mastering the endgame GLENN FLEAR l"P yCopyrighted Material First published 2001 by Everyman Publishers ple, formerly Cadogan Books: ple, Gloucester Mansions, 140A Shaftesbury Avenue. London WC2H 8HD Copyright © 2001 Glenn Flear ‘The right of Glenn Flear to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library, ISBN 1 85744 233 4 Distributed in North America by The Globe Pequot Press, PO Box 480, 246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437-0480. All other sales enquiries should be directed to Everyman Chess, Gloucester Mansions, 140A Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8HD tel: 020 7539 7600 fax: 020 7379 4060 email: dan@everyman.uk-com website: www.everyman.uk.com EVERYMAN CHESS SERIES (formerly Cadogan Chess) Chief Advisor: Garry Kasparov Commissioning editor: Byron Jacobs Typeset and edited by First Rank Publishing, Brighton Production by Book Production Services Printed and bound in Great Britain by The Cromwell Press Ltd., Trowbridge, Wiltshire Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material Contents Bibliography 4 _/ Introduction 5 1, Learn from the Masters 9 2. Principles of Rook Endgames 30 3. Theory of Rook Endgames 53 4, Pawns and Queens 84 ’ 5. Minor Pieces 104 / 6, Rook vs, Minor Piece 140 7. Solutions to Exercises 161 Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material Contents Bibliography 4 _/ Introduction 5 1, Learn from the Masters 9 2. Principles of Rook Endgames 30 3. Theory of Rook Endgames 53 4, Pawns and Queens 84 ’ 5. Minor Pieces 104 / 6, Rook vs, Minor Piece 140 7. Solutions to Exercises 161 Copyrighted MaterialChapter One Learn from the Masters 7, Drawish, but not yet Drawn! 7, Active Pieces YZ Patient Play 7, The Benefits of Study Y Try it YourselfCopyrighted Material Mastering the Endgame In my youth I particularly enjoyed playing through games collections, and I found that these were especially instructive when the games were analysed by the players themselves. The time spent generated my interest in certain openings and strategies and — importantly — the way in which world-class players thought. Consequently their ap- proach to the game became less mysterious. I saw how strong players handled simplified positions and this stimulated me to analyse their endings as well as my own, which in turn led to an interest in special- ised endgame works. There were some endings that | found to be so enlightening that they stuck in my memory. I have included ten of my favourites here and [ hope that the reader will enjoy them as much as! did, the moments where important practical decisions were made being particularly useful. Hopefully lessons on these pages will enable you to better make such decisions in your own games! Drawish, but not yet Drawn! Example 1 © Cohn ll Rubinstein St Petersburg 1909 Diagram 1 (B) Diagram 2 (Ww) White-has slight pawn weaknesses Should White detend or attack? Material is level but White has some slight weaknesses in his pawn structure. Black could continue with 1...e5 but after 2 Bd3 followed by Rgl it is difficult to see how he can win by normal means against sen- sible defence. Instead Rubinstein provokes further exchanges (his ap- ponent had clearly been playing for a draw from the very start). 1...Ned+ 2 Bxed Rxed 3 Rel? An exchange too far! 3 fa, gaining space and putting a stop to any Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material Learn from the Masters. ideas of ..Rh4, was more appropriate, although Black could still maintain some pressure with 3.,.Kf%6 4 Kd3 b5 5 Rg! hél, intending .uft5 oF ..g5. White can only wait and defend. Tip: With a slightly worse position, rook endings are much easier to draw than pawn endings. 3..Rxel 4 Kxel Kfé 5 Kd? Kg5 (Diagram 2) 6 Ke? Both kings head for the isolated h-pawn. White could instead abandon the kingside to its fate and move to the queenside to try and make a queen of his own. In such circumstances analysing variations in which one’s mind’s eye is going backwards and forwards can be confusing, which 1s why stronger players ‘count’ moves in order to give them a clearer idea as to the winner of the race. This is how it works: from the diagram position, if White were allowed to queen his b-pawn how long would it take? Ke3-d4-c5-d6-c7xb7xa7 and then b5-b6-b7-b8Q, making a total of eleven moves. If, meanwhile, Black were queening his h-pawn, how long would that take? Kh4-h3xh2-g2 and then ...h7- h5-h4-h3-h2-h1Q. this time only nine moves. Therefore Black appears to be winning after 6 Ke3 etc. However, do not just leave it there — counting is merely a guide, not analysis. We must also take into account who moves first (White in this case) and look to see if anyone can gain time in the race. In fact when White gets to c7 Black can play ...b5!, which gains a further tempo for Black, so White is indeed too slow. The final piece of advice is not to get obsessed with the consequences of a race and miss other ideas, for example 6 Ke3 b6 7 Ked a6, creat- ing a barrier against. the white king. This ean then be met with the idea of pushing the a-pawn to a5. freeing the c5-square for the king to invade and subsequently capture the aG-pawn, thus beginning an- other race! If you want to know what happens, start counting! Tip: Counting is a useful too! but use it only as a guide, not to en- tirely replace analysis, 6...Kh4 7 Kfl Kh3 8 Kgl e5! Preventing 9 f4, when White gains breathing space. 9 Khi b5 Locking up the queenside and keeping a reserve tempo (...07-a6) up his sleeve. White, tied down to his weak h-pawn, can only wait 10 Kgi f5 11 Kh g5 12 Kg] ho 13 Khl g4 14 e4 14 fxg? is given in many books as a better defence but after 14..fxg4 15 Kgl h4 16 Khl ef! 17 Kgl g3 18 hxg3 bxg? 19 fxg3 Kxg3 20 KEL Kf3 21 Kel Kxe3 things are straightforward. 14... fxe4 15 fxed Copyrighted Material "1Copyrighted Material Mastering the Endgame Or 15 fxg4 hxgd 16 Kgl e3 17 fxed e4 18 Kh1 g3 19 hxg3 Kxg3 20 Kg] KES ete. 15...h4 16 Kg! g3 17 hxg hxg3 0-1 18 fxg3 Kxg3 19 Kfl Kf3 20 Kel Kxed is hopeless for White and 18 f4 exfd 19 e5 £3 20 66 g2 21 e7 Ke 22 e8Q f2 is mate. White was totally tied down, which enabled Rubinstein to advance his pawns and create a path for his king to capture the loose e-pawn. Note: A big space advantage against a passive set-up can often be enough to win. Exampie 2 CO Kotov ll Botvinnik USSR Championship 1958 Diagram 3 (W) Diagram 4 (8) Can Black break through? Black needs a second passed pawn Note: Opposite-coloured bishop endings are notoriously drawish despite the disadvantage of a pawn, White naturally avoids the pawn ending. 1 Bdd Bes 2 Kg3 KET 3 hd g6 Both sides put their pawns on squares that cannot be attacked by their opponent's bishop, 4 Kf2 Ke6 5 Ke2 Kfs 6 Kd2 Kg4 7 Bfé Kg3 8 Be7 Kh3 9 Bfé Trading pawns with 9 Bxb4 Kxh4 would give Black an extremely dangerous passed h-pawn as White's king ia too far away 9...Kg4 10 Be7 BES! Botvinmik manoeuvres his bishop to e6, where it will indirectly defend Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material Lear from the Masters. the b-pawn. 11 Bf6 KES 12 Be7 b3 13 Ke3 Be6 The capture 13...Kxe3 leads to the advantage of two pawns but after 14 Kxb3 Kxfd 15 Ke3 Ke3 16 Bei+ Ke 17 Be7! d4+ 18 Kd2 Black cannot progress. 14 Be5 (Diagram 4) Better was 14 Kd2!, which should draw. Now Botvinnik finds an as- tonishing win. 14...g8!! ‘After either capture Botvinnik obtains the desired second passed pawn 15 fxg After 15 hxgS h4 16 Bd6 Bf 17 g6 Bxg6 18 f BxfS 19 Kxb3 Kg2 the ‘h-pawn costs White his bishop. 15...d4+! Defending the b-pawn. 16 exd4 In the event of 16 Bxd4 Black has 16...Kg3 17 g6 Kxh4 18 Kd2 Kh3 19 Bf6 h4 20 Ke2 Kg2! and the white bishop is overloaded. 16...Kg3! 17 Bad Pushing the g-pawn doesn't help as the g8-square is firmly under Black's control 17...Kxh4 18 Kd3 Kxg5 19 Ke4 ha 20 Kf3 Bd5+ 0-1 Black will pick off the d-pawn and march over to win the bishop for the b-pawn, returning to queen the h-pawn (the correct rook's pawn). Tip: Look out for ways to obtain a second passed pawn in opposite- coloured bishop endings. Active Pieces Example 3 CO Ettinger ll Capablanca New York 1907 Capablanca was well-known for his endgame play; one major quality that is quite evident in his games is his understanding of how to han- dle his king, and here is a good illustration. In a complicated position Capablanca finds a way to eliminate White's best defender and then invade with his king, at the cost of a modest. pawn. Copyrighted Material 13Copyrighted Material Mastering the Endgame 14 Diagram 5 (B) Diagram 6 (B) How can Black get his king in? Black needs a final breakthrough 1..Ne4! 2 Nxcd 2 Nfi allows 2..Rf2 3 Kel Rxfl+ 4 Kxfl Nxd2+ 5 Kf2 Ned+ 6 Kxf3 Nxe3 7 Ke3 Kfé! and Black should win, for instance after 8 Kf3 Ne4 9 Rad Nd6 10 Rb4 Ned the d-pawn falls. Note: Two minor pieces generally outplay a rook if they have good ‘squares and some weak pawns to attack, especially if the side with a rook doesn't have any passed pawns. 2..dxe4 3 Rxed Kd5 4 Re8 Following 4 Rad Ke4 5 Ra3 Rg2 6 Kel Rxg3 Black's strong pieces and advanced f-pawn will soon win the game. 4,..Ke4! 5 Re8+ Kd3 6 Rxe2 fxe2+ 7 Kel At first sight White looks as if he might be holding, but Capablanca had prepared a neat finish which eliminates all resistance. 7..Be7 8 BM Bad 9 Bd2 (Diagram 6) 9...f4! Decisively opening the el-h4 diagonal. 10 gxf4 Bd8 0-1 The threat of ..Bh4 causes White to resign. Note: Many endings are decided by a king invasion, for the king can be a powertul attacking piece. Example 4 (O Alekhine ll Yates: London 1922 Black has potential holes on squares such as cé5, ¢6 and, particularly, Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material Learn from the Masters 5, and his bishop is likely to be locked in by his rigid d5-e6-£5 com- plex. Thus White aims to exchange the enemy knight, since then the e5-square will be his property Diagram 7 (W) Diagram 8 (B) White has the e-file and e5 White has invaded! 1 Nb3 ad 2 NeS NxeS 3 Qxc5 ‘The exchange of queens is difficult for Black to avoid. 3..Qx05 4 Rxc5! It is important to keep open and control the e-file. After 4 dxe5 White has a passed pawn but this is not that easy to queen and, further- more, Black will obtain counterplay with 4...e5. 4..b4 5 Rfcl Ba6 6 Ne5 RebS The exchange of rooks with 6...Rec8 7 Rxe8+ Rxe8 8 Rxe8+ Bxc8 does not help as 9 Nc6 wins at least a pawn. Three of White's four pieces are on dominating squares. so now is the moment to increase the pressure by introducing the fourth! 7 £3 b3 8 a3 Closing the wing rules out any hopes of counterplay. 8..h6 9 Kf2 Kh7 10 h4 Played to gain space and further control of the kingside, 10...R68 11 Kg3 RDB Now if Black exchanges all the rooks White puts his knight on c5, hit- ting both ad and e6. 12 Re? ‘The rook invades on the seventh rank, an important moment in many endings. Copyrighted Material 15Copyrighted Material Mastering the Endgame 0 Note: Rooks on the seventh rank tie down an opponent as they attack pawns bath from the side and behind. 12...Bb5 13 Ric5. ‘Tying Black up and gaining time to double rooks on the seventh. Note: Doubled rooks on the seventh rank are almost always a powerful attacking force. 13...Ba6 14 R5c6 Re8 15 Kf White is in no hurry and prepares the decisive entry of his king 15...Kg8 16 h5 BEL 17 g3 Baé 18 RET Kh7 19 Ree? Rg8 20 Nd7 Kh8 21 Nf6 (Diagram 8) The knight cannot be captured due to mate, 21...Rgf 22 Rxg7! Rxf6é 23 Ke5 1-0 Either rook to f8 allows mate with checks on h7 and g7. so the rook is lost. Black resigned in a position that amply illustrates the power of a pair of rooks on the seventh rank as well as that of an active, central- ized king. By gradually increasing control of the board Alekhine never gave his opponent a chance. Example 5 CO Fischer lll Petrosian Buenos Aires 1971 Diagram 9 (W) Diagram 10 (8) White has better pieces. White has much better pieces: White has a nice position as Black has passive pieces and two isolated pawns that require defending. The knight is well-placed on c5 and the bishop on d7 is potentially a ‘bad’ bishop, so White's next move may come as a surprise! Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material Learn from the Masters 1 Nxd7+ When considering exchanges there is a golden rule: Note: It is mot what you exchange that counts, rather what is left on the chessboard! Fischer exchanges one of his opponent's ‘inferior’ pieces but can now use his rook on the e-file, 1..Rad7 2 Rel Rd6 3 Re7 Nd7 4 Re2 g6 5 Kf2 Nudging the king closer to the centre, a particularly sensible policy since Black can do nothing special. 5.uh5 6 f4 hd 7 KES £5 8 Ked Aiming for the perfect central square d4. Black avoids this but at the cost of weakening the a2-g8 diagonal. 8..d4+ 9 Kd2 (Diagram 10) 9...Nb6 This prevents the bishop from coming to ¢4 but, as a consequence, al- lows doubled rooks on the seventh rank. 10 Ree7 Nd5 11 Rf7+ Ke8 12 Rb7 Nxb4 13 Bed 1-0 Coming to e4 anyway. Black resigned as 13..Nc6 14 Rh7 Rf6 15 Rh8+ RES 16 Bf7+ Kd8 17 Rxf8 is already mate. Tip: Don't be atraid of exchanging off a well-posted piece for a poor one if this trade improves the prospects for the rest of your army. Example 6 (Fischer ill Taimanov Buenos Aires 1971 Diagram 14 (B) Diagram 12 (B) ‘The bishop gives White a small edge White's bishop is dominating Copyrighted Material 7Copyrighted Material Mastering the Endgame xa White's bishop is a slightly better piece than the knight, permitting the ereation of play on both flanks. However, the pawns are symmet- rical and the black position is solid 1...b6 2 BFL Provoking a hale on b5. 2...a5 3 Bed R68 4 Kg2 Kd6 5 Kf3 Nd7 6 Re3 Nb8 7 Rd3+ Ke7 8 c3. Keeping the knight from b4 and d4. 8...Ne6 9 Re3 Kd6 10 a4 Blocking Black's queenside pawns but keeping open a potential inva- sion route for his king (c4-b5). 10...Ne7 LL h3 Black is just waiting so Fischer takes his time and gradually increases his territorial advantage. 11...Ne6 12 h4 h5 Avoiding a big squeeze on the kingside with h4-h5 and g3-g4-g5, but fixing his own pawns on light squares in the process 13 Rd3+ Ke7 14 Rd5 5 Another pawn on a light square and a weakening of e6 are the further costs of competing for some space. 15 Rd2 Rf6 16 Re2 Kd7 17 Red g6 18 BbS Rd6 19 Ke2 Kd8 Black should really have tried to keep rooks on the board with 19...Ke7, 20 Rd3! ‘The exchange of rooks exposes the g6-pawn to attack. White's king is also free to threaten invasion and Black's knight has difficulty in cov- ering both flanks. 20...Ke7 21 Rxd6 Kxd6 22 Kd3 Ne7 23 Be8 Kd5 24 Bf7+ Kd6 25 Ked Ke6 26 Bes+ Gaining further ground, 26...Kb7 27 Kb5 Ne8 Warning: Don't get so carried away with your intricate schemes that you forget the safety of your own king! ‘The threat is 28...Nd6 mate! 28 Be6+ Ke7 29 Bd5 (Diagram 12) 29...Ne7 ‘The alternative defence 20...Nd6+ 30 Ka6 Ne4 31 Bf7 Nxg3 32 Bxgé Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material Leam from the Masters. Ke6 is best met by 33 Be8+ Ke7 34 Kba!, intending to invade on d5, Then 34,,.Ne2 35 Bxh5 Nxf4 36 BE3 Nh3 37 hd Ng5 38 h6 leaves White's passed pawn as the most dangerous, while after 34...Kb7 35 Ke4 Ke7 86 Kd5 Ne2 37 Ked the king goes pawn hunting. 30 Bf Kb7 31 Bb3 Ka7 32 Bdl Kb7 33 Bf8+ Ke7 After 33.,.Ka7 ugzwang results from 34 ed. The white king then heads for the weakness on g6: 34...Ng8 35 Ke6 NfG 36 Kd6 Ne4+ 37 Ke6 Nxgd 38 KET Ned 39 Kxg6 Nd6 40 b3 Kb8 41 Kxh5 etc, 34 Ka6 Ng8 35 Bd5 Ne7 36 Bcd Nc6 37 Bf7 Ne7 38 Be’ Zugzwang! Black is stretched to the limit, defending his two weak pawns, 88...Kd8 39 Bxg6! A fine breakthrough. The knight is no match for the army of pawns. 39...Nxg6 40 Kxb6 Kd7 41 Kxc5 Ne7 42 bd axb4 43 exb4 Ne8 44 ab Nd6 45 b5 Ned+ 46 Kb6 Ke8 47 Ke6 Kb8 1-0 Black did not wait for 48 b6 Nxg3 49 a6 Ned 50 a7+ Ka8 51 b7+ Kxa7 62 Ke7 ete. Tip: If you have an edge, but nothing definite, try to accumulate ‘small advantages and to obtain concessions from your opponent. Patient Play Diagram 13 (B) Diagram 14 (W) White has slightly better pieces White needs to enter with the king Copyrighted Material 19Copyrighted Material Mastering the Endgame 0 The symmetrical pawns offer Black reasonably good chanees to draw. However. White retains a nagging edge due to his slightly superior minor pieces. Note: A very smail advantage can be persistent if there is no counterplay. L..Ke7 2 Na Probing the queenside, 2...Be8 3 Nb4 Kd6 4 £3 Ng 5 hd Nh6 6 Kf NfS ‘The knight is well placed here but Karpov does not allow it to stay for long 7 Ne? £6 8 Bd3 g5 Kasparov tries to play actively but cannot avoid most of his pawns be- ing stuck on light squares. 9 BxfS BxfS 10 Ne3 Bb1 11 ba! Fixing the pawns. 1L.gxh4 (Diagram 14) If White recaptures on hd with the pawn then there is ne invasion route into the black camp. Karpov, however, has a master stroke pre- pared... 12 Ng2t Investing a pawn for an entry square. Kasparay, who almost certainly missed this move, now has to sit and watch an instructive display of a good knight dominating a bad bishop. Tip: Strong retreating moves are often simply missed by an oppo- nent! This is because we are naturally accustomed to aggressive gestures and attacking ideas as forward-moving (and not only in chess). 12...hxg3+ After 12...h3 13 Nf, followed by K#2-g1-h2, both h-pawns soon fall. 13 Kxg3 Ke6 14 Nf4+ Kf 15 Nxh5! The simplest. 15...Ke6 16 Nfl+ Kd6 17 Kg4 Be2 18 Kh5 Bdl 19 Kg6 Ke7 Or 19...Bxf3 20 Kxf6 Bg4 21 Nd3 Bh3 22 Ned Be8 23 Kf7 and Black is in zugawang and has to give way — 23...Ke7 24 Ke7 Ke6 25 KdB etc, 20 Nxd5+ Ke6 21 Ne7+ Kd7 22 Nxa6é Bxf3 23 Kxf6 Kd6 24 KfS Kd5 25 Kf4 Bhi 26 Ke3 Ke4 27 Ne5 Be6é 28 Nd3 Bg2 29 Ne5+ Ke3 30 Ng6 Ked $1 Ne7 Bb7 32 NfS Bg? 33 Nd6+ Kb3 34 Nxb5 Kad 35 Nd6 1-0 Copyrighted Material