- Short 72
- McVeigh 172
- Banikas 33
- Mozny 51
- Example 1 105
- Example 2 106
- Example 3 107
- Benko 133
- Spassky 101
- Capablanca 79
- Example 1 154
- Example 2 154
- Example 3 155
- Example 4 155
- Example 5 157
- Knaak 96
- Hoi 168
- Ree 45
- Nordhaug 174
- Landa 54
- Grischuk 31
- Ponomariov 145
- Esebua 175
- Ravi 160
- Aronian 26
- Caruana 143
- Nakamura 33
- Vescovi 30
- Ambroise 173
- Tiviakov 113
- Mrdja 126
- Beliavsky 196
- Grivas 39
- Barcza 75
- Capo Vidal 173
- NN (Uknown) 159
- Maliutin 180
- Gashimov 31
- Morozevich 63
Grivas Apostolos
Grivas Efstratios
Grivas Efstratios
Grivas Efstratios
Gruenfeld Ernst
Gruenfeld Ernst
Gufeld Eduard
Gulko Boris
Hansen Curt
Heberla Bartlomiej
Hernandez Angel
Hitzgerova Gabriela
Hoang Thi Bao Tram
Hoi Carsten
Horowitz Israel
Horowitz Israel
Hort Vlastimil
Horvath Csaba
Hromadka Karel
Huebner Robert
Huebner Robert
Huebner Robert
Hulsey Mark
Hurme Harri
Hvattum Lars Magnus
Ilinsky Yaroslav
Ionov Sergey
Ivanchuk Vassily
Ivanchuk Vassily
Ivanovic Bozidar
Jacobsen Ernst
Janowski Dawid
Janowski Dawid
Janowski Dawid
Ji Dan
Jobava Baadur
John Walter
Jussupow Artur
Jussupow Artur
Kaidanov Gregory
Karabourniotis P.
Karpov Anatoly
Karpov Anatoly
Karpov Anatoly
Karpov Anatoly
Karsa Laszlo
Kasparov Garry
Kasparov Garry
Kazhgaleyev Murtas
Keres Paul
Keres Paul
Khalifman Alexander
Khotenashvili Bela
Knaak Rainer
Kochyev Alexander
Kochyev Alexander
Koh Jung Woo
Korchnoi Viktor
Korensky Valeri
Korzin Vitaly
- Karabourniotis 173
- Goldberg 39
- Papaioannou 138
- Zamit 137
- Euwe 88
- Janowski 182
- Smyslov 148
- Beliavsky 195
- Beliavsky 192
- Bologan 141
- Camacho 47
- Van Berkmortel 172
- Majdan 48
- Fries Nielsen 168
- Benko 162
- Pavey 184
- Huebner 95
- Rajlich 161
- Prokop 116
- Hort 95
- Karpov 90
- Petrosian 87
- Polgar 109
- Seuss 168
- Bentsen 174
- Riazantsev 46
- Beliavsky 191
- Beliavsky 192
- Short 120
- Beliavsky 197
- Spielmann 181
- Gruenfeld 182
- Mieses 177
- Schlechter 179
- Lu Shanglei 48
- Potkin 82
- Brinckmann 181
- Beliavsky 196
- Ljubojevic 90
- Novikov 91
- Grivas 173
- Huebner 90
- Kasparov 122
- Kasparov 142
- Khalifman 86
- Bischoff 89
- Karpov 122
- Karpov 142
- Bok 97
- Petrosian 185
- Petrosian 36
- Karpov 86
- Lahno 144
- Forintos 96
- Beliavsky 195
- Mikhalchishin 79
- De Dovitiis 46
- Anand 72
- Spassky 137
- Zorigt 51
204
boards. Each team had a squad of six players,

using four of them in each round. The team
line-ups were as follows (teams ordered according to the drawing of lots):
1 : AZERBAIJAN
2718
Captain: GM Azmaiparashvili Zurab (GEO)
1
GM Gashimov Vugar
2759
2
GM Radjabov Teimour
2733
3
GM Guseinov Gadir
2614
4
GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2741
5
GM Mamedov Rauf
2640
6
GM Mamedov Nidjat
2610
The event (and the spectacular opening ceremony) took place in the excellent Bursa Merinos Atatrk Congress and Culture Centre,
(playing hall) according to the following:
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Tournament Schedule
January 2010 Arrivals
10:00 Opening Cr.
January 2010
22:00 Captains Mt.
January 2010 15:00 1st Round
January 2010 15:00 2nd Round
January 2010 15:00 3rd Round
January 2010 15:00 4th Round
12:00 9th Round
January 2010
20:00 Closing Cr.
January 2010 Departures
The Tournament Organizer was TCF VicePresident Sanli Kuvay and the Tournament
Director was Melih Sagit. The arbitration was
taken up by Panagiotis Nikolopoulos (IA &
Chairman of the FIDE Arbiters Commission Greece), Faik Gashanov (IA - Azerbaijan),
Tahsin Aktar (IA - Turkey) and Selcuk Buyukvural (IA - Turkey).
The tournament was a 9-round all-play-all a
perfect joy - I never really loved any Swisssystem tournament, during all my chess-life!
The scoring system was 2-1-0 match points
(MP) and each match was played over fourFIDE TRG Yearbook 2011
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
3
4
5
6
2 : TURKEY
2501
Captain: GM Grivas Efstratios (GRE)
GM Haznedaroglu Kivanc
2498
IM Erdogdu Mert
2513
IM Yilmaz Mustafa
2478
IM Can Emre
2442
IM Esen Baris
2513
FM Firat Burak
2413
3 : INDIA
Captain: GM Psakhis Lev (ISR)
GM Sasikiran Krishnan
GM Harikrishna Pentala
GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar
GM Geetha Narayanan Gopal
GM Arun Prasad Subramanian
IM Adhiban Baskaran
2641
2653
2672
2654
2584
2567
2511
4 : RUSSIA
2729
Captain: GM Motylev Alexander (RUS)
1
GM Grischuk Alexander
2736
2
GM Jakovenko Dmitry
2730
3
GM Morozevich Alexander
2732
4
GM Tomashevsky Evgeny
2705
5
GM Malakhov Vladimir
2716
6
GM Vitiugov Nikita
2692
5 : EGYPT
2519
Captain: FM Mohamed Faraq Amrou (EGY)
1
GM Adly Ahmed
2591
2
GM Amin Bassem
2544
3
IM Ezat Mohamed
2471
4
IM Abdel Razik Khaled
2468
5
IM Abdelnabbi Imed
2448
6
IM Sarwat Walaa
2386
13
1
2
3
4
5
6
6 : ISRAEL
2686
Captain: GM Greenfeld Alon (ISR)
GM Gelfand Boris
2761
GM Roiz Michael
2657
GM Smirin Ilia
2668
GM Sutovsky Emil
2657
GM Postny Evgeny
2648
GM Rodshtein Maxim
2622
1
2
3
4
5
6
7 : BRAZIL
Captain: GM Lima Darcy (BRA)
GM Vescovi Giovanni
GM Leitao Rafael
GM Fier Alexandr
GM Milos Gilberto
GM Diamant Andre
GM Lima Darcy
2660
2620
2601
2618
2497
2481
Board Points
10
Match Points
Armenia
USA
Greece
Brazil
Israel
Egypt
Russia
Azerbaijan
Turkey
India
Russia
Egypt
Israel
Brazil
Greece
USA
Armenia
Final Standings
Before we move on for the round-by-round
analysis, some more tables and general statistics must be presented. The final standings,
medals and statistics are of a primary interest
for nearly everybody in our chess world!
To start with, here are the final standings and
the medal distribution by team:
India
10 Teams
1
2
3
4
5
6
10 : ARMENIA
2697
Captain: GM Petrosian Arshak (ARM)
GM Aronian Levon
2781
GM Akopian Vladimir
2678
GM Sargissian Gabriel
2680
GM Pashikian Arman
2647
GM Petrosian Tigran L
2627
GM Kotanjian Tigran
2537
Turkey
World
Team Chess Championship
2009
Score Table (Drawing Order)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
2625
8 : GREECE
2601
Captain: GM Nikolaidis Ioannis (GRE)
GM Kotronias Vasilios
2599
GM Papaioannou Ioannis
2625
GM Banikas Hristos
2608
GM Halkias Stelios
2566
GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios
2571
GM Mastrovasilis Athanasios 2510
Azerbaijan
Bursa 2010
1
2
3
4
5
6
9 : UNITED STATES of AMERICA 2658

Captain: IM Donaldson John (USA)
1
GM Nakamura Hikaru
2708
2
GM Onischuk Alexander
2670
3
GM Shulman Yuri
2624
4
GM Akobian Varuzhan
2628
5
GM Hess Robert
2572
6
GM Robson Ray
2570
12
22
11
13
21
15
24
12
17
12
18
13
21
12
20
1
2
14
Index of Games
When a players name appears in bold, that player had White. Otherwise the first-named Player
had White. A total of 248 games and examples are analysed in this book.
Adams Michael
Adams Michael
Akopian Vladimir
Alekhine Alexander
Alekhine Alexander
Alekhine Alexander
Ambroise Thibault
Anand Viswanathan
Antal P.
Apicella Manuel
Arakhamia Ketevan
Arhangelsky Vladislav
Arlandi Ennio
Aronian Levon
Aronian Levon
Aronian Levon
Aronian Levon
Aronian Levon
Aronian Levon
Arun Prasad S
Averbakh Yuri
Averbakh Yuri
Averbakh Yuri
Balashov Yuri
Banikas Hristos
Banikas Hristos
Bannik Anatoly
Bannik Anatoly
Barcza Gedeon
Barczay Laszlo
Batuev Anton
Bebchuk Evgeni
Beilin Mikhail
Belavenets Sergey
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Benko Pal
Benko Pal
- Papaioannou 138
- Slavin 124
- Piskov 164
- Bogoljubow 114
- Capablanca 93
- Euwe 133
- Genin 173
- Korchnoi 72
- Kovcan 47
- Svidler 38
- Spassky 116
- Cako 44
- Chuchelov 129
- Gelfand 26
- Sasikiran 32
- Shirov 99
- Svidler 49
- Voitsekhovsky 70
- Vorobiov 70
- Vitiugov 34
- Bebchuk 44
- Makarichev 51
- Matanovic 77
- Biyiasas 115
- Fier 33
- Tomashevsky 30
- Duz-Khotimir. 135
- Ragozin 184
- Golombek 75
- Muse 54
- Matveev 174
- Averbakh 44
- Simagin 115
- Rauzer 80
- Brodsky 198
- Byrne 186
- Dolmatov 191
- Gligoric 196
- Gulko 195
- Hansen 192
- Ionov 191
- Ivanchuk 192
- Ivanovic 197
- Jussupow 196
- Kochyev 195
- Negi 187
- Nikolic 192
- Pavasovic 193
- Pritchett 76
- Romero 190
- Rozanov 188
- Ruck 197
- Fischer 133
- Horowitz 162
Bentsen Oyvind
Berkhout Sander
Bezold Michael
Biliy Vadim
Bird Henry Edward
Bischoff Klaus
Bischoff Klaus
Biyiasas Peter
Bogoljubow Efim
Bok Benjamin
Bologan Viktor
Bologan Viktor
Botvinnik Mikhail
Botvinnik Mikhail
Botvinnik Mikhail
Botvinnik Mikhail
Boz Haluk
Break
Break
Break
Break
Break
Break
Brinckmann Alfred
Brodsky Michail
Brodsky Michail
Browne Walter
Burn Amos
Byrne Robert
Cako Laszlo
Camacho Guillermo
Can Emre
Cancelliere Giuseppe
Capablanca Jose Raul
Capo Vidal Uriel
Carlsen Magnus
Carlsen Magnus
Carlsen Magnus
Caruana Fabiano
Caruana Fabiano
Chandler Murray
Chekhover Vitaly
Chepukaitis Genrikh
Chiburdanidze Maia
Chloupek Stanislav
Chuchelov Vladimir
Congdon James Adams
Crocitti Daniel
Cuijpers Frans Andre
Czerwonski Aleksander
Danielsson Gosta
David Alberto
Davidson Jacques
- Hvattum 174
- Vedder 169
- Veingold 169
- Vovk 162
- Englisch 177
- Karsa 89
- Mueller 163
- Balashov 115
- Alekhine 114
- Kazhgaleyev 97
- Heberla 141
- Piket 83
- Kotov 59
- Kotov 60
- Kotov 62
- Uhlmann 136
- Denni 116
- Example 1 43
- Example 2 43
- Example 3 43
- Example 4 43
- Example 5 44
- Example 6 44
- John 181
- Beliavsky 198
- Sjugirov 140
- De Firmian 55
- Pillsbury 179
- Beliavsky 186
- Arhangelsky 44
- Hernandez 47
- Shulman 23
- Seitz 181
- Alekhine 93
- Flohr 79
- Gonzalez 173
- Kramnik 41
- Topalov 130
- Wang 50
- Gelfand 143
- Ljubojevic 142
- Larsen 85
- Kotov 183
- Listengarten 45
- Polgar 110
- Stohl 81
- Arlandi 129
- Delmar 176
- Leal 174
- Polgar 113
- Vysochin 127
- Lange 185
- Schut 84
- Nimzowitsch 182
203
Match Points
Board Points
10
Turkey
Egypt
Brazil
Israel
Greece
Armenia
Russia
USA
India
Azerbaijan
Armenia
Greece
Israel
Brazil
Egypt
Turkey
4
Azerbaijan
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Russia
Final Standings
India
FIDE Trainer Awards 2011

Nomination Paper
10 Teams
USA
FIDE TRAINERS COMMISSION (TRG)
World
Team Chess Championship
2009
Bursa 2010
Prizes will be announced together with the results. Chess Publishers or any sponsor, who is interest on the subject, can offer his views and sponsoring to the TRG.
The FIDE Trainers Commission will also continue to fill-up the Trainer Hall of Fame. TRG intention is that every year together with the five (5) trainers of the year awards, we will also continue to honour three of our esteemed colleagues with membership of the Trainer Hall of Fame,
and besides creating a special place on TRG website (http://trainers.fide.com) to honour them, we
will also be finding a permanent home for our Hall of Fame in one or more FIDE Academies
worldwide.
Please send your nominations via email with biography attached to TRG Secretary Efstratios
Grivas (grivasefs@yahoo.co.uk) for consideration by June 30th, 2012.
The voting will take place by July 15th, 2012 and the winners will be officially announced after
the ratification by the coming FIDE EB or PB.
15
24
13
21
13
21
12
22
12
20
18
17
12
12
11
0
0
Nomination by:
Individual Medals
Following are the lists of Board Medals. In
order for a player to be eligible for a medal,
a minimum of 6 games was required for
boards 1-4 and 4 games for the reserves:
Address/E-mail:
Please, fill up the nominating person and the Justification:

Botvinnik Mikhail
Furman Symeon
Medal
Medal
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Board 1
Player
Nakamura Hikaru
Aronian Levon
Grischuk Alexander
Country
USA
ARM
RUS
Medal
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Board 2
Player
Onischuk Alexander
Radjabov Teimour
Akopian Vladimir
Country
USA
AZE
ARM
Medal
Gold
Board 3
Player
Ganguly Surya S
Country
IND
Euwe Max
Boleslavsky Isaac
Silver
Bronze
Banikas Hristos
Sargissian Gabriel
Medal
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Board 4
Player
Mamedyarov Shakhri
Sutovsky Emil
Pashikian Arman
Country
AZE
ISR
ARM
Board 1st Reserve

Player
Malakhov Vladimir
Mamedov Rauf
Arun Prasad S
Postny Evgeny
Country
RUS
AZE
IND
ISR
Board 2nd Reserve

Player
Vitiugov Nikita
Mastrovasilis Athanasi
Firat Burak
Country
RUS
GRE
TUR
Medal
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Medal
Gold
Silver
GRE
ARM
Petrosian Tigran
Please, return the present nomination application to
grivasefs@yahoo.co.uk, by June 30th, 2012.
202
15
2
1
India
Captain
GM Psakhis Lev
1
1
1
Sasikiran Krishnan
Harikrishna Pentala
Ganguly Surya Shekhar
Geetha Narayanan Gopal
Arun Prasad Subramanian
Adhiban Baskaran
Board Points
Match Points
1
2
2
0
0
1
0
1
0
2
2
1
1
3
2
1
0
1
0
2
1
1
0
2
2
2
2
3
2
Percentage %
Performance
Rating
+03.4
71.43
2771
+05.4
91.67
2939
+13.1
24
66.67
83.33
+12.0
15
8
9
7
8
2
2
6
6
2
4
1
1
36
36
Rating
1
0
-17.4
2754
75.00
2851
+14.6
72.22
2809
+16.8
35.71
2516
-10.5
56.25
2620
-00.7
50.00
2564
-00.2
50.00
2548
-00.6
21
59.72
72.22
+19.4
13
Rating
2
2
2516
70.00
Performance
3
2
Brazil
2
2
Israel
3
2
+01.3
Performance
+06.2
2744
Percentage %
Points
Games
Israel
Armenia
Egypt
India
Egypt
1
0
Russia
3
2
1
1
Armenia
3
2
Turkey
Board Points
Match Points
2797
70.00
Points
0
0
64.29
33.33
61.11
2753
+12.2
50.00
2641
-03.3
71.43
2804
+14.3
60.00
2660
+05.2
50.00
2604
+02.5
50.00
2400
-03.0
21
58.33
72.22
+27.9
13
Points
1
1
4
3
2
3
5
5
Games
Russia
1
1
0
1
7
5
6
5
7
6
Games
India
Nakamura Hikaru
Onischuk Alexander
Shulman Yuri
Akobian Varuzhan
Hess Robert
Robson Ray
2
1
1
1
3
2
1
3
2
Azerbaijan
Captain
IM Donaldson John
9
8
7
5
5
2
5
4
5
3
2
1
36
FIDE Trainers Commission

FIDE Trainer Awards 2011
Information - Rules
The FIDE Trainers Commission (TRG) is pleased to announce the fourth FIDE Trainer Awards
and will continue by honouring the achievements of our most successful colleagues of 2011.
Percentage %
1
2
2
0
1
Azerbaijan
1
2
3
4
5
6
2
2
1
3
2
USA
Greece
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
1
3
2
Turkey
USA
2
2
1
0
1
1
Armenia
Board Points
Match Points
Greece
1
0
0
Brazil
Turkey
Grischuk Alexander
Jakovenko Dmitry
Tomashevsky Evgeny
Malakhov Vladimir
Vitiugov Nikita
Israel
Greece
1
2
3
4
5
6
Azerbaijan
Captain
GM Motylev Alexander
Egypt
Russia
USA
Brazil
Individual Results
The individual results of each teams players were as follows:
16
There will be a judges panel consisting of seven (7) members, with reputation and knowledge in
the field of training:
PANEL OF FIDE TRAINERS AWARD
1. Ignatius Leong (Singapore) - FIDE General Secretary
2. Ali Nihat Yazici (Turkey) - FIDE Vice-President
3. Israel Gelfer (Israel) - FIDE Honorary Vice-President
4. Michael Khodarkovsky (US America) - FST * TRG Councilor
5. Jovan Petronic (Serbia) - IM/FST * TRG Councilor
6. Alonso Zapata (Colombia) - GM/FST * TRG Member
7. Smbat Lputian (Armenia) - GM/FST
The panel has been approved by the 2011 FIDE EB (Krakow * 15-22.10.2011). The awards
ceremony will take place during the 2012 FIDE Congress. A Tree of Chess sculpture
(http://trainers.fide.com/awards-hall-of-fame.html) and a diploma will be given to each of the five
(5) winners.
Each member of the judges panel will vote for each of the six categories separately. He will
have the right to vote for three persons, giving three (3), two (2) and one (1) point respectively. In
case of a tie for the first place, two or more winners will be announced equal first. For the Hall of
Fame, the three first trainers will be accepted.
We welcome nominations for the five categories that have been approved and these are as follows:
1. Botvinnik Mikhail medal for mens trainer or captain, for best results in men competitions
where World Championships and Olympiads are valued foremost, to be considered too are long
standing high results.
2. Furman Symeon medal for womens trainer or captain, similar to Botvinnik medal but applicable to womens competitions.
3. Euwe Max medal for juniors trainer, for best results in junior competitions, to be considered
are world and continental championships plus founder of famous chess schools, training programs, and academies.
4. Boleslavsky Isaac medal for best book which instructional values are remarkable, and to be
considered are also series of articles, instructional computer software, and programs for development of players.
5. Petrosian Tigran medal for a special achievement over the last years.
Nominations can be made by FIDE office bearers, TRG, and Federations. Only FIDE Senior
Trainers and FIDE Trainers in exceptional circumstances can be nominated. A special form has to
be filled in (see below). For the Boleslavsky medal we invite book publishers and chess software
developers as well, to make nominations in this specific category.
201
USA
Egypt
1
1
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
Armenia
200
Kotronias Vasilios
Papaioannou Ioannis
Banikas Hristos
Halkias Stelios
Mastrovasilis Dimitrios
Mastrovasilis Athanasios
Board Points
Match Points
1
0
1
0
2
2
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
0
2
1
2
2
3
2
Turkey
1
2
3
4
5
6
Azerbaijan
Captain
GM Nikolaidis Ioannis
USA
Greece
Armenia
Board Points
Match Points
Brazil
Aronian Levon
Akopian Vladimir
Sargissian Gabriel
Pashikian Arman
Petrosian Tigran L
Kotanjian Tigran
Israel
1
2
3
4
5
6
Egypt
Captain
GM Petrosian Arshak
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
2
2
1
0
0
1
0
3
2
3
2
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
2
2
36
Rating
Performance
37.50
2523
-05.1
88.89
2950
+18.5
2599
-03.4
66.67
2601
=00.0
22
61.11
-01.6
12
66.67
6
6
3
3
2
0
66.67
2789
+01.3
66.67
2762
+10.2
50.00
2613
-05.4
58.33
2671
+02.5
33.33
2460
-13.4
00.00
0000
=00.0
20
56.94
66.67
-04.8
12
7
7
8
7
3
4
2
4
4
3
2
2
36
+07.2
50.00
9
9
6
6
6
0
36
-18.8
2808
Rating
3
2
2560
71.43
Rating
3
2
1
0
35.70
Performance
USA
2
1
2
2
3
2
1
0
2
5
1
8
3
2
Performance
Greece
1
0
1
3
2
2
1
7
7
4
9
6
3
Percentage %
Brazil
1
1
1
Russia
Percentage %
Israel
0
1
Percentage %
Egypt
0
1
Points
Russia
0
Points
Points
Games
Games
Games
Greece
Board Points
Match Points
India
Gashimov Vugar
Radjabov Teimour
Guseinov Gadir
Mamedov Rauf
Mamedov Nidjat
Brazil
1
2
3
4
5
6
India
Captain
GM Azmaiparashvili Zurab
Turkey
Azerbaijan
Turkey
GER 7
GER 8
USA 5
GER 9
MAS 1
SIP 5
GER 10
IND 1
BOT 1
USA 6
VIE 1
RIN 1
UAE 1
IRQ 1
IND 2
SWZ 1
TUR 1
SIP 6
CYP 1
TUR 2
LBA 1
SIP 7
USA 7
GRE 1
SAF 1
GEO 1
RUS 1
GRE 2
CRO 1
COL 1
SIN 8
GRE 3
RUS 2
TUR 3
RUS 3
BAH 1
ALG 1
USA 8
SAF 2
THA 1
VIE 2
ARM 1
PER 1
BRA 1
GER 11
SAF 3
SIN 9
Israel
Germany
Germany
USA
Germany
Malaysia
Singapore
Germany
India
Botswana
USA
Vietnam
Indonesia
UA Emirates
Iraq
India
Switzerland
Turkey
Singapore
Cyprus
Turkey
Libya
Singapore
USA
Greece
South Africa
Georgia
Russia
Greece
Croatia
Colombia
Singapore
Greece
Russia
Turkey
Russia
Bahams
Algeria
USA
South Africa
Thailand
Vietnam
Armenia
Peru
Brazil
Germany
South Africa
Singapore
Russia
Berlin
Berlin
Cherry Hill
Berlin
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Berlin
Chennai
Gaborone
Dallas
Vung Tau
Bali
Al Ain
Sulaimaniyah
Chennai
Magglingen
Antalya
Singapore
Agia Napa
Antalya
Tripoli
Singapore
Atlanta
Kallithea
Johannesburg
Batumi
Khanty Mansiysk
Porto Carras
Rijeka
Cali
Singapore
Athens
Moscow
Antalya
Moscow
Nassau
Alger
New York
Erkuhuleni
Bangkok
Binh Duong
Yerevan
Lima
Caldas Novas
Berlin
Port Elizabeth
Singapore
Armenia
05.07-13.07
27.07-03.08
01.08-02.08
04.10-11.10
02.12-06.12
16.12-21.12
14.03-20.03
30.04-07.05
03.08-08.08
06.08-07.08
21.10-29.10
30.11-05.12
24.12-30.12
27.05-01.06
20.06-22.06
07.08-12.08
13.11-20.11
09.12-14.12
16.01-19.01
26.01-30.01
15.02-20.02
16.03-20.03
07.05-09.05
27.06-01.07
26.07.29.07
22.09-28.09
24.09-26.09
22.10-28.10
08.11-10.11
10.11-14.11
26.12-30.12
10.01-15.01
28.01-02.02
31.01-04.02
08.02-13.02
05.03-12.03
21.05-23.05
27.06-28.06
28.06-01.07
01.08-06.08
03.08-10.08
26.09-02.10
03.11-06.11
19.11-25.11
16.12-18.12
17.12-18.12
26.12-30.12
Azerbaijan
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
2011
India
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
28.57
2539
-05.7
57.14
2678
+05.3
56.25
2688
+08.9
50.00
2611
+04.2
66.67
2647
+03.1
50.00
2601
+04.9
18
50.00
44.44
+20.7
17
Egypt
Armenia
Brazil
Greece
USA
Azerbaijan
Turkey
India
Russia
Turkey
India
0
0
Brazil
Board Points
Match Points
1
2
2
Armenia
1
0
Russia
Adly Ahmed
Amin Bassem
Ezat Mohamed
Abdel Razik Khaled
Abdelnabbi Imed
Sarwat Walaa
1
0
India
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
0
Turkey
Captain
FM Mohamed Faraq Amrou
1
0
Azerbaijan
Egypt
2
2
0
0
0
USA
Board Points
Match Points
1
0
0
0
0
1
Greece
0
0
Brazil
Vescovi Giovanni
Leitao Rafael
Fier Alexandr
Milos Gilberto
Diamant Andre
Lima Darcy
1
2
3
4
5
6
Israel
Captain
GM Lima Darcy
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
2
1
0
0
1
0
2
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
2651
-10.6
41.67
2601
-04.9
50.00
2596
-04.9
64.29
2689
+03.6
50.00
2547
-06.7
33.33
2485
-11.0
17
47.22
38.89
-34.5
14.29
2362
-23.9
56.25
2677
+06.7
38.89
2532
-08.4
28.57
2495
-11.6
12.50
2253
-10.8
100.00
3313
+05.8
12
34.72
22.22
-42.2
Points
42.86
7
8
9
7
4
1
1
4
3
2
36
56.25
2703
+12.4
44.44
2610
+08.1
00.00
1869
-12.4
33.33
2460
-00.6
25.00
2356
-04.8
12.50
2274
-04.5
12
33.33
16.67
-01.8
Points
36
3
2
2
4
2
2
Games
7
6
5
7
5
6
Games
Azerbaijan
0
1
0
USA
1
0
2
1
1
0
Greece
2
2
1
0
0
1
0
Armenia
3
2
0
1
Israel
Board Points
Match Points
1
0
2
2
Egypt
1
1
Russia
Gelfand Boris
Roiz Michael
Smirin Ilia
Sutovsky Emil
Postny Evgeny
Rodshtein Maxim
1
2
3
4
5
6
8
9
5
6
4
4
4
4
0
2
1
36
Rating
Captain
GM Greenfeld Alon
Rating
Rating
Performance
Performance
Performance
Percentage %
Percentage %
Percentage %
Points
Games
Israel
18

Council & Members/Advisors & Editors
N
1
2
3
4
5
N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
N
1
2
3
4
5
Title
Chairman
Secretary
Councilor
Councilor
Councilor
FIDE Trainers Commission - Council 2011-2014

Surname-Name
Country
Slovenia (Ukraine)
Grivas Efstratios
Greece
Boensch Uwe
Germany
Khodarkovsky Michael
United States of America
Petronic Jovan
Serbia (Singapore)
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
FIDE Trainers Commission - Members/Advisors 2011-2014

Title
Surname-Name
Country/Region
Bykhovsky Anatoly
Russia (Europe)
Garcia Martinez Silvino
Cuba (America)
Kobese Watu
South Africa (Africa)
OConnell Kevin
Ireland (Europe)
Petrosian Arshak
Armenia (Europe)
Vladimirov Evgeny
Kazakhstan (Asia)
Ye Jiangchuan
China (Asia)
Zapata Alonso
Colombia (America)
Editor
Editor
Editor
Editor
Editor
FIDE Trainers Commission - Technical/Editorial 2011-2014

Title
Surname-Name
Country
Bosch Jeroen
Netherlands
Glek Igor
Germany (Russia)
Gurevich Mikhail
Turkey (Belgium)
Illescas Miguel
Spain
Mohr Georg
Slovenia
N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
YEAR
2004
2004
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2007
DATES
05.11-11.11
12.12-17.12
01.04-07.04
00.08.14.08
04.11-10.11
16.12-24.12
00.12-30.12
26.02-02.03
08.04-09.04
21.07-27.07
11.08-12.08
20.10-26.10
18.12-23.12
12.06-15.06
TRG SEMINAR LIST

TOWN
Berlin
Singapore
Berlin
Phoenix
Berlin
Singapore
Houston
Berlin
Louisville
Berlin
Chicago
Berlin
Singapore
Singapore
COUNTRY
Germany
Singapore
Germany
USA
Germany
Singapore
USA
Germany
USA
Germany
USA
Germany
Singapore
Singapore
CODE
GER 1
SIP 1
GER 2
USA 1
GER 3
SIP 2
USA 2
GER 4
USA 3
GER 5
USA 4
GER 6
SIP 3
SIP 4
199
White has achieved an important milestone;

to place his queen on the dominating square
c6. However, it is not so easy to bring the
bishop to c4 because of ...Qf5+.
47...Qe7?
Black had to control the f5-square with his
queen: 47...La5 48.Lc4 (48.Kf3 g5
49.Lc4 Qh5+ 50.Kg2 gxf4 51.Qd7+ Qf7
52.Qxf7+ Kxf7 53.gxf4 Ke7 =) 48...Qf5+
49.Kf3 Qh3 50.Qxe6 Qh1+ 51.Ke3
Lb6+ 52.Kd2 La5+ 53.Kc2 Qg2+
54.Kb3 Qf3+ with perpetual check.
48.Lc4 Qd8
After 48...Kf7 White brings his queen to h8:
49.Qc8 Ld8 50.Kf3 La5 51.Qh8 Lb6
52.Qh7+ Kf8 53.Qxg6 +.
49.Qb7+ Kf8 50.Qh1!
White has protected the d1 square and Black
has no means to protect both the pawn e6
and the square h8.
50...Kg7 51.Lxe6
Now White may exchange queens because
the bishop ending is already winning for
him.
51...Qd2 52.Kh3 Qe2 53.Lg4 Qc4
54.Qd1 Kh6 55.Ld7 Qe4 56.Lg4 Qc4
57.Le2 Qe4 58.Lf3 Qe3 59.Qd5 Qa3
60.Qg8 Qe7 61.g4
10
White is stopping the black b-pawn and

threatens the g7-square. This is enough for
the draw because the plain bishop ending is
drawish and Black also cannot make progress with queens on the board. So Black
tries his last trick.
73...g5 74.fxg5?
Strange, but this is losing because White
cannot prevent a second passed pawn and
the black king penetrates far enough to assist
one of his passed pawns. Instead, 74.Le5
Qe7 75.Qd3 Qf7 76.Qg3 Qe8 77.Qd3
Le6 78.Qd6 Kg6 79.Lb2 Qf7 80.Qe5 =.
74...Qxg3+ 75.Kxg3 hxg5 76.Kf2
76.h4 f4+ 77.Kg4 gxh4 78.Kxh4 Lxg2
79.Kg4 f3 80.Kg3 Kg6 81.Kf2 Kf5
82.Ke3 Kg4 83.Le5 Lf1 84.Kd2 Lc4
85.Ke3 Ld5 86.Kf2 Kf5 87.Lb2 Ke4
wins the bishop.
76...f4 77.g3 Kg6 78.gxf4 gxf4 79.h4 Kh5
80.Lf6 Kg4 81.Ke1 Lf7 82.Kf2
82.Kd2 f3 83.Ld4 Kxh4 +.
82...Kf5 83.Lb2 Ke4 84.Ke2 Lh5+
85.Ke1 Kd3
01
Conclusion
The coordination between queen and bishop may create an attack on the king or
pawns or help to improve the position to the
point where a plain bishop endgame could
be already favourable enough to win.
198
Russia
Egypt
Israel
Brazil
Greece
0
0
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Haznedaroglu Kivanc
Erdogdu Mert
Yilmaz Mustafa
Can Emre
Esen Baris
Firat Burak
Board Points
Match Points
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
A Diary
On January 3rd nearly all the teams arrived
at Istanbul airport and then they were transported to the Almira Hotel in Bursa by small
buses, provided by the TCF. It must be noted
that the 1st Quarter FIDE Presidential Board
Meeting was being held on 4-5 January in
Bursa, so there were also many FIDE officials who were traveling together with the
teams.
On January 4th, a spectacular Opening
Ceremony took place in the playing hall.
The Municipal Marching Band greeted the
guests and then the President of the Turkish
Chess Federation, Mr. Ali Nihat Yazici,
thanked and expressed his appreciation to
the Mayor, on behalf of the Municipality of
Bursa, for hosting this important event.
The President of FIDE, Mr. Kirsan
Ilyumzhinov, presented a memorial plate to
the Mayor of the Municipality of Bursa, Mr.
Recep Altepe, for his contribution. The TCF
President, Ali Nihat Yazici, presented memorial plates to the Sales and Marketing
Manager of the sponsoring Almira Otel,
Aylin Isikogullari, the Mayor of the Municipality of Bursa Mr. Recep Altepe and the
Deputy Governor of Bursa, Mr. smail
Demirhan.
The drawing of lots was nicely staged. It
was held with the participation and help of
the Bursaspor Football Team. Each Team
Captain picked a player who then uncovered his t-shirt, revealing the number of
the team! To my knowledge, an unique and
1
2
1
0
1
1
2
2
0
1
0
0
1
0
33.33
2536
+02.8
08.33
2292
-11.20
25.00
2464
-01.00
50.00
2618
+15.7
28.57
2443
-06.6
50.00
2520
+05.6
11
31.94
16.67
+05.3
6
6
6
7
7
4
1
3
2
2
36
interesting concept, which rarely has been

seen around!
The Opening Ceremony concluded with a
fine performance by the Ottoman Military
Band, Mehteran.
Then the FIDE Officials returned to the
hotel and started their meeting, working until late in the afternoon.
In the evening, the Governor and the
Mayor of Bursa, Mr. Sahabettin Harput and
Mr. Recep Altepe, attended the official dinner given in honour of the FIDE Presidential
Board.
The day concluded with the traditional
Captains Meeting where, more or less, all
potential problems were solved.
The first round was held on January 5th.
Beforehand, the FIDE PB was concluded in
full harmony. The big match was between
the 2008 Olympic Champions, Armenia, and
the 2009 European Champions, Azerbaijan.
The latter won by the narrowest margin,
thanks to the convincing victory of Mamedyarov, achieving an important advantage for the final standings.
In the other matches, Greece was unlucky
to lose against India (the result might well
have gone the other way) and Lev Psakhis
(Indian Captain) commented: this is the best
that a trainer can offer to his team: luck!.
Hot favourites Russia, USA and Israel won
respectively versus Brazil, Turkey and
Egypt, after some real fight. Emre Can of
Turkey played a nice game (see analysis),
crushing Yuri Shulman.
19
Rating
Performance
Percentage %
Points
Games
India
Captain
GM Grivas Efstratios
Armenia
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-wq-+-zpk'
6-+-+-+-zp&
5+-+l+p+-%
4-+-+-zP-+$
3+p+-+-wQP#
2-vL-+-+PmK"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
Turkey
Azerbaijan
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7zp-+-+qmk-'
6-vlQ+p+p+&
5+-+-zP-+-%
4P+-+-zPK+$
3+-+L+-zP-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
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Brodsky Michail
Beliavsky Alexander
Alushta 2009
USA
pawn) 42...Qf7 43.Ld3 Qb7 44.Qe8 Qf7

45.Qc6 transposes to a position similar to
one that occurred in the game.
42.a4 Qd7 43.Qb4 Qc7 44.Ld3 Qd7
45.Qe4 Qe8 46.Qb7+ Qf7 47.Qc6 (D)
The second round brought a big surprise;

Greece beat Russia! And this was a fair result; actually it could even have been 3:!
Greece had once before upset the then Soviet Union team with a 3:3 result in the
European Team Championship, Haifa 1989,
where I let slip a big chance to beat Gelfand
and give the win to my team (I only drew).
Armenia beat Israel, Aronian playing an
excellent game (he outplayed Gelfand),
while the USA convincingly beat India 3:1.
Brazil and Azerbaijan beat their weaker opponents, Egypt and Turkey respectively.
The third round created a real mess! While
Russia, Armenia and Israel fulfilled their
expectations by beating the USA, Turkey
and Brazil respectively, Greece lost to Egypt
and Azerbaijan to India (!), continuing the
series of unexpected results!
So, after the third round no fewer than six
teams were sharing first place with 4 match
points out of a possible 6. Then there were
three teams with 2 MP, leaving the host
country in last position with no points!
In the fourth round the match between
Russia and Azerbaijan took place and everybody was expecting that it would solve
matters at the top. Russia was the lucky one,
as Grischuks king had to travel all the way
from e8 to b1 (!), facing the opponents
army en route! The other favourites, Armenia, Israel, India and the USA beat their opponents, Brazil, Greece, Turkey and Egypt
respectively, without facing too many problems. Thus, little changed at the top, leaving
five teams with 6/8 MP.
The fact that in the first twenty matches
we saw no 2:2 results is rather paradoxical,
but also proves the fighting spirit of all the
teams. Turkeys National Teams manager,
Ozgur Solakoglu, asked why I was not often
in the playing hall. I replied that there was
not much point, since the rules forbade
Team Captains to offer any draw before the
30th move and after the 30th move it is already too late! Well, it was just a joke!
Russia and Azerbaijan easily won, versus
Turkey and Egypt respectively, in the fifth
round. But the Egyptian GM Adly Ahmed
upset Gashimov, forcing him to his third
consecutive defeat! Greece beat the solid
Brazil and the USA won the first derby of

the round versus Israel, when Nakamura
crushed Gelfand with Black, thinking for
less than half an hour for his efforts! Finally,
Armenia and India split the MP (first 2:2 in
the tournament) after a long fight and an
unfortunate moment for Aronian. The latter
lost a theoretically drawn rook ending!
So, Russia and the USA were leading the
tournament after the 5th round, with 8/10
MP.
The sixth round ended Armenias hopes
for the gold medal, as Greece crushed them
with a fine 3:1 result, making 2/2 against the
golden teams of Russia and Armenia! Russia defeated India thanks to a win on the 4th
board, but was joined in first place not only
on MP (8/10) but also on board points (15)
by the USA, who beat Brazil 3:1. Azerbaijan
and Israel split the points with four hardfought draws, which ended Mamedyarovs
perfect score. Finally, the big derby for the
last place between Egypt and Turkey ended
in a fighting 2:2 draw, with four decisive
results.
In the 7th round, the long-awaited match
between Russia and Armenia took place.
After a hard battle and Armenia missing a
chance on the 4th board, the match ended in
a 2:2 draw - Morozevich hopelessly out of
form
The USA grabbed their chance and beat
Greece, but only after Kotronias, who had a
won position against Nakamura, blundered
badly. Azerbaijan gave a rest to a tired
Gashimov and demolished Brazil, while
Egypt fought well against India and only
went down in the last minute. But the big
surprise of the round was Turkeys win versus Israel (!), probably the most unexpected
result of the event.
So, after the 7th round, the USA led by 1
MP over Russia and the two last rounds became even more dramatic, with many teams
in the fight for the silver and bronze medals!
Another fight, to avoid last place, was also
still open!
The 8th round wasnt a lucky one for the
USA team, as they narrowly lost to Armenia, Aronian winning a nice game against
Nakamura. This result gave the chance to
20
41.Qxh7 Qf5 42.Qh4+ Ke6 43.Qg4

Qxg4+ 44.hxg4 with an easy draw.
38.Qf6 Qf8 39.Qh8+ Kf7 40.Qxh7+
Ke6 41.Qxg6+ Kd5 42.Lg7 Qg8
The bishop ending is also winning for
White: 42...Le8 43.Lxf8 Lxg6 44.f4 Kc6
45.Kh2 d5 46.Lc5 Lh5 47.Kg3 d4
(47...Le2 48.f3 d4 49.h4 Lc4 50.h5 d3
51.Le3 Kb5 52.h6 Lg8 53.Ld2 +)
48.Lxd4 Le2 49.f3 Lc4 50.Lc5 Kb5
51.Lf8 Kc6 52.Kf2 Lf7 53.Ke3 Kd5
54.h4 Le8 55.Kd3 Lb5+ 56.Kc3 Le8
57.Le7 Ke6 58.Lc5 Kd5 59.Lf2 Kd6
60.Kd4 Lh5 61.b5 Lxf3 62.b6 Ld1 63.b7
Kc7 64.Ke5 Kxb7 65.Kxf5 Kc7 66.Kg6
Kd6 67.h5 Lc2+ 68.f5 Ke5 69.Lg3+ +
and the h-pawn will promote.
43.Qxf5+ Kc4 44.Qg4+ Kb3 45.h4 Qf7
46.Kg2 Ld7 47.Qd4 d5 48.Lh6 Lb5
49.Ld2 Qg6+ 50.Kh2 Qf5 51.Qc3+ Ka4
52.Qb2! Lc4 53.b5 Qf8 54.b6 Qd6+
55.f4
10
Beliavsky Alexander
Ivanovic Bozidar
Belgrade 2000
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-mk(
7+-+-+-zp-'
6-+p+-vl-zp&
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33.Qf3 Qc5 34.Qe4
The mate threat on h7 forces Black to exchange queens on the wrong square. The
resulting endgame is winning because White
can get a second passed pawn on the kingside.
34...Qd5 35.Qxd5 cxd5 36.a5 Le5 37.a6
Lb8 38.Kf3 Kg8 39.Kg4 Kf7 40.Kh5

La7 41.f4 Lc5 42.g4 Kf6 43.h4 Kf7
44.g5 hxg5 45.fxg5 La7 46.Kg4 Ke6
47.h5 Lb8 48.Kf3 La7 49.Ke2 Lb8
50.Kd1
Black cannot prevent the white king from
penetrating to b7, because the passed hpawn keeps Black's king on the kingside.
10
Beliavsky Alexander
Ruck Robert
Ansfelden 2009
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
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5+-+-zP-+-%
4-+Q+-zP-+$
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White has an extra pawn. However, he cannot exchange queens because the bishop
ending is an easy draw since White has no
passed pawns. White's winning idea is to
attack the e6-pawn with queen and bishop to
force the black king to f7 and penetrate with
his queen to h8 via the c8 square. This plan
is not easy to carry out because the white
king is also vulnerable. In addition, Black is
ready in some variations to give up his g6pawn just to exchange queens
35.Qe4 Lc5+ 36.Kg2 Qe8 37.Kf3 Lb6
38.Lc2 Qf7 39.Qd3 Qe8 40.Kg4 Qf7
41.Qc4 Qe8
41...Qc7! (an interesting trap. White may
win the g6-pawn now - however it is just a
draw) 42.Qa4 (42.Qxc7+ Lxc7 43.Lb3
Kf7 44.Kg5 Ld8+ 45.Kh6 Lb6 46.Lc2
Lf2 47.Lxg6+ Kf8 48.g4 Le3 49.Kg5
Ke7 and it is a draw because White cannot
move his king from g5. Black just keeps his
bishop on the diagonal c1-h6, pinning the f4197
46.Kd3 Qb1+ 47.Kc4 Qc2+ 48.Kb5

Qxe2+ 49.Kxc5 Qe3+ 50.Kc6 b2
51.Qd8+ Kg6 +) 40...Qc2+ 41.Le2
Qxb2 42.d5 Qd4+ 43.Ke1 Qxd5
(43...exd5?? 44.Qc6+ Kf7 45.Lh5+ Kg8
46.Qe8+ Lf8 47.Lf7+ Kh7 48.Lg6+
Kg8 49.Qf7+ Kh8 50.Qxf8 # - now White
is mating!) 44.Qxd5 exd5 45.Lf3 Ke6
46.Kd2 g5 47.h3 Ld6 48.Ke3 gxf4+
49.gxf4 d4+ 50.Kxd4 Lxf4 51.h4 Ld2
52.Ld5+ Kf6 53.Lc4 Le1 54.h5 Kg5
55.Le2 Kf4 56.Ld3 Kg4 57.Ke3 f4+
58.Ke2 Lc3 59.Lc2 f3+ 60.Kf1 Ld4
61.Ld1 Kf4 62.Lb3 Ke3 63.Ld5 f2 +.
38.Qc6!
White gives up his d-pawn but preserves his
b-pawn. The extra pawn on the kingside
proves to be not enough for the win.
38...Qe3+ 39.Kg2 Qd2+ 40.Kh1 Qxd4
40...Qxb2 41.d5 Kg6 42.Qe8+ Kh7
43.Qxe7 Qc1 44.Kg1 b3 45.Qxe6 b2
46.Qxf5+
41.Lc4 Qe3 42.h4! Lc5 43.Kg2 g5
44.hxg5+ hxg5 45.fxg5+ Kxg5 46.Qf3
Qg1+
46...Qd2+ 47.Kh3 Qxb2 48.Lxe6 Qh8+
49.Kg2 Qe5 50.Lb3 Qe4 51.Ld5 =.
47.Kh3 Kf6 48.Qf1 Qd4 49.Qf4 Qxf4
50.gxf4 Ld6 51.Kg3 e5 52.b3 e4 53.La6
Ke6 54.Lc8+ Kd5 55.Kf2
Jussupow Artur
Beliavsky Alexander
Frankfurt 1998
XABCDEFGHY
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28...g5!
Black is 'preparing' the d4-square for the
queen! Then the bishop from c5 will assist
the attack on the white king.
29.Lb1?
White is preparing a counterattack on the
b1-h7 diagonal. It is a grave mistake because
Black is attacking the white king both with
queen and bishop, while White is using only
his queen. The correct idea was to keep the
queen on d2 and king on f3. In that case it is
difficult for Black make any progress.
29...gxf4+ 30.exf4 Qd4 31.Qc2 Lc5
32.Qh7+ Kf8
Now the black king escapes safely and the
white king is helpless against the coordinated queen+bishop attack.
33.Qxh6+ Ke8 34.Qh8+ Kd7 35.Qa8
Qf2+ 36.Kh3 Qf3+ 37.Kh4 Le7+ 38.g5
Qxf4+ 39.Kh3 Qf1+ 40.Kg3 Qxb1
41.Qb7+ Ke8 42.Qc8+ Ld8 43.h4 Qd3+
44.Kg4 Qc4+ 45.Qxc4 dxc4 46.h5 Kf8
01
Beliavsky Alexander
Gligoric Svetozar
Novi Sad 1979
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+q+k+(
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3+-+-+P+P#
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Here the white forces are more coordinated
than Black's.
37.Qg5 f5?
This loses two pawns. 37...Lxf3? also does
not work: 38.Qf6 Qe1+ 39.Kh2 Qh1+
40.Kg3 Qg2+ 41.Kf4 + and mate is inevitable. The correct defence was 37...Kf8
38.Qf6 Qd7 39.Kg2 Ke8 40.Qh8+ Ke7
196
Russia (who demolished Egypt) to climb on

top with a round to go. Azerbaijan beat
Greece and India beat Israel - the latter having a really bad tournament. Finally, Brazil
beat Turkey after a tight fight - Vescovi lost
again, a very poor performance by him this
certainly was not his tournament
In the 9th and last round, Azerbaijan unexpectedly decided to rest their two top
boards in their critical match against the
USA! Rumours indicated that there was an
internal fight among the top players, with the
captain and the federation involved. Well,
the stories are interesting and spicy but I do
not like to delve deeper in the very personal
stuff of a team (and a country after all), so I
will stop here, keep my mouth shut and only
comment that in such situations, team spirit
must be the decisive factor and the captains
orders must be followed.
After two hours of play, four draws were
agreed in a short period, giving the silver
medal to the USA and allowing Azerbaijan
(4th) to finish above Armenia (5th), which is
a nice target if you consider the political
situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia To me, this result looked like a prearranged package-draw agreement but of
course this is my only my personal speculation.
At the same time, that result guaranteed
Russia the gold medal. Rumours also indicated that the night before the match, Russia
offered Israel a 2:2 package draw, but the
latter refused as they were chasing 6th place
but in the end Israel (7th) could consider
themselves lucky to escape with just a 1:3
scoreline!
India crushed Brazil, winning the bronze
medal and Greece claimed the valuable 6th
position by winning against Turkey by the
smallest margin, when Firat Burak resigned
in a just slightly worse position - he thought
that he could not avoid mate! In the last
match of the day, Egypt took a valuable
point against Armenia and thus avoided bottom place
The event was rounded off with a simple
and well-performed Closing Ceremony,
which took place in the ballroom of the
Almira hotel. Some short speeches by Ali
Nihat Yazici (FIDE Vice-President & TCF

President) and Georgios Makropoulos (FIDE
Deputy-President & GCF President), plus
the distribution of medals and a nice meal,
concluded a tiring day.
That was, in short, the story of an extremely strong event, in which 50 GM, 9 IM
and 1 FM participated and the average rating
of these 60 participants was 2608.42 (!!).
One should also think about the Captains of
the teams: 8 GM, 1 IM and 1 FM!
To end with, we must surely pay tribute to
the Turkish Chess Federation (TCF) for its
professional organization of a very high
standard. Also, it must be noted that it was
decided that this event will be held every
two years from now on and the TCF and
Bursa decided to bid again! So, most probably we will see this prestigious event in a
shorter time but at the same place!
Teams Performance
1. Russia: Although Vladimir Kramnik
and Peter Svidler were missing from the
Russian team, they always appeared to be in
the drivers seat. The team had just the one
upset against Greece, allowing the other
teams at best a draw. Morozevich was in
quite bad form but all the rest played well
and packed three more individual medals in
their suitcases. They fully deserved the gold
medal.
2. USA: For me, this was a real surprise,
as I thought that this team would only be
fighting for the 5th position. But when your
top two boards are in fine shape and they
can win the individual gold medals on their
boards, then you are on the right path. A
solid team, a bit of luck in decisive games,
good team strategy and here is the silver
medal!
3. India: The last-minute participants, as
they had to replace China just a week before
the start of the tournament. They played
good fighting chess but they seemed to have
a bit of luck or perhaps they demonstrated
greater will-power than their opponents! The
team won decisive points when they needed
to and added two more individual medals to
their collection - a successful participation
after all!
21
4. Azerbaijan: As the recent European

Champions, the team of the Azeri was expected to play a decisive role in the chase for
medals, especially after they beat Armenia
in the first round. But an-out-of-form
Gashimov and various internal problems
stopped the team from attaining its targets. It
is a really difficult task to captain and run a
team of stars Three individual medals and
the absolute star of the event (Mamedyarov)
were the brightest moments of the team.
5. Armenia: The Olympic Champions
were the big disappointment of the event.
They did not just finish out of the medals they were far away from them! This time
nothing worked well for the Armenians and
they even lost 1:3 to the Greeks (!), among
others. But at least they won four individual
medals.
6. Greece: The surprise of the event and
the most variable team were the boys from
Greece! They won against Russia and Armenia but they lost to Egypt and just beat
Turkey. I am sure that they made the betting
companies happier and richer as nobody
could predict their results. They missed a
golden chance against the USA and they
could even have beaten India if they had
been a bit more careful. Two individual
medals were added to their report cards.
7. Israel: Who could believe that Israel
would play so badly? A team of stars, with
the recent World Cup winner as its leader
(Boris Gelfand) and still no fight, no hope,
no points The only one who gave a positive performance was Sutovsky, who won
the only individual medal of the team - but
he was so alone. It is sure that this strong
team will see better days!
8. Brazil: The second biggest disappointmed of the event, as the Brazilians lost no
fewer than 42 rating points in total (!). I was
expecting something more from a 2600+
team than only beating the two weakest
teams of the event, with the bare minimum
score, and I do not really know the causes of
their disappointing performance. I know that
they have seen better days and I am sure that
they will see them again in the future and
that this event should soon be forgotten such a strong team cannot fail again
9. Egypt: The Egyptians mostly depended

on their first two boards, who performed
very well and won most of the points. A
solid team that fought in every match and to
their credit was the win over Greece. I think
that they succeeded in their initial target not to finish last, although some luck was
needed in the last round.
10. Turkey: The host country was
seeded to finish last, as it was the lowest
rated one. The Turkish youngsters fought
well, took some valuable scalps, won an
individual medal, a GM-norm (third for
Emre Can - soon to be named GM) and unexpectedly beat Israel! Still, the bitter taste
of the last position was not easy to swallow.
But the team is on the right path and is expected to go even better in the very short
future - the TCF can be sure of that!
Games Department
Pashikian Arman
D43 Bursa 2010
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Lg5
h6 6.Lh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Lg3 b5 9.Le2
Lb7 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 Lg7 12.Qc2 0-0
A novelty in this heavy theoretical position.
Previously 12...Nxe5 has been tried: 13.Lxe5
0-0 14.Rad1 Nd7 15.Ld6 Porper,EKotanjian,T Dresden 2007.
13.Rad1 Qe7 14.h4 Rad8 15.hxg5 hxg5
16.Rfe1 a6 17.Qc1 Nxe5 18.Lxe5 Nh7
19.Lxg7 Kxg7 20.Lg4 c5
White's compensation is notable due to his
strong centre, his centralized pieces and the
weak black king. But of course, White has to
prove his sacrifice sooner or later, otherwise
this material deficit will be enough for Black
to triumph in an endgame - but before that,
the Gods have created the middlegame!
21.d5! Qf6 22.e5! Qh6?
22...Qf4 23.Qxf4 gxf4 24.dxe6 fxe6
25.Lxe6 Ng5 26.Ld5 was Black's best
chance. It is notable that after just one inaccuracy, Black's position falls apart, but this
is chess; you must (and you will!) be
punished for your mistakes!
23.dxe6 fxe6 24.Qe3! Qh4?! 25.Lxe6
Rd4 26.Ne2 Rfd8 (D)
22
to avoid a queen exchange - he will try first

to change the pawn structure on the kingside
in his favour, which means fixing the white
pawns on the dark squares. By moving his hpawn, Black will either weaken the dark
squares, to penetrate with queen and bishop
and chase the white king, or fix the white
pawn on h2. Moreover, with a black pawn
on h3, the white king will feel even more
uncomfortable.
XABCDEFGHY
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xabcdefghy
34...h5 35.g3 Ld4 36.Kg2 h4 37.Lc2
Qg5 38.Qd1 Qh6
White cannot prevent the black pawn from
moving to h3.
39.Qe2
39.gxh4 Qxh4 40.Qe2 a5 41.Ld1 Le5
42.h3 Qg5+ 43.Kf1 Ld4 44.Lc2 Kg7
45.Ld1 Qh4 46.Kg2 f4 and the white king
is helpless.
39...h3+ 40.Kg1 Qc1+ 41.Qd1 Qb2
42.Kf1 Kg7 43.Qd2 Qa1+ 44.Ld1 Kf6
45.Ke2 g5
Now White has an unpleasant choice: either
to allow the black pawn onto g4, fixing his
f2-pawn, or move his f-pawn and risk losing
his h2-pawn.
46.f3
Wait and see was preferable but still losing:
46.Kf1 Kg6 47.Qc2 g4 48.Qd2 Lg7
49.Qc2 Qd4 50.Le2 a5 51.Qd1 Lf6
52.Ke1 (52.Qxd4 cxd4 53.Lc4 d3 54.Ke1
Lc3+ 55.Kd1 Kf6 56.La6 Ld4 57.Ke1
Ke5 58.Lb5 d2+ 59.Kxd2 Lxf2 60.Le2
Lxg3 +) 52...Lg5 53.Kf1 Kf6 54.Qe1
Ld2 55.Qb1 Ke5 56.Lc4 f4 57.Le2

(57.gxf4+ Lxf4 58.Le2 Kf5 59.Qd1
[59.Kg1 Lxh2+] 59...Qxd1+ 60.Lxd1
Lxh2 61.Lc2 Le5 62.Kg1 Kf4 63.Ld1
Ld4 64.Kf1 e3 65.fxe3+ Lxe3 +) 57...f3
58.Lc4 Qc3 59.La6 Kd4 60.Lc4 Lc1
61.Lf7 Qd2 62.Qa1+ Lb2 63.Qe1 Qd3+
64.Kg1 Qe2 65.Qf1 e3 66.Lc4 Qxf1+
67.Kxf1 e2+ +.
46...exf3+ 47.Kxf3 Qb1 48.g4
White's king will be mated now. Otherwise
White loses the h2-pawn: 48.Qc2 g4+
49.Ke2 Qxc2+ 50.Lxc2 Lg1 51.Kf1
Lxh2 52.Kf2 f4 53.gxf4 Lxf4 54.Le4
g3+ 55.Kg1 Le3+ 56.Kh1 g2+ +.
48...fxg4+ 49.Kg3 Le5+ 50.Kf2 Qf5+
51.Ke1 Qe4+ 52.Le2 Ld4 53.Qa5 Kf5
54.Qa6 Lc3+
01
Kochyev Alexander
Beliavsky Alexander
Le Havre 1977
XABCDEFGHY
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Whites king is exposed and the pawn on b2
is weak. It is important for Black to win the
b2-pawn.
37...Kf6?
Black first had to place his queen on the
better square e4: 37...Qe3+ 38.Kg2 Qe4+
39.Kg1 (39.Kh3 g5 mating the white king)
39...Kf6, as then White has no useful moves
and loses the b-pawn anyway: 40.Kf2
(40.b3 Qe3+ 41.Kg2 Qxb3 + ; 40.Lc4
Qb1+ 41.Kf2 Qxb2+ 42.Ke3 Qc3+
43.Ld3 Qe1+ 44.Le2 b3 45.d5 Lc5+
195
43.Qxf7+ Kc6 44.Qd5+ Kc7 45.Qxe5+

+.
40.Qa8+ Qd8 41.Qb7 Qe7 42.Qa8+
Qd8 43.Qf3 Qf6 44.Qd5 Qe6 45.Qa8+
It was already possible to accept an opposite-colour bishop ending with an extra
pawn: 45.Qxe6 fxe6 46.Lxe6 Ke7 (46...e4
47.Lf5 e3 48.f4 Ke7 49.Kf3 a5 50.b5 a4
51.Ld3 a3 52.Ke4 Ke6 53.Lc4+ Kf6
54.Kd5 Kf5 55.Kc6 Ld8 56.b6 Lxb6
57.Kxb6 Kg4 58.Kc5 Kxh5 59.Kxd4
Kg4 60.Kxe3 +) 47.Lg8 a5 48.a3 axb4
49.axb4 Lc7 (49...e4 50.Lh7 e3 51.f4 and
White is getting a passed pawn on the kingside. With a passed pawn on each side,
White will succeed in promoting one of
them) 50.Kf3 Ld6 51.b5 Lc5 52.Ke4
Kd6 53.f3 Lb6 54.Kf5 Ld8 55.Lc4 Lf6
56.Ld3 Kd5 57.g4 Kd6 58.Le4 Kc5
59.Lc6 Kd6 60.Le8 Kc7 61.Ke4 Kb6
62.Kd5 Kc7 63.Lc6 Kb6 64.Kd6 and
Black is in zugzwang. He has either to allow
the white king in on c7, when the b-pawn
will promote, or give up the e5-pawn. Gaining the e5-pawn gives White a passed pawn
on the kingside and Black cannot stop both
pawns from promoting: 64...Ld8 (64...Ka5
65.Kc7 Lg5 66.b6 e4 67.Lxe4 Lf4+
68.Kc6 +) 65.Kxe5 Kc5 66.Kf5 Kb6
67.Kg6 Lf6 68.f4 Kc5 69.g5 hxg5 70.fxg5
Le5 71.h6 gxh6 72.gxh6 +.
45...Qe8 46.Qe4 Ld8 47.Qd5 Lg5 48.a4
Qe6 49.Qa8+
Now the endgame is not so favourable for
White because the black bishop penetrates to
e1 and keeps the white king busy with pawn
protection duties: 49.Qxe6 fxe6 50.Lxe6
Ke7 51.Lg8 Ld2 52.b5 Kd6 53.Kf3 Le1
and it is difficult to make progress.
49...Qe8 50.Qf3 Ld2 51.b5 e4 52.Qf5
Kg8 53.Ld5 e3 54.f4 Lc3 55.Kf3 Qe7
56.g4
Easier was 56.Qc8+ Qf8 (56...Kh7
57.Le4+ g6 58.Qc6 +) 57.Qc7 Qe8
58.Qxa7 d3 59.Qxe3 Qxe3+ 60.Kxe3 d2
61.Lb3 and the pawns on the queenside will
promote.
56...La5 57.g5 hxg5 58.fxg5 d3 59.g6 d2
60.Lxf7+ Kh8 61.Lb3 Qd8 62.h6 Lc7
(D)
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63.Qf7?
White missed an easy win: 63.hxg7+ Kxg7
64.Qf7+ Kh6 65.g7 Qa8+ 66.Kxe3 d1Q
67.Lxd1 Lb6+ 68.Kf4 Qb8+ 69.Kf3
Qa8+ 70.e4 Qd8 71.g8N+ Kg5 72.Qf5+
Kh4 73.Qg4 #.
63...Le5 64.h7 Qf6+ 65.Ke4 Qf4+
66.Kd5 Qd4+ 67.Ke6 Qd6+ 68.Kf5
Qf6+ 69.Ke4 Qf4+ 70.Qxf4 Lxf4
71.Lc2 Lg5 72.a5 Ld8 73.Kxe3
White gets a passed e-pawn and Black will
have to give up his bishop for this pawn, but
in this case there is no stalemate because
Black may move his a-pawn and the white
b-pawn queens on b8. After the naive
73.b6?? Lxb6! it is a draw because of stalemate.
73...Lxa5 74.Kd3 Lb4 75.e4 La5 76.e5
Lb4 77.e6
And now Black is helpless to prevent the
white king going to d7. Next, he will have to
give up his bishop, but there is no stalemate
because his a7-pawn is still alive. When
Black pushes his a-pawn, White will promote his b-pawn on b8. Therefore Black
resigned.
10
27.Rxd4
27.Nxd4 cxd4 28.Qa3 was good enough.
27...cxd4 28.Qa3!
The invasion via the dark squares decides
the game...
28...g4 29.Qc5! Ng5 30.Qe7+ Kh6 31.Qf6+
1-0
Gulko Boris
Beliavsky Alexander
Vilnius 1975
Black has an extra pawn. Still, the bishop
endgame is a draw, because Black will get
only one passed pawn and White will easily
prevent its promotion. Therefore Black has
194
Can Emre
Shulman Yuri
C03 Bursa 2010
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Le7 4.Ld3 c5
5.dxc5 Nf6 6.Qe2 0-0 7.Ngf3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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7...a5
Black has many options in this particular
position, such as:
a) 7...Nfd7 8.Nb3 a5 9.e5 a4 10.Nbd4 Nxc5
11.0-0 a3 12.bxa3 Nc6 13.Rb1 Ld7 14.Nb5
Ra4 15.Le3 Durarbeyli,V-Shimanov,A
Vung Tau 2008.

b) 7...Nc6 8.0-0 Nd7 9.exd5 exd5 10.Nb3
Nxc5 11.Nxc5 Lxc5 12.Lg5 Qb6 13.c3
Popovic,D-Mira,H Internet 2006.
c) 7...Lxc5 8.e5 Nfd7 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Nb3
Le7 11.c3 Re8 12.Nbd4 Nf8 13.Lf4
Levushkina,E-Zach,A Bayern 2006.
d) 7...dxe4 8.Nxe4 Nbd7 9.0-0 Nxc5
10.Nxc5 Lxc5 11.Lg5 Le7 12.Rfe1 Qc7
13.Ne5 Brodsky,M-Malykin,V Polanica
Zdroj 1999.
8.0-0
8.a4 Na6 9.Lxa6 Rxa6 10.0-0 Lxc5 11.e5
Nd7 12.Nb3 La7 13.Le3 Schneider,IRamirez,A Dallas 2006 is the main alternative, but Can had something more dynamic
in mind...
8...Na6
8...Nc6 9.c3 Nd7 10.exd5 exd5 11.Nb3 a4
12.Nbd4 Socko,B-Pert,N Hastings 2004
and 8...Nfd7 9.exd5 exd5 10.Re1 Nc6
11.Lb5 Lf6 12.c3 Nxc5 13.Nb3 Lakos,
N-Richards,H Bled 2002 are fair possibilities that should be taken into account.
9.e5
In my opinion best by test!
9...Nd7 (D)
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10.c4!
I think that White should go for it, as alternatives like 10.c3 Naxc5 11.Lc2 b6
12.Qe3 a4 13.Nd4 Qc7 14.Re1 Lb7
Lima,D-Santos Filho,T Rio de Janeiro 2007,
promise little.
10...Ndxc5
23
The other option is the capture with the other

knight: 10...Naxc5 11.Lc2 b6 (11...dxc4
12.a4! ) 12.b3 La6 (12...Lb7 13.Lb2 f5
14.Nd4 Vachier Lagrave,M-Sprenger,J
Germany 2008) 13.Rd1 Qc7 14.Lb2 Rac8
15.Rac1 Jayaram,A-Praveen Kumar,C
Dubai 2008. White's spatial advantage and
more active plans on the kingside, ensure the
more pleasant middlegame.
11.Lb1
11.cxd5?! Nxd3 12.Qxd3 Nb4 13.Qe2
Qxd5 Buchenau,F-Renner,K Germany 2005,
would only favour Black.
11...Nb4
White also felled happy after 11...b6 12.cxd5
exd5 (12...Qxd5?! 13.Nc4 ) 13.Nd4 Nb4
14.Rd1 White,I-Buckley,M Torquay 2002.
12.Rd1!
Accurate, as after 12.Nb3 Nxb3! (12...b6?!
13.Nxc5 bxc5 14.a3 Nc6 15.Rd1 Mogranzini,R-Amato,A Arvier 2008) 13.axb3 b6
14.Rd1 La6 Black should be OK.
12...Qb6 (D)
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A novelty that has been predicted in known
analysis! Previously 12...b6 had been
played: 13.a3! (13.Nd4 Qc7 (13...Lb7 14.
N2f3 Qc8 15.Ng5 with an attack, Lauk,UKunitson,N Tallinn 2007) 14.a3 Nc6
15.Nxc6 Qxc6 16.cxd5 exd5 17.Nf3
Sebag,M-Paehtz,E Novi Sad 2009) 13...Nc6
14.Ne4! and White is on top. But Black
should think about 12...Qc7!? 13.cxd5
Nxd5 14.Ne4 due to White's attacking
possibilities on the kingside.
13.Nb3!
Our morning preparation was deep enough to
include this very position. We came to the
conclusion that White holds a very pleasant
advantage and we decided to dig even further...
13...dxc4?
It looks like 13...Nxb3 14.axb3 Ld7?
(14...h6! is forced: 15.Le3 Lc5 16.Lxc5
Qxc5 17.Nd4 ) is OK for Black, but suddenly a bolt from the blue comes: 15.Ng5!
Lxg5 (15...h6 16.Nh7! Rfe8 17.Nf6+
and 15...g6 16.Nxh7! Kxh7 17.Le3! Qd8
[17...Lc5 18.Qh5+ Kg7 19.Qh6+ Kg8
20.Lg5 +] 18.Qh5+ Kg7 19.Qh6+ Kg8
20.Lxg6 fxg6 21.Qxg6+ Kh8 22.Qh6+
Kg8 23.Rd4 + are losing for Black)
16.Lxg5 Rfe8 17.Qh5 g6 18.Qh6 Qc5
19.Lf6 . Black cannot afford to open the
centre, as his lack of development will tell...
14.Qxc4
14.Lg5 is also strong: 14...f6 (14...Lxg5?
15.Lxh7+! Kxh7 16.Nxg5+ Kg6 17.Qg4 f5
18.Qg3 +) 15.exf6 Lxf6 (15...gxf6 16.Nxc5
Lxc5 17.Lh6 ) 16.Lxf6 Rxf6 17.Qxc4
(17.Nxc5 Qxc5 18.Rd8+ Rf8 19.Rxf8+
Qxf8 20.Qxc4 ) 17...Nxb3 18.axb3 .
14...Nxb3 15.axb3 Rd8?! (D)
Good or bad, Black's hand was forced:
15...Nd5 16.Ng5 g6 17.Qh4 h5 18.Qg3 .
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16.Ld2?
16.Lxh7+! Kxh7 17.Lg5 is a killer: 17...f6
(17...Rxd1+ 18.Rxd1 +) 18.Qh4+ Kg8
(18...Kg6 19.g4! Kf7 20.exf6 Lxf6 21.Qh5+
+) 19.exf6 Lxf6 20.Lxf6 gxf6 21.Qxf6 +.
24
Queens with Opposite Coloured Bishops

Alexander Beliavsky
Concept
In this survey we will examine the cooperation of queen and opposite coloured
bishop - this can make the difference
Beliavsky Alexander
Pavasovic Dusko
Nagykanizsa 2008
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25...Rd6
Conventional logic says that White should
keep rooks on because he controls the only
open file. Moreover, with every piece trade,
Black is getting closer to the opposite colour
bishop endgame which is considered
drawish by default. 25...g6? was losing to
26.Lxg6 fxg6 27.Rxg6+ Kh8 28.Rxh6+
Kg8 29.Qg6+ Qg7 30.Qe6+ Qf7
31.Rh8+ +.
26.Rxd6!
Against first feelings, it is the only way to
gain an advantage. It is all-important for
White to 'freeze' the favourable pawn structure on the kingside by moving his pawn to
h5. With the white pawn on h5, Black no
longer has any counterplay with ...g6, ...f5
and ...e4 and should be careful about an
eventual white queen penetration on h7.
26.Rc8+ Rd8 27.Rc4 g6 and White is not
better at all because the black e-pawn inevitably goes to e4. The sacrifice on g6 just
does not work any more.

26...Qxd6 27.h5 (D)
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White has succeeded in fixing the pawn
structure on the kingside. Because Black
cannot reshape the pawn structure there or in
the centre, he has no meaningful plan. White
has one more pawn on the queenside. The
question is whether it is possible to advance
the queenside pawns far enough to tie the
black pieces to the queenside and then attack
with queen+bishop the unprotected black
pawns on the kingside.
27...Kf8 28.Kg2 Qc6+ 29.Le4 Qc3
30.Qb5 Qc5 31.Qd7 Qe7 32.Qc8+ Qd8
33.Qc6 Qc7 34.Qd5 Qc5 35.Qa8+ Ke7
White has, for the time being, avoided the
queen exchange and has got time to move
his bishop to the a2-g8 diagonal, where it
will threaten the f7-pawn.
36.Ld3 Qd6 37.Qe4 Kf8 38.Lc4 Qe7
39.b4!
First success - the queenside pawns have
started to move.
39...Qf6
Black cannot take this pawn because the
queen+bishop tandem wins the f7- and e5pawns: 39...Qxb4 40.Qa8+ Ke7 41.Qb7+
Kd8 42.Qd5+ Kc7 (42...Kc8 43.La6+
Kc7 44.Qxe5+ Kc6 45.Qxg7 )
193
Kf8 74.Qb4+ Kg8 75.Qg4+ Qxg4

76.fxg4 +) 69.Qg6+ Qxg6+ 70.Kxg6
Kf8 71.Kxh6 Kf7 72.Kg5 Kg7 73.Kf5
Kf7 74.f4 +, so Black resigned.
10
Beliavsky Alexander
Hansen Curt
Malmo/Copenhagen 2004
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7+-+Q+-+-'
6-+-+P+pmk&
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3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-wq-+"
1+-+-+-+K!
xabcdefghy
84...Qf1+
84...h3 85.Qb7 Qe2 86.e7 Kg5 87.Qd5+
Kf6 88.e8Q Qxe8 89.Qf3+ Kg7
90.Qxh3 Qh8 91.Kg2 Qxh3+ 92.Kxh3
Kf6 93.Kg4 =.
85.Kh2
Beliavsky Alexander
Nikolic Predrag
Belgrade 1987
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66.e5!?
Just a trick. 66.Qg3+ Kf7 67.Qc7+ Kg6
68.Qd8 Kg7 69.Qd5 Qe2 was the normal
way, however it is difficult to make progress: 70.Qf5 Qd3 71.Qxh5 Qxe4+
72.Kg3 Qd3+ 73.f3 Qd6+ 74.Kh3 Qd1
and a draw is very probable.
66...Qxe5?
Black miscalculated the pawn ending.
66...fxe5 67.Qxh5 Qxa5 68.Qg5+ Kh7 =.
67.Qg3+ Kf7
67...Qxg3+ 68.Kxg3 Kf7 69.Kf4 Ke6
70.Ke4 f5+ 71.Kf4 Kf6 72.f3 +.
68.Qxe5 fxe5 69.Kf3 Ke7 70.Ke4 Ke6
71.f3 Kf6 72.f4! exf4 73.Kxf4
10
Beliavsky Alexander
Ivanchuk Vassily
Munich 1994
XABCDEFGHY
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52...Qf6+
52...Kh7 53.Qa2! (the only move, otherwise White is losing: 53.Ke3? Qg4 + ;
53.Qc7? Qh5+ 54.Kg3 h2 +) 53...h2
54.Qxf7+ Kh6 55.Qf8+ and draws by perpetual check.
53.Kg3 Qc3+
53...Qe5+ 54.Kxh3 Qxh2+ 55.Kxh2 Kg5
56.Kg3 =.
54.Kg4 Qd3 55.Qb8 h2 56.Qg8+ Kf6
57.Qg5+ Ke6 58.Qf5+ Ke7 59.Qe5+
Kd7 60.Qxh2 Qxe4+ 61.Qf4 Qxf4+
62.Kxf4
62...Ke6 63.Ke4 with opposition.
192
16...Ld7?
16...Lc5! was the main alternative. After 17.
Qh4 h6 18.Le4! Ld7 (18...Nc6 19.Lxh6
Rxd1+ 20.Rxd1 Lxf2+ [20...gxh6? 21.Qxh6
Lxf2+ 22.Kf1 Le3 23.Ng5 +] 21.Qxf2
Qxf2+ 22.Kxf2 gxh6 23.Rd6 ) 19.Lxh6
Lxf2+ (19...gxh6? 20.Qxh6 Lxf2+ 21.Kh1
Le3 22.Qh7+ Kf8 23.Nh4! +) 20.Qxf2
Qxf2+ 21.Kxf2 gxh6 22.Lxb7 Rab8 23.
Le4 Lc6 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Lxc6 Nxc6
26.Rc1 Nb4 27.Ke2 White has good winning
chances but Black is still alive and kicking.
17.Lg5?
17.Ng5! would do the job: 17...h6 (it looks
like Black can survive after 17...g6 18.Qh4 h5
19.Qg3 Le8, but this is not the case:
20.Nxf7! Lxf7 21.Lxg6 h4 [21...Rxd2
22.Rxd2 Rf8 23.Rd6! Qc5 24.Lxh5+ Kh7
25.Lxf7 Rxf7 26.Rxe6 +] 22.Qg4 Rd4
[22...Lxg6 23.Qxg6+ Kh8 24.Lh6 Lf8
25.Lxf8 Rxf8 26.Qh6+ Kg8 27.Qg5+
Kh8 28.Qxh4+ Kg8 29.Rd7 +] 23.Le4+
Kf8 24.Le3 Rxe4 [24...Rxd1+ 25.Rxd1
Qb5 26.Lh6+ Ke8 27.Qg7 +] 25.Qxe4
Qb5 26.Lh6+ Ke8 27.Qh7 Qxe5 28.Re1
Qc5 29.Qh8+ Lf8 30.Rac1 Qd6 31.Rc7
+) 18.Lh7+ Kh8 (18...Kf8?! 19.Nxf7! +)
19.Nxf7+ Kxh7 20.Qe4+ Kg8 21.Nxh6+
Kh8 (D) (21...gxh6 22.Qg6+ Kh8 23.Qxh6+
Kg8 24.Qg6+ Kh8 25.Le3 +)
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22.Lg5! (22.Lxb4? axb4 23.Nf7+ Kg8
24.Nxd8 Rxd8 ) 22...Lc6 (22...Lxg5
23.Nf7+ Kg8 24.Nxg5 +) 23.Rxd8+
Rxd8 (23...Lxd8?! 24.Nf7+ Kg8 25.Qg6
Le4 [25...Nd3 26.Rf1! Le4 27.Nh6+ Kh8

28.Qxe4 gxh6 29.Lxh6 Nb4 30.Qg6 Qc7
31.Rd1 +] 26.Nh6+ Kh8 27.Qe8+ Kh7
28.Qg8+ Kg6 29.Le3! Qc7 30.Qxe6+
Kh7 31.Qg8+ Kg6 32.h4! and White wins!)
24.Qh4 Rd4 25.Ng4+ (25.Qh5 Nd5 26.
Lxe7 Nf4 27.Qf7 Kh7 28.h4 ) 25...Kg8
26.Lxe7 Nd3 27.h3 Nxe5 28.b4 .
17...Lxg5?
Another question mark two in a row.
Black should have opted for 17...Lc6! when
after 18.Lxh7+ Kxh7 19.Lxe7 Rxd1+
20.Rxd1 Lxf3 21.gxf3 Nd5 22.Lg5 Qb4
he would have achieved a perfectly playable
position, despite his small material deficit.
18.Lxh7+?
Spectacular but unnecessary! The natural
18.Nxg5 was winning: 18...h6 (18...g6
19.Qh4 h5 20.Nxf7 +) 19.Rd6! Nc6
(19...Qb5 20.Lh7+ Kf8 21.Nxe6+ fxe6
22.Qf4+ Ke7 23.Lg6 Rf8 24.Qh4+ +)
20.Lh7+ Kf8 (20...Kh8 21.Nxf7+ Kxh7
22.Rad1 +) 21.Nxf7! Kxf7 22.Rad1 +.
18...Kxh7 19.Nxg5+ Kg8
Of course not 19...Kg6? 20.Qg4 f5 21.exf6
Kxf6 22.Rd6 Qb5 23.Nxe6 +.
20.Rd6
20.Qh4 Le8 21.Qh7+ Kf8 22.Qh8+ Ke7
23.Qxg7 Rxd1+ 24.Rxd1 Nd5 is nothing
but clear...
20...Qb5!
Black has to be careful: 20...Nc6? 21.Qd3 .
21.Qe4 (D)
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21...f5?!
25
21...Nc6! looks like a viable alternative:

22.Rad1 (22.Qh7+ Kf8 23.Rxd7? Rxd7
24.Qh8+ Ke7 25.Qxa8 Rd8 +) 22...Qxe5
23.Qxe5 Nxe5 24.f4 Rdc8 25.fxe5 Lc6 =.
22.Qh4! Qxe5 23.f4
Not bad, but 23.Qh5 would have been 'simpler': 23...Nd5 (23...Qxd6? 24.Qh7+ Kf8
25.Qh8+ Ke7 26.Qxg7+) 24.Qf7+ Kh8
25.Rxd7 Rxd7 26.Qxd7 Qxb2 27.Re1
Nf6 28.Qxe6 .
23...Qxb2?
The pressure is too much and Black crumbles.
He should have played 23...Qe3+! 24.Kh1
Nd3 25.Rxd3 Qxd3 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.
Qh8+ Ke7 28.Qxg7+ Kd6 29.Nf7+ Kc7
30.Qe5+ Kb6 31.Nxd8 Qd5 32.Qe3+ Kc7
33.Nf7 Lc6 34.Rg1 Qe4 35.Qf2 and although White is a pawn up, the fight would
have been prolonged to the good. Even
23...Qf6 would allow Black to play on after
24.Rad1 Qh6 25.Qe1 .
24.Rad1 Nd5?! (D)
Although Black is lost anyway, he should
have tried 24...Qf6 25.Qh7+ Kf8 26.Rxd7
Rxd7 27.Rxd7 Ke8 28.Rd6 +.
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25.R6xd5! exd5 26.Re1 Qd4+
26...Le6 does not save the day: 27.Qh7+
Kf8 28.Nxe6+ Ke7 29.Nxd8+ Kxd8
30.Qg8+ Kc7 31.Qxa8 +.
27.Kh1 Qe4
The only way to avoid mate (for the time
being).
28.Qh7+
28.Nxe4? is impossible: 28...fxe4 29.Qe7
a4 30.bxa4 Lxa4 31.Qe6+ Kf8 .
28...Kf8 29.Qh8+ Ke7 30.Qxg7+ Kd6

31.Nxe4+ fxe4
31...dxe4 32.Qe5+ Kc6 33.Rc1+ Kb6 34.b4!
+.
32.Qe5+ Kc6
32...Kc5 is no salvation 33.Rc1+ Kb5
34.b4! +.
33.b4!
Accurate and decisive! Of course, White is
sufficient material up, but some 'technique'
is still required.
33...Kb6
33...axb4 34.Rc1+ Kb6 35.Qc7+ Ka6
36.Ra1+ +.
34.Qd6+
34.bxa5+ keeps an even firmer grip:
34...Ka7 35.Qd4+ Kb8 36.Qxd5 +.
34...Ka7
34...Lc6 does not solve anything 35.Qc5+
Kc7 36.b5 +.
35.Ra1
35.Qxd5 and White can already relax:
35...Rac8 36.Qxa5+ Kb8 37.b5 Lxb5 38.
Qxb5 +.
35...Lc6
35...a4 36.b5 Lxb5 37.Qc5+ Ka6 38.Rb1
and mate follows. 35...La4 also does not get
the cat down out of the tree: 36.Qc5+ b6
37.Qd4 +.
36.Qc5+
36.Qc7 is even faster: 36...a4 37.Qa5+
Kb8 38.Qxd8+ Ka7 39.Qa5+ Kb8 40.
Qc5 +.
36...Kb8 37.b5 Lxb5
37...Le8 38.b6 Rd7 39.Rc1 +.
38.Qxb5 a4
38...Ra7, praying for a miracle was 'forced'.
39.Qb6! Rd7 40.Qe6 Rc7 41.Qe8+ Rc8
42.Qe5+ Ka7 43.Qxd5
Black resigned. After 43...Rc6 44.Qd4+
Kb8 45.Qe5+ Kc8 46.Qh8+ Kc7 47.
Qxa8 + there is nothing to hope for. 1-0
Aronian Levon
Gelfand Boris
D46 Bursa 2010
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3
Nbd7 6.Qc2 Ld6 7.Ld3 0-0 8.0-0 dxc4
9.Lxc4 a6 10.Rd1 b5 11.Lf1 c5 12.a4 b4
13.Ne4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Rb8 (D)
26
60...Qc7 61.h4! + Qb7?! 62.hxg5 hxg5

63.Qh7 #.
61.Qe6 Qxb5 62.Qf7+ Kh4 63.Qg6 h5
64.Qe4!
Threatening both 65.g3 # and 65.Qe1 #.
64...g4 65.Qxf4
10
Ionov Sergey
Beliavsky Alexander
Azov 1991
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+p+-+kzp-'
6-+p+-+-+&
5zp-+p+P+-%
4-+-zPq+-+$
3+PmK-+-wQ-#
2P+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
47...b5 48.Qc7+
Or 48.Qg6+ Kg8 49.Qxc6 b4+ 50.Kd2
Qxd4+ 51.Ke2 Qe5+ 52.Kd2 Kf7
53.Qg6+ Ke7 54.Qg5+ Qf6 55.Qe3+
Kd6 56.Qb6+ Ke5 57.Qxa5 Qg5+
58.Ke2 Qg2+ 59.Kd1 Qf3+ 60.Kc1
Qc3+ 61.Kd1 Qd4+ 62.Ke2 Qe4+ 63.
Kd2 Kxf5 + and the g-pawn is unstoppable.
48...Qe7 49.Qc8
49.Qxc6 b4+ 50.Kd2 Qg5+ 51.Ke1
Qg1+ 52.Ke2 Qg4+ 53.Ke1 Qe4+
54.Kd1 Qxd4+ 55.Kc2 Qf2+ 56.Kd1
Qxf5 57.Qc7+ Ke6 58.Qxa5 Qe4 + is
similar to the previous note.
49...Qe3+ 50.Kc2 Qe4+ 51.Kc1 b4
52.Qc7+
52.Qxc6 Qf4+ 53.Kb2 Qxd4+ 54.Kc2
Qe4+ 55.Kd2 Qf4+ 56.Kd1 Qxf5
57.Qc7+ Ke6 58.Qxa5 Qg4+ 59.Kd2 g5
60.Qb6+ Kf5 61.Qa7 Qe4 +.
52...Qe7 53.Qc8 Qd6 54.Kd1 Kf6
55.Qg8 Qe7 56.Qc8 Qd6 57.Qg8 Qd7
58.Qf8+ Qf7 59.Qd6+ Kxf5 60.Qxc6

Qh5+ 61.Kc2 Qe2+ 62.Kc1 Qe3+
63.Kc2 Qxd4 64.Qd7+ Kf4 65.Qc7+
Kf3 66.Qxa5 g5
01
In each of the next four examples, an eventual pawn ending is of the utmost importance. You should be ready for precise calculations, bearing in mind queen exchanges.
Beliavsky Alexander
Dolmatov Sergey
Minsk 1987
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-zp&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+QmK-+$
3+-+-+P+P#
2-+q+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
The pawn structure is drawish and the black
king correctly placed on the kingside. Still,
Black should be careful to avoid a trick.
66...Qh2+?
66...Qc7+! was correct: 67.Qe5 Qf7+
68.Qf5 Qc7+ 69.Kg4 Qg7+ 70.Kh5 Kh8
71.h4 Qf7+ 72.Kg4 Qg8+ 73.Kh3 Qe8
74.h5 Kg7 75.Kg4 Qe3 76.Qg6+ Kf8
77.Qf6+ Kg8 78.Qd8+ Kg7 79.Qc7+
Kg8 80.Qc4+ Kg7 81.f4 Qb6 82.Qd5
Qa6 83.Qe5+ Kf7 84.Qf5+ Kg7 and,
with a certain degree of accuracy, Black will
escape.
67.Kf5 Qxh3+
67...Kf8 68.Qb4+ Kf7 69.Qc4+ Ke7
70.Qe6+ Kd8 71.Qxh6 +.
68.Kf6
The pawn ending is lost: 68...Qg2
(68...Qd7 69.Qg6+ Kf8 70.Qxh6+ Kg8
71.Qg5+ Kf8 72.Qc5+ Kg8 73.Qc4+
191
Qg1+ 92.Kh7 Qd4 (92...Qg3 93.Qg8+ +

; 92...Qa7+ 93.Kg8 Qg1+ 94.Qg7 Qd4
95.Qg6+ Ke7 96.Kg7 Qc3 [96...Qa1
97.Qf7+ Kd6 98.Kf6 +] 97.Qf5 +)
93.Qc8+ Kf7 94.Qc7+ Kf6 95.Qc6+ Kf7
96.Qg6+ Ke7 97.Kg7 Kd7 98.Kf6 Qc3
99.Qf5+ Kd8 100.Ke6 +.
79.Kh3 Qd6 80.f3 Qd4 (D)
Or 80...Kh7 81.Qg5 Qc5 82.Kg4 and with
the black king on h7 helpless to protect the
e-pawn, White easily wins.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-mk(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+-wqP+Q+$
3+-+-+P+K#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
81.Qe6 Qc5 82.Qf6+ Kh7 83.Kg4 Qc3
84.Kh5 Qa1 85.Qe7+ Kh8 86.Kg6
Qg1+ 87.Qg5
10
Beliavsky Alexander
Romero Holmes Alfonso
Leon 1994
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+p+k'
6-zp-+-+-zp&
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xabcdefghy
52...Qc2?
White is gaining an important tempo to
bring his queen back to e5 and hold up
Black's counterplay, while promoting his
passed b-pawn. Instead, Black had a chance
to place his queen on the central e5-square to
gain counterplay against the white king:
52...Qa2 53.Qd4 Qxa3 54.Qxb6 Qb2
55.b5 (55.Qc5 Kg6 56.b5 h5 57.b6 g4
58.Qc6+ Kg7! [58...f6? 59.Qe4+ Kg7
60.b7 +] 59.hxg4 hxg4 60.b7 Qe5 =)
55...Qe5 56.f3 h5 57.Qb7 Kg7 58.b6 g4
59.hxg4 hxg4 60.fxg4 f3+ 61.Kh3 f2
62.Qf3 f1Q 63.Qxf1 Qe3+ 64.Qf3 Qxb6
=.
53.f3 Qa2 54.Qf6 b5
54...Qxa3?! 55.Qxf7+ Kh8 56.Qf6+ Kh7
57.Qxb6 +.
55.Qf5+ Kg7 56.Qxb5 Qxa3 57.Qe5+
Kg6 58.b5 Qa5 59.Qe4+?
White had a way to promote his b-pawn
while escaping from perpetual check: 59.
Qd6+! f6 (59...Kh5 60.Qf6 Qe1 61.
Qxf7+ Kh4 62.Qc4 Qg3+ 63.Kg1 Qe1+
64.Qf1 Qe5 65.Qf2+ Kh5 66.b6 Qb5
67.Kh2 Qb4 68.h4! g4 69.fxg4+ Kxg4
70.Qf3+ Kxh4 71.Qc6 Kg5 72.b7 Qb3
73.Qe4 Qg3+ 74.Kg1 f3 75.Qd5+ Kh4
76.Qc4+ Kh5 77.Qf7+ Kh4 78. Qf6+
Kh5 79.Qxf3+ +) 60.b6 Qe1 61.Qd3+ f5
(61...Kh5 62.Qe4 +) 62.b7 Qg3+ 63.Kg1
Qe1+ 64.Qf1 Qb4 65.Qa6+ Kh5 66.Kh2
Qb1 (66...Qe1 67.b8Q Qg3+ 68.Kg1
Qe1+ 69.Qf1 +) 67.Qa7 g4 68.hxg4+
fxg4 69.fxg4+ Kxg4 70.b8Q +.
59...Kh5?
Here the black king will be subject to a mating attack. Instead 59...Kf6!, with the idea
of bringing the black king closer to White's
b-pawn, was the correct way to escape. If the
black king is close enough to the b-pawn,
White cannot exchange queens on e4 or f1
and the black queen perpetually checks the
white king: 60.Qc6+ Ke7 61.b6 Qe1 =.
Note that 59...Kg7? loses as well: 60.Qd4+
Kg8 (60...f6 61.b6 Qb5 62.Qd6 Kg6
63.Qc7 Qb1 64.Qc6 +) 61.b6 Qe1 62.
Qe4 +.
60.Qf5 f6
190
XABCDEFGHY
8-trlwq-trk+(
7+-+n+pzpp'
6p+-vlp+-+&
5+-zp-+-+-%
4Pzp-zPQ+-+$
3+-+-zPN+-#
2-zP-+-zPPzP"
1tR-vLR+LmK-!
xabcdefghy
15.Qd3!
A good novelty. 15.b3?! Lb7 16.Qd3 cxd4
17.exd4 Qa5 18.Lb2 Rfd8 Saladen,RAbreu Delgado,A Cali 2001.
15...cxd4 16.Qxd4 Le7 17.Qf4! Lf6
18.a5 Qe7 19.e4 e5 20.Qe3
White's position is preferable, as his pieces
can be coordinated and, compared to
Black's, can create more plans and threats.
20...Nc5 21.Rd5 Ne6 22.Nxe5 Lb7
23.Nd7 Lxd5 24.Nxf8 La8 25.Nxe6
Qxe6 26.Qa7
26.e5 looks attractive, but Black can get
sufficient compensation after 26...Lxe5!
(26...Qxe5?! 27.Qxe5 Lxe5 28.Lxa6 )
27.f4 Lf6 28.Qxe6 fxe6 29.Lxa6 Rd8 .
26...Rd8 27.Le3 Lxe4 28.Re1 Lxb2
29.Qb6! Rc8 30.Lf4 g5 31.Lg3 b3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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xabcdefghy
32.Re3?
32.Qxe6 fxe6 33.Rxe4 Lf6 seems to 'offer'
Black 'unnecessary complications' but White
has excellent winning chances after 34.Re1
b2 35.Ld3 Rc1 36.Rf1 Lc3 37.Lc7 h6
(37...Le1? 38.Le5 b1Q 39.Lxb1 Rxb1
40.Lc3 +) 38.Lb6 e5 39.Le3 Le1 40.g3.
32...Lf6?
A blunder in time trouble. 32...Lg7! seems
to hold: 33.Rxb3 h6 34.Qxe6 fxe6 35.Rb8
(35.Lxa6? Rc1+ 36.Lf1 Ld5 )
35...Rxb8 36.Lxb8 Lb7 37.Lc4 Kf7 =.
33.Rxe4! Qxe4 34.Qxf6
Black is plain lost - the bishop-pair is unstoppable.
34...Qg6 35.Qd4 h6 36.Le5 Re8 37.h4
Qf5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+r+k+(
7+-+-+p+-'
6p+-+-+-zp&
5zP-+-vLqzp-%
4-+-wQ-+-zP$
3+p+-+-+-#
2-+-+-zPP+"
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xabcdefghy
38.Lh8! Qh7 39.Qd7 Qe4 40.Lc3 gxh4
41.Ld3
1-0
Papaioannou Ioannis
A17 Bursa 2010
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.g4
This creative move has become popular recently. White aims to harass the knight and
if 4...Nxg4 then 5.Rg1 wins back the pawn.
Also, we must keep in mind that the idea of
this move is similar to that of the ShabalovShirov attack in the Anti-Meran: White
combines his development with an early
attack, which disturbs Black's development
plans. This move was discovered by GM
27
V.Zvjagintsev and applied by him in a rapid

game against M.Gurevich (Moscow 1996).
4...0-0
Of course, Black has many options here:
a) 4...h6 is more solid: 5.Rg1 (5.h3!?) 5...b6
(5...d6 6.h4 [6.g5 hxg5 7.Rxg5 g6 8.a3?!
Lxc3 9.bxc3 e5 10.c5?! e4 11.Nd4 dxc5
Jimenez,P-Benjamin,J New York 1998]
6...e5 7.g5 hxg5 8.hxg5 Ng4 9.Nd5 Lc5
10.d4 Lb6!? 11.Nxb6 axb6 Zvjagintsev,V-Benjamin,J Groningen 1997) seems to
be an automatic choice of todays experts of
this opening with Black: 6.Qc2 (6.d3!?
Lb7 7.e4 d5 8.e5 Nfd7 [8...d4!?] 9.a3
Lxc3+ 10.bxc3 dxc4 11.d4 b5 12.Rb1 a6
13.Lxc4 bxc4 14.Rxb7 Nb6 15.Qe2
Pelletier,Y-Huss,A Cannes 1998 ; 6.Qb3
Nc6 7.h4 Lb7 8.g5 hxg5 9.hxg5 Ng8
10.d4 a5 11.Ld2 a4 12.Nxa4 Lxd2+
13.Kxd2 Na5 14.Qc2 Lxf3 15.exf3 Rh4
16.Re1 Rxd4+ 17.Kc1 Qe7 18.a3 Nc6
19.Nc3 Rf4? 20.Nd5 1-0 Miroshnichenko, E-Kuzmenko,Y Kharkov 2000) 6...
Lb7 7.a3 Le7 8.g5 hxg5 9.Nxg5 Nh5
10.d4 Nc6 11.Nf3 Lf6 .
b) 4...d6!? 5.g5 (5.Qa4+?! Nc6 6.Nd4 Ld7
7.Nxc6? Lxc6 ) 5...Nfd7 (5...Lxc3 6.bxc3
Nfd7 7.d3 [7.Lg2 e5 8.d3 Nc6 9.h4 0-0
{9...Nb6?! 10.Le3 Qe7 11.Nd2 Ld7 12.a4
Na5 13.Nb3 Nakamura,H-Sokolov,A
Mainz 2009} 10.h5 Ne7 11.Rb1 Rb8 12.d4
b6 13.g6 fxg6 14.hxg6 Nxg6 15.Ng5 Nakamura,H-Pogorelov,R Reykjavik 2004 ; 7.d4
b6 8.a4 {8.h4 Nc6 9.e4 Na5 10.Le3 Qe7
11.Nd2 e5 12.h5 Lb7 13.Qg4 Mellado
Trivino,J-Tallo Dominguez,I Sabadell 2009; 8.
e4 Lb7 9.Ld3 Nc6 10.Le3 Qe7 11.Nd2
Gurevich,M-Istratescu,A Antalya 2004} 8...
Nc6 9.e4 Qe7 10.Le3 f5 Dobrov,VCarlsen,M Gausdal 2005] 7...b6 8.Lg2 [8.h4
Lb7 9.Rh3 Nc6 10.Nd4 Ne7 11.f4 c5
Milanovic,D-Drasko,M Vogosca 2007] 8...
Lb7 9.Rg1 c5 10.Nd2 Lxg2 11.Rxg2 Nc6
Kehrel,E-Smikalla,R Dortmund 2001)
6.Qc2 Nc6 7.a3 Lxc3 8.Qxc3 e5
Krasenkow,M-Bogdanovski,V Elista 1998.
c) 4...Lxc3 5.dxc3 d6 6.g5 Nfd7 7.Lg2 .
d) 4...d5 5.g5 Lxc3 6.bxc3 Ne4 7.d3 Nxc3
8.Qb3 Popov,V-Orlov,V St Petersburg

1999.
5.g5
5.Qb3 Le7 6.g5 Ne8 7.d4 b6 8.h4 Lb7
9.Rh3 f5 10.Lf4 Nc6 11.e3 Na5 12.Qc2
Nd6 13.Ne5 was tried in Miroshnichenko,E-Jedynak,R Swidnica 2000.
5...Ne8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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7zppzpp+pzpp'
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5+-+-+-zP-%
4-vlP+-+-+$
3+-sN-+N+-#
2PzP-zPPzP-zP"
1tR-vLQmKL+R!
xabcdefghy
Better than 5...Lxc3?! 6.bxc3 Ne8 (6...
Ne4?! 7.d3 ) 7.La3 d6 8.Rb1 Wright,
N-Hacche,D Canberra 2003.
6.Rg1
A plethora of other options has been played
in this position. A sample:
a) 6.Qc2 d5 7.e3 c5 (7...Nc6 8.d4 e5
9.Nxe5 Nxe5 10.dxe5 d4 11.exd4 Qxd4
12.Le3 Qxe5 13.0-0-0 Lxc3 14.Qxc3
Qxc3+ 15.bxc3 Nd6 16.c5 Nf5 17.Lf4
Le6 18.Lh3 c6 = Grachev,B-Riazantsev, A
Sochi 2004) 8.Rg1 Nc6 9.Ld3 Berresheim,H-Dauenheimer,T Germany 1999.
b) 6.Qb3 c5 7.a3 La5 8.Ne4 b6 9.Qe3 d5
10.cxd5 exd5 11.Ng3 Nc6 12.Lg2 Nc7
13.0-0 Lg4 14.Qf4 Lxf3 15.Qxf3 Qxg5
16.d4 Huzman,A-Nikolic,P Neum 2000.
c) 6.h4 d5 7.Qb3 Nc6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Qxd5
Qe7 10.e3 Nd6 11.Qb3 Lxc3 12.Qxc3
Ne4 Xu Hanbing-Szabo,Z Budapest
2000.
6...d5
The main alternative is 6...b6 7.Qc2 Lb7
8.a3 Lxc3 (8...Le7?! 9.d4 d5 10.cxd5 exd5
11.Lf4 c5 12.0-0-0 Najer,E-Berg,E Mos
28
64...Qc8+?
Black had to opt for 64...Qd7+! 65.Kg3
Qd3+ 66.Qf3 Qd8 67.Qg4 Qd3+ 68.f3
(68.Kg2 Qd4 69.h5 gxh5 70.Qxh5+ Kg7
71.Qf5 Qd6 72.Kh3 Kh6 73.Kg3 Qc7
74.Qf6+ [74.f3 Qg7+ 75.Qg4 Qc7
76.Qh3+ Kg5 77.Qf5+ Kh6 78.Qg4 Qc5
79.Qh3+ Kg6 80.Qe6+ Kh5 81.Qf5+
Kh6 82.Qf6+ Kh5 83.Qf5+ Kh6 = ;
74.Kg4 Qg7+ 75.Kh3 Qc7 =] 74...Kh5!
75.f3 Qg7+! 76.Qxg7 =) 68...Qd2!
(68...Qd6? 69.h5 gxh5 70.Qxh5+ Kg7
71.Qf5 Qc5 72.Qg5+ Kf7 73.Kg4 Qd6
74.Qh5+ Kg8 75.Qf5 [75.Kf5 Qd7+ =
76.Kxe5? Qb5+ +] 75...Kg7 76.Qg5+
Kf7 77.Kh5 Qb8 78.Qg6+ Ke7 79.Kh6
Qb2 80.Kg7 Qh2 81.Qf6+ Kd7 82.Qg5
Kc7 83.Qg6 Qb2 84.Kf6 +) 69.h5 Qe1+
70.Kg2 Qe2+ 71.Kh3 Qf1+ 72.Kh4
Qe1+ 73.Kg5 Qd2+ 74.Kf6 Qd6+
75.Kf7 Qc7+ 76.Ke6 Qc6+ 77.Kxe5
Qc5+ 78.Kf6 Qd6+ 79.Qe6 Qf4+
80.Ke7 gxh5 81.Qf5+ Qxf5 82.exf5 h4
83.f6 h3 84.f7 h2 85.f8Q h1Q and Black
has his king in the right corner to claim a
draw.
65.Kg3 Qc3+ 66.Qf3 Qc7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-wq-+-+k'
6-+-+-+p+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+-+P+-zP$
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xabcdefghy
67.Qf8?
67.h5! was possible: 67...gxh5 68.Qxh5+
Kg7 69.Qg5+ Kf7 (69...Kh7 70.Kg4 +)
70.Kg4 (70.Qf5+ Kg7) 70...Qb8 (70...
Qd6 71.f3 +) 71.f3! (71.Kf5? Qc8+ 72.
Kxe5 Qc5+ 73.Kf4 Qxf2+ =) 71...Qd6
72.Kh5 +.
67...Qd7 68.Qf6 Qd3+ 69.Qf3 Qd6

70.Qf7+ Kh8?
Correct was 70...Kh6 71.Qg8 Qf6 72.f3
Qf4+ 73.Kg2 Qf6 (73...Qxh4? 74.Qh8+
Kg5 75.Qxe5+ Kh6 76.Qh8+ Kg5
77.Qxh4+ Kxh4 78.f4 +) 74.Kg1 g5!
75.hxg5+ Qxg5+ 76.Qxg5+ Kxg5 77.Kg2
Kg6 78.Kf2 Kf6 79.Ke3 Ke7 80.Kd3
Kd6 81.Kc4 Kc6 =.
71.Kg4 Qd1+ 72.Qf3 Qd8
Or 72...Qg1+ 73.Qg3 Qa1 74.h5 Kg7
75.hxg6 Kxg6 76.Kh4+ Kf6 77.Qg5+
Kf7 78.Qh5+ Kg7 79.f3 Qd4 80.Qg4+
Kf7 81.Qf5+ Ke7 82.Kg5 Qg1+ 83.Qg4
Qb6 84.Qh4 Qe3+ 85.Kf5+ Kd7
86.Qh7+ Kc6 87.Qg6+ Kc5 88.Qg3 +.
73.h5 gxh5+ 74.Kxh5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
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4-+-+P+-+$
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1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
It is interesting for the theory of queen endings, whether and when such a pawn structure is winning. In general, if White brings
his king to f5 or f6, he is winning.
74...Qe8+ 75.Kg5 Qg8+ 76.Kh4 Qd8+
77.Kg3 Qd6 78.Qg4 Qg6
White is not obliged to take the queen. A bit
better was 78...Kh7 79.Qh5+ Kg8 80.f3
Kg7 81.Kg4 Qe6+ 82.Qf5 Qd6 83.Qg5+
Kf7 (with the king on f7 rather than h7,
Black has many more tricks. Still White's
position is winning:) 84.Kh5 Qd4
85.Qg6+ Ke7 86.Kg4 Qc5 87.Qg7+
(87.Kf5? Qc8+ 88.Kxe5 Qc5+ 89.Kf4
Qc1+ 90.Kf5 Qc5+ 91.e5 Qc2+ 92.Kg5
Qg2+ 93.Kh6 Qxf3 =) 87...Ke6 88.Qg8+
Kf6 89.Kh5 Qd4 90.Qf8+ Ke6 91.Kg6
189
Beliavsky Alexander
Rozanov Pavel
Moscow 2011
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
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6-+-+-+q+&
5+-+-zp-+p%
4-+-+P+-zP$
3+-+-+-zP-#
2-+-+-zPK+"
1+-+Q+-+-!
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59.Qf3!
Threatening 60.Qf5, with a won pawn ending.
59...Qe8 60.Qf5+ Kh6?
We will see in the game how White exchanged the g- and h-pawns, stripping the
enemy king from his pawn protection. Next,
White exploited this fact by bringing his
king close to the e5-pawn. So, better was
60...g6 61.Qf6 Kg8 62.g4 (the natural idea
62.f4, to obtain a passed e-pawn, doesn't
help, as the white king is open to checks and
has no reasonable way to hide somewhere:
62...exf4 63.Qxf4 Qc6 64.Qb8+ Kf7
65.Qb3+ Kf6 66.Kf3 Qd6 67.Qe3 Ke6
68.Qc3 Kf7 69.Qc4+ Kf6 70.Qd5 Qxd5
71.exd5 Ke5 =) 62...hxg4 63.Kg3 Kh7
64.Kxg4 (the idea to first strip the black
king, recapturing the pawns later, doesn't
work here: 64.h5 gxh5 65.Kh4 g3! 66.fxg3
Qg6 =) 64...Qd7+ 65.Kg3 Qd3+ 66.Qf3
(66.f3 Qd4 =) 66...Qd8 67.Qf7+ Kh6
68.Qd5 Qf6 69.Qd2+ Kh5 70.Qe2+ Kh6
71.Qg4 Qe7 72.Kg2 Qf6 = because White
has no way to exchange his h-pawn for the
black g-pawn.
61.g4 hxg4 62.Kg3 g6 (D)
An alternative such as 62...Qb5 is hopeless
as well: 63.Qg5+ Kh7 64.Qh5+ Kg8
65.Qxg4 Qb3+ 66.Kg2 Qc3 67.h5 Kh7
68.Qg6+ Kh8 69.h6 gxh6 70.Qxh6+ Kg8
71.Qf6 (71.Qg5+?! Kf7) 71...Qa1

(71...Kh7? 72.Qh4+ Kg6 73.Qg3+
Qxg3+ 74.Kxg3 Kg5 [74...Kh5 75.f4 +]
75.f3 Kf6 76.Kh4 Kg6 77.Kg4 Kf6
78.Kh5 +) 72.f3 Kh7 73.Kh2 Qd4
74.Kh3 Qf2 75.Qf5+ Kh6 76.Qe6+ Kh7
77.Qg4 Qd4 78.Qg5 Qb2 79.Kg3 Kh8
80.Qe7 Kg8 81.Kh3 Kh8 82.Kh4 Qf2+
83.Kg5 Qg3+ (83...Qxf3 84.Qf6+ Qxf6+
85.Kxf6 +) 84.Kh6 Qf4+ 85.Kg6 Qg3+
86.Qg5 +.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+q+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+pmk&
5+-+-zpQ+-%
4-+-+P+pzP$
3+-+-+-mK-#
2-+-+-zP-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
63.Qf6?
The correct continuation was 63.Qg5+!
Kh7 64.h5 gxh5 65.Kh4 + and White is
winning both the h- and g-pawns and then
penetrates with his king towards to the e5pawn or to the g6-square with threats.
63...Kh7 64.Kxg4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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6-+-+-wQp+&
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4-+-+P+KzP$
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2-+-+-zP-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
188
cow 2004) 9.Qxc3 c5 10.Lg2 (10.Rg3?!

d5 11.cxd5 exd5 12.d4 Nd6 13.Qc2 Ne4
14.Rg1 Nc6 15.Le3 Qe7 16.Lh3 Rfe8
Sales,J-Akobian,V Canberra 2008) 10...
d5 11.d3 d4 12.Qc2 Qc7 13.Ld2 Nd7
14.0-0-0 Agrest,E-Ivanchuk,V Sweden
2004.
7.Qb3
7.a3!? Le7 8.d4 dxc4 9.e4 c5 10.d5
Muse,D-Kurajica,B Sibenik 2005.
7...c5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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xabcdefghy
An early novelty. The usual continuation
was 7...Lxc3 8.Qxc3 Nd6 9.b3 Ne4 10.
Qc2 c5 11.Lb2 Nc6 = Vaisser,A-Sokolov,
A Val d'Isere 2002. Note that 7...Nc6?! fails
to 8.Nxd5! exd5 9.cxd5 .
8.cxd5 Nd6
8...Lxc3 9.Qxc3 Qxd5 10.b4 Na6 11.bxc5
was what White had wished for and 8...Nc7
9.dxe6 Lxe6 10.Qc2 Nc6 is a fair alternative. But Black could also proceed with
8...exd5 9.Qxd5 (9.Nxd5? Le6 10.e4 Nd6
) 9...Qb6 10.Qd3 Le6 .
9.Lh3 Na6 10.g6?!
Too optimistic. White should opt for
10.dxe6 c4! 11.Qc2 Lxe6 12.Lxe6 fxe6
which is the natural continuation, but this is
not in the style of Moro.
10...c4?!
Black continues to sacrifice material in exchange for the initiative. But perfectly playable was 10...fxg6! 11.dxe6 c4 12.Qc2
Nc5! (12...Nc7 ) 13.Nd5 Rxf3! 14.exf3
(14.Lg4 Rxf2! ; 14.Lg2 Nxe6 15.Lxf3

Nd4 ) 14...Nd3+ 15.Kf1 Lc5 .
11.gxh7+ Kh8 12.Qc2 exd5 13.Lxc8
Rxc8 14.Nxd5 Re8 15.Kf1?!
Here is the critical moment of the game.
White should have played 15.b3! c3
(15...cxb3 16.Qxb3 Nc4 17.Lb2!) 16.d4
Ne4 17.Ne3 Ld6 18.a3 .
15...Ne4! 16.Ne3 Qd7 17.Ng5 (D)
Maybe 17.Rg4 f5 18.Rh4 g5 19.Rh5 f4
20.Nxc4 Qf7 21.Nce5 Qxh5 (21...Qf5!?
22.Qxc8! Rxc8 23.d3 ) 22.Qxe4 was
Whites last chance.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+r+-mk(
7zpp+q+pzpP'
6n+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-sN-%
4-vlp+n+-+$
3+-+-sN-+-#
2PzPQzPPzP-zP"
1tR-vL-+KtR-!
xabcdefghy
17...Nac5! 18.Qxc4 Nxg5 19.Rxg5
19.Qxb4 Re4 20.Qc3 Nce6 .
19...Ne4 20.Qb5 (D)
Or 20.Qxb4 Nxg5 21.d3 Qh3+ 22.Ke1
Qxh2 . Black is really too active to fail.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+r+-mk(
7zpp+q+pzpP'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+Q+-+-tR-%
4-vl-+n+-+$
3+-+-sN-+-#
2PzP-zPPzP-zP"
1tR-vL-+K+-!
xabcdefghy
29
20...Rc6! 21.Rf5?
The last mistake, although after the 'correct'
21.Rh5 g6 22.Re5 Kxh7 White's position is not attractive either.
21...Nd6 22.Qd3 Rxe3
White's position is so bad that even 22...Qc8
was curtains.
23.dxe3 Qxf5 24.a3?!
White's position is of course lost but the text
loses instantly. 24.Qxf5 Nxf5 25.e4 was
the only way to prolong the fight.
24...Qh3+ 25.Kg1 Nf5!
And White resigned as mate is near...
0-1
Banikas Hristos
Tomashevsky Evgeny
E17 Bursa 2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Lb7
5.Lg2 Le7 6.Nc3 0-0 7.Qc2 c5 8.d5 exd5
9.Nh4 b5 10.cxd5 b4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsn-wq-trk+(
7zpl+pvlpzpp'
6-+-+-sn-+&
5+-zpP+-+-%
4-zp-+-+-sN$
3+-sN-+-zP-#
2PzPQ+PzPLzP"
1tR-vL-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy
The position was well-known to both players
but probably a bit better to White!
11.Nf5!!
A very strong novelty prepared by Banikas
beforehand. Previously 11.d6?! was played:
11...Lxg2 12.dxe7 Qxe7 13.Nxg2 bxc3
14.0-0 cxb2 15.Lxb2 d6 16.Ne3 Nbd7
17.Rfd1 Rfe8 18.Qd3 d5 19.Nxd5 Qxe2
20.Qc3 Rab8 21.Rd2 Qh5 22.Rad1 Qh6
23.Nxf6+ Nxf6 24.Rd6? Ne4 0-1 Agaragimov,D-Aroshidze,L Baku 2007.
11...d6
11...bxc3 12.Nxe7+! (12.d6? Lxg2 13.dxe7
Qa5! 14.exf8Q+ Kxf8 +) 12...Qxe7

13.d6 Qe4 14.Lxe4 Lxe4 15.Qxc3 Lxh1
16.f3 .
12.Ne4 Nxd5 13.0-0 Na6 14.Rd1 Nac7
15.Nxc5! dxc5 16.e4 Nb5 17.exd5
White's advantage is already great - the dpawn is a killer.
17...Ld6 18.Le3 Rc8 19.Rac1 c4 20.Qe2
Qf6 21.Nxd6 Nxd6 22.Lxa7 (D)
White has even won a pawn, preserving the
bishop-pair. The end should not be far way.
22...Rfe8 23.Qc2 Qd8 24.Lh3 f5 25.Le3
Qd7 26.Lf4 g6 27.Lf1 La6 28.b3! cxb3
29.Qxb3 Lxf1 30.Rxf1 Nf7 31.d6! + g5
32.Lxg5 Qxd6 33.Lf4 Qa6 34.Rxc8
Rxc8 35.Re1 Ra8 36.Qd5 Rd8 37.Qxf5
Qxa2 38.Lg5 Ra8 39.Lf6 Qc4 40.Re4
Qc1+ 41.Kg2
1-0
Gelfand Boris
Vescovi Giovanni
E07 Bursa 2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Lb4+
5.Ld2 Le7 6.Lg2 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.Lf4
Nbd7 9.Nc3 Nh5 10.Lc1 Nhf6 11.b3 b6
12.Nd2 Lb7 13.e4 Lb4 14.Lb2 c5
15.exd5 cxd4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7zpl+n+pzpp'
6-zp-+psn-+&
5+-+P+-+-%
4-vlPzp-+-+$
3+PsN-+-zP-#
2PvL-sN-zPLzP"
1tR-+Q+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
Negi Parimarjan
Beliavsky Alexander
Amsterdam 2007
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+Q+pmk-'
6-+-zp-+p+&
5+-+-zp-+p%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+-+-+P+P#
2-+-wq-+PmK"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
53...Qf4+! 54.Kh1 Qf6
Black is preparing the plan ...g5-g4 with two
ideas in mind: first is to isolate the e4-pawn
(in the case of exchanging pawns on g4) and
the second one is to move his g-pawn to g3,
in order to strangle the white king (if White
does not capture this pawn on g4).
55.Qc7 g5 56.Qd7 Qe6 57.Qd8?!
57.Qc6 was the best option: 57...g4 58.hxg4
hxg4 59.fxg4 (59.Kg1 g3 and the white king
gets into mating nets) 59...Qxg4 60.Qxd6
Qxe4 61.Qc7 Qe1+ 62.Kh2 Qe3 63.g4! (to
stop the advance of the f-pawn) 63...Qf2+
(63...Kg6 64.Qc8) 64.Kh3 Qf4 65.Qb8 and
it is very difficult for Black to make progress.
57...g4 58.hxg4 hxg4 (D)
16.Nb5!
This looks better than 16.Nce4?! exd5
17.Nxf6+ Qxf6 18.cxd5 Nc5 19.Ne4
(19.Nf3 Lc3 20.Lxc3 dxc3 21.Qd4 Rac8
22.Qxf6 gxf6 23.Nd4 Rfd8 24.Nf5 Kf8
25.Ne3 b5 Lieb,H-Straeter,T Germany
30
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-wQ-+-+(
7+-+-+pmk-'
6-+-zpq+-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+-+P+p+$
3+-+-+P+-#
2-+-+-+P+"
1+-+-+-+K!
xabcdefghy
59.Kh2
59.fxg4 Qxg4 60.Qxd6 Qxe4 seems a better option for White. However, Black has a
better move instead of 59...Qxg4:
59...Qh6+! 60.Kg1 Qe3+ 61.Kh2 Qxe4
62.Qxd6 Qf4+ and White cannot avoid the
queen exchange: 63.Kg1 (63.g3 Qh6+ + ;
63.Kh3 Qh6+ 64.Qxh6+ Kxh6 65.Kh4 f6
+) 63...Qd4+ 64.Qxd4 exd4 65.Kf2 Kf6
66.Ke2 Ke5 67.Kd3 f6 68.Kd2 Ke4
69.Ke2 d3+ 70.Kd2 Kd4 71.Kd1 Ke3
72.Ke1 d2+ 73.Kd1 Kd3 +. Also note
that 59.Kg1?! loses to 59...gxf3 60.gxf3
Qf6 +.
59...Qh6+ 60.Kg3 Qf4+ 61.Kf2 Qf6
62.Qd7 Qh4+ 63.Ke2
63.Kf1 g3 64.Qh3 Qxh3 65.gxh3 f5
66.exf5 Kf6 67.Kg2 Kxf5 68.Kxg3 d5
69.Kf2 d4 70.Ke2 (70.h4 Kg6 71.Ke2
Kh5 +) 70...Kg5 71.Kd3 Kh4 72.Ke4
Kxh3 73.f4 d3! 74.Kxd3 exf4 +.
63...Qg3 64.fxg4
The pawn ending after 64.Qxg4+ Qxg4
65.fxg4 Kf6 66.Kf3 Kg5 67.Kg3 f6
68.Kf3 Kh4 + is easily won for Black.
64...Qxg2+ 65.Ke3 Qg3+ 66.Ke2 Qf4
67.Qxd6 Qxg4+ 68.Kf2 Qf4+ 69.Kg1
(D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+pmk-'
6-+-wQ-+-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+-+Pwq-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
69...Qg5+
And the queen exchange is inevitable, leading to a won pawn ending...
70.Kf2 Qf6+ 71.Qxf6+ Kxf6 72.Kf3
Kg5 73.Kg3 f6
01
187
Queen Endings
Winning and Defending Techniques
Alexander Beliavsky
Concept
In this survey we will examine the winning
and defending techniques in queen endings,
when one side has an extra pawn.
In such endings, two factors are of high
importance: penetration by the king (of the
stronger side) and the possibilities to create a
perpetual check.
For this purpose we will use nine of my
personal games as examples:
Beliavsky Alexander
Byrne Robert
Moscow 1975
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+kzp-wQ&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+P+$
3+-+-+-+P#
2-+q+-mK-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
68.Kg3 Qc3+ 69.Kh4 Qe5?!
Not the best. After 69...Qd3! 70.Qg7
(70.g5 Qe4+ 71.Kh5 Qf3+ 72.Kg6 Qf5+
73.Kg7 Qxg5+ 74.Qxg5 fxg5 75.Kg6
Ke7 76.Kxg5 Kf7 =) 70...Qe3 71.Qg6
Ke7 72.Qf5 Kf7, the black king keeps
control over the g6-square and White cannot
make progress.
70.Qg6 Ke7 71.Qf5 Qe3 72.Kh5!
As we will see, Black cannot defend the f6pawn!
72...Qxh3+
72...Kf7? 73.Qg6+ Ke7 74.h4 +.
73.Kg6 Qh4 74.Qc5+ Ke8 75.Qc8+ Ke7
76.Qf5!
Zugzwang! Black is now forced to move his
queen to a passive position; otherwise he is
losing the f6-pawn.
76...Qh8 77.Qe4+ Kd6 78.Kf7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-wq(
7+-+-+K+-'
6-+-mk-zp-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+Q+P+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
78...Qh4?
The best move was 78...Kc5!, with the idea
to transfer the black king to a2/a3, where it
is correctly placed for the queen ending with
a g-pawn: 79.Qe7+ Kc4 80.Qxf6 Qh7+
81.Kf8 Qh3 82.g5 Qc8+ 83.Kg7 Kb3
84.g6 Ka2 =.
79.Qf5
Now White wins the f6-pawn and the black
king will stay on the wrong part of the
board. White's position is already winning
and the rest of the game was rather easy:
79...Kc7 80.Qc5+ Kb7 81.Qh5 Qf2
82.Qd5+ Kc7 83.Qc4+ Kb7 84.Qe4+
Kb8 85.Qe8+ Ka7 86.Qe7+ Ka8
87.Qd8+ Ka7 88.Qxf6 Qg2 89.g5 Qd5+
90.Kg7 Qh1 91.g6 Qh2 92.Qd4+ Ka6
93.Kf6 Qh6 94.Qe5 Ka7 95.Kf7 Qh3
96.g7 Qf3+ 97.Ke7 Qa3+ 98.Kd8 Qd3+
99.Ke8 Qc4 100.Kf8 Qf1+ 101.Ke7 Qc4
102.Qe3+ Kb7 103.Qf3+ Kb6 104.Qf6+
10
186
2006) 19...Nxe4 20.Lxe4 Lc3 21.Lxc3

dxc3 22.Qd3 g6 23.Rac1 Rac8 24.Rfd1
- Vaulin,A-Milovanovic,R Djakovo
1994.
16...e5?
A bad mistake. Black should have opted for
16...exd5 17.Nxd4 Re8?! (17...Nc5!)
18.cxd5 Nxd5 19.Nf5 N7f6 20.Nxg7 Kxg7
21.Lxd5 Qxd5 22.Qg4+ Korchnoi,VKuijf,M Tilburg 1992.
17.f4!
Now Black's central pawn chain is being
destroyed.
17...a6 18.fxe5 Nxd5
18...axb5 19.exf6 Nxf6 20.Lxd4 +.
19.cxd5 axb5 20.Lxd4
White has won a pawn, preserving his strong
central pawns - game over.
20...Lc5 21.Ne4 Re8
21...Lxd5 22.Lxc5 Nxc5 23.Nf6+! gxf6
24.Lxd5 +.
22.Lxc5 Nxc5 23.Nd6
1-0
Gashimov Vugar
Grischuk Alexander
B97 Bursa 2010
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 a6 6.Lg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd3
Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.f5 Le7 11.fxe6 fxe6
12.Le2 Qa5 13.Ld2 Qc7 14.g4 h6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsnl+k+-tr(
7+pwq-vl-zp-'
6p+-zppsn-zp&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-sNP+P+$
3+-sNQ+-+-#
2P+PvLL+-zP"
1+R+-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy
15.Qh3
A prepared novelty which caused Black to
fall into deep thought... 15.e5 was the old
continuation: 15...dxe5 16.Qg6+ Kf8

(16...Kd8 17.Nf3 Nc6 18.g5 Ne8 19.0-0
Nd4 20.gxh6 Nxe2+ 21.Nxe2 gxh6
22.Lc3 Ld6 23.Rbd1 Ld7 24.Rxd6
Qxd6 25.Lxe5 Qf8 26.Lxh8 Qxh8
27.Nfd4 Qg7 - Mamedov,N-Safarli,E
Baku 2009) 17.Nf3 Ld7 18.g5 Le8
19.Qd3 hxg5 20.Nxg5 Kg8 (20...Lf7
21.Nxf7 Kxf7 22.Rg1 Ld8 23.Ne4 Nxe4
24.Qxe4 Nc6 25.Qg6+ Kf8 26.Rf1+ Lf6
27.Rxf6+ gxf6 28.Qxf6+ Kg8 29.Rb3
Rh7 30.Lh6 Qa5+ 31.Kf1 1-0 Radjabov,T-Rowson,J Mallorca 2004) 21.Rg1
Qd7 22.Qg3 Nh5 23.Qxe5 Ld6 24.Qe4
Lxh2 25.Lc4 Nf6 26.Qg2 Qd4
27.Lxe6+ Kf8 28.Nf3 1-0 Mamedov,RCernousek,L Pardubice 2009. As all the
players on the white side are from Azerbaijan, we could easily name this variation after
Baku!
15...Rh7?!
15...Nc6 is the critical continuation. Probably White should opt for 16.Nxc6 Qxc6
17.g5 Nxe4 18.Qh5+ Kd7 19.Lf3 d5
20.Lxe4 dxe4 21.Rd1 . I am sure that the
Azerbaijani squad had done its homework
properly!
16.Rf1
16.g5!? hxg5 17.Nxe6 Qc6 18.Qf5 looks
nice for White.
16...Nc6 17.Nxc6 Qxc6 18.e5 dxe5
19.Ld3 e4 20.Nxe4! Nxe4 21.Qh5+?!
Attractive, but the other option with
21.Qe3! seems to give White what he had
wished for: 21...Nxd2 (21...Lh4+ 22.Kd1
Nf6 23.Lg6+ Ke7 24.Rb6 + ; 21...Nf6
22.Lg6+ Kd8 23.Qd3+ Ld7 24.Lxh7 )
22.Lg6+ Kd8 23.Qxd2+ Ld7 24.Lxh7
Rc8 25.Kf2.
21...Kd7 22.Rd1 Rh8! 23.Lf4?
23.Rf7 Nd6 24.Lb4 was forced. A sample continuation could be 24...Rf8 25.Lxd6
Rxf7 26.Qxf7 Qc3+ 27.Kf2 Kxd6
28.Lg6+ Kc7 29.Qxe7+ Kb6 30.Rd6+
Ka7 31.Ld3 Qd2+ =.
23...Lb4+! 24.c3 Nxc3 25.Ld2 Qd5!
Black is winning - his only problem is his
extreme time-trouble.
26.Rf7+ Kc6 27.Rc1 Kb6?!
31
27...Qxd3! 28.Qe5 a5! 29.Lxc3 Kb6

wins.
28.Le3+?!
White should have tried 28.Rxc3 Lxc3
29.Lxc3 Rd8! (29...Qxh5?! 30.gxh5 Rd8
31.Le4 Rd7 32.Rxg7 Rxg7 33.Lxg7
Ld7 34.Lxh6 ) 30.Qxd5 exd5 . But
from a practical point of view no-one can
blame White's choice.
28...Ka5! 29.a3 Ka4! 30.axb4 Qxd3
31.Qa5+ Kb3
Black's king is perfectly safe on White's
queenside!
32.Rxc3+ Qxc3+
32...Kxc3? 33.Qa3+ Kc2 34.Rc7+ Kb1
35.Rc1 #.
33.Ld2 b6! 34.Qxb6 Qe5+ 35.Kd1 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-+-tr(
7+-+-+Rzp-'
6pwQ-+p+-zp&
5+-+-wq-+-%
4-zP-+-+P+$
3+k+-+-+-#
2-+-vL-+-zP"
1+-+K+-+-!
xabcdefghy
35...Lb7!
Returning some material in order to activate
the pieces - a lesson to be learned!
36.Qxb7 Rhd8 37.Rf3+ Ka2 38.Rf2
Kb1 39.Qf3 Rac8
Threatening 40...Rc1 #!
40.Qb3+
If 40.Qa3 then 40...Rc3.
40...Qb2 41.Qxb2+ Kxb2
0-1
Sasikiran Krishnan
Aronian Levon
D15 Bursa 2010
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.g3
dxc4 6.a4 e6 7.Lg2 c5 8.dxc5 Qxd1+
9.Nxd1 Ld7 10.Ne5 Lc6 11.Nxc6 Nxc6
12.Ld2 Nd5 13.Rc1 Lxc5 14.Rxc4 Le7

15.Ne3 0-0-0 16.0-0 Kb8 17.Nxd5 exd5
18.Rc3 Rhe8 19.Re3 Lf6 20.Rxe8
Rxe8 21.e3 d4 22.Rc1 Lg5 23.Lxc6
bxc6 24.Rxc6 dxe3 25.Lxe3 Lxe3
26.fxe3 Rxe3 27.Rxa6 Rb3 28.Rd6 Kc7
29.Rd2 Rb4 30.Rc2+ Kd7 31.Rd2+
Kc7 32.Rc2+ Kd7 33.a5 Rb5 34.Rd2+
Kc7 35.Rc2+ Kd7 36.b4 Rxb4 37.Ra2
Kc7 38.a6 Kb8 39.Rf2 f6 40.Re2 h5
41.Re8+ Ka7 42.Re7+ Kxa6 43.Rxg7
Kb6 44.Rf7 h4 45.Rxf6+ Kc7 46.Rf4
Rb1+ 47.Kg2 hxg3 48.hxg3 Kd7 49.Re4
Rb8 50.Re3 Rh8 51.Kf3 Rf8+ 52.Kg4
Kd6 53.Kg5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-tr-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-mk-+-+&
5+-+-+-mK-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-tR-zP-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
78...h4!
78...g4? 79.Kxd2 h4 80.Ke2 Kg2 81.Rf4!
Kg3 82.Ra4 h3 83.Kf1! h2 84.Ra3+ + ;
78...Kg2? 79.Rf2+ + (79.Rd1 +) ;
78...d1Q? 79.Rxd1 +.
79.Rg1+ Kh2!
79...Kh3? 80.Kf2! Kh2 (80...g4? 81.Rh1
#) 81.Rd1! g4 82.Rxd2 g3+ 83.Kf3+!
Kh1 84.Rd4! g2 85.Rxh4+ Kg1 86.Rg4
+.
80.Rf1 Kg3
80...g4 = ; 80...Kg2 = ; 80...h3? 81.Kf3 + .
81.Rg1+ Kh2! 82.Kf2 h3
82...g4 =.
83.Rb1
83.Rd1 g4 84.Rxd2 g3+! 85.Kf3+!
(85.Kf1+? g2+ + - yes, Black can win, too)
85...g2! 86.Kg4! Kh1 87.Rd1+! =.
83...g4 84.Rd1 g3+ 85.Kf3
85.Ke3? =.
85...g2 86.Kf2! g1Q+! 87.Rxg1 d1N+!?
87...d1Q 88.Rxd1 =.
88.Rxd1
88.Kf1 Ne3+ = (88...Nf2!? 89.Kxf2 =).
Danielsson Gosta
Lange Wilfried
Helsinki 1952
53...Rg8+?
53...Kd5! 54.g4 Rg8+ is a theoretical
drawn position.
54.Kf6 Kd5 55.Re5+ Kd6 56.Re3 Kd5
57.Re5+ Kd6 58.Rg5! Rf8+ 59.Kg7
Rf3 60.g4 Rf4 61.Kh6 Ke7 62.Rg7+
Kf8 63.g5 Rf1 64.Ra7 Rg1
64...Kg8 65.Ra8+ (65.Kg6? Rf8! =)
65...Rf8 66.Rxf8+ Kxf8 67.Kh7 +.
65.Kg6 Rg2 66.Ra8+ Ke7 67.Ra5 Kf8
68.Ra8+ Ke7 69.Rg8!
Black resigned as White will be able to bring
about the 'Lucena Position' and win with the
'bridge' method: 69...Rg1 70.Kh7 Rg2 71.
g6 Rg1 72.Ra8 Rg2 73.g7 Rh2+ 74.Kg8
Rg2 75.Ra4 Rh2 76.Re4+ Kd6 77.Kf7
Rf2+ 78.Kg6 Rg2+ 79.Kf6 Rf2+ 80.
Kg5 Rg2+ 81.Rg4.
1-0
32
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-tr-mk(
7+-+-+-+p'
6-+-+-wq-zP&
5zp-zp-+-+-%
4P+P+-zP-tR$
3+P+-+QzP-#
2-+-+-zPK+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
49...Rg8!
Much better than resigning the game, as we
shall soon see.
50.Qd5?
Setting a small trap, which backfires big
time. Stalemate Alert! 50.Rh5 + ; 50.Rg4

+.
50...Rxg3+!!
50...Qxh4 51.Qe5+! + ; 51.Qxg8+ +.
51.Kf1
51.fxg3 Qb2+! 52.Kh3 Qh2+! 53.Kg4
Qxh4+! 54.Kf5 Qxf4+! 55.Ke6 Qf6+!
56.Kd7 Qd8+! 57.Kc6 Qb6+! = ;
51.Kxg3 Qxh4+! 52.Kf3 Qxf4+! 53.Ke2
Qxf2+! 54.Kd3 Qd2+! 55.Ke4 Qf4+! =.
51...Qa1+! 52.Ke2 Re3+! 53.Kxe3
53.fxe3 Qe1+! 54.Kf3 Qxe3+! 55.Kg4
Qxf4+! 56.Kh5 Qg5+! =.
53...Qc1+??
53...Qe1+! =.
54.Kf3??
54.Qd2 +.
54...Qe3+! 55.Kxe3
Petrosian Tigran V
Keres Paul
Garga 1953
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-mkP+p'
6-+P+-+-+&
5+-+-vl-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+KzP-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
51.c7! Lxc7 52.f8Q+! Kxf8 53.g4! h6
54.Kg2! Kf7 55.Kh1!
Demonstrating superior endgame stalematerelated knowledge.
55...Kf6 56.Kg2 Kg5 57.Kh1 Kf6
57...Kxg4? =.
58.Kg2 Kg5 59.Kh1 Kf4 60.Kg2 Lb6
61.Kh1 Kg3!?
Basically forcing a stalemate (in style!) in a
drawn endgame.
62.g5 hxg5
185
79...Kb6?? 80.Kxh4 + ; 79...Kd6 =.

80.Kxh4 Ke7! 81.Kg5 Kf8
81...Kf7 =.
82.Kh6 Kg8!
The black king arrives just in time to prevent
promotion.
83.Lb3+ Kh8! 84.h4
Horowitz Israel
Pavey Max
New York 1951
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-mk-+-+p'
6-+p+-+pzP&
5+-+p+pzP-%
4-zp-zP-zP-+$
3+-+-+L+-#
2-+Q+-zP-mK"
1tr-+-wq-+-!
xabcdefghy
White is pretty much lost, but the game continues.
74...Qc1
74...Qg1+ 75.Kh3 Ra3 76.Qe2 Qh1+!
(76...Kb6 77.Kh4 Qh2 #) 77.Kg3 Qxf3+
(77...Rxf3+ +) 78.Qxf3 Rxf3+ 79.Kxf3
b3 +.
75.Qe2 Qxf4+ 76.Kh3 Qxf3+??
76...Kd7 +.
77.Qxf3 Ra3 78.Kh4!!
A miraculous save by White. Black has no
choice but to end the game with stalemate.
78...Rxf3
Martin Rengel
Pomar Salamanca Arturo
Hollywood 1952
(see next diagram)
The pawn endgame is drawn. Black is playing for a win.
35.a4 Kxd5 36.h3 f6 37.g4 fxg4 38.hxg4 c5

39.Kf3 Kd6 40.Ke4 Ke6
40...g6 =.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-zp-+pzp-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5zp-mkP+p+-%
4-+p+-zP-+$
3+-zP-mK-zP-#
2P+-+-+-zP"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
41.Kf3 f5! 42.g5!
42.Kg3? Kd5! 43.gxf5 Ke4 44.Kg4 Kd3
45.Kg5 Ke3! 46.Kg4 Kf2! 47.Kh4 Kf3
48.Kg5 Kg3! 49.f6 gxf6+ 50.Kxf6 Kxf4
51.Ke6 Ke4 52.Kd6 Kd3 + ; 42.gxf5+
Kxf5 43.Ke3 Kg4 44.Ke4 g6! +.
42...Kf7 43.Kg3 Kg6 44.Kf3
44.Kh4.
44...Kh5 45.Kg3 g6!? 46.Kh3!
Forcing stalemate was the only way to avoid
a loss.
Bannik Anatoly
Ragozin Viacheslav
Riga 1952
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-zpp%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-mK-mk-#
2-+-zp-+-+"
1+-+-+R+-!
xabcdefghy
184
Fier Alexander
Banikas Hristos
C92 Bursa 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 a6 4.La4 Nf6
5.0-0 Le7 6.Re1 b5 7.Lb3 d6 8.c3 0-0
9.h3 Lb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Lf8 12.a4
h6 13.Lc2 exd4 14.cxd4 Nb4 15.Lb1 c5
16.d5 Nd7 17.Ra3 c4 18.axb5 axb5
19.Nd4 Rxa3 20.bxa3 Nd3 21.Lxd3
cxd3 22.Nxb5
22.Lb2 Qa5 23.Nf5! Kasparov,GKarpov,A London/Leningrad 1986 is a wellknown game, but of course much analysis
has been done since then ... 22.N2b3 Nc5
23.Nxc5 dxc5 24.Nxb5 Qa5 25.a4 Ra8
26.Ld2 Qxa4 27.Qxa4 Rxa4 28.Nc3
Rb4 29.Rb1 Rxb1+ 30.Nxb1 f6 31.f3 c4
32.Kf2 Kf7 33.Le3 Lb4 34.Ld4 g5
35.Ke3 Lc8 36.Nc3 Ld7 37.g4 - Wu
Xibin-Xu Jun China 1987 was another try.
22...Qa5
It seems that Black can also try 22...La6
23.a4 Lxb5 24.axb5 Qb6 25.Nc4 Qxb5
26.Qxd3 f5 Doran,C-Fox,A Liverpool
2008 or 22...Qb8 23.a4 La6 24.Lb2 Lxb5
25.axb5 Qxb5 26.Ld4 Ra8 HoshadRino1 Internet 2007.
23.Nd4 Qc3 24.Nb5
Or 24.Nf5 Nc5 25.f3 Lxd5 26.exd5
Rxe1+ 27.Qxe1 Nb3 28.Qe8 Qxc1+ 29.
Kh2 Nxd2 30.Ne7+ Kh7 31.Qxf8 Nf1+
32.Kh1 Ng3+ 33.Kh2 Nf1+ 34.Kh1 -
Shirov,A-Karjakin,S Bilbao 2009.
24...Qa5 25.Nd4 Qc3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+rvlk+(
7+l+n+pzp-'
6-+-zp-+-zp&
5+-+P+-+-%
4-+-sNP+-+$
3zP-wqp+-+P#
2-+-sN-zPP+"
1+-vLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
26.Qa4?
After repeating moves, White 'found' a dubious novelty over the board.
26...Rxe4! 27.Rxe4
27.Rf1 Rxd4 28.Qxd7 Lxd5 +.
27...Qxc1+ 28.Kh2 Qxd2?
Returning the favour! After the simple
28...Lxd5 White will not survive.
29.Qxd7 Lxd5 30.Re8?
The intermediate 30.Nf3! would have saved
the half point: 30...Qc1 31.Re8 Qf4+ 32.
Kg1 Qc1+ (32...Lxf3? 33.Rxf8+! Kh7
34.Rxf7 Qe5 35.Rxf3 d2 36.Rd3 Qe1+
37.Kh2 d1Q 38.Rxd1 Qxd1 39.a4 +)
33.Kh2 Qf4+.
30...Qf4+ 31.Kg1 d2! 32.Qa4 (D)
Or 32.Rxf8+ Kh7! 33.Qa4 Qe4 34.f3
Qe1+ 35.Kh2 d1Q +.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+Rvlk+(
7+-+-+pzp-'
6-+-zp-+-zp&
5+-+l+-+-%
4Q+-sN-wq-+$
3zP-+-+-+P#
2-+-zp-zPP+"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
32...Lc6!!
Brilliant, but what follows is even more brilliant!
33.Rxf8+ Kxf8 34.Ne6+ Kg8!
White resigned due to 35.Nxf4 Lxa4 and a
new queen is born ...
0-1
Gelfand Boris
Nakamura Hikaru
E97 Bursa 2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Lg7 4.e4 d6
5.Nf3 0-0 6.Le2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7
9.Nd2 Ne8 10.b4 f5 11.c5 Nf6 12.f3 f4
13.Nc4 g5 14.a4 Ng6 15.La3 Rf7 16.b5
dxc5 17.Lxc5 h5 18.a5 g4 19.b6 g3
20.Kh1 Lf8 (D)
33
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-vlk+(
7zppzp-+r+-'
6-zP-+-snn+&
5zP-vLPzp-+p%
4-+N+Pzp-+$
3+-sN-+Pzp-#
2-+-+L+PzP"
1tR-+Q+R+K!
xabcdefghy
21.d6
Here comes a novelty. Older games continued with 21.Lg1 Nh4 (21...axb6 22.axb6
Rxa1 23.Qxa1 h4 24.h3 Lxh3 25.gxh3
Qc8 26.Kg2 Nh7 27.Nxe5 Nxe5 28.Ld4
Ng5 29.Rh1 Nd7 30.Nb5 Nxb6 31.Qa5
Nd7 32.Qc3 c6 33.dxc6 bxc6 34.Na7 Qc7
35.Lc4 c5 36.Lf6 Nxf3 37.Kxf3 Qxa7
38.Ra1 Qb7 39.Qb2 Qc6 40.Ra6 Qxa6
41.Lxa6 Rxf6 42.Lc4+ Kh8 43.Le6 1-0
Arbakov,V-Gufeld,E Soviet Union 1986)
22.Re1 Nxg2 23.Kxg2 Rg7 24.Nxe5
gxh2+ 25.Kh1 Nxe4! 0-1 Roussel Roozmon,T-Charbonneau,P Montreal 2008.
21...axb6 22.Lg1
22.axb6 Rxa1 23.Qxa1 cxd6 24.Rd1 Rd7
25.Lg1 d5 is fine for Black.
22...Nh4 23.Re1 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-vlk+(
7+pzp-+r+-'
6-zp-zP-sn-+&
5zP-+-zp-+p%
4-+N+Pzp-sn$
3+-sN-+Pzp-#
2-+-+L+PzP"
1tR-+QtR-vLK!
xabcdefghy
23...Nxg2!!
Like a previous game - see the notes to the
21st move!
24.dxc7?
White had to opt for 24.Kxg2 Rg7!
25.dxc7 (25.hxg3 Qd7!) 25...gxh2+ 26.Kh1
(26.Kxh2? Ng4+ 27.fxg4 Qh4+ 28.Kg2
hxg4 +) 26...hxg1Q+ 27.Rxg1 Qxc7
and pray...
24...Nxe1! 25.Qxe1
25.cxd8Q? g2 # is the dream picture of a
KID player!
25...g2+! 26.Kxg2 Rg7+ 27.Kh1 Lh3!
28.Lf1
28.cxd8Q? Lg2 #.
28...Qd3!!
Gelfand must have felt fed-up facing so
many mating threats...
29.Nxe5
29.Lxd3 Lg2 # or 29.Lxh3 Qxf3+
30.Lg2 Qxg2 # justifies the previous note
and 29.Ne3 Lxf1 30.Qxf1 Qxf1 31.Nxf1
Rxc7 is just curtains.
29...Lxf1 30.Qxf1 Qxc3 31.Rc1 Qxe5
32.c8Q Rxc8 33.Rxc8 Qe6
And White, a full knight down, called it a
day... A crushing win by the talented American super-player!
0-1
Vitiugov Nikita
Arun Prasad
B13 Bursa 2010
1.c4 c6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 Nf6
5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Lf4 Le6 7.c5 g6 8.Lb5
Lg7 9.Nf3 0-0 10.h3 Ne4 11.Lxc6 bxc6
12.Qa4 Qc8 13.0-0 Nxc3 14.bxc3 f6
15.Rfe1 Re8 16.Re3 Qd7 17.Rae1 Lf7
18.h4 Rac8 19.Qc2 Rcd8 20.Qe2 Lf8
21.Nh2 Qf5 22.Rf3 Qc8 23.Qd2 Lg7
24.Lh6 Lh8 25.h5 e5 26.dxe5 fxe5
27.Qg5 Re6 28.Ng4 Rde8 29.Nf6+
Lxf6 30.Rxf6 Qc7 31.f4 Qe7 32.Rxe6
Lxe6 33.Qxe5 Qf7 34.Qd6 Ld7 35.Rf1
Qe7 36.hxg6 Qxd6 37.cxd6 hxg6 38.Rb1
Kf7 39.Rb7 Ke6 40.Lg7 Lc8 41.Rxa7
Kxd6 42.Kf2 Lf5 43.a4 Kc5 44.Rb7
Ra8 45.Rb4 Lc2 46.a5 Kd6 47.Le5+
Ke6 48.Lc7 Kf5 49.Ke3 Le4 50.g3 Kg4
51.Kd4 Ra6 52.Kc5 Lg2 53.Rb8 Lf1
34
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+p'
6-+-vl-+p+&
5+-+N+p+-%
4-+-+-+-zP$
3+-+-+kzPK#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
White needs to defend. He does so in a most
attractive way, resulting in a stalemate.
64.Nf6! h5
64...Lxg3 65.Nxh7 =.
65.Nd5 Kf2!?
65...Lxg3 66.Ne7 =.
66.Nf6! Lxg3 67.Ne4+! fxe4
An amusing sequence of good moves, also
ending in a draw, may happen after:
67...Ke3 68.Nxg3 f4 69.Nf1+ Ke2!
70.Kg2! f3+ 71.Kg1 f2+ 72.Kg2 Ke1
73.Ng3 g5!! 74.hxg5 h4 75.Nf1 h3+
76.Kh2! (76.Kxh3?? Kxf1 +) 76...Kxf1
77.g6 Ke2 78.g7 f1Q 79.g8Q =.
Kotov Alexander
Chekhover Vitaly
Leningrad 1938
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+P+-+-+&
5+-+-+p+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3zpK+-+-mk-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
60...a2
A typical pattern recognition move. Black
realizes the stalemate pattern which does not
include an extra pawn, so he decided to play
it safe and transpose into a familiar position.
60...f4 61.c7 f3 62.c8Q f2 =.
61.Kxa2
61.Kb2 =.
61...f4 62.c7 f3 63.c8Q f2 64.Qg8+ Kh2
65.Qc4 Kg2 66.Qe2! Kg1!
66...Kh1?? 67.Qf1+! +.
67.Qg4+ Kh1
67...Kh2 = ; 67...Kf1? (its never too late to
lose) 68.Kb2 Ke1 69.Qg3! Ke2 70.Qg2!
Ke1 71.Kc2! f1Q 72.Qd2! #.
68.Qf3+ Kg1 69.Qg3+ Kh1 70.Qxf2
Trifunovic Petar
O'Kelly de Galway Alberic
Hilversum 1947
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+Pmk-+-+-'
6L+-+l+-+&
5+-+-+p+-%
4-+-mK-+-zp$
3+-+-+P+P#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
Another important to know endgame, with
the main line resulting in a stalemate.
55...f4! 56.Lf1 Kxb7 57.Ke5 Ld7 58.Kxf4
Lc6!
Black knows the target: stalemate on the h8square.
59.Kg4 Lxf3+! 60.Kxf3 Kc7 61.Kf4
Kd7 62.Kf5 Ke7 63.Lc4 Ke8 64.Kf6
Kf8 65.Kg6 Ke7 66.Kg7 Ke8 67.Le6
Ke7 68.Lf7 Kd7 69.Kf6 Kd8 70.Ke6
Kc8 71.Ke7 Kc7 72.Ld5 Kc8 73.Lc6
Kc7 74.Ld7 Kb7 75.Kd6 Kb8 76.La4
Kc8 77.Ke6 Kd8 78.Kf6 Kc7 79.Kg5
Kd8
183
wishful thinking only.

66...Kg3 67.Kg1 Kf3!? 68.Kh2
68.Kf1? as knowledge of 'king opposition'
fails here: 68...h2 +.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-mk$
3+-+-+-+p#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+K!
xabcdefghy
68...Kg4 69.Kh1 Kg3 70.Kg1 h2+
71.Kh1
Stalemate Alert!
71...Kh3
Black can only be 'happy' with keeping his
material advantage, but not more.
Walter Max
Nagy Geza
Gyor 1924
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-mk-+(
7+-+-+q+-'
6p+-+-zP-+&
5+p+-zp-+-%
4-zP-+P+QvL$
3zP-+r+-+P#
2-+-+-zP-mK"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
White stands better. The path to a win, if
any, is still a long way ahead. We are about
to see a beautiful stalemate combination
unleashed by Black.
56.Qc8+
56.Lg5 Rxa3? 57.Lh6+ Ke8 58.Qc8 #.
56...Qe8 57.Qxa6?
'Greed in a good cause is still greed'. Black's
a6-pawn was of no practical value to begin
with. Whites king safety concerns rise, with
the white queen positioned far away.
57...Rxh3+!! 58.Kxh3 Qe6+!! 59.Qxe6
Janowski Dawid Markelowicz

Gruenfeld Ernst
Marienbad 1925
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+k'
6-zp-tR-+p+&
5+-+-+-+p%
4pmK-+-+-+$
3zP-+-+-+r#
2-zP-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
58...Rb3+?
Faced with material loss, Black is distracted
from his winning plan - passed pawns
should be pushed!: 58...g5 or 58...h4 +.
59.Kxa4 Rxb2?
Stalemate Alert! 59...Rf3 60.Rxb6 h4
61.Rc6 h3 62.Rc2 g5 +.
60.Rd7+!
60.Rxg6?? b5+ + ; 60...Rb4+!? +.
60...Kh6
60...Kh8 61.Rh7+! =.
61.Rh7+! Kg5
61...Kxh7 =.
62.Rxh5+! Kf6 63.Rf5+! Kg7
63...Ke6 64.Rf6+ =.
64.Rf7+! Kh6 65.Rh7+! Kg5 66.Rh5+!
gxh5
Nimzowitsch Aaron
Davidson Jacques
Semmering 1926
182
54.Rg8 Ld3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+R+(
7+-vL-+-+-'
6r+p+-+p+&
5zP-mKp+-+-%
4-+-+-zPk+$
3+-zPl+-zP-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
White's advantage does not lie only in his
extra pawn, but also in his better-placed
pieces - look at the offside black rook on a6.
55.Re8! Lf5 56.Lb6 Kxg3 57.Kxc6
Kxf4 58.Kxd5?!
58.Rf8! Ke5 59.c4! dxc4 60.Kb5 wins.
58...g5 59.c4 g4 60.Kc6?!
60.c5! g3 61.Lc7+ Kf3 62.Rf8 was again
a simple win.
60...Le4+ 61.Kb5 Ra8 62.Lc7+ Kf5
63.Re5+ Kf4 64.a6 Ke3
64...Kf3 65.Re7 Ld3 66.Rf7+ Ke2
67.Rf4 +.
65.Re7 Kd3 66.c5 Rg8 67.a7 La8
68.Lg3 Rc8 69.Re6 Kd4 70.c6 Kd5
71.Rd6+ Ke4 72.Kb6 Kf3 73.Lh4
Black resigned due to 73...g3 74.Lxg3
Kxg3 75.c7 and Rd8.
1-0
Esen Baris
Rodshtein Maxim
E62 Bursa 2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Lg7 4.g3 0-0
5.Lg2 d6 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Nc3 Lf5 8.d5 Na5
9.Nd4 Ld7 10.Qd3 Ng4 11.f4 c5 12.Nc2
a6 13.Rb1 b5 14.b3 Rb8 15.Ld2 f5 16.h3
Nf6 17.Kh2 Re8 18.Lf3 Kh8 19.Ne3 b4
20.Ncd1 e5 21.dxe6 Lxe6 22.Nf2 Qd7
23.g4 Nc6 24.g5 Ng8 25.Rfe1 Nge7
26.Rbd1 Rbd8 27.Lc1 Nd4 28.Lg2 d5
29.cxd5 Nxd5 30.Nxd5 Lxd5 31.e3
Lxg2 32.Kxg2 Qc6+ 33.Kf1 Ne6 34.
Qc2 Nc7 35.Rxd8 Rxd8 36.Rd1 Re8

37.Qc4 Nb5 38.Rd5 Rc8 39.Qd3 Qa8
40.Ld2 Nc3 41.Lxc3 bxc3 42.Rd7 Re8
43.Rxg7 Kxg7 44.Qxc3+ Kf7 45.Qc4+
Re6 46.Qxc5 Qc6 47.Qd4 Qf3 48.Qa7+
Re7 49.Qxa6 Qxe3 50.Qc4+ Kg7 51.a4
h6 52.h4 Qb6 53.b4 Rc7 54.Qd5 Kh7
55.Nd3 Re7 56.h5 hxg5 57.fxg5 Qe3
58.hxg6+ Kxg6 59.Nf2 f4 60.b5 f3
61.Qd3+ Kxg5 62.Qd5+ Kg6 63.Qd3+
Kg5 64.Qd5+ Kg6 65.Qd3+ Qxd3+
66.Nxd3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-tr-+-'
6-+-+-+k+&
5+P+-+-+-%
4P+-+-+-+$
3+-+N+p+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+K+-!
xabcdefghy
This is objectively a drawn position, but
both players were down to their last seconds.
66...Kf5
66...Re3 67.Nc5 Re5 68.Nd3 Re4
69.Kf2 Rxa4 70.Kxf3 Ra5 = was simple.
67.b6 Ke4 68.b7 Re8 69.Kf2!
Of course 69.Nc5+? Ke3 70.Nd7 Rh8! +
had to be avoided, but also leading to a draw
was 69.a5 Kd5 (69...Ke3? 70.a6 Rh8
71.Nf2 +) 70.a6 Kc6.
69...Kxd3?
Unexpected, but welcome! Black could draw
with 69...Kd5 70.a5 Kc6 71.a6 Kb6.
70.a5
The white pawn-phalanx is unstoppable.
70...Ke4 71.a6 Rd8 72.a7 Rd2+ 73.Kg3
f2 74.b8Q
74.Kg2 f1Q+ 75.Kxf1 Kf3 76.Ke1 wins.
74...f1Q 75.a8Q+ Rd5 76.Qb4+ Ke3
77.Qe8+
Black resigned due to 77...Kd3 78.Qee4 #.
1-0
35
Tartakower Saviely
Vajda Arpad
Vienna 1921
Pawns on the Same Rank

Efstratios Grivas
Concept
In various Hedgehog structures or even
sometimes Sicilian Defence - Dragon
structures (reversed or natural), Black (or
White - it depends) forgets about the main
breakthrough ...b5 (b4) and goes for a kingside expansion with his f- and g-pawns.
So, suddenly we have to deal with positions where one side has most of his pawns
on his 3rd rank (a6, b6, d6, e6 and f6/f5) and
his g-pawn on g5! Not an everyday concept
in these structures by any means!
Of course, this kind of position cannot be
found in many games, but still some interesting ones have been played. Lets start with
an old boring one by the king of safety,
Tigran Petrosian:
Keres Paul
Petrosian Tigran
B39 Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade 1959
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6
5.c4 Lg7 6.Le3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Ng4 8.Qxg4
Nxd4 9.Qd1 Ne6 10.Qd2 d6 11.Le2
Ld7 12.00 00 13.Rac1 Lc6 14.Rfd1
Nc5 15.f3 a5 16.b3 Qb6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7+p+-zppvlp'
6-wqlzp-+p+&
5zp-sn-+-+-%
4-+P+P+-+$
3+PsN-vLP+-#
2P+-wQL+PzP"
1+-tRR+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
A passive variation where Black is satisfied
with a draw. But it suited the style of the exWorld Champion well!
17.Nb5
Nowadays, White prefers 17.Nd5 as in

Bezgodova,M-Dibirova,U Dagomys 2009.
17...Rfc8
After 17...Lxb5?! 18.cxb5 Qd8 Black is in
trouble: 19.Lc4 b6 20.Ld5 Rb8 21.a3!
Ivkov,B-Kestler,H Buesum 1969.
18.Lf1
The inaccurate 18.Qe1?! allows Black to
opt for 18...Lxb5 19.cxb5 Lh6! 20.Lf1
Lxe3+ 21.Qxe3 Na4 22.Qxb6 Nxb6 =
Damljanovic,B-Velimirovic,D Becici 1994.
With this typical manoeuvre (...Qb6,
...Rfc8, ...Qd8), Black was able to bring all
his forces to better squares. But still he suffers from a lack of space.
18...Qd8 19.Qf2 Qe8 20.Nc3
Also possible is 20.Rc2 Nd7 21.Rdc1 as
in Cabrera Moreno,D-Barcena Laguia,F
Aragon 2007.
20...b6 21.Rc2 Qf8
Planning to exchange the bishops with
...Lh6; a good idea when there is not much
space in your camp!
22.Qd2 Ld7 23.Nd5 Rab8 24.Lg5 Re8
25.Re1 Rb7 26.Qf2?!
White is lacking a good plan, which should
be to push his pawn on b4 and restrict the
black knight. 26.Rb1 and a3 was attractive.
26...Lc6 27.Qh4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+rwqk+(
7+r+-zppvlp'
6-zplzp-+p+&
5zp-snN+-vL-%
4-+P+P+-wQ$
3+P+-+P+-#
2P+R+-+PzP"
1+-+-tRLmK-!
xabcdefghy
XABCDEFGHY
8-mk-+-+-+(
7+-+K+-+-'
6-+-sN-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4R+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2p+-+-+-+"
1tr-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
Knowing your stalemates will increase your
own practical performance when defending
materially imbalanced endgames. For the
record, any black move draws, with best
play by both sides.
71...Rc1! 72.Rxa2 Rc7+! 73.Kd8
Rd7+!!
Drawing in style!
74.Kxd7
Brinckmann Alfred
John Walter
Hamburg 1921
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-mk-+(
7zp-+-+r+-'
6-+p+R+-+&
5+-zPp+p+-%
4-+-zP-wq-zp$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-wQ-+-+-zp"
1+-+-+-+K!
xabcdefghy
Heavy artillery is still at large, thus careful
play is needed to end the game with its logi-
36
cal conclusion. As we are about to see,

Black was not careful enough.
37...Rg7!
Stalemate Alert!
38.Re8+!
38.Qb8+?? Qxb8 39.Re8+ Qxe8 +.
38...Kxe8??
38...Kf7! 39.Rf8+! Kg6! + (39...Kxf8??
40.Qb8+!! =).
39.Qb8+!! Qxb8
Jacobsen Ernst
Spielmann Rudolf
Copenhagen 1923
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-+-+-zp-'
6-+-+K+P+&
5+-+-+-+P%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
Chess masters of today might agree to a
draw here. Recreational and amateur tournament players can opt to play on, as one
practical chance, especially with rapid and
blitz time controls, still does exist.
73.Ke7!
73.Kf5!? Kf8 74.Kg4 Kg8! 75.Kg5 Kh8
76.h6 Kg8! =.
73...Kh8 74.h6! Kg8!
74...gxh6? 75.Kf7 + or 75.Kf8 +.
75.h7+ Kh8 76.Kd6
Cancelliere Giuseppe
Seitz Jakob Adolf
Trieste 1923
(see next diagram)
The edge pawn might deserve its one diagram. Black's winning chances remain with
181
77.Rh6+!! gxh6
77...Kg4 78.Rh4+! (78.Rxh3? Rg1+!
[78...Rg3 +] 79.Kh2 Rh1+ +) 78...Kg3
79.Rxh3+! = ; 77...Kg3 78.Rxh3+! =.
Znosko Borovsky Eugene

Salwe Georg
Ostend 1907
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-tR(
7+-+-+-+P'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+p+-%
4-+-+-mk-+$
3+-+-+p+-#
2r+-+-+-+"
1+-+-mK-+-!
xabcdefghy
The endgame is drawn. Its end is highly instructive.
44...f2+
44...Rh2 45.Kf1 Rh6 46.Ra8!? Rxh7
47.Rb8 =.
45.Kf1 Kf3
Stalemate Alert!
46.Ra8!! Rxa8
46...Re2? 47.Ra3+ +.
47.h8Q!
Note how the newly promoted white queen
multitasks in controlling the a1-square. 47.
h8R?? Ra1 #.
47...Rxh8!
Maliutin Boris Evgenievich

Gregory Bernhard
Breslau 1912
(see next diagram)
White is nearing the moment of Black's resignation, and 'only' in need of good technique. Instead, we shall soon witness Black's
eye-catching combination leading to a
memorable stalemate.
42...Lc4! 43.Rxg5+ Kh4!

Stalemate Alert!
44.Rxc4?
44.Nd2! Rxd2 (44...Kxg5 45.Nf3+ +)
45.Rc5! +.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+l+-+&
5tR-+-+-zpk%
4-tR-+N+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzPr+-+PmK"
1+-+-tr-+-!
xabcdefghy
44...Rh1+!!
44...Rxc4?? 45.g3 #.
45.Kxh1 Rc1+!! 46.Kh2 Rh1+!! 47.
Kxh1
Tartakower Saviely
Spielmann Rudolf
Vienna 1913
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-mK-mk-#
2-+-+-sN-zp"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
This endgame features one of the first recorded instances of a spectator-friendly stalemate idea which involves a knight sacrifice.
57.Nh1+ Kg2 58.Ke2!? Kxh1! 59.Kf1
180
27...f6!
Black stayed in passive mode for a long period; it is time to start restricting the white
pieces. First is the white bishop which is
forced to retreat.
28.Le3 e6!
And now it's the knight's turn.
29.Nc3 Rd7 30.Ld4 f5!
Putting the white centre under fire. Slowly
but surely the black pieces come to life.
31.exf5
White cannot live with a weak pawn on e4...
31...gxf5 32.Rd2 Lxd4+ 33.Rxd4 Rg7
34.Kh1 Rg6!
Making room for another heavy piece to
come onto the g-file and the rook can protect
the d6-pawn after an eventual ...e5. 35.Rd2
Rd8 36.Red1 Rd7 37.Qf2 Qd8 38.Qe3
(D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-wq-+k+(
7+-+r+-+p'
6-zplzpp+r+&
5zp-sn-+p+-%
4-+P+-+-+$
3+PsN-wQP+-#
2P+-tR-+PzP"
1+-+R+L+K!
xabcdefghy
38...e5!
Look how 'proud' the black centre is now;
the weak d5-square is of no importance.
39.f4 e4?
There was no need for such a move.
39...Qh4! was good enough to give Black
the better prospects: 40.fxe5 Rh6 41.Qg1
dxe5 42.Rxd7 Nxd7 .
40.Ne2!
Now that the c6-bishop is blocked, the
knight is heading for d4.
40...Rdg7 41.Nd4 Ld7 42.a3
42.Nb5 Lxb5 43.cxb5 was also possible.
42...Qa8!
X-raying g2, allowing Black to play ...Nd3
when needed.
43.Kg1 h5 44.Rb1!?
44.b4 would give Black enough counterplay
to keep an even game: 44...axb4 45.axb4
Nd3 46.Lxd3 exd3 47.Nf3 Qe4 48.Re1
Rg4!.
44...h4 45.Rbb2 Rg4 46.Rf2 Qd8!
Black found an excellent attacking idea in
order to keep the equilibrium.
47.b4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-wq-+k+(
7+-+l+-tr-'
6-zp-zp-+-+&
5zp-sn-+p+-%
4-zPPsNpzPrzp$
3zP-+-wQ-+-#
2-tR-+-tRPzP"
1+-+-+LmK-!
xabcdefghy
47...Rg3! 48.hxg3
White could think about 48.Qc1 Nd3
49.Lxd3 Rxd3 50.Rbd2 h3! .
48...hxg3 49.Rfd2?
But this is wrong. He had to opt for 49.Le2!
Qh4 50.Rf3! exf3 51.Nxf3 Qh8 52.Qd4!
(52.bxc5? Rh7) 52...Ne6 53.Qf6 Qh5
54.Nh4 Qf7 55.Qxf7+ Rxf7 56.Rb3.
49...Qh4 50.Le2
Black would also be on top after 50.Nf3
exf3 51.gxf3 Re7 52.Qd4 Lc6!.
50...Rh7 51.Kf1?
Leading to mate. White's only chance was to
be found in 51.Lh5! Rxh5 52.Kf1 Qh1+
53.Qg1 Nd3! 54.bxa5 (54.Rb3 Qh4 +)
54...Qh4! (54...Nxb2 55.Rxb2 bxa5
56.Rb3) 55.Ne2 Nxb2 56.Rxb2 Qf6
57.Rb1 bxa5 58.Nxg3 Rh4 59.Ne2 Le6
.
51...Qxf4+!
01
Our next two games are mostly concerned
with gaining control of central squares and
37
more specifically, the important square in

front of the opponents king pawn.
Apicella Manuel
Svidler Peter
B70 Yerevan 1996
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 d6 6.Le2 g6 7.00 Lg7 8.Nb3 00
9.Lg5 a6 10.f4 b5 11.Lf3 Lb7 12.Kh1
Nd7 13.Rb1 Re8 14.Nd5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqr+k+(
7+l+nzppvlp'
6p+nzp-+p+&
5+p+N+-vL-%
4-+-+PzP-+$
3+N+-+L+-#
2PzPP+-+PzP"
1+R+Q+R+K!
xabcdefghy
A well-known position from a reversed
English Opening or a clear Sicilian Defence - Dragon - whichever you choose you
are right!
14...f6!
A nice move, proposed by V.Kramnik.
Black wants to take control of the e5-square!
15.Lh4 e6!
All central pawns now on the same rank!
16.Ne3 g5!
The first (of the two) white central pawns is
exchanged.
17.Lg3
17.fxg5 is the main alternative. Black can
continue with 17...fxg5 18.Lg3 Nde5
(18...Le5!? 19.Ng4 Lxg3 20.hxg3 Nde5
21.Nd4 ) 19.Lh5 Rf8 20.Qe2 (20.
Ng4?! Rxf1+ 21.Qxf1 Qe7 Klicnar,MKillar,M Nachod 1999) 20...Qe7 21.c3
Rojas,L-Valenzuela Fuentealba,L Vina del
Mar 1998.
17...gxf4 18.Lxf4 Nde5
Black's third rank pawns look weak, but he
has been able to take control of the imporFIDE TRG Yearbook 2011
tant e5-square. A complicated battle is

ahead.
19.Lh5 Rf8 20.c3
Here White has tried:
a) 20.Ng4 Qe7 21.Qe2 Rad8 22.Rbd1
Kh8 23.c3 f5! Zdebskaja,N-Moranda,W
Warsaw 2008.
b) 20.Qe1 Kh8 21.Rd1 Qe7 22.c3 Rad8
Zigangirova,S-Kosintseva,N Mallorca
2004.
20...Qe7
20...Ne7?! is out of the question: 21.Nd4
Qd7 22.Lg4 f5 23.exf5 Nxg4 24.Qxg4
exf5 25.Qg3 Schuster,M-Zesch,L Leipzig
2004. With the text, Black wants to finish
his development by bringing the a8-rook
into the game and he plans to exchange his
d-pawn for White's e-pawn and activate his
remaining central e- and f-pawns. A clear
plan which is hard for White to met.
21.Qe2
A bit passive. 'Better' looks 21.Lg3 Rad8
22.Nd4 Kh8 23.Qb3 Nc4 24.Nxc4 bxc4
25.Nxc6 (25.Qxc4 Nxd4 26.cxd4 Lxe4
27.Rbd1 Qb7 ) 25...Lxc6 26.Qc2
Cabezas Ayala,I-De la Riva Aguado,O La
Massana 2008.
21...Ng6!
More accurate than 21...Kh8 22.Rbd1
Rad8 23.Rfe1 Ng6 24.Lg3 Bromann,TBobras,P Tingkaerskolen 1997.
22.Lg3 Nce5 23.Nd2
The only move again, as 23.Ng4?! f5
24.exf5 exf5 is not advisable.
23...Kh8
Also possible is 23...Rad8!? 24.Rf2 Lh6
25.Rbf1 Qg7 .
24.Rf2 Rad8 25.Rbf1 Lh6 26.Ng4?
It is not easy to propose a good alternative
for White, although 26.Kg1 is accurate.
Now Black grabs his chances.
26...Nxg4 27.Lxg4 d5!
Now the second white central pawn is exchanged, leaving White with no centre at all!
28.Lh5
28.e5 loses to 28...f5 29.Lh5 d4! 30.cxd4
Rxd4 31.Nf3 Re4 + and 28.exd5 is no
better: 28...Lxd5 (28...Rxd5 29.Nb3 f5
30.Lh5! [30.Lf3 f4 31.Lxd5 Lxd5 ]
38
74...Qg4+?? 75.Kxg4 + (75.Qxg4?? =) ;

74...Qf2?? 75.Qd1+ Qg1 76.Qf3+ +.
75.Qxe3
Burn Amos
Vienna 1898
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-mk-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-zPK+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
Let's not forget the basic stalemate defence
idea in the K + pawn vs. K endgame.
82...Kg8!
82...Ke8? 83.Kg7 +.
83.f7+ Kf8 84.Kf6
Schlechter Carl
Wolf Heinrich
Nuremberg 1906
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-zp-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-tR-%
4-zP-+k+-+$
3zP-+-+-zP-#
2r+-+-+-zP"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
White 'must win', but good technique, and of
course, 'stalemate alertness' are still necessary.

48.Rg5! Kf3! 49.Rf5+
49.h4 Rxa3 50.Rxg7 Rb3 51.Kh2 Rxb4
52.Kh3 + ; 49.Rxg7?? Ra1 #.
49...Ke3 50.Rf7 g5! 51.Rf5 g4 52.Rf1
Rxa3 53.Rb1! Kf3!!
In preparation of an amazing stalemate idea.
54.b5! Re3! 55.b6??
55.Kh1 Re7 56.b6 Rb7 57.Kg1 +
(57.Rb4 Kf2 58.Rxg4 Rxb6 59.Rf4+
Ke3 60.Kg2 +) .
55...Re1+!! 56.Rxe1
Schlechter Carl
Ostend 1907
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7tr-+-+-zp-'
6-+-+-+k+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-tR-+$
3+-+-+-+p#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+K!
xabcdefghy
With the modern existence of '6man tablebases', such an ending is 'officially' classified
as a 'theoretical' one. Chess players of all
levels of expertise may, however, still contribute to the many artistic aspects of the
game. Only two moves lead to a draw.
72.Rg4+!
72.Rf3! Ra5 73.Kh2 (73.Rxh3? Rh5 +)
73...Rh5 74.Ra3 =.
72...Kh5! 73.Rg3!
Any other defence would lose.
73...Kh4 74.Rg6! Ra1+ 75.Kh2 Ra2+
76.Kh1!
76.Kg1? Rg2+! +.
76...Rg2
Stalemate Alert! 76...Ra7 77.Kh2 = (77.
Kg1 =).
179
46.g4! h4!
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+k+-+&
5+-+p+-+p%
4-+pmK-+-+$
3+-zP-+-zPP#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
46...hxg4? 47.hxg4 +.
47.g5 Kf5! 48.Kxd5 Kxg5 49.Kxc4 Kf4
50.Kd4 Kg3 51.Ke3
With a number of different ways to end the
game in a draw, White opts for a stalemate
version. 51.c4 (the pawn race ends without a
winner) 51...Kxh3 52.c5 Kg3 (52...Kg4?
53.c6 + ; 52...Kg2 =) 53.c6 h3 54.c7 h2
55.c8Q h1Q =.
51...Kxh3 52.Kf3
52.c4 Kg3 53.c5 h3 =.
52...Kh2 53.Kf2 [53.c4 h3 54.Kf2!
(54.c5? Kg1 55.c6 h2 56.c7 h1Q+ +).
53...h3 54.c4
54.Kf1 Kg3 (54...Kh1 =).
54...Kh1 55.c5 h2 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-zP-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-mK-zp"
1+-+-+-+k!
xabcdefghy
Stalemate Alert! 'Playing a joker, in the
wishful hope of a stalemate anyway,

55...Kh2? would have serious consequences
after best play by White: 56.c6 Kh1 57.c7
h2 (Stalemate Alert!) 58.Kg3! (58.c8Q? = ;
58.Ke2 +) 58...Kg1 59.c8Q h1Q 60.Qc1
#.
56.c6
Napier William Ewart

Marshall Frank James
New York 1896
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+Q+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+p+$
3+-+-+-mkp#
2-+-+Kvl-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
In a technically lost position, Black finds an
amazing chance to save the game. Keep in
mind this quite resourceful escape - you will
surely need it!
69...Kh2!!
69...Kg2 70.Qd5+! Kh2 (70...Kg1?
71.Qd1+ +) 71.Qe5+ g3 72.Kf3 Kh1
73.Qh8 Kh2 (73...h2 74.Qh3 +) 74.Kg4
+ ; 69...h2 70.Qd3+ Kg2 (70...Kh4
71.Kxf2 +) 71.Qe4+ +.
70.Kxf2?
White could win by 70.Qe5+! Kg2 (70...g3
71.Kf3! Kh1 72.Qh8 Kh2 73.Kg4 + ;
70...Lg3 71.Qe4 +) 71.Qe4+! Kg3
72.Kf1+ La7 73.Qd3+ +.
70...g3+!
With best play by both sides, the game must
end in a draw now.
71.Kf3 g2 72.Qe2 Kh1!
72...Kg1? 73.Kg3 Kh1 74.Qf3! (74.
Kxh3?? g1N+! =).
73.Kg3 g1Q+ 74.Kxh3 Qe3+!!
178
30...Rd7! [30...f4 31.Lxg6 fxg3 {31...hxg6

32.Lxf4 Lxf4 33.Rxf4 Rxf4 34.Rxf4
Qg5 35.Rf1 } 32.Rxf8+ Lxf8 33.Rf7
+] 31.Nd4 Ld5 ) 29.c4 La8! (29...
Lxg2+? 30.Kxg2 Rxd2 31.Qxe6 ) 30.
Nb3! (30.Nf3? f5 31.Lh5 f4 +) 30...f5
31.Lh5 Le4! (31...f4?! 32.Lxg6 hxg6 33.
Lxf4 Lxf4 34.Rxf4 Rxf4 35.Rxf4 [35.
Qe5+ Qf6] 35...Qg5 36.Rg4 Qf5 37.h3
) 32.Lxg6 hxg6 33.Re1 Rd3 (33...Ld3
34.Qe5+ [34.Qxe6 Qxe6 35.Rxe6 Lxc4
+] 34...Lg7 35.Qxe6 Qxe6 36.Rxe6
Lxc4 ) 34.Le5+ Kg8 35.cxb5 axb5 .
28...dxe4 29.Nxe4 f5
The central phalanx is marching ...
30.Lxg6
30.Nd6 is interesting, but Black can just
play calmly 30...La8! (30...Rxd6 31.Lxg6
Rd7 32.Lh5 Ld5 ).
30...hxg6 31.Nd6 La8!
31...Ld5?! 32.c4! .
32.Le5+
Or 32.Qe5+ Kg8 33.Rd1 f4! (33...Lg7
34.Qc5 e5 35.Rfd2 f4 36.Lf2 Qg5 +)
34.Lxf4 Rf5 +.
32...Kg8 33.Rd1 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8l+-tr-trk+(
7+-+-wq-+-'
6p+-sNp+pvl&
5+p+-vLp+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-zP-+-+-#
2PzP-+QtRPzP"
1+-+R+-+K!
xabcdefghy
The knight is lost after 33.Qd3?! Lg7
34.Lxg7 Qxg7 35.Rd2 Ld5 +.
33...Rd7!
Another calm but very strong idea. Black
plans to double rooks on the d-file and just
collect the white knight!
34.Qd3?!
34.c4 was a must: 34...bxc4 35.Rff1 Rfd8
36.Nxc4 Rxd1 37.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 38.Qxd1

Ld5 .
34...Rfd8 35.Qg3
35.Qh3 Lg7 + ; or 35.Rfd2 Ld5 36.Qh3
Lg7 +.
35...Qg5 36.Qxg5 Lxg5 37.Rd3
Or 37.b3 Ld5 38.c4 bxc4 39.bxc4 Lxc4
+. White is plain lost.
37...Le4 38.Rh3 Rxd6 39.Rh8+ Kf7
40.Rh7+ Ke8 41.Rh8+ Kd7
01
Grivas Efstratios
Goldberg Alexander
A29 Dresden 2002
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5
5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Lg2 Nb6 7.0-0 Le7
8.b3!? (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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7zppzp-vlpzpp'
6-snn+-+-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+PsN-+NzP-#
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1tR-vLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
An interesting continuation, in place of the
common and worn-out 8.d3.
8...0-0 9.Lb2 Lg4 10.Rc1 f5 11.d3 Lf6
11...a5 is an alternative, preventing the following move by White.
12.b4!? Nd4
Naturally, 12...Nxb4?? 13.Qb3+ N4d5
14.e4 was not on, but Black should have
perhaps preferred 12...a6 13.e3! with
chances for both sides in a complicated position.
13.Nd2!?
The standard continuation is 13.Nxd4 exd4
14.Na4 Nxa4 15.Qxa4 c6 16.Qb3+ Kh8
17.Rfe1 with approximately even chances.
With the text move, White initiates a posi39
tional combination aiming to create an outpost on e4 and occupy it. The idea behind this
operation is well known and arises in several
positions of this type, from various openings.
13...c6 14.f3 Lh5 15.e3 Ne6 16.g4 Lg6
Black could also try 16...Qxd3 17.gxh5
Qxe3+ 18.Kh1 Nf4 with a complicated
position
17.gxf5 Lxf5 18.Nde4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7zpp+-+-zpp'
6-snp+nvl-+&
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4-zP-+N+-+$
3+-sNPzPP+-#
2PvL-+-+LzP"
1+-tRQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
White has completed his plan with success.
The e4-square has been turned into a strong
outpost, but Black is not without chances
either, particularly in view of White's somewhat weakened pawn structure.
18...Le7! 19.b5!?
White could also try 19.a3 a5 20.bxa5 Rxa5
21.Qb3 with unclear play.
19...cxb5
The critical move. 19...c5 leads to unclear
play and is also possible. Black's move in
the game is the beginning of a tactical plan.
20.Nxb5 Nd5
With the double threat 21...Nxe3 and
21...Qb6.
21.Qb3!
White had foreseen this before he played his
19th move. Black is now caught in a nasty
pin.
21...Nxe3 22.Nc7 Nxf1 23.Lxf1
Not of course 23.Nxe6? Qb6+ 24.Qxb6
axb6 25.Nxf8 Ne3 26.Ng3 Kxf8 27.Nxf5
Nxf5, when Black is doing well.
23...Qd7 (D)
Now White should be very carefull
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7zppsNqvl-zpp'
6-+-+n+-+&
5+-+-zpl+-%
4-+-+N+-+$
3+Q+P+P+-#
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1+-tR-+LmK-!
xabcdefghy
24.Ng3?
White overestimates his position. He should
have chosen 24.Nxa8 Rxa8 25.Lxe5 with
an unclear game.
24...Kh8
Both 24...Lg6?? 25.Lh3! and 24...Rac8??
25.Nxf5 Rxc7 (25...Rxf5 26.Nxe6!)
26.Rxc7 Qxc7 27.Qxe6+ lose quickly.
However, Black could play 24...Lg5!
25.Rc2 Qf7 with the initiative.
25.Nxa8 Lg6??
A horrible mistake. Black can retain slightly
better chances with 25...Nc5! 26.Qc3 Ld6!
as then 27.La3 Na4! 28.Qb3 Lxa3
29.Qxa3 Rxa8 30.Nxf5 Qxf5 31.Qxa4
Qg5+ is not an option for White.
26.Lh3!
Now White is winning, as he will emerge
with an extra piece and with the help of the
rule of exchanges he will cash in the point
sooner or later! 26...Lc5+ 27.Kh1 Le3
28.Lxe6 Qe7 29.Rf1 Rxa8 30.Lf5 Lf4
31.Lxg6 hxg6 32.Lc1 Rc8 33.Lxf4 exf4
34.Ne4 Qd7 35.Kg2 b6 36.Rf2 Qf5 37.
Rc2 Rd8 38.Qc4 g5 39.h3 Kh7 40.Rc3
a5 41.a4
1-0
Our last game is a masterpiece by Magnus
Carlsen and it was his first win over Vladimir Kramnik. Notes based on Carlsens:
Kramnik Vladimir
Carlsen Magnus
A30 Wijk aan Zee 2008
40
White is of course lost, but in no mood to

resign the game. His strong determination
and will to survive, assisted by Black's momentary loss of concentration, produced one
of the oldest recorded stalemates. Black continues well:
34...h6!
34...Qf6? 35.Qxf6 Rxc8 =.
35.Rxf8+ Qxf8 36.Qe4 Qd8
Better was 36...Qd6+ 37.Kg2 d3 38.Qe8+
Kh7 39.Qe1 d2 40.Qd1 Qc6+ 41.Kf2
Qc1 42.Qf3 Qc2! + but not 42...d1Q??
43.Qe4+ =.
37.Qd3! b4! 38.Kg2 a5
38...Qd5+ 39.Kf2 b3 +.
39.Kf2 a4 40.Ke2 a3 41.Qb3 d3+ 42.Kd2
Qd4 43.Kd1!? Qc3??
Stalemate Alert! 43...Qa1+ 44.Kd2 Qb2+
+.
44.Qg8+!! Kxg8
Bird Henry Edward

Englisch Berthold
London 1883
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+ntr-mk(
7tR-+-+-+-'
6-+-+Rzp-+&
5+-+-+-tr-%
4-+-+-+N+$
3+-+-+-zP-#
2-+-+-+PmK"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
39.Rxe8?
39.Ne3 .
39...Rh5+!
39...Rxe8? 40.Nxf6 +.
40.Kg1 Rxe8 41.Nxf6
Stalemate Alert!
41...Rh1+!!
Drawing in style! 41...Re1+ 42.Kf2 Rhh1
(42...Rf1+ 43.Kxf1 Rf5+ =) 43.Rh7+!? =
(43.Ra8+ =).
42.Kxh1
42.Kf2?? Rf8 +.
42...Re1+ 43.Kh2 Rh1+!! 44.Kxh1
Schallopp Emil
Paulsen Wilfried
Nassengrund 1888
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+p'
6-+-+k+-+&
5+-+-+-zP-%
4-+-+K+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-vl-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
75.Ke4!
Active play in a theoretically (but not necessarily practically) drawn endgame is always
worth a word of praise.
75...Ld2
75...Lxg5 76.Kf3 =.
76.Kf3 Kf5 77.Kg2 Kg4 78.Kh1 Kf3
79.Kh2
79.Kg1 Lf4 80.Kh1! = (80.Kf1? Le3!
81.Ke1 Lxg5 82.Kf1 Le3 +).
79...Lf4+ 80.Kh1
With no hope of winning the endgame, with
White displaying essential knowledge of the
defensive technique, Black decides to force
a stalemate.
80...Kf2 81.g6 hxg6

Mieses Jacques
Paris 1895
(see next diagram)
This ending is drawn, with best play by both
sides. White anyway gives it his best shot to
win.
177
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.g3 b6

5.Lg2 Lb7 6.00 Le7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4
d6 9.Rd1 a6 10.Ng5 Lxg2 11.Kxg2 Nc6
12.Qf4 00 13.Nce4 (D)
Drawing in Style
Jovan Petronic
Concept
FIDE (International Chess Federation), in
its Handbook online (www.fide.com), under
the heading E-Miscellaneous - E.I.01A,
archives the text of the FIDE Laws of Chess.
The latest version of the FIDE Laws of
Chess was adopted at the 79th FIDE Congress in 2008 and has been in force since 1st
July 2009.
In Article 1, 1.2 it is stated that The objective of each player is to place the opponent's king 'under attack' in such a way that
the opponent has no legal move.
However, as one of the players is not always able to achieve the ultimate objective
(checkmate), 1.3 continues with If the position is such that neither player can possibly
checkmate, the game is drawn.
Article 5 deals with The Completion of
the Game and defines the five basic ways a
game of chess may end in a draw:
a) Stalemate.
b) Insufficient remaining pieces to produce a
checkmate.
c) Agreement between the players during the
game.
d) Three-fold repetition.
e) At least 50 consecutive moves played without either a pawn movement or any piece
capture.
Once the main objective (checkmate) is
not within one's reach (with this being independent of each players' level of chess expertise), the expert chess player often (but
not always) turns their attention towards the
objective that is next in line - draw.
With chess keeping up with progressive
trends, more factors and situations may influence an individual game of chess (or a
team chess match) to end in a draw.
My present survey will now attempt to
keep your attention with a number of amazing and instructive game fragments from
recorded practice (source: ChessBase
MEGA database 2011), on the chess phenomenon of stalemate.
A stalemate is basically a situation where

the player to move is not in check and has no
legal moves to continue the game with, ending the game with a draw result. In the endgame, stalemate awareness and knowledge
becomes a powerful resource that may enable a player having an inferior position to
manoeuvre the game into a draw.
Stalemate has a rich historical background, with its related rules being standardized as a draw only in the 19th century.
By ending the game, stalemate, similarly
to a checkmate, whether resulting intentionally or unintentionally, may produce instant
and lasting emotions with both the chess
players experiencing it while playing, and
also with all reviewing stalemates.
I opted for an overview of 25 classical
game fragments in ascending year of their
appearance. I hope you enjoy these as much
as I did and also find them useful for training purposes.
Each game fragment is annotated with
text, variations and symbol commentary,
with each having its purpose and reason for
being there.
Congdon James Adams
Delmar Eugene
New York 1880
XABCDEFGHY
8-+R+-tr-mk(
7zp-+-+-zpp'
6-+-+Q+-+&
5+p+-+-+-%
4-+-zp-+-+$
3+-+-+q+-#
2-+-+-+-mK"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
176
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7+-+-vlpzpp'
6pzpnzppsn-+&
5+-+-+-sN-%
4-+P+NwQ-+$
3+-+-+-zP-#
2PzP-+PzPKzP"
1tR-vLR+-+-!
xabcdefghy
13...Ne8
Retreating is considered to be the normal
reaction to any Ne4. The black position is
now slightly awkward, but the white knights
are not perfectly placed either.
14.b3 Ra7 15.Lb2 Rd7
There was no better square for the rook
anyway, and overprotecting the d6-pawn
might turn out to be useful at some point.
16.Rac1
16.h4 or 16.Nf3 could also be considered,
but the text is quite reasonable as well.
16...Nc7
With the purpose of protecting e6, preparing
...f5. There were, of course, alternatives, the
most natural being the more hedgehog-like
16...Qa8 17.Nf3 b5 which Black rejected
because he wasn't sure whether ...bxc4
(when White replies with bxc4) would really
improve his position. This is why he decided
that going for ...f5 and ...g5 was just according to the demands of the position!
17.Nf3 f5 18.Nc3 g5
A normal continuation of the plan starting
with 16...Nc7.
19.Qd2
19.Qe3 g4 20.Nd2 (not 20.Nd4? Lg5
21.Nxc6 Lxe3 22.Nxd8 Lxc1 winning an
exchange) 20...Lg5 21.Qxb6 was another,
computer-like option. Black would have
very good counterplay after 21...Qa8 22.f3

and now just 22...Ne5 or even 22...Rb8
23.Qf2 Ne5 gives Black active piece play
and good compensation for a pawn.
19...g4 20.Ne1
20.Nd4?! would be worse, since now
20...Lg5 21.e3 Ne5 leaves the knight practically untouchable on e5. Note that it also
makes it more difficult to create active play
for White, since b4 and c5 would be almost
impossible to carry out, as ...Rxd4 and a
knight move to f3 would probably be strong
then.
20...Lg5
An important element in Black's plan. The
weak f3-square will now be a constant worry
for White.
21.e3 Rff7
A good prophylactic move, preventing Na4
and c5 and preparing to redeploy the knight
with ...Ne8-f6-e4 without having to worry
about Nd5.
22.Kg1 Ne8 23.Ne2
A natural manoeuvre. The diagonal is
opened for his bishop and the knight is transferred to a better square.
23...Nf6 24.Nf4 Qe8
Black would have liked to play 24...Ne4
immediately, but he rejected it because he
misevaluated the queen sac: 25.Nxe6? Qe8
26.Nxg5 Nxd2 27.Nxf7 Ne4 28.Nh6+
Kf8 29.Nxf5 Qf7 +.
25.Qc3
25.Lxf6 was an option, but at the same time
it's hard to see how White can play for an
advantage after giving up this bishop.
25...Rg7 26.b4 Ne4 27.Qb3 Rge7
28.Qa4?!
28.f3 gxf3 29.Nxf3 Lf6 is not to be feared,
but 28.h4, as suggested by Nigel Short, was
probably an improvement of the white position, and certainly better than the text. Then
it would be equal or slightly better for
White. The knight on e4 is certainly pretty,
but the f4-knight is a good piece as well. It's
not easy to take advantage of Black's weakened king, and not easy to make any clear
progress for either side. But of course there
are still plenty of possibilities for both...
28...Ne5 (D)
41
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+q+k+(
7+-+rtr-+p'
6pzp-zpp+-+&
5+-+-snpvl-%
4QzPP+nsNp+$
3+-+-zP-zP-#
2PvL-+-zP-zP"
1+-tRRsN-mK-!
xabcdefghy
29.Qxa6?
As 29.c5 is well met by 29...Nc4!, White
should rather admit failure with 29.Qb3 and
after gaining two tempi, Black is obviously
slightly better, but the white position is certainly playable.
29...Ra7 30.Qb5
Having seen that 30.Qxb6 Reb7 31.Qd4
Lf6 would leave his queen trapped in the
centre, Kramnik was forced to make this
move, which he actually accompanied with a
draw offer. Carlsen commented: 'I was
slightly tempted of course, since I would
have been happy with a draw before the
game, but I realised that my position was so
much better that I simply had to decline'.
30...Qxb5 31.cxb5 Rxa2 32.Rc8+ Kf7
33.Nfd3 Lf6 34.Nxe5+
34.Lxe5 dxe5 35.Rc6 Ng5 is curtains.
34...dxe5
34...Lxe5 was probably better, but in timetrouble Black was reluctant to allow
35.Lxe5 dxe5 36.Nd3 which however is
well met by 36...Kf6 37.Rf8+ Kg7
38.Rd8 (38.Rb8 Rd7 +) 38...Nc3
39.Rf1 (39.Nxe5 Nxd1 40.Rxd1 is better,
but should lose as well) 39...Rd2! and wins.
35.Rc2
35.Nd3 leaves Black with a pleasant choice
between 35...Nxf2 and 35...Ng5 so White
should rather retreat.
35...Rea7 36.Kg2
36.Kf1 was better; the king later headed in
this direction anyway.
36...Ng5 (D)
Solutions to mate in two exercises:
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7tr-+-+k+p'
6-zp-+pvl-+&
5+P+-zppsn-%
4-zP-+-+p+$
3+-+-zP-zP-#
2rvLR+-zPKzP"
1+-+RsN-+-!
xabcdefghy
Exercise 1 (Page 174): Lindenthal AndreasPfefferle Georg Donaueschingen 1985

Solution: 29.Lc4+! Ka1 30.00 # or
30.Kd2 # or 30.Ke2 # or 30.Kf2 # 10
Exercise 2 (Page 174): Litzka MatthiasStoll Ferdinand Germany 1990
Solution: 62...Rg3+! 63.Kf2 63.Kh2 Rh5
# ; 63.Kh1 Rh5 # 63...Kg4! # 01
37.Rd6?
This pseudo-active move makes matters
much worse for White; Black had a practically winning positional advantage anyway.
37...e4 38.Lxf6 Kxf6 39.Kf1
39.Rxb6 Ra1 40.Re2 Nf3 loses at once.
39...Ra1 40.Ke2
40.Rcd2 Rb1 41.Rd1 Rxb4 42.Rxb6
Rb2 leaves White defenceless against the
threats of ...Raa2 and ...Nh3.
40...Rb1 41.Rd1
41.Rxb6 leads to mate after 41...Raa1
42.Kd2 (42.Ng2 Nf3 +) 42...Rxe1 or
loses a piece after 41...Rd7.
41...Rxb4 42.Ng2 Rxb5
Black is obviously winning now, and White
might as well have resigned here.
43.Nf4 Rc5 44.Rb2 b5 45.Kf1 Rac7
46.Rbb1
46.Kg2 allows the exchange of one rook,
which is desirable for Black: 46...Rc1
47.Rxc1 Rxc1 48.Rxb5 Nf3 49.Ne2
Re1 50.Rb2 Kg5 and White is completely
tied up, he cannot even play 51.h4+ gxh3+
52.Kxh3 due to 52...Rxe2. Black will win
by ...e5 and ...h5-h4.
46...Rb7 47.Rb4 Rc4 48.Rb2 b4
49.Rdb1 Nf3 50.Kg2 Rd7!
The last good move, forcing exchanges.
51.h3 e5 52.Ne2 Rd2 53.hxg4 fxg4
54.Rxd2 Nxd2 55.Rb2 Nf3 56.Kf1 b3
57.Kg2 Rc2
01
42
Exercise 3 (Page 174): Gaasland GlennNordhaug Ingerid Porsgrunn 1996

Solution: 39.Qg5+! Kh7 39...Kf7 40.Lh5
# ; 39...Kh8 40.Kg3 # or 40.Kg4 # 40.Kg3
# Or 40.Kg4 # 10
Exercise 4 (Page 174): Batuev AntonMatveev Vladimir Serpukhov 1999
Solution: 69.Ld5! e3 70.Kc7 # 10
Exercise 5 (Page 174): Bentsen OyvindHvattum Lars Magnus Molde 2000
Solution: 67...Qxa1 68.Kg1 Kc2! # 01
Exercise 6 (Page 174): Crocitti Daniel-Leal
Paulo Tarcisio Sao Paulo 2000
Solution: 53...h3+! 54.Kg3 54.Kxh3 Kf2!
# or 54.Kg1 Rd1 # or 54.Kf1 Rd1 # or
54.Kh1 Rd1 # 54...Ke2! # 01
Solutions to mate in three exercises:
Exercise 1 (Page 175): Moroz HenrykObierak Wladyslaw Slask 1996
Solution: 43.Rh8+! Kg5 43...Kg6? 44.
Kh4 # or 44.Kh2 # 44.h4+! Kg6 45.Kh3 #
Or 45.Kh2 # 10
Exercise 2 (Page 175): Dessmark AndresLamothe Luc Hull 1999
Solution: 25.Rh3+ Kxg2 26.Nf4+ Kg1
27.Ke2 # 10
Exercise 3 (Page 175): Gavasheli AnaEsebua Megi Tbilisi 2001
Solution: 54.Rd1 54.Rb8 b1Q+ (54...h2
55.Kf2! b1Q 56.Rxb1 #) 55.Rxb1 h2
56.Kf2 # 54...b1Q 54...h2? 55.Kf2 #
55.Rxb1 h2 56.Kf2! # 10
1ABCDEFGH
8-+-+-+R+(
7+-+-+p+-'
6-+p+-zp-+&
5+-+-zp-+k%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+P+-+PmKP#
2P+-+-+R+"
1+-tr-+r+-!
xabcdefghy
2ABCDEFGH
8r+l+-+-+(
7zp-+-+-+-'
6p+-+pvlN+&
5+-+-+-+R%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+-+-+Pmk-#
2PzP-+-+P+"
1+-+RmK-+-!
xabcdefghy
3ABCDEFGH
8-+-tR-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+p+-vL-+$
3+-zP-+P+p#
2-zp-+-+-+"
1+-+-+K+k!
xabcdefghy
175
1ABCDEFGH
8r+l+-wqr+(
7zp-+-+-+-'
6-zp-+-sn-zp&
5+-tR-+-+-%
4-wQ-+P+-+$
3+-zP-+N+-#
2k+P+-+PzP"
1+-+-mKL+R!
xabcdefghy
2ABCDEFGH
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-tR-+-+&
5+-+-+r+-%
4P+-+-mk-+$
3+-+ptr-+-#
2-+-+p+K+"
1+-+-tR-+-!
xabcdefghy
3ABCDEFGH
8-+-+-tr-+(
7+p+-+-mk-'
6q+n+p+-+&
5zpl+pzP-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3zPP+-+L+K#
2-vL-wQ-+P+"
1+-+-+-+R!
xabcdefghy
4ABCDEFGH
8k+-+-+-+(
7zP-+-+Lsn-'
6-zPK+-+P+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+p+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
5ABCDEFGH
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-zp-+-#
2-+-tr-+-+"
1tR-wqk+-+K!
xabcdefghy
6ABCDEFGH
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6ptR-+-+-+&
5zP-+-+-zp-%
4-+-+-+Pzp$
3+P+rmk-+-#
2-+-+-+KzP"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
174
Break
Adrian Mikhalchishin
Concept
Break is one of the most important methods of play in the endgame. Sometimes there is no other
possibility to create a passed pawn; it is necessary to sacrifice. This method is used mostly in pawn
endgames, but I want to show that it is frequently used in other types of endgame as well.
Example 1
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-+-+p+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+K+pzP-+-%
4p+pzP-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzP-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1...a3!
The simplest break. With the help of a pawn
sacrifice, Black clears the way for his cpawn, which becomes unstoppable.
2.bxa3 c3
01
Example 2
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+k+-+pzpp'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+PzPP%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-mK-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
This is the oldest example of a direct pawn

break. I must mention that if Black is to
move, then 1...g6 stops this dangerous break.
1.g6! hxg6 2.f6! gxf6 3.h6
10
Example 3
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+p'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-mkpzPP%
4-+-zp-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-mK-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1.h6!
Here we have preparation for the break - it is
necessary to control f6 a while longer.
1...Ke6 2.g6!
10
Example 4
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-zp-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5zp-zp-zp-mkP%
4-zp-zpP+P+$
3+P+P+-+K#
2-zPP+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
43
1...c4! 2.dxc4
Things are also simple after 2.bxc4 a4.
2...a4 3.bxa4 b3! 4.cxb3 d3
01
Example 5
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-+-+-zp-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4pzppmK-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzP-+-+P+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1...c3! 2.bxc3 b3!
We can call that a long or delayed break.
3.axb3 a3
And the white pawns block their king's way.
01
Example 6
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+pzp-'
6-+-+p+p+&
5+-+-zP-zP-%
4k+-+-zP-zP$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+K+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
The doubled pawns allow White to conduct
a multiple break:
1.f5!! exf5 2.h5! gxh5 3.g6! fxg6 4.e6
Almost everything has been sacrificed, but
the last pawn is on its way to the top.
10
Averbakh Yuri
Bebchuk Evgeni
Moscow 1964
7ABCDEFGH
8-+-tr-+-tr(
7+Lzp-wqpzpp'
6-+-+lsn-+&
5+Q+-+-+-%
4-vlP+-vL-+$
3+-sNkzP-zPP#
2PzP-+-zP-+"
1tR-+-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+p+-+-zp-'
6-+-+-zp-zp&
5+k+-+P+-%
4-+-+-+PzP$
3+-+KzP-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1.e4 Kc6 2.e5!
Black has a dangerous passed pawn, so
White has to try immediately to create his
own passed pawn.
2...fxe5 3.g5 hxg5
Not helpful is 3...Kd7 4.f6 Ke6 5.fxg7 Kf7
6.gxh6 b5 7.Ke4 b4 8.Kd3 and the white
king successfully wins both opponent's
pawns.
4.f6 gxf6 5.h5
White gave up nearly all his pawns, but the
last one is unstoppable.
10
Cako Laszlo
Arhangelsky Vladislav
Hoogeveen 2002
8ABCDEFGH
8-+-+-+r+(
7+R+-+-zpk'
6p+-+N+-+&
5+-+p+PzP-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+nvL-+-#
2-+-+-+-mK"
1+-+-+-+R!
xabcdefghy
9ABCDEFGH
8-mk-+-mKQ+(
7+-+-+R+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+P+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+p+-+-+&
5zp-+k+pzp-%
4-+-+-+-zp$
3+P+-mK-+P#
2-+P+-zPP+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
44
Solutions to mate in one exercises:

Exercise 1 (Page 172): Ljubicic Filip-Nataf
Igor Alexandre Solin 1997
Solution: 50...Ke2 # 01
Exercise 2 (Page 172): Schmit Aaron-Lang
Torsten Germany 1988
Solution: 63.Kc6! # 10
Exercise 3 (Page 172): Fahnenschmidt
Gerhard-Loos Roland Crailsheim 2000
Solution: 82.Kg6 # 10
Exercise 4 (Page 172): Fell NathanMcVeigh James Churchill 2000
Solution: 49...Ke5 # 01
Exercise 5 (Page 172): Wright IanWicklander Mathew Kambah 2000
Solution: 40.Kh4! # 10
Exercise 6 (Page 172): Van den Berkmortel
Theo-Hitzgerova Gabriela Prerov 2001
Solution: 65.Ke7! # 10
Exercise 7 (Page 173): Capo Vidal UrielGonzalez Emmanuel Villahermosa 2001
Solution: 19.000! # 10
Exercise 8 (Page 173): Grivas ApostolosKarabourniotis P. Kallithea 2002
Solution: 41.Kg2 # Or 41.Kg1 # or 41.Kg3
# 10
Exercise 9 (Page 173): Ambroise ThibaultGenin Alexandre Clichy 2003
Solution: 69.Kg7! # 10
173
1ABCDEFGH
8L+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+p'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2P+-+-+PzP"
1+-+qmk-mK-!
xabcdefghy
4ABCDEFGH
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-tr-+-+-'
6q+-+k+K+&
5+-+-+p+P%
4-+-+-vl-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+P+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
2ABCDEFGH
8-+Q+-+-+(
7mk-+K+-+R'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+n+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
5ABCDEFGH
8-+-+-+-+(
7+R+-+-+-'
6p+-+-+kzp&
5+-zp-zPp+-%
4-+Pzp-zP-+$
3+-+P+-mKP#
2P+-+-+R+"
1+-+-tr-+r!
xabcdefghy
3ABCDEFGH
8-+-+-+-mk(
7+-+-+-+P'
6-+-+PmK-zP&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-vL-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
6ABCDEFGH
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-+-+-+p'
6-+-+K+-+&
5+-+L+-+P%
4-+-vL-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+l+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
172
1.g3?
1.f4 g4 2.Kd3 was correct. Now follows a
typical, but unexpected break.
1...g4! 2.gxh4 gxh3 3.Kf3 f4!
Creating a typical box for the opponent's
king.
4.h5 Ke5
Now the king stops White's pawn and it is
time to resign.
01
Listengarten Leonid
Chepukaitis Genrikh
Soviet Union 1959
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-zp-mk-+-+&
5zp-+p+p+-%
4P+-mK-+-+$
3+-zP-+-+-#
2-zP-+-+P+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1.b4 b5!
This break is typical and we can call it a
counterbrake, as it is used just when the
opponent's pawns start to move forward.
2.axb5
2.bxa5 bxa4 3.c4 a3 4.c5+ Kc6 +.
2...a4 3.Kd3 Kc7 4.Kc2 Kb6 5.Kb2
Kxb5 6.Ka2!
6.Ka3 f4 7.Ka2 d4 8.Kb2 d3 +.
6...f4
Another win could be found in 6...d4 7.cxd4
Kxb4 8.d5 Kc5 9.Ka3 Kxd5 10.Kxa4 and
now only 10...Kc5!! (10...Ke4? 11.Kb5
Ke3 12.Kc5 Kf2 13.Kd5! =) does the job:
11.Kb3 Kd4 +.
7.Ka3 Kc4 8.Kxa4 Kxc3 9.b5 d4 10.b6
d3 11.b7 d2 12.b8Q d1Q+ 13.Ka5 Qa1+
14.Kb6 Qb2+
Transposing once more into a winning pawn
endgame.
01
Ree Hans
Ftacnik Lubomir
Kiev 1978
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-zp-+-zpp+&
5+-+-mk-+p%
4p+-+P+-zP$
3zP-+-mK-zP-#
2-zP-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
56...g5?
Black overlooks a typical break.
57.g4 hxg4
Or 57...gxh4 58.gxh5 f5 59.h6 f4+ 60.Kf3
Kf6 61.e5+ Kg6 62.e6 h3 63.e7.
58.h5 Ke6 59.Kf2 Kf7 60.Kg3 Kg7
61.Kxg4 Kh6 62.Kf5 Kxh5 63.Kxf6 g4
64.e5 g3 65.e6 g2 66.e7 g1Q 67.e8Q+
Kh4 68.Qh8+ Kg3 69.Qg7+ Kf2 70.
Qxg1+ Kxg1 71.Ke5 Kf2 72.Kd5 Ke3
73.Kc6 Kd2 74.Kxb6 Kc2 75.Ka5 Kxb2
76.Kxa4 Kc3
10
Welling
Eingorn Vereslav
Bad Wiesee 2006
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-zp-'
6p+-+-zp-+&
5+p+-mk-+p%
4-zP-+P+-zP$
3zP-+-mK-zP-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
45
1...g5??
Black wants to win by the threat ...g4.
2.g4!! hxg4 3.h5 f5 4.h6 f4+ 5.Kf2 Kf6
6.e5+ Kg6 7.e6
10
Koh Jung Woo
De Dovitiis Alejo
Argentina 2005
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-zpp+-zpp+&
5+-+-mk-+p%
4-+P+P+-zP$
3+-zP-mK-zP-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1...Kd6!
A correct preventative move as Black avoids
the opponent's break. Wrong would be 1...g5?
2.g4!! hxg4 (2...gxh4 3.gxh5 h3 4.Kf2 f5
5.h6 Kf6 6.exf5 +) 3.h5 Ke6 (3...f5 4.h6
f4+ 5.Kf2 Kf6 6.e5+ Kg6 7.e6 +) 4.Kf2
Kf7 5.Kg3 Kg7 6.Kxg4 Kh6 7.c5! (7.Kf5
Kxh5 8.Kxf6 g4 9.e5 g3 10.e6 g2 11.e7
g1Q 12.e8Q+ Kh4 13.Qh8+ Kg3 14.
Qg7+ Kf2 15.Qxg1+ Kxg1 16.Ke5 Kf2
17.Kd6 Ke3 =) 7...b5 (7...bxc5 8.c4 Kg7
9.e5! fxe5 10.Kxg5 +) 8.Kf5 Kxh5 9.
Kxf6 g4 10.e5 g3 11.e6 g2 12.e7 g1Q
13.e8Q+ Kh4 14.Qh8+ Kg3 15.Qg7+
Kf2 16.Qxg1+ Kxg1 17.Ke5 Kf2 18.Kd6
Ke3 19.Kxc6 +.
2.Kd4
2.Ke2 doesn't help due to 2...Ke6 3.Kf3
(3.Ke3 Ke5 4.Kf3 g5) 3...g5 4.Kf2 gxh4
5.gxh4 Ke5 6.Ke3 c5 7.Kf3 f5 +.
2...g5 3.c5+ bxc5+ 4.Kd3
4.Kc4 Ke5 5.Kxc5 gxh4 6.gxh4 Kxe4
7.Kxc6 f5 8.Kd6 f4 +.
4...Ke5 5.Kc4 gxh4 6.gxh4 Kxe4 7.Kxc5
f5
01
which we can hope to learn from. Faced with

losing the a5-pawn, Black goes for the e5
one, which turns out to be poisonous.
17...Kc6?
17...Kc7 .
18.Nxa5+! Kd5? 19.Lf4! g5??
19...Rxa5 20.bxa5 + was the only way to
continue the game. 19...e3 20.f3 + keeps the
king in the cage.
20.000! #
The king (move) checkmate! 20.Rd1 #
would have been less stylish, but of course,
perfectly efficient as well!
10
Ilinsky Yaroslav
Riazantsev Alexander
Novgorod 1997
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+k+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-zp-zpp%
4-+-+-zp-+$
3+P+-+P+P#
2-+-+-+P+"
1+-+-+K+-!
xabcdefghy
Rowe Duane
Pupier Terry
London 2009
46.Ke2?!
Correct was to avoid the coming break with
the prophylactic destroyer 46.h4!! g4
(46...gxh4 47.Ke2 Kd7 48.Kd3 Kc6
49.Ke4 Kc5 50.Kxe5 Kb4 51.Kxf4
Kxb3 52.Kg5 +) 47.fxg4! hxg4 48.h5 e4
49.h6 Kf7 50.h7 Kg7 51.b4 g3 52.b5 f3
53.b6 e3 54.gxf3 +. But it was not easy
46...e4! 47.fxe4 g4! 48.hxg4?
The worst thing is to exchange automatically. In such situations, it is recommended
to keep more pawns on the board, reducing
drawish possibilities: 48.h4 Kd7 49.Kd3
Kc6 (49...Kd6 50.Kd4 g3 [50...Ke6 51.e5
f3 52.gxf3 gxf3 53.Ke3 Kxe5 54.Kxf3
Kf5 55.b4 Ke5 56.b5 Kd5 57.Kf4 Kc5
58.Kg5 Kxb5 59.Kxh5 Kc6 60.Kg6 +]
51.e5+ Ke6 52.Ke4 +) 50.b4 Kb5 (50...
g3 51.Ke2 +; 50...Kd6 51.b5 Kc5 52.e5
Kxb5 53.Ke4 f3 54.gxf3 gxf3 55.Kxf3
Kc6 56.Kf4 Kd7 57.Kg5 Ke6 58.Kxh5
Kxe5 59.Kg6 +) 51.e5 Kc6 52.Ke4 +.
48...hxg4 49.Kd3 Kd7 50.b4
Or 50.e5? Ke6 51.Ke4 f3 52.gxf3 gxf3
53.Kxf3 Kxe5 =.
50...Kc6 51.Kd2
It was possible to lose: 51.Kd4? g3! +.
51...Kb5 52.Kd3 Kxb4 53.e5 Kc5
54.Ke4 f3 55.gxf3 gxf3 56.Kxf3 Kd5
57.Kf4 Ke6
46
XABCDEFGHY
8-sn-+-+k+(
7wQl+-+-+r'
6-+-wq-zp-+&
5zP-zp-zpPzp-%
4-zpP+P+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2R+-+N+P+"
1+-sN-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Precise and deep calculation skills are one
mark of a strong player. In this example
White did not live up to the position's expectations.
37.Rd2?
37.Qb6! was the best way forward:
37...Qd1+ 38.Kf2.
37...Qxd2 38.Qxb8+ Kg7!
38...Lc8? 39.Qxc8+ Kg7 40.Kf2! .
39.Qxb7+ Kh6 40.Qd5 Qe1+ 41.Kh2
Kg7! #
The king checkmates!
01
De Oliveira
Mangini Jose Thiago
Fortaleza 1951
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-zp-+-+&
5+N+-+-+-%
4-+pzP-mk-zp$
3+-+l+-+-#
2-+-+-mK-zP"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
As we shall see, Black is trying hard for a
win. His determination is rewarded.
58...h3!? 59.Nc3! d5!? 60.Nxd5+! Ke4!
61.Ne3! Kxd4
61...c3 62.d5 Ke5 63.Ke1 =.
62.Nxc4! Lxc4 63.Kg1 Ke4 64.Kh1 Kf3
65.Kg1 Ld5! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+l+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+k+p#
2-+-+-+-zP"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Excellent. Black's last fighting resource.
66.Kh1??
66.Kf1 =.
66...Kf2! #
01
Exercises
18 exercises follow to further help you:
Mate in one with solutions: 9
Mate in two with solutions: 6
Mate in three with solutions: 3
171
Domotor Jozsef
Tivolt Ferenc
Keszthely 1994
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+Q+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+p%
4P+-snqvL-zP$
3+P+-+kzP-#
2-+r+-zP-+"
1tR-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
White 'must' win. Only two moves, however,
promise an 'easy' way to end the game.
35.Rd1?
35.Le3! Ne2+ 36.Kh2! (36.Kf1? Nxg3+!
= ; 36.Kh1? Nxg3+! =) 36...Nxg3 37.Qh3!
+ or 35.Qh3 +.
35...Ne2+!?
35...Rxf2! 36.Qxd4 Rg2+ 37.Kh1
(37.Kf1?? Qe2 ) 37...Rh2+! 38.Kg1
(38.Kxh2 Qe2+ +) 38...Rg2+ =.
36.Kf1?
36.Kh2! was the only defence: 36...Nxf4
37.Rd2! Rxd2 38.Qxd2 =.
36...Nxf4
After White's two consecutive mistakes, the
game takes a dramatic turn. It is Black who is
winning now.
37.Qb5
37.Kg1 Rxf2 + ; 37.gxf4? Qe2+ +.
37...Rxf2+ 38.Kg1
Black to play and mate in two:
38...Nh3+ 39.Kh1 Kxg3! #
The king checkmates! 39...Kg4 # would
have been a second king checkmate option.
39...Ke3 # was a third king checkmate option. It is a rare phenomenon to have so many
king move mates at your disposal
01
Zielinska Jolanta
Rajlich Iweta
Warsaw 1995
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+k'
6-+-+K+-+&
5+-+-+P+L%
4-+-+-+P+$
3+-vl-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
The endgame resulted in an artistic king
checkmate.
65.g5 Ld2
65...Lg7 66.f6 Lf8 67.g6+ Kg8 68.Le2
Lb4 69.g7 Lc5 70.Lc4 Kh7 71.Kf5 +.
66.g6+ Kg8 67.f6 Lh6 68.Kf5
68.Le2! Kf8 69.Lc4 +.
68...Lf8 69.Ld1 Lh6 70.Lb3+ Kh8
71.Ke6! Lg7 72.fxg7+ Kg8
72...Kxg7 73.Lc2 +.
73.Kf6 #
10
Vlassov Nikolai
Wirig Anthony
Internet 2003
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-vlntr(
7+p+k+pzp-'
6-+-+p+-zp&
5zp-+-zP-+-%
4-zPN+p+-+$
3zP-+-vL-+-#
2-+P+-zPPzP"
1tR-+-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy
Internet chess can be a world of fun, and is
also a world of chess mistakes, some of
170
Camacho Guillermo
Hernandez Angel
Cuba 1995
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-zp-mk-+-'
6-+-zp-+-zp&
5+-zPP+pzp-%
4-zP-mK-zP-+$
3+-+-+-zP-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1.g4!! fxg4
1...gxf4 2.gxf5 +.
2.f5 dxc5+
2...Kf6 3.cxd6 cxd6 4.b5 +; 2...g3 3.Ke3
g4 4.c6 h5 5.b5 h4 6.Ke2! +.
3.bxc5 g3 4.Ke3 g4 5.c6!!
5.d6+? cxd6 6.c6 d5! =.
5...h5 6.f6+ Kxf6 7.d6
10
Sokolov Ivan
Hoogeveen 2008
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+pzp-'
6-+k+-+p+&
5+-+-zP-+-%
4-zp-mK-zPPzP$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
Once more Black has an outside passed
pawn and White has to be fast and decisive.
1.f5 b3 2.Kc3 gxf5
2...Kd5 3.e6 fxe6 4.fxg6.

3.gxf5 Kd5
Now follows the classic sacrificial concept,
after which the black king can't catch the
white pawn as his own pawns stop him.
4.e6! fxe6 5.f6! gxf6 6.h5!
10
Yagupov Igor
Mukhametov Eldar
Russia 1995
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+p+-+-+-'
6p+-+-+p+&
5zP-zP-sNkzp-%
4-zP-mK-+-+$
3+-+-+-zP-#
2-+-+-+l+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
62.b5! axb5 63.c6! bxc6 64.Kc5!
Now the king blocks the opponent's bishop
and a pawn is ready to run.
64...b4 65.a6 b3 66.Nc4 Lf1 67.a7 Lxc4
68.a8Q b2 69.Qb7
10
Kovcan V.
Antal P.
Hungary 1995
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+k+-+-zpp'
6pvl-zp-zp-+&
5+p+PzpPzP-%
4-+-+-+-zP$
3+P+-vL-+-#
2PzPK+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
47
Break is a typical manoeuvre not just in

pawn endings.
1.h5!! fxg5
After 1...Lxe3 2.h6 gxh6 3.g6 + promotes.
2.Lxb6 Kxb6 3.h6! gxh6 4.f6
10
Kosteniuk Alexandra
Polgar Judit
Moscow 2009
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+n+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-zp-+&
5+-+-zpNzpp%
4-+k+-+-zP$
3+-+-+-zP-#
2-+-+KzP-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
63.g4! Nc7
63...gxh4 64.gxh5 h3 65.Kf1 h2 66.Kg2
Nc7 67.h6 Ne6 68.h7 Nf4+ 69.Kxh2 Ng6
70.Kg3 +.
64.gxh5 Ne6 65.h6 Nf8 66.hxg5 fxg5
67.Kf3 Kd3 68.Kg4 Ke2 69.Kxg5
69.f3 was better and simpler.
69...Kxf2 70.Kf6?
70.Nd6 Kf3 71.Kf5 was correct.
70...e4?
70...Kf3 71.Kxe5 Nh7 would have kept
the draw.
71.Kf7 Nh7 72.Kg6 Nf8+ 73.Kg7 Ne6+
74.Kf6 Nf8 75.Nd4 e3 76.Kg7 Ne6+
77.Nxe6 e2 78.Nf4
10
Lu Shanglei
Ji Dan
Xinghua 2010
(see next diagram)
39.f5+! gxf5 40.g5
White obtains a dangerous passed pawn,

plus a strong king position. So the sacrifice
of the pawn has paid off.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+l+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+p+k+pzp&
5+p+psN-+-%
4-zP-zP-zPPzP$
3+-+-mK-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
40...hxg5 41.hxg5 c5
Or 41...Kd6 42.g6 Ke6 43.g7 Lf7 44.Kf4
Kf6 45.Nxf7 Kxf7 46.Kxf5 Kxg7 47.
Ke6 Kg6 48.Kd6 Kf5 49.Kxc6 Ke4 50.
Kc5! +.
42.bxc5 b4 43.Nd3!
Stopping the opponent's counterplay as the
knight will block the f5-pawn.
43...b3 44.Nf4+ Kd7 45.Kd2
10
Hoang Thi Bao Tram
Majdan Joanna
Dresden 2008
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7zp-+-+-+-'
6-+p+-+pmk&
5+-+-+l+-%
4-zP-tr-sN-zp$
3tR-+p+-zPP#
2P+-mK-zP-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
46...g5!
With this sacrifice of an important passed
48
71.Qg7+ Qg5 72.Qd7+ Kh4! 73.Qh7+

Qh5! 74.Qg7 f2! 75.Qxg3+!?
Offering the queen forces a king checkmate.
75...Kxg3 #
01
Vedder Henk
Berkhout Sander
B08 Netherlands 1989
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+q+l+p+p'
6-sN-+-+p+&
5+P+-zp-+-%
4-+p+P+-+$
3+-zPr+P+-#
2-+-+-wQP+"
1tR-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
In a materially equal position, weak e5- and
c4-pawns and the weakness of the dark
squares around the black king make the defence very difficult.
34.Qc5!
34.Nxc4? Qxb5 .
34...Kg7?
34...Le6! 35.Ra8+ Kg7 36.Qf8+ Kf6
37.Qh8+ Kg5! 38.Qxe5+ Kh6 39.Ra6 .
35.Qxe5+! Kh6
35...f6 36.Qe7+ +.
36.Nd5! Qxb5 37.Qf4+ Kg7
37...Kh5? 38.Nf6 # ; 37...g5? 38.Qf6+
Kh5 39.Qxf7+ Kh6 40.Qf8+! Kh5
41.Qg7 +.
38.Kh2?
38.Qf6+! Kh6 (38...Kg8 39.Ra8+ Le8
40.Qe5 +) 39.Qxf7 +.
38...Lc6?
38...Rxd5! 39.exd5 Qxd5 offered best practical chances for Black to survive.
39.Qf6+! Kh6
39...Kg8 40.Ne7+ + ; 39...Kf8? 40.Qh8 #.
40.Rh1!
With a double king checkmating threat.

40.Kg3! Qb8+ 41.Nf4 +.
40...Qc5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+p+p'
6-+l+-wQpmk&
5+-wqN+-+-%
4-+p+P+-+$
3+-zPr+P+-#
2-+-+-+PmK"
1+-+-+-+R!
xabcdefghy
Preventing one, but not the other.
41.Kg3! #
10
Bezold Michael
Veingold Aleksandr
Budapest 1989
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-vl-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-mkp+$
3zp-+-sN-+-#
2P+-+-+K+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
50.Nxg4! Kxg4 51.Kf2 = Kf4 52.Ke2
Ke4 53.Kd2 Kd4 54.Kc2 Kc4 55.Kb1
Kc3 56.Ka1 Lf4 57.Kb1 Le5!
Black's last practical resource wins the jackpot.
58.Ka1?? Kc2 #
01
169
Seuss Oswald
Hurme Harri
B09 Dresden 1969
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Lg7 5.Nf3
00 6.e5!?
A variation which has brought White many
quick and beautiful wins. After extensive
research made, it is now considered not to be
of high theoretical value as one where White
may benefit at high-level events.
6...Nfd7! 7.h4!? c5! 8.h5! cxd4 9.Qxd4
9.hxg6? dxc3! .
9...dxe5 10.Qf2!
10.fxe5? Nxe5! ; 10.Qg1!?.
10...Re8?
10...e4! 11.Nxe4 Nf6 12.Nxf6+ exf6!
13.hxg6 Re8+ .
11.hxg6! hxg6 12.Qh4 Nf8?
12...e4 13.Nxe4 (13.Qh7+ Kf8 14.Nxe4
Qb6! and Black is OK).
13.fxe5 Nc6? (D)
13...Qd7 .
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqrsnk+(
7zpp+-zppvl-'
6-+n+-+p+&
5+-+-zP-+-%
4-+-+-+-wQ$
3+-sN-+N+-#
2PzPP+-+P+"
1tR-vL-mKL+R!
xabcdefghy
14.Lh6 f6 15.Lxg7 Kxg7 16.Qh8+ Kf7
17.Lc4+
17.Ng5+ fxg5 18.Lc4+ +.
17...Le6
17...e6 18.Ng5+ fxg5 (18...Ke7 19.Qg7 #)
19.Rf1+ + ; 17...Ne6? 18.Rh7 #.
18.Ng5+!
18.Rh7+ Nxh7 19.Qxh7+ Kf8 20.Lxe6
+.
18...fxg5 19.00 #
The king (move) checkmates! 19.Rf1 #.
10
Fries Nielsen Niels Jorgen

Hoi Carsten
Esbjerg 1981
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-zP-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5zp-+-zp-mk-%
4P+-wq-zp-+$
3+-+P+-zp-#
2-+-+R+n+"
1+-tR-+-+K!
xabcdefghy
64...f3! 65.Rxe5+
65.Re4 Qxd3 66.c8Q Qxe4 +.
65...Qxe5
65...Kf6!? 66.Rh5 (66.Re4 Qd5! 67.Kg1
Qh5 +) 66...Ne3 67.c8Q g2+ 68.Kh2
Nf1+! 69.Rxf1 (69.Kh3 g1N! #)
69...Qf4+! 70.Kg1 (70.Kh3 gxf1Q # ;
70...gxf1L #) 70...Qe3+! 71.Rf2 (71.Kh2
gxf1N+! 72.Kh3 f2+ 73.Kg2 Qg3+!
74.Kxf1 Qg1+ 75.Ke2 f1Q+ +)
71...Qe1+! 72.Kh2 Qh1+ 73.Kg3 g1Q+
74.Kf4 Qxh5 +.
66.c8Q Nf4! 67.Qd8+ Kg4! 68.Qd7+
Qf5! 69.Qg7+ Qg5 70.Qd7+ Qf5 (D)
70...Kh4! +.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+Q+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5zp-+-+q+-%
4P+-+-snk+$
3+-+P+pzp-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-tR-+-+K!
xabcdefghy
168
pawn, Black prepares to create a new one on

the kingside with another sacrifice.
47.Nxd3 g4! 48.hxg4 h3 49.gxf5 h2
50.Ke3 Rd7
50...Rd8 was a bit simpler.
51.Ne5 h1Q 52.Rc3
52.Nxd7 doesn't help due to 52...Qc1+.
52...Qe1+
01
Svidler Peter
Dominguez Perez Leinier
Moscow 2009
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-vl-+k+(
7+p+n+-+-'
6p+-+-+pzp&
5zP-zPN+p+-%
4-zP-vLp+-+$
3+-+-+-+P#
2-+-+-zPP+"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
36.b5! Lxa5
Forced, as the other capture, 36...axb5, loses
faster: 37.c6 bxc6 38.a6 and the pawn is
unstoppable.
37.c6 axb5 38.cxd7 Kf7
Now White just has to be careful in realizing
his extra piece.
39.Kf1 Ke6 40.Nf4+ Kxd7 41.Nxg6 b4
42.Ke2 b3 43.Nf4 Kd6 44.f3 exf3+ 45.
Kxf3 Lb6 46.Lb2 Lc5 47.Nd3 Lg1 48.
Nc1 b5 49.Nxb3 Kd5 50.Nd2 b4 51.Kf4
Ke6 52.Nf3 Lc5 53.Nd4+ Kd5 54.Nxf5
Kc4 55.g4 Kd3 56.h4 b3 57.h5 Kc2 58.
Le5 Kd3 59.Lg7 Lb4 60.Kf3 La5 61.
Nd6 Lc3
10
Aronian Levon
Svidler Peter
Moscow 2009
(see next diagram)
39...a3! 40.bxa3
The other possibility is 40.b3, when we see a

typical break: 40...Nxb3+! 41.axb3 a2.
XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-+-+-+(
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1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
40...b3!
This break can be stopped only with an exchange sacrifice, but White is lost by now.
41.axb3 Nxb3+ 42.Kc3 Nxd4 43.Kxd4
Ra8 44.Nd3 Rxa3 45.c5 dxc5+ 46.Nxc5
Rxf3 47.Ne4 Ke7 48.Kc5 Re3
01
Vistaneckis Isakas
Sardarov Edward
Soviet Union 1963
XABCDEFGHY
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6-+-+p+p+&
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4-+-+-zP-+$
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1tr-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1.f5!! exf5
1...gxf5 2.g6 fxg6 3.Rh8.
2.e6 fxe6
2...Ra6 3.exf7 Kxf7 4.Rh8.
3.Rh8
10
49
Lasker Emanuel
Levenfish Grigory
Moscow 1925
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
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6-+k+p+p+&
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4R+-+-zP-zP$
3+-+-+-+-#
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1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
49.Kf6?
It was necessary to try to make the break as
soon as possible: 49.f5! exf5 50.e6 fxe6+
51.Kxg6 Kb5 52.Ra1 f4 53.h5 e5 54.h6 e4
55.Kf5 f3 56.Kxe4 f2 57.Ke3 Rh7 58.
Kxf2 Rxh6 59.Ke2 Rd6 60.Rd1!, avoiding the king being cut off and obtaining a
theoretical drawn position.
49...Kb5 50.Ra1 a4 51.f5
Better late than never! But it is too late!
51...exf5 52.e6 fxe6 53.Kxg6 f4 54.h5 f3
55.h6 e5 56.Re1
56.Kf5 f2 57.Kxe5 Rh7 58.Rf1 Rxh6
59.Rxf2 a3 +.
56...a3 57.Rxe5+ Kc4 58.Re1 a2 59.h7
Ra8 60.Kg7 f2 61.Ra1 Kb3 62.Rf1
a1Q+ 63.Rxa1 Rxa1
01
Stein Leonid
Vaganian Rafael
Vrnjacka Banja 1971
(see next diagram)
With two powerful pawn moves, Black creates an important passed pawn:
1...h5! 2.gxh5
2.fxg6 hxg4 3.Rxg4 f5 =.
2...g5!!
The simple capture 2...gxf5? would be
wrong due to 3.Kb8 Ra5 4.Kb7 Kh6
5.Kb6 Ra8 6.a5 Rb8+ 7.Kc5 Ra8 8.Ra4

Kxh5 9.Kb6! +.
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xabcdefghy
3.Kb8 Ra5 4.hxg5 fxg5 5.Rb7+
After 5.Kb7 Kf6 6.Kb6 Ra8 7.a5 Rb8+
8.Kc5 Rxb4! 9.Kxb4 g4 10.a6 g3 11.a7 g2
12.a8Q g1Q 13.Qf8+ Ke5 Black has good
chances for a draw.
5...Kh6 6.f6 Rxa4
Carlsen Magnus
Wang Yue
Medias 2010
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46.g4!
The creation of the passed pawn sometimes
demands sacrifices.
46...hxg4 47.h5 Le4 48.Rc7!
Now the rook is ready to support its passed
pawn.
50
15.h4+ Kf4 16.g3 #) 15.g3+ Kh3

(15...Kg5?? 16.h4 #) and there is no mate'.
But 16.00! is an interesting position for
further analysis.
13...Kg5 14.h4+!
14.f4+! also mates in four moves, with best
play by both sides: 14...Kxf4 (14...Kh4
15.g3+ Kh3 16.Lf1+ Lg2 17.Nf2 #)
15.g3+ Kf3 (15...Kg5 16.h4 #) 16.00 #!
The king (move) checkmates!
14...Kf4 15.g3+! Kf3 16.Le2+
Edward Lasker: 'White could have forced the
mate in seven instead of eight moves by
playing 16.00! gxf6 (16...Rxf6 17.Ne5 #
or 17.Nh2 #) 17.Nh2 # or 16.Kf1! gxf6
(16...Rxf6 17.Ne5 # or 17.Nh2 #) )
17.Nh2 #, for there was no protection
against Nh2 #'.
16...Kg2 17.Rh2+
17.000 gxf6 18.Rh2 # or 18.Rdg1 #.
17...Kg1 18.Kd2 #
The king checkmates! 18.000 # The king
(move) checkmates!
10
Reportedly, after Lasker checkmated him,
Thomas said, This was very nice. Lasker,
who had yet to learn English, was touched by
Thomas's sportsmanship after a spectator translated Thomas's remark into German for him.
In his Chess & Checkers - The Way to
Mastership, Edward Lasker wrote: Sacrifices made with the view of a direct mating
attack are, as a rule, the easiest to figure out,
as there is no guesswork connected with
them. In those cases the player does not face
the question as to whether the position attained after the sacrifice will be strong
enough to insure a gain of material at least
equivalent to the amount of material sacrificed, a question which to answer correctly
sometimes requires a good deal of instinct
trained by experience; all that is necessary is
to ascertain whether the opponent can be
mated in a definite number of moves or not.
If the mate cannot be clearly foreseen, the
sacrifice must not be made. The possibility of
a sacrifice with consequent forced mate is
always indicated if a greatly superior force is
available for attack on the part of the board
where the opposing king is located.

Maroczy Geza
Paris 1900
XABCDEFGHY
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34...Rg4!? 35.Ng5?
Too early, as both the game and analysis
attempt to prove: 35.Kh3!? Rfg8 36.Ng5!
Rxf4 37.Nf7+! Qxf7 38.Rxg8+ Kxg8
39.Qxf4 Qxh5+ 40.Qh4! Qf3+ 41.Qg3+
Qxg3+ 42.Kxg3 .
35...Rxf4! 36.Nf7+ Qxf7
36...Rxf7? 37.Qxf4 +.
37.Qxf4 Qxh5+ 38.Kg3 Qe2!
In a materially equal position, with both
kings open to attack, chances are mutual.
39.Kh4?!
Better was 39.Kh3.
39...Rc8! 40.Rae1?
40.b3!? Rxc3 41.Rg8+!? Kxg8 42.Qg5+ =.
40...Qxb2! 41.Kh3
41.Kg5 Rc4 .
41...Rxc3+ 42.Rg3
42.Re3 Rxe3+ 43.Qxe3 Qxb4 44.Qg5
Qf8 45.Qf6+ Qxf6 46.exf6 Le8 47.Rg7
Lg6 48.Rxb7 Kg8 49.Re7 e5 50.Rxe5
Kf7 51.Rxd5 Kxf6 =.
42...Rc2 43.Rh1?
43.Rg8+ Kxg8 44.Qg5+ =.
43...Rc8?
43...Lb5! 44.Rg8+ Kxg8 45.Qg5+ Kf7
46.Qf6+ Ke8 47.Qxe6+ Kd8 +.
44.Qh6!
44.Qh4 Rf8 45.Qh6 Rf7 46.Qg5 +.
44...Qxe5 45.Qxh7+!! Kxh7 46.Kg2 #
10
167
opening the centre, an opening which should

sooner or later generally favour the bishops.
6...fxe4 7.Nxe4
What motivated Edward Lasker to play his
previous two moves? The powerful central
position of the e4-knight 'guarantees' that
White is OK. To chase the knight away, with
for example ...d5, would result in a vulnerable backward e6-pawn and a potentially
strong e5-square for White. To eliminate the
knight, Black would either have to give up
his bishop pair, or manoeuvre the b8-knight
to, for example, the f6-square, which in turn
would mean displacing the e7-bishop to a
worse position.
7...b6!? (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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8.Ne5?
White violates yet another opening principle,
whereby one should not play twice with the
same piece in the opening phase of a game.
8.Ne5 falls into the category of what sometimes I like to refer to as 'smart chess moves', ones with a threat. Better was 8.Ld3 .
8...00
8...Lb7?? is refuted by 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Nxg6
Lxe4 (10...hxg6 11.Qxg6+ Kf8 12.Nxf6
+) 11.Nxh8+ Ke7 (11...Lg6 12.Nxg6
hxg6 13.Qxg6+ +) 12.Nf7 Qe8 13.Qe2!
+. 8...Lxe5 9.dxe5 (9.Qh5+ g6 10.Qxe5
00) 9...00 10.Qg4 .
9.Ld3? Lb7?
One of the advantages of having the bishop
pair is that the advantage of the long-range
pieces can often be relatively easily transFIDE TRG Yearbook 2011
formed into another one, in this case material: 9...Lxe5 10.dxe5 Nc6 wins the e5pawn: 11.Qh5 Rf5 .
10.Qh5 Qe7? (D)
Edward Lasker commented: 'Black has just
played 10...Qe7 in order to protect the mate
which was threatened by Nxf6+ followed by
Qxh7+. If in the position of the diagram
White played 11.Nf6+, Black would retake
with the pawn, thereby protecting the pawn
h7 with his queen. However, White can force
the mate with a neat queen's sacrifice which
drives Black's king right into the arms of the
remaining white pieces'. By the way, Black
should have opted for 10...Lxe5! 11.Nd2!
(11.Qxe5? Nc6 ; 11.dxe5? Rf5 ) 11...g6
12.Qxe5 but not for 10...g6?! 11.Nxg6!
hxg6 12.Qxg6+ Lg7 (12...Kh8? 13.Nxf6
+) 13.h4 Qe8?? 14.Nf6+! +.
XABCDEFGHY
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xabcdefghy
11.Qxh7+!! Kxh7 12.Nxf6+
12.Ng5+? Kh6 +.
12...Kh6
Edward Lasker: 'The king cannot go to h8
(12...Kh8??) on account of 13.Ng6 #. White
now continually checks Black's king in such
a manner that he has only one square to go to
until he is finally driven to the first rank, all
White pieces participating in the chase'.
13.Neg4+!
The only path to a win (by forced checkmate). Edward Lasker: 'In answer to
13.Nfg4+? Black would play 13...Kh5!
(13...Kg5?? 14.h4+ Kf4 [14...Kh5 15.Lg6
#] 15.g3 #) 14.Lg6+ Kh4 (14...Kg5??
166
48...f5 49.h6 f4 50.h7 g3+ 51.Ke1 f3

52.h8Q f2+ 53.Ke2 Ld3+ 54.Ke3
10
Zorigt
Korzin Vitaly
Budva 1963
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1.g4!!
The creation of a passed pawn is now very
easy.
1...gxh4 2.gxh5 Lg5 3.Lf8 h3 4.Kf3 Kd5
5.h6?
Correct was the natural 5.Lg7.
5...Lxh6?
Black could make a draw in the pawn ending
after 5...Kxe5 6.Lg7+ Lf6 7.Kg3 Kf5
8.Kxh3 Kg6 9.Lxf6 Kxf6 10.Kg4 Kg6
11.Kf4 Kxh6 12.c4 bxc4 13.b5 e5+ 14.
Ke3 f5 15.b6 f4+ 16.Ke2 c3 17.b7 f3+.
6.Lxh6 Kxe5 7.Lg7+ Kd5 8.Kg3 f5
9.Kxh3 e5 10.Kg3 Ke4 11.Lh8 f4+
12.Kg4 f3 13.Kg3
10
Filip Miroslav
Mozny Milos
Czechoslovakia 1977
(see next diagram)
1...b5!!
The only and last chance as after 1...axb4
2.Lxb4 with the idea Le1-f2-xb6, White
will transpose into the notorious ending with
a bishop of the wrong corner colour.
XABCDEFGHY
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2.bxa5 bxa4 3.a6 Kc6 4.Lb4 Lb6
5.Kxh4 Kb5 6.La3 Kxa6 7.Kg3 Kb5
8.Kf3 Lc5 9.Lc1 Kc4 10.Ke2 Kb3
With the idea ...Ld4-b2 +.
01
Makarichev Sergey
Averbakh Yuri
Lvov 1973
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48...Lg1+! 49.Ke2
Blacks idea was to penetrate White's position after 49.Kxg1 Ke3.
49...Kg3 50.Kf1 Lf2 51.Lc2 f5!
Another small sacrifice - once more White
cannot capture as the black king accelerates
to the other flank.
52.Lb1
52.Lxf5 Kf4 53.Le4 Ke3.
51
52...f4 53.Lg6 Le3 54.Lc2 h5 55.Lf5 c5

56.Lg6 h4 57.Lf5 (D)
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57...g4!
The idea is to create a passed pawn on the
kingside and then to bring the king to assist
the c3-pawn.
58.hxg4 h3 59.gxh3 Kxf3 60.g5 Kg3 61.g6
Ld4 62.h4 f3 63.h5 Lg7 64.Ke1 f2+
65.Kf1 Kf3
01
Conclusion
Breaks are always around, lurking in the
background. They often give a decisive advantage to the side that spots them and analyzes them. They should never be ignored.
This rule doesnt apply only in the endgame,
but in the middlegame too.
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Fdration Internationale des checs

Name
Federation
FIDE ID
Title Awarded
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Licence
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Greece
4200039
FIDE Senior Trainer
2005
2011-2014
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trainer/instructor for the period indicated on the front.
The licence is governed both by the terms and conditions of
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and regulated by a code of ethics
and professionally administered by FIDE Office.
The King Checkmates!

Jovan Petronic
Concept
The game of chess revolves around the two
kings, with the main objective of each player
to deliver checkmate. A common misconception of the king being open to capture or exchange is still widespread.
Being the most important piece in the
game, the king is by definition also the most
vulnerable piece, and especially in the opening and middlegame phases of the game. In
those phases, the king rarely plays an active
role.
The purpose of this survey is to study a
collection of games and game fragments
(source: ChessBase Mega Database 2011),
which addresses an additional less known
power of the king - to personally deliver
checkmate.
As with all checkmates, a single piece is
unable to checkmate the opponent's king, if
not assisted by at least one other piece, either
its own or the opponent's, emphasizing the
importance of teamwork among the chess
pieces of both colours.
Historical notes excerpts (source: Piceclopedia):
- Except for some differences in special moves, the king has remained the same from its
earliest days to modern-day chess.
- The king has always moved one space in
any direction.
- In Chaturanga, which is widely regarded as
the earliest form of chess, the king was called
a Rajah, which is Sanskrit for king.
- The Persians called it by their own word for
king, which was Shah.
- Checkmate comes from the Persian expression Shah Mat, which literally means
that the king is ambushed.
- Reports that checkmate means the king is
dead are mistaken.
dentally, this game also features the main

theme of this survey.
Edward Lasker was born in 1885 and was
a leading German and American player. He
won five US Championships in the period
1916-1921.
In 1973, as a 9-year-old, I had the honour
of meeting and playing Edward Lasker, during a visit to his apartment in New York
City. My mom reminded me he said I was
good... Afterwards he had recommended me
to join the Manhattan Chess Club, the second
oldest chess club in the USA, which I did.
Sir George Alan Thomas was born in 1881
and was twice (1923 & 1934) British chess
champion, a 21-time All-England Badminton
champion, and a semi-finalist of the men's
tennis doubles at Wimbledon in 1911.
Games
The year 2012 will mark the 100th anniversary of one of the most well-known master
games played in the history of chess. Coinci-
5.Lxf6? Lxf6 6.e4

A concept pretty difficult to understand if not
looking far enough. White gives away his
bishop-pair, and immediately follows up with
165
http://www.fide.com
http://trainers.fide.com
52
Lasker Edward
Thomas George Alan
A83 London 1912
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nc3?! Nf6
3...d5! would have made the c3-knight feel
awkward.
4.Lg5 Le7 (D)
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10
We shall end this article with a curious
example that also features two very strong
players.
What makes this game remarkable is the
originality of the mating construction and
the fact that both white knights try to deliver
the check mate! The first knight didn't make
it but the second one did!
Akopian Vladimir
Piskov Yury
Uzhgorod 1988
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1+R+-tRNmK-!
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Therefore he decides to exchange two pieces

for a rook and a pawn.
22...Kh8 23.Nf7+ Rxf7
Black's rook neutralizes White's first cavalry
assault, after which the position is quite
equal. In any case, it is a very fragile dynamic equilibrium which demands very precise play by both players.
24.Qxf7 fxg3 25.Nxg3 Rg8? (D)
Black's first mistake arrives quickly, with
this passive move. He should have opened a
window with 25...g6 or 25...h6. The punishment will be severe.
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26.Rxe7! Lxe7 27.Nf5 Qf4?
White has recovered material with interest,
but the black queen's journey hasn't brought
anything good.
28.g3! Qf3 29.Rxb7 Lf6 30.Nh6!
The X-ray attack by White's queen-rook duo
along the seventh rank pressures h7, allowing this elegant knight jump.
30...Ra8
30...gxh6 31.Qxh7 #.
31.Qg8+!
10
Conclusion
Lucenas mate is easy to learn and easy to
remember; you just have to practise.
21...f4 22.Qe6+!
The strong Armenian player judges correctly
that after 22.Lh4 Nf5 23.c3 Lc8 Black
would have the advantage due to the bad
position of the white queen and bishop.
164
Problems of Middlegame Planning

Concept
The preparation of plans direct from the
opening is a key part of every top players
homework and preparation. Sometimes such
work leads to very sharp developments.
Kupreichik Viktor
Sveshnikov Evgeny
B30 Kuibyshev 1986
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Lc4
This extremely positional line became popular as an antidote for the Sveshnikov Variation. I remember the great Efim Geller
laughing when he saw Sveshnikovs ideas
but after 10 years he tried it himself!
4...Le7 5.d3 Nf6 6.Ng5 00 7.f4 (D)
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7...exf4
Many years later Sveshnikov invented a fantastic gambit idea: 7...d5! 8.exd5 Lg4 9.Qd2
Nd4 10.00 exf4 11.Qxf4 Ld6 12.Qf2
Qb8 13.Lf4 Lxf4 14.Qxf4 b5 15.Qxb8
Raxb8 16.Lb3 c4 17.dxc4 bxc4 18.Lxc4
Nxc2 19.Rac1 Ne3 20.b3 Nxf1 21.Rxf1
Rfe8 22.d6 Lh5 23.Nd5 Nxd5 24.Lxd5
Re5 25.Lxf7+ Lxf7 26.Nxf7 Rd5 27.d7
Rxd7 28.Ne5 Rd2 29.Rf2 Rd1+ 30.Rf1
Rbd8 31.Nc6 R8d7 32.b4 Rxf1+ 33.Kxf1
Rd1+ 01 Srebrnic,M-Sveshnikov,E Bled
2008. Great inventors are always on top of
theory!
8.Lxf4 d6 9.00 h6 10.Nf3 Le6 11.Qd2
d5 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Lxd5!
A new direction of attack by Victor Kupreichik. Instead of the text, 13.Rae1 had
previously been tested.
13...Lxd5 14.Lxh6! gxh6 15.Qxh6 (D)
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15...Nd4?
A bad move with a bad idea behind it!
16.Nxd4 Lg5
If 16...cxd4 then 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.Rf3 +
.
17.Qh5 cxd4 18.Nxd5 Qxd5 (D)
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19.Rf4!!
53
Horizontal pins are almost always effective

and this one shows the beautiful fantasy of
such inventive players as Victor Kupreichik.
19...Rae8 20.h4 Re5 21.hxg5! Rxg5
22.Rg4 f6 23.Rf1 Kg7
It is strange that a talented young player repeated this line 20 years later! This is poor
homework: 23...Qe5 24.Rxg5+ 10 Vyskocil,N-Volodin,V Marianske Lazne 2003.
24.Rxf6! Kxf6 25.Qh6+ Ke7 26.Rxg5
10
Hero of the next game is the CroatianGerman IM Mladen Muse, who profited
from this sharp line, winning 3 games here!
It was the result of good home preparation.
Barczay Laszlo
Muse Mladen
B30 Kecskemet 1990
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Lc4 Le7
5.d3 Nf6 6.Ng5 00 7.f4 exf4 8.Lxf4 d6
9.00 h6 10.Nf3 Le6 11.Qd2 d5 12.exd5
Nxd5 13.Lxd5 Lxd5 14.Lxh6 gxh6
15.Qxh6 (D)
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5+-zpl+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-sNP+N+-#
2PzPP+-+PzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
15...Le6!
First try to refute Whites powerful-looking
attacking set up.
16.Ne4
Weak is 16.Rae1? Lf5 17.Nh4 Lg5
18.Qh5 Qd4+ 01 Dusenov,R-Iljushin,A
Saratov 2006.
16...Lf5 (D)
Here is the critical moment, where White
has tried unsuccessfully various attacking
ways.
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7zpp+-vlp+-'
6-+n+-+-wQ&
5+-zp-+l+-%
4-+-+N+-+$
3+-+P+N+-#
2PzPP+-+PzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7+p+-vlpzpp'
6-+-+-sn-+&
5zp-snpsNl+-%
4-+-wQ-+-+$
3zPPsN-+-zP-#
2-vL-+PzPLzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
17.Nfg5
Muse played two other games from this position with quite positive results, as he was
able to cash in the point in both cases:
17.Rae1 Lg6 18.Ng3 Nd4 19.Ne5 Lg5
20.Qh3 Nxc2 21.Re4 Lxe4 22.Nxe4 f5
23.Rxf5 Qd4+ 24.Nf2 Qe3 25.Rxg5+
Qxg5 26.Qe6+ Kg7 27.Qd7+ Kh8
28.Qh3+ Kg8 29.Qe6+ Kh7 30.Qd7+
Qg7 31.Qh3+ Qh6 32.Qd7+ Kh8 33.g3
Qc1+ 34.Kg2 Ne1+ 35.Kh3 Qh6+ 01
Gallagher,J-Muse,M Biel 1989 and 17.Ng3
Lg6 18.Nh5 Lxh5 19.Qxh5 Qd6 20.
Rae1 Qg6 21.Qh3 f5 22.Ne5 Nxe5 23.
Rxe5 Lf6 24.Rexf5 Ld4+ 25.Kh1 Rxf5
26.Rxf5 Re8 27.Rf1 Lxb2 28.Qd7 b6
29.g3 Qe6 30.Qb7 Lg7 31.a4 c4 32.Rf4
cxd3 33.cxd3 Rc8 34.Re4 Rc1+ 35.Kg2
Rc2+ 36.Kh1 Qc6 37.Qb8+ Kh7 38.Qf4
Qf6 39.Qxf6 Lxf6 40.Re6 Kg6 41.h4
Rd2 42.Rd6 Kf5 43.a5 bxa5 44.g4+ Ke5
45.Ra6 Ld8 01 Beckemeier,W-Muse,M
Germany 1988.
17...Lg6 18.h4 Qd4+ 19.Kh1 Qg7
20.Qxg7+ Kxg7
A fantastic hat-trick!
01
Now, the black king falls under the combined attack of the enemy queen and
knights, supported from behind by the bishops.
16.Qxf5 Nxa1 17.Nxf7!
Black probably expected 17.Lxa1 Nf6
18.Lxb7 Lxa3 with a reasonable position.
17...Qc8 (D)
Trying to save face, as after 17...Rxf7
18.Lxd5 White's advantage would be decisive thanks to the action of the bishop.
Landa Konstantin
Gagarin Vasilij
B30 Bratislava 1990
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 e5 4.Lc4 d6
5.d3 Le7 6.00 Nf6 7.Ng5 00 8.f4 exf4
9.Lxf4 h6 10.Nf3 Le6 11.Qd2 d5
54
Once again the sacrifice appears, although

this time the preparation has been quite different.
10
The next example involves two strong
Grandmasters. Black becomes confused after a sudden attack against his queen and
forgets about the safety of his king for a
moment.
Bischoff Klaus
Mueller Karsten
Hoeckendorf 2004
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7+-+-+pzpp'
6p+-sNlsn-+&
5+-zPp+-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3wqLwQ-+-+P#
2P+-+-+P+"
1mK-+-tR-+-!
xabcdefghy
XABCDEFGHY
8r+q+-trk+(
7+p+-vlNzpp'
6-+-+-+-+&
5zp-+n+Q+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3zP-+-+-zP-#
2-vL-+PzPLzP"
1sn-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
29.Re3! Rd8 30.Qe1!

Black was planning on sacrificing the exchange in order to eliminate the annoying
enemy knight, but we shall see how White's
last two moves have woven a net around his
opponent's queen.
30...Rb8 (D)
Indeed, after the projected 30...Rxd6
31.Lc2! would follow and the black queen
would be trapped, but the game move is another mistake of calculation.
18.Nh6+!
An original attacking idea, taking advantage
of the strength of the other bishop. The
knight can't be captured.
18...Kh8 19.Qxd5
Black's position is lost but his next move
allows an unexpected ending.
19...Nc2 20.Qg8+!
31.Rxe6! fxe6
After 31...Rxb3 32.Re8+ Black receives
mate on the back rank. After the capture of
the white rook, the game ends quickly in a
way that we already know quite well.
32.Qxe6+ Kh8 33.Nf7+ Kg8 34.Nh6+
Kh8 35.Qg8+ Nxg8 36.Nf7 #
163
(see next diagram)
Rajlich Vasik
Horvath Csaba
Budapest 2002
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7+p+-+rzpp'
6pzPqzPQ+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4P+-+n+-+$
3sN-+-+p+-#
2-+-+-+PzP"
1tR-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
On this occasion the mating sequence is
clean, with no added elements.
31...Qc5+
First: the queen occupies the critical diagonal, sending the enemy king to the corner.
32.Kh1 Nf2+
Second: the knight commences his mortal
dance.
33.Kg1 Nh3+ (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7+p+-+rzpp'
6pzP-zPQ+-+&
5+-wq-+-+-%
4P+-+-+-+$
3sN-+-+p+n#
2-+-+-+PzP"
1tR-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Third: the fundamental double check with
queen and knight is delivered.
34.Kh1 Qg1+!
And fourth: attraction and blockading sacrifice. Only the mate is left, if our opponent
allows us of course.
01
Let us now consider some games between

players of a higher level in which the Lucena
mate made its appearance in some way or
another.
Pay attention to the following piece constellation, as it allows a very long combination that ends in a forced mate.
Biliy Vadim
Vovk Yuri
Alushta 2006
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-+-mk(
7zp-tR-+Q+-'
6-+-+pzp-zp&
5zp-+-zPl+-%
4-vl-zp-zPn+$
3+L+-+R+-#
2PzP-+q+PzP"
1tr-+-+-sNK!
xabcdefghy
34...Rxg1+! 35.Kxg1 Qe1+ 36.Rf1 Qe3+
37.Kh1 Nf2+ 38.Kg1
The weakness of the back rank is a key factor in this combination as it invalidates the
capture of the knight as a possible defence
(38.Rxf2 Qe1+).
38...Nh3+ 39.Kh1 Qg1+ 40.Rxg1 Nf2 #
01
In the next game, Black, a strong North
American master, fell victim to a more refined version of the Lucena mate.
Benko Pal
Horowitz Israel
New York 1968
(see next diagram)
White starts a long distance attacking combination, including the sacrifice of the rook
on a1.
14.Nxd5! Nxb3 15.Qf4 Nxd5?
Black accepts the challenge, although it
would have been safer to proceed with
15...Le6.
162
12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Lxd5 Lxd5 14.Lxh6?!

gxh6 15.Qxh6 Re8! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqr+k+(
7zpp+-vlp+-'
6-+n+-+-wQ&
5+-zpl+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-sNP+N+-#
2PzPP+-+PzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
Another way to stop White's attack.
16.Kh1!?
No better would be 16.Rae1 Lxf3!
17.Rxf3 Qd4+ 18.Ree3 Ne5 19.Rh3
Ng6 20.Nd5 Lh4! 21.Qh5 Re5 01 Yurtaev,L-Meshkov,Y Soviet Union 1990.
16...Ne5!!
It is necessary to add defensive power.
16...Le6 17.Rae1 ; 16...Lf8 17.Qh5 .
17.Qh5
17.Nxe5 Lg5 ; 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.Ng5
Lxg5 19.Qxg5+ Kf8 .
17...Lf6 18.Rae1 Lxf3 19.gxf3 Ng6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqr+k+(
7zpp+-+p+-'
6-+-+-vln+&
5+-zp-+-+Q%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-sNP+P+-#
2PzPP+-+-zP"
1+-+-tRR+K!
xabcdefghy
The attack is stopped.
20.Rxe8+?!
20.Ne4!? Kg7! .
20...Qxe8 21.Ne4 Qc6! 22.f4 Kf8 23.b3

Re8 24.Qf5 Re6 25.h3 b6 26.Qg4 Rxe4!
+ 27.dxe4 Qxe4+ 28.Qg2 Qf5! 29.Qa8+
Kg7 30.Qg2 Ld4 31.Qg4?! Qxc2 32.h4
Qe4+ 33.Kh2 f5 34.Qg2 Qxg2+ 35.Kxg2
Nxh4+ 36.Kg3 Ng6 37.Rh1? Le3
01
The story seemed to have ended but after
15 years something unusual appeared
De Firmian Nick
Browne Walter
B30 Seattle 2003
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Lc4 d6
5.d3 Le7 6.00 Nf6 7.Ng5 00 8.f4 exf4
9.Lxf4 h6 10.Nf3 Le6 11.Qd2 d5 12.
exd5 Nxd5 13.Lxd5 Lxd5 14.Lxh6 gxh6
15.Qxh6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7zpp+-vlp+-'
6-+n+-+-wQ&
5+-zpl+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-sNP+N+-#
2PzPP+-+PzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
15...f5!?
Two experienced GMs, with huge opening
knowledge between them, tried to open a
new page.
16.Rae1
16.Qg6+ Kh8 17.Ng5? (White tries to continue the attack, but it has no chance to succeed here) 17...Lxg5 18.Nxd5 Ne5
19.Qh5+ Kg7 20.c4 Ng6 21.Rae1 Rh8
22.Qf3 Qd6 23.g3 Raf8 24.h4 Lf6 25.
Re2 Ld4+ 26.Kg2 Rf7 27.Rfe1 Ne5 28.
Qf4 Re8 29.h5 b6 30.b4 Kh7 31.bxc5
bxc5 32.g4 fxg4 33.Qxf7+ Nxf7 34.Rxe8
Ne5 35.Re4 Kh6 36.Nf4 Qd7 37.Re6+
Kh7 38.R6xe5 Lxe5 39.Rxe5 Qb7+
55
40.Re4 Qb1 41.Kg3 Qxa2 42.Kxg4 Qa5

43.Re7+ Kh6 44.Nd5 Qd8 45.Re6+ Kh7
46.Kf5 a5 47.Rg6 a4 48.Nf6+ Kh8 49.
Rh6+ Kg7 50.Rh7+ Kf8 51.Rh8+ Ke7
52.Rxd8 Kxd8 53.h6 10 Meyer,FEkeberg,C Gausdal 2003.
16...Lf7
16...Rf7! was very good try to stop the
draw.
17.Re6 Lxe6 18.Qg6+
Now a somewhat different story. White

invented a very positional plan in a wellknown position, which served positional
players well for a long time. But the day
came when the black players became tired of
suffering and decided to sharpen the game
maximally. This is what happened and how
the variation developed:
Ubilava Elizbar
D37 Volgodonsk 1981
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Le7 4.Nf3 Nf6
5.Lf4 00 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Lxc5 8.a3 Nc6
9.b4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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7zpp+-+pzpp'
6-+n+psn-+&
5+-vlp+-+-%
4-zPP+-vL-+$
3zP-sN-zPN+-#
2-+-+-zPPzP"
1tR-+QmKL+R!
xabcdefghy
In those days I worked as a second of Anatoly Karpov and we researched many new
ideas. Top players like Korchnoi and Karpov
played this line another way. I tried to find a
completely different plan in middlegame,
attempting to develop the initiative on the
queenside.
9...Ld6
P.H.Nielsen, then young and a future strong

GM and famous trainer, tried a different
retreat: 9...Le7 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5
exd5 12.Ld3 Lf6 13.Rc1 Re8 14.00
Lg4 15.h3 Lxf3 (White prepared a very
unusual attack on the isolani from the side:
15...Lh5 16.Rc5!) 16.Qxf3 Ne5 17.Lxe5
Rxe5 18.Rfd1 Qd6 19.Lc4 Rd8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-+k+(
7zpp+-+pzpp'
6-+-wq-vl-+&
5+-+ptr-+-%
4-zPL+-+-+$
3zP-+-zPQ+P#
2-+-+-zPP+"
1+-tRR+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Now I started a very simple but effective
attack on the isolani using the presence of
opposite coloured bishops on the board,
which made protection of the isolani very
difficult: 20.Lb3 b6 21.Rd3 a5 22.Rcd1
Qf8 23.Lxd5 Re7 24.b5 Rc7 25.e4 Kh8
26.g3 Le5 27.Kg2 Rcd7 28.Rc1 Rc7
29.Rc6 Rxc6 30.bxc6 10 Mikhalchishin,
A-Nielsen,P Copenhagen 1991.
10.Lxd6 Qxd6 11.Le2
Another plan was possible: 11.cxd5 exd5
12.Le2 Lg4 13.Nb5 Qe7 14.00 Rad8
but I wanted to wait before the creation of
the isolani.
11...Rd8 12.00 b6
Another option, leading to a slightly better
position for White, was 12...dxc4 13.Qxd6
Rxd6 14.Rfd1 Rxd1+ 15.Rxd1 Ld7
16.Lxc4 Le8.
13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.Nxd5 Qxd5
After 14...exd5 15.Lb5 Lb7 16.Lxc6
Lxc6 17.Qd3 a6 18.Nd4 White would get
a classical isolani position with knight
against bishop, which is considered to be
very favourable for him in all such kind of
positions.
56
There was really no need to be so greedy,

but I think that Black already had the Lucena
mate in mind. The simple 19...Rb8 would
have kept the centre closed and Black's king
would have been completely safe.
20.cxb4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-+-tr(
7+-+-mk-zpp'
6p+-+-+-+&
5+-wq-zpP+-%
4PzP-+n+-+$
3+Q+-+-+-#
2-zP-+N+PzP"
1tR-+-+R+K!
xabcdefghy
Gdanski considers that the moment to initiate the decisive combination has arrived, but
his next move throws away any advantage
he may have attained.
20...Nf2+?
Controlling the game with the precise
20...Rb8! was necessary.
21.Kg1 Nh3+ 22.Kh1 Qg1+?? (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-+-tr(
7+-+-mk-zpp'
6p+-+-+-+&
5+-+-zpP+-%
4PzP-+-+-+$
3+Q+-+-+n#
2-zP-+N+PzP"
1tR-+-+RwqK!
xabcdefghy
It's obvious that move repetition with
22...Nf2+ was the correct idea, and the
game would have headed towards a draw,
but the Polish representative was still fascinated by the mating idea.
23.Nxg1!
10
As an off-topic, the computer program
Rybka, several times World Champion, has
been disqualified by the competent organism, accused of copying the code of other
programs without giving the corresponding
credit.
Be that as it may, the author of Rybka is
still a strong over-the-board player. We shall
use one of his games to illustrate an example
which is similar to the previous one, but that
has an important difference that allows an
acrobatic queen sacrifice in order to achieve
a successful checkmate.
Szieberth Adam
Rajlich Vasik
Budapest 2001
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-trk+(
7zpp+-+pvl-'
6-+-+-+p+&
5+-vL-+q+-%
4-sn-+-+-+$
3+-sN-+-+-#
2PzP-tr-+-+"
1mK-tR-+-wQR!
xabcdefghy
31...Nc2+ 32.Kb1 Na3+ 33.Ka1
The sequence of checks that takes us to the
moment of truth.
33...Qb1+!
Here it is! The fundamental difference is that
after 34.Nxb1 Lxb2 # is mate.
01
Surprisingly, the following year, the same
main character received mate instead of giving it.
We shall use this example to summarize
step by step the mechanics of the Lucena
mate, before we examine some more complex situations.
161
The best players in the world have always

had this mate in their tactical arsenal. Here is
a game of the legendary North American
champion Paul Morphy, playing on home
soil when he was only twelve years old.
McConnell James
Morphy Paul
New Orleans 1849
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7zp-+-+-+-'
6-+-+l+-zp&
5+-+p+pzp-%
4-+Psnnzp-+$
3+-+Q+-+-#
2PzPLsN-+PzP"
1tR-vL-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
18...Qb6
Without a doubt, Morphy wanted to finish
off the game in great style. Therefore he
prepares the knight jump to f3, but his opponent protects himself by moving away his
king, and Black has to end the game in a
rather mundane way.
19.Kh1 Nxc2 20.Qxc2 Nf2+ (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7zp-+-+-+-'
6-wq-+l+-zp&
5+-+p+pzp-%
4-+P+-zp-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzPQsN-snPzP"
1tR-vL-+R+K!
xabcdefghy
21.Kg1
Obviously 21.Rxf2 Qxf2, was also possiFIDE TRG Yearbook 2011
ble, although Black's advantage would be

overwhelming. In addition to his material
superiority he would have a decisive advantage in development. The exchange sacrifice
is only feasible, as in this case, when a rook
controls the check on f2 (or f7), although the
compensation is normally inadequate. The
well-known mating pattern is easily detected
now.
21...Nh3+ 22.Kh1 Qg1+ 23.Rxg1 Nf2 #
Up to now everything seems clear but one
has to be careful with illusions!
01
In the next game, Black - a young Polish
man who years later would become a
Grandmaster - thought that he could finish
off a good game with a fantastic culmination, in pure Lucena style.
Ravi Thandalam Shanmugam
Gdanski Jacek
Rio Gallegos 1986
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+k+-tr(
7+-wq-+pzpp'
6p+-vl-sn-+&
5+-zp-zpP+-%
4Pzp-+P+-+$
3+-zPLvL-+-#
2-zP-+N+PzP"
1tR-+Q+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
14...c4! 15.Lxc4 Lc5!
White is about to lose a piece, so therefore
he tries to leave the black king in an uncomfortable situation in the middle of the board.
16.Lxf7+ Kxf7 17.Qb3+ Ke7 18.Lxc5+?!
Slightly better was 18.cxb4 although after
18...Lxe3+ 19.Qxe3 Black has 19...Qa7!,
with a favourable ending in which White's
pawns will offer good compensation for the
sacrificed piece, although in reality they are
quite weak.
18...Qxc5+ 19.Kh1 Nxe4?!
160
15.Qxd5 Rxd5 16.Rfd1 Ld7 17.Rxd5

exd5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7zp-+l+pzpp'
6-zpn+-+-+&
5+-+p+-+-%
4-zP-+-+-+$
3zP-+-zPN+-#
2-+-+LzPPzP"
1tR-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Finally the isolani appears - Black's defence
is not an easy task.
18.Rc1 a6 19.h3 Kf8 20.Lxa6 Nxb4
21.axb4 Rxa6 22.Rc7 Le8 23.Nd4 g6
24.g4 Ra1+ 25.Kg2 Rb1 26.f4 Rb2+
27.Kf3 Rxb4 28.f5 Kg7 29.Kf4 h6
30.Ke5 Rc4
And here Black lost on time! White stands
better after 31.Rb7 but far from winning.
10
Epishin Vladimir
Short Nigel
D37 Malmo 2002
1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Le7
5.Lf4 00 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Lxc5 8.a3 Nc6
9.b4!? Nxb4!? (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7zpp+-+pzpp'
6-+-+psn-+&
5+-vlp+-+-%
4-snP+-vL-+$
3zP-sN-zPN+-#
2-+-+-zPPzP"
1tR-+QmKL+R!
xabcdefghy
Definitely home preparation, as Epishin had

already played 9.b4 a few times in the past.
Short completely changes the character of
the position; the sacrifice forces White to
start defensive play.
10.axb4 Lxb4 11.Qb3
Natural. White meets the threat with tempo.
11.Le5 Ne4 (11...Nd7?! 12.Ld4 Re8 is
analogous to one of the examples below, but
instead of 13.Qb3 White can play better:
13.Qa4! [13.Ra4?! a5 14.Qa1 Nb6
15.Lxb6 Qxb6 ] 13...a5 14.Rb1 Rb8
[14...b5 15.cxb5 Lb7 16.Le2 e5 17.Nxe5
Nxe5 18.00; 14...e5? 15.Rxb4 exd4 16.
Nxd5 ] 15.Ne5 f6 16.Rxb4!? axb4 [16...
fxe5 17.Lb6! + retains the extra piece]
17.Nxd7 Lxd7 18.Qxb4 b6 19.Nb5 )
12.Qb3 a5 13.cxd5 f6!? 14.Ld4 (14.dxe6
Qe7 15.Ld4 Lxe6 [15...Rd8?! 16.Lc4
Rxd4 17.Nxd4 Lxc3+ 18.Ke2 ] 14...e5
15.Ke2 otherwise Black wins the piece back
immediately 15...Lf5!? 16.Nxe4 Lxe4 .
11...a5 12.000!?
Maybe the best try, although the king is not
safe there. There were other defensive tries:
12.Le5?! Nd7 13.Ld4 (13.Rc1? f6
14.Lg3 Nc5 15.Qc2 Ne4 16.Qb2 e5
17.Ke2 Nxc3+ 18.Rxc3 Lg4 19.h3 Lh5
20.Rd3 Qc8 21.Qa2 dxc4 22.e4 Lf7 +
Lautier,J-Topalov,V Monte Carlo 1999)
13...Re8 14.cxd5 e5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.
Lb5 Nc6! 17.Lxg7 Kxg7 18.dxc6 Qd4
19.Rc1 Rxe3+! 20.fxe3 Qxe3+ 21.Kd1
Le6 22.Qb2 Rd8+ 23.Nd5+ Kg8 01
Gretarsson,H-Ehlvest,J Reykjavik 2002.
12.Nd2 d4! 13.Ncb1 Ne4 14.Qxb4 axb4
15.Rxa8 e5 16.Lg3 Nc3 17.e4 f5 18.Lxe5
fxe4 19.c5 Nxb1 20.Lc4+ Kh8 + Sulypa,A-Heinis,V France 1999.
12.Ld3? dxc4 13.Lxc4 b5! 14.Le2
(14.Lxb5 Qb6 ) 14...Nd5 15.Le5 a4
16.Qb2 Van Wely,L-Vaganian,R Dordrecht
2000.
The best try seems to be untested in practice:
12.Le2 Ne4 13.Rc1 Lxc3+ 14.Rxc3 a4
15.Qb4 Nxc3 16.Qxc3 (the a-pawn is a
definite strength) 16...a3 17.00 Qa5.
12...Ld7 13.Rd4?
This mistake gives Short's attack a strong
impulse, as not only does it fail to evacuate
57
the king in time, but also the rook is exposed

on d4. Better to take the king away from the
c-file: 13.Kb1 Rc8 (13...Qe7 ) 14.Rc1
. White fights for the crucial c-file and the
position remains unclear. Possibly 13.Le5
immediately was more to the point.
13...Qe7 14.Le5
Now the king's escape is not so effective:
14.Kb1 Rfc8 (14...a4!? 15.Qb2 Rfc8) 15.
Na2 Lc5 16.Rd2 Ne4 with attack. 14.cxd5
Rfc8 15.d6 Qe8 16.Rc4 Rxc4! (16...b5
17.Rc7) 17.Lxc4 b5 or 14.Ne5 Rfc8
15.Kb1 b5! is very similar to the game.
14...Rfc8 15.Kb1 b5! 16.Nxb5 a4
17.Qa2
17.Lxf6 gxf6 18.Qc2 (18.Qb2 a3 19.Qa2
Rab8 +) 18...Lxb5 19.Rg4+ Kh8 20.
Rh4 f5 21.Qb2+ Kg8 22.cxb5 La3 23.
Qe5 Rc1+ 24.Ka2 Qc5 +.
17...Lxb5!
Removes an important defender. 17...Ne4?!
18.cxd5 (18.Rd1? dxc4 19.Lxc4 Lxb5
20.Lxb5 Lc3 +) 18...exd5 (18...Lxb5?
19.Rxe4 Qc5 20.Lxb5 Qxb5 21.Ka1
exd5 22.Rg4 ) 19.Qxd5 Lc6 20.Qc4 .
18.Lxf6
18.cxb5? Ne4 19.Rd1 Lc3 +.
18...gxf6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+r+-+k+(
7+-+-wqp+p'
6-+-+pzp-+&
5+l+p+-+-%
4pvlPtR-+-+$
3+-+-zPN+-#
2Q+-+-zPPzP"
1+K+-+L+R!
xabcdefghy
The queen has to be closer to the other side:
18...Qxf6 19.cxb5 Lc3 (19...Qg6+?! 20.
Ld3 Qxg2 21.Rg1 Qxf3 22.Rxb4 ) 20.
Rxa4 Qg6+ 21.e4 Rxa4 22.Qxa4 dxe4 23.
Qc2! is less convincing.
19.cxb5 Rc3 20.Rd3

Attack does not help as there are no more
forces to help the rook: 20.Rg4+ Kh8
21.Nd4 La3! 22.Ne2 (22.Nc2 Rb3+ 23.
Ka1 Qc7 24.Lc4 Qa5! +) 22...Rb3+
23.Ka1 Ld6! and ...Ra3 can't be met satisfactorily. Or 20.Ld3 Ra3 21.Lxh7+ Kh8
+.
20...Rac8 21.Le2
21.Qxa4 Rc1+ 22.Kb2 (22.Ka2? R8c2+
23.Kb3 Qc5 +) 22...e5! paralyses White;
his knight can't go to d4 any more and
23.Nd2 e4 24.Rxd5 La3+! 25.Ka2 R8c2+
+ loses quickly.
21...La3 22.Qd2?
This is losing. Better was 22.Rxc3 Rxc3
23.Ka1 with some chances to hold.
22...Qb4+ 23.Ka1 Rc1+ 24.Rxc1 Rxc1+
25.Ka2 Qc4+! 26.Kxa3 Ra1+ 27.Kb2
Qa2+ 28.Kc3 Qb3+
A sad end to White's plan. It looked beautiful and effective but in the end it became too
slow for modern dynamic times!
01
Conclusion
We examined two different approaches: in
the Kupreichik game, the attack looked so
powerful but defensive ideas appeared to be
prevailing. In the second case, Whites positional approach could be refuted just by an
all-out attack.
TRGs Publications
1. TRG Syllabus (2010/2012 - 24x17- 208 pp)
2. List of Recommended Books - 2010-2012
(http://trainers.fide.com/recommendedbooks.html)
3. Monthly TRG Surveys - 2010-2011-2012
(http://trainers.fide.com/surveys.html)
4. Yearbook 2010 (2011 - 24x17 - 208 pp)
5. Yearbook 2011 (2012 - 24x17 - 208 pp)
6. TRG Foundation Trainer Guide (2012 - 24x17 - 104 pp)
58
producing a mate based on blockade: the

rook and pawns make up the coffin of the
dead king.
10
One of the oldest examples of this mate
can be found in Grecos chess book. Although it doesnt form part of this articles
theme, I offer some light commentary of the
opening.
NN (Uknown)
Greco Gioacchino
C50 Italy 1620
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lc4 Lc5 4.00 Nf6
5.Re1 00 6.c3 Qe7?!
Long gone are the days in which the opening
could be played in such a carefree way!
Nowadays we know that Grecos move is
weak, and that the best way to answer
Whites innocent opening is with the small
combination initiated by 6...Nxe4!?. If then
7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 Lb4 9.Rxe4 d5, Black
recovers the material and achieves an excellent position. The consolidation of the centre
with 6...d6 would also be good and strategically sound. The advance 7.d4 would be
answered by 7...Lb6, maintaining an important pawn on e5.
7.d4 exd4?
Again, better was 7...Lb6, holding the centre and giving the previous queen move
some sense.
8.e5?!
White complicates his life unnecessarily.
After the normal 8.cxd4, White would have
a huge advantage, for example: 8...Lb4
9.Nc3 Lxc3 10.bxc3 Nxe4? 11.Qc2, winning.
8...Ng4 9.cxd4?
However, and this is why chess is fascinating, this natural move is now a big mistake,
as Black relentlessly demonstrates. In any
case, things were not so easy now, as after
the sharp alternative 9.Lg5, Black has the
hidden combination: 9...dxc3! 10.Lxe7
Lxf2+ 11.Kf1 cxb2 12.Nc3 Lxe1!,
emerging from the mess with a material advantage. Because of this, in order to preserve
the initiative, White should have inserted
9.b4! Lb6 and only now 10.Lg5!. No

doubt, this is a subtlety that was completely
out of the range of Grecos opponents, who
were quite weak in general. But now, the
great Calabrian offers us a splendid combination.
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-trk+(
7zppzppwqpzpp'
6-+n+-+-+&
5+-vl-zP-+-%
4-+LzP +n+$
3+-+-+N+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
9...Nxd4! 10.Nxd4 Qh4
The simultaneous attack on two vital squares
of the castled king fully justifies the sacrificed piece.
11.Nf3? (D)
Better was 11.Le3, although after 11...
Qxh2+ 12.Kf1 Qh1+ 13.Ke2 Qxg2 Black
gets a strong attack in return. After the mistake made in the game, the Lucena mate can
be delivered elegantly.
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-trk+(
7zppzpp+pzpp'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-vl-zP-+-%
4-+L+-+nwq$
3+-+-+N+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
11...Qxf2+ 12.Kh1 Qg1+! 13.Nxg1 Nf2
#
01
159
Lucenas Mate
Miguel Illescas
Concept
Knowledge of the basic mate structures is
essential to improve your play. This article is
intended to help players in the range 16002200 Elo rating.
Lucenas mate is frequently referred to as
the smothered mate, as the knight is the
piece that executes the last and mortal attack
on the enemy king.
Example 1
XABCDEFGHY
8rtr-+-+k+(
7+-+-+-zpp'
6-+Q+-+-+&
5+-+KsN-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3wq-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
The diagram features the position originally
attributed to Lucena. White, with a huge
material disadvantage, must act fast and
convincingly. The combination is based on
a very precise series of checks:
1.Qe6+ Kh8
Black`s king prefers the corner as after
1...Kf8 2.Qf7 # a typical mate appears on
the board, commonly known as the 'kiss
mate', after the suffocating hug and lethal
kiss that the king receives from the enemy
queen.
2.Nf7+ Kg8 3.Nh6+!
This double check is crucial and definitely
essential to achieve the mate that follows.
An important factor that must be taken into
account is that the check is delivered with
two pieces, which means that even if the
queen is under attack, she could not be
Training of Calculation - Part 1

Alexey Kuzmin
taken, since it will still be a valid check.
3...Kh8
If 3...Kf8 then 4.Qf7 #. The king returns to
the theoretical safety of the corner, reaching
the critical moment of the combination.
4.Qg8+!! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rtr-+-+Qmk(
7+-+-+-zpp'
6-+-+-+-sN&
5+-+K+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3wq-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
White could repeat moves and achieve a
draw with 4.Nf7+ but instead he seeks and
finds something better - a beautiful sacrifice
which Black is forced to accept. The black
rook is forced to stand next to his king,
blocking out his only escape square.
4...Rxg8 5.Nf7 # (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+rmk(
7+-+-+Nzpp'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+K+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3wq-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
The knight ends the sequence of checks,
158
Concept
The ability to calculate variations deeply
and accurately is a very important constituent of chess mastery. The technique of variation calculation is evidently closely intertwined with all the other components of
chess skill: tactical vision, the ability to
evaluate a position, intuition etc.
So, when training the technique of variation calculation, we are developing the
whole complex of necessary skills. The
method of training variation calculation was
proposed by the well-known Soviet Grandmaster, trainer and chess writer Alexander
Kotov more then half a century ago.
He wrote about his own experience: I selected from tournament books those games
in which great complications had arisen.
Then I played them through on a board but
when I reached the crucial point where there
were the greatest complications and the
largest number of possible variations I
stopped reading the notes.
I either put aside the book or covered the
page with a sheet of paper and set myself the
task of thinking long and hard so as to analyse all the possible variations. Of course,
today a book can be partly replaced by a
computer.
Kotov mentioned three main factors of
high level calculation technique:
a) Determine all the best candidate moves.
b) Analyze with precision all the relevant
variations.
c) Economize strictly the use of time.
Before passing directly to examples, some
practical recommendations should be given
to trainers. For best training efficiency, seeing the part of a game previous to the taskposition is not always a good idea, as this
prehistory can influence a pupils process
of thinking about the task-position.
Sometimes it is reasonable to recommend
a pupil to calculate variations and to choose
a move for the opponent's side. Often during
a game, the search of possibilities for an
opponent is less effective than for the player

himself.
Generally a training of variation calculation is most useful when combined with
work on some weak point in a pupil's play.
For instance, if a pupil feels unconfident in
worse positions where he mainly has to beat
off the opponent's threats, it will be sensible
to chose exercises in accordance with some
work on this defect.
I have chosen three such examples from
my files. In all of them, the author of the
training system played against the Patriarch
of Soviet chess...
Kotov Alexander
Botvinnik Mikhail
E33 Leningrad 1939
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.Qc2 Nc6
5.Nf3 d5 6.e3 00 7.a3 Lxc3+ 8.Qxc3
Ld7 9.b3 a5 10.Ld3 a4 11.Nd2 Re8
12.00 e5 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Lb2 axb3
15.Nxb3 Ne4 16.Qc2 Nxc4 17.Lxc4
dxc4 18.Qxc4 Qg5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+r+k+(
7+pzpl+pzpp'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-wq-%
4-+Q+n+-+$
3zPN+-zP-+-#
2-vL-+-zPPzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
White has played the opening passively and,
taking advantage, Botvinnik has seized the
initiative completely. Whites position is
very dangerous. Almost all Blacks pieces
are ready to join in the attack. Even the a8rook can be quickly transferred to the king59
side via the sixth rank. There is a concrete

threat of 19...Lh3. Let's list the possible
defensive resources and their corresponding
candidate moves:
a) The attempt of an exchange sacrifice for
the pawn: 19.Qxc7.
b) A rook move to get the possibility to play
g3: 19.Rfd1 and 19.Rfe1.
c) To free the second rank with tempo in
order to defend the point g2: 19.f4.
d) There is one more possibility: an attempt
to disorganize the opponent's attacking
forces by the pawn sacrifice: 19.h4.
19.f4?!
Gaining a tempo for the defence of the g2point is likely to be the first thing that comes
to mind. Trying to organize a defence with
an exchange sacrifice doesn't work out:
a) 19.Qxc7? Lh3 20.g3 Qd5! (20...Lxf1
21.Rxf1 Qb5 ) 21.Nd4 Nd2 +.
b) Another possibility to keep the threat
...Lh3 is to remove the rook from f1:
19.Rfd1?! Lh3 20.Qf1 Ra6 21.Nd2 Rg6
22.Nxe4 Rxe4 23.f4 Qxg2+ 24.Qxg2
Rxg2+ 25.Kh1 f6 26.Ld4 b6 +.
c) 19.Rfe1?! Lh3 20.Qf1 Ra6 21.Re2
Rg6 22.f4 Qd5 .
d) 19.h4! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+r+k+(
7+pzpl+pzpp'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-wq-%
4-+Q+n+-zP$
3zPN+-zP-+-#
2-vL-+-zPP+"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
The best move, allowing the balance to be
kept. Now Black can choose:
d1) 19...Qg6 (it becomes clear that now
White can take the pawn!) 20.Qxc7 Lh3
21.Qh2! White makes good use of the
vacated square h2!.
d2) 19...Qh5 20.Qxc7 Lb5 21.Rfc1 Qxh4

(21...Ra6? 22.f3 Rg6 23.Qf4 Ng3 24.Nd4
) 22.Qf4 =.
d3) 19...Qxh4 (later on the game gains a
forced character) 20.Qd4 Qf6 21.Qxe4!
Qxb2 22.Qxb7 Rxa3 23.Rxa3 Qxa3
24.Qxc7 Lb5 25.Rb1 Qa2 26.Qc1 =.
19...Qg6 20.Rfd1
Relatively better would be 20.Qxc7 Lh3
21.Qc2 but that does help: 21...Rac8
22.Qe2 Nd6 23.Rf2 Lg4 24.Qf1 Ne4.
20...Nd6! 21.Qd3 Lf5 22.Qc3 Le4
Stronger is 22...Lh3! 23.g3 Ne4 24.Qc2
Qg4 and the sacrifice on g3 decides.
23.Rd2 Lc6 24.Qd3 Nf5 25.Le5 f6
26.Lxc7 Rxe3 27.Qc4+ Kh8 28.Lb6
Ree8 29.Qf1 h5 30.Nd4 Nxd4 31.Lxd4
Re4 32.Re1 Rxe1 33.Qxe1 Rxa3
34.Kh1 Ra8 35.Re2 Kh7 36.h3 Re8
37.Qf2 Qxg2+ 38.Qxg2 Rxe2
01
In the second example, Alexander Kotov
has unsuccessfully played the same opening
and has again fallen into a difficult situation.
Kotov Alexander
Botvinnik Mikhail
E35 Moscow 1940
1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.Qc2 d5
5.cxd5 exd5 6.Lg5 h6 7.Lh4 c5 8.e3 cxd4
9.exd4 Nc6 10.Lb5 00 11.Nge2 Qb6
12.Qd3 Lxc3+ 13.bxc3 Ne4 14.00 Lf5
15.La4 Rfe8 16.Rfe1 Qa5 17.Lb3 g5
18.Lg3 Re6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7zpp+-+p+-'
6-+n+r+-zp&
5wq-+p+lzp-%
4-+-zPn+-+$
3+LzPQ+-vL-#
2P+-+NzPPzP"
1tR-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Fool's Mate managed to make an appearance even in such a magnificent event:

Example 5
B17
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7
(D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqkvlntr(
7zpp+nzppzpp'
6-+p+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-zPN+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tR-vLQmKLsNR!
xabcdefghy
Black prepares the development of the other
knight, avoiding the doubled pawns that
would arise after 4...Nf6 5.Nxf6+.
5.Ng5!?
An interesting idea that became popular precisely in the eighties. White plans ahead of
his opponent and makes it clear that he
doesn't want an exchange of knights. Also,
moving to g5 hinders the development of the
c8-bishop, as the attack on f7 will force
Black to advance his pawn to e6.
5...h6? (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqkvlntr(
7zpp+nzppzp-'
6-+p+-+-zp&
5+-+-+-sN-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tR-vLQmKLsNR!
xabcdefghy
60
It is highly probable that Black missed his

opponent's reply. Normal development was
correct, for example 5...Ngf6. Now White
plays a nice move, under the shadow of the
Fool's Mate.
6.Ne6!
Here is the key. The knight can't be touched
because of the mate on h5.
6...Qa5+?
Mistakes come in pairs, as Black tries to
justify his previous oversight. More sensible
was 6...Qb6, although after 7.Nxf8 Nxf8
White enjoys a comfortable advantage, with
his pair of bishops in an open position.
7.Ld2 Qb6
Thanks to the check, Black now attacks the
d4 and b2 pawns, as well as the knight, but
White doesn't seem to be too worried and
calmly continues his development.
8.Ld3!? fxe6??
In his turn Black, clearly affected by the
course the game has taken, goes mad and
decides to eliminate the enemy knight at a
stroke, overlooking an elementary reply.
9.Qh5+! Kd8 10.La5! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lmk-vlntr(
7zpp+nzp-zp-'
6-wqp+p+-zp&
5vL-+-+-+Q%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-+L+-+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tR-+-mK-sNR!
xabcdefghy
Black has saved his king but lost his queen.
An unbelievable end to a top-level game,
Nunn,J-Georgiev,K Linares 1988 (10/42).
10
Conclusion
After the previous game had finished, as
the last players and spectators left the playing hall, the Fool's happy laughter could still
be heard behind the stage
157
including one published in Greco's 1620

book and a more recent one played in 2009;
389 years later, the Fool's mate makes a
comeback! We can see that in spite of
Black's ingenious defence, White's attack
quickly becomes devastating:
7.gxh7+ Kf8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsn-wq-mkntr(
7zp-zppzp-vlP'
6-zp-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+Q%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-+L+-+-#
2PzPP+-zPlzP"
1tRNvL-mK-sNR!
xabcdefghy
8.Nf3!
The knight joins the attack without paying
attention to the smaller details, such as the
rook that is now being sacrificed. Black
hopes that after 8.hxg8Q+ Kxg8 9.Qg4
Lxh1 the compensation for the exchange
will be insufficient, but White has a stronger
reply.
8...Nf6 (D)
After 8...Lxh1 9.Ne5 Lxe5 10.dxe5, with
the idea Lh6, White will mate quickly.
Therefore, Black first brings his knight in.
XABCDEFGHY
8rsn-wq-mk-tr(
7zp-zppzp-vlP'
6-zp-+-sn-+&
5+-+-+-+Q%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-+L+N+-#
2PzPP+-zPlzP"
1tRNvL-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy
9.Qg6!
And now the black bishop must choose the
piece it prefers to capture.
9...Lxh1
If it captures the knight, the rook that we had
left to die joins the attack via g1, for example: 9...Lxf3 10.Rg1 Rxh7 11.Qg3, and
White recovers the material by force, and
has a better position: 11...Le4 12.Lxe4
Nxe4 13.Qf3+ Kg8 14.Qxe4 Nc6 15.d5
Na5 16.Nc3, with a huge advantage. Therefore, finally Black has to act in a consequent
way and capture the rook but he will soon
find himself in a mating net.
10.Lh6! Rxh7
If 10...Lxh6 11.Qxh6+ Kf7 12.Ng5+
Ke8 13.Lg6 # mates.
11.Ng5!
The following sequence is forced:
11...Lxh6 12.Nxh7+ Nxh7 13.Qxh6+
Kf7 14.Qxh7+ Ke6 15.Qg6+ Kd5
16.Nc3+ Kxd4 17.Qg5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsn-wq-+-+(
7zp-zppzp-+-'
6-zp-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-wQ-%
4-+-mk-+-+$
3+-sNL+-+-#
2PzPP+-zP-zP"
1tR-+-mK-+l!
xabcdefghy
And obviously with his king stranded in the
centre Black receives mate on the next
move.
10
After considering the previous examples,
we might think that the ideas derived from
the Fool's Mate can only be applied in marginal opening lines but this is not true.
Let us transport ourselves to an emblematic city, Linares, with two world class
Grandmasters and one of the most solid and
respectable openings, the Caro-Kann.
156
There is equality of material, but White's

pieces are poorly placed and Black has many
threats. One cannot yet see a decisive jump
for the e4-knight, but it's also impossible to
drive it off by f3. Moreover, after doubling
the black rooks, threats on the e-file will be
added to White's problems and his position
will become critical. Let's list all possible
defensive ideas and the candidate moves that
correspond to them:
a) 19.Qf3, taking the queen away from a
dangerous diagonal.
b) 19.Rec1, taking the rook away from the
pin on the e-file.
c) 19.f4, defending the e1-rook.
d) 19.Le5, blocking the e-file.
19.Le5! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7zpp+-+p+-'
6-+n+r+-zp&
5wq-+pvLlzp-%
4-+-zPn+-+$
3+LzPQ+-+-#
2P+-+NzPPzP"
1tR-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
The best move. Although Black retains some
advantage, White has good chances to retain
his bastions. Alternatives were not helpful:
a) 19.Qf3 Lg6 20.Red1 Rae8 21.h4 Nf6
+ and it becomes clear that a new threat
appears: 22...Lh5 - White cannot escape...
b) 19.Rec1 Nxg3 (perhaps stronger is
19...Rae8!? with many threats) 20.Qxg3
Rxe2 21.Qf3 Rae8 22.Qxf5 Qxc3! +.
c) 19.f4 Rae8 20.fxg5 hxg5 21.Lf2
(21.Qf3 Nxg3 22.hxg3 Lg6 ) 21...Lg6
22.Qe3 (22.Qh3? Nxf2 23.Kxf2 Qa3 +)
22...Kg7 23.Qc1 Nxf2 24.Kxf2 Qd8 .
19...Nxe5?!
Botvinnik is evidently taken aback. One
argument in favour of the move 19.Le5
appears to be that 19...f6? is not good beFIDE TRG Yearbook 2011
cause of 20.Lc7! b6 (20...Qxc7? 21.Lxd5

Nd6 22.Lxe6+ Lxe6 23.Qg6+ Qg7
24.Qxg7+ Kxg7 25.d5 ) 21.Ng3 Nxg3
22.Qxg3 . The other try is 19...Qb6!?
20.Qf3 Lg6 21.Lf4!? (21.Lxd5 Nxe5
22.dxe5 Rxe5 23.Lxe4 Rxe4 24.Nd4
when Black's position is preferable, but
White has good chances to hold the position)
when the forced defence of the d5-pawn
allows White to transfer his bishop to e3
where it can stop the pressure on e-file:
21...Ne7 22.Le3 Qa5 and Black is better
but the position is still complicated. For example: 23.c4 dxc4 24.Lxc4 Rf6 25.Qh3
or 23.Ng3 Qxc3 24.Qd1. After 19...Rc8!?
White must avoid walking into a trap: 20.f3?
(20.Qe3) 20...Rxe5! 21.dxe5 Qc5+
22.Nd4 Nxc3 +. But after 20.Qe3! the
position is still unclear. It's not too dangerous after 19...Rae8 20.Ng3 Lg6 21.Nxe4
Lxe4 22.Qg3 Nxe5 23.dxe5 .
20.dxe5 Rxe5 21.Qd4! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7zpp+-+p+-'
6-+-+-+-zp&
5wq-+ptrlzp-%
4-+-wQn+-+$
3+LzP-+-+-#
2P+-+NzPPzP"
1tR-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
White has solved all his problems just for a
pawn. Now he has sufficient counterplay.
21...Rae8 22.Ng3 Lg6 23.f3 Nxg3
24.Rxe5 Rxe5 25.hxg3 Qc7 26.Lxd5 =
Re2 27.Kh2 b6 28.Lc4 Re8 29.Rd1 h5
30.Lb3 h4 31.Qd6 Qxd6 32.Rxd6 hxg3+
33.Kxg3 Kg7 34.Rd7 Rc8 35.Rxa7
Rxc3 36.Rb7 Rc6
And in the following game Mikhail Botvinnik has fallen into a difficult situation and
in a cyclone of decisions
61
Botvinnik Mikhail
Kotov Alexander
E24 Groningen 1946
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.a3 Lxc3+
5.bxc3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Lg5 c5 8.f3 h6
9.Lxf6 Qxf6 10.e3 00 11.Ne2 Re8
12.Kf2 Qe7 13.Qd2 Nd7 14.Nf4 Nf6
15.Ld3 Ld7 16.h3 Qd6 17.Rhb1 b6
18.Lf1 Re7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7zp-+ltrpzp-'
6-zp-wq-sn-zp&
5+-zpp+-+-%
4-+-zP-sN-+$
3zP-zP-zPP+P#
2-+-wQ-mKP+"
1tRR+-+L+-!
xabcdefghy
White's problems consist of a miserable king
placing together with the unsatisfactory
placement of his minor pieces. His position
would be normalizedl if he can realize the
typical plan of g4 and a knight transfer to g3.
Let's list all the candidate moves:
a) 19.a4 - White ignores his opponent's
threats and continues to develop an initiative
on the queenside.
b) 19.Re1 a prophylactic move.
You will probably find more candidate
moves during deeper analysis of the position, as Black's threats become clear to you,
such as 19.Lb5, 19.Nd3 and 19.dxc5.
19.a4?
White underestimates his opponent's threat.
a) 19.Re1 - a preventive move, but even
after it White has no time to place his pieces
in harmony: 19...c4 20.g4 (20.Ne2? Qh2)
20...Rae8 21.Kg1 (21.Lg2 g5 ) 21...g5
22.Ng2 b5 (22...Qg3 23.Qf2) 23.Qf2 h5
. White has avoided some material loss but
his situation is very passive.
b) 19.Lb5 - the attempt to simplify the situation with the exchange of bishops also does not
solve the problems: 19...Lxb5 20.Rxb5

Rae8 21.dxc5 (21.Re1 g5! 22.Nd3 cxd4
23.cxd4 Qxa3 ) 21...bxc5 22.Re1 g5
23.Nd3 Ne4+! 24.fxe4 dxe4 25.Rxc5 Rd8
26.Rc4 Qf6+ 27.Kg1 Rxd3 .
c) 19.Nd3!? - is an interesting idea. By
transferring the knight to e5, White hopes to
neutralize the pressure on the e-file. But besides 19...Lf5 20.Re1 c4 21.Ne5 Nd7,
with the slightly more pleasant position,
Black finds a strong resource: 19...Qh2!
(19...Lf5 20.Re1 c4 21.Ne5 Nd7 )
20.dxc5 Rae8 21.cxb6 axb6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+r+k+(
7+-+ltrpzp-'
6-zp-+-sn-zp&
5+-+p+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3zP-zPNzPP+P#
2-+-wQ-mKPwq"
1tRR+-+L+-!
xabcdefghy
22.Rxb6 (22.Re1 Nh5 23.Nb4 Re5
24.Nxd5 Lxh3 25.e4 Rg5) 22...Rxe3
23.Rxf6 (23.Rbb1 d4! 24.cxd4 Rxf3+! +)
23...gxf6 24.Qxe3 Rxe3 25.Kxe3 Qb8 .
d) 19.dxc5! - an original decision and the
best move! At first sight it looks like ruining
his pawn structure, but it is good to preserve
equality: 19...Qxc5 (19...bxc5 20.e4 Rxe4
21.Nxd5! =) 20.Qd4 Qc7 (20...Rc8
21.Rc1 Qa5 22.Qb4 =) 21.c4 dxc4
22.Lxc4 with sufficient counterplay.
19...Rae8
19...c4! 20.Re1 g5 21.Ne2 Qh2.
20.Re1 c4!
Now the threat ...g5! is likely to have fallen
outside Mikhail Botvinnik's field of vision.
21.g4 g5! 22.Ne2?!
The lesser of evils would be 22.Ng2 but it
would be hard to escape after 22...Qh2.
22...Rxe3 23.Ng3 Qxg3+ 24.Kxg3 Ne4+
01
62
Example 3
A02
1.f4 e5!? 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Lxd6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsnlwqk+ntr(
7zppzp-+pzpp'
6-+-vl-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzPPzPP+PzP"
1tRNvLQmKLsNR!
xabcdefghy
The 'From Gambit', clearly the most aggressive line against the Bird. Black's threat is so
obvious that White missed it in only 1 out of
1.650 games:
4.Nc3??
Naturally, the correct move was 4.Nf3, protecting the vital h4-square, after which Black
obtains good compensation in exchange for
the sacrificed pawn, both in the aggressive
4...g5 and in the slow 4...Nf6 and 4...Lg4
variations.
4...Qh4+ 5.g3 Lxg3+ (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsnl+k+ntr(
7zppzp-+pzpp'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-wq$
3+-sN-+-vl-#
2PzPPzPP+-zP"
1tR-vLQmKLsNR!
xabcdefghy
Personally, I would have captured on g3
with the queen but in any case White resigned.
01
Generally, when the queen gets to h5 (or

h4 for Black) the attack becomes very
strong. I recall a theoretical discussion from
my junior years:
Example 4
B00
1.e4 b6 2.d4 Lb7 3.Ld3 f5? (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsn-wqkvlntr(
7zplzppzp-zpp'
6-zp-+-+-+&
5+-+-+p+-%
4-+-zPP+-+$
3+-+L+-+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQmK-sNR!
xabcdefghy
This reckless move is currently considered
to be refuted but years ago the assessment
wasn't so clear and we can find 109 games in
the database. The modest 3...e6 is better.
4.exf5!
Surprisingly, White only plays this energetic
move that sacrifices his rook on h1, in 63
games. The following moves are forced.
4...Lxg2 5.Qh5+ g6 6.fxg6 Lg7!
There are four games with 6...Nf6? 7.gxh7+
Nxh5 8.Lg6 # (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsn-wqkvl-tr(
7zp-zppzp-+P'
6-zp-+-+L+&
5+-+-+-+n%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzPP+-zPlzP"
1tRNvL-mK-sNR!
xabcdefghy
155
Fools Mate
Miguel Illescas
Concept
Knowledge of the basic mate structures is
essential to improve your play. This article is
intended to help players in the range 16002200 Elo rating.
One of the best known mates, which at the
same time is one of the less appreciated, is
Fool's Mate.
Every beginner learns this mate when he
or she starts to play chess. The reason behind the name becomes quite clear when we
realize how it appears on the board:
Example 1
A00
1.f3? e5 2.g4?? Qh4# (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsnl+kvlntr(
7zppzpp+pzpp'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+-+-+Pwq$
3+-+-+P+-#
2PzPPzPP+-zP"
1tRNvLQmKLsNR!
xabcdefghy
White has decisively weakened the e1-h4
diagonal and immediately receives his punishment.
01
Of course, this is the fastest checkmate in a
chess game, and therefore White must certainly be quite mad to allow his position to
collapse in only two moves.
In fact, in my 5-million game database, I
have only found four games with this sequence of moves, so one could easily question the practical utility of knowing this
mate.
Training of Calculation - Part 2

Alexey Kuzmin
However, experience shows us that chess
knowledge must never be underestimated.
Let's take a look at a game I played against
the great champion Garry Kasparov:
Example 2
A80
1.d4 f5 2.Lg5 h6 3.Lh4 g5 4.Lg3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsnlwqkvlntr(
7zppzppzp-+-'
6-+-+-+-zp&
5+-+-+pzp-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-+-+-vL-#
2PzPP+PzPPzP"
1tRN+QmKLsNR!
xabcdefghy
It seems that White has allowed his bishop
to be shut in. Of the 244 games that arrived
at this position, Black was too ambitious in
no less than 18 and fell straight into the following well-known opening trap:
4...f4?
The correct continuation is to defend the
mate with 4...Nf6 5.e3 d6 as in Kasparov,GIllescas,M Dos Hermanas 1996, which finished as a draw in 52 moves.
5.e3! fxg3??
Of course in the other two games Black
played 5...Nf6 but after 6.exf4 White has
already won a pawn.
6.Qh5 #
And here we have it: the Fool's Mate. By the
way, two of the games in my database ended
with this mate.
10
There are other cases in which an oversight can lead to a quick Fool's end:
154
Concept
From time to time we meet such difficult
positions that it is impossible to give preference to any candidate move based on the
calculation of variations, even having enough
time for reflection. In such situations, intuition begins to play a bigger, even decisive
role.
The following example is unique in its
complexity. There are nearly ten candidate
moves that are real pretenders to the title of
the best move!
To use this material for training purposes,
the variations analysed are divided into thirteen test-exercises.
Grischuk Alexander
D15 Dagomys 2004
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Nf3
b5 6.b3 Lf5 7.Ne5 h6 8.g4 Lh7 9.Lg2 e6
10.00 Ld6 11.Lb2 00 12.Rc1 Ra7
13.c5 Lc7 14.Ne2 a5 15.f3 Nfd7 16.f4 f6
17.Nd3 Na6 18.a3 b4 19.a4 Re8 20.Qd2
Lb8 21.Ng3 e5 22.f5 Kh8 23.e4 dxe4
24.Nxe4 exd4 25.Lxd4 Lg8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-vl-wqr+lmk(
7tr-+n+-zp-'
6n+p+-zp-zp&
5zp-zP-+P+-%
4Pzp-vLN+P+$
3+P+N+-+-#
2-+-wQ-+LzP"
1+-tR-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
A range of interesting events has already
happened, but we have purposely not looked
at them, striving for the critical position, the
analysis of which is the subject of this article.
Exercise n1: Evaluate. Determine all the

move-candidates. Make a choice based on
your intuition.
White has an evident space advantage;
moreover there are some weak squares in
Black's camp: g6, e6 and d6, which are especially important as the white knight is ready
to penetrate. At the same time, one must not
underestimate the opponent's resources.
The pawn on b3 is attacked, both bishops
and one of Blacks rooks are finely mobilized although placed on the 8th rank, and the
second rook can be quickly transferred across
the 7th rank. Even brief analysis shows that
the key question is the possibility to realize
the penetration on d6.
The immediate 26.Nd6 is not good because
of 26...Ndxc5! with a winning position.
Consequently, the penetration must be prepared. The range of White's possibilities is so
wide that to determine all the candidate
moves is far from easy. They can be divided
into the following groups:
a) Defensive: 1) 26.Qc2, 2) 26.Qb2, 3)
26.Qd1.
b) Attacking: 4) 26.Nf4, 5) 26.h4.
c) Preparatory: 6) 26.Lf2, 7) 26.Rfe1
d) And a breakthrough 8) 26.g5.
26.Lf2
Let's start to analyze. White has three possibilities to defend the b3-pawn: 26.Qc2,
26.Qb2 and 26.Qd1.
1) 26.Qc2. A logical, 'human' move, but it
doesn't create special problems and doesn't
promise an advantage... To get the second
rook into play, Black has to free the 7th rank,
so two moves seem to be natural:
1a) 26...Nf8 is more complicated but acceptable: 27.Lf2 (27.Nd6 Rae7! 28.Lxc6
Lxd6 29.cxd6 Qxd6 ) 27...Rae7 28.Rfe1
Nd7 29.Rcd1 Qc7 30.Nd6 Rxe1+
31.Nxe1 Naxc5! 32.Nxe8 Qxh2+ 33.Kf1
Lxb3 34.Qe2 Le5 .
1b) The main and the most interesting try
here is 26...Ne5 27.Nd6 Nxg4 28.Lxc6
63
Ree7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-vl-wq-+lmk(
7tr-+-tr-zp-'
6n+LsN-zp-zp&
5zp-zP-+P+-%
4Pzp-vL-+n+$
3+P+N+-+-#
2-+Q+-+-zP"
1+-tR-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
Exercise n2. Evaluate the consequences of
the move 29.Nf4.
White can hardly count on anything much
more after 29.Rfd1 Lxd6 30.cxd6 Qxd6
31.Lxa7 Lxb3 32.Qxb3 Qxh2+ 33.Kf1
Qe2 . 29.Nf4 leads to the draw:
29...Nxc5! 30.Lxc5 Lxd6 31.Lxd6 Qxd6
32.Ng6+ Kh7 33.Nf8+.
2) 26.Qb2?!. This move's disadvantage consists of the fact that the queen leaves the d3knight unprotected. It allows Black to force
profitable exchanges and then activate his
pieces to get an advantage: 26...Ne5 27.Nf4
(27.Nxe5 Lxe5 28.Lxe5 Rxe5 ) (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-vl-wqr+lmk(
7tr-+-+-zp-'
6n+p+-zp-zp&
5zp-zP-snP+-%
4Pzp-vLNsNP+$
3+P+-+-+-#
2-wQ-+-+LzP"
1+-tR-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
Exercise n3. How to continue with Black?
27...Rd7! (evidently weaker is 27...Lf7?
28.Nd6 ; 27...Nxg4?! 28.Nd6 ) 28.Nd6
Nxc5! 29.Lxe5 Rxe5 30.Ng6+ Kh7

31.Nxe5 Rxd6 32.Nxc6 Rxc6 33.Lxc6
Nxb3! .
3) 26.Qd1. In-between 'defensive' moves
this move demands Black to find a not so
evident reply in order to to achieve a position
with equal chances.
Exercise n4. How to continue with Black?
26...Nb6! (weaker is 26...Ld5 27.Re1
[27.Nd6 Ndxc5 28.Nxe8 Lxb3 29.Nxc5
Lxd1 30.Ne6 Qxe8 31.Lxc6 ] 27...Nf8
28.Lf2 Rae7 29.Nd6) 27.Nd6 (after
27.Lxf6 gxf6 28.cxb6 Qxb6+ 29.Rf2 Qd4
White has to speed up the draw: 30.Qd2
Rxe4 31.Lxe4 Qxe4 32.Qxh6+ =)
27...Nxc5 28.Lxc5 Lxd6 29.Lxc6 Rf8 .
We have considered the two following possibilities, 26.Nf4 and 26.h4, as 'attacking'.
4) 26.Nf4 (this maintains equality, but does
not create problems) 26...Ne5 (faithful and
natural. 26...Lxb3 looks riskier: 27.Rfe1
Lxf4 [27...Kh7 28.Ne6 Lxe6 29.fxe6
Rxe6 30.Ng5+ hxg5 31.Rxe6] 28.Qxf4
Lxa4 29.Nd6 Rf8 30.Qe3 ).
Exercise n5: Evaluate the position. How to
continue with White?
White has no reason to count on anything
more than equality: 27.Nd6 (in the endgame
after 27.Lxe5 Qxd2 28.Nxd2 Lxe5
29.Lxc6 Lxf4 30.Rxf4 Rc8 Black's
position is a bit better) 27...Nxc5 (27...Rd7
28.Lxe5 Nxc5 29.Nxe8 Rxd2 30.Ng6+
=) 28.Nxe8 (28.Lxe5 Nxb3 29.Nxe8 =)
28...Nxb3 29.Lxe5 Nxd2 30.Ng6+ =.
5) 26.h4?!. The second 'attacking' possibility
is inaccurate.
Exercise n6. Determine the candidate moves
and calculate variations.
26...Rxe4! The best move. To sacrifice the
exchange provides Black with an evident advantage (26...Nf8?! 27.Nd6! Lxd6 28.cxd6
Rd7 29.g5 Rxd6 30.gxf6 Rxd4 31.fxg7+
Kxg7 32.Rxc6 ; 26...Ne5?! 27.Lxe5!
fxe5 [27...Lxe5 28.Nxe5 fxe5 29.Nd6 ]
28.f6 Qd4+ 29.Kh1 Ld5 30.fxg7+ Kxg7
31.Rf6 ; 26...Lxb3 leads to positions with
chances for both sides: 27.g5 Ld5 [27...Ne5
28.Lxe5 fxe5 29.f6!? Rg8 {29...Qd4+
30.Kh1 Rd8 31.Qe2! Qxd3? 32.Qh5 +}
64
Ke5 9.Kb6!.
6.a6! Lc8 7.a7! Lb7 8.Kd3! Kf4 9.Kd4!
Kf5 10.Kc5! Ke6 11.Kb6! Lg2 12.Kc7!
10
Example 19 - Nunn John 1995
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+K+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4P+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+lsN"
1+-+-+-+k!
xabcdefghy
1.Ng4! Lh3
1...Lb7 2.Ne3! Kh2 3.a5 Kg3 4.Nd5 Kf3
5.Ke5 La6 6.Nc7 Lc8 (6...Lf1 7.Kd5
Kf4 8.Kc6! Lg2+ 9.Kb6 Ke5 10.Nb5!
Ke6 11.Kc7! Lf1 12.a6! Ke7 13.a7!)
7.Kd6 Ke4 8.Ne6 Kd3 9.Nc5+! Kd4
(9...Kc4 10.Kc6!) 10.Kc6! Lh3 (10...Kc4
11.Nb7) 11.a6! Lf1 12.a7! Lg2+ 13.Kb6
La8 14.Nb7.
2.Kf5! Lf1
2...Kg2 3.Kf4! Kg1 4.a5 Lf1 5.Ke5 Le2

6.Ne3 Kf2 7.Nd5 Kf3 8.Kd6 Kg4 9.Kc6
Kf5 10.Nc3! La6 11.Nb5! Ke5 12.Kb6!
Lc8 13.Nc3!.
3.Kf4! Le2
3...La6 4.Kg3! Kg1 5.Ne3! Lc8 6.Nd5!
La6 7.a5 Lb7 8.Nb4 Kf1 9.Kf4! Ke2
10.Ke5! Ke3 11.Kd6! Kd4 12.Nc6+!
Ke4 13.Na7 La6 14.Kc6! Ke5 15.Nb5!
Lc8 16.Kc7 La6 17.Kb6! Lc8 18.Nc3!.
4.Kg3! Kg1 5.Ne3! La6
5...Ld3 6.a5 La6 7.Nd5.
6.Nd5! Lb7
6...Lc4 7.Nc3 Kf1 8.Kf3! Ke1 9.Ke3!
Lf1 10.a5! La6 11.Nd5 Kd1 12.Nb4!.
7.Nc3!
7.Nb4? Kf1! 8.Kf4 Ke2! 9.Ke5 Kd2.
7...Kf1 8.Kf4! Kf2 9.a5! Ke1 10.Ke3!
La6 11.Nd5 Kd1 12.Nb4! Lb5 13.Kd4!
Kc1 14.Kc5 Lf1 15.Nd5 Kb2 16.Ne3
La6 17.Kb4! Kc1 18.Nc4 Kc2 19.Nd6
Le2 20.Nb5 Kd3 21.a6 Ke3 22.a7 Lf3
23.Kc5 Kf4 24.Kd6 Lh1 25.Kc7 Ke5
26.Nd6 La8 27.Nc4+ Ke6 28.Kb8 Lg2
29.Na5 Kd7 30.Nb7
10
Conclusion
Knowledge is power - you never know
when you will need and when you will use it
but you must have it
153
1...Ke2 2.Ke4! Ke1

2...Ld3+ 3.Kd4! La6 4.Nd5 Kf3 ;
2...Lb7+ 3.Nd5! (3.Kd4? Kf3! 4.Nd5
Kg4! 5.Kc5 [5.Ke5 La6! 6.Nc7 Lf1
7.Kd6 Kf5 8.Kc6 Kf6 9.Kb6 Ke7]
5...Kf5! 6.Nb4 Ke6 7.Kb6 Lg2 8.a6
Kd7) 3...La6 (3...Kf2 4.Kd4 Kf3 5.Nb4)
4.Nc7 Lb7+ 5.Kd4 Kf3 6.Kc5 Kf4
7.Kb6 Lc8 8.Nd5+ Ke5 9.Nc3.
3.Kd5!
3.Kd4? Kd2! 4.Nd5 Kc2! 5.Nb4+ Kb3
6.Nxa6 Ka4.
3...Kd2 4.Kd4! Ke2
4...Le2 5.Nc4+! ; 4...Lb5 5.Nc4+ Kd1
6.Kc5 La6 7.Nd6 ; 4...Lb7 5.Nc4+ Kd1
6.Kc5 La6 7.Nd6.
5.Nd5! Kf3 6.Nc7! Lc8 7.Nb5 Kf4
8.Kd5! La6 9.Kc6 Ke5 10.Kb6! Lc8
11.Nc3!
10
(12...Kd3 13.Kc5) 13.Nb5 Kd3 14.a6

Ke3 15.a7 Lf3 16.Kc5.
2.Ne4! Kh2
2...Lf1 3.a5 Kh2 4.Ke3! Kh3 5.Nf2+!
Kh4 6.Nd3! Kg5 7.a6! Kf5 8.Kd4!.
3.Nc5! Lf1 4.Kf2!
4.Ke4? Kg3 5.Nd3 Lg2+! 6.Ke5 Lc6
7.a5 Lb5! 8.Kd4 Kg4.
4...Lc4 5.Ke3! Kg3 6.Kd4! Le2
6...Lf1 7.Nd3! Kg4 8.a5! Kf5 9.a6! Kf6
10.a7! Lg2 11.Nf4! La8 12.Nd5+! Kf7
13.Kc5! Lb7 14.Nb4 Ke6 15.Kb6! La8
16.Kc7!.
7.Nd3! Kg4 8.a5! Kf5 9.a6! Lf3 10.Kc5!
Le4
10...Ke6 11.Kb6! Ke7 12.Ne5 Lg2
13.Kc7! La8 14.a7.
11.Nf2! Lg2 12.Kd6! Lf1 13.a7! Lg2
14.Nd3
10
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6l+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4P+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+K+-#
2-+-+-sN-+"
1+-+-+k+-!
xabcdefghy
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+N+-+-%
4-+-mK-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2P+-+-+-+"
1+-+lmk-+-!
xabcdefghy
1...Kg1
1...Lc4 2.Ne4! Ke1 (2...Kg1 3.a5) 3.Ke3!
Kd1 4.Kd4! La6 5.Kc5 Ke2 6.a5 Ke3
7.Kb6 Lf1 8.Nd6 Kd4 9.Nb5+! Kd5
10.a6! Ke6 11.a7 ; 1...Le2+ 2.Ke3! La6
3.Nd3 Kg2 4.Nc5 Lc4 5.Kd4 Lf1
6.Nd3 Kf3 7.a5! Kg4 8.a6 Kf5 9.a7! Lg2
10.Kc5! La8 11.Kb6! Ke4 12.Nc5+ Kd5
13.Nb7 ; 1...Ke1 2.Ke3! Lb7 3.a5 La6
4.Nd3+! Kd1 5.Nb4! Lb5 6.Kd4! Kc1
7.Kc5 Lf1 8.Nd5 Kb2 9.Ne3 La6
10.Kb4! Kc1 11.Nc4 Kc2 12.Nd6 Le2
1.Nc3!
1.Ke3? La4! 2.Nc3 Le8.
1...Lc2
1...Lg4 2.a4 Kf2 3.a5 Lc8 4.Ne4+ Kf3
5.Nc5 Kf4 6.Kd5!.
2.Ke3! Kf1
2...Lf5 3.a4! Lc8 4.Kd4 Kd2 5.Ne4+
Kc2 6.Kc4! La6+ (6...Lb7 7.Nd6 Lg2
8.a5 Lf1+ 9.Kb4! Le2 10.Nb5) 7.Kb4!
Lf1 8.a5! Le2 9.Nd6.
3.Kd2! Lf5 4.a4! Kf2 5.a5! Kf3
5...Lc8 6.Kd3! Kf3 7.Kd4 Kf4 8.Kc5!
152
30.g6 Qd4+ 31.Rf2 Ld5 32.Nd6 Lxd6

33.cxd6 Lxg2 34.Kxg2 Rd7 35.Qe2 {35.
fxg7+ Kxg7 36.Qe2}] 28.gxf6 Nxf6 [the
position continues to be absolutely unclear
after 28...Rxe4 29.Lxe4 Lxe4 30.Nf2 ,
but the balance is not broken, which is proved
for instance by the following variation: 30...
Ld5 31.fxg7+ Kh7 32.f6! Nxf6 33.Ng4
Lh2+ 34.Kxh2 Nxg4+ 35.Kg3 Qb8+ 36.
Kxg4 Le6+ 37.Kf3 Rf7+ 38.Kg2 Ld5+
39.Kh3 Le6+ 40.Kg2 =] 29.Nxf6 Lxg2
30.Nxe8 Qxd4+ 31.Kxg2 Qg4+ 32.Kh1
Qxh4+ 33.Kg1 Qg3+ 34.Kh1 Qh3+ =) 27.
Lxe4 Ndxc5! 28.Nxc5 (28.Lxc5 Nxc5 29.
Ne5!? Rd7! 30.Nxd7 Nxe4 31.Qe3 Qxd7
32.Qxe4 Qa7+ 33.Rf2 Lg3 ) 28...Nxc5
29.Qe3 (29.Rxc5 Rd7 ) 29...Qd6 .
The two following continuations 26.Lf2 and
26.Rfe1 we have called 'preparatory':
6) 26.Lf2. The unprotected d4-bishop suggests its retreat. Moreover, after penetration
and an exchange on d6, it can defend the d6pawn by transferring to the diagonal h2-b8.
26.Le3 is hardly consistent with this aim.
The idea to sacrifice on h6 looks too fantastic, and the bishop's position on e3 is unsafe.
As 26...Ne5?! allows White to penetrate
easily on d6 - 27.Nxe5 Lxe5 28.Nd6,
Black has at his disposal three logical possibilities:
26...Ld5,
26...Rxe4
and
L
26... xb3.
26...Ld5 is the least successful move of the
three candidates. With quiet development
White can count on an advantage thanks to
his spatial advantage: 27.Rfe1! (27.Nd6?!
Ndxc5 ) 27...Re7 (27...Ne5?! 28.Nxe5
Lxe5 29.Nd6 Lxg2 30.Kxg2 ; 27...
Lxe4 28.Rxe4 Rxe4 29.Lxe4 Ne5 30.
Qe2 Rd7 31.Nxe5 Lxe5 ) 28.h3 .
26...Rxe4!? With this exchange sacrifice,
Black gets rid of the dangerous knight and,
taking the b3-pawn, gains quite enough compensation: 27.Lxe4 Lxb3 28.Nb2 (28.Nf4
Lxf4 29.Qxf4 Ne5 ) 28...Qc8! 29.Qe3
Lf7 30.Nd3 Ne5 31.Nxe5 Lxe5 32.Qf3
b3 .
26...Lxb3! is objectively the best move. It
allows Black to fight for something more
than equality: 27.Nd6 (after 27.Nf4? White

has no sufficient compensation: 27...Ne5
28.Nd6 Lxd6 29.cxd6 c5 ) 27...Ndxc5!
28.Nxc5 (the only acceptable move. Bad is
28.Nxe8? Rd7! [28...Nxd3 29.Rxc6 Lf4!]
29.Lxc6 Rxd3 30.Qe2 Rh3 or 28.
Lxc5? Rae7! [28...Rd7] 29.Nxe8 Nxc5
30.Rxc5 La7 31.Kh1 [31.Rf2 Rd7 ]
31...Lxc5 32.Nxf6 gxf6 33.Qxh6+ Rh7
and Black is close to winning) 28...Nxc5
29.Lxc5 Rd7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-vl-wqr+-mk(
7+-+r+-zp-'
6-+psN-zp-zp&
5zp-vL-+P+-%
4Pzp-+-+P+$
3+l+-+-+-#
2-+-wQ-+LzP"
1+-tR-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
Exercise n8. Calculate the variations after
30.Qb2, 30.Lxc6 and 30.Rfd1 and make
your choice.
30.Qb2? Lxd6 31.Lxd6 (31.Qxb3?
Lxc5+ 32.Rxc5 Qb6 33.Rfc1 Re5 +)
31...Lxa4 the three pawns, together with
the possession of all open files will evidently
prevail. Wherever the white bishop retreats,
White's position is difficult: 32.Lf4 (32.Lc5
Rd2 33.Qa1 Lb5 [33...Ree2 34.Rf2]
34.Rf2 b3 ; 32.Lg3 Rd2 33.Qa1 Lb5)
32...Lb5 33.Rfe1 (33.Lxc6 Re2 +)
33...Rxe1+ 34.Rxe1 Rd1 35.Kf2 Rxe1
36.Kxe1 Qe7+ 37.Kf2 a4 +.
30.Rfd1? Lxd1 31.Rxd1 Lxd6 32.Lxd6
Rxd6 33.Qxd6 Re1+! +.
30.Lxc6! (both of the other continuations
are mistaken) 30...Rxd6 31.Lxd6 Lxd6
and now the open position of the white king
and the strong passed pawn allow us to give
preference to Black's position: 32.Kg2
(32.Rf2?! Re5) 32...Lc7 33.Qxd8 Rxd8
.
65
So, complications after 26.Lf2 are rather

profitable for Black. The second 'preparatory'
move 7) 26.Rfe1 is stronger.
Black has to play accurately to keep equality.
26...Lxb3?! is a risky move: 27.Nd6 Lxd6
28.cxd6 c5 29.La1! (29.Lf2 Lxa4!
30.Rxe8+ Qxe8 31.Ra1 [31.Re1 Qb8]
31...Lb5 32.Rxa5 Qb8 33.Nxb4 cxb4 34.
Rxb5 Qxb5 35.Lxa7 b3 36.Ld4 Nac5 and
Black will hold out) 29...Rxe1+ 30.Rxe1
Nf8 (30...c4?! 31.Ld4 ) 31.Nf4 Rd7
32.Qe3 .
26...Re7?! is passive. White has got several
continuations maintaining an initiative:
27.Lf2 (27.Re3!? Ld5 [27...Lxb3 28.g5]
28.Qe2 Lxb3 29.g5 ; 27.h4!?) 27...Ld5
28.h4 .
26...Nf8 27.Nd6 Rxe1+!
Interesting variations appear after an objectively unsuccessful move such as 27...Rae7?.
Exercise n10. Estimate the queen sacrifice
28.Qxh6.
The queen sacrifice seems to win:
28.Qxh6+?! gxh6 29.Lxf6+ Kh7 30.Nxe8
(D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-vl-wqNsnl+(
7+-+-tr-+k'
6n+p+-vL-zp&
5zp-zP-+P+-%
4Pzp-+-+P+$
3+P+N+-+-#
2-+-+-+LzP"
1+-tR-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
But Black finds a brilliant saving resource:
30...Le5!! (after 30...Rxe8 31.Lxd8 Rxd8
32.Ne5 Lxe5 33.Rxe5 Lxb3 34.Lxc6
he is unlikely to escape. 30...Le6 also loses
after 31.Lxe7 Qxe7 32.fxe6 Qxe8 [32...
Nxe6 33.Le4+ Kh8 34.Lf5 +] 33.e7 +)
31.Lxe7 (also bad is 31.Lxe5 Rxe8 32.
Ld6 Lxb3 + and 31.Rxe5 Qd4+ 32.Kh1

Rxe5 33.Nxe5 Qe3 34.Rf1 Nxc5 and,
finally, 31.Nxe5 Qd4+ 32.Kf1 Rxe8 )
31...Qxd3 32.Nf6+ (32.Rcd1? Qc3) 32...
Kh8! and Black escapes: 33.Rcd1 Qxb3
34.Rd8 Qc3 35.Rxe5 Qxe5 36.Rxf8
Qd4+.
28.Lxc6! is correct: 28...Lxd6 29.Lxe8
Rxe1+ 30.Rxe1 (also possible is 30.Qxe1)
30...Nxc5 31.Nxc5 Lxc5 32.Re4 Lxb3
33.Qe3 Lxd4 34.Rxd4 .
Now back to the main line mentioned above
with 27...Rxe1+!. Play might continue with
28.Rxe1 Lxd6 29.cxd6 Rd7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-wq-snlmk(
7+-+r+-zp-'
6n+pzP-zp-zp&
5zp-+-+P+-%
4Pzp-vL-+P+$
3+P+N+-+-#
2-+-wQ-+LzP"
1+-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Exercise n11. Determine the candidate
moves and calculate variations.
30.Lxc6?! is wrong and puts White on serious problems: 30...Rxd6 31. Re8 Qc7! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+Rsnlmk(
7+-wq-+-zp-'
6n+Ltr-zp-zp&
5zp-+-+P+-%
4Pzp-vL-+P+$
3+P+N+-+-#
2-+-wQ-+-zP"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
1.Kg4!
1.Kg3? Kf1! (1...La8? 2.Kf4! Kf2 3.a7!)
2.a7 (2.Kg4 Ke1!) 2...La8! 3.Kf4 Kf2! ;
1.Nd3? La8 2.Kg3 Kf1! 3.Kf4 Ke2!
4.Nc5 Kd2! 5.Ke5 Kc3! 6.Kd6 Kb4 ;
1.Kg5? Kf1! (1...Kf2 2.Kf4) 2.Kf4
(2.Kf5 Ke1? 3.Nd3+ [3.Ke5 Kd2!
4.Nb3+ Kc3 5.Nc5 La8] 3...Kd2! 4.Nf4
La8) 2...Kf2! 3.Ke5 (3.a7 La8! ; 3.Nd3+
Ke2! 4.Nc5 Kd2!) 3...Ke3! 4.Nb3
(4.Kd6 Kd4!) 4...Kd3! 5.Nc5+ Kc4
6.Ne4 Kd3!.
1...Kf2
1...Kf1 2.Kg3! La8 (2...Lh1 3.Kf4!)
3.Kf4! Ke1 (3...Kf2 4.a7!) 4.Ke3! Kd1
5.Nd3 Kc2 6.Kd4! Kb3 7.Kc5! Ka4
(7...Kc3 8.Nb4 Kb3 9.Nc6 Ka4 10.Kb6)
8.Kb6! Kb3 9.Nc5+ Kb4 10.Nb7 Kc4
11.Kc6 Kb4 (11...Kd4 12.Kc7) 12.Kc7 ;
1...La8 2.Kf4 Kf2 3.a7!.
2.Kf4! Lf3
2...Lc6 3.Ke5 Ke3 4.Kd6 La8 5.Nb3
Kd3 6.Na5 Kd4 7.Nb7 ; 2...Lh1 3.Ke5
Ke3 4.Nb3! Kd3 5.Nc5+! Kc4 6.Ne4!
Kd3 7.Nf2+ ; 2...Ke1 3.Ke3! La8
4.Nd3+.
3.Nd3+ Ke2 4.Nc5 La8 5.Ke5! Ke3
6.Kd6 Kd4 7.Nb7! Kc4 8.Kc6! Kb4
9.a7 Kc4 10.Kc7
10
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6l+-+-+-+&
5zP-+-mK-+-%
4-+-sN-+-+$
3+-+-mk-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1...Lb7
1...Lc4 2.Nf5+ Kf3 (2...Kd3 3.Nd6! La6
66
4.Kd5! Ke3 5.Kc6 Kd4 6.Kb6! Lf1

7.Nb5+!) 3.Nd6 La6 4.Kd5! Kf4 5.Kc6!
Ke5 6.Nb5 Lc8 7.Kc7 La6 8.Kb6! Lc8
9.Nc3! ; 1...Lf1 2.Kd5! La6 3.Kc5 Lc8
4.Nc2+ Kd3 5.Nb4+ Kc3 6.Nd5+ Kb3
7.Kb6 ; 1...Lc8 2.Kd5 Kf4 3.Ne6+ Ke3
4.Nc5 Lh3 5.a6 Lf1 6.a7! Lg2+ 7.Ke5
(7.Kd6? Kd4!) 7...La8 8.Nd7 Kd3
9.Nb6 Lb7 10.Kd6; 1...Kd3 2.Kd5! Ke3.
2.Ne6!
2.Nb3? Lg2! (2...Lf3? 3.Kd6! Le2
4.Kc5 Ke4 5.Nd4! Lf1 [5...La6 6.Kb6
Lf1 7.Nb5! Kd5 8.a6!] 6.Nb5!) 3.Kd6
(3.a6 Kd3!) 3...Lf1! 4.Kc5 Kf4! 5.Nd4
Ke5 6.Nb5 Ke6 7.a6 Kd7.
2...La6
2...Lf3 3.Kd6 Le2 4.Kc6 Ke4 5.Nc7!
Kd4 6.Kb6 Ke5 7.Nb5! Lf1 8.a6 ;
2...Lg2 3.a6 Kd2 4.Nf4 La8 5.Kd4 Kc2
6.Kc4 Kb2 7.Nd5 Ka3 8.Nb6 Lc6
9.Kc5 ; 2...Kd2 3.Kd6 La6 4.Nc7 Lf1
5.Kc5 Ke3 6.Nb5.
3.Kd5! Lb7+ 4.Kd6 La6 5.Nc7 Lf1
6.Kc6 Kd4 7.Nb5+! Kc4 8.a6 Lg2+
9.Kb6! Kd5 10.a7
10
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6l+-+-+-+&
5zP-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-mK-+$
3+-+-sN-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-mk-+-!
xabcdefghy
1.Ke5!
1.Ke4? Ke2! 2.Kd4 (2.Nd5? Kd2! 3.Kd4
Kc2! 4.Kc5 Kb3! 5.Kb6 Lf1 6.Nc7
Kb4) 2...Kf3 3.Nd5 Kg4 4.Nb4 Lb5!
5.Kc5 Lf1 6.Nd5 Kg5 7.Nc3 Kf6 8.Nb5
Ke7.
151
1...La8
1...Kg1 2.Ne3 Kh2 3.Kd2 Kg3 4.Kd3
Kf4 5.Kd4! La8 (5...Lb7 6.Nc4)
6.Nd5+! Kf5 7.Nc7! Lb7 8.Kc5 Ke5
9.Kb6 Lh1 10.Nb5 Ke6 11.Kc7!.
2.Ke2! Lf3+
2...Le4 3.Ke3.
3.Ke3! La8
3...Lb7 4.Nd2 Kg3 5.Nc4 Kg4 6.Kd4
Kg5 7.Kc5 Kf6 8.Na5 La8 9.Kd6 ;
3...Lc6 4.Nd2 Kg3 5.Nc4 Lh1 6.Kd4
Kf4 7.Kc5 Kf5 8.Kd6.
4.Nd2! Kg3 5.Nc4!
5.Kd4? Kf4! 6.Kc5 Ke5.
5...Kg4 6.Nb6!
6.Nd6? Kg5! 7.Kd4 Kf6! 8.Kc5 Ke6 ;
6.Kd4? Kf5! 7.Kc5 Ke6!.
6...Lb7 7.Nc8! La8
7...Lh1 8.Nd6 La8 9.Kd4 Kf4 10.Kc5
Ke5 11.Nb5 Lh1 12.Kb6 ; 7...Kg5
8.Kd4! Kf6 9.Kc5! Ke6 10.Kb6!.
8.Ne7!
8.Nd6? Kg5! 9.Kd4 Kf6.
8...Kg5 9.Kd4! Kf6 10.Nd5+! Kf5
10...Kf7 11.Kc5! Lb7 12.Nb4 Ke6
13.Kb6!.
11.Nc7!
11.Kc5? Ke5! 12.Nc7 Lh1 13.Nb5
Ke6!.
11...Lb7
11...Lc6 12.Kc5! Lb7 13.Kd6.
12.Kc5! Ke5 13.Kb6 Lh1 14.Nb5
10
1.Kg6! Kf3
1...Kf1 2.Kf5 Ke2 3.Ke6!.
2.Kf5! Ke2 3.Ke6!
3.Kf4? Kd3 4.Ke5 Kc4.
3...Ke3 4.Ke5! Ke2 5.Kd6! Kd3 6.Kd5!
Kc2 7.Kc6 Kb3 8.Kb5! Ka3 9.Nd6
Kb3 10.Nc8 Lb8 11.Kb6 Kb4 12.Kb7
Kb5 13.Ne7 Ka5 14.Nc6+
10
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7vl-+-+-+K'
6P+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+N+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+k+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+k+-+-'
6PmK-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+l#
2-+-+N+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1.Nf4! Lg4
1...Lf5 2.Nd5! Le4 3.Nf6+.
2.Nd3! Lh3
2...Kc8 3.Ne5! Lh3 4.a7 Lg2 5.Nc6!.
3.Ne5+! Kd6 4.Nc4+! Kd7 5.Ne3!
10
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6P+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-mK$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+l+"
1+-sN-+-mk-!
xabcdefghy
150
Exercise n12. Could White escape?

The only way to escape is 32.Qe3 Qxc6
33.Rxf8 Qd7 (33...Qd5 34.Lxf6!) 34.
Lxf6! gxf6 35.Re8! Qg7 36.Nf4 Qxg4+
37.Kf2 Qxf5 38.Rxg8+ =.
30.Re4 is a logical, positional reinforcing
manoeuvre: 30...Ld5 (White gets good
compensation after 30...Rxd6 31.Qe3 Nc7
32.Nc5 or 30...Lxb3 31.Qe3 ) 31.Nc5
Nxc5 (in an ending with an extra pawn after
31...Lxe4 32.Nxe4 Rxd6 33.Nxd6 Qxd6
34.Le3! Qxd2 35.Lxd2 Nc5 36.Le3
Nxb3 37.Lxc6 Black is unlikely to escape!) 32.Lxc5 Lxe4 33.Lxe4 and
White has got sufficient compensation.
30.Ne5!? is a very interesting idea: 30...fxe5
31.Lxe5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-wq-snlmk(
7+-+r+-zp-'
6n+pzP-+-zp&
5zp-+-vLP+-%
4Pzp-+-+P+$
3+P+-+-+-#
2-+-wQ-+LzP"
1+-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
31...Kh7 (after 31...Nh7 32.Qxh6 Lxb3
33.Ld4 c5 34.Qg6 White gets full compensation. 31...Lxb3 can lead to a draw: 32.Qd4
[Also not good is either 32.Qb2?! Ld5
33.Lxg7+ Kg8 or 32.Qxh6+?! Kg8 ]
32...Qh4 33.Lg3 Qf6 34.Le5 Qh4 35.Lg3
=) 32.Qd4 (32.Re3 Nc5 33.Rh3 Nxb3
34.Qf4 ) 32...c5 33.Qd3 c4 34.bxc4 Qb6+
35.Kh1 . The position is very complicated
and rather approximately equal, but practically
it is easier to play with White: 35...Qc5
(35...Nc5 36.Qe3 Rxd6 37.g5 Lf7 38.Ld4!
Rxd4 39.Qxd4 Nxa4 40.Qxb6 Nxb6
41.g6+ Nxg6 42.fxg6+ Lxg6 43.c5 ) 36.g5
Lxc4 37.g6+ Kg8 38.Qe4 .
30.Qe3 Rxd6 31.Lb6 Qb8 32.Nf4 Nd7!
(more complicated is 32...Lxb3 33.Lf1

Lf7 34.La7 Qc8 35.Lxa6 Qxa6 36.Qe7
) and Black is holding the balance: 33.La7
(33.Lxa5 Ndc5! ) 33...Qd8 34.Ng6+
Kh7 35.Qe8 Qxe8 36.Rxe8 Nac5 37.Rd8
Rd1+ 38.Kf2 Rd2+ =.
The last try is the breakthrough 26.g5!! hxg5
(D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-vl-wqr+lmk(
7tr-+n+-zp-'
6n+p+-zp-+&
5zp-zP-+Pzp-%
4Pzp-vLN+-+$
3+P+N+-+-#
2-+-wQ-+LzP"
1+-tR-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
Exercise n13: How to continue with White?
27.Qd1!. Only in conjunction with this move
does the pawn sacrifice make sense. The
move 26.g5 is not so difficult to find in connection with the idea to open the h-file, but in
the context of this plan it is erroneous.
But to understand that when White sacrificed
the pawn, it had simply reinforced the positional idea to penetrate on d6 is very difficult! It's impossible to get anywhere near
making this decision by means of variation
searching, but by intuition only! Nothing is
offered by 27.h4?! gxh4 or 27.Rce1?!
Lxb3 28.Re3 Kg8 29.Rfe1 Lf7 .
Now Black can play:
27...Ne5?? 28.Lxe5 Lxe5 29.Nxe5 +.
27...Nf8 28.Nd6 Ree7 29.h4 Nxc5 30.
Lxc5 Lxd6 31.Lxa7 Rxa7 32.hxg5 fxg5
33.Rxc6 .
27...Rxe4? 28.Qh5+ Lh7 29.Lxe4 Nf8
30.Lf2 +.
27...Ld5 28.Nd6 Lxd6 29.cxd6 Lxg2
30.Qh5+ Kg8 31.Rfe1! Rxe1+ (31...Ra8
32.Kxg2 c5 33.Lf2) 32.Rxe1 Nf8 33.
Lxa7 Qxd6 34.Kxg2 Qxd3 35.Qf3 Qd7
36.Lb6 .
67
27...Nb6?? 28.Qh5+ Lh7 29.Nxf6! +.

27...Lh7 28.Qh5! Ne5 29.Rcd1! Qxd4+
(29...g6 30.Lxe5! ) 30.Ndf2 Qd8 (30...
Nf3+ 31.Lxf3 Qe5 32.Ng4 Qe7 33.Nd6
) 31.Rxd8 Rxd8 32.h4 gxh4 33.Nh3 .
27...Lf7! is the best move: 28.Nd6! Lxd6
29.cxd6 c5 30.Lf2 and White has fine compensation. It is difficult for Black to activate
his pieces and he is forced to wait for events
to develop: 30...Kg8 (30...Ne5?! 31.Nxe5
Rxe5 32.Qd3 Qb6 33.Rfe1 ; 30...Qb6?!
31.Ld5! ; 30...Qb8 31.Lg3 Re3 32.Rf2
) 31.Re1 (other ways are available: 31.h4
Qb6 32.hxg5 fxg5 33.Nb2 Ne5 ; 31.Lg3
Qb6 32.Kh1 ; 31.Qc2 Qb6 32.Rfd1 )
31...Rxe1+ 32.Lxe1! Qb6 33.Lg3 Lxb3
34.Qxb3+ c4+ 35.Lf2 cxb3 36.Ld5+ Kh7
37.Lxb6 Nxb6 38.Lxb3 (D).
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7tr-+-+-zpk'
6nsn-zP-zp-+&
5zp-+-+Pzp-%
4Pzp-+-+-+$
3+L+N+-+-#
2-+-+-+-zP"
1+-tR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
In conclusion, one should say that Grischuk
chose 26.Lf2 in his game, but it was played
during a team tournament and at that very
moment the match and therefore the game
was agreed drawn by decision of the two
team captains ...
Seminar List 2011

Certified Trainers
1
P
L
Greece Athens
10.01.2011 - 15.01.2011
A. Mikhalchishin - E. Grivas
2
P
L
Russia - Moscow
28.01.2011 - 02.02.2011
A. Jussupow - I.Glek
3
P
L
Turkey - Antalya
31.01.2011 - 04.02.2011
A. Mikhalchishin - E. Grivas - M. Gurevich
20
4
P
L
Russia - Moscow
28.01.2011 - 02.02.2011
A. Jussupow - I.Glek
12
5
P
L
Bahamas - Nassau
05.03.2011 - 12.03.2011
G. Borg
12
6
P
L
Algeria - Alger
21.05.2011 - 23.05.2011
K. OConnell
35
7
P
L
US America - New York

27.06.2011 - 28.06.2011
M. Khodarkovsky
14
8
P
L
South Africa - Ekurhuleni

28.06.2011 - 01.07.2011
E. Grivas
32
9
P
L
Thailand - Bangkong
01.08.2011 - 06.08.2011
A. Muniz - L. Maung Maung
41
10
P
L
Vietnam - Binh Duong

03.08.2011 - 10.08.2011
E. Gloria - M. Luong Trong
30
11
P
L
Armenia - Yerevan
26.09.2011 - 02.10.2011
V. Grabinsky - S. Lptuian
12
P
L
Peru Lima
03.11.2011 06.11.2011
M. Fierro
17
13
P
L
Brazil - Caldas Novas

19.11.2011 25.11.2011
M. Khodarkovsky - M. Gurevich
18
14
P
L
Germany - Berlin
16.12.2011 18.12.2011
U. Boensch
13
15
P
L
South Africa - Port Elizabeth

17.12.2011 18.12.2011
S. Polgar
16
16
P
L
Singapore - Singapore
26.12.2011 30.12.2011
J. Petronic - D. Ramos
18
1
P
L
Direct Approval
01.01.2011-31.12.2011
TRG Council
18
Total Seminars
Total Certified Trainers
16
359
48
XABCDEFGHY
8l+-+-+-+(
7zP-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-mK-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-sN-+-mk-!
xabcdefghy
1.Kf5!
1.Kf4? Kf2! 2.Ke5 (2.Nb3 Ke2! 3.Nc5
Kd2! 4.Ke5 Kc3! 5.Na4+ Kb4 6.Nb6
Kc5) 2...Ke3! 3.Kd6 Kd4! 4.Kc7 Kc5
5.Nd3+ Kb5.
1...Kf2
1...Kg2 2.Ke6 Kf3 3.Kd7 Ke4 4.Kc7
Ke5 (4...Kd5 5.Nb3! Ke6 6.Na5) 5.Nb3!
; 1...Kf1 2.Ke6.
2.Kf4! Ke1
2...Lh1 3.Ke5 Ke3 4.Nb3! Kd3 5.Na5!
Kc3 (5...La8 6.Kd6! Kd4 7.Kc7) 6.Kd6!
La8 7.Kc7 Kb4 8.Kb8.
3.Ke3!
3.Ke5? Kd2! 4.Nb3+ Kc3 5.Nd4 Kc4 ;
3.Nb3? Ke2 4.Nc5 Kd2! 5.Ke5 Kc3!.
3...Kd1
3...Kf1 4.Nb3 Kg2 5.Kd4 Kf3 6.Kc5
Ke4 7.Kd6 Kf5 (7...Kd3 8.Kc7) 8.Kc7
Ke6 9.Na5 ; 3...Lb7 4.Kd4 Kd2 5.Nb3+
Kc2 6.Na5 La8 7.Kc5 Kc3 8.Kb6 Kd4
9.Kc7 ; 3...Lh1 4.Kd4 Kd2 5.Nb3+ Kc2
6.Na5.
4.Nd3 Kc2
4...Lb7 5.Kd4 Kd2 6.Nc5 La8 7.Nb3+
Kc2 8.Na5.
5.Kd4! Kb3 6.Kc5! Ka4 7.Kb6! Kb3
8.Ne5 Kb4 9.Nc6+ Kc4 10.Na5+ Kd5
11.Kc7
10
68
XABCDEFGHY
8l+-sN-+-+(
7zP-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+K+-mk-+-!
xabcdefghy
1.Kc1!
1.Kc2? Ke2! 2.Kc3 Ke3! 3.Kc4 Ke4!
4.Kc5 (4.Nf7 Kf5! 5.Kc5 Ke6) 4...Ke5!
5.Kb6 (5.Nc6+ Ke6!) 5...Kd6!.
1...Kf2
1...Ke2 2.Kc2! ; 1...Lh1 2.Kc2 Ke2 3.
Kc3 Ke3 4.Kc4 Kf4 5.Kc5 La8 6.Kd6 ;
1...Ld5 2.Kc2 Ke2 3.Kc3 Ke3 4.Kb4
Kd4 5.Kb5! La8 6.Kb6!.
2.Kb2! Ke2 3.Kc2! Kf3
3...Kf2 4.Kb3 Kf3 5.Kb4! Kf4 6.Kb5!
Kf5 7.Kb6!.
4.Kb3! Ke3 5.Kc3! Kf4 6.Kb4! Ke4
7.Kc4! Kf5 8.Kb5! Ke5 9.Kc5! Kf6
10.Kd6
10
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7zP-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+l+-#
2-+-+-+k+"
1+-+-mKN+-!
xabcdefghy
149
A simple win here was 15...Kxh1! 16.Kf2

Ne3.
16.Kxe3 Kxh1 17.Kf2
Example 7 - De Feijter Ad 1936
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7zp-mK-+-+-'
6P+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+k+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+lsN-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1.Nb5 Kf6! 2.Nxa7 Lc4 3.Nb5! Ke7!
3...Lxb5 4.a7.
4.a7 Ld5 5.Nd6 La8! 6.Nc4! Ld5
7.Kc8
7.Na5! La8 8.Kc8.
7...Le4 8.Na5 La8 9.Nb7
9.Kc7! Ke8 10.Nc4 Ke7 11.Kb8 Kd8
12.Na5 Kd7 13.Nb7.
9...Ke8 10.Nd6+ Ke7 11.Kc7 Ke6
12.Nc4 Ke7 13.Kb8 Kd8 14.Na5 Kd7
15.Nb7 Kc6 16.Kxa8 Kc7 17.Nd6
10
Example 8 - Chekhover Vitaly 1939
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7zP-mK-mk-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+N+-+-+$
3+-+-+l+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1.Na5 La8 2.Kc8!!

This is an important finding - how to get the
favourable position. But it was found by
Horwitz many years ago. There were no
endgame databases in those times, so the
eminent composer repeated the old finding!
2...Ke8 3.Nc4 Ke7 4.Kb8 Kd8 5.Na5
Kd7 6.Nb7 Kc6 7.Kxa8 Kc7 8.Nd6
Exactly what Ponomariov performed!
10
Gufeld Eduard
Smyslov Vassily
Moscow 1966
XABCDEFGHY
8-mK-mk-+-+(
7zP-+-+-+-'
6-sn-+-+-+&
5+-+-sN-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
Very funny that a bit similar idea happened
in a knight endgame:
1...Na8 2.Kb7!
2.Kxa8 Kc7! but not what wrongly recommended by Gufeld 2...Kc8 3.Nf7 Kc7
4.Nd6 winning, as in our main examples.
2...Nc7 3.Nc4 Na8
3...Kd7 4.Ne3 Kd6 (4...Kd8 5.Nd5 Na8
6.Kc6) 5.Nd5.
4.Ne3 Nc7 5.Nd5 Na8 6.Kc6!!
10
IGM John Nunn in his excellent book Secrets of Minor-Piece Endings developed the
subject maximally and said probably the last
word in the theory of this position (not in
practice!).
For every player it will be extremely instructive just to follow and to enjoy John
Nunns findings!
148
The Maroczy Pawn Structure

Georg Mohr
Concept
Here we will examine the early retreat of
the white d4-knight in the Maroczy pawn
structure. The strategy of the withdrawal of
Whites knight from the centre is, as a rule,
very unpleasant for Black. White can move
the knight to three different squares: to c2,
from where the knight will return into play
in different ways (via a3 to b5, via e3 to
d5) to b3, from where it provides support
for the move c5, to e2 (a frequent choice in
the Moscow Variation of the Sicilian).
Why is this retreat unpleasant for Black?
Especially because White has more space
and Black wants to exchange pieces to gain
space. Thats why Black generally exchanges early (...Nxd4) against the Maroczy
pawn structure.
But everything has its advantages and disadvantages. It is true that Blacks bishop can
move ...Ld7-c6, from where it will be able
to put pressure on the centre and also present
a threat to the e4-pawn.
But on the other hand, Black is releasing
tension in the centre by the exchange (the
c6-knight puts pressure on d4) and White,
who often has problems with his development because of the unprotected knight, can
choose between playing on the kingside and
in the centre.
Let us see a typical psychological battle in
our variation!
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6
5.c4 The first critical moment. Black is
afraid that White will move the knight as
soon as possible (Nc2). What to do? The
exchange 5...Nxd4 6.Qxd4 is too early
because of the weakness on the long diagonal: 6...Nf6 7.e5!.
So Black arrives at the first crossroads.
Many chess players choose the move
5...Nf6, which forces White into 6.Nc3 that
leaves Black with a significant tempo:
6...Nxd4 7.Qxd4 d6.
An ideal move order? Yes and no! Black
has succeeded strategically but White can
develop his bishops. He will develop his

darksquared bishop to the active g5-square,
because he does not need to protect the
knight on d4. After Qd2 he will put his
light-squared bishop on d3 and he will start
to prepare play on the kingside.
The move 5...Lg7 has its advantages. It
allows the withdrawal of the knight 6.Nc2.
For a long time this was believed to be less
dangerous due to Black not developing the
knight on the kingside. Practice showed that
Black has good counterplay against the plan
with the withdrawal of the knight to c2 by
making the move ...f5.
He can develop the knight to h6 and as
soon as possible play ...f5 (with the knight
already developed to f6, he would need to
lose yet another move to shift it from there,
usually to d7) or he can play ...f5 and only
then develop the knight. Players of the white
pieces have found good ways to develop the
initiative.
Most players prefer to defend the knight:
6.Le3 Nf6 7.Nc3. Black finds himself at a
new crossroads. He can exchange a pair of
knights with the help of the typical manoeuvre 7...Ng4! 8.Qxg4 Nxd4 and White does
not have anything better than 9.Qd1;
meanwhile Black can move to an active
square: 9...Ne6.
He can decide on a classical continuation
7...d6 8.Le2 0-0 9.0-0 Ld7 with the idea
10...Nd4 and 11...Lc6. White plays the
unpleasant 10.Nc2 (or 10.Nb3 with the
idea c5), which destroys Blacks plans and
that required the experts to improve the
move order for Black.
After 9.0-0 Black exchanges already on
the 9th move: 9...Nxd4 10.Lxd4 and only
after that 10...Ld7. White needs to move
the knight to the c2 square earlier and that
brought new research of the positions after
the immediate withdrawal: 6.Nc2!.
Firstly, let us have a look at how White can
effectively defend himself against the early
...f5.
69
Voitsekhovsky Stanislav
Aronian Levon
B37 Minsk 1998
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6
5.c4 Lg7 6.Nc2 Nh6 7.Ld2! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqk+-tr(
7zpp+pzppvlp'
6-+n+-+psn&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+P+P+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzPNvL-zPPzP"
1tRN+QmKL+R!
xabcdefghy
This move is allowed by the development of
the black knight to h6: 7...Lxb2? 8.Lxh6
Lxa1 9.Nxa1!. Because of that Black often
chooses 6...d6, when White fights against
7...f5 with a simple development 7.Ld3!.
Very interesting is a recommendation of
P.H.Nielsen: 6...Qb6, after which White
cannot come up with a good defence of the
b2-pawn. After the 'logical' move 7.Nc3
Black takes 7...Lxc3!? 8.bxc3 Nf6 and tries
to play, even without his pair of bishop,
against the weak white pawns. In practice,
White players have more success. They can
develop a strong initiative with the darksquared bishop, for example: 9.Ld3 d6
10.Ne3 00 11.00 Ne5 12.Nd5 Eljanov,P-Zubarev,A Kharkov 2001.
7...f5 8.exf5 Nxf5 9.Lc3! Qb6 10.Qd2
Lh6 11.Qd5 Lg7 12.Lxg7 Nxg7 13.b3
(D)
(see next diagram)
White has a slight advantage. His pawns are
better connected and without weaknesses.
The exchanges on the centre brought to life
his lightsquared bishop, which is not weaker
than its counterpart.
13...Nf5 14.Nc3 d6 15.Ld3 Nfd4
16.Nxd4 Qxd4 17.Qxd4 Nxd4 18.000
Nc6 19.Rhe1
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+k+-tr(
7zpp+pzp-snp'
6-wqn+-+p+&
5+-+Q+-+-%
4-+P+-+-+$
3+P+-+-+-#
2P+N+-zPPzP"
1tRN+-mKL+R!
xabcdefghy
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-vL-+-%
4-+-+K+-+$
3+-+n+-+-#
2p+k+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+k+-+(
7zP-+-+-+-'
6-+-+K+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4N+-+l+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
White's play is simple: he will put pressure

on the central lines and on the backward
pawns d6 and e7.
19...00 20.f3 Lf5 21.Le4 Lxe4 22.Nxe4
Rf5 23.Kb2 Re5 24.f4 Rh5 25.Rh1 Rf8
26.g3 a5 27.a3 Rhf5 28.Rd2 Nb8 29.Re1
b5!?
Of course Black wanted to get some counterplay but the outcome will be good for
White.
30.Nc3 bxc4 31.Rxe7 g5 32.fxg5 Nc6
33.Rc7 Rf2 34.Ne4 Rxd2+ 35.Nxd2
Rf2 36.Rxc6 Rxd2+ 37.Kc3 Rxh2
38.Kxc4 Rg2 39.Rxd6 Rxg3 40.Rd5 a4
41.bxa4 Kf7 42.Re5 Rxa3 43.a5 Ra1
44.Kb5 Rb1+ 45.Kc6
10
1.La1 Nb2??
The way to win is simple as the classics
have found: 1...Nc5+ 2.Ke3 Kb1 3.Lh8
Na4.
2.Ke3 Kb1 3.Kd2 Kxa1 4.Kc1 Nd3+
5.Kc2
1.Ke5! La8 2.Nb6 Lb7 3.Ke6! Kd8

4.Kd6 Ke8 5.Kc7 Lg2 6.Nc8!
6.Nc4! Ke7 7.Kc8 Lf3 8.Na5 La8
9.Kc7 Ke6 10.Nb7 Ke7 11.Nd8 Ke8
12.Ne6 Ke7 13.Nd4 Ke8 14.Nf5!.
6...La8! 7.Kb8 Kd8 8.Nd6! Kd7 9.Nb7!
Kc6 10.Kxa8 Kc7 11.Nd6
10
The young Levon Aronian definitely

learned a lot from that defeat and it is probably because of it that he later started to play
this variation with the white pieces.
Aronian Levon
Vorobiov Evgeny
B37 Moscow 2004
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6
5.Nc2 Lg7 6.e4 Nf6 7.Nc3 00 8.Le2 d6
9.00 Nd7!?
An interesting plan. Black wants to take
...Lxc3 and set up a blockade on the dark
squares. The plan is practically 'stolen' from
the English Opening: 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nf6
3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Lg2 Nc7 6.Qb3!?
(a provocation - White is waiting for ...Nc6)
70
Example 4 - Gerbaus 1920
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+n+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+L+-zp"
1+-+-mK-mk-!
xabcdefghy
A few chessplayers accidently were developing the same idea in very concrete situations, forgetting about the invention and the
inventor. Everything is known before, but
the position was published!
1.Lf3 Nf4 2.Lh1 Ng2+ 3.Ke2 Nh4
4.Ke1 Nf5 5.La8 Nh4 6.Lh1
Example 5 - Prokop Frantisek 1930

There are a few brilliant old studies.
Example 6 - De Feijter Ad 1936
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+L+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+K+-+n+$
3+-+-+-+p#
2-+-+-mk-zP"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
But there are some wrong positions as well!
1.Kc3! Nxh2 2.Lf5 Ng4! 3.Kd2! h2
4.Le4 Ne3 5.Lh1! Nf5! 6.Lb7 Kf1
7.La8 Nh4 8.Lh1 Ng2 9.Kd1 Kf2
10.Kd2 Ne3! 11.Kd3 Nf5 12.Kd2
Or 12.Ld5 Kg1 13.Ke2 Nh4 14.Le4
Ng2.
12...Kg1 13.Ke1 Nh4 14.Ke2 Ng2
15.Kf3 Ne3??
147
Example 2 - Horwitz Bernhard 1885
XABCDEFGHY
8lsN-+-+-+(
7zP-mK-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-mk-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1.Kb6! Kc4
1...Ka4 2.Nc6 Kb3 3.Na5+ Kb4 4.Nb7
Kc4 5.Kc7 Kd5 6.Kb8.
2.Na6 Kd4
2...Lf3 3.Nc5 La8 4.Nb7 Kd5 5.Kc7
Ke6 6.Na5 Ke7 - the study of Chekhover
is just a sideline of Horwitz!
3.Nc7
3.Nc5! Kd5 4.Nb7 Ke6 5.Kc7.
3...Lg2 4.Ne6+ Ke5 5.Nd8 La8 6.Kc7
Kd5! 7.Nb7
7.Kb8? Kd6! 8.Kxa8 Kc7.
7...Ke6 8.Na5 Ke7 9.Kc8 Ke8 10.Nc4!
Ke7 11.Kb8 Kd8 12.Na5 Kd7 13.Nb7!
Kc6 14.Kxa8 Kc7 15.Nd6
10
Example 3 - Horwitz Bernhard 1885
XABCDEFGHY
8-mK-mk-+-+(
7zP-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+l+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+N+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
When the white king is not on c8, then the

winning manoeuvre does not exist!
1.Nc3 La8 2.Na4 Lg2 3.Nc5 La8
4.Nb7+ Kd7 5.Kxa8 Kc8
Stein Leonid
Dorfman Cicero
Soviet Union 1970
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-vL-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-sn-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2p+k+K+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
Here are some funny annotations of the legend of Yugoslavian chess IM Rudolf Maric.
Firstly it seems that he does not know which
Dorfman plays - it was not the IGM Josif but
a weaker player called Cicero and Maric was
not aware of Horwitz analysis!
1.Lf6 Nd3 2.La1! Nb2 3.Ke1 Kb1
3...Na4 4.Ke2 Kc1 5.Ke1 Nc5 6.Ke2
Kb1 7.Kd1 Nd3 8.Kd2 Nb2. Analysis by
J.Nunn, but it is known from Horwitz till to
Chekhover!
4.Kd2! Kxa1 5.Kc1! Nc4 6.Kc2
Lehmann Heinz
Stephan Werner
Berlin West 1953
Post-war generation was not very precise in
the endgames. And in a German magazine
this position was considered as a draw! And
it was even written that everybody has to
know how to play such endings! But Ernst
Gottschalk from Braunschweig wrote a letter
about this mistake. Then it came some long
discussion during which the old analysis of
Horwitz was remembered.
146
6...Nc6 7.Lxc6!? bxc6 8.Qa4. White even

gave up a tempo, because he believes in his
pawn structure. There is no reason for Black
not to act the same way... Most players do
not like positions with their pawn structure
destroyed and so they almost automatically
respond with:
10.Ld2 Nc5 11.b4!?
A very interesting pawn sacrifice. Especially
because 11.f3 Qb6!? 12.Kh1 Qxb2 13.
Rb1 Lxc3 looks promising for Black.
11...Ne6
Critical is 11...Lxc3 12.Lxc3 Nxe4 13.
Lb2 (a new comparison with the English
Opening is interesting and again with the
pieces of the opposite colour: 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3
Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Lg2 Nc7 6.
Nf3 Nc6 7.00 e5 8.d3 Le7 9.Nd2 Ld7
10.Nc4 00 11.Lxc6 Lxc6 12.Nxe5). A
very popular position, almost as much as the
previous one. The only difference is that
Black cannot play ...b5 and he is forced to
withdraw 12...Le8. This position was
played even by World Champions! You can
imagine how much easier is the diagram
position, where White can move his bishop
to the most logical square b2: 13...Le6
(Black players also tried 13...e5 14.Qe1
Qg5 15.Rd1 Le6 16.Ld3 f5 17.f3 Nf6
18.f4 or 13...Qb6 14.a3 Le6 15.Ne3, in
both cases with a strong initiative for White)
14.b5 Ne5 (because Black is now practically lost, some commentators later recommended 14...Na5 15.Qd4 Nf6 16.Ne3
Qc7 17.Rac1 Qc5 18.Qh4 Rac8 19.Rfd1
or 14...Nb8 15.Qd4 Nf6 16.g4 Qb6 17.g5
Qxd4 18.Lxd4 Ne4 [18...Nfd7 19.Lf3]
19.Lf3 d5 20.Lg2, again with the initiative
for White) 15.Qd4 Nf6 16.f4 Ned7
(16...Neg4 17.h3 Nh6 18.g4) 17.g4 Qb6
18.f5 and White won a piece and the game
quickly followed, as in Svidler,P-Tiviakov,S
Chalkidiki 2002.
12.Rc1 Ned4
The opening of the a-file seems both more
logical and more promising: 12...a5 13.a3
axb4 14.axb4 and only then 14...Ned4
15.Nxd4 Nxd4 16.Le3. Black can continue actively with 16...e5 where practice
has shown that the most active continuation
for White is 17.Nb5 Nxb5 18.cxb5 Le6

19.b6 f5 20.Lc4 Lxc4 21.Rxc4 f4
22.Qd5+ Kh8 23.Ld2 Qxb6 24.Rfc1
with good compensation.
13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14.Le3
In a position where the a-file is not yet open,
this manoeuvre seems even better. The
bishop pair is not important because White
can exchange the darksquared bishops any
time he wants.
14...Nxe2+ 15.Qxe2 b6 16.Rfd1 Lb7 17.
Ld4 Lxd4
17...Lf6 is possible, but weaker seems to be
17...Rc8 18.Lxg7 Kxg7 19.e5.
18.Rxd4 Qc7 19.h4!
Again a typical plan, launching an attack on
the king. Look at the kingside, where Black
has no pieces! He is facing the unpleasant
choice: to allow the h-pawn to progress or
weaken himself even more with the move
...h5.
19...Rac8 20.h5 a6 21.Nd5 Lxd5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-trk+(
7+-wq-zpp+p'
6pzp-zp-+p+&
5+-+l+-+P%
4-zPPtRP+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2P+-+QzPP+"
1+-tR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
A typical position: considering the rules that
we were following, the best move for White
should be the capture 22.Rxd5!?. But even
taking with the e-pawn, which was Aronian's
choice, is not bad in the current position.
White is combining positional play with the
attack on the king, and opens the fourth rank
for his rook for a potential transfer to the hfile. At the same time the weakness of the
e7-pawn is shown up.
22.exd5 Rfe8 23.Re4 Qd7 24.Re1 b5 25.
cxb5 axb5 26.h6 Kf8 27.Qb2 f6 28.Rxe7!
71
Qxe7 29.Rxe7 Kxe7 30.Qe2+ Kf7 31.

Qxb5 Rc1+ 32.Kh2 Rc2
10
Black can fight against the retreat of the
knight to c2 with the plan ...a6 and ...b5, like
the Scandinavians love to play; in the past
Bent Larsen and Ulf Andersson, nowadays
P.H.Nielsen.
Short Nigel
Felgaer Ruben
B38 Buenos Aires 2001
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6
5.c4 Lg7 6.Le3 Nf6 7.Nc3 00 8.Le2 d6
9.00 Ld7 10.Nc2 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7zpp+lzppvlp'
6-+nzp-snp+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+P+P+-+$
3+-sN-vL-+-#
2PzPN+LzPPzP"
1tR-+Q+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
10...a6
The weaker plan is 10...Qa5? 11.f4 Rac8
12.Rb1! a6 13.b4 Qd8 14.Qd3 and White
was much better in the game Short,NAndersson,U Wijk aan Zee 1990.
11.f3
A typical move - an additional defence of
the e4-pawn. White wants to free his c3
knight from this assignment; it is also actively preventing the move ...b5.
11...Rc8 12.Rc1 Re8 13.Qd2
Possibly the strongest move is 13.Kh1 Ne5
14.Na3 Qa5 (preparing ...b5) 15.Qb3! with
the unpleasant threat Lb6.
13...Qa5 14.Rfd1
The plan 14.Na3 Le6 15.Nab1 is interesting but too slow; it did not bring success to
White in the game Gulko,B-Nielsen,P
Esbjerg 2000.
14...Ne5 (D)
Bad is 14...Red8 15.b4! Nxb4 (15...Qh5
16.Nd5 ) 16.Nd5 Nc6 17.Qxa5 Nxa5
18.Nxe7+.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+r+k+(
7+p+lzppvlp'
6p+-zp-snp+&
5wq-+-sn-+-%
4-+P+P+-+$
3+-sN-vLP+-#
2PzPNwQL+PzP"
1+-tRR+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
15.b4
Much better than 15.Na3 h5 16.Kf1 La4!?
17.Re1 Lc6 with excellent counterplay for
Black, Anand,V-Larsen,B Roquebrune
1992. The game would be practically decided after 15.c5! when Black would be facing big troubles.
15...Qd8 16.Na3 a5 17.b5 Le6 18.Na4
Nfd7 19.b6
And White had a huge advantage.
19...Nc5 20.Nxc5 dxc5 21.Qxa5 Nd7
22.Nb5 Ra8 23.Qd2 Qxb6 24.f4 Nf6 25.
Qc2 Lg4 26.e5 Lf5 27.Qb3 Ng4 28.
Ld2 h5 29.Lf3 Red8 30.Le1 f6 31.a4
fxe5 32.a5 Qf6 33.h3 exf4 34.hxg4 hxg4
35.Lxb7 Rxd1 36.Rxd1 Rf8 37.g3 f3
38.Qe3 Kh7 39.Rd2 Qa1 40.Rh2+ Kg8
41.Ld5+
10
For some years the plan of retreating the
knight to b3, preparing the move c5, was
very popular. We have in mind the next diagram:
Korchnoi Viktor
Anand Viswanathan
B38 Wijk aan Zee 1990
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6
5.e4 Lg7 6.Le3 Nf6 7.Nc3 d6 8.Le2 00
9.00 Ld7 10.Nb3 (D)
72
Legendary Endings
Concept
In chess we have some legendary classical
endings which are appearing from time to
time and in such cases top players have to
demonstrate their knowledge of classics.
Nowadays it is more difficult, as we have
special time control without adjournments
and 30 seconds increment. For this reason
the importance of studying endgame is obvious.
It is interesting to see one recent example,
where a top player found the classical manoeuvre. And if it is still a question; do they
know it or they try to find it during the
game? We used to cal this process many
years ago to reinvent the bicycle!.
The next position was analyzed 150 years
ago!
Gashimov Vugar
Ponomariov Ruslan
Khanty Mansiysk 2011
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+k+K%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+n#
2pvL-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
82.Kh4 Nf4 83.Kg3 Ke4 84.La1 Nd3
85.Kg2 Ke3 86.Kg3 Nc5 87.Kg2 Ke2
88.Kg3 Na4
White built the perfect Harwitz position and
can proceed with king to c1 according to
Chekhover manoeuvre, but Ponomariov is
not convinced yet!
89.Kg2 Nb6 90.Kg3 Nc4 91.Kg2 Ne3+
92.Kg3 Nd1 93.Kg2 Ke3 94.Kg3 Kd2

95.Kf3 Kd3 96.Kf4 Kc2 97.Ke4 Nb2
98.Ke3 Na4! 99.Ke2 Kc1!
Yes, it is exact position from Chekhover
study, but which first was found by Horwitz.
Now it is easy.
100.Kd3 Kb1 101.Kd2 Nb2 102.Kc3
Kxa1 103.Kc2 Nd3
01
Example 1 - Loyd Samuel 1860
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4L+-+-+-sn$
3+-+-+-+p#
2-+-+-+k+"
1+-+-mK-+-!
xabcdefghy
Incredibly, first time this position appeared
in analysis of the great composer, and well
before Horwitz!
1.Ld7
1.Lc6+? Kg1 2.Lh1? Kxh1 3.Kf1 Kh2
4.Kf2 Ng6 5.Kf1 Kg3 6.Kg1 Ne5
7.Kh1 Ng4 8.Kg1 h2+ 9.Kh1 Nf2 #.
1...h2
1...Nf3+ 2.Ke2 Nd4+ 3.Ke3 h2.
2.Lc6+ Kg1
2...Nf3+ 3.Ke2 h1Q 4.Lxf3+.
3.Lh1!! Kxh1
3...Ng2+ 4.Ke2 Nf4+ 5.Ke1.
4.Kf2!
The idea has to be conducted correctly.
There is always room for a wrong decision:
as it can be easily proved: 4.Kf1? Nf3
5.Kf2 Nd2.
145
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Lc4 Nc6 4.00 Nf6

5.Qe2 e6 6.c3 Le7 7.Lb3 00 8.d4 Qc7
9.dxc5 dxc5 10.e5 Nd7 11.Lf4 Rd8
12.Nbd2 Nf8 13.Rad1 b6 14.Lg3 Lb7
15.Ne4 Rxd1 16.Rxd1 Rd8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-snk+(
7zplwq-vlpzpp'
6-zpn+p+-+&
5+-zp-zP-+-%
4-+-+N+-+$
3+LzP-+NvL-#
2PzP-+QzPPzP"
1+-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
23.Qh6! Lxf6 24.Qxf6+ Kg8 25.Le5

10
Lahno Kateryna
Khotenashvili Bela
B12 Tbilisi 2011
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Lf5 4.h4 h5 5.Lg5
Qb6 6.Ld3 Lxd3 7.Qxd3 e6 8.Nd2 Qa6
9.c4 Lb4 10.b3 Ne7 11.Ne2 Nd7 12.00
Lxd2 13.Qxd2 Nf5 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Ng3
Nxg3 16.fxg3 00 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7zpp+n+pzp-'
6q+-+p+-+&
5+-+pzP-vLp%
4-+-zP-+-zP$
3+P+-+-zP-#
2P+-wQ-+P+"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
17.Nf6+! Kh8?!
The less evil was 17...gxf6 18.exf6 Rxd1+
19.Qxd1 Qd7 20.fxe7 Nxe7 when White
would just have a clear advantage in the ending due to his bishop-pair and his better
pawn structure. 17...Lxf6 18.exf6 Rxd1+
19.Lxd1 Qd8 20.fxg7 Kxg7 21.Lc2 Ng6
22.h4 was also better than the text move.
18.Ng5! Rxd1+ 19.Qxd1 Nd8
The alternative was 19...gxf6 20.Nxf7+
Kg8 21.exf6 Qd7 22.Nh6+ Kh8 23.Qg4
Ng6 24.Nf7+ Kg8 25.Nd6 Nd8 26.fxe7
Qxe7 27.h4 and White will soon win.
20.Qh5!
Another piece joins the attack. Also good
was 20.Lc2 g6 21.h4.
20...gxf6
What else? 20...h6 21.La4! La6 22.Ne8
Qb7 23.Nxf7+ + or 20...Qc6 21.Ld5!
Qa4 22.h3 gxf6 23.exf6 Lxf6 24.Nxf7+
+ is a lost case.
21.exf6 Qc6 22.Ld5!
Winning an important tempo.
22...Qe8
22...exd5 23.fxe7 and White promotes next!
Black's king is rather week and the attack

must be decisive but accurate.
17.Lf6! gxf6
There is not much that Black can do anymore: 17...Qb6 18.Lxg7! Kxg7 19.Qg5+
Kh7 20.Qxh5+ Kg7 21.Qg5+ Kh8
22.Rf6! Qxd4+ 23.Kh2 Qd3 24.Rh6+
Qh7 25.Rxh7+ Kxh7 26.Rf1 + or
17...Nxf6 18.exf6 Kh7 19.fxg7 +.
18.exf6 Rfc8
18...Nxf6 19.Qg5+! Kh8 20.Rxf6 +.
19.Qh6! Nxf6 20.Qg5+! Kf8 21.Qxf6
10
www.fide.com
Conclusion
This tactical theme is often met and it is
easy to understand and practice it. Can be
either proved a short combination or a longterm compensationally sacrifice. Both cases
seem pleasant for the attacking part!
144
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7zpp+lzppvlp'
6-+nzp-snp+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+P+P+-+$
3+NsN-vL-+-#
2PzP-+LzPPzP"
1tR-+Q+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
The old rule says that advancing a rook
pawn, with the unpleasant threat of a5
(...a4), is always good against the placement
of the knight on b6 (b3). So, Black tried following that rule:
10...a5!? 11.Nd2
If 11.a3 then 11...a4 with the destruction of
the queenside. Because of that White gave
up another tempo. The knight on d2 defends
the e4-pawn and its partner on c3 is already
prepared for action (on b5 or d5).
11...Lc8
The second logical possibility is 11...Ne8
with play against the d4-square; for example: 12.Rc1 Nd4 13.Nb3 Nxe2+ 14.Qxe2
a4! 15.Nd4 Nc7, like in the game
Cvetkovic,S-Martinovic,S Cetinje 1991.
12.Rc1
After the principled 12.c5 dxc5 13.Lxc5
Le6 14.Nc4 Nd7 15.Le3 Rc8 the position is at least equal for Black.
12...Nd7 13.Nb3!?
Korchnoi in his provocative style! The
knight that recently spent two moves for the
manoeuvre Nd4-b3-d2 will, in the next two
moves, backtrack over the same squares:
Nd2-b3-d4! What an absurd action!
13...b6 14.Nd4
Anand probably did not understand White's
play, though it was not so unreasonable.
What did Black achieve while the white
knight was dancing around? He moved the
a7- and b7-pawns to a5 and b6, which has its
pros and cons. The pawns did set up a
blockade on the dark squares but they made

many light squares weak (b5, c6). The
bishop moved to c8 and left the important d7
square to the knight, which has a task on c5.
After the return of the knight to d4, Black
has no choice but to exchange a pair of
knights. Because of the weak light squares it
would be unforgivable to allow one of the
knights to move to b5 and the other one to
threaten moving to d5. The fact is that the
knight on c6 is not playing a significant role
in the position.
14...Nxd4 15.Lxd4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7+-+nzppvlp'
6-zp-zp-+p+&
5zp-+-+-+-%
4-+PvLP+-+$
3+-sN-+-+-#
2PzP-+LzPPzP"
1+-tRQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
15...Lh6!
A very instructive moment. Black won a
tempo and for him it is even more important
to keep the darksquared bishops. If not,
White's attack would become very dangerous. For example: 15...Lb7 16.Lxg7 Kxg7
17.Qd4+ Kg8 18.f4 Nc5 19.f5. Black
would not have enough pieces on the kingside and White's pieces would be able to
attack freely (Nd5, Rc3-h3).
16.f4
After 16.Rc2 e5! 17.Le3 Lxe3 18.fxe3
Nc5 19.Lf3 Lb7 Black's position would
be at least equal.
16...Lb7 17.Le3 Nc5 18.b3!?
White already had problems. After 18.Lf3
e5! 19.Qd2 is not possible due to 19...exf4
20.Lxf4 Lxf4 21.Qxf4 Nd3. For this reason Korchnoi decided to seek complications.
18...Nxe4 19.Nxe4 Lxe4 20.Qd4 Lc6
21.f5!?
73
Korchnoi understandably did not like the

endgame after 21.Qxb6 Qxb6 22.Lxb6
Rfb8 23.Le3 a4, when only Black would
be active. The pawn sacrifice is quite unpleasant. In the case of Black taking up the
challenge with 21...Lxe3+ 22.Qxe3 Kg7
(stopping 23.Qh6), White would achieve an
unpleasant initiative after 23.Rf4, which is
certainly not in Anand's style.
21...Lg7 22.Qxb6 Qd7
Why not 22...Qxb6 23.Lxb6 Rfb8 24.Le3
a4, with transposition to the already known
position and an undoubted advantage for
Black?
23.fxg6 hxg6 24.Lg5 a4 25.Qe3 axb3
26.axb3 Ra2 27.Rf2 Qe6 28.Lf3
Despite the good experiences with the

move 10...a5, many players prefer to set up a
wall.
Polugaevsky Lev
Ljubojevic Ljubomir
B38 Roquebrune 1992
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Lg7 4.e4 d6
5.Le2 00 6.Nf3 c5 7.00 cxd4 8.Nxd4
Nc6 9.Le3 Ld7 10.Nb3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7zpp+lzppvlp'
6-+nzp-snp+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+P+P+-+$
3+NsN-vL-+-#
2PzP-+LzPPzP"
1tR-+Q+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
the queenside (b4) and Black's knights on c5

and b4 would be very unpleasant for White,
but the most consistent is the set up with f4,
Lf3 and play in the centre. However, White
does not have a direct and clear plan in the
centre and because of that the position is
easier for Black. Black simply follows the
dark square strategy, preparing the dark
squares for his knights and then directing his
cavalry towards the dark squares (especially
c5). Polugaevsky chose a slow plan, aimed
at gaining space and putting pressure on
Black.
11...Ne8
With the idea 12...Lxc3.
12.Qd2 Rc8 13.Rac1 Ne5 14.Nd5 e6
White's knight does not have a good square
to retreat to (because of the undefended c4pawn) and Ljubojevic took advantage of this
favourable moment. It would be very difficult for White to attack the d6-pawn.
15.Nf4 Qe7 16.Rfd1 f5 17.exf5 Rxf5
Even better would be 17...gxf5 18.Nd4
Ng6 19.Nh5 Lxd4 20.Lxd4 (20.Qxd4
e5) 20...f4! 21.Lf2 (the threat was
22...Qh4) 21...Lc6 with excellent play for
Black. This manoeuvre needs to be remembered!
18.Nd4 Rf8
With very complicated play, although the
game ended in a draw after
19.Nh3 Nf7 20.Nf2 Nf6 21.b3 Rfd8 22.a4
Le8 23.Qb4 Nd7 24.Nb5 Nc5 25.Qa3 a6
26.Nc3 a5 27.Lf1 Lc6 28.b4 axb4 29.
Qxb4 Ra8 30.Qxb6 Lxa4 31.Nxa4 Nxa4
32.Qb4 Nc3 33.Rxc3 Rdb8 34.Lb6 Lxc3
35.Qxc3 Rxb6 36.Ne4 e5 37.c5 dxc5 38.
Lc4 Rd8 39.Re1 Rc6 40.Nf2 Rd4 41.
Ng4 Rxc4 42.Qxc4 Qe6 43.Qc3 Qd5 44.
Nxe5 Nxe5 45.Rxe5 Qd4+ 46.Qxd4 cxd4
47.Rd5 Rc1+ 48.Kf2 Rc2+ 49.Kg3 Rd2
50.Rd7 h5 51.f4 Rd3+ 52.Kh4 Rd2
10...b6
Quite illogical is 10...Na5 11.Nd2! with the
threat b4.
11.f3
White has tried many moves. After 11.a4 a5!
Black would win yet another dark square on
74
28.Rh5 f5
And Black lost on time in making this move
but the result is in no doubt after 29.Rh8+
Kf7 30.Qh7+ Kf6 31.Qh6+ Ke5 32.Rd1.
10
Caruana Fabiano
Ljubojevic Ljubomir
C10 Amsterdam 2010
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7
5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Ld3 c5
8.Le3 Nd5 9.Ne5 Nxe3 10.fxe3 Qa5+
11.c3 cxd4 12.exd4 Ld6 13.Nc4 Qc7
14.Qh5 h6 15.00 00 16.Nxd6 Qxd6
17.Rae1 Ld7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7zpp+l+pzp-'
6-+-wqp+-zp&
5+-+-+-+Q%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-zPL+-+-#
2PzP-+-+PzP"
1+-+-tRRmK-!
xabcdefghy
18.Rf6! Qe7
On 18...gxf6 19.Qxh6 f5 20.Qg5+ Kh8
21.Re3 mate follows.
19.Ref1 e5!?
Again 19...gxf6 is not recommended:
20.Qxh6 f5 21.Rf3.
20.dxe5?!
White missed his best chance here: 20.Lc4!
Le6 (20...exd4? 21.Lxf7+! Rxf7 22.Rxf7
Qe3+ 23.Kh1 +) 21.Lxe6 fxe6 22.Rxf8+
Rxf8 23.Rxf8+ Kxf8 24.Qxe5 , as he
would have material and positional advantage in the queen's endgame. After the text
move he is still on the top but with more
complicated play (more pieces on the board)
which allowed Black in the end to escape
with a draw.
20...Rae8 21.Rd6 Le6 22.Rf4 Rc8
23.Qf3 Rfd8 24.Rfd4 Re8 25.Qe4 g6
26.Lb5 Lf5 27.Qf4 Rf8 28.Ld7 Lxd7
29.Rxd7 Qe6 30.R4d6 Qxa2 31.e6

Qb1+ 32.Rd1 Qxb2 33.Kh1 Qe2
34.exf7+ Kh7 35.Qd6 Qc4 36.Rxb7
Rxf7 37.Rxf7+ Qxf7 38.Qe5 Qg7
39.Qxg7+ Kxg7 40.Rd7+ Kf6 41.Rxa7
Rxc3 42.h3
Caruana Fabiano
Gelfand Boris
B23 Moscow 2010
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Lg7
5.Lc4 Nc6 6.00 Nf6 7.d3 00 8.f5 gxf5
9.Qe1 fxe4 10.dxe4 Le6 11.Nd5 Ne5
12.Nxe5 dxe5 13.Lg5 Lxd5 14.exd5 Qd6
15.Qh4 Nxd5 16.Rad1 e6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7zpp+-+pvlp'
6-+-wqp+-+&
5+-zpnzp-vL-%
4-+L+-+-wQ$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzPP+-+PzP"
1+-+R+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
Open files, weak black king, active white
pieces - something decisive must exist according to the logic of chess..
17.Rf6!
17.Lf6! wins as well.
17...Qc7
Maybe Black had to try 17...h6 where White
would have to find 18.Rxh6 f6 19.Qg4
Rae8 20.Rg6 +.
18.Lxd5 exd5 19.Rd3! Rfd8 20.Lh6
And the black king's days are over...
20...Lxh6 21.Qxh6 e4 22.Rg3+
22.Rh3 Rd7 23.Qg5+ Kf8 24.Rxh7
mates as well.
10
Kovanova Baira
Pogonina Natalija
B50 Antakya 2010
143
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7wqpzp-+pzpp'
6p+n+-+-+&
5+-+N+-vL-%
4-+n+-+-+$
3wQ-+-+-+P#
2PzP-+-zPP+"
1+-+RtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
21.Qg3! fxg5
21...N4e5 22.Le3+ Ng6 23.Lxa7 will lose
later!
22.Qxg5+ Kh8 23.Qf6+ Kg8 24.Rd5!
N4e5 25.Rdxe5 Nxe5 26.Rxe5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7wqpzp-+p+p'
6p+-+-wQ-+&
5+-+-tR-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+P#
2PzP-+-zPP+"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
26...Rfe8
26...h6 27.Qxh6 Qb6 (27...f5 28.Qg6+
Kh8 29.Re7) 28.Rg5+ Qg6 29.Rxg6+
fxg6 30.Qxg6+ Kh8 31.Qh5+ Kg7
32.Qg4+ Kh6 33.Qh4+ Kg7 34.Qg3+
Kh8 35.Qxc7 was a bit 'better' but still
winning for White.
27.Rg5+ Kf8 28.Rf5!
28.Qh6+ Ke7 29.Re5+ Kd7 30.Qd2+
was a safe alternative as well, just proving
how winning is Whites position after all!
Here Black decided to resign as there is no
defence anymore to White's mating threats:
28...Re1+ (28...Re7 29.Qh8 #) 29.Kh2
Ke8 30.Qxf7+ Kd8 31.Rd5+ Kc8 32.

Qf8+ Re8 33.Qxe8 #.
10
Kasparov Garry
Karpov Anatoly
D31 Valencia 2009
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Le7 4.cxd5 exd5
5.Lf4 c6 6.Qc2 Ld6 7.Lxd6 Qxd6 8.e3
Ne7 9.Ld3 Nd7 10.Nge2 h6 11.00 00
12.a3 a5 13.Rad1 b6 14.e4 dxe4 15.Nxe4
Qb8 16.N2c3 La6 17.Lxa6 Rxa6 18.d5
Nxd5 19.Nxd5 cxd5 20.Rxd5 Ra7 21.
Qd2 Nc5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-wq-+-trk+(
7tr-+-+pzp-'
6-zp-+-+-zp&
5zp-snR+-+-%
4-+-+N+-+$
3zP-+-+-+-#
2-zP-wQ-zPPzP"
1+-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
22.Nf6+!
Brilliant! Kasparov has not lost any of his
tactical vision! Black would be happy to see
22.Nxc5? bxc5 23.Rxc5 Rd8 as then he
would have good practical chances for a
draw.
22...gxf6
22...Kh8?! 23.Rh5 + mates soon.
23.Qxh6 f5 24.Qg5+!
24.Rxf5? allows Black to consolidate with
24...f6!.
24...Kh8 25.Qf6+ Kg8 26.Rxf5
Black's king is too exposed, so the end is,
and should be near, in such hopelessly
cases
26...Ne4 27.Qh4!
Precise! Black is lost.
27...Re8
27...f6 averts mate but of course, after
28.Qxe4, White is simply two pawns to the
good.
142
An Isolated Pawn in the Endgame

Georg Mohr
Concept
An isolated pawn in the endgame is definitely a weakness. In different endings this
weakness indeed has a different appearance,
but the strategy is the same in all endings.
We can choose between a blockade, exploiting the power of a blockade piece, and a
direct attack on the isolated pawn.
In the first part we will take a closer look
at the isolated pawn in pawn endings and
bishop endings and in the end we will get to
know those endings where an isolated pawn
is protected by a passive bishop and attacked
by an active knight. Let us start our journey
with pawn endings.
Ehlvest Jaan
Rausis Igors
Riga 1995
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+p+-+-+-'
6p+-mk-+p+&
5+-+p+p+p%
4-zP-mK-+-zP$
3zP-+-zP-zP-#
2-+-+-zP-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
In the diagram we can see a classical pawn
ending with an isolated pawn. White
blocked the pawn and attacked it with the
king but Black managed to protect it. Clearly
this will not be enough for White to win.
The result of the game will be decided by
whether or not White's king will be able to
penetrate one of the flanks. In our case
White's task is simple, because Black has
holes on both flanks and he will eventually
run out of the defensive moves.
31...b6 32.a4! Ke6 33.f3 Kd6 34.Kc3

Even more typical would be 34.a5!. It is
very important to make room for the king to
penetrate by the side of the isolated pawn.
34...Ke5 35.Kd3 Ke6 36.Kc3 Ke5
37.Kd3 Ke6 38.Kd4 Kd6 39.a5! bxa5
40.bxa5
There is no choice left: Black must give way
and let White's king in.
40...Kc6 41.Ke5 Kb5
After 41...Kc5 42.Kf6 Kb5 43.Kxg6 Kxa5
44.Kxh5 Kb5 45.Kg6 a5 46.h5 White is
faster.
42.Kxd5 Kxa5 43.Kc5
And Black resigned due to 43...Ka4 44.e4
fxe4 45.fxe4 a5 46.e5 Kb3 47.e6.
10
Barcza Gedeon
Golombek Harry
Budapest 1952
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-zp-'
6-+-mk-+-+&
5zp-+p+p+p%
4P+-mK-+-zP$
3+-+-+-zP-#
2-+-+PzP-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
The task is not always so simple. Seemingly
this position is identical to the previous one;
only White's pawn has not yet made it to the
fifth rank; a small but significant detail!
34.f4?!
White did not think about the position
deeply enough and he overlooked Black's
additional defensive option. Once he breaks
Black's defence, White's king will get to the
75
g6-pawn (Black must not let White in on the

queenside) and Black will in the mean time
rush to the a-pawn or, even better, to the epawn and he will try to promote his d-pawn.
That is why White needed to be more careful: 34.f3! g6 35.f4 Kc6 36.Ke5 Kc5 37.
Kf6 Kb4 (Black does not have enough time
for Kd4-e3xe2 and what remains is to attack the a-pawn) 38.Kxg6 Kxa4 39.Kxf5
Kb3 40.Kg5 a4 41.f5 a3 42.f6 a2 43.f7
a1Q 44.f8Q Qe5+ 45.Qf5 Qxg3+ 46.
Kxh5 and with a pawn up he would have
good chances in the queen ending.
34...g6 35.e3 Kc6 36.Ke5 Kc5 37.Kf6
Kc4!
White missed this! Black will win the epawn and the game will result in a draw.
38.Kxg6 Kd3 39.Kxf5 Kxe3 40.Kg5 d4
41.f5 d3 42.f6 d2 43.f7 d1Q 44.f8Q
Qxa4!
This is the difference! Black wins the apawn and gets stronger. 45.Qf5 Qb4
46.Kxh5 a4 47.g4 a3 48.g5 Qb2! 49.g6 a2
50.Qg5+ Ke4 51.Qg4+ Ke3 52.Qg5+
Ke4 53.g7 a1Q 54.Qg6+ Kf4 55.g8Q
An unusual ending where Black has no troubles drawing, thanks to his king being close
enough to the right corner.
55...Qh8+! 56.Qh6+ Qxh6+ 57.Kxh6
Qf6+! 58.Kh5 Ke5 59.Qg5+
Yurtaev Leonid
Temirbaev Serik
Elista 1998
XABCDEFGHY
8-+R+-+-+(
7zp-+-+kzpp'
6-zp-+r+-+&
5+-+p+p+-%
4-zP-+-+-+$
3zP-+-zPP+-#
2-+-+-mKPzP"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
The player who has an isolated pawn can

anticipate the possible endings and place his
pawns appropriately.
29...Re8! 30.Rxe8 Kxe8
Black evaluated the ending marvellously!
The placement of the pawns a7-b6 cannot be
destroyed and White's king will never be
able to penetrate through the c5-square.
Keep in mind this small but significant difference, you will need it whenever you are
trying to decide about the transposition to
this or that ending. Black's task will be simpler: besides the d5-pawn, he will need to
defend the squares which would permit the
white king to penetrate on the kingside.
Black's king will do that easily on the d6and e6-squares.
31.Ke2 Kd7 32.Kd3 Kc6 33.Kd4 Kd6
34.h4 h5!
Black is not afraid of running out of tempi;
he only needs to defend one entrance.
35.a4 Ke6 36.a5 Kd6 37.a6 Ke6 38.e4
This is the only way for White's king to proceed.
38...dxe4 39.fxe4 fxe4 40.Kxe4 g6 41.Kf4
Kf6 42.g3 b5 43.g4 hxg4 44.Kxg4 Ke6
45.Kf4 Kf6 46.Ke4 Ke6 47.Kd4 Kd6
48.Ke4 Ke6 49.Kf4 Kf6 50.Kg4 Ke6
Pritchett Craig William

Beliavsky Alexander
Novi Sad 1990
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+kzp-'
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5+-+-+-+p%
4P+-zP-+-+$
3+-+-vL-zP-#
2-+-+-zP-zP"
1+-+-+K+-!
xabcdefghy
Endings with an isolated pawn gain a new
dimension when we add a pair of bishops. In
76
Rxg7 38.Lh7+ Kf8 39.Rf4+ was winning

as well.
10
Sjugirov Sanan
Brodsky Michail
B97 St.Petersburg 2008
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 a6 6.Lg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2
Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5 h6 11.Lh4 dxe5
12.fxe5 Nfd7 13.Ne4 Qxa2 14.Rd1 Qd5
15.Qe3 Lc5 16.Nxe6 Lb4+ 17.c3 Qxe6
18.cxb4 00 19.Rd6 Qxe5 20.Lc4 Nc6
21.00 Qh5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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22.Lf6!
The usual beautiful idea; the bishop uses a
forbidden square in order to get closer to the
black king. Beforehand 22.Qf4 Nde5?
23.Rxh6 10 Shirov,A-Wang Hao Dagomys 2009 had been played.
22...Nxf6
Black is in trouble in all variations: 22...Re8
23.Lxg7 Kxg7 24.Rxf7+ + or 22...Nde5
23.Qg3 Lg4 24.Ld5 .
23.Nxf6+ gxf6 24.Rfxf6
White will have no problems proving that
the white pieces will roll over the black king
because of the number of the black pieces
which are hardly in the game.
24...Ne5?!
This loses in no time but it was very difficult
(and probably impossible) for Black to survive. His main saving alternative should be
tried on 24...Lf5 but White wins anyway
after 25.Qg3+ (25.Rxh6 Qg4 26.Rh3

Qg7 27.Rg3 Lg4 28.Qf4 Ne5 29.Rd5
Rfc8 30.Lb3 is good as well) 25...Qg5
(25...Kh7?! 26.Rxf5 Qxf5 27.Ld3 +)
26.Rg6+ (26.Qxg5+ hxg5 27.Rxf5 Rfd8
28.Rg6+ Kh8 29.Rgxg5 Rd1+ 30.Kf2
Rd4 31.Ld5 Nxb4 32.Rf6 Rh4 33.Lxb7
) 26...Lxg6 27.Rxg6+ Kh7 28.Rxg5
hxg5 29.Ld3+ Kh6 30.h4 +.
25.Rxh6 Nxc4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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26.Qe7!
A nice move, forcing Black's resignation due
to 26...Lg4 (26...Qg4 27.Rh8+ Kxh8
28.Qxf8+ Kh7 29.Rh6 #) 27.Rxh5 Lxh5
28.Rh6 Lg6 29.Qf6 Lh7 30.Qh4 Lg6
31.Rh8+ Kg7 32.Qh6+ +.
10
Bologan Viktor
Heberla Bartlomiej
C54 Plovdiv 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Lc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Lc5
5.c3 00 6.Lb3 a6 7.h3 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5
9.00 Nde7 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.d4 Lxd4
12.cxd4 N5c6 13.Lg5 Le6 14.Nc3 Lxb3
15.Qxb3 Qxd4 16.Rfe1 Na5 17.Qa3
Nec6 18.Rad1 Qa7 19.Nd5 Nc4 (D)
(see next diagram)
White's initiative is great and the black king
has remained without defensive pieces
around him...
20.Nf6+! gxf6
20...Kh8 21.Qd3 is rather easy.
141
Topalov Veselin
Lutz Christopher
B48 Dortmund 2002
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6
5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Le3 a6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.000
Lb4 9.f3 Ne5 10.Nb3 b5 11.Kb1 Nc4
12.Lxc4 bxc4 13.Nc1 Qb7 14.N1e2 Rb8
15.b3 00 16.Lf4 Ra8 17.Ld6 Lxd6
18.Qxd6 cxb3 19.axb3 a5 20.Rd4 Ra6
21.Qa3 d5 22.exd5 exd5 23.Nf4 Le6
24.Rhd1 h6 25.Ncxd5 Nxd5 26.Nxd5
Rb8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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27.Nf6+!
A bold from the blue! But certain tactics
were well calculated!
27...gxf6 28.Rd8+ Rxd8 29.Rxd8+ Kh7
30.Qf8
And now White has mating threats...
30...Kg6
30...h5 was a 'better' try but still not enough
to save the game: 31.g4 (31.Qh8+ Kg6
32.Rg8+ Kf5 33.Qxh5+ Kf4 34.Rd8 +)
31...hxg4 32.fxg4 Kg6 33.Qg8+ Kh6
34.Qh8+ Kg5 35.Qg7+ Kf4 36.Qxf6+ +.
31.Qg8+ Kh5
Or 31...Kf5 32.Qg4+ Ke5 33.f4+ Ke4
34.Qf3+ +.
32.Qg7!
Also good was 32.Rd4 Qb5 33.g3 Qg5
34.Rh4+ Qxh4 35.gxh4 +.
32...f5 33.Rd4!
With the threat 34.Rh4+ Kxh4 35.Qxh6 #.
33...Lc8 34.g3
Black resigned due to 34...Qe7 (34...Rg6
35.Rh4+ Kg5 36.f4 #) 35.Rh4+ Qxh4

36.Qxf7+ +, as Whites material gains
would be too high
10
Nunn John
Smeets Jan
C65 Amsterdam 2006
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 Nf6 4.d3 Lc5
5.00 d6 6.c3 00 7.Nbd2 Ld7 8.h3 a6
9.La4 La7 10.Re1 Ne7 11.Lb3 Ng6
12.Nf1 h6 13.Ng3 c6 14.d4 Qc7 15.Le3
Rfe8 16.Qd2 exd4 17.Lxd4 Lxd4
18.cxd4 c5 19.Rac1 b6 20.Qc3 Qb7
21.dxc5 dxc5 22.e5 Nd5 23.Qd2 Ndf4
24.Rc4 Ne6 25.Ne4 Qc7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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All White's pieces are ideally placed for a
decisive attack...
26.Nf6+! gxf6 27.Qxh6
Now the black king will lethally suffer.
27...f5
After 27...fxe5 White wins with 28.Rg4!.
28.Nh4! Lb5
There is no defence anymore: 28...Lc6
29.Nxf5 (29.Re3 Ld5 30.Nxf5 Lxc4
31.Lxc4 +) 29...Ld5 30.Re3 Lxc4
31.Lxc4 + or 28...Ne7 29.Re3 Ng7
30.Rg3 Qxe5 31.Nf3 +.
29.Nxf5 Rad8
After 29...Lxc4 30.Lxc4 Nxe5 White wins
with 31.Re4!.
30.Rg4 c4 31.Lc2 Rd5 32.Rh4
32.Rxg6+ fxg6 33.Qxg6+ Kf8 34.Qh6+
Kg8 35.Re4 Rd7 36.Rg4+ Ng7 37.Nxg7
140
these positions we have to consider the rules

that are important in pawn endings and we
also need to know that here the placement of
all the pawns is very important. The rule
states that the active side needs at least one
more object to attack in order to to think
about winning (the principle of the second
weakness!), though two weaknesses are not
always sufficient. In bishop endings, all the
classical techniques, which are characteristic
of this kind of ending, are used: triangulation, opposition, etc. Let us see some examples! In the diagram we see a position where
White has a fixed weakness - the isolated d4
-pawn and a dynamic pawn structure. That is
why White is close to drawing but first he
has to place his pawns on the light squares Capablanca's rule!
34.Ke2?
It would be correct to play 34.h3! g5 35.g4!.
34...g5 35.Kd3
It is unreasonable that White left his pawns
on the dark squares. Why not 35.h3 g4
36.hxg4 hxg4? When the weaker side has
three pawns on the same-coloured squares as
its bishop, the ending is almost certainly
lost!
35...g4 36.Kc4 Ke7 37.Ld2 Kd7 38.Lc1
Kc6 39.Le3 Lc7!
Tempo. Black has an unlimited amount of
time and White needs to find the only
moves.
40.Ld2 Ld8! 41.Lb4 f5 42.Ld2 h4! 43.
Lf4 h3!
Fixing the weakness on h2. Beliavsky
played this ending very instructively.
44.Ld2 Lc7 45.Le3
The bishop needs to control the diagonal c1h6. If 45.Lc3, then 45...f4, with the idea
...fxg3 and ...Lxg3 +.
45...La5 46.Lf4 Le1 47.Le3 Kd6 48.
Lf4+ Kd7 49.Le3 Kc6!
The last three black moves are also instructive - a classical triangulation, passing the
move to the opponent.
50.Kd3
White could have some practical chances in
the variation 50.d5+ exd5+ 51.Kd4 but
Black would still win: 51...a5!? (51...f4?
52.Lxf4 Lxf2+ 53.Ke5 Lg1 54.Kf5
Lxh2 55.Kxg4 =) 52.Ke5 Lc3+ 53.Kxf5

d4 54.Lf4 Kc5 55.Kxg4 Kb4 56.Kxh3
Kxa4 57.Kg4 Kb3 +.
50...Kd5 51.Ke2 Lc3 52.Kd3 Lb2 53.f4
gxf3 54.Lf2 Lc1 55.Kc2 Lg5 56.Kd3
Lf6 57.Le3 Ld8 58.Ld2 f2 59.Ke2
Kxd4 60.Le3+ Ke4 61. Lxf2 Lc7
01
Averbakh Yuri
Belgrade 1961
XABCDEFGHY
8-+l+-+-+(
7+-+-+p+p'
6p+k+-+p+&
5zP-+p+-+-%
4-mK-+-+-+$
3+-+LzPPzP-#
2-+-+-+-zP"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
When three (or more) pawns are placed on
the same-coloured squares as their bishop,
the defender is left helpless. White's task is
simple: he needs to fix Black's pawns on the
kingside (a6 and d5 are already fixed) and
create yet another, third weakness.
39.f4! f5?!
This move is against Capablanca's rules, but
there was no solution left: 39...h6 40.e4 dxe4
41.Lxe4+ Kd6 42.Kc4 Lg4 43.Kd4 Le2
44.Lc2 Lg4 (the threat was 45.Lb3)
45.Ld3 Lc8 46.h4 Lb7 47.g4! Lc8 48.g5
hxg5 49.hxg5 Lb7 50.Lc4 +.
40.h4 Kd6 41.h5!
We are familiar with the power of the threat
h5-h6 from the previous example.
41...gxh5 42.Kc3
And Black resigned due to 42...Kc5
43.Lf1! Lb7 44.Le2 Lc8 45.Ld3 d4+
(what else?) 46.exd4+ Kd5 47.Lc4+ Kd6
48.d5 Kc5 49.d6! Kxd6 50.Kd4 Lb7
51.Lf1 Lc8 52.Ld3.
10
77
Polugaevsky Lev
Mecking Henrique
Mar del Plata 1971
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+p+-+-+p'
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2-+-+-+lzP"
1+-+-+-+-!
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40.h4 Lf3 41.b4
Everything is evolving according to the
known pattern: first, fixation, with the
placement of the pawns on squares of the
right colour (all White's pawns are placed on
the dark squares and all Black's pawns are
fixed on light squares!).
41...Lh1 42.Le2 Lg2 43.Lg4 Le4 44.
Lc8! Kc7 45.Le6 Kd6 46.Lg8 h6 47.
Lf7 h5 48.Le8 Lc2 49.Lf7
Later on follows manoeuvring with the
bishop to force Black to put his pieces on
unpleasant squares.
49...Le4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+p+-+L+-'
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3+-+-zP-+-#
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1+-+-+-+-!
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50.f5!!
A decisive tactical attack.
50...Lxf5
50...gxf5 51.Lxh5 +.
51.Lxd5 Lc8 52.e4 Ke7 53.Ke5 g5
54.hxg5 h4 55.g6 h3 56.g7 h2 57.g8Q h1Q
58.Qf7+ Kd8 59.Qf8+
10
We saw that the task is not too difficult
with three or more weaknesses on the board.
The most interesting positions are those with
the opponent having two weaknesses. Statistics show that approximately every second
game is won by the attacker...
Uhlmann Wolfgang
Skopje 1976
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+p+-'
6-+-mkl+pzp&
5+p+p+-+-%
4-+-mK-+-+$
3+-zP-+L+P#
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1+-+-+-+-!
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The position in the diagram is very interesting. Black has two fixed weaknesses on b5
and d5 but White cannot create a third one
on the kingside. Black has enough time to
place his pawns on the dark squares.
39.h4 f6! 40.g3 g5
The only thing White can do is to manoeuvre with his bishop and try to reach a favourable position. His only chance is to
place his bishop to the h1-a8 diagonal, from
where the d5-pawn is being attacked and
Black will be forced to defend it with the
bishop on c6, b7 or a8. In this kind of position White could - under certain conditions prepare b3 and c4.
41.Le2 Ld7 42.Lh5 Lh3
42...Lc6 43.Lf3.
43.b3! Ld7
78
28.Ne4! Kg8 29.Qh5 wins faster.

28...gxf6 29.Rxf6 Ld3
There is no longer any defence for Black, as
neither 29...Qxf6 30.exf6 Rg8 31.Ne5
Raf8 32.Lf3 Lb5 33.Lh5 Le8 34.Ng4!
nor 29...Rh8 30.Ng5+ Kg8 31.Nxf7 is
sufficient. The finish was brief
30.Ng5+ Kg8 31.Rxh6
10
Adams Michael
Papaioannou Ioannis
B14 Istanbul 2000
1.e4 c6 2.c4 d5 3.exd5 Nf6 4.Nc3 cxd5
5.d4 e6 6.Nf3 Lb4 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qc2
Nc6 9.Le2 00 10.00 Nce7 11.Ld3 h6
12.Ne4 b6 13.Ne5 Lb7 14.Qe2 Nf5
15.a3 Le7 16.Ng3 Nxg3 17.hxg3 Nf6
18.Le3 Qd5 19.f3 Qd6 20.Rad1 Rad8
21.Lb1 Qc7 22.g4 Rfe8 23.Lf2 Ld6
24.Rc1 Qe7 25.Lh4 Lb8 26.Qf2 Qd6
27.Rcd1 Rc8 28.g5 hxg5 29.Lxg5 Nh7
White decided to trade off his 'pride' in order
to further weaken the f6-square:
30.Lxh7+!? Kxh7 31.Qh4+ Kg8 32.Qh5
Rf8? (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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Black missed White's next. 32...Qf8!
33.Nd7 Qd6 34.Nf6+ gxf6 35.Lxf6
Qh2+ 36.Qxh2 Lxh2+ 37.Kxh2 Rc2 .
33.Lf6!
And as there is no defence to 34.Qg5
(33...gxf6 34.Qg4+ Kh8 35.Kf2 Rc2+
36.Ke3 and Rh1) Black resigned.
10
Zvjaginsev Vadim
Pelletier Yannick
B28 Panormo 2001
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.Nf3 e6 4.e4 Nc6
5.Le2 a6 6.00 d6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Le7
9.Qd3 00 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Qg3 Nd7
12.Lh6 Lf6 13.Rad1 Qc7 14.Rd2 Kh8
15.Lg5 Le5 16.f4 Lxc3 17.Qxc3 f6
18.Lh4 Nc5 19.Qd4 Nb7 20.e5 dxe5
21.fxe5 c5 22.Qe3 f5 23.Rfd1 a5 24.a4
Ra6 25.Rd3 Rb6 26.b3 Kg8 27.Lh5
Rb4 28.Qf4 Qb6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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Here the black f-pawn is already on f5, but
29.Lf6! Qc7
Black cannot accept the sac: 29...gxf6
30.Rg3+ Kh8 31.Qh6 +.
30.Qg3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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No defence on White's main threat 31.Rd7!.
10
139
24.Lxe8 Rxe8 25.Re1 .
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21.Ng4!
Now White will have big material gains.
21...f5 22.Nf6+ Kh8 23.Rxe6! Qf7
24.Nxe8 Rxe8 25.Rae1
25.Rxe8+! Qxe8 26.Qf6+ Kg8 27.Ld5+
was simpler.
25...Rg8 26.Lxc6
10
The next two games were both lost by the
same player; the strong Greek GM Ioannis
Papaioannou. Well, this is rather strange, as
this player is well-known for his extra sensitivity of danger. But still he missed our
theme and got punished in really no time! As
we say in my country: it can happen even to
the best families
Grivas Efstratios
Papaioannou Ioannis
E06 Volos 1996
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Lg2 Le7
5.00 00 6.c4 c6 7.Nbd2 b5 8.cxb5 cxb5
9.Nb3 a5 10.Lf4 Na6 11.Ne5 Lb7
12.Rc1 Qb6 13.Lg5 Rfd8 14.e3 h6
15.Lxf6 Lxf6 16.f4 b4 17.Qh5 Lxe5
18.fxe5 Rf8 19.Rf4 a4 20.Nd2 b3 21.a3
Qd8 22.Rcf1 Qg5 23.Qf3 Qe7 (D)
(see next diagram)
24.Rf6!
White has transferred his forces to the kingside, where Black lacks adequate defence.
XABCDEFGHY
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The black pieces were tied up with the protection of the queenside, where they managed to defend successfully, but are now far
from the main theatre of action! With his last
move White immobilizes the black f-pawn
that, with its freeing advance, would allow
Black drawing chances and simultaneously
cuts the black queen off its defensive duties.
24...Nc7
24...gxf6? 25.exf6 Qd6 26.Qg4+ Kh8
27.Qg7 #.
25.Qg4 La6 26.R1f4
Also good seems 26.Rxh6 Lxf1 27.Lxf1
Rac8 28.Ld3 f5 29.Qg6 , but White did
not wanted to 'break' the immobilization!
26...Kh7 27.Qh4! Qd8 28.Nf3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-tr-+(
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Now that almost all white pieces are participating in the attack, the black king's fortress
will soon collapse. But it seems that
138
43...Lf1 44.Lf3 ; 43...Lg2 44.Le2 gxh4

(44...Kc6 45.hxg5 hxg5 46.f3 Lh3 47.g4 f5
48.gxf5 Lxf5 49.Ke5) 45.gxh4 Kc6 46.
Ke3 Lh3 47.Kf4 Ld7 48.b4 .
44.Lf7 Lc6 45.f4 gxh4 46.gxh4 Lb7
47.Lh5 Lc6
47...Lc8? 48.Le8 La6 49.b4 +.
48.Lf3 La8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8l+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-mk-zp-zp&
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1+-+-+-+-!
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An ideal moment; the final one. Therefore:
49.c4 dxc4?
Success! After 49...bxc4 50.bxc4 Lc6
51.Lxd5 Le8 52.c5+ Kc7 Black would
easily survive - no pentration for White.
50.Lxa8 cxb3 51.Le4 b2 52.h5 b4 53.Kc4
10
Kochyev Alexander
Leningrad 1976
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-zpp'
6-+-vlpzp-+&
5zp-+k+-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-+KvL-+-#
2-zP-+-zPPzP"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
When there is only one weakness on the

board, the defence is simple. Even though
the attacker manages to block and fix the
weakness, that will not be enough if he cant
manage to create at least one more weakness. The only thing that the defender needs
to know is Capablanca's rule - the placement
of the pawns on the squares of the opposite
colour to his bishop!
1.b3!
Everything is simple: put the pawns on b3
and h3, play the move g4 and ... draw.
1...g5 2.h3 h5 3.g4! hxg4 4.hxg4 Lc7 5.f3
Lb6 6.Ld2
Flohr Salo
Moscow 1935
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-mk-+(
7+p+-+pzpp'
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5+-+p+-+-%
4-+-sN-+-+$
3+-+-zP-+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1+-mK-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
Finally, lets examine an interesting ending
where an isolated pawn is being defended by
a passive bishop and attacked by a strong
knight. Is this advantage enough for a win?
Jose Raul Capablanca answered the question
with an exemplary defence against Salo
Flohr in Moscow's first big tournament.
23...Ke7
On the board we see a position where White
has achieved everything that he could. The
knight on d4 is eternal and very strong,
while Black's bishop is modest and has only
one but a very important assignment. It is
clear that White requires one more thing: he
can attack the d5-pawn with his king on d4
and with his knight but Black is able to de79
fend it twice. White needs to create at least

one more weakness, a hole in the position,
which would allow White's king to penetrate
Black's camp. Everything was quickly clear
to Capablanca: the king on d6, the pawns on
dark-squares (! - the rule) and the bishop
needs to be positioned so that it prevents
White's king from penetrating.
24.Kd2 Kd6 25.Kc3 b6 26.f4 Ld7 27.Nf3
f6 28.Kd4 a5 29.Nd2 Lc8 30.Nb1 Le6
31.Nc3 Kc6 32.a3 h6 33.g3 h5?
Did a beautiful Russian woman just walk
into the playing hall? It is clear that the great
Cuban lost his concentration for a minute
and this small mistake could easily turn into
a big one.
34.b4 axb4 35.axb4 Kd6 36.b5 g6
Or 36...Lf7?! 37.f5! Lg8 38.Ne2 Lf7 39.
Nf4, with advantage for White.
37.Na4 Kc7 38.Nc3 Kd6 39.f5! gxf5
39...Lxf5 40.Nxd5 Ld7 41.Nxf6 Lxb5
42.Nd5.
40.Ne2 Ld7?!
40...Lg8! 41.Nf4 Lf7 42.h3 Le8.
41.Nf4 Le8 42.Nxd5 Lxb5 43.Nxb6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-sN-mk-zp-+&
5+l+-+p+p%
4-+-mK-+-+$
3+-+-zP-zP-#
2-+-+-+-zP"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
43...Lc6!
Black must not let the knight move to f4,
which is the only winning plan for White.
44.Nc4+ Ke6 45.Nb2 Lb5! 46.Nd1 Le2
47.Nf2 Lf1! 48.Nd3 Lxd3
The pawn ending is a draw.
49.Kxd3 Ke5 50.Ke2 Ke4 51.h3 Kd5
52.Kf3 Ke5
Belavenets Sergey Vesevolodovi

Rauzer Vsevolod
Moscow 1937
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
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4-+-+-+-+$
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1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
We already know everything: White is better
but he needs something more if he is to win.
Black must move his king into the centre as
soon as possible and place his pawns on the
dark squares...
1.Kf1 Kf8
It would be better to take the route ...Kg7f6-e5.
2.f3
2.Ke2? d4!.
2...Ke7 3.Ke2 Ke6 4.Kd3 Ke5 5.f4+
Ke6 6.Kd4 Kd6
White has gained even more space, but he
will not convert it into anything without an
additional weakness.
7.b4 Ke6 8.b5
This plan helped White to strengthen his
position on the queenside, but the knight will
eventually have to move to the other flank
and then the pawns on the light squares
could become targets.
8...Lb7 9.Na2 Kd6 10.Nb4 Ke6
According to Capablanca's rule 10...f6!
would be better.
11.g4!
The transposition to a pawn ending would
not lead to success: 11.Nc6 Lxc6 12.bxc6
Kd6 13.c7 Kxc7 14.Kxd5 f5! =.
11...f5
Black is too late and in big trouble: 11...h6?
12.Nc6! Lxc6 13.bxc6 Kd6 14.c7 Kxc7
15.Kxd5 Kd7 16.e4 Kc7 17.e5 Kd7 18.f5
80
21.Rxe4!
The first sacrifice which aims in further
weakening the f6-square!
21...dxe4 22.Lf6!
In accordance with the previous move...
22...Qb6
A forced move: 22...gxf6? 23.Qg4+ Kh8
24.Qg7 # ; 22...g6? 23.Nh6 #.
23.Lxg7 Rfe8 24.Le5 Qg6 25.Nh6+
Kf8 26.f5
Black resigns: 26...Qg5 27.Nxf7! Kxf7
28.Qxh7+ Kf8 29.Ld6+ Re7 30.f6
Lxd4+ 31.Kh1 Lxf6 32.Lxe7+ + ;
26...Qc6 27.Qh5 Qc4 28.Ld6+ Re7
29.Rd1! f6 30.Ng4 +.
10
Spassky Boris
Korensky Valeri
B65 Sochi 1973
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 d6 6.Lg5 e6 7.Qd2 Le7 8.000
Nxd4 9.Qxd4 00 10.f4 Qa5 11.Lc4
Ld7 12.e5 dxe5 13.fxe5 Lc6 14.h4 Lc5
15.Qf4 Nd5 16.Lxd5 Lxd5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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6-+-+p+-+&
5wq-vllzP-vL-%
4-+-+-wQ-zP$
3+-sN-+-+-#
2PzPP+-+P+"
1+-mKR+-+R!
xabcdefghy
17.Lf6! Rfc8
On 17...gxf6 18.Rh3! Rfc8 19.Qh6 wins.
18.Lxg7!
Stripping the black king!
18...Kxg7 19.Qf6+ Kf8 20.Rhf1 Rc7
Or 20...Qc7 21.Rxd5! Le3+ 22.Kb1 exd5
23.Qh8+ Ke7 24.Nxd5+ +.
21.Nxd5 exd5 22.e6! Qxa2
The main alternative was 22...Le3+
23.Kb1 Qc5 24.c4!! d4 25.e7+ Kg8

(25...Ke8 26.Qxf7+ Kd7 27.e8Q+ Kd6
28.Rf6 #) 26.Qxf7+ Kh8 27.Qf6+ Kg8
28.Qe6+ Kh8 29.Rf7 +.
23.e7+! Kg8
23...Rxe7 24.Qh8 #.
24.Qxf7+ Kh8 25.e8Q+ Rxe8 26.Qxe8+
Kg7 27.Qe5+ Kg8 28.Qg5+
10
Grivas Efstratios
Zamit Spyridon
C00 Athens 1981
1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.Ngf3 Le7
5.g3 00 6.Lg2 c5 7.00 Nc6 8.Re1 Re8
9.e5 Nd7 10.Nf1 b5 11.h4 Lb7 12.Lg5
d4 13.Qc1 Nb6 14.N1d2 Nd5 15.Ne4
Lxg5 16.hxg5 Qe7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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6-+n+p+-+&
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4-+-zpN+-+$
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1tR-wQ-tR-mK-!
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White stands better but far from winning - or
not so?
17.Nf6+! Nxf6
After 17...gxf6?! 18.gxf6 Qf8 19.Qg5+
Kh8 20.Qh5 White can calmly continue
with Re4-h4 and Ng5, with a winning attack.
18.gxf6 gxf6 19.Qh6! fxe5
The other option was 19...Qf8 when White
has a choice in-between 20.Qxf8+ Rxf8
21.exf6 Rab8 22.a3 h6 23.Nd2 and
20.Qxf6 Nb4 21.Ng5 Ld5 22.Le4 .
20.Nxe5 Rac8? (D)
A blunder in a difficult position. Black
should continue the fight with 20...Nxe5!
21.Rxe5 f6! 22.Lxb7 Rab8! 23.Lc6 fxe5
137
27.Nf6+!
Here it comes again!
27...Kf8
27...gxf6 28.Qh6 mates.
28.Qxh7 gxf6 29.Re1!
The last and very important detail, which is
usually forgotten or ignored! White cuts the
escape road of the black king and mate is
following.
10
Botvinnik Mikhail
Uhlmann Wolfgang
C00 Moscow 1956
1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.Ngf3 c5 5.g3
Nc6 6.Lg2 Le7 7.00 00 8.Re1 Rb8
9.e5 Nd7 10.Nf1 b5 11.h4 La6 12.
N1h2 b4 13.Lf4 Lb5 14.Lh3 c4 15.d4
Qb6 16.Le3 Rfc8 17.Ng5 Nf8 18.f4
Nd8 19.f5 exf5 20.Lxf5 Nde6 21.Qf3
Nxg5 22.hxg5 Rd8 23.Ng4 Ng6 24.Kg2
Ld7 25.Lxd7 Rxd7 26.Rh1 Qe6
27.Rh5 Rb6 28.Rah1 Nf8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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1+-+-+-+R!
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29.Nf6+!
And not the naive 29.Nh6+? gxh6 30.Rxh6
Ng6 31.Rxh7 Lf8 32.Qf6! Qxf6 33.gxf6
Ra6 .
29...gxf6 30.gxf6 Lxf6
Again forced: 30...Ld8?! 31.Lh6! Lxf6
32.exf6 Qxf6 33.Qg4+ +.
31.exf6 Qe4?!
A better defensive try was to be found on
31...Qxf6 32.Rg5+! (32.Qg4+ Qg7!
[32...Ng6? 33.Qxd7 + ; 32...Kh8?
33.Rg5 Ng6 34.Qxd7 +] 33.Qxg7+
Kxg7 34.Lh6+ Kg8 35.Lxf8 Kxf8

36.Rxh7 =) 32...Ng6 (32...Kh8? 33.Qg4
+) 33.Qh5 Re6 34.Qxh7+ Kf8 35.Rf1
Qg7 36.Qh5 Kg8 37.Qf3 . Black
thought that by exchanging queens he would
be safe...
32.Qxe4 dxe4 33.Rg5+! Ng6
Or 33...Kh8 34.d5 Rb5 35.Rh4 Rbxd5
36.Rxd5 Rxd5 37.Rxe4 +.
34.Rc5 Rxf6
34...c3? 35.Rc8+ +.
35.Rc8+ Nf8
Nice is 35...Kg7? 36.Lh6 #.
36.Rh4!
The greedy 36.Lh6? would only help
Black: 36...Rxh6! 37.Rxh6 Rxd4 .
Now White's position is near to winning.
36...Kg7 37.Rxe4 Ra6 38.Rxc4 Rb7
38...Rxa2 39.Rxb4 +.
39.d5 Rxa2 40.Rxb4 Rxb2? 41.Ld4+
10
Tal Mikhail
Najdorf Miguel
B42 Leipzig 1960
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 e6 6.Le3 a6 7.f4 b5 8.Qf3 Lb7
9.Ld3 Nbd7 10.00 Le7 11.a3 00
12.Qh3 Qc7 13.Rae1 Nc5 14.Lf2 d5
15.exd5 Nxd3 16.cxd3 Lxd5 17.Nxd5
exd5 18.Nf5 Lc5 19.d4 La7 20.Lh4
Ne4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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When the great Tal was on the attack something nice was on the cards...
136
gxf5 19.gxf5 Kc7 20.e6 f6 21.h3 h5 22.h4

a6 23.a4 a5 24.Kc4 Kc6 25.e7 +.
12.g5 Kd6 13.h3!
The precise calculation of tempi was needed.
After 13.h4?! Ke6 14.Na2 Kd6 15.Nc3
Ke6 16.Ne2 Lc8 17.Ng3 Ld7 18.a4 Le8,
Black would prevent h5.
13...Ke6 14.Na2 Kd6 15.Nc3 Ke6 16.h4
Kd6 17.Ne2 Lc8?
An opportunity for counterplay was hidden at
this moment: 17...a6! 18.Nc3 (18.a4 a5) 18...
axb5 19.Nxb5+ Kc6! 20.Nc3 Kd6 21.Na4
Kc6 22.Ke5 Kb5 23.Nb2 Kc5 24.Kf6 d4
25.exd4+ Kxd4 26.Kg7 Ke4 27.Kxh7
Kxf4 28.Kxg6 Kg4 29.h5 f4 30.h6 Le4+
31.Kf6 Kh5, with good drawing chances.
18.Ng3 Ld7 19.a4 Ke6 20.h5! Le8
20...gxh5 21.Nxh5 Lc8 22.Kc3! Kf7
23.Kd3 Ke7 24.Nf6 +.
21.h6 Kd6 22.Ne2
Black decided to shorten his suffering, as the
possible continuation: 22...Ld7 23.Nc3
Le6 24.Na2 Lf7 (24...Lc8 25.Nb4 Lb7
26.Nd3 Lc8 27.Ne5) 25.Nb4 Le6 26.
Nc6 a5 27.bxa6! Kxc6 28.a7 Kb7 29.Ke5
Ld7 30.Kf6 Lxa4 31.Kg7 b5 32.Kxh7 b4
33.Kxg6 b3 34.h7 Le8+ 35.Kf6 b2 36.
h8Q b1Q 37.a8Q+ + says enough.
10
Chloupek Stanislav
Stohl Igor
Prague 1992
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-trk+(
7+-+-+pzpp'
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4-+-zP-+-+$
3zPP+-+-zP-#
2-vL-+-zP-zP"
1+-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
If you closely examined the last two examFIDE TRG Yearbook 2011
ples, then Black's correct play in this game

will be perfectly clear to you.
30...Rb8!!
Black decided not to move his rook to the
only open file because White would offer
him the exchange of rooks with Rc1. The
Slovak Grandmaster knew old endings and
the rule that says that he cannot win the
game with just one weakness in the position,
despite the dominant knight. Therefore, he
decided to exploit the coordination between
his rook and knight in a different way. This
way he is not risking anything: Black's king
needs to move to d7 and White's rook cannot
penetrate anywhere.
31.Rc1 Kf8 32.Kf1 Ke8 33.Ke2 Kd7
34.Kd3
White could choose 34.h4, but after 34...h5
his pawns would stay on the dark squares.
Blacks plan would be clear and simple:
...f6, ...Rg8 and ...g5, after which he would
create either a passed pawn or a white weakness on h4 (after ...gxh4-gxh4).
34...g5! 35.f3
In similar positions, it is difficult for the
defender to evaluate what is better: f3 or h3.
35...h5 36.Rc2 g4!
We already know the principle: we need to
fix the pawns on the squares of the opposite
colour to our bishop.
37.Rf2 f5 38.Lc1 b5!
It is time for action on the queenside - another weakness needs to be created.
39.fxg4
Or 39.h3 h4! 40.fxg4 hxg3 41.Rf3 f4
42.Lxf4 Nxf4+ 43.Rxf4 g2 +.
39...hxg4 40.Lf4 Rc8 41.Ld2 a4 42.bxa4
bxa4 43.Lb4 Rc1 44.Rb2 Nf6!
Black's knight did its job on d5 and now it is
moving to a better square.
45.Lc5 Ne4 46.Rb7+ Kc6 47.Rb6+ Kc7
48.Rxe6
After 48.Rb2 Rc3+ 49.Ke2 Kc6 and
...Kd5, White would be helpless.
48...Rxc5 49.dxc5 Nxc5+ 50.Kd4 Nxe6+
51.Ke5 Kd7 52.Kxf5 Nd4+ 53.Kxg4
Nb5 54.Kf4 Nxa3 55.Ke4 Nc4 56.Kd3
a3
A model game of positional exploitation.
01
81
Queen Power or Power of the Masses?

Jeroen Bosch
Concept
Vladimir Potkin was the deserving winner
of the 2011 European Individual Championship in Aix-les-Bains. To gain such a victory, all games are important, but perhaps
some are more important than others. In the
penultimate round, Potkin won a nice game
against the strong Georgian Grandmaster
Baadur Jobava. This win may possibly be
explained by the reverence that we all (and
even such a strong GM as Jobava) hold for
the game's most powerful piece.
Jobava Baadur
Potkin Vladimir
Aix-les-Bains 2011
XABCDEFGHY
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16.Rd6
Setting up the threat of Nd5, but as Potkin
explains in his notes for NIC Magazine
3/2011 Black can afford to ignore the threat:
16...00 17.Nd5
As he can profitably sacrifice his strongest
piece!
17...cxd5! 18.Rxb6 axb6
Black only has a rook and a knight for the
queen, but to compensate for the material
imbalance, he has the open a- and c-file as
well as strong central pressure. The white
king clearly isn't all that safe on the queenFIDE TRG Yearbook 2011
side. Potkin supposes that White's biggest

problem is actually his darksquared bishop,
which is totally offside. This is spot on, and
the engines now want to play 19.Le7, although they are quite clear about Black's
advantage.
19.a3 dxe4! 20.axb4 exf3 21.bxc5
21.Lxf3? Lxf3 22.gxf3 (22.bxc5 Lh5 and
the bishop moves to g6 with deadly effect)
22...Nd4 23.Qc3 Ncb3 is a relevant line
that, were it not for the immediate threat of
mate, would demonstrate Black's compensation in full (White's king is vulnerable, the
queen is powerless, the bishop is offside,
Black's knights hold good squares and the
rooks have open files).
21...fxe2 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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Now Black has a dangerous passed pawn to
boot.
22.c6 Nd4 23.Qd3
23.cxb7 Ra1+ 24.Kxa1 Nxc2+ 25.Kb1
e1Q+ 26.Rxe1 Nxe1 27.Lg3! Nxg2 28.
Kc2 f5 29.b8Q Rxb8 30.Lxb8 Kf7 is a
long line by Potkin; Black wins the ending
since his king will reach d5, when his activity, combined with his material advantage
will suffice.
23...Nxc6 24.f3
Black wins in a direct attack on the king
82
) 26.Qxg7+! (26.Qxd4? f6! [26...Kg8

27.Qxg7+ Kxg7 28.Lh4+ Kh6 29.Lg5+
=] 27.Qxf6 Kg8!! [27...Lf3? 28.Kd2
Qa2+ 29.Ke3! Lxd1 30.Rxd1 Rag8
31.Le5 f4+ 32.Kf3 Qxa3 33.Qxg7+
Rxg7 34.Rd8+ Qf8 35.Rxf8 #] 28.Ke2
Qb2+ 29.Ke3 Qc1+ ) 26...Kxg7
27.Lh4+ Kh6! [27...Kf8? 28.e7+ Ke8
29.Rg8+ Kd7 30.Rd8+ +] 28.Lg5+!
Kg7 29.Lh4+ =.
22.Qxe4 fxe4 (D)
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23.Lh4!
'The winning move, probably overlooked by
Black when he played 21...Qe4' A.Alekhine. And so White went on to win
later, although we must admit that Black did
not put-up his best defensive skills, making
things easier for his opponent. Yes, even at
the highest level weak moves are lurking
everywhere and obviously it is not an easy
job to avoid them
23...h6 24.000 Rae8 25.Lf6+ Kh7 26.f4
exf3 27.Lxf3 Na5 28.Lxb7 Nxb7
29.Rd7 Nc5 30.Rxf7+ Kg6 31.Rxc7
Nd3+ 32.Kb1 Kf5 33.Rd1 Nxe5 34.
Rf1+ Ke4 35.Rxa7 Nc4 36.Rd7 Ke3
37.Re1+ Kf3 38.Rxe8 Rxe8 39.Rd4
Ne3 40.Rh4
10
Duz-Khotimirsky Fedor Ivanovich
Bannik Anatoly
A14 Vilnius 1949
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.b3 Nf6 4.g3 Le7
5.Lg2 c5 6.Lb2 00 7.00 Nc6 8.d3 Qc7

9.Na3 b6 10.Nc2 Lb7 11.cxd5 Nxd5
12.d4 Rfd8 13.e4 Nf6 14.Qe2 Rac8
15.Rac1 Qb8 16.Rcd1 Qa8 17.d5 exd5
18.exd5 Nxd5 19.Nh4 Lf6 20.Lxd5
Lxb2 21.Ne3 Lf6 22.Qh5 Ne5 23.f4
Ng6 24.Nhf5 Lxd5 25.Nxd5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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7zp-+-+pzpp'
6-zp-+-vln+&
5+-zpN+N+Q%
4-+-+-zP-+$
3+P+-+-zP-#
2P+-+-+-zP"
1+-+R+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
25...Ld4+?
Black thought that he was winning with the
text move. He should have gone for
25...Rc6 26.Qf3 Re6 27.Rd2 Rde8
28.Rfd1 .
26.Rxd4!
Of course! Black had only calculate 26.
Nxd4? Rxd5 27.Nf5 Rcd8 .
26...cxd4 (D)
Forced: 26...Rxd5 27.Rxd5 Qxd5 28.
Nh6+.
XABCDEFGHY
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135
Lb7 9.c3 Nf6 10.N2g3 00 11.g5 Nxe4

12.Nxe4 Kh8 13.Qh5 Qe8 (D)
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14.Nf6!
'A correct offer of a pawn, securing for
White a strong and most likely irresistible
offensive' - A.Alekhine.
14...Lxf6
If Black accepts the sac with 14...gxf6?! then
after 15.gxf6 Na5 (15...Lxf6 16.Le4 +)
16.Lxb7 (16.fxe7 Qxe7 17.Lxb7 Nxb7
18.Lg5 f6 19.Lh6 Rg8 20.000 Nd6
21.Rhe1 ) 16...Nxb7 17.fxe7 Qxe7
18.Lf4 (18.Lg5 f6 19.Lh6 Rg8 20.000
Nd6 21.Rhe1 ) 18...Rg8 19.000
White gets a better position in every variation.
15.gxf6 gxf6 16.Qh4 Qd8
Forced. If 16...Qe7? then 17.Le4 wins.
17.Lf4! e5
Maybe Black should think of 17...f5!?
18.Qxd8 Raxd8 19.Lxc7 Rd7 although
after 20.Lg3! (20.Lf4?! f6 [20...Na5
21.Lxb7 Nxb7 22.Rg1 ] 21.Rd1 [21.0
00? Nxd4!] 21...Rg8 22.Lf3 Ne7 =)
20...f6 21.000 White stands better. It must
be noted that bad is 17...Rb8? 18.Lxc7!
Qxc7 19.Qxf6+ Kg8 20.Lxc6 Rfd8
21.Qh6 +. The weak black king allows all
kind of tactical continuations, which help
White to get an advantage - something has
already went wrong for Black...
18.Lg3 f5
It seems that 18...exd4! is playable: 19.00
0 f5 20.Qh6 f6 21.Rhg1 Rf7 22.cxd4 Na5
23.d5 Nc4 24.Kb1 .

19.dxe5 (D)
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19...Rg8?!
Black should have gone 19...f6! 20.Qh3!
(20.e6 Re8) 20...Nxe5!! 21.Lxb7 Qd3!
22.Qf1 (22.Lxa8? Nf3+ 23.Lxf3 Re8+
+) 22...Nf3+ 23.Lxf3 Qxf3 24.Kd2
Rad8+ 25.Kc2 f4 26.Re1 fxg3 27.fxg3 .
20.Lf3?
White should have played 20.Qf4! Rg6
21.Rg1 Qd3 22.Qd2 .
20...Qd3!
'An ingenious resource; but, as the following
shows, Black, in adopting it, did not actually
realise how many interesting possibilities it
opened to him' - A.Alekhine.
21.Le2
White should be careful now: 21.Lxc6?
La6! (21...Lxc6? 22.Qf6+ Rg7 23.Qxc6)
22.Qh5 Rg4 +.
21...Qe4?
'Leading to a lost endgame. From an objective point of view it is certainly a pity that
Black avoids the fantastical complications
deriving from 21...Qc2!, a move which with
the right continuation would have secured
him a draw' - A.Alekhine: 22.Qf6+ Rg7
23.Rg1! (23.e6? Re8! 24.Rg1! La6!!
[24...Rxe6 25.Le5! +] 25.Lxa6 Qxb2!!
[25...Rxe6+ 26.Le5!! Qe4+! 27.Kf1
Qxe5! 28.Qxg7+ Qxg7 29.Rxg7 Kxg7 ]
26.Rd1 Rxe6+ 27.Le5 Qxc3+ +)
23...Qxb2 24.e6!! Qxa1+ 25.Ld1 Nd4!
(25...Rd8? 26.Ld6! + ; 25...Qb1? 26.f3!!
134
after 24.Qxe2 Ra4! (gaining a tempo) 25.

Lg3 Rfa8 26.Rd1 Nb4 or 24.Lg3 Rfe8
25.Re1 Nb4 +.
24...Ra4 25.Qd7
25.Qxe2 Rxh4 26.Qxb5 Rb4 and rook,
bishop and knight will outgun the queen.
25...Rxh4 26.Qxb7 Rd4!
And now the passed pawn decides, as there
is no good defence to ...Rd1 next move.
01
If it was already difficult for Jobava in the
above example to perceive that winning the
queen was in fact a Pyrrhic victory, then we
can certainly understand that White missed
the unpinning manoeuvre in the next game:
Bologan Viktor
Piket Jeroen
Biel 1999
XABCDEFGHY
8ltr-wqr+k+(
7+-zp-+pzp-'
6-vl-zp-sn-zp&
5zp-+-+-+-%
4P+psNPzP-vL$
3+-zP-tR-+-#
2-zPQsN-+PzP"
1tR-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
1...Nd5!
Black would actually be in trouble if it were
not for this sacrifice. Piket has made the
brilliant assessment that rook and piece are
ample compensation for the queen here.
1...Qe7 2.Rae1 would favour White, and
the same holds true for 1...Qd7 2.Lxf6.
2.Lxd8
No better is 2.Rh3 Nb4 .
2...Nxe3 3.Qb1 Rbxd8
All of Black's pieces are well placed,
whereas White's heavy pieces are lost in the
corner. White's king is vulnerable as well.
Bologan now prevents the knight from escaping by means of
4.h3
After 4.Kf2 Ng4+ 5.Kg3 (or 5.Kg1 Nf6
[rather than repeat moves with 5...Ne3]
Black gains good chances with 5...Nf6.
4...f5!
Brute force! Black is opening up the long
diagonal. If Black thinks he can play more
quietly with the mysterious 4...Rb8, with
the concrete threat of taking on d4 followed
by ...c3, then he is mistaken: 5.f5!? and now,
following 5...Lxd4 6.cxd4 c3, White has
7.Qd3 cxd2 8.Qxe3 Rxb2 9.Rd1 Rxe4
10.Qc3 Re1+ 11.Rxe1 dxe1Q+ 12.Qxe1
Rxg2+ 13.Kf1 Lc6 14.Qxa5 and suddenly we are in a situation where the queen
is at its best. There are pawns on both wings.
Her majesty can move back and forth very
quickly, while the pieces have no strongholds at present.
5.Qa2
What else? Bologan is trying to get his
queen into play. 5.exf5 Nxg2 6.Nxc4
Lxd4+ 7.cxd4 Nxf4 with excellent attacking chances for Black.
5...Lxe4 6.Nxc4
Nor can White solve his problems with
6.Nxe4 for after 6...Rxe4 7.Re1 Rde8
(7...d5) 8.Rxe3! Rxe3 9.Qxc4+ Kh8 (9...
Kf8 is perhaps even stronger) as Black is
still better with two rooks already for the
queen.
6...Ld5 7.b3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-trr+k+(
7+-zp-+-zp-'
6-vl-zp-+-zp&
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4P+NsN-zP-+$
3+PzP-sn-+P#
2Q+-+-+P+"
1tR-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Piket now decides the game with a direct
attack on the king.
83
7...Lxd4! 8.cxd4 Nxg2 9.Qf2 Re6! +

Preparing a switch to g6, as well as doubling
rooks on the e-file. Bologan now takes a
worthless pawn, but his position was hopeless anyway.
10.Nxa5 Rde8!
Piket is playing with all his pieces.
11.Nc4 Rg6 12.Kh2 Nxf4! 13.Rg1
13.Qxf4 Re2+.
13...Rxg1
And White resigned.
01
As should be obvious by now, we are
studying complex examples where one side
has positional compensation for the loss of
the queen (or in some cases insufficient
compensation).
We are not concerned with combinations
where the sacrifice of the queen leads to,
say, direct material gain, or a mating attack.
Before we continue, we have to establish
what would roughly be the material equivalent of a queen. Normally speaking, rook
and minor piece cannot withstand a queen
(note, though, that this was the material discrepancy in Bologan-Piket).
When the weaker side has an additional
pawn, he should often be able to draw; another pawn should give winning chances.
I will not concern myself with queen versus two rooks. As is well-known, two rooks
are normally stronger (but it depends on the
number of open files and whether the rooks
are coordinated or not).
When it comes to queen versus minor
pieces, then generally one requires three
minor pieces to fully compensate for a queen
(in such cases well-coordinated pieces offer
good winning chances).
Having more pieces generally means that
one can attack a target more often than a
sole queen can defend it.
The pieces do require coordination and
strongholds, while a queen may be very agile, and can quickly switch between attacking one weakness and another.
All these observations are rules of thumb
only. Clearly, strategical considerations or
compensating factors may tilt the balance
towards one side or the other.
Schut Lisa
David Alberto
Bethune 2010
Blocking the f6-square

Efstratios Grivas
XABCDEFGHY
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6pzp-zpp+-+&
5+-+-+-zP-%
4Pwq-+PzP-+$
3tR-sN-vL-+-#
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1+-+-+-wQK!
xabcdefghy
22...Qxb2
The strongest continuation. David sacrifices
his queen for sufficient material. Another
useful feature of queen sacrifices is that they
always unbalance the game. Quite playable
for Black is 22...Qa5 23.Rb3!?. However,
22...Nc5 23.Rd4 Qxb2 24.Lc1 Qxc2
25.Rd2 + is wrong.
23.Rb3 Qxb3 24.cxb3 Rxc3 25.Ld4
25.Rb2.
25...Rxb3
Rook, knight and two pawns are more than
enough. Black has excellent winning
chances.
26.Qa1?! e5! 27.Qa2?!
Black is also better after 27.Lxe5!? (27.
fxe5?! Lxg5!) 27...Nxe5 28.fxe5 Lxg5
(28...dxe5? 29.Rd7) 29.Rxd6.
27...Rb4 28.Lc3 Rc8!
David is demonstrating an excellent command of positions with unbalanced material.
29.Lxb4 Rc1+ 30.Lf1 Rxf1+ 31.Kg2
Rxf4
Black now has two minor pieces and three
pawns for the queen. He will win another
pawn soon. Also important is the excellent
coordination of Black's forces and the vulnerable position of Whites king.
32.Lxd6?!
32.Kg1 a5 (32...Lxe4?! 33.Qc4 and the
queen becomes active) 33.Lxd6 Lxg5 .
84
Concept
The blocking of the f6 (f3)-square in front
of the castled king with a piece (knight,
bishop or rook) which can be captured by
the opponent, is a usual tactical theme which
can often meet in practice.
The idea is rather simple: to immobilize
the opponents f-pawn (mainly), creating at
the same the best possibilities for an eventually successfully attack. The cost of a piece
is usually compensating by the activity of
the rest of his army, creating good chances
of combinations or lethal attacks.
The most famous example is probably the
following one:
Fischer Robert James
Benko Pal
B09 New York 1963
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Lg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 Nf6
5.Nf3 00 6.Ld3 Lg4 7.h3 Lxf3 8.Qxf3
Nc6 9.Le3 e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.f5 gxf5
12.Qxf5 Nd4 13.Qf2 Ne8 14.00 Nd6
15.Qg3 Kh8 16.Qg4 c6 17.Qh5 Qe8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+qtr-mk(
7zpp+-+pvlp'
6-+psn-+-+&
5+-+-zp-+Q%
4-+-snP+-+$
3+-sNLvL-+P#
2PzPP+-+P+"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
A famous position which can be found in
nearly every tactical theme chess book but
from the ...next move! Well, Fischer's combination actually started here.
18.Lxd4!
This 'un-natural' exchange opens the d3FIDE TRG Yearbook 2011
bishops way to h7.

18...exd4 19.Rf6! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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1tR-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Blocking the f-pawn's advance is the right
way to finish-off the job. Bad would be the
immediate 19.e5? due to 19...f5! and Black
has no problem!
19...Kg8
There is now way out: 19...dxc3 20.e5 + or
19...Lxf6 20.e5 +.
20.e5
And only now!
20...h6 21.Ne2!
And Black resigned as after 21...Lxf6
22.Qxh6 or 21...Nb5 22.Qf5 mate follows.
White rightly avoided the immediate 21.
Rxd6?! due to 21...Qxe5 22.Qxe5 Lxe5
23.Ne4 Lxd6 24.Nxd6 Rab8 25.g4 .
10
Of course this is supposed to be an easy
example, so lets try to investigate this attacking theme with the help of various other
examples, which are presented in chronological order (but for no particular reason!):
Alekhine Alexander
Euwe Max
C15 Utrecht 1935
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.Nge2 dxe4
5.a3 Le7 6.Nxe4 Nc6 7.g4 b6 8.Lg2
133
another way, but Black plays without any

risk, as befits good technique in a winning
position.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
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5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-zp-+-+$
3+-+R+-+-#
2PzPrvL-zPPzP"
1tR-+-+K+-!
xabcdefghy
31.Rxc1 Rxc1 32.Ke2 Rb1! 33.Rd3
Ke6 34.h4 Kd5 + 35.Ld2 Ke4 36.Rg3
f4 37.Rd3 Le5 38.f3+ Kd5 39.Le1 Ld6
40.Ld2
40.Lf2 Lc5 leaves White without good
moves.
40...g5 41.hxg5 hxg5 42.Le1 g4 43.fxg4
Ke4 44.g5 Ke5
01
Further Improvement
What is the right frame of mind to get into
before a chess game? I would say you need
to be cheerful, positive and optimistic and
your brain should be free of distraction.
The second item on the agenda might not
always be possible to achieve, but you
should strive hard for positivity. During the
game it is essential not to beat yourself up,
as this is a primary cause of meaningless and
very poor moves.
Even if you make a mistake, you have to
keep believing in your position and try to
make the best of it. After the game, learn all
the lessons you can from what has just happened and then move forward.
This is a simple enough philosophy, easy
to apply and will certainly lead to an improvement in your chess-playing strength.
The Trainers Site!
32...Lxe4+ 33.Kg1 Rg4+ 34.Kf1 Lxg5

35.h3 Rh4 36.Le7?
Black has to play more accurately after
36.Rf2 Ld3+ 37.Kg2 and now 37...Rc4!
(37...Lc4? 38.Rc2 ) 38.Qb3 e4.
36...Rf4+ 37.Kg1 Lxe7 38.Rxd7 Lc5+
The bishop pair and four pawns wins:
39.Kh2 h5 40.Rd8+ Kh7 41.Rd2 Rf1
42.Qc4 Rh1+ 43.Kg3 Rg1+ 44.Kh2 f5
45.Qf7 Rg6 46.h4 Lg1+ 47.Kh3 f4
48.Qf8 Rg3 #
01
This game may remind us of the classical
example Ilyin Zhenevsky-Lasker, Moscow
1925, where Lasker sacrificed his queen in a
typical Sicilian middlegame to unbalance the
game (he won easily, even though objectively White could have obtained some advantage). Interestingly, Kasparov (in My
Great Predecessors Volume I) observes that
properly speaking this is not really a sacrifice, but merely a form of exchange.
Although I do not want to give too many
classical examples (they may be found in
many books) another game from the second
World Champion surely deserves to be mentioned here. In Zurich 1934, the 65-year old
Lasker defeated Max Euwe one year before
the latter would become World Champion.
He did so in excellent style:
Euwe Max
Lasker Emanuel
Zurich 1934
XABCDEFGHY
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5+-+-zP-wq-%
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3+P+-+RsN-#
2-+-tr-zPP+"
1+-+-tRQmK-!
xabcdefghy
132
White threatens Ne4 or so it seems; Lasker

now played
1...Nc2!
When after
2.Ne4
He gave up his queen with
2...Qxe5! 3.Nf6+ Qxf6 4.Rxf6 Nxf6
4...Nxe1 5.Rf4 Rd1 was also good, when
Black will regain the queen and remain a
pawn up in the ending.
5.Rc1
Or 5.Re2 Rd1 6.Rxc2 Rxf1+ 7.Kxf1.
5...Ne4 6.Le2 Nd4
Such powerful knights. Euwe's queen is
clearly too passive. He now tries to activate
his strongest piece, but it is already too late.
7.Lf3 Nxf2 8.Qc4 Nd3! 9.Rf1 Ne5
10.Qb4 Nexf3+ 11.gxf3 Ne2+ 12.Kh2
Nf4+ 13.Kh1
13.Kg3 g5 +.
13...R2d4! 14.Qe7? Kg7!
Black now wins by a direct mating attack.
15.Qc7 R8d5 16.Re1 Rg5 17.Qxc6 Rd8
01
So far we have seen examples where the
pieces were well coordinated, even though
play was all over the board. In general, it is
more favourable for the pieces when the
position is more compact (in such cases the
long distance power of the queen is less
relevant).
Larsen Bent
Chandler Murray
Hastings 1987
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqr+k+(
7+psn-+-vlp'
6-+-+-+p+&
5+-+-zpp+-%
4-+Pzp-+-+$
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2-+-sNPzPLzP"
1tRR+-sN-mK-!
xabcdefghy
85
18.Ld5+
The simple 18.Qb3 can be met by 18...Rxa1
19.Rxa1 e4.
18...Kh8
18...Nxd5 19.Qxa8 Nc3 20.Rxb7! Nxe2+
21.Kf1 Lxb7 22.Qxb7 Nc3 23.Ra7 Qf6
24.c5 was indicated by Larsen. White is
much better due to his strong passed pawn
(and control of the seventh rank).
19.Qxa8! Nxa8 20.Rxa8 Lh6?!
20...Qe7 21.Lxb7! Le6 (21...Lxb7 22.
Rxb7! Qf8 23.Raa7) 22.Rxe8+ Qxe8
23.Ra1 Lf8 24.Ra8 Qe7 25.Ld5 and
White is better because the position is compact.
21.Ndf3 Qe7 22.Lxb7! Ld7
22...Lxb7? 23.Rxb7.
23.Rxe8+ Lxe8 24.Ld5 Qd6 25.Rb7
The immediate 25.h4 is also good, but Larsen presumably just wanted Black to play
25...g5.
25...g5 26.h4! gxh4
26...g4 27.Ng5 Lxg5 28.hxg5 h6 29.gxh6
Qxh6 30.Rb8 Qg6 31.Ng2 Kg7 32.Nh4
Qh5 33.Nxf5+ +.
27.Nxh4 Ld7 28.Nef3 f4
28...Le6 29.Lxe6 Qxe6 30.Rb8+ Kg7
31.Rb5 wins easily.
29.Le4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-mk(
7+R+l+-+p'
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5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+PzpLzp-sN$
3+-+P+NzP-#
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1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
White is attacking with all his pieces, while
Black has no real targets. Note that the
queen is merely a defender, not the role that
you would like this powerful piece to play.
29...fxg3 30.fxg3 Le3+ 31.Kg2 Lg4
32.Rxh7+ Kg8 33.Rb7

The rest is agony for Black:
33...Qa6? 34.Nxe5 Le6 35.Re7 Kf8
36.Nhg6+ Kg8 37.Rxe6 Qa2
Mate is now forced.
38.Re8+ Kg7 39.Re7+ Kh6 40.Ng4+
Kh5 41.Re5+ Lg5 42.Nf4+ Kxg4
43.Lf3 #
10
It is surely no coincidence that we may
find many more suitable examples of our
subject in Larsens practice. His combative
attitude induced him to look for opportunities to unbalance the game. I refer the eager
student to such games as Neikirch-Larsen,
Portoroz 1958 and Van den Berg-Larsen,
Beverwijk 1959.
In compact positions the side opposing the
queen will often be able to draw (despite his
material deficit) by means of a fortress.
Aiming for this can be a conscious defensive
strategy.
Khalifman Alexander
Karpov Anatoly
Dos Hermanas 1993
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7zpl+-wqpzpp'
6-zp-+p+-+&
5sn-+P+-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
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1+-+R+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
1...Rad8 2.e5!? Lxd5! 3.Lxh7+
The classical bishop sacrifice on h7 was the
point of Khalifman's set-up.
3...Kxh7 4.Rxd5
White has nothing to gain by changing the
move order: 4.Ng5+ Kg8 5.Qh4? (5.Rxd5
Rxd5 6.Qh4 Qxg5) 5...Le4! +.
4...Rxd5 5.Ng5+ Kg8 6.Qh4 Qxg5
86
ern style of all-round excellence. Opening

specialists are all too easy to pick off with
the advent of databases.
6.Ld3
The natural looking 6.c4 is inaccurate. After
6...Nb4 Black suddenly develops an initiative, threatening to take on d4 followed by
the check on c2. Therefore White must place
the knight on a3, after which Black easily
achieves comfortable play: 7.Le3 Lf5
8.Na3 (8.Nd3 e5! ) 8...Nd7 =. Besides
6.Ld3, other attempts to fight for the advantage are 6.Le2 and 6.Lc4.
6...Nd7
An economical idea where Black tries to
exchange White's strong knight.
7.Nxd7
Topalov is surprised and plays an insipid
move. But 5...c6 is a logical idea, developed
by Tony Miles. Black waits to see what
White is doing and then reacts with ...Lf5,
...Nd7 or ...g6 as appropriate. Meanwhile
...c6 is always useful.
7...Lxd7 8.00 g6 9.Nd2
Somewhat better is 9.Re1 Lg7 10.c3 00
11.Lg5 although Black hardly has any
opening problems.
9...Lg7 10.Nf3 00 11.Re1
More cautious is 11.h3 =.
11...Lg4! 12.c3 c5! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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2PzP-+-zPPzP"
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xabcdefghy
Black strikes at the centre with a combination in mind.
13.Le4
The real point is shown after 13.dxc5 Nxc3!
14.bxc3 Lxc3 White's pieces hang, although he can keep fighting with best play:
15.Lh6 Lxe1 (15...Re8? 16.Re3 + ;
15...Lxa1? 16.Qxa1 +) 16.Qxe1 Qxd3
17.Ne5 (17.Qe5? f6 18.Qxe7 Rf7)
17...Qd4 18.c6 (18.Lxf8 Kxf8 19.Nxg4
Qxg4 )
Qf6
18...bxc6
19.Nxc6
20.Nxe7+ Kh8 21.Nd5 Qd4 22.Lxf8
Rxf8 23.Ne3 Le6 24.Rd1 Qe5 25.Qb4
Kg7 26.Qe7 a5 27.h3 Rb8 and Black is
only slightly better in the final position. I get
the impression Topalov was quite shocked
by the ease with which Black equalized using the 'inferior' 'Alekhine's Defence'.
13...cxd4 14.cxd4 e6
Everything is under control and White's
weak pawn on d4 is nothing to write home
about.
15.Qb3?!
After 15.h3 Lxf3 16.Lxf3 Qb6 17.Lxd5
exd5 18.Le3 the position is utterly miserable for White. I think best now is
18...Rfe8! (18...Qxb2 19.Qd3! Qb6
20.Rab1 Qc6 21.Rec1 Qd7 22.Qb5!)
with an ongoing big plus. White may grovel
a draw, but that is the height of his ambition.
15...Lxf3!
Very concrete. Black wins the central pawn.
16.Lxf3 Lxd4 17.Lxd5 Qxd5 18.Qxd5
exd5 19.Rd1
Maybe Topalov thought he was regaining
the pawn. He is wrong!
19...Lg7 20.Kf1
20.Rxd5 Rfd8! is the key idea. Black's
active pieces win the day: 21.Rxd8+ Rxd8
22.Le3 (22.Kf1 Rd1+ 23.Ke2 Rh1 is just
bad for White) 22...b6 23.Rb1 Lxb2 with a
healthy pawn up.
20...Rfd8 21.Lg5 Rd7 22.Rd2 h6
23.Le3 d4 24.Rd3 Rc8 25.Ld2 Rc2 (D)
(see next diagram)
This should be easy for a GM of Carlsen's
strength. Black is a solid pawn up and more
active too!
26.Rb1 Re7 27.a4 f5 28.b3 Rec7
28...Kf7 29.Rc1 Rxc1+ 30.Lxc1 Ke6 .
29.Le1 Kf7 30.Rd2 Rc1
30...Rxd2 31.Lxd2 d3 32.Rd1 g5 was
131
the kingside and makes a very poor decision.

9...Qc7! was more flexible.
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqk+-tr(
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4-+-+P+-+$
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1tR-vLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
10.e5 Nd7 11.Nf1
The standard manoeuvre here, winding the
spring on the kingside.
11...b5
It has cost Black a tempo to play ...b5.
12.h4 a5 13.Lf4 Nb6 14.Ng5! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
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4-+-+-vL-zP$
3+-zPP+-zP-#
2PzP-+-zPL+"
1tR-+QtRNmK-!
xabcdefghy
Making room for the white queen to come to
h5. White's attack runs on oiled wheels.
14...Qe8
14...h6 15.Qh5! hxg5 16.hxg5 is the point in
these positions. White plans Nh2-g4 and
then Kh2, Rh1 etc with a crushing attack.
15.Ne3
If now 15.Qh5 then 15...Lxg5 16.hxg5
(16.Lxg5 and there is no obvious way to
continue the attack) 16...f5! is a typical motif
here. Whether or not the queens are
swapped, Black's king is safe, White's

queenside isn't. However, Black has lost too
many tempi. White has time to attack in
other ways (Mc Shane).
15...b4 16.Ng4 La6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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2PzP-+-zPL+"
1tR-+QtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
16...Kh8 was a more tenacious move, when
White still has to prove it. There is a forced
draw in the position: 17.Nxh7 (17.Nf6 gxf6
18.Nxh7 fxe5 19.Nf6 Lxf6 20.Qh5+ Kg8
Kh7
21.Qg4+
[21...Lg7
22.Lh6]
22.Qh5+) 17...Kxh7 18.Nf6+ gxf6
19.Qh5+ Kg8 20.Qg4+. But surely 17.h5
is very promising: 17...h6 18.Nf3 Qd7
19.Qd2 bxc3 20.bxc3 d4 21.c4 Kg8
22.Lxh6.
17.Nf6+!! gxf6 18.exf6 Lxf6 19.Qh5 h6
19...Lxg5 20.Qxg5+ Kh8 21.Qf6+ Kg8
22.Lh6 and mates.
20.Qxh6 Lxg5 21.Qxg5+ Kh7 22.Qh5+
Kg8 23.Lh6
23...f6 (23...f5 24.Qg5+) 24.Qg4+ and
mates. Everything stemmed from the careless 9...00.
10
Topalov is very sluggish in the coming
game. His thinking seems to be clouded.
Topalov Veselin
Carlsen Magnus
B04 Morelia/Linares 2008
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5
5.Nxe5 c6!
Carlsen seems willing to play all sorts of
openings. He is a player firmly in the Mod130
The only move; both players must have seen

the sacrifice coming. Karpov has accurately
seen that Black is completely OK.
7.Qxg5 Nc6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-trk+(
7zp-+-+pzp-'
6-zpn+p+-+&
5+-+rzP-wQ-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2P+-+-zPPzP"
1+-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
8.f4
8.Qc1 Nxe5 9.Qc7 is given as equal by
P.Van der Sterren.
8...Nd4 9.h4
White needs another attacker on the kingside.
9...Rc8 10.Qg4
10.h5 Nf5 11.g4 Nh6 and the fortress
seems to hold. White's king has become very
vulnerable.
10...Nf5 11.Re1 Rc4
Black already has the better chances.
12.h5 Rdd4 13.Qf3!
Activating the queen.
13...Rxf4 14.Qa8+ Kh7 15.Qxa7 Rg4
16.Qxf7 Rc2 17.Qb7 Nh4 18.Kf1
Nxg2?
Black wins after 18...Rf4+ 19.Kg1 Rxa2.
19.Re4! Rg5 20.Qe7 Rf5+ 21.Kg1 Nf4
22.Rxf4!
Now White is able to draw by perpetual:
22...Rxf4 23.Qxe6 Rcc4 24.Qg6+ Kh8
25.Qe8+ Kh7 26.Qg6+ Kh8 27.Qe8+
One more example of the defensive technique of sacrificing your queen in order to
defuse the opponents attacking potential is
in order. In the next game (Candidates
match for the World Championship) White
effectively aims for a fortress.
Huebner Robert
Petrosian Tigran
Sevilla 1971
XABCDEFGHY
8r+ltr-+k+(
7zpp+-+pzpp'
6-wq-+p+-+&
5+-+-+-zP-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-+LwQ-+-#
2PzP-+-+PzP"
1+-mKR+-+R!
xabcdefghy
1...e5
This pawn sacrifice looks very strong, but
Huebner finds an adequate defence. Black
could keep an edge with 1...Ld7! 2.Qh3 g6
3.Rhf1 Rac8+ 4.Kb1 Le8! but not
4...Lc6? 5.Rxf7 +.
2.Qxe5 Le6 3.Kb1 Rd5 4.Qe4 g6
Black now appears to have a strong attack
against White's king. Huebner effectively
pulls the emergency brake:
5.Lc4! Lf5 6.Lxd5 Lxe4+ 7.Lxe4 Rd8
(D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-+k+(
7zpp+-+p+p'
6-wq-+-+p+&
5+-+-+-zP-%
4-+-zPL+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzP-+-+PzP"
1+K+R+-+R!
xabcdefghy
8.h4!
Not 8.d5 Qe3.
8...Rxd4 9.Rxd4 Qxd4 10.Lxb7 Kf8
11.Lf3 Qf2 12.Ka1
87
And White holds an impenetrable fortress.

Petrosian agreed to a draw here as there is
no way of improving his position
In this article I have mainly stressed the

strength of the force opposing the queen. In
the examples mentioned so far, the pieces
were always able to coordinate, thereby
overcoming the strength of the queen by
sheer force of numbers.
In conclusion, I want to redress the balance somewhat; otherwise we would all be
sacrificing our queen all the time!
In Rethinking the Chess Pieces, Andrew
Soltis makes the following succinct observation: When a player gives up his queen
for enemy pieces, it sets up a battle between
two principles: cooperation versus double
attack (Batsford 2004, p.135).
Indeed, a queen is at its best when she can
check, check and attack. The following
study by Rinck (1948) neatly illustrates this.
I will only give the main line.
Example 1 - Rinck
Tijdschrift 1948
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6n+-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+k+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+r+"
1wQK+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1.Qd4 Nb4 2.Qe3+ Ka4 3.Qa7+ Kb3
4.Qf7+ Ka4 5.Qd7+ Ka5 6.Qd8+ Kb5
7.Qb8+ Kc4 8.Qf4+ Kc5 9.Qf8+ Kc4
10.Qf1+
10
Euwe Max
Grunfeld Ernst
Zandvoort 1936
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-vl-trk+(
7+l+-+pzpp'
6p+-+-+-+&
5+psn-zPQ+-%
4-+p+-+-+$
3+-+-+N+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tR-vL-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Here the queen is a powerful attacking piece,
while Black has yet to coordinate his pieces.
1.Ng5 Lxg5
1...g6 2.Qh3 h5 3.Le3 Nd3 4.Qd7 Lc8
5.Qd5 is a line that illustrates the strength of
the queen.
2.Lxg5 Rfe8
White keeps an edge on other moves too:
2...Le4 3.Qg4 Rfe8 4.Le3 Rxe5 5.Ld4
f5 6.Qg3 f4 7.Qg4 Lf5 8.Qf3 Le4 9.Qa3
Rg5 10.f3 Ne6 11.fxe4 Nxd4 12.Qd6 + ;
2...Nd3 3.Qd7 Lc8 (3...Rab8 4.Le7
Rfe8 5.Ld6 Red8 [5...Nxe5 6.Lxe5
Rxe5 7.f3 ] 6.Qg4) 4.Qd4 Re8 5.f4.
3.Re1
Or 3.Qg4!? when 3...Rxe5?? 4.Lf6!.
3...Re6 4.Re3 Rae8?
This is a clear mistake according to Euwe
who indicated as stronger: 4...h6 (4...Rg6
5.f3 ) 5.Lf6 Nd7! and White cannot play
Rg3 because of the back rank mate.
5.h4 h6
5...Rg6 6.e6 (6.h5 +) 6...Nxe6 7.h5 + ;
5...Nd3 6.Lf6! +.
6.Lf6 g6
6...Nd7 (6...gxf6 7.exf6 +) 7.Rg3 Nxf6
8.exf6 Re1+ 9.Kh2 + illustrates why
Black had to play ...h6 one move earlier than
he did.
7.Qf4 Kh7 8.Lg5! f5
8...hxg5 9.Qxf7+ Kh8 (9...Kh6 10.hxg5+
Kxg5 11.Rg3+ Kh6 12.f4) 10.hxg5 +.
9.exf6
10
88
This position would normally be considered

very promising for White, who has the natural plan of preparing e4 and then a quick
central pawn advance. To this day, I think
Black's chances in these positions have been
underestimated, but he has to be accurate.
The top priority is to restrain e4.
12...Re8 13.Ra2 cxd4 14.cxd4 Nb7!
Heading for the key square on d6.
15.Re1 Le6 16.Rf2 Rc8 17.Lb1 Nd6
18.Qd3 Ld7 19.h3?!
Ravikumar has his mind fixed on e4 and one
presumes he saw this move as necessary.
Yet it is rather meaningless. I presume after
White plays e4 he doesn't want to allow a
black knight to come to g4; however I
couldn't see a reason for h3 then and still
can't now! It's a move which just makes
White's position worse. White might consider improving the position of his worstposted piece here with 19.Rc2 although to
play such a move is an admission of defeat,
because e4 is even further away now.
19...g6 20.Ld2 Lb5 21.Qb3 Lc4 22.Qb2
I sensed Ravi was becoming a bit frustrated
around here, as he is still no further down
the line towards playing e4. Without that
move, no way is White better.
22...La6 23.e4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+rwqr+k+(
7zp-+-+p+p'
6lzp-sn-snp+&
5+-+p+-+-%
4-+-zPP+-+$
3zP-+-+PsNP#
2-wQ-vL-tRP+"
1+L+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
The critical moment. Against his better
judgement, White moves forward. Perhaps
he should have been more patient.
23...Nc4! 24.Qa1 Nxd2 25.Rxd2 dxe4
26.fxe4 Nd5!
There is a sea of dark squares in the white
camp just waiting to be exploited.

27.Kh2 Qg5 28.Rc2 Ne3 29.Rc3 Nxg2
It's not good for Ravi now. There is a killing
check on d2 if he takes the knight.
30.Rg1
30.Kxg2 Qd2+.
30...Nh4 31.Qb2 Rxc3 32.Qxc3 Rc8
33.Qb3 Qd2+ 34.Kh1 Rc1
White lost this game because he had no plan
B, once plan A had been frustrated. Frustration during a game is the primary cause of
pointless moves.
01
Clear Head
The main message I would like to get
across is this small article is to keep a tight
rein on your thinking during a game. It is so
easy to get distracted and let outside factors
lead to deterioration in your thinking processes.
Chess trainers speak of the need to cultivate ' a clear head' before a game and to rid
the mind of any worries. If you can just be
aware of the need to do that, you will avoid
pointless moves and your decision-making
will be sharp and decisive.
I believe it was Steinitz who determined
that an independent plan should be devised
according to the needs of the position. Failure to grasp the thread of the game and in
particular, underestimating the opponent's
resources, can lead to poor or pointless
moves.
Chuchelov Vladimir
Arlandi Ennio
C00 Mondariz 2000
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Lg2 e6 4.00 Le7
5.d3 c5 6.Nbd2 Nc6 7.e4
By a slightly odd move order, the game has
transposed into a 'King's Indian Attack'.
7...b6 8.Re1 Lb7 9.c3 (D)
(see next diagram)
Whilst the black king can still go long,
White does well to avoid moves like 9.h4.
9...00?!
Black will pay for this imprecision. Arlandi
fails to respect White's attacking chances on
129
at his leisure. Vysochin has two sets of doubled pawns and four isolated pawns to deal
with. Why then, does White not win? The
answer is very simple. Black's activity stops
him. Remaining on the board we see three
very aggressively posted Black major pieces
fighting three passive pieces by White.
Keep active, stay active, avoid exchanges.
Vysochin understands the principles of these
positions very well.
21.Rae1 Rf6 22.b3?
Strong players build up a 'feel' for the position based on accumulated experience. Does
Czerwonski really expect this position to
draw itself? Evidently. Needless to say 22.b3
is another of those meaningless moves.
White has to understand here that he cannot
just play quietly and draw the position;
Black is far too active for that. 22.Rd1 Rg6
23.f3 Qxa2 24.Qe5+ Kh6 25.Qf4+ Kg7
26.Qc7 is more like it for White. Cserwonski fails to understand he must fight for the
initiative. Going passive with White here is
losing chess.
22...Kf7 23.Rd1 Rg8 24.f3 h4 25.Rf2 h3
26.g3 h5!
The doubled pawns show some teeth, acting
as a battering ram against the white king.
27.Re1 Rd8 28.Qd3 Kg7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-+-+(
7+p+-zp-mk-'
6p+p+ptr-+&
5+-zPq+-+p%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+P+Q+PzPp#
2P+-+-tR-zP"
1+-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
29.Qf1?
29.Qd2 Rf5 30.Re4 e5 .
29...Qxd4 30.Qxh3 Rxf3! 31.Ref1 Rxf2
32.Rxf2 Rf8 33.Qf1 Qxc5 34.b4 Qxf2+
35.Qxf2 Rxf2 36.Kxf2 Kf6
It is ironic that Black swaps off into a winning king and pawn endgame!
37.Ke3 Kf5 38.h3 b6 39.Kd4 e5+ 40.Ke3
c5 41.bxc5 bxc5 42.Kd3 e4+
It is important to be able to differentiate between static and dynamic weaknesses in
chess. A poor pawn structure which offers
no prospect of dynamic compensation in
terms of open lines or which cannot be dissolved is obviously something to be avoided.
That was not what we saw here.
01
Advice
When you can't see what to do, improve
the position of your worst-posted piece.
How many times have I heard that phrase
and how many players stick blindly to that
rule?
There is more than a grain of good advice
contained here, but I would like to modify
the idea slightly: Only improve the position
of your worst posted piece when you have
determined a good reason for doing so. You
should have a plan of campaign. No moves
should be wasted.
The following opening variation is onedimensional from White's perspective.
Ravikumar Vaidyanathan
Martin Andrew
E49 Ramsgate 1984
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.e3 00
5.Ld3 d5 6.a3 Lxc3+ 7.bxc3 c5 8.cxd5
exd5 9.Ne2 b6 10.00 Nc6 11.Ng3 Na5
12.f3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7zp-+-+pzpp'
6-zp-+-sn-+&
5sn-zpp+-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3zP-zPLzPPsN-#
2-+-+-+PzP"
1tR-vLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
128
Rook and Pawn(s) versus Two Minor Pieces

Jeroen Bosch
Concept
Whenever I teach the subject of rook and
pawn(s) versus two minor pieces, I like to
start with a little joke. Take a good look at
the diagram position.
Karsa Laszlo
Bischoff Klaus
Clichy 1993
XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-+k+(
7+-wq-+p+-'
6-zp-+p+p+&
5+P+-sN-+-%
4-+LwQP+-zp$
3+-+-+-+P#
2-+-+-+P+"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Things look rather threatening, right? You
would like to start with 1.Nc6? That sure
looks good. The c6 square is an excellent
stronghold for the knight. It prevents Black's

queen from taking active measures
(1...Qg3? is easily refuted by 2.Ne7+), and
after, say 1...Ra8 White has 2.e5, with very
concrete threats. However, who told you it
was White to move? In fact, it is Black's
turn! And so the game ends after 1...Qc5!
when suddenly White's pieces are all 'hanging in the air' and there is no way to avoid
the loss of a piece!
01
Rather than just having a bit of fun, while
usefully capturing the attention of the audience, who will make sure for the rest of the
session that they know who's move it is, the
position serves a real purpose too.
It teaches us that a rook requires an open
file, and that pieces need strongholds. Materially speaking, rook & pawn are about equal
to a bishop and knight. However, this depends hugely on the circumstances of
course. (In general, rook and two pawns
constitute a slight material advantage, while
a pair of bishops may easily tilt the balance
in favour of the pieces).
If we think about the properties of the
pieces, then we can draw up the following
simple chart:
Piece
Rook
Opening
not mobile
Middlegame
becomes active
(open files?)
Endgame
very strong
cut off the king
Bishop
active
attack
long distance
Knight
active
attack
Pawn
central influence
sacrificed
structure
plans
short distance
no play on two wings
create passed pawn
We will start off with a rather simple example.

With a rook and two pawns against two
knights, White is doing very well in a material sense. What is more, the black knights
Characteristics
long distance
needs open files
cut off king
long distance
diagonals
short distance
requires strongholds
lack strongholds, and the fact that White's

passed pawn is as far distant as it is possible
to be (remember that the rook pawn is the
natural enemy of the knight) makes the win
elementary.
89
Jussupow Artur
Ljubojevic Ljubomir
Tilburg 1987
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+r+k+(
7+-sn-+pzpp'
6-+-wq-sn-+&
5tR-+l+-+-%
4P+-+-+-+$
3+-+-zPL+-#
2-+-+-zPPzP"
1+-+Q+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
1.Qd4
The centralization of the queen is already
decisive according to Jussupow.
1...Qe6 2.Lxd5 Ncxd5 3.Rd1
Putting the question to the central knight.
Black has a tactical defence, but after
3...Rc8 4.Rc5!
invites another trade, increasing White's
advantage still further (4.Rxd5? Nxd5
5.Qxd5? Qxd5 6.Rxd5 Rc1+ +).
4...Rxc5 5.Qxc5 h5 6.a5 Qe4 7.h3
There is no hurry, White can make a luftloch
(an air hole).
7...g6 8.Qc6 Qb4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-+-+p+-'
6-+Q+-snp+&
5zP-+n+-+p%
4-wq-+-+-+$
3+-+-zP-+P#
2-+-+-zPP+"
1+-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
9.a6
Or 9.Rxd5 +. The knights are helpless to
stop the pawn. Black resigned after

9...Qa5 10.Qb7 Qa4 11.Rb1
10
In the following classic example of Karpov, we will see the power of (passed)
pawns in the ending.
Huebner Robert
Karpov Anatoly
Tilburg 1977
XABCDEFGHY
8r+r+-+-+(
7zp-+k+-+p'
6-zp-+pzppvl&
5+-+n+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3zP-+PzP-zP-#
2-vL-sN-zPKzP"
1+-tR-+R+-!
xabcdefghy
First, it is necessary to bring about our subject by means of an elementary combination:
1...Lxe3! 2.fxe3 Nxe3+ 3.Kf3 Nxf1
4.Nxf1
In principle White would like to avoid the
exchange of rooks, but 4.Rxf1? loses a
piece of course: 4...Rc2 5.Nc4 b5.
4...Rxc1 5.Lxc1 Rc8 6.Lb2 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-+-+(
7zp-+k+-+p'
6-zp-+pzpp+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3zP-+P+KzP-#
2-vL-+-+-zP"
1+-+-+N+-!
xabcdefghy
90
idea, but 13.Rhe1 has no bearing on the

position whatsoever. I suppose Mrdja would
argue that he is dissuading Black from playing ...f6, but ...a6 and ...b5 show intentions
on the queenside and the sluggish 13.Rhe1
only encourages Black even more. 13.h4
might also be a way for White to get something going, but even there 13...Lb7 14.h5
h6 15.Kb1 Rfc8 is absolutely OK for
Black. It seems to me that this position has
similarities to a Classical Sicilian, but with
the white attack slowed down.
13...b4 14.Ne2 b3! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-trk+(
7+-+-wqpzpp'
6p+n+p+-+&
5+-snpzP-+-%
4-+-+-zP-+$
3+p+L+N+-#
2PzPPwQN+PzP"
1+-mKRtR-+-!
xabcdefghy
I doubt Mrdja was expecting this brilliant
pawn sacrifice, accelerating Black's attack.
15.axb3 Nb4 16.Nfd4 a5 17.Kb1 Ncxd3
18.cxd3 a4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-trk+(
7+-+-wqpzpp'
6-+-+p+-+&
5+-+pzP-+-%
4psn-sN-zP-+$
3+P+P+-+-#
2-zP-wQN+PzP"
1+K+RtR-+-!
xabcdefghy
This is a very easy game to understand.
Black's attack wastes White within a few
moves.
19.bxa4 Rxa4 20.Nc3 Ra6 21.Ncb5 Ld7
22.Nd6 Rb8 23.Rc1 Qd8 24.Nb3 Qb6
It is just too easy to shunt the Black major
pieces into strong attacking positions.
25.Qe3 d4 26.Qxd4 Ra1+
A rout. That is what can happen to you when
you have no plan.
01
Playing without a plan can be fatal, which
brings me to an interesting example where
Black seems to inherits one of the worst
pawn structures ever seen in the history of
chess, yet wins quite comfortably!
Czerwonski Aleksander
Vysochin Spartak
D15 Warsaw 2010
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6!
Not a bad line at all. This flexible variation
of the Slav commits Black to nothing, yet at
the same time ...a6 can prove very useful.
5.c5 Nbd7 6.Lf4 Nh5 7.Ld2 g6 8.e4
dxe4 9.Nxe4 Ndf6 10.Nc3 Le6 11.Le2
Lg7 12.00 00 13.Qc1 Nd5 14.Ng5
Qd7!?
It takes some courage and a lot of selfconfidence to play such a move. Black allows White to completely mess up his
pawns.
15.Lxh5 gxh5 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Lh6 Rf5
18.Lxg7 Kxg7 19.Nxd5 Qxd5 20.Qe3
Rd8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-+-+(
7+p+-zp-mkp'
6p+p+p+-+&
5+-zPq+r+p%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-+-wQ-+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
Using any conventional yardstick you would
expect White to find a way to pick Black off
127
Meaningless Moves
Andrew Martin
Concept
Meaningless moves are the enemy of all
chessplayers. They have no bearing on the
position and can in many cases make things
worse. We see meaningless moves frequently in the games of weaker players and
often, even at master level.
What does a meaningless move look like?
Consider the following game:
Mrdja Milan
Gleizerov Evgeny
C14 Zagreb 2011
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Lg5
4.Lg5 is a positional move, aiming to exchange darksquared bishops, which thanks
to the central pawns should favour White.
However in practice and this has been true
right back to Alekhine's day, Black has been
able to obtain good counterplay.
4...Le7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Lxe7
Alekhine's 6.h4 has been used a lot by Jonny
Hector with the help of a new move
6...Lxg5 7.hxg5 Qxg5 8.Qd3!? (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsnl+k+-tr(
7zppzpn+pzpp'
6-+-+p+-+&
5+-+pzP-wq-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-sNQ+-+-#
2PzPP+-zPP+"
1tR-+-mKLsNR!
xabcdefghy
White eyes h7. However in this very recent
game, Black seems quite unconcerned:
8...g6 9.Nf3 Qe7 10.000 Nc6 11.Qe3
Nf8 12.Rh6 Ld7 13.Qf4 000 14.Le2
Le8 15.Ng5 Nb8 (this is a comical game.
Black takes the pawn, goes into reverse gear
and White puts all his pieces on approved

squares, building up what looks like enormous pressure. Then Black wins...)
16.Rdh1 (it doesn't get any better than this)
16...a6 17.R1h3 Nbd7 18.Rf3 Rg8
19.Nd1?! (19.Nxh7 c5 20.Nf6 Nxf6
21.exf6 Qc7 22.Qxc7+ Kxc7 23.dxc5 Lc6
gives Black good counterplay, but White
maybe should have gone for this line)
19...c5! (the very first sign of black counterplay) 20.dxc5 Nxc5 21.Nc3 (21.Nxh7
Nxh7 22.Rxh7 d4 ) 21...Qc7 22.Nxh7
Nxh7 23.Rxh7 d4 (suddenly,...d3 is a big
threat after the knight moves) 24.b4 Nd7
25.Qxd4 Nxe5 26.Qa7 Nxf3 27.Lxf3
Qf4+ 28.Kb2 Qxb4+ 29.Kc1 Rd6
30.Ne4 Rb6 31.Nf6 Qf4+ 32.Kd1 Rb1+
0-1 Muzychuk,M-Matveeva,S Tbilisi 2011.
An incredible game in many ways and it
teaches us that in the French appearances
can be deceptive. Due to the rock-solid nature of the French pawn structure, positions
which look favourable for White can often
be assessed very wrongly.
6...Qxe7 7.f4 00 8.Nf3 c5 9.Qd2 Nc6
10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.000 a6 12.Ld3 b5
13.Rhe1?! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-trk+(
7+-+-wqpzpp'
6p+n+p+-+&
5+psnpzP-+-%
4-+-+-zP-+$
3+-sNL+N+-#
2PzPPwQ-+PzP"
1+-mKRtR-+-!
xabcdefghy
Here it is, one natural move too many. White
plays what looks like a normal developing
126
The first phase has ended. Black has a material advantage and the initiative. This is
enough for a winning edge. Karpov now
decides to keep the initiative by invading the
second rank to win the a-pawn, getting two
passed pawns on the queenside. Losing the
f6-pawn, and with it his excellent structure,
is a loss he is willing to take.
6...Rc2!
6...e5 7.Ne3 protects some important
squares, although White is still suffering
after 7...Rc5 8.Ke2 Rb5 9.Lc1 Ke6.
7.Lxf6 Ra2 8.Ke3 Rxa3 9.Nd2
According to Karpov, Huebner defends in
the best way: the bishop stays on the long
diagonal, while the knight uses the excellent
e4-square. The twelfth World Champion
drily remarks, however, that White's material disadvantage is a deciding factor.
9...b5 10.Ne4 b4?!
Karpov criticizes his play at this stage. Advancing the pawn means giving up the c4square and limiting the range of the rook. It
was better to advance with the a-pawn:
10...a5!.
11.Kd4 a5 12.Kc4
Threatening to trap the rook, so Black is
forced to play
12...Ra2 13.h4 Kc6 14.Ld4
Owing to 10...b4 Karpov has complicated
the technical phase. By posting his rook on
the first rank he removes it as far away as
possible from the white pieces and increases
its activity.
14...Re2 15.Le5 Re1! 16.Lf6 Rb1
Everything is ready for the advance of the apawn.
17.Le7
Defending against 17...a4, but now Karpov
plugs the long diagonal. Instead, 17.Nd2
Rc1+ 18.Kb3 Kb5 and Black wins easily.
17...e5! 18.g4 Rc1+ 19.Kb3 Kd5
Karpov has increased the activity of his
pieces.
20.Lg5
White cannot win the a-pawn, as 20.Ld8
Kd4 21.Lxa5 Kxd3 22.Nf6 Rb1+
23.Ka2 Kc2 wins.
20...Rb1+ 21.Kc2
21.Ka4 Ra1+ 22.Kb3 Ra3+ 23.Kc2
Kd4.
21...Rh1
Again maximizing the activity of the rook.
22.Kb3 Rh3 23.Nf6+ Kd4 24.Nxh7
Rxd3+ 25.Kc2 a4 26.Le7 Rc3+ 27.Kb1
Rc7
01
Novikov Igor
Kaidanov Gregory
Vilnius 1986
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At first sight, the ending looks unclear perhaps, but after
1...Rc4!
It becomes clear that Black is much better
since he can undermine the all-important b2pawn.
2.Nc6 a3! 3.Nd4
3.bxa3 Rxc3 4.Nxa7 (4.a4 a6) 4...Rxa3
and White will eventually lose the b-pawn,
when the ending of rook against knight, with
pawns on one wing, is lost.
3...Rc5 4.Kf3 a2 5.Nc2 Rxb5 6.Na1
Kf7 7.Ke3 Ke6 8.g4 Kd5 9.Kd3 Rc5
10.b3
It looks like White has come up with a decent line of defence. How to cross the barrier? Kaidanov transforms the ending by
noting the powerlessness of the knight in
endings with pawns on both wings:
10...Rxc3+ 11.Kxc3 Ke4 12.f5
12.g5 f5! 13.Kb2 Kxf4 14.Kxa2 Kxg5
15.Kb2 Kg4 +.
12...Kf4 13.Kb2 Kxg4 14.Nc2 Kh3
15.Nd4 Kxh2 16.Ne6 Kg3
91
16...h5 +.
17.Nxg7 Kg4! 18.Ne8 Kxf5 19.Nd6+
Kf4 20.Ne8 Kg5 21.Nd6 h5 22.Ne4+
Kf4 23.Nxf6 h4 24.Nd5+ Kf3
01
In the last three examples we observed the
power of the combination rook and pawn(s).
Now it is high time to see what those pieces
do best: attack! The first example is very
concrete. The bishop pair is well known as
an excellent attacking force.
Spassky Boris
Tal Mikhail
Tallinn 1973
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Here Tal decides matters with
1...Lxf2+!
Also winning was the 'quiet' 1...Qf6 2.Rf1
(2.Rxc5? Rxc5 3.Rxc5 Qa1+) 2...Qf5
(creeping towards the long diagonal).
1...Qf5? 2.Rxc5! Rxc5 (2...Qe4 3.f3
Qd4+ 4.Kg2 Rxc5 5.Rxc5 Qxc5 6.Qxb7
Qc2+ 7.Kh3 Qxa2 =) 3.Rxc5 Qe4
(3...Qxc5 4.Qxb7) 4.Kf1 La6+ 5.Rb5
Lxb5+ 6.Qxb5 Qh1+ 7.Ke2 Qe4+
8.Kd2 Qd4+ only draws.
2.Kxf2 Qf6+
Simpler was 2...Qf5+ 3.Kg1 Qe4 and
wins.
3.Ke1 Qe5+ 4.Kf1 (D)
4.Kd1 Qd4+ 5.Ke2 (5.Ke1 Qg1+ +)
5...Qe4+ 6.Qe3 La6+ + (6...Rxc2+ +) ;
4.Kf2 Rf7+ 5.Kg1 Qd4+ +.
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4...La6+
Now this is a mistake! 4...Qf5+ 5.Kg1 Qe4
transposes to the note to Black's second
move and wins.
5.Kg1 Qd4+ 6.Kg2 Qe4+ (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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7.Kg1?
7.Kh3 Rxc2 8.Qxc2 Lf1+! + ; 7.Kf2!
Rf7+ 8.Kg1 would have severely complicated Black's task as 8...Lb7 is met by
9.Rc8+ Kh7? (9...Lxc8 10.Rxc8+ Kh7
11.Qc2 =) 10.Qc2.
7...Lb7
And we are in a familiar winning position.
8.h4 Qh1+ 9.Kf2 Rf7+ 10.Ke2 Qe4+
01
Alekhine Alexander
Buenos Aires 1927
92
8...Ne4 9.Nxe4 dxe4 10.Le2 Nd7 11.b3

Qe7 12.a4 Rad8 13.Nc4 Lb4 14.Lb2
Qh4 15.c3 Le7 16.Qe1 Qxe1 17.Rfxe1 a5
18.La3 Lxa3 19.Rxa3 Nf6 20.b4 Ra8
21.b5 Nd5 22.Kf2 f6 23.Nd2 e5 24.g3 g5
25.f5 Rfe8 26.Lc4 Kg7 27.Lxd5 Lxd5
28.c4 Lb7 29.d5 Lc8 30.g4 h5 31.h3 Rh8
32.Nxe4 hxg4 33.hxg4 Rh2+ 34.Kf3 Rc2
35.Rc3 Ra2 36.c5 Rxa4 37.cxb6 Lxf5
38.Rxc7+ Kg6 39.gxf5+ Kxf5 40.Nd6+
Kg6 41.Rc8 e4+ 42.Kg3 Rxc8 43.Nxc8
Rb4 44.Nd6 10 Tymrakiewicz,R-Slavin,A
Uxbridge 2010. This was possibly the game
that inspired Slavin to make his opening
choice.
9.b3 b5!?
Unstereotyped and an effort by Adams to
unbalance a very stable situation. 9...Nc6
10.Lb2 Rc8 11.a3 Ne7 12.Qe2 Ne4
13.c4 f6?! 14.Nef3 Qc7 15.Rac1 Qb8
16.dxc5 Nxc5 17.Lb1 dxc4 18.Nxc4 Ld5
19.Nxd6 Qxd6 20.e4 Lxb3 21.e5 Qd7
22.exf6 gxf6 23.Ne5 fxe5 24.Qxe5 Ng6
25.Qe3 Ld5 26.Rcd1 Rf7 27.h4 Rcf8
28.g3 Rg7 29.Kh2 Nxh4 30.Lxg7 Qxg7
31.Rxd5 exd5 32.gxh4 d4 33.Qf3 Kh8
34.Rf2 Qh6 35.Kh3 Re8 36.Qg4 Rg8
37.Qf5 Qg7 38.Qg5 Qd7+ 39.Qf5 Qg7
40.Qe5 d3 41.Qxg7+ Kxg7 42.Rd2 Kf6
43.Rd1 Ne4 44.Rf1 Nd2 45.Rd1 Nxb1
46.Rxb1 Kf5 47.Rb4 Rd8 01 Slavin,AGasanov,E Rijeka 2010.
10.c3
10.Lxb5 may be possible: 10...cxd4
11.Ndf3! dxe3 12.Lxe3 but of course
Black is fine after 12...Ne4.
10...b4 11.cxb4 cxd4 12.exd4 Lxb4
13.Lb2 Nc6
The position is a little better for Black
thanks to the pawn structure, but White
should be able to hold it all together. It's
important that Slavin finds some counterplay
quickly and this he tries to do via Ndf3 and
Ng5.
14.Qe2 Qb6 15.Ndf3 Ld6 16.a3 a5
16...Qxb3 17.Rab1 Qb6 18.La1 Qc7
19.Rfc1 gives White too much.
17.Rac1 Lxe5!
Unexpected, when Black could put either of
his rooks on c8. Slavin seems quite taken
aback by this unusual move and the quality

of his play heads downhill from here.
18.fxe5 Ne4 19.Lxe4 dxe4 (D)
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20.Ng5?
It is baffling why he did not choose the obvious 20.Qxe4 when Black has clear counterplay after 20...Ne7! but this variation will
lead to a playable position for White:
21.Qb1! (21.Qe1 Qxb3 22.Qc3 Qxc3
23.Lxc3 Nf5 ) 21...Rac8 22.b4
(22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.Nd2 Nf5 24.Rf4 Ne3
) 22...axb4 23.axb4 Qxb4 24.Lc3 Qxb1
25.Rxb1 Le4 26.Rbc1 .
20...Nxd4 21.Lxd4 Qxd4+ 22.Kh1 h6
Or 22...Qxe5 23.Qe3 Ld5 24.Rc5 f5 and
Black wins.
23.Nxf7 Rxf7 24.Rxf7 Kxf7 25.Rc7+
Kg8 26.Rxb7 Qa1+
Attack with the maximum, defend with the
minimum. This principle underpins highlevel chess.
01
Conclusion
Summarizing, only defend when you have
to, but this doesnt mean ignoring defensive
skills! Good opponents will try to put you
on the defensive from move one, so even a
rudimentary knowledge of defensive techniques will help anyone to become a
stronger player.
125
11.dxc6 bxc6 12.cxd4 cxb5 13.dxe5 Qxd1

14.Rxd1 Lf5 15.Lb2 h6 16.Nf3 00
Black has emerged safely from the opening
complications and perhaps stands a fraction
better with the bishop-pair.
17.Nc3 a6 18.Nd4 Lg6 19.Nb3 Lb6
20.Rd6
20.La3 Rfc8 is a good way for Black to
maintain his slight edge.
20...La7 21.Rad1 Rfc8 22.Rd7 Nc6
23.e6 Ne5 24.exf7+ Lxf7 25.Re7 Ng6
26.Rb7 Rcb8
Exchanging off a potential attacker.
27.Rdd7
27.Rxb8+ Rxb8 28.Rd7 Re8! 29.g3 Re7
30.Rxe7 Nxe7 31.Ne4 b4 leads to an endgame, where Black's queenside pawn majority is very important.
27...Rxb7 28.Rxb7 Ne5
28...Re8! goes back into the last line and
was more precise.
29.Ne4?
Possibly the speed of the game (blitz)
prompted this mistake. 29.Nxb5! would
have given White an excellent chance to
hold: 29...Lxf2+ 30.Kxf2 axb5 31.Lxe5
Rxa2+ 32.Ke3 Lxb3 33.Rxg7+ Kf8 =.
29...Ld5 30.Re7 Nd3 31.Rxg7+ Kf8
32.Rxa7 Rxa7 33.Ld4 Rc7
Unfortunately for Svehsnikov, the win is
now quite routine for Black.
34.Nf6 Lxb3 35.g4 Kf7 36.axb3 a5 37.g5
hxg5 38.Ne4 Rd7 39.Le3 g4 40.Nc3 b4
41.Na4 Ke6 42.Kg2 Kf5 43.h3 gxh3+
44.Kxh3 Rg7 45.Nb6 Ke4 46.Nc4 Kf3
47.Nxa5 Rh7+
01
Very strong players usually make chess
look like an easy game, whereas we all
know it is not so simple! But the defensive
principle established by Wu in the above
game is easy enough to comprehend: Don't
be greedy! Do not hesitate to give back material gained if you can see a clear way
through to a good position.
Defend with the Minimum
White's usual theatre of attack is the kingside in the coming old-fashioned queens
pawn game. However, in the next game Michael Adams makes any projected white
attack look very tame indeed, using the following techniques.

1) He creates diversionary counterplay at
every opportunity.
2) He attacks with every piece available and
reserves the bare minimum of material for
defence.
3) He only defends when he has to. Otherwise, his whole mindset is concentrated on
how he can get the initiative.
Slavin Alexei
Adams Michael
D05 Canterbury 2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 b6 4.Ld3 Lb7
5.00 d5 6.Ne5!? (D)
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A move of which Sultan Khan would have
been proud. Moreover Slavin has recent experience with 6.Ne5 from both sides of the
board! However, the normal 6.Nbd2 or
6.b3 are both superior.
6...Ld6 7.f4
7.b3 00 8.Lb2 Nbd7 9.Nd2 Ne4 10.f4
(this is about the best White can hope for,
but one cannot help but form the impression
that 6.Ne5 has been played too early)
10...Nxd2 11.Qxd2 f6 12.Nf3 Qe7 13.c4
c5 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Nh4 Rfe8 16.Rf3 Qf7
17.Rg3 Lf8 18.Qc2 Re4 19.Lxe4 dxe4
20.Nf5 Qe6 21.Nh6+ Kh8 22.d5 Lxd5
23.f5 Qc6 24.Rd1 b5 25.Qd2 Nb6
26.Qxd5 Nxd5 27.Nf7+ Kg8 28.Nh6+
Rahman,Z-Venkatesh,M Chennai
2010.
7...00 8.Nd2 c5
124
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Although development is about equal, Black

hasn't castled yet, and this explains Capablanca's next energetic bid for an advantage.
1.b4! Lxb4
After the alternative 1...Nxb4 2.Nd6+ Kd8
3.Qxd7+ Kxd7 4.Nxc8 Rxc8 5.Nd2
Black does not have enough for the exchange.
2.Rxc6!
This is clearly stronger than 2.Nc7+ Rxc7
3.Lxc7 Lc5! 4.Lf4 00 when Black has
more play than in the previous note with the
queens still on.
2...Rxc6 3.Qxb4
So here we have arrived at our subject. With
bishop and knight versus rook and pawn,
material may be about equal. However, it is
awkward for Black that he still cannot castle.
Moreover, the isolated d-pawn guarantees
that White will always have a stronghold (on
d4) for his pieces.
3...Ne4 4.Nd2 Nxd2 5.Qxd2 00 6.Rd1
The first object of attack is the isolated
pawn.
6...Rc5 7.Nd4 Re8
It was more natural to aim for counterplay
with 7...Rfc8.
8.Nb3 Rcc8 9.e3 Qa4 (D)
9...f6 was a tougher defence. After
10.Qxd5+ (10.h4!) 10...Qxd5+ 11.Rxd5
Rc2 Black has a certain amount of counterplay.
10.Qxd5!
Excellent judgement! It looks highly dangerous to exchange the a-pawn for the dpawn - with two passed pawns on the queenside all endings look winning for Black.
However, Capablanca has seen further: the
minor pieces will be in their element, attacking the black king.
10...Rc2
Not 10...Qxa2 11.Ra1 Qc2 12.Rxa7.
11.Rd2 Rxa2
White also has a strong attack after
11...Qxa2 12.Qd7! Rf8 13.Rxc2 Qxc2
14.Nd4 Qc5 15.Nf5 (15.Qxa7).
12.Rxa2
Very strong was 12.Rd4! Qa6 13.Rc4
when the rook joins in the attack along the
seventh rank.
12...Qxa2 13.Qc6!
Forcing the rook into passivity.
13...Rf8 14.Nd4 Kh8?!
14...Rd8 15.Ld6 h6 16.e4 .
15.Le5! f6 16.Ne6 Rg8 17.Ld4
The bishop is ideally placed. Black is totally
lost now.
17...h6 18.h4!
Black still has some sort of defence after
18.Nxg7 Rxg7 19.Qxf6 Qd5+ 20.Kg1
Qg5.
18...Qb1 19.Nxg7! Qg6
White wins the pawn ending after 19...Rxg7
20.Qxf6 Qe4+ (20...Qh7 21.Qf8+ Qg8
22.Lxg7+ +) 21.Kg1 Qb7 22.Qxh6+
Kg8 23.Qxg7+ Qxg7 24.Lxg7 Kxg7
93
25.Kf1 +.
20.h5
Also good is 20.Nh5 Qxh5 21.Qxf6+ Kh7
22.Qe7+ and Black's king is caught in a
mating net: 22...Kg6 23.e4 (or the immediate 23.f3!) 23...a5 24.f3 a4 25.g4 +.
20...Qf7 21.Nf5 Kh7 22.Qe4 Re8
23.Qf4 Qf8 24.Nd6 Re7
With such a bad king, Black is without defence against Whites minor pieces:
24...Rd8 25.Qf5+ Kg8 26.Qe6+ Kh7
27.Lxf6! Rxd6 28.Qf5+ Kg8 29.Qg6+
+.
25.Lxf6 Qa8+ 26.e4 Rg7 27.Lxg7 Kxg7
28.Nf5+ Kf7 29.Qc7+
10
Psakhis Lev
Lputian Smbat
Yerevan 1989
XABCDEFGHY
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1+-+-+LmK-!
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As we are approaching the ending, it may
appear that Black is OK here. However, just
as in the previous example, White can coordinate his pieces for a direct attack on the
black king. This is a challenging and useful
example, since it demonstrates the abilities
of the minor pieces in a position with no
outside 'noise'.
1.Nc4!
1.Ne4 Qxa2 2.Nd6.
1...Qxa2
Black takes the pawn and puts his money on
his queenside pawns. For some time now
though, the queen will be missed in the defence. Objectively best was 1...Qd8 2.Ne3
(2.Nd6 fails now to the pin 2...Qc7! for

example 3.g3 [3.Qxd5? Rd8 ] 3...Rd8
4.Nc4 Qxe5 5.Nxe5) 2...Re8 3.Qxd5
Qxd5 4.Nxd5 but this ending should be
assessed as won for White, though there are
still technical difficulties. A rook is a strong
piece in such an open position with pawns
on both wings. The win is easier after
1...Qc5 2.Ne3 Rd8 3.Lc4! Qd6 4.Qxd6
Rxd6 5.Lxd5 and both bishop and knight
are actively placed and well coordinated.
2.Nd6 Qb1 3.Nf5
This may remind you of the CapablancaAlekhine example above.
3...f6 4.Qxd5+ Kh8 5.Qd7
5.Nd6 h6 6.Qxb7 is similar to the game.
5...Rg8 6.Nd6 h6 7.Qxb7 a5 8.Qb5
Clearly, White is winning. He is ahead in
material, and Black's king will remain weak.
8...Rf8 9.g4
Creating some space for his king and his
bishop while controlling some light squares
as well. It should never be forgotten though,
that pawns can't move backwards. I will now
reveal that the game will end in a draw!
Such a move as 9.g4 is perfectly sound, but
it commits White to accurate calculation.
Meanwhile it was possible to win the game
without any risk: 9.Nc4 Rd8 10.Qxa5
Rd1 11.Ne3 and Black can safely resign.
9...Qe1 10.Qd7 Qc1 11.Kg2 f5!?
Desperation, but also the only chance to stir
up trouble.
12.Qe7
Immediately winning was 12.Nf7+ Kg8
13.Qd5 Qxb2 14.Ne5+ Kh7 15.Ld3.
12.Nxf5 Qxb2 is no longer a simple win.
12...Rg8 13.Nc4
Many roads lead to Rome. Also winning are:
13.Nf7+ Kh7 14.Ld3 or 13.Lc4 or, finally, 13.Ld3.
13...fxg4 14.hxg4 Qf4 15.Qe6?
This greatly reduces White's advantage. because of his committal play, it was necessary
to continue actively by means of 15.Ne5!
and White has a winning attack.]
15...Rf8 16.Qe2 a4 17.Ne5 Rf6?
18.Qe3?
This is a big mistake. First of all, there was
an immediate win, but more important for
94
ficult to develop the queenside, So Karpov

feels that he has to exchange on c5.
14...Lxc5
14...Rb8 15.Rab1 Rd8 16.Le4! .
15.Lxc5 Rd8 16.Rfd1 Le6 17.h3 Rxd1+
Alternative moves can lead to an unpleasant
position for Black: 17...Na5 18.Qb4 Nc4
19.Lxb7 Rxd1+ 20.Rxd1 Rb8 21.Lxa7
or 17...h6 18.Rab1 Na5 19.Rxd8+ Qxd8
20.Lb4 Nc6 21.Qb5 Nxb4 22.Rxb4.
18.Rxd1 Rd8! (D)
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White's bishop-pair is becoming stronger
and Karpov now makes his best decision of
the game. In his usual clear-sighted way he
sacrifices a pawn to reach a drawn endgame.
18...h6?! 19.Kh2 a6 20.Rd6 Rd8
21.Rxd8+ Nxd8 22.Qe8+ Kh7 23.Qf8 .
19.Rxd8+ Qxd8 20.Lxa7 Qa8 21.Lxc6
bxc6 22.Kh2 h5 23.Qa5 f6 24.a4 Qc8
25.h4 Lc4
The opposite-coloured bishops make it impossible for White to make progress.
Returning Material Gains

The opening textbooks are filled with dangerous gambits, where a player might sacrifice material in order to get the attack.
In the middlegame, the same type of sacrifice may occur, where material is offered for
time, space and momentum.
Let us establish that there is no need for
the defender to meekly surrender to his opponent!
Offers of material may be accepted, but
one should always look out for the opportunity to return material in order to get a good
position!
Sveshnikov Evgeny
Wu Shaobin
C52 Beijing 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lc4 Lc5 4.b4 (D)
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xabcdefghy
The 'Evans Gambit', still very dangerous in
the hands of Grandmasters of the calibre of
Evgeny Sveshnikov, Nigel Short and Jonny
Hector.
4...Lxb4 5.c3 La5 6.d4 exd4 7.00 Nge7!
(D)
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One of Black's best defences. Rather than
accept all the pawns on offer, Black concentrates on development and achieves a good
position.
8.Ng5 d5! 9.exd5 Ne5! 10.Lb5+ c6
123
dxe4 14.dxe4 Ld7 15.Rfd1 Lb5 16.Qc2

Lc6 17.e5 Nd5 18.Nfd4 00 19.Qc5
Rfe8 Svidler,P-Morozevich,A Almaty
2008) 13...Ng8 14.Lg3 a5 15.Lf4 a4
16.Le3 Qa6 17.Nbd4 Ld8 18.Ld2 Ld7
19.Rac1 Lb6 20.Lb4 Qa7 21.Nc2 Lc5
22.Qd2 Ne7 23.Lxc5 Qxc5 24.Nb4 Qb6
25.a3 00 26.Rc2 Rfc8 27.Rfc1 Qd8
28.Na2 Rxc2 29.Rxc2 Rc8 30.Rxc8
Qxc8 31.Qc3 Qxc3 32.bxc3 Ng6
Bojkovic,N-Vojinovic,J Pozarevac 2009.
12.e5! Ng8 13.Le3 Qb4 14.Nfd4
The biggest danger to Black now is the pawn
lever f4-f5. Rendle tries to stop it.
14...Nh6 15.Rac1 Nf5
15...00 leaves Black with the same predicament after 16.Rc7! Ld8 (16...Re8
17.Lxh6 gxh6 18.Qg4+ Kh8 19.Rfc1 +)
17.Rc3 Lb6 (17...f6 18.Rfc1 +) 18.Qd2
Ng4 19.Rxc8!.
16.Nxf5 exf5 17.Rc7!
Good, but not quite as strong is 17.Lc5
Lxc5 18.Rxc5 when Black also has to suffer.
17...Ld8 18.Rc3 b6 19.Nd4 00 20.a3
Qa4 21.Qf3 Qd7 22.Rfc1 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lvl-trk+(
7zp-+q+pzpp'
6-zp-+-+-+&
5+-+pzPp+-%
4-+-sN-+-+$
3zP-tRPvLQ+-#
2-zP-+-zPPzP"
1+-tR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Flawless play by White over the past ten
moves. Black has been driven passive and
cannot free himself.
22...Re8 23.Qg3 Lb7
23...g6 24.h4 Lb7 25.h5 +.
24.e6! Rxe6
24...fxe6 25.Rc7 ; 24...Qe7 25.Nxf5.
25.Nxe6 Qxe6 26.Ld4 +
Even the coming short, technical phase is

handled perfectly.
26...g6 27.Qe5 Qxe5 28.Lxe5 f6 29.Lc7
La6
29...Le7 30.Lxb6 axb6 31.Rc7.
30.Lxd8 Rxd8 31.d4 Re8 32.Re3! Re4
33.Rxe4 fxe4 34.Rc7 f5 35.Rxa7 Lc4
36.Rb7 b5 37.b3 Lxb3 38.Rxb5 Lc4
39.Rb7
A superb game by White.
10
Exchanging
Exchanging pieces is a rational way to
defend when you are under pressure. Try to
determine which are the well-placed enemy
pieces and aim to remove them from the
board. If you can keep your own well-placed
pieces then so much the better!
The following game provides us with an
excellent example of play at the highest
level. White gets the initiative early in the
game, but Karpov is able to break Kasparov's grip by exchanging pieces at the
right moment. He is even willing to enter the
endgame a pawn down!
Kasparov Garry
Karpov Anatoly
A33 Moscow 1984
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4
5.Nxd4 e6 6.g3 Qb6 7.Nb3 d5 8.cxd5
Nxd5 9.Lg2 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Le7 11.00
e5 12.Le3 Qc7 13.Nc5 00 14.Qa4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-trk+(
7zppwq-vlpzpp'
6-+n+-+-+&
5+-sN-zp-+-%
4Q+-+-+-+$
3+-zP-vL-zP-#
2P+-+PzPLzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
The problem for Black is that it is quite dif122
our purposes is that it is, in principle, the

wrong decision. We have already learned
that in an ending the rook greatly increases
in strength, whereas the pieces are stronger
in a middlegame situation (with the queens
on). 18.Nd7! wins on the spot!
18...Qxe3 19.fxe3
White no longer has any attacking chances,
and the pawn on b2 is a weakness. With material greatly reduced, Black has excellent
drawing chances.
19...Rb6 20.Nc4 Rb4 21.Kf3 g6 22.e4
Kg7 23.e5 h5 24.gxh5 gxh5 25.Kf4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-mk-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+-zP-+p%
4ptrN+-mK-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-zP-+-+-+"
1+-+-+L+-!
xabcdefghy
A good moment to ask your pupils how they
would continue:
25...Rxb2!
Or 25...h4 26.Kg4 Rxb2.
26.Nxb2 a3
A good illustration of the rule that the rook's
pawn is the knight's worst enemy.
27.Lc4
27.e6 Kf6 (27...a2 28.e7 a1Q 29.e8Q
Qxf1+ 30.Kg5 Qf6+ =) 28.Lc4 axb2 =.
27...axb2 28.La2 h4
28...Kg6.
29.Kg4 Kg6 30.Lb1+
30.Kxh4 Kf5 31.e6 b1Q 32.Lxb1+ Kxe6.
30...Kf7 31.Lf5 h3 32.Kxh3 b1Q
33.Lxb1 Ke6
A remarkable escape!
Hort Vlastimil
Huebner Robert
Germany 1982
XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-trk+(
7+p+qvlpzpp'
6p+n+p+-+&
5+-+pzP-+-%
4-+-zP-+-zP$
3+-+-+N+-#
2PzPRvLQzPP+"
1+-tR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Have your pupils analyse this position in
pairs. Ask them to present their conclusions
before you demonstrate Huebner's continuation.
1...Lxh4! 2.Rxc6
2.Nxh4 Nxd4 3.Qd3 Nxc2 4.Rxc2 Qa4!
5.Rxc8 Rxc8 6.Nf3 Qxa2 and Black
should win.
2...Rxc6 3.Nxh4 Rxc1+ 4.Lxc1 Qa4!
Without this double attack (which has to be
seen when embarking on 1...Lxh4) Black
would have no advantage.
5.Qg4
5.a3 Qxd4 6.Nf3 Qe4 .
5...Kh8
Huebner avoids weakening his king's position. It was possible to play 5...h5 6.Qxh5
Qxd4 .
6.a3 Qc2
The queen both attacks and defends.
7.Qf4 Kg8!
Again Huebner continues in the best way, by
playing it safe. Meanwhile, White would be
all right after 7...Rc8 8.Le3 Qe4?
(8...Kg8! ) . This looks strong, but fails to
the sacrifice 9.Qxf7! Qxh4 10.Qxb7 when
White will win the a-pawn too, with enough
for the exchange.
8.b4 Rc8
8...Qe4 was very strong too.
9.Le3 Qd1+ 10.Kh2 Qh5 11.g3?! Rc3
12.a4 Rb3 13.Kg2
13.Ld2 h6! wins.
13...Rxb4
95
With two pawns, Black has a material advantage. Things will be decided on the
queenside; note how far the white knight is
from the real battlefield, the queenside!
14.a5 Rb1 15.Qf3 Qxf3+ 16.Nxf3 b6
Creating the passed pawn that will win the
game.
17.axb6 a5 18.Lg5 a4 19.Le7 Rxb6
20.Ne1 Rb2 21.Lc5 h5 22.Nd3 a3!
23.Lxa3 Rb3
01
Knaak Rainer
Forintos Gyozo
Skopje 1972
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7zpp+l+pvlp'
6-+n+p+p+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4Q+-zP-+-+$
3+-sN-zPN+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1+-mKR+L+R!
xabcdefghy
The first move is obvious. Ask your pupils
to calculate and to make an accurate assessment.
1...Nxd4! 2.Rxd4 Lxa4 3.Rxd8 Rfxd8
4.Nxa4 Rac8+ 5.Nc3 Lxc3 6.bxc3
Rxc3+ 7.Kb2
Play was forced until now. Black's next
move is still part of his combination.
7...Rdc8
The excellent coordination of Black's rooks
and the fact that White is still not fully developed promise Black a winning edge. Play
is only equal after 7...Rc6 8.Le2 Rb6+
9.Ka1.
8.Nd4
8.Ne1 R3c6! 9.Nd3 Rb6+ 10.Ka1 Rc2
+.
8...e5 9.Nb3?
9.Ne2 R3c6! +.
9...Rc2+ 10.Kb1
12.Lb5? Rcc2
01
Rxf2
11.Nc1
e4
We have studied some of the principles of

rook and pawn versus two pieces on the basis of several more or less 'classical' positions. Now let's investigate a few games
from the 2011 Tata Steel Chess Festival in
Wijk aan Zee. We will see many of our familiar themes return.
Sachdev Tania
Lahno Kateryna
Wijk aan Zee 2011
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-mk-+(
7+-+-+p+p'
6-+p+-+p+&
5zp-+-+-+-%
4Q+-+-+-+$
3+-wq-zP-+-#
2PtrL+-zPPzP"
1+-+KsN-+-!
xabcdefghy
In the diagram position, White has an obvious material advantage. However, the position of her king is perhaps slightly shaky.
Can White get rid of the pressure?
30.Qd4
Forcing the exchange of queens. In principle
this is a bad idea when you are playing with
the minor pieces. However, in the present
situation White's material advantage, and the
fact that it is White's king which is under
pressure may well justify this decision. The
question is, though, can Black win the apawn after trading queens? Meanwhile,
White could also win by means of 30.Nd3
Rb5 31.Ke2 Rd5 32.Qb3 and after
32...Qxb3 33.Lxb3 the ending is winning
for White.
30...Qxd4+ 31.exd4 Rxa2 (D)
Material equilibrium has been restored. However, isn't that rook trapped on a2? White's task
is not too difficult after 31...Ke7 32.Kc1 Rb4
96
away a defender of that square and piles up

on the e-file.
16.Kxc3 Nc8! 17.Rae1 Nd6 18.f3 Rhe8
19.Re2 Re7 20.Rhe1 Rae8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+r+-+(
7+p+ktrp+p'
6-+psn-zpl+&
5zp-+p+-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+PmKLzPP+-#
2P+N+R+PzP"
1+-+-tR-+-!
xabcdefghy
The strategy is complete. Black's active
pieces dissuade White from his pawn break.
The doubled pawns on f7 and f6 cannot be
considered a weakness if White cannot get
to them.
21.Na3 b6 22.Kd2 Lxd3 23.Kxd3 f5
24.Nb1 c5!
Reminding Ivanchuk that Black has a queenside pawn majority.
25.Nc3 Kc6 26.a4 Re6 27.Rc1 h5
28.Rcc2 h4 29.Rc1 Rg6 30.Rcc2 Reg8
Note the switch to another half-open file
next to the doubled pawns.
31.Nb1 Ne8 32.Nc3 Nc7 33.e4
Finally, to get active, but now the doubled
pawns disappear.
33...fxe4+ 34.fxe4 Rg5 35.exd5+
This was a very instructive game, which
could easily be bypassed, as in my experience many players completely ignore games
which are drawn; they simply don't play
them through! Short showed how to juggle
with doubled pawns and come out the other
side intact.
Failing to appreciate danger is a common

mistake at the chessboard and can lead to a
purely defensive position. Let see the following game, where Black makes precisely
this error.
Pert Richard
Rendle Thomas
C03 Canterbury 2010
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Le7 4.Ld3 c5
5.dxc5 Nf6 6.Qe2 Nc6 7.Ngf3 Nb4 8.0
0 Nxd3 9.cxd3 Lxc5 10.Nb3 Le7
11.Lg5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqk+-tr(
7zpp+-vlpzpp'
6-+-+psn-+&
5+-+p+-vL-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+N+P+N+-#
2PzP-+QzPPzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
The critical position. What do you think
Black should do now?
11...Qb6?!
It is hard to believe that this is a mistake, but
from now on Pert develops an enduring initiative. It appears that Black must force a
decision with 11...h6, pre-empting e5:
11...h6! 12.Lh4 (12.Lxf6 Lxf6 13.e5 Le7
14.Rac1 00 15.Rc2 a5 16.Rfc1 Ld7
17.Nc5 Lxc5 18.Rxc5 Qb6 19.R1c3
Rac8 20.Qc2 Rxc5 21.Rxc5 Lb5 22.d4
a4 23.Nd2 Qa6 24.h3 Ra8 25.Qc3 Ld7
26.Nf1 Qe2 27.Qd2 Qe4 28.a3 Lc6
29.Ng3 Qh4 30.Rc3 Ra6 31.Ne2 Qg5
32.Nf4 Qf5 33.Nd3 Ra8 34.Nb4 Rc8
35.Qc2 Qf4 36.Qd1 Qe4 37.g3 h5 38.h4
g6 39.Kh2 Kg7 40.Re3 Qf5 41.Rf3 Qg4
42.Nc2 Lb5 43.Ne3 Qe4 44.Rf4 Qd3
45.Qf3 Rc7 46.g4 Qe2 47.Qg2 hxg4
48.Nxg4 Qf1 49.Qxf1 Lxf1 50.h5 gxh5
51.Nf6 Kf8 52.Rf3 Ke7 53.Rg3 Rc2
54.b3 axb3 55.Rxb3 La6 56.Rf3 h4
57.Kh3 Rd2 58.Rf4 Rd3+ 59.Kxh4
Rxa3 60.Ng8+ Ke8 61.Nh6 b5 62.Rxf7
b4 63.Kg5 b3 64.Rf3 Le2 65.Rg3 b2
66.Rxa3 01 Gu Xiaobing-Le Thanh Tu
Subic Bay 2009) 12...Qb6 13.e5 (13.Rac1
121
distraction in order to stop the opponent

from running you down. Developing counterplay from a defensive position is an art, so
let's see how the job is done.
We learn very early that damaging our
pawn structure is a bad idea. Doubled
pawns, isolated pawns, tripled pawns are to
be avoided lest a bad endgame lurks in the
wings. That may be true, but there are certain circumstances when we can make a
poor pawn structure work for us.
There are a few observations worth noting:
1) If your pawn structure is worse don't routinely swap the pieces off. Stay in the middlegame and aim for the initiative.
2) Isolated or doubled pawns generally mean
open lines next to those pawns. Get your
pieces on those open lines.
3) If you must swap pieces, keep your active
pieces on the board at all cost. If you can tie
the opponent down, you might be able to
stop him from realising his strategical advantage. Thus the matter is not clear-cut.
Ivanchuk Vassily
Short Nigel
D35 Linares 1992
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5
5.Lg5 Lf5 6.e3 c6 7.Qf3 Lg6 8.Lxf6
Qxf6 9.Qxf6 gxf6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsn-+kvl-tr(
7zpp+-+p+p'
6-+p+-zpl+&
5+-+p+-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-sN-zP-+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tR-+-mKLsNR!
xabcdefghy
On his road to the World Championship
final against Kasparov back in the early
1990's, Nigel Short seemed willing to play
all sorts of openings where doubled pawns
were involved. This is one such case in the
'Queen's Gambit'. Black's position looks

ghastly, but he has two bishops and he may
be able to tie White down on the dark
squares. I wouldn't like to be playing Petrosian with Black or a player of immense patience, but it is very tough for White to increase his advantage.
10.Kd2
Just supporting Ld3. Of course Black will
not exchange on this square. 10.Nge2 is
another steady move, but in the following
recent game Black easily held the balance:
10...Nd7 11.Nf4 Nb6 12.f3 Ld6 (it is very
important that White cannot contest the dark
squares. This forms the larger part of Black's
'compensation' for the pawn weakness)
13.Kf2 00 14.h4 h6 15.g4 Rae8 16.Re1
Re7 17.Rg1 Kh8 18.Nxg6+ (paradoxical,
but he did not like 18.h5 Lh7 19.Ng2 Rfe8
20.Nh4 [20.Rd1 f5! dissolving the doubled
pawns!] 20...Lh2 21.Rh1 Lf4!, with a
serious hit on the dark squares) 18...fxg6
19.Ld3 Kg7 20.h5 g5 21.Re2 a6 22.Rd1
Grischuk,A-Bruzon Bautista,L Wijk
aan Zee 2005. At this level, the oppositecoloured bishops mitigate in favour of a
draw.
10...Nd7 11.Ld3 a5 12.Nf3 Nb6 13.b3
Kd7 14.Ne1 Lb4 15.Nc2 Lxc3+ (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+-tr(
7+p+k+p+p'
6-snp+-zpl+&
5zp-+p+-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+PvlLzP-+-#
2P+NmK-zPPzP"
1tR-+-+-+R!
xabcdefghy
Unstereotyped. Short supposedly gives up
his main trump card. In reality Black is looking deeply into the position. White cannot
open up the game without preparing and
carrying out the e4 advance, so Black takes
120
33.Nf3 Kd6 (33...c5 34.Ne5!) 34.Lb3 f6

35.Kc2 c5 36.Kc3 cxd4+ 37.Nxd4 Kc5
38.Ne6+ Kd6 39.g3 and White wins as after
39...Rxb3+? 40.Kxb3 Kxe6 41.Ka4 the
pawn ending is easy. But look what happened:
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-mk-+(
7+-+-+p+p'
6-+p+-+p+&
5zp-+-+-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2r+L+-zPPzP"
1+-+KsN-+-!
xabcdefghy
32.Nd3?
What a pity! The intrepid rook had to be
caught by 32.Kc1! Ra1+ 33.Lb1 Ra4
34.Nc2 c5 35.Kb2 (not 35.dxc5? Rc4 and
Black has an edge) 35...c4 36.La2! Ke7
37.Lb3! (a very neat way to win the rook)
37...cxb3 38.Kxb3 and again the pawn ending loses for Black after 38...Rb4+
39.Nxb4 axb4 40.Kxb4.
32...Ra1+ 33.Kd2 a4
The rook is no longer trapped, and therefore
it is Black who holds an edge!
34.Kc3 a3 35.g3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-mk-+(
7+-+-+p+p'
6-+p+-+p+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3zp-mKN+-zP-#
2-+L+-zP-zP"
1tr-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
35...g5!
Preparing ...Rh1. The standard way to win
such endings is by using the rook's abilities
(long-range, cutting off the king, controlling
both dark and light squares) to their maximum. White will never be able to shift as
quickly between kingside and queenside as
Black.
36.Lb3 h5 37.Nb4 h4 38.Nc2
38.gxh4 gxh4 39.d5 c5 40.Nc2 Rh1
41.Nxa3 Rxh2 42.d6 Rh3+ 43.Kc2
Rxb3! 44.Kxb3 h3 +.
38...Rh1 39.gxh4 gxh4 40.Nxa3 Rxh2
According to plan, Black has traded her
passed a-pawn for a passed h-pawn.
41.La4 Rxf2 42.Lxc6 h3 43.Nc4 Rf1
44.Kb4
44.Ne3? Rc1+ +.
44...h2 45.Ne3 Rb1+ 46.Kc5 f5!
46...Rc1+! 47.Nc4 f5 +.
47.La8
47.Nxf5 Rc1+ 48.Kd6 Rxc6+ +.
47...Re1 48.Nc4
48.Nxf5 Ra1 49.Le4 Ra5+ 50.Kd6 Rxf5
+.
48...Re4
01
Bok Benjamin
Kazhgaleyev Murtas
Wijk aan Zee 2011
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+-+(
7zpp+-+-+k'
6-+-zp-+-+&
5+-+Pzp-+-%
4-zP-+PzpN+$
3+-+-+-+r#
2P+-+-+-+"
1+-+-vLKtR-!
xabcdefghy
The ending is dynamically equal, but very
complicated of course. Even with so few
pieces, White plays for an attack on the king.
97
40.Nf6+ Kh8
Black should be able to hold a draw after
40...Kh6. A sample line runs: 41.Ng8+
Kh5 42.Ne7 Rf3+ 43.Lf2 Ra3 44.Rh1+
Kg4 45.Rh4+ Kg5 46.Rh2 Kg4 47.Nf5
Rxa2 48.Nxd6 Kf3 49.Rh3+ Kg4 =.
41.Rg6?!
41.b5!?.
41...Rc8
41...Rh1+! 42.Kf2 (42.Ke2 f3+ 43.Kf2
Rc8 ) 42...Rc8 .
42.Lf2! Ra3
Not 42...f3 43.Le3! + and since Black
cannot set-up a mating attack, the weakness
of d6 will tell. A sample line: 43...Rh1+
44.Kf2 Rc2+ 45.Kxf3 Rh3+ 46.Rg3
(46.Kg4 Rg2+ 47.Kxh3 Rxg6 48.Ng4 +
) 46...Rxg3+ 47.Kxg3 Rxa2 48.Ne8 +.
43.Ng4 Rxa2?!
Black could have forced a repetition by
means of 43...Rc1+ 44.Kg2 Rc2 45.Nf6
(45.Kg1 Rc1+ 46.Kg2 Rc2 ; 45.Rh6+
Kg7 46.Kf1 [46.Rxd6?? Rg3+ +]
46...Rc1+ 47.Kg2 Rc2) 45...Rc8.
44.Rxd6
Now White has an edge.
44...f3
44...Rc1+ 45.Kg2 Rc3 46.Rh6+! Kg7
47.Rh3 Rxh3 48.Kxh3 b6 49.Lh4! and
the pieces coordinate well.
45.Kg1! Re2 46.Kh2 Rxe4 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-+-mk(
7zpp+-+-+-'
6-+-tR-+-+&
5+-+Pzp-+-%
4-zP-+r+N+$
3+-+-+p+-#
2-+-+-vL-mK"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
47.Nxe5!
White is better, but not winning.
47...Rxb4
47...Rxe5 48.Ld4 Rce8 49.Re6! + ;

47...Re2 48.Kg3 Rg8+ 49.Kxf3 Rxe5
50.Ld4 Rf8+ 51.Kg4 Rff5 52.Lxe5+
Rxe5 53.Kf4 Rh5 54.Rd7 Kg8 55.b5
Kf8 56.Ke4 +.
48.Kg3
48.Lxa7.
48...a5 49.Rh6+ Kg7 50.Rg6+ Kh7 51.d6
Rd8 52.Re6 Rg8+?!
Black should draw with 52...Re4 53.Re7+
(53.Kxf3 Rxe5 54.Rxe5 Rxd6) 53...Kg8
54.Kxf3 Rxe5 55.Rxe5 Rxd6.
53.Kh3?!
White has excellent winning chances after
53.Kxf3 Rf8+ 54.Kg2 Rb2 55.Re7+
Kh6 (there are some neat tactics after
55...Kg8 56.Ng4 Rd2 57.d7 a4 58.Kg3 a3
59.Le1! [59.Le3 Rd3 60.Nh6+ Kh8
61.Nf7+ Rxf7 62.Rxf7 a2 =] 59...Rd3+
60.Kh4 a2 61.Lc3! Rxc3 62.Nf6+ +)
56.Kg3 Rb3+ 57.Kh4 Rb4+ 58.Ng4+
Rxg4+ 59.Kxg4 Rxf2 60.d7 Rd2 61.Kf5
a4 62.Kf6!! (D) (62.Ke6 a3 63.Re8 a2
64.Ra8 Kg6! [64...Kg7 65.Rxa2! +]
65.d8Q [65.Rxa2? Rxa2 66.d8Q Re2+
67.Kd7 Rd2+ +] 65...Rxd8 66.Rxa2 =)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+p+PtR-+-'
6-+-+-mK-mk&
5+-+-+-+-%
4p+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-tr-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
White combines mating threats with support
for his passed pawn: 62...a3 (62...Kh5
63.Re5+ Kg4 64.Ke7 Kf4 65.Ra5 +)
63.Re1! (63.Re3 Kh5 64.Ke7 a2 =)
63...Kh5 64.Ke7 +.
53...Rb1 54.Re7+
54.Ng4.
54...Kh6??
98
defend against any forthcoming black attack

and eventually round up the pawn on f3.
Instead, after 11.d4 Black also has it all to
prove: 11...fxg2 12.Qf3 Re8 13.Lg5 a5
(13...Lg4 14.Qxg2 Lh5 15.Nd2 Qd6
16.Re5 Lg6 17.Rae1 Kf8 18.Lh4 Ng8
19.Lg3 Qf6 20.Ne4 Lxe4 21.Qxe4 Qg6
22.Qe2 Rad8 23.d5 f6 24.Lc2 Qf7
25.Re6 Rxd5 26.Lb3 Rg5 27.Re3 10
So,W-Shukuraliev,A Guangzhou 2010)
14.Nd2 a4 15.Lc2 Le6 16.Rxe6 fxe6
17.Qh3 g6 18.Re1 Qd6 19.Rxe6 Qd5
20.Nf3 Ld8 21.Rxf6 Lxf6 22.Lxf6 Rf8
23.Lxg6 hxg6 24.Qh8+ Kf7 25.Qg7+
Ke6 26.Qe7+ Kf5 27.Nh4+ Kg4
28.Qe2+ Kh3 29.Qe3+ 10 Shirov,ALahno,K Benidorm 2008.
11...Re8 12.d4
12.Qxf3 Lc5.
12...Lg4 13.Lg5 h6
13...Qd6 14.Qd3 h6 15.Lxf6 Lxf6
16.Nd2 Qxc6 17.Qg6 Le6 18.Qh5.
14.Lxf6 Lxf6 15.Nd2 Qd6 16.h3!
Very good timing. Far from helping Black,
the pawn on f3 is simply getting in his way!
16...Lh5
Or 16...Rxe1+ (16...Lxh3 17.Qxf3 +)
17.Qxe1 Lxh3 18.Qe4! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7+-zp-+pzp-'
6p+Pwq-vl-zp&
5+p+-+-+-%
4-+-zPQ+-+$
3+LzP-+pzPl#
2PzP-sN-zP-+"
1tR-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
which is an effective centralization.
17.Qc2 Lg5 18.Ne4 Qxc6
18...Qg6 19.Qd3 intending Lc2, is very
good for White.
19.Nxg5 hxg5 20.Qf5 Rxe1+
20...Qg6 21.Qxg6 Lxg6 22.Ld5.
21.Rxe1 Re8 22.Re5!

Control of the position is what all strong
chessplayers desire and this is what 22.Re5!
gives to Nakamura. 22.Rxe8+ Qxe8
23.Qe5 Qxe5 24.dxe5 might give Black
some drawing chances.
22...Rxe5 23.dxe5 Lg6
23...Qg6 24.Qxg6 Lxg6 25.Ld5.
24.Qxg5 Qe4 25.Qd8+ Kh7 26.Qh4+
Qxh4 27.gxh4 f6
27...Lh5 28.Kh2 Kh6 29.Kg3 mops up,
with the help of Ld1xf3.
28.exf6 gxf6 29.Ld5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-zp-+-+k'
6p+-+-zpl+&
5+p+L+-+-%
4-+-+-+-zP$
3+-zP-+p+P#
2PzP-+-zP-+"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
You could say that this was the culmination
of White's plan which began with 11.g3.
29...a5 30.b4 axb4 31.cxb4 Ld3 32.Kh2
Lc4 33.Le4+
33.Lxf3 Lxa2.
33...Kh6 34.a3
Easy does it and total self-belief from Nakamura. He saw no ghosts, displayed no fear
of Short's attack and won comfortably in the
end.
10
But how does one acquire this elusive
quality of self confidence? Here are some
good starting tips:
1) Work hard.
2) Play a lot.
3) Listen to good advice from people you
respect and trust.
Counterplay
Counterplay is the main currency of the
successful defender. You need to create a
119
Basic Defence
Andrew Martin
Concept
The topic of defence will have to be approached by the coach at some stage. It is so
important when training young players to
show them how to attack, how to create
combinations and to fire the imagination.
But the other side of the coin is not so far
away and learning how to defend is a most
important skill.
The purpose of this short article is to help
the coach teach basic defence.
Let me list what I think are the skills
needed to become a good defender and then
we will deal with them in order.
1) Self confidence.
2) Counterplay is the essence of defence.
3) Exchanging can break an attack.
4) Return material to get a good position.
5) Attack with the maximum, defend with
the minimum.
Self-Belief
Lets begin with self-belief. This is such an
important quality which helps us to develop
our full potential. Most players have enormous talent for chess which lies unfulfilled
simply because they do not believe in themselves.
How does this apply to defence? Consider
the following game.
There are two important, interlinked components which help a competitor to keep in
form. You have to play a lot and you have to
play with inspiration. Don't underestimate
the second item on the shortlist.
Without inspiration it's easy to become
jaded and results can nosedive at this point.
At the London Chess Classic 2010 Nigel
Short seemed to be lacking inspiration and at
world-class level, any weakness is going to
be exploited.
Nakamura Hikaru
Short Nigel
C89 London 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Lb5 a6 4.La4 Nf6
5.00 Le7 6.Re1 b5 7.Lb3 00 8.c3 d5

9.exd5 e4?! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7+-zp-vlpzpp'
6p+n+-sn-+&
5+p+P+-+-%
4-+-+p+-+$
3+LzP-+N+-#
2PzP-zP-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
The 'Herman-Steiner' variation, considered
very dubious, but of course, very unclear.
Black can often whip up a dangerous attack.
It takes a great player like Nakamura to expose it.
10.dxc6 exf3 11.g3!? (D)
XABCDEFGHY
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7+-zp-vlpzpp'
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5+p+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+LzP-+pzP-#
2PzP-zP-zP-zP"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
A remarkably self-confident move. It's very
easy to see why 11.g3 has been more or less
ignored for so long as it seems to expose
weak light squares around the white king.
But Short never even gets to close to getting
in. Basically Nakamura believes that he can
118
This is a blunder, undoubtedly influenced by

the fatigue of a long game and the time
situation on the clock. 54...Rg7! 55.Nxf3
Rh1+ 56.Nh2 Rd1 57.Lg3 Kg8 should
end in a draw.
55.Le3+ Rg5
55...Kh5 56.Rh7 #.
56.Nf7+ Kg6 57.Nxg5 Rd1 58.d7 a4
59.Nxf3 Kf6 60.Lg5+ Kg6 61.Re6+
Kf5 62.Re5+
And Black finally resigned!
10
Vocaturo Daniele
Siebrecht Sebastian
Wijk aan Zee 2011
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7+p+-+p+p'
6p+-+-tRp+&
5+-+-zpl+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+NsN-+-zP-#
2PzPP+L+-zP"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Material is equal. Nevertheless, the pieces
are doing very well indeed after
23.g4! Lc8?!
The point is 23...Lxc2? 24.Na1! + or
23...Kg7 24.Rb6 or, finally, 23...Le6
24.Nc5. The best chance was 23...Ld7
24.Nc5 (24.Lf3 Kg7 25.Rb6) 24...Lc6
25.Lxa6 Kg7 26.g5 h6 27.h4 hxg5 28.hxg5
Rh8 29.Le2 .
24.Rb6
Or 24.Nc5.
24...Rd8
No better is 24...f5 when 25.gxf5 Lxf5
(25...gxf5 26.Nc5 Kg7 27.Nd5) 26.Rxb7
Lxc2 27.Nc5 should win.
25.Nc5 f5 26.gxf5 gxf5 27.Lc4+ Kh8
28.Nd5
28.Ld5 was also very strong.
28...Rg8+ 29.Kf2 Rg4

29...Rg6 30.Nd3!.
30.Lb3 Rh4 31.Nc7 Ra7 32.Ne8!
Starting the final attack on the king.
32...Rxh2+ 33.Kg1 Rh4 34.Rf6 h6
35.Rf8+ Kh7 36.Rf7+ Kh8
Or 36...Kg6 37.Rg7+ Kh5 38.Lf7 # or
38.Nf6 #.
37.Nf6
10
Navara David
Spoelman Wouter
Wijk aan Zee 2011
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-tr-mk(
7+pvl-wqpzp-'
6-snp+-sn-zp&
5zp-+-zp-+-%
4-+-zP-+-sN$
3zPLsN-zP-+P#
2-zPQvL-zPP+"
1+-+-tRRmK-!
xabcdefghy
A complex position. Navara now embarks
on an interesting adventure:
16.Lxf7!?
Black is fairly comfortable after 16.Nf5
Lxf5 17.Qxf5 a4 18.La2 e4.
16...Qxf7 17.dxe5
Not 17.Ng6+ Kg8 18.dxe5 Nfd7 19.Nxf8
(19.e6 Qxe6 20.Nxf8 Nxf8) 19...Nxe5
when Black is better.
17...Nfd7 18.Ng6+ Kg8 19.Nxf8 Nxe5
20.f4
Speed is of the essence. White needs to push
his kingside/central majority, otherwise the
pieces will be too strong.
20...Nec4 21.Lc1 Qxf8 22.b3!? Nxa3
22...Nd6 23.e4.
23.Lxa3 Qxa3 24.Nb5 Qe7
Perhaps 24...cxb5 25.Qxc7 Nd7! planning
26.e4? Qc5+ 27.Qxc5 Nxc5.
25.Nxc7 Qxc7 26.e4
99
This is hard to assess. In principle Black is

better, unless White is able to push his
pawns as fast as possible to prevent Black
from consolidating.
26...Ld7 27.e5 Nd5 28.f5 Rf8 29.Rf3 b5
30.f6 Le8 31.Qf5 gxf6 32.exf6 Qf7??
This blunders the game. A draw is the outcome after 32...Kh8! 33.Rxe8! Rxe8 34.f7
Rf8 35.Qe6 Kh7 36.Qe4+ with a perpetual.
33.Rg3+ Kh8 34.Rg7 Qxg7 35.fxg7+
Kxg7 36.Qe5+ Kg6 37.Qb8 Nf6 38.Re7
10
Aronian Levon
Shirov Alexei
Wijk aan Zee 2011
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+r+k+(
7+p+-+pzp-'
6-wQ-+l+-zp&
5zp-sn-+-+q%
4-+P+p+-+$
3+-+-zP-vL-#
2P+-+-zPPzP"
1+R+RsN-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Levon Aronian is a real genius in positions
with unequal material. Here he decides to
unbalance the game with
24.Rd5!? Lxd5 25.Qxc5 Red8 26.cxd5
Qxd5 27.Qc2
As we know, trading queens is, in principle,
what White should avoid: 27.Qxd5 Rxd5
28.Rxb7 Rd2 29.a3 Ra2 and with such
passive pieces White cannot be better.
27...b5 28.Qb2 b4
This is more or less forced after 24.Rd5.
Play is dynamically equal.
29.Le5 Qd2
Again Shirov offers to trade queens.
30.Qa1
30.Lxg7 Qxb2 31.Lxb2 Rd2 .
30...Qe2 31.Ld4
31.Lxg7? Rd2 +.
31...Rab8 32.h3 f6
Again both sides have consolidated and play
remains equal. Black has blocked the diagonal, while White has blocked the d-file and
has positioned his bishop in the best possible
way.
33.Rb2 Qb5 34.Qb1 Qd5 35.Qd1 Rbc8
36.Rd2 Qe6 37.Kh2 Rd7 38.g3 Rdc7
Shirov has doubled rooks on the c-file and is
now ready to penetrate.
39.Lb2
Tactically defending the square c1.
39...Qxa2 40.Le5 Qxd2?
The proverbial mistake on move 40 (although White is not winning yet). Correct
was 40...Rc1! 41.Qxc1 Rxc1 42.Rxa2
fxe5 43.Rxa5 (43.Ng2?? b3 +) 43...Rxe1
44.Rb5 Rb1 45.Rxe5 b3 46.Rxe4 Rf1
47.Rb4 Rxf2+ 48.Kg1 and the rook ending is a draw.
41.Qxd2 fxe5 42.Qd5+
Only White has chances here. However, the
knight is still passive and the passed pawns
on the queenside are a real issue.
42...Rf7 43.Kg2 Rcf8 44.h4 Kh8?!
44...a4 45.Qxe4 Rxf2+ 46.Kh3 a3 .
45.Qxe4 Rxf2+?!
Exact calculation is required for the draw
after 45...b3! 46.Nd3 b2 47.Nxe5 Rxf2+
48.Kh3 Rf1 49.Ng6+ Kg8 50.Ne7+ Kh8
(50...Kf7? 51.Nf5 b1Q 52.Qe7+ Kg6
53.h5+ Kxf5 [53...Kxh5 54.g4+ Kg6
55.Qxg7 #] 54.g4 #) 51.Ng6+ =.
46.Kh3 b3 47.Nd3 b2 48.Qb7!?
48.Nxf2 Rxf2 49.Qa8+ Kh7 and White
cannot win.
48...R8f7?
The note to move 51 explains why this is a
mistake. Black could still draw with 48...a4
49.Nxb2 a3 50.Nd3 a2 51.Qa6 Rd2
52.Nb4 h5 53.Nxa2 Rff2 54.Qa8+ Kh7
55.g4 =.
49.Qb5! a4 50.Nxb2 a3 51.Nd3 Rf1
51...a2 52.Nxf2 a1Q 53.Qe8+ Kh7
54.Qxf7 shows why Shirov's 48th move
was a mistake.
52.Qa4 Rh1+ 53.Kg4
And Black resigned
10
100
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7tr-sn-wq-+p'
6-+-+l+-vL&
5+p+-wQL+-%
4-+-+-tR-+$
3+-zp-zP-+-#
2-+-+-+PzP"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Black's position looks scary with the king

being all exposed. However, it seemed that
Black is getting out of trouble with the following combination:
1...Ra1+ 2.Kf2 Rf1+ 3.Kxf1 Lc4+
And winning White's queen.
4.Ld3!!
First (instead of White moving his king out
of the check) changes the whole picture.
4...Lxd3+ 5.Kf2 Qxe5
and now
6.Rf8 #
is possible!
10
Fdration Internationale des checs (FIDE)

In FIDE and in the Trainers Commission we
never joke about the quality of our plans and
general work. This fact allows us to joke about
everything else.
117
Black with his last move (...Lxc1) was hoping to simply trade bishops before getting
out of the pin (on the d-file). It turned out to
be a mistake as White has another and better
option than the immediate recapture on c1.
16.Rxd7! Qxd7 17.Qg4 Qxf5
Or 17...g6 18.Nxh6+ Lxh6 19.Qxd7.
18.exf5
And White won.
10
Arakhamia Grant Ketevan
Spassky Boris
Roquebrune 1998
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-+k+(
7+p+-+-zp-'
6-zpn+-tr-zp&
5+-wqp+-+-%
4-+p+lzPL+$
3zP-zP-wQNzP-#
2-zP-+-+-zP"
1+-+RtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Here the ex-World Champion played
1...Lxf3
His opponent decided not to recapture right
away, but to first exchange the queens with
2.Qxc5?
White overlooked (or underestimated) that
Black has another option than the natural
recapture on c5. Black responded with the
unexpected
2...Lxd1!!
Now Black will have a rook, a bishop, and a
knight for the white queen and pawn. This in
itself isn't necessarily a decisive material
advantage, but combined with the weaknesses around the white king, it gives Black
the upper hand.
3.Qxb6 Lxg4 4.Qxb7?!
This only makes life easier for Black.
4...Rb8
Now the rook enters to the second rank
which is very strong, especially because
both the f- and g-pawns of White's have advanced already.

5.Qc7 Rxb2 6.a4 Lh3 7.a5 Rg2+ 8.Kh1
Ra2
Now the a-pawn is lost too. White resigned.
01
Hromadka Karel
Prokop Frantisek
Prague 1926
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-wql+p+-'
6p+-zp-+pzp&
5+pzpPvl-+-%
4-+-zp-sN-zP$
3+-+P+-zPL#
2PzPP+QzP-mK"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
Here Black played
1...Lxf4?
With hopes to ruin White's pawn structure.
However, Black forgets that White doesn't
have to recapture but has a better move:
2.Qe7!
This pin and the entrance to the seventh rank
is very powerful.
2...Lc1 3.Le6!
This is a pretty move using the fact that
Black's bishop is pinned.
3...Qc8
After 3...fxe6 4.dxe6 White's passed pawn is
unstoppable.
4.Lxf7+ Kg7
4...Kh8 would only shorten the end by two
moves: 5.Qf6+ Kh7 6.Lxg6+ Kg8
7.Qf7+ Kh8 8.Qh7 #.
5.Le8+ Kg8 6.Qf7+
And Black resigned as mate is unavoidable.
10
Boz Haluk
Denni Helene
Correspondence 1963
116
A Very Special Ending

Uwe Boensch
Concept
On July 11th, 1972 in Reykjavik, the famous World Championship match Spassky
vs Fischer started. The first game was
marked by an unforced bishop sacrifice in
the ending, which will be our theme in this
survey:
Spassky Boris
Fischer Robert
Reykjavik 1972
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-mk-+(
7zpp+-+-zpp'
6-+-vlpzp-+&
5+P+-+-+-%
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2-+-+-zPPzP"
1+-vL-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
29...Lxh2?!
A dubious choice by the future 11th World
Champion. Even if this move is sufficient
for a draw, it in any case makes play more
difficult for Black in the future. Right at the
start of the search for a move, a goal must be
formulated which is based on an evaluation
of the position. Here Fischer over-estimated
his position and set himself an overambitious goal. After 29...Ke7 30.h3
(30.Ke4 f5+ 31.Kd4? Lxh2) 30...e5 = followed by 31...Ke6, Fischer had no problems
in drawing.
30.g3 h5
30...Ke7!? (maybe this would be the best
practical try) 31.a4 (31.Ld2 Kd6 32.Lb4+
Ke5 [32...Kd7 33.Ke4 e5 34.Kf3 +] 33.
e4 f5 [33...g5 34.Lc3+ Kd6 35.Lxf6 +]
34.Lc3+ Kd6 35.Ke3 g5 36.Ld4 b6
37.Kf3 e5 38.Lc3 g4+ 39.Kg2 fxe4

40.Kxh2 Kd5 [40...e3 41.Kg2 e4 {41...e2
42.f4 gxf3+ {42...exf4 43.gxf4 Ke6 44.Kf2
Kf5 45.Le5 +} 43.Kxf3 Kc5 44.Kxe2
Kxb5 45.Lxe5 +} 42.Kf1! Kc5 43.a4
Kc4 44.Le1 Kd3 (D) {44...Kb3 45.a5
Kc4 46.axb6 axb6 47.Ke2 exf2 48.Lxf2
Kxb5 49.Ld4 Kc6 50.Ke3 +}
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
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1+-+-vLK+-!
xabcdefghy
45.fxe3 Kxe3 46.Lc3 Kd3 {46...Kf3
47.Le5 h5 48.Lb8 e3 49.Lxa7 h4 50.gxh4
g3 51.Lxb6 +} 47.Le5 Kd2 {47...e3
48.Ke1 +} 48.Lf4+ e3 49.Lh6 Kd3
50.Ke1 Kc4 51.Lf4 Kb4 52.Lb8 Kxa4
53.Lxa7 Kxb5 54.Ke2 +] 41.Kg2 e3
42.Kf1! +) 31...Kd6 32.La3+ Ke5 33.e4
f5 (33...g5 34.Lb2+ Kd6 35.Lxf6 +)
34.Lb2+ Kd6 35.Lxg7 f4 36.g4 Kc5
37.Lf8+ Kb6 38.Lb4 f3 39.Ke3 +.
31.Ke2 h4
If Black plays 31...g5 32.Kf3 g4+ 33.Kg2
h4 34.Kxh2 h3 then White wins with 35.f3
f5 36.e4 Ke7 (36...gxf3 37.Kxh3 fxe4
38.Le3 +) 37.e5 +. See the variations
after 32...g5 instead of 32...Ke7.
32.Kf3
After 32.gxh4? Ld6 Black's strategy works
and he can continue to play for a win.
32...Ke7 (D)
32...h3 leads to a win for White after
101
33.Kg4 Lg1 34.Kxh3 Lxf2 35.Ld2! +.

32...g5?! 33.Kg2 g4 34.Kxh2 h3 35.f3 f5
(35...gxf3 36.Kxh3 f5 37.e4! fxe4 38.Le3
+) 36.e4 Ke7 37.e5! a6 38.a4 axb5
39.axb5 Kf7 40.Le3 Kg6 41.Kg1 Kh5
(41...f4 42.Lxf4 Kf5 [42...gxf3 43.g4 +]
43.fxg4+ Kxg4 44.Kh2 +) 42.Kf1 gxf3
43.Kg1 Kg4 44.Kh2 f2 (44...f4 45.gxf4 f2
46.Lxf2 Kxf4 47.Lg3+ Kg4 48.b6 +)
45.Lxf2 Kf3 46.Lb6 f4 47.gxf4 Kxf4
48.Lc7 Kg4 49.Ld6 Kh4 50.Le7+ Kg4
51.Lf6 +.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7zpp+-mk-zp-'
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5+P+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-zp$
3zP-+-zPKzP-#
2-+-+-zP-vl"
1+-vL-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
33.Kg2 hxg3 34.fxg3 Lxg3 35.Kxg3 Kd6
36.a4!
The bishop should be brought into play via
a3 and in addition the b5-pawn will be protected.
36...Kd5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
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6-+-+pzp-+&
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4P+-+-+-+$
3+-+-zP-mK-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-vL-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
If 36...Kc5 there then follows 37.La3+

Kc4 38.Lf8 g6 39.Le7! f5 40.Kf4 Kd5
41.Lf6 a6 42.b6 Kc6 43.Ke5! Kxb6
44.Ld8+ Kc5 45.a5! winning.
37.La3 Ke4
This move was criticised by many commentators. But it is no worse than the moves
suggested: 37...a6, 37...Kc4 or 37...e5:
37...e5 38.Kg4 Ke4 39.Lc5 a6 (39...b6?
40.Lxb6! axb6 41.a5 f5+ 42.Kg5 f4
43.exf4 exf4 44.a6 f3 45.a7 f2 46.a8Q+
Ke3 47.Qg2 +).
37...a6 38.b6 (38.bxa6 bxa6 39.Kf4 Kc4
40.Le7 is not enough for a win either:
[40.Lf8 g5+ 41.Kf3 {41.Ke4 a5 42.Le7
f5+ 43.Kf3 g4+ 44.Kf4 Kb3 {44...Kd3?
45.Lg5! +} 45.Lh4 Kxa4 46.Ke5 Kb3
47.Kxe6 Kc4 48.Kxf5 Kd3 49.e4 a4 50.e5
a3 51.e6 a2 52.Lf6 g3 53.e7 a1Q!
{53...g2?? 54.e8Q g1Q 55.Qb5+ Kc2
56.Qc4+ Kd1 57.Qd3+ Kc1 58.Qc3+
Kd1 59.Qa1+ +} 54.Lxa1 g2 55.e8Q
g1Q g1Q with a draw} 41...Kd3 42.Le7
g4+ 43.Kf2 g3+ 44.Kf3 g2 45.Kxg2 Kxe3
=] 40...Kd3 41.a5 e5+ 42.Kf3 g5 43.Lxf6
g4+ 44.Kf2 g3+ 45.Kxg3 Kxe3 = ; 38.Lf8
axb5 39.axb5 Ke4 40.Lxg7 [40.Kf2 f5
41.Lxg7 e5 and ...f4 = ; 40.Lc5 e5 =]
40...Kxe3 41.Lxf6 b6 42.Ld8 Kd3
43.Lxb6 Kc4 = ; 38.Kf4 g5+ 39.Kf3 axb5
40.axb5 g4+! 41.Kxg4 Ke4 42.Lc5 e5
43.Kh5 f5 44.Kg6 f4 45.exf4 exf4 46.Kf6
Kd5 47.Lf2 b6! =) 38...Kc6 39.a5 (39.Lf8
Kxb6 40.Lxg7 Ka5 41.Lxf6 Kxa4
42.Kf4 b5 43.Ke5 b4 44.Kxe6 b3 45.Kd5
Kb4! [45...Ka3?] 46.e4 a5 =) 39...Kd5.
37...Kc4?! 38.Lf8 g6 (38...Kb3 39.a5
[39.Lxg7? Kxa4 40.Lxf6 Kxb5 41.Kf4
Kc4 42.Ld4 a5 43.Ke5? {43.Kf3 =}
43...b5 44.Kxe6 a4 45.Lf6 b4 46.e4 a3
47.Kf7 b3 48.e5 b2 49.e6 b1Q 50.e7 Qh7+
51.Kf8 - the 'wrong' side is having to fight
for a draw] 39...g5 40.a6 bxa6 41.bxa6 f5
42.Kf3 g4+ 43.Kf4 Kc4 [43...e5+
44.Kxe5 g3 45.Lc5 Kc4 46.Lxa7 Kb5
47.Kxf5 Kxa6 48.Ld4 g2 49.e4 +]
44.Ld6 Kb5 45.Kg5 Kxa6 46.Kf6 Kb5
47.Kxe6 Kc4 48.Kxf5 Kd3 49.e4 a5 50.e5
g3 51.e6 g2 52.Lh2 +) 39.Le7 f5 40.Kf4
Kb3 41.a5 Kc4 42.a6 bxa6 43.bxa6 Kb5
102
5.Nc5!
This is the second intermediate move,
threatening to fork with Nd7+.
5...Ke7 6.axb5!
As an end result of the combination, White
is up a pawn.
6...Nd6 7.Ra1 Nc8 8.Lc4 Lg8 9.f4 Lf7
10.e5
Soon all of the black pieces will become
paralyzed and the white king can freely enter
the Black camp.
10...fxe5 11.fxe5 Rb6 12.Ke3 Le8 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+n+l+-+(
7zp-+-mk-zp-'
6-tr-+p+-zp&
5+PsN-zP-+-%
4-zPL+-+-+$
3+-+-mK-+-#
2-+-+-+PzP"
1tR-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
13.Ra6!
This move indirectly protects the b5 pawn. If
now 13...Lxb5 14.Rxb6.
13...Ld7 14.Kd4 Le8
Black has no choice but to sit and watch
how White improves his position move by
move.
15.h4 Ld7 16.Le2 Rb8 17.Nxd7 Kxd7
18.Lf3!
This move stops any plan of counterplay to
activating the black rook through b7-c7.
18...Rb6
Naturally, the b5-pawn was taboo because of
the fork (with Lc6+).
19.Kc5 Rb8 20.h5 Kd8 21.Lc6 Ke7
22.Ra3 Kf7 23.Le4
Now Black is helpless; either the white king
will enter to c6 or the rook through the d- or
f-files.
23...Ke7 24.Kc6 Kd8 25.Rd3+ Ke7
26.Kc7
10
Simagin Vladimir
Beilin Mikhail Abramovich
Vilnius 1946
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7+N+-+qzp-'
6p+-+Rsnpzp&
5+p+-+-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+Q+-+-+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1+-tR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
In the position above, White is a pawn up.
White's last move was Nxb7. The knight on
b7 is now indirectly protected due to the
discovery threats in the air. Remarkably,
Black has a way to still win a piece.
1...Nd5!
This powerful intermediate move wins!
2.Re2
The knight (on d5) couldn't be captured because of the back rank problem: 2.Qxd5
Qxf2+ 3.Kh1 Qf1+ with a back rank mate.
2...Qxb7 3.Rc5 Rad8 4.Re5 Qf7!
01
Balashov Yuri
Biyiasas Peter
Manila 1976
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7+pzpl+pzp-'
6p+n+-+-zp&
5+-+-zpN+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+LzP-+Q+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tR-vlR+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
115
rook to d8. No, as after the immediate capture on d3, White has a hidden trap with
2.Rxc3!, using Black's back rank weakness.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-+-mk(
7+p+-+p+p'
6p+p+lwq-+&
5+-+-+N+-%
4PzP-+PwQ-zP$
3+-vlL+-+-#
2-+-+-zPP+"
1+-tR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Therefore, it is very important to first include the trade with
1...Lxf5
Now after
2.e5!! (D)
Is White still saved? 2.exf5 Rxd3 Black is
already free to escape with the king via g7.
Not quite!
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-+-mk(
7+p+-+p+p'
6p+p+-wq-+&
5+-+-zPl+-%
4PzP-+-wQ-zP$
3+-vlL+-+-#
2-+-+-zPP+"
1+-tR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
2...Ld2!! 3.Qxd2
3.exf6 Lxf4.
3...Qxh4 4.Rc3 Qd4
And the pin is deadly. Here are the rest of
the moves of the game:
5.e6 fxe6 6.Qe1 Lxd3
Here White tried his last chance:
7.Rxd3
In hopes for perpetual checks...

7...Qxd3 8.Qe5+ Kg8 9.Qxe6+ Kg7
10.Qe7+ Kg6 11.Qe6+ Kg5 12.Qe7+
Kf5 13.Qf7+ Kg4 14.f3+ Kg3 15.Qg7+
Kf4 16.Qh6+ Ke5 17.Qg5+ Ke6
True, there were many checks, but finally
White is running out of them.
01
Alekhine Alexander
Bogoljubow Efim
Wiesbaden 1929
XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-trnmk-+(
7zpp+-+-zpl'
6-+-+pzp-zp&
5sN-+-+-+-%
4PzP-snP+-+$
3+-sN-+P+-#
2-+-+-mKPzP"
1+-tRR+L+-!
xabcdefghy
Black almost managed to get out of his troubles, all he needs is, to play ...e5 and then his
only real bad piece can get back to the game
with ...Lg8. But it is White's turn and
Alekhine found a nice way to make use of
the temporary discoordination between the
black pieces. After a difficult start, Black is
close to getting out of his troubles. All he
needs to play is e6-e5 and then Black's only
real bad piece can get back to the game with
Lg8.However, it is White's turn and
Alekhine found a nice way to make use of
the temporary lack of coordination between
the Black pieces.
2.Nb5! Nxb5
This is forced. Otherwise, Black would lose
the a7-pawn.
3.Rxd8 Rxd8 4.Nxb7!
The first intermediate move!
4...Rb8
If 4...Rd2+ then 5.Ke3 Nbd6 6.Kxd2
Nxb7 7.Rc8 followed by 7.Ra8 and
8.Rxa7 with an easy win for White.
114
44.Ke5 Kxa6 45.Lc5! +.

38.Lc5! a6
38...b6? 39.Lxb6 axb6 40.a5 +.
39.b6! f5 40.Kh4 f4?
Fischer does not find the best defence and
quickly loses. With 40...Kd5 he could have
put up stiffer resistance: 41.Lb4! (41.Ld4?
f4 42.Lxg7 fxe3 43.Kg3 Kc5 44.a5 Kb4
45.Kf3 Kxa5 46.Ld4 e5 47.Lxe3 Kb5
48.Ke4 a5 49.Kxe5 Kc6! 50.Ke4 a4
51.Kd3 a3 52.Kc2 Kd7 53.Kb3 Kc8
54.Lf4 a2 55.Kxa2 Kd7 = Blacks king
cant be driven away from its pawn ; 41.Lf8
g6 [41...Ke4 42.Lxg7 Kxe3 43.a5 f4
44.Kg4 f3 45.Lf8 f2 46.Lc5+ Ke2
47.Lxf2 Kxf2 48.Kf4 Ke2 49.Ke5 Kd3
50.Kxe6 +] 42.Kg5 Ke4 43.Kf6! Kxe3
44.Kxe6 Kd4 45.Kd7 f4 46.Ld6 f3
47.Lg3 +) 41...Ke4 (41...Kc6 42.a5 Kd5
43.Kg5 Ke4 44.Kg6 Kxe3 45.Kxg7 e5
[45...Kd4 46.Kf6 Kd5 47.Ld2 Kd6
48.Lf4+ Kd5 49.Le5 Kc4 50.Kxe6 Kb4
51.Kd7 Kxa5 52.Kc7 +] 46.Kf6 Ke4
47.Ld6 +) 42.Lf8 Kxe3 (42...g6 43.Kg5
Kxe3 44.Kxg6 +) 43.Lxg7 f4 44.a5 f3
45.Lf8 f2 (45...e5 46.Kg3 Ke2 47.Lc5 e4
48.Kf4 Kd3 [48...f2 49.Lxf2 Kxf2
50.Kxe4 +] 49.Le3 +) 46.Lc5+ Kf3
47.Lxf2 Kxf2 48.Kg5 Ke3 49.Kf6 Kd4
50.Kxe6 +.
41.exf4 Kxf4 (D)
[47...Ke4 48.Kf6 g3 49.Lxe5 g2 50.Lh2

+] 48.Kf6 g2 49.Lxe5+ Ke4 50.Lh2 +)
44.Kg6! a5 45.Kf6 Ke4 46.Lxe5 Kd5
47.Lc7 g4 48.Kf5 Kc4 49.Kxg4 Kb4
50.Kf5 Kxa4 51.Ke5 Kb5 52.Kd6 a4
53.Ld8 a3 54.Kc7 a2 55.Lf6 Ka6 56.La1
+ ; 42...e5 43.Kg6 e4 44.Kxg7 e3
45.Lxe3+ Kxe3 46.Kf6 Kd4 47.Ke6
Kc4 48.a5 +.
43.Le3
Other bishop moves such as, for example
43.La3, 43.Lf2 and 43.Le7 also win.
43...Ke4
43...g6+ 44.Kh6 e5 45.Lg5 e4 46.Le3
Kf6 47.Ld2 Kf5 48.Lg5 +.
44.Lf2
44.Lg5 Kd5 45.Kg6 Kc5 46.Le3+ Kb4
47.Kf7! (47.Kxg7? Kxa4 48.Kf6 Kb5
49.Kxe6 Kc6 =) 47...Kxa4 48.Kxe6 Kb5
49.Kd7 +.
44...Kf5 45.Lh4 e5
45...g6+ 46.Kh6 e5 47.Lg5 e4 48.Ld2
Kf6 (48...Kg4 49.Kxg6 Kf3 50.Kf5 e3
51.La5 +) 49.Le3 Kf5 50.Lg5 +
(zugzwang).
46.Lg5 e4 47.Le3 Kf6 48.Kg4 Ke5
49.Kg5 Kd5 50.Kf5 a5
50...Kc4 51.Kxe4 Kb4 52.Kd5 Kxa4
53.Kd6 Kb5 54.Kc7 a5 55.Kxb7 +.
51.Lf2 g5 52.Kxg5 Kc4 53.Kf5 Kb4
54.Kxe4 Kxa4 55.Kd5 Kb5 56.Kd6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+p+-+-zp-'
6pzP-+p+-+&
5+-vL-+-+-%
4P+-+-mk-mK$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+p+-+-+-'
6-zP-mK-+-+&
5zpk+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-vL-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
42.Kh5! Kf5
42...g5 43.Ld6+ e5 (43...Kf5 44.a5 e5
45.Lc5 Kf4 46.Kg6 g4 47.Ld6! g3
Spassky played superbly: 56....a4 57.Kc7

Ka6 58.Lg3 a3 59.Le5 a2 60.La1 +.
10
103
Finding Moves
Uwe Boensch
Concept
The most important aspects of the algorithm for finding moves (according to
C.Lutz):
1. Evaluate the position and formulate a
realistic goal.
Evaluation of the position according to
specific criteria.
Which goal should be achieved? (equality,
an advantage, counterplay, etc.).
Which manoeuvres (exchanges, etc.) make
sense?.
The evaluation and the goals determine the
search.
If the aim is not achieved, then a new goal
must be formulated (steps 5 and 6).
2. Search for the appropriate candidate
moves.
Search for candidate moves: these are
moves which you think of straight away (at
most, 3 to 6 moves).
First sift through and evaluate the candidate moves, then calculate.
Have certain types of candidate move been
overlooked?
Questions: What is the disadvantage of the
opponents last move? How can I improve
the position of a piece? etc.
Dvoretskys question: What is my opponent intending?
Things which are hard to spot: long moves,
moving a piece backwards, quiet moves,
moves which put a piece on a square which
is being attacked, moves along the same
line, delayed moves, etc.
During the search, new candidate moves
might appear.
3. Classify and compare candidate moves.
The variation tree should be kept as small
as possible.
The first moves to consider are captures,
checks and forcing moves.
Promising combination? First eliminate
weaker defences.
Doubtful combination? First look for direct
Zwischenzug
Susan Polgar
refutations.
Eliminate alternatives until only a single
move is left.
Compare: a) the opponents options; b) the
position.
4. Calculate and evaluate the candidate
moves.
Calculate the candidate moves in turn (using steps 2 and 3 recursively).
Note the results, evaluate the position.
How reliable is the evaluation?
Which variations are forced (candidate
variations)?
Keep an eye open for safety nets.
Is the calculation stopped too soon / too
late?
Has anything new been spotted during the
search?
5. Is it worth repeating the calculation?
Was an appropriate candidate move found?
How much thinking time do you still have
left?
Have new ideas cropped up?
The move has been found and there is little
thinking time left and no new ideas: go
straight to step 7.
The move has been found and you have a
lot of thinking time left and/or new ideas
have been found: formulate an optimistic
goal, move to step 6 and continue calculating candidate variations.
No move has been found and there is
plenty of thinking time left, and possibly
new ideas have cropped up: search for options you may have overlooked, get rid
of any ballast (Dvoretsky) and move to step
6.
No move has been found and there is little
thinking time left: formulate a pessimistic
goal and move to step 6.
6. Restarting the calculation with different
goals and new ideas.
According to circumstances, return to step
1 and formulate a new goal (this should remain an exception).
104
Concept
As you probably already know, the German word zwischenzug stands for intermediate move or in-between move. This
important topic, however, is often forgotten
in many books on chess tactics. I found over
the years that even good players simply
forget about zwischenzug a lot more frequently than they do about other types of
tactics such as forks, pins, or discoveries etc.
Lets first see a couple of simple examples
from my own experience.
Rodriguez Daniel
Polgar Susan
Tunja 1989
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+kvl-tr(
7zpp+-+pzpp'
6-+N+psn-+&
5wq-+-+-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-sN-+-+P#
2PzP-+lzPP+"
1tR-vLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
This game is from the World Junior Championship. My opponent's last move was
12.Nxc6, assuming that I would either respond with the natural ...bxc6 or ...Lxd1.
However, he was up for an unpleasant surprise as I chose neither. I went with the intermediate move
12...Qxc3
Instead. This wins a piece!
13.Qxe2
Or 13.bxc3 Lxd1 14.Rxd1 bxc6.
13...Qxc6
And I won a little later.
01
In the next example, everything seems to

be fine for Black. However, Black has a
problem. The bishop on b4 is on an unprotected square which enables White to win a
pawn.
Polgar Susan
Cuijpers Frans Andre
Wijk aan Zee 1986
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7zpp+n+pzp-'
6-+p+psnp+&
5+-+p+-+-%
4-vlPzP-+-+$
3+ sN-zPN+-#
2PzP-vLQzPPzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
How can White win a pawn?
11.Nxd5! Nxd5
11...Lxd2 12.Nxf6+ intermediate check.
12.cxd5 Lxd2
Now comes another intermediate move:
13.dxe6! La5
After 13...Lxe3 14.Qxe3 Black is down a
pawn too.
14.exd7 Lc7 15.b4 Qxd7 16.Rab1
White is up a pawn and I won this game.
10
Now let's see some examples from other
players.
Tiviakov Sergei
Giorgadze Giorgi
Gausdal 1992
Can Black win a piece here by capturing
with 1...Rxd3? Then if 2.Qb8+, retreat the
113
was one of the painful moments of my career where I missed the final touch to a 'perfect' game. What I played also wins but it
was not as precise. Being happy with a technical win, I played
XABCDEFGHY
8rsn-+-+-+(
7zpl+-+-+p'
6-zp-zp-zPpmk&
5+-zp-+L+-%
4-zPP+-+-+$
3zP-+-+-+-#
2-+-zP-zP-zP"
1tR-+-mK-tR-!
xabcdefghy
20.Le6
And missed the outstanding finish to this
beautiful game with 20.Rb1! and after
20...gxf5 followed by 21.Rb3 when it
would have been 'game over' immediately.
Here are the rest of the moves of the game:

20...Nc6 21.Ld5 Rf8 22.f7 Nd8 23.Lxb7
Nxb7 24.Rg3 Rxf7 25.Re3 Nd8 26.b5
Rf4 27.d3 d5 28.Re7 dxc4 29.dxc4 Nf7
If 29...Rxc4 30.Rd1 Rd4 31.Rxd4 cxd4
32.Rxa7.
30.Rd1 Ng5 31.Rxa7 Rxc4 32.Ra6 Rc2
33.Rxb6 c4 34.a4 Ra2 35.Ra6 Nf3+
36.Kf1 Nd2+ 37.Rxd2 Rxd2 38.Rc6
Rc2 39.b6
10
Conclusion
But how would you know when to stop
your calculation during a game? When did
you calculate deep enough? Well, there is no
magic rule.
Generally speaking, when there are no
more forceful moves (such as check, capture
of attacking a piece) in sight, it is a good
time to stop and evaluate the position at the
end of the variation.
Remember, many games are decided by
who calculates further. And indeed in sharp
and tactical positions, this could prove to be
decisive.
FIDE TRG
8. Play the move!

Example 1 - Van Scheltinga
XABCDEFGHY
8R+-+-+-+(
7+-+-mkp+-'
6P+-+p+p+&
5+-+pzP-zP-%
4-+-zP-zP-+$
3zp-+-+-+r#
2-+ mK-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
This is a demanding example, illustrating the
necessity for deep calculation of variations.
The choice of the first move will depend on
these very calculations. The original comes
from Van Scheltinga.
1.Kc2! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8R+-+-+-+(
7+-+-mkp+-'
6P+-+p+p+&
5+-+pzP-zP-%
4-+-zP-zP-+$
3zp-+-+-+r#
2-+K+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
Trainers
Awards
The Tree of Chess

Trophy
7. Is the planned move a blunder?

Check the planned move again to see
whether it is a blunder.
If the move is a blunder: return to step 6
and formulate a new goal.
If the move is not a blunder, go to step 8.
112
1.a7? a2 2.Re8+ Kxe8 3.a8Q+ Ke7

4.Qb7+ Kf8 5.Qc8+ Kg7 6.Qc1 Rb3
7.Qa1 Ra3 =. This position had to have
been foreseen and evaluated. Although
White has a great material advantage, he will

not be able to win. The correct evaluation is,
for the moment, almost beyond the reach of
even the strongest engines.
1...a2 2.Kb2 Ra3! 3.Ka1 Kd7
3...Ra4 4.a7 Ra5 5.f5! - see main variation.
4.a7 Ke7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8R+-+-+-+(
7zP-+-mkp+-'
6-+-+p+p+&
5+-+pzP-zP-%
4-+-zP-zP-+$
3tr-+-+-+-#
2p+-+-+-+"
1mK-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
5.f5!
If this pawn sacrifice had not been calculated, then White would be losing.
5...exf5
[5...gxf5 is refuted by 6.g6 (or 6.Rh8)
6...fxg6 7.Rh8 g5 8.a8Q Rxa8 9.Rxa8 g4
10.Rg8 Kf7 11.Rg5 +.
6.e6!
Once more this is the only move which does
not lose, but it wins the game for White.
6...f4!
6...fxe6 7.Rh8 e5 8.a8Q Rxa8 9.Rxa8 f4
(9...e4 10.Ra7+ Kd6 11.Ra6+ Ke7
12.Kxa2 e3 13.Kb3 e2 14.Ra1 f4 15.Kc3
f3 16.Kd2 +) 10.Kxa2 f3 (10...Ke6
11.Re8+ Kf5 12.dxe5 +) 11.Kb3 f2
12.Ra1 e4 13.Kc3 e3 14.Kd3 +.
7.Rh8!! (D)
(see next diagram)
The actual point, which was hard to calculate. 7.exf7? is only good enough for a draw.
After 7...Kxf7 8.Rh8 f3 9.a8Q Rxa8
10.Rxa8 f2 11.Ra7+ the black monarch
cannot go to the 6th rank, since then Ra6+
followed by Rf6 wins for White. Nor can it
get any closer to the white rook since it has
to guard the f-file.
105
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-tR(
7zP-+-mkp+-'
6-+-+P+p+&
5+-+p+-zP-%
4-+-zP-zp-+$
3tr-+-+-+-#
2p+-+-+-+"
1mK-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
7...f3
7...Kxe6 8.a8Q Rxa8 9.Rxa8 Kf5
10.Ra7 Kxg5 (10...f6 11.gxf6 Kxf6
12.Kxa2 g5 13.Kb2 g4 14.Kc2 g3 15.Kd3
g2 [15...Kf5 16.Rg7 +] 16.Ra1 Kf5
17.Rg1 f3 18.Ke3 Kg4 19.Kf2 + ;
10...Ke4 11.Rxf7 Ke3 12.Kxa2 f3
13.Kb3 f2 14.Kb4 Ke2 15.Kc5 +)
11.Rxf7 +.
8.a8Q Rxa8 9.Rxa8 f2 10.Ra7+ Kxe6
11.Ra6+ Kf5 12.Rf6+ Kxg5 13.Rxf7!
(D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+R+-'
6-+-+-+p+&
5+-+p+-mk-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2p+-+-zp-+"
1mK-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
13...Kg4 14.Rxf2 g5 15.Kxa2 Kg3
16.Rf5
10
Example 2 - Gurgenidze
XABCDEFGHY
8-+k+-+-+(
7mK-zp-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-zP-zp-+-%
4LzP-+-+-+$
3zp-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
This famous study by Gurgenidze is splendidly suited as an exercise in finding hidden
moves.
1.Lb3! (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+k+-+-+(
7mK-zp-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-zP-zp-+-%
4-zP-+-+-+$
3zpL+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
Here too, precise calculation is called for in
order to be able to decide on the correct
move. The continuation 1.b5? a2 2.b6 cxb6
3.cxb6 a1Q 4.b7+ Kd8 5.b8Q+ Ke7
6.Qe8+ Kf6 = is not sufficient for a win.
1...e4 2.b5 e3 (D)
(see next diagram)
3.La4!!
A fantastic multi-function move! The bishop
controls the d7- and e8-squares. At the same
time, it blocks the a-file and thus prevents
the a-pawn from promoting with check.
3.b6? cxb6 4.cxb6 Kd7! 5.b7 a2! 6.Lxa2 e2
106
13...g6 after a lengthy thought. She clearly

anticipated the upcoming sacrifice but misevaluated its outcome.
XABCDEFGHY
8rsn-wq-trk+(
7zpl+-+p+p'
6-zp-zp-+p+&
5+-zp zpLzP-%
4-zPP+-sn-+$
3zP-wQ-+N+-#
2-vL-zPPzP-zP"
1tR-+-mK-tR-!
xabcdefghy
14.Nxe5!!
Of course this is an easy combination to
spot. After 14...dxe5 15.Qxe5, Black's position is rather hopeless due to the weakness
of the dark squares around the black king.
However, the more challenging part during
the game was to find the various resourceful
counterattacking moves that Black had, and
not less importantly, their refutations.
14...Nxe2
However, before continuing further with the
game moves, let's look at some other interesting options that Black had. I had to calculate very carefully before going forward with
the sacrifice in my last move. 14...Qe7 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsn-+-trk+(
7zpl+-wqp+p'
6-zp-zp-+p+&
5+-zp-sNLzP-%
4-zPP+-sn-+$
3zP-wQ-+-+-#
2-vL-zPPzP-zP"
1tR-+-mK-tR-!
xabcdefghy
is one of them with the idea to 'pin' the
knight to e5. Fortunately, I found the elegant

15.Le4!! move which unpins my knight.
After that White wins. For example,
15...Lxe4 (15...dxe5 16.Lxb7 Nxe2
17.Kxe2 Qxb7 18.Qxe5 f6 19.Qe6+ Rf7
20.gxf6) 16.Nc6 Nd3+ 17.Kf1. Also after
14...Qe8 (14...dxe5 15.Qxe5 Ng2+
16.Rxg2 f6 17.Le6+) the same idea prevails: 15.Le4!! Lxe4 16.Ng4.
15.Nxf7!!
A second sacrifice! If now 15...Kxf7 then
16.Qg7+ Ke8 17.Lf6 and the black queen
is trapped. Therefore 17...Rxf6 is a must but
after 18.gxf6 Black is lost. The idea behind
this sacrifice is that if I capture 15.Kxe2
now, then after 15...dxe5 16.Qxe5? Black
can pin the white queen with 16...Re8.
15...Nxc3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8rsn-wq-trk+(
7zpl+-+N+p'
6-zp-zp-+p+&
5+-zp-+LzP-%
4-zPP+-+-+$
3zP-sn-+-+-#
2-vL-zP-zP-zP"
1tR-+-mK-tR-!
xabcdefghy
16.Nh6+!
This was an unexpected check. Instead of
the game move of 16.Nh6+, if I decided to
play 16.Nxd8 Rxd8 then White would end
up being a piece down. Even after 17.Le6+
Kf8 18.Lxc3 White would still lose because of the pin with 18...Re8.
16...Kg7 17.Lxc3+ Rf6 18.Lxf6+ Qxf6
19.gxf6+ Kxh6 (D)
My opponent actually saw everything up to
this point. In the post game analysis, she told
me that she totally forgot that in this position, she no longer has her rook on f8 anymore. White has a significant material advantage. Therefore, the position is already
winning no matter what. Unfortunately, this
111
Here Black is also surviving after 19...Lxg4

(but not 19...Ne4 20.Nxg6 [20.Nxe4
Qxh4 +] 20...Lxc3 21.bxc3 Lxg4 22.f3
Lh3 23.fxe4 Rg8 24.Rf7+ Kxg6 25.Qf2
Kh5+ 26.Kh1 Lg2+ 27.Kh2 Lxe4
28.Lg5 Qxg5 29.Rxe4 +) 20.Qxg6+
Kh8 21.Lxh6 Rg8 22.Lxg7+ Rxg7
23.Qh6+ Kg8 24.Ng6 Nh7 with complications. 17.Lxh6!? was also not bad with a
strong attack after 17...Lxh6 (17...Nxg4
18.Lxg6+ Kxg6 19.Rxe8 +) 18.g5 Lg7
19.gxf6 Lxf6 20.Ne4 .
17...Ng4
This was my top choice. After 17...hxg5
18.Nxg5+ Black is lost.
18.gxh6 Nde5
The key variation that I spent a considerable
amount of time calculating was 18...Nxe3
19.hxg7 Nxf1 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqr+-+(
7zpp+n+-zPk'
6-+-zp-+p+&
5+-zpP+-+-%
4-+P+-+-+$
3+-sNL+N+-#
2PzP-wQ-zP-+"
1+-+-tRnmK-!
xabcdefghy
At first I was trying to make one of the
forceful moves such as the sac with
20.Lxg6+ or 20.Ng5+ work. Those ideas
did not work. But it was quite pleasurable
when I finally noticed the hidden quiet move
20.Qg5!! that unexpectedly wins the game!
For example, 20...Qxg5+ 21.Nxg5+ Kxg7
22.Rxe8 and the black knight on f1 gets
trapped after 22...Nd2 23.Re2 Kf6 24.f4.
Black also loses after 18...Lxh6 19.Lxh6
Rxe1 20.Rxe1 Nxh6 21.Lxg6+ Kxg6
22.Re6+ Nf6 23.Qg5+ Kf7 24.Qxh6
Lxe6 25.Ng5+ Ke8 26.Nxe6 Qe7
27.Qh8+ +.
19.Ng5+!
This in-between move wins a piece. After

19.Nxe5 Lxe5 Black would still get some
counter chances.
19...Kg8
Moving into a discovery with 19...Kxh6
would be deadly too.
20.hxg7 Nxd3
20...Nxe3 21.Qxe3.
21.Qxd3 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqr+k+(
7zpp+-+-zP-'
6-+-zp-+p+&
5+-zpP+-sN-%
4-+P+-+n+$
3+-sNQvL-+-#
2PzP-+-zP-+"
1+-+-tRRmK-!
xabcdefghy
21...Lf5
My opponent actually thought he was doing
OK, until he realized that after 21...Nxe3 I
don't have to recapture on e3. I can play
22.Qxg6! instead. The rest was easy.
22.Nce4 Ne5 23.Qe2 Kxg7 24.Kg2 Qe7
25.Lf4 Nf7 26.Qd2 Qd7 27.Qc3+ Ne5
28.Nxd6
10
The next position came from one of the
games which I played only a few months
after the game above.
In this game, my opponent was my old
rival (and friend), the legendary former
Women's World Champion Maia Chiburdanidze at the Calvia Chess Olympiad.
Polgar Susan
Chiburdanidze Maia
A17 Calvia 2004
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Lb4 4.Qc2 00
5.a3 Lxc3 6.Qxc3 c5 7.b4 b6 8.Lb2 d6
9.g4 Lb7 10.g5 Nh5 11.Rg1 e5 12.Lh3
Nf4 13.Lf5 g6 (D)
After only 13 moves we have reached an
original position. Maia had just played
110
7.b8Q e1Q .
XABCDEFGHY
8-+k+-+-+(
7mK-zp-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+PzP-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3zpL+-zp-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
3...e2
3...a2 4.b6 cxb6 (4...a1Q 5.b7+ Kd8
6.b8Q+ Ke7 7.Qe8+ Kf6 8.Qh8+ +)
5.cxb6 a1Q 6.b7+ Kd8 (6...Kc7 7.b8Q #)
7.b8Q+ Ke7 8.Qe8+ Kd6 9.Qd7+ Kc5
10.Qc6+ Kb4 11.Qb5+ Kc3 (11...Ka3
12.Qb3 #) 12.Qe5+ +.
4.b6 cxb6
4...c6 5.b7+ Kd7 6.b8Q e1Q 7.Qd6+ Ke8
8.Qxc6+ Kf7 9.Lb3+ Kg7 10.Qb7+ Kf6
11.Qb6+ Kg7 12.c6 +.
5.cxb6 e1Q (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8-+k+-+-+(
7mK-+-+-+-'
6-zP-+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4L+-+-+-+$
3zp-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-wq-+-!
xabcdefghy
6.b7+ Kd8 7.b8Q+ Ke7 8.Qe8+
10
Example 3 - Avni
And here is another study to help with the
finding of moves and the calculation of
variations. This one is by Amatzia Avni.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-tR-vl(
7+-sn-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+P+-+-%
4-+-+-+p+$
3+-+k+-+-#
2-+-+-+K+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1.d6! (D)
1.Rxh8? Nxd5 =.
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-tR-vl(
7+-sn-+-+-'
6-+-zP-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+p+$
3+-+k+-+-#
2-+-+-+K+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
1...Le5! 2.d7
2.dxc7? Lxc7 =.
2...Ne6 3.Re8 Nf4+ 4.Kg3
4.Kh2? Lc7 5.Rc8 La5 = ; 4.Kf2 Lc7 =.
4...Lc7
4...Nh5+ is followed by 5.Kh4! Lc7
6.Kxh5 g3 7.Rg8 winning. If Black gives
double check with 4...Ne2+ there follows
5.Kf2 g3+ 6.Ke1! (6.Kf1? g2+! [the king
is diverted by the black knight] 7.Kxg2 Lf6
or 7...Lc7 with a draw in each case)
6...Lc3+ (6...g2 7.d8Q+ Ld4 8.Rg8
g1Q+ 9.Rxg1 Nxg1 10.Qd5 + and according to the tablebases, White can force
mate in 22 moves) 7.Kd1 La5 8.Rxe2
107
Kd4 9.Ra2 (9.Rg2 Ke5 10.Rxg3 Ke6

11.Rd3! +) 9...Lc7 (9...Lb6) 10.Ke2
Ke5 11.Ra8 +.
5.d8Q+ Nd5+! (D)
Counter-check!
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-wQR+-+(
7+-vl-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+n+-+-%
4-+-+-+p+$
3+-+k+-mK-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy
6.Re5!!
A wonderful finish. Once more, the ending
of two minor pieces against a queen is
Black's best option.
6...Lxe5+ 7.Kxg4 Ke4 8.Qa8
White will win, but he has a lot of work in
front of him.
10
FIDE TRG Trainers Awards 2008-2009-2010

Medals
2008
2009
2010
Botvinnik Mikhail
(Men Trainer)
Petrosian Arshak
Armenia
Tukmakov Vladimir
Ukraine
Furman Symeon
(Women Trainer)
Ye Jiangchuan
China
Euwe Max
(Juniors Trainer)
Slovenia
Azmaiparashvili Zurab
Georgia
Ye Jiangchuan
China
Slovenia
Boleslavsky Isaac
(Author)
Jussupow Artur
Germany
Grivas Efstratios
Greece
Dvoretsky Mark
Russia
Petrosian Tigran
(Special Achiev.)
Lputian Smbat
Armenia
Nikitin Aleksandr
Russia
Illescas Miguel
Spain
Bondarevsky Igor
Soviet Union
Bykhovsky Anatoly
Russia
Furman Sumeon
Soviet Union
Chebanenko Vyach.
Moldavia
Koblenz Aleksandr
Latvia
Zaitsev Igor
Russia
Hall of Fame
Botvinnik Mikhail
Soviet Union
Boleslavsky Issac
Soviet Union
Gurgenidze Bukhuti
Georgia
Geller Efim
Soviet Union
Nikitin Aleksandr
Russia
Kart Viktor
Ukraine
Samarian Sergiu
Romania
Dokhoian Yury
Russia
Bykhovsky Anatoly
Russia
108
Calculate Deeper
Susan Polgar
Concept
There are two types of positions in chess,
ones which require precise calculation, and
others where you can largely rely on intuition and judgment.
One of the common mistakes many players make is that they try to calculate everything, even at times when there is no need
for it. By doing so, they spend a lot of time
on the clock. This then cause them to end up
in time trouble, which in turn results in mistakes or even blunders on the board.
However, in this article, I would like to
share with you some of my personal experience where actually calculation is crucial. In
fact, the point is to calculate deeper and
more precisely than the opponent.
The first example is from a game of mine
which I played in a small open tournament
in Oklahoma in 2004. This was my first
tournament after a long break since my WC
match against Xie Jun in early 1996.
Polgar Susan
Hulsey Mark
E71 Saltwater 2004
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Lg7 4.e4 d6 5.h3
00 6.Lg5 h6 7.Le3 c5 8.d5 e6 9.Ld3
Nbd7 10.Nf3 exd5 11.exd5 Re8 12.00
Nh5 13.Qd2 Kh7 14.Rae1 f5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqr+-+(
7zpp+n+-vlk'
6-+-zp-+pzp&
5+-zpP+p+n%
4-+P+-+P+$
3+-sNLvLN+P#
2PzP-wQ-zP-+"
1+-+-tRRmK-!
xabcdefghy
15.g4!
This is a very important move. Otherwise
the black knight returns from h5 to f6 and
Black has a decent position. At first glance,
a move such as g4 looks rather risky, especially once your king has already castled to
the kingside. However, here White by playing energetically will justify the aggressive
play.
15...fxg4 16.hxg4 Nhf6 (D)
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqr+-+(
7zpp+n+-vlk'
6-+-zp-snpzp&
5+-zpP+-+-%
4-+P+-+P+$
3+-sNLvLN+-#
2PzP-wQ-zP-+"
1+-+-tRRmK-!
xabcdefghy
This is another key moment in the game.
17.g5
It was clear that White has significant advantage in development, and especially in
view of the rather committing 15.g4, I have
to find to right follow-up to it. In this position, I had three tempting lines to choose
from. Each of them requires substantial deep
calculation. In addition to the move I played,
I also considered 17.Qc2, and even
17.Lxh6. Let's first examine the interesting
complication that can arise starting with
17.Qc2 Black's only response to defend the
pawn on g6 is 17...Nf8. Now, there are two
logical roads: 18.Nh4 to simply attack the
pawn on g6 the third time, but Black seems
to be OK after 18...Nxg4 19.Lxg6+ Kg8
20.Lxe8 Qxh4 21.Lf4 (21.f4 Lxc3
22.bxc3 Lf5 +) 21...Ne5, or first sacrificing with 18.Lxg6+ Nxg6 and then 19.Nh4.
109

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