od et PS ET Training PU re om OO through a practical training courseAMBIT This is an endgame manual with a difference. As soon as a topic has been introduced and a few basic ideas discussed, you are immediately invited to immerse yourself in the subject by solving a series of relevant positions. The solutions to these positions feature a wealth of practical advice and further discussion of endgame principles and the key theoretical points. This carefully worked-out training programme will enable you quickly and painlessly to determine where your strengths and weaknesses lie, and thus set about correcting any faults. Alll the main types of endgames are covered: pawn endings, minor-piece endings, rook endings and queen endings. Rosen discusses important elements in endgame strategy. such as pawn- structure, passed pawns, space advantage, breakthrough and zugzwang. Endgames are often highly tactical, and this is reflected throughout this, book in exercises that require precise calculation, and in sections devoted to typical tactical themes, The wealth of exercises throughout this book also make it an ideal endgame refresher course that will be of great benefit even to those who are already highly proficient in the endgame Bernd Rosen is a highly qualified trainer who writes a regular column in a German chess magazine. He gained his FIDE Master title in 1987 and has played in the German Bundesliga for ‘many years. ‘Gambit Publications Ltd is: Managing Director: Murray Chandler GM Chess Director: Dr John Nunn GM Editorial Director: Graham Burgess FM For further information about Gambit Publications, write to us at Gambit Publications Ltd, P.O. Box 32640, London W14 OJN, England Or send an e-mail to: info@gambitbooks.com http iw. gambitbooks.com Other titles from Gambit Publications include: Fundamental Chess Endings Karsten Maller and Frank Lamprecht Secrets of Rook Endings John Nunn Endgame Challenge John Nunn Chess Endings Made Simple fan Snape How to Become a Deadly Chess Tactician David LeMoir Chess Training for Budding Champions Jesper Hall The Road to Chess Improvement Alex Yermolinsky The Ultimate Chess Puzzle Book John Emms £13.99 $19.95 ISBN 1 904600 01.8 | 9!781904 MtChess Endgame Training Bernd Rosen Foreword by Karsten Miller Translated by Marc Becker AMBETSecond German edition published in Germany under the title Fit iin Endspiel by ChessGate AG 2001 First English edition published in the UK by Gambit Publications Ltd 2003 Copyright © ChessGate AG 2001, 2003 English translation © Mare Becker 2003 The right of Bernd Rosen to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, Allrights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar con- dition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication data is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 904600 01 8 (2nd German edition ISBN 3 935748 01 9). DISTRIBUTION: Worldwide (except USA): Central Books Ltd, 99 Wa Tel +44 (0)20 8986 4854 Fax +44 (0)20 8533 5821 E-mail: orders@Centralbooks.com USA: BHB International, Inc., 302 West North 2nd Street, Seneca, SC 29678, USA. is Rd, London £9 SLN. For all other enquiries (including a full list of all Gambit chess titles) please contact the publishers, Gambit Publications Ltd, PO. Box 32640, London W14 OIN. E-mail: info@gambitbooks.com Or visit the GAMBIT web site at http://www.gambitbooks.com Edited by Graham Burgess ‘Typeset by John Nunn Printed in Great Britain by The Cromwell Press, Trowbridge, Wilts. Cover image by Wolff Morrow 10987654321 Gambit Publications Ltd Managing Director: GM Murray Chandler Chess Director: GM John Nunn Editorial Director: FM Graham Burgess German Editor: WPM Petra Nunn Contents Symbols Prefaces Foreword Introduction 1 King and Pawn vs King: Basic Themes The Rule of the Square ‘The Obstacle The Opposition The Waiting Move Key Squares Further Examples 2 The King’s Typical Fighting Methods ‘Triangulation The Zigzag ‘The Body-check Play on Two Wings Further Examples 3. Typical Pawn Structures in Pawn Endings (1) The Protected Passed Pawn Connected Passed Pawns Outside Passed Pawn, Further Examples 4 Typical Pawn Structures in Pawn Endings (2) Pairs of Isolated Passed Pawns Space Advantage Further Examples 5 Typical Pawn Manoeuvres in Pawn Endings The Spare Tempo The Blockade Sousa 12 16 16 17 7 18 21 2 25 25 26 27 39 39 44 45 48 524 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING Breaking Up Breakthrough Further Examples 6 The Rook's Pawn ‘The Key Squares of the Rook's Pawn Rook's Pawn and Minor Piece Further Examples. 7 Knight Endings Knight vs Pawn(s) Knight and Pawn vs Knight Strategy in Knight Endings Further Examples 8 Bishop Endings Bishop vs Pawn(s) Bishop and Pawn vs Bishop Opposite-Coloured Bishops Good and Bad Bishops Further Examples 9 Knight vs Bishop Endings Knight and Pawn vs Bishop Bishop and Pawn vs Knight Knight ot Bishop? Further Examples 10 Rook Endings (1) The Cut-Off King The Extended Square Rook vs Connected Passed Pawns Further Examples 11 Rook Endings (2) ‘The Bridge Manoeuvre The Philidor Position The Karstedt Manoeuvre Further Examples 52 52 53 57 57 61 63 65 65 70 70 n 73 1 7 8 80 80 84 84 88 89 90 a 93 97 99 99 103 103 107 109 109 CONTENTS 12. Rook Endings (3) The Frontal Attack The Rook’s Pawn Typical Tactics in Rook Endings Further Examples 13 Rook Endings (4) Maxim 1: Rooks belong behind passed pawns Maxim 2: Play as actively as possible! Maxim 3: Prevent counterplay Further Examples 14 Queen Endings (1) The Staircase Manoeuvre Winning Zones with Rook’s and Bishop’s Pawns Further Examples 15 Queen Endings (2) Queen and Pawn vs Queen Strategy and Tactics in Queen Endings Basic Ideas in Queen Endings Further Examples 16 Endings from Easy to Difficult 17 Advice for Teachers General Advice Advice on the Individual Chapters How to Deal with Errors Bibliography Index of Players Index of Composers and A 113 113 u7 118 119 122 122 126 127 128 132 132 136 138 141 141 144 147 147 150 163 163 164 169 172 174, 176Symbols + Ch Cht Weh ct OL ir corr. 10 Ye-Mp 0-1 ) (D) WB BIW check double check capture checkima brilliant move good move interesting move dubious move bad move blunder White is winning equal position Black is winning championship team championship world championship candidates event olympiad junior event correspondence game the game ends in a win for White the game ends in a draw the game ends in a win for Black nth match game see next diagram White to move Black to move ‘The position should be considered first with White to move, then with Black to move. The position should be considered fi then with White to move. t with Black to move, Preface to the First German Edition In recent years So many new chess books have been published that one needs compelling arguments and a good portion of con! another one to this legion. The subject of the endgame has also been examined from various an- gles, Nevertheless, this book offers something new. Whoever tries to prepare endgame training material for a chess group soon finds out that one is left alone here despite the overwhelming wealth of material. The classic works by Averbakh, Chéron, Euwe and Keres are too comprehens and dry. Furthermore, these books lack examples which allow a topic to be prac- tised by repetition. It is true that collections of studies offer interesting positions but usually they are too difficult and they do not offer a systematic coverage. Books about teaching chess usually address much stronger chess-players. Per- haps Kostiev is an exception; his book Schach lehren leichtgemacht particularly addresses teachers but offers very little material that goes beyond an introduc- In this book, | will present 15 lessons t coaching or for self-instruction. The material will be complemented by a collec- tion of exercises which will revisit all subjects dealt with; these could function ei ther as an assessment in the beginning of a training course or as a means of measuring success at the end of the course. In the years 1987-8 I developed this course while acting as a trainer at the Katernberg chess club. Later I refined it after testing it at clubs, at chess groups in companies and last but not least at training courses for the North Rhine- Westphalia chess federation. ‘The encouragement to present this endgame course in a book also developed from these training courses because I saw that chess teachers constantly found it necessary to reinvent the wheel. Individual lessons were published in the news letter of the North Rhine-Westphalia chess federation and these also met with a positive response. My chess friend Karlheinz Bachmann had the task of a critical review of the manuscript. I am grateful to him for many valuable hints on both the chess as- pects and the layout and organization of the material. From a technical point of view, this book probably would not have been real- ized without the support of Rolf Schlisser. My girlfriend Beate also actively assisted in the preparation of the text. Fur- thermore, especially in the last phase of this work, she encouraged me to carry on and thus her contribution to the fact that I actually crossed the finishing line was crucial at you can use immediately, either for eri8 CHESS ENDGAME Jam very much indebted to all the people mentioned above. Without their en couragement and support, the present work would never have gone beyond the planning stage. Bernd Rosen Essen, August 1995 Preface to the Second German Edition More than five years have passed since the publication of the first German edi- tion of Chess Endgame Training. Despite being an optimist by nature, I am still surprised by the positive reception of this book. With regard to the first edition, I have received a few (fortunately not so many!) comments about mistakes or inaccurate variations. These have all been corrected for this second edition. I am indebted to all readers who have bothered to draw my attention to such flaws. Especially I have to name GM Karsten Miiller from Hamburg who turned out to be an extremely attentive reader and user of Chess Endgame Training. This second edition particularly profits from my correspon- dence with him. Beyond these corrections, I have made several comments more detailed in or- der to mention additional side variations. This particularly takes into account the needs of the less able among the reader Bernd Rosen Essen, June 2001 Foreword by GM Karsten Miller The lessons of the legendary chess schools of the old Soviet Union widely prac- tised the method of starting at the end, i.e. with endings that only include kings and pawns. Based upon that, each piece can be introduced in turn to move to- wards more complex endings. But which books are available in order to learn the basic principles of the endgame? The classic works by Yuri Averbakh, André Chéron and Max Euwe consist of several volumes; these encyclopaedias of chess endings are indispens- able reference books but for practical use in chess instruction they are too volu- minous and too dry. This is the problem Bernd Rosen wants to tackle with his book. He has struc- tured the material into 16 chapters which are all organized in more or less the same Way. After an introductory example, which is used to explain the most important basic principle, he presents exercises and detailed solutions, together with rules and concepts. Thus the teacher can start immediately without any fur- ther preparation, and self-instruction is also made a lot easier. The space that is allocated to each type of ending depends on its significance in practice; for exam- ple, itis completely justified that four full chapters are dedicated to rook endings, which occur very often — only pawn endings, which are the basis for all the other endings, occupy more space. Despite this, knight, bishop and queen endings are not neglected, I wish you a lot of fun with Chess Endgame Training, whether you intend to use it for teaching or for self-instruction Karsten Miller Hamburg, August 2000Introduction The famous German grandmaster Siegbert Tarrasch — one of the strongest play- ers of his time — recommended learning the game of chess by starting with the endgame. His still very readable teaching book Das Schachspiel is structured ac- cordingly. After an explanation of the rules, he begins with the endgame, then demonstrates typical tactical procedures in the middlegame, and only in conclu- sion does he give an overview of the opening Leading grandmasters of the past and the present share his view about the ex- traordinary significance of the endgame. Despite this, the endgame knowledge of most chess-players is surprisingly poor. Young players especially prefer opening knowledge and brilliant combina- tions. This book is designed to counterbalance this bias. It covers some important and basic principles, presents elementary positions and manoeuvres and last but not least tries to convey a sense of the endgame’s beauty. ‘The reader is assumed only to have the most basic endgame knowledge (espe- cially the mating of the ‘Ione king’). Usually each topic starts with the simplest basic positions. If you come across something familiar, you may take it as a posi- tive sign that you already possess some knowledge and that something learned before has not been forgotten. The selection of topics is based on two main points. I have dedicated five chapters to pure pawn endings as they form the basis of all other endings (possi- ble simplifications to a pawn ending have to be evaluated again and again in al- most every other ending). The topic of rook endings covers four chapters, as rook endings appear most often in practice. Endings with minor pieces occur less of- ten and so are afforded less detailed coverage. Thaven’t included endings with minor piece(s) vs rook and endings with vari ous pieces vs queen. From my point of view such endings with a complicated balance of material could be the subject of a additional course which focuses even more on endgame principles. Readers could refer to the mote advanced book Endgame Strategy by Shereshevsky. ‘Those who wish to use the material in this book for chess instruction will find recommendations for the design of the lectures at the end of the book. For those who wish to use the material for self-instruction, here are a few tips. At the beginning of each chapter you will find an example to introduce the topic (diagram x.1). Next is a ‘standard program’ (generally exercises x.2 10 x.7) which INTRODUCTION a covers the most important aspects. In any case, these examples should be solved independently. The more seriously you solve the positions yourself, the more you will learn! Only after a serious attempt at a solution should you consult the solution part for help. The subsequent examples (given in the text as ‘further ex- amples’) are often more complicated but illustrate the topic in more depth. Here again independent solutions increase the learning effect. If you don’t find your own solution in the text it isn’t necessarily incorrect ~ it could be a side variation which isn’t mentioned in the text. Every attempt ha been made to include the most important lines and check them for accuracy, but possible errors can’t be totally ruled out. From this viewpoint I recommend that you read the final section of Chapter 17, ‘How to deal with errors’ And now I wish you a lot of fun with Chess Endgame Training! Bernd Rosen1 King and Pawn vs King: Basic Themes Square © Obstacle * Opposition * Waiting Move « Key Squares The Rule of the Square If the defending king can step into the square of the pawn, then he can stop the pawn. If not, the pawn can pro- mote, We call the square that encloses the pawn’s diagonal to the promoting rank the “square of the pawn’, If the pawn is still on its starting square, then the square rule must be applied to the square in front of the pawn, If White is to play, then he can win the game by simply advancing his pawn: lad The pawn on a4 has the square ad- ed-e8-a8. The black king is not able to catch it any more: 1.814 2 aS skeS 3 a6 d2d6 4 a7 hc7 5 a8 With Black to move, his king steps into the square of the pawn and se- cures the draw: 1.83 = 1...sef4 = obviously serves the same purpose. 2ad wed 3 a5 dS 4 a6 eb 5 a7 &b7 6 aBli+ soxad KING AND PAWN VS KING: BASIC THEMES BCHESS ENDGAME TRAINING KING AND PAWN Vs KING: BASIC THEMES 1S16 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING The Obstacle 1.2 Although the black king is ‘actu- ally’ close enough, his own d5-pawn prevents him from stepping into the square of the a5-pawn. After 1..d4 2 a6 d3 3 a7 d2 4 a8¥i+ + he is one step too late! The Opposition In many endings the possession of the opposition is crucial, especially when the kings are fighting about the pro motion of a pawn. ‘The kings ‘oppose’ each other when all the corners of the square around the kings are of the same colour (see be- low). Whoever in this position is not to move has the opposition. Close Opposition ‘The kings directly face each other. Distant Opposition ‘The two kings face each other on a vertical or horizontal line but further apart. Diagonal Opposition KING AND PAWN VS KING: BASIC THEMES 7 If itis Black to move, White has the opposition and wins: 1...S2d8 2 47 ‘Be7 3 eT +. The pawn will queen if it reaches the seventh rank ‘silently’ (i.e. without check). 14 Black has the opposition because he is not to move. 1ed5 a7 1...92f67? voluntarily abandons the opposition — Black loses: 2 $46 (2 5+? is wrong because then Black achieves a draw again: 2..ee7 3 ef tes! 4 Ld6 Sd8! 5 e7+ Wes 6 Heo 2...Sef7 3.€5 Wes 4 Seb Ses 5 dT 2e5 he7 3.e6(D) The kings are placed on the same diagonal. 13 17+ If the pawn moves to the seventh rank with check, then promotion can’t be forced: 1...848 2 206 stalemate 3.8008! 3...hed8? 4 d6 Wes 5 e7 (without check!) 5...d2f7 6 bd7 +, 4sed6 ted8 5 e7+ With check! eB 6 Leb = If Black is to move, he has to aban- don the opposition and loses: 1...8d7 (1..f7 2 d6 + is symmetrical) 2 216 eB 3 eG S18 4 Ld7 GET 5 eS + 1.5 When the king reaches the sixth rank before his pawn then the pawn will promote, no matter who is to move: 1 26 S28 2 6 de8 3 €7 ed7 4807 +. 16 Here Black has to be very careful. It is again the opposition which helps him out of a dangerous situation: 1.8248! ‘Thus Black wins the distant opposi- tion. All other moves lose: 1.87? 2 eS! +; 1.207? 285! +; 1.87? 2ded5 he7 3 WeS +; 1...sF872 BAS Wf7 3 hd6 +. 2eds 2 Be5 Ge?! =. 2.807! Shifting to the close opposition which is already familiar to us. 3.heS eT! = The We 17 If it were Black to move he would have to abandon the opposition and lose. White can profit from the fact that his pawn is still on €3 to win with the waiting move 1 edt: 1.8272 2d6 Be8 3 He6 Wf8 4 dT + ing Move Key Squares In the previous examples quite a lot of important rules have been explained18 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING that can be summarized by the term “key squares” If the king manages to step on one of the marked key squares in front of his pawn then promotion is secured, independent of the right to move. Note: this does not apply for rook’s, pawns ~ more about this topic later on, particularly in Ch: Further Examples 18 Salvioli 1887 Black must not give away the a6- pawn too easily because then White would force the promotion of the b- pawn (king in front of the pawn on the 6th rank), 1.05! ‘The alternative 1...b8 2 &b6 a5! works as well. 2 bxaS 2 bS Mb8! (2...047 3 eT a3 4 b6+ a6 5 b7 a2 6 DSW all 7 Was+ +-)3 Sc =, 2.86 = nF White wins if his king can step on one of the squares a5, b5 or 5 without advancing the pawn first, These are the key squares of the b3-pawn. 1&2! Only the a5-square is so far away from the black king that he cannot stop the white king from going there. 1 hc2? dd7 2 dee3 We7! (the black king takes the distant opposition) 3 kbd hb6 =. 1.27 2 &a3! Seb 3 fad + &b6 (D) KING AND PAWN VS KING: BASIC THEMES 19 Now White has the opposition and wins. 4.806 a6 5 BS + 1.10 16! White takes advantage of the obs cle theme. L...dxe6 2 a5 &d5 3 a6 + 111 Gorgiev evestia, 1928 Itscemsas if White is going to lose, as he cannot stop the black pawn. However, if he uses his two passed pawns skilfully he can achieve a draw: 1 gt 1h4?c5 2 24+ dexh4! 3 heb dxed -+ L.segS! 1...dexg4 2 g6 c5 3 h4! c4 (after 3...soxh4 4 df5 = the king is in the square) 4 h5 c3 5 h6 c2 6 h7 c1W 7 ns =. 2 seg7! (D) 24+? dexh4 3 kegs dexed -+. K 2..€5 3 h4+! Sexgd 3...dexhd 4 f6! =, 4 ogo! bxhd 4.04 5h =. 5of5= 1.12 Duclos Sportzeit, 1903 This position provides another il- lustration of the key squares theme. The d5-pawn is lost, and if it were to be captured at d5, the black king would be on a key square of his ¢7-pawn. Thus: 1 a6! After 1 2b3? dee5 2 dc3 (2 d6 now does not help either: 2...@xd6! 3 Le4 sdc6 —+) 2...axd5 3 td3 Wes 4 ke3 the waiting move 4...c6 is decisive. L.cxd6 2 db3 de5 3 e3 dS 4 sea3 = White maintains the opposition 1.13 Kranki — W. Lange Bad Oeynhausen 1940 Black’s only advantage is his active king. Is this sufficient for a win? 1...deg2t ‘The black king takes the distant op- position (a distance of three squares!), with the help of which he will invade the white position: 2he3 El! With other moves Black would lose the opposition again: 2.63? 3 td3; 2... 82122 3 ed. 3 ed? tf2! Black reaches the close opposition. 4%a320 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING 4 chdl te3 5 dec? de? 6 el ed3 7 dab2 ded2 8 del ec 9 dea? de2 10 ska3 bl -+. 4..Skel! 5 teed ted? 6 dS shc3 7 ke6 &xb3 8 Lbs ke3 9 kxb6 Lbs 0-1 1.14 The second pawn offers White two winning variations: 1 £74! This is the most straightforward way. I Sef set? 2 deeS Hf8 3 eb LeB 4 17+ BAB 5 £5 +— also wins; in the end the waiting move is decisive here. 1...dext7 2 2f5 4— 115 In this position a fierce fight breaks out over the opposition: 1 seb! sea (D) 1..Seb8 2 kb6 kc8 3 c7 +- (si- lently). w 2 deaS! sba8 3 dae! 3 seb6? db8 4 c7+ (with check) 4..stec8 5 dec6 =. 3...S2b8 4 Eeb6 se8 5 c7 +— 1.16 Once again an impressive demon- stration of the opposition’s power: 1.61 First Black takes the distant opposi- tion. His aim is to prevent the white king from invading his territory. 2 kee3 2hS dogs 3 he3 dexh5 4 kes eho! 5 dexgd do =. 2..SeS 3 edd eds 4 kic3 deS! (D) Diagonal opposition. Of course the black king must not leave the square of the hd-pawn: 4...68e5? 5 h5 +, 5 heb4 todd 6 dead Best Distant opposition. 7 WbS kd5 8 Hb6 dd6 9 dea7 HeT! the 2 The King’s Typical Fighting Methods Triangulation » Zigzag * Body-check © Play on Two Wings * Opposition Triangulation If it were Black to move in the dia- gram position he would immediately lose after 1...2e7 2 cS e8 3 kdb += or 1...Sed8 2 ted6 she8 3 c7 +. In such situations, triangulation is the right way to pass the right to move to the opponent 1 sed! The direct way does not lead to suc cess yet: 1 2d6 ded8 2 c7+? Se8 3 ‘1e6 stalemate; 1 dc5 &c7. Howev 1 shed! ded’ 2 Seda! dec8 3 cS + also wins ~ this is just a change of move-order, and it is typical that there is more than one way to carry out a tri- angulation. 1.8208 1...8c7 2 dc5 Leck 3 keb6 + 2 deeat eB 2.827 3 Bee5 +-. 3ed5! (D) Thanks to the triangulation White has achieved his aim and passed the burden to move to Black. Now the two winning variations that were men tioned in the comments to the first move will be realized: 3unced822 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING THE KING'S TYPICAL FIGHTING METHODS 23 3..Se7 4 seeS +. 4 Led6 see8 5 07 +— This example has often been cited as a game Fahmi-Alapin, but the de- tails of this game are unclear,CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING THE KiNG’s TYPICAL FIGHTING METHODS 25 2.2 L..aS 2 te6! a4 Herberg 2...d2b2 3 skbS =. Deutsche Schachzeitung, 1936 1 ft White cannot make any progress in a direct way: 1 &f4? exh4 2 sexf5 hgh = 1 h3? f4 =, L..sexhd 2 fd + The Zigzag 23 1ba7t Apart from this winning move, White also has a way to draw and a possibility to lose at his disposal: 1 sfd6? seb5 —+, when Black not only captures the ¢5-pawn but he also gets his king to one of the key squares b4, 4 or dd; 1 dee5 sea5! 2 deed skbd 3 Medd habs 4 ed3 exes 5 sec3 =—here the opposition just saves White half a += the white king manages to get to the 6th rank in front of his pawn ~ pro- motion is therefore secured. 2 hd6+— In this kind of position the side that can attack the pawn from further be- hind has the advantage. 24 Proke’. Prace, 1947 ‘This study illustrates very well what the term zigzag means: 1 b7! 1 a7 aS 2 dea6 ad 3 seas a3 4 dead hh? +, 3 weds a3 3...2b2 4 decd xa? 5 hac a3 6 e2 =, 4 shed! S2b25 sed3 stexa? 6 tec? = In Chapter 6 we will get to know more about the special features of the rook’s pawn. The Body-check 2.5 Schlage — Ahues Berlin 1921 2 hae? White gives away half a point! Like the text-move, 2 #d5! also approaches the a7-pawn but at the same time blocks the black king. Like in ice hockey, the white king tries to make himself as broad as possible so as not to let the opponent past. 2...d2b4 (no better is 2...Sed3 3 c6 Seda 4 deb7 hic 5 kexaT db 6 Lb8 +-) 3 Heb a5 4 07 deb5 5 dexa7 deeb 6 keb8 +.26 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING 2uuskedd 3 e6 seeS! Now Black is in time to trap the white king at the edge of the board. 4 &b7 ked6 § Hxa7 He7 = ‘This example also shows us thai positions with a rook’s pawn, different rules often have to be applied com- pared to other pawns. More about that in Chapter 6. Play on Two Wings 2.6 Réti Kagans Neueste Schachnachrichten, 1922 This is probably the most famous pawn-ending study: the black pawn seems to be unstoppable but White can skilfully combine the fight against the black pawn with the support of his own 1 seg?! eb6 L.chd 2 £16 h3 3 de6 h2 4 c7 =. 2 fot hd 3 deeS! (D) Here the king’s effect in two differ- ent directions becomes very clear. h3 3...soxc6 4 Sef =. 4 ed6 h2 5 c7 &b7 6 HAT = If one looks at the route of the king in more detail then he has moved along the h8-al diagonal so long as he could approach both his pawn and his ‘opponent’s at the same time. This is a typical idea in pawn endings: for a king, the zigzag path may not be lon- ger than a linear route. 27 Neustad! International Chess Magazine, 1890 We have already become familiar with one of the king’s fighting meth- ods in Chapter I: the opposition. Here is another example of this important theme: w 1éhi! The distant opposition saves the draw for White. Not: a) 1 Sef? hed2 2 def2 ded3! (per- sistent: White would have to move to £3 in order to keep the opposition; however, his own pawn is in the way and thus White has to lose the opposi- tion) 3 deg3 te3 4 deg? (4 Sog4 E25 THE KING'S TYPICAL FIGHTING METHODS 27 dixgS Sexf3 +) 4...che2 5 deg3 BL1 6 oeh3 ef2 7 dogd dog? —+. b) 1 &g3? el! (diagonal opposi- tion) 2 dag2 dee2 3 sag3 We3 4 Spd Wt2—+. Lee! 1...g42 deg? =; 1..dee2 2 deg? ee3 3 bg3! 2beglt g4 3 eg?! 3 fxg? ed 4 hef2 ded2! —+; 3 f2? Sed2 +. Further Examples 2.8 Rinck Schweizerische Schachzeitung, 1922 In contrast to the Réti study, the king is on h2 instead of b3 here. This proves to be the decisive difference: 1 ad deb3 2 a5 wed ‘The black king tries to play on two wings. 3a6 ddd 3...52d3 4.07 12.5 a8 FY (without check) 6 Wa6+ +-. 4 shgl see3 5 ef +— 2.9 Reti Narodny Listy, 1928 This time the play on two wings even leads to a successful defence ayainst three white pawns: 1..80b3 2. a4 2 shg3 dexb2 3 dexf3 dexc3 also leads to a draw. 2.doxb2 3 aS dexe3 4 a6 4 heg3 ded4! 5 a6 (5 bexf3 kecS =) 5.she3 4uied2 = 2.10 Dobias Narodny Listy, 1926 In this deceptively simple position, only a timely body-check leads to a win: 1 da! (D) 1 eS? decd 2 kf ed3 3 xg hed = 1 £47 Hed 2 He Sa3 3 Sf6 shed =; 1 sbd5? sbb4 2 hdd sbb3 3 £4 GB kd3 debd 4 £4 Sec5 =) 3...shec2 =, 1.86 1...22b4 2 f4 +. 2 de5 tieS 3 £4! Bed 4 LNG +— 2.11 Moravec Ceske Slovo, 1940 White’s task is to win the black pawn without losing his own, This can only be done by 1 fb4! (1 c3? dogs 2 ddd Hid 3 hxd5 He} =) L...egd 2 heS seta 3 edd! +. 2.12 Salvioli Trattato Completo dei Finali di Partita, 188828 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING A short repetition of the key squares topic 1g5! White can win the black pawn in any case but only if he captures it on the g6-square will it lead toa win: 1 heb? 25! 2 ks L173 exes dg7 =. 1.267 2 ked7 2ef8 3 eG Seg 4 she7 hg8 5 &f6 Wh7 6 ef7 Lh8 7 shxg6 g8 8 Lh6 Lh8 9 26 + 2.13 Sackmann Deutsche Schachbliitter, 1924 This example presents the power of a zigzag in shining colours: 1ehs! 1 sef8? loses a key tempo: 1...df6! 2 dogs eS 3 he7 Ladd 4 det c3 5 she5 deb2 6 edd dexa2 7 c3 bl + 1.26 2 7! 2 deg? We5 +— leads to the varia- tion given in the note to the first move. eS 3 g6 edd 4 WES died 5 bed Hb? 6 hdd bxad 7 we: Here again a reference to Chapter 6 is appropriate. 2.14 Bianchetti L’Opinio, 1926 White succeeds by paying close at- tention to the opposition: 1h! After 1 deg3? gS = Black has the opposition; | dg4? deg6 (here again White has lost the opposition to Black) 2 dha df 3 wed deo 4 dedd b3! 5 cxb3 ded6 6 ded dic6 7 bd &b6 =. 1...2g6 2 gd Lf6 3 Sts Seb 4 shed hed6 5 eda b3 5...8e6 6 Sec4 b3 7 exb3 b6 8 seb +, 6 cxb3 S&c6 7 eed Lb6 8 eb4 sbe6 9 seas + 2.15 Adamson The Chess Amateur. 1915 The themes of opposition and body- check complement each other very well in White's winning manoeuvre. Moreover, at some points White needs a waiting move. Ide?! 1 ed7? eb6 2 deo dees 3 sets chad 4 deg shed =. 1...sa6 2 see! deaS 3 eS Sead 4 Shed a3 5 see3 a2 6 see a3 7 g3! A waiting move. 7 24 is a mistake due to 7...deb4 8 ded3 theS 9 thes bdo 10 ef5 h5! 11 gxhS We7 =. The possibility to make a waiting move when necessary is called having a spare tempo. 7..cSeb4 8 ed3 SeeS 9 eed ded6 10 sfS sed5 11 gat +— ‘This is in one sense a waiting move, since the black king now has nothing useful to do, and it also parries Black’s threat to draw by playing ...dad4. Not 11 S67 de4 12 Lxh6 SF3 =. After the text-move, White wins in straightforward fashion. 3 Typical Pawn Structures in Pawn Endings (1) Protected Passed Pawn * Connected Passed Pawns * Outside Passed Pawn The Protected Passed Pawn White wins with the aid of the pro- tected passed pawn on bS. 123 dS 2 e3 WeS 3 Lf3 eds 3..S¥f5? leaves the square of the bS-pawn and White wins by pushing the pawn: 4 b6 +-. A406 5 heed deeb 6 eds Ld6 Tilted eT 8 dee Seb7 9 eds! Beware the trap: 9 b6? dea6 10 seb stalemate, Another winning possibility 159 &d6 Lb6 10 Leb! La7 11 Se! 9..582€7 10 see6 deb6 11 Sed6 kab7 12 See wea7 13 kee6 ka8 14 Hb6 + ‘Thanks to the protected passed pawn on b5, the black king must not leave the square b5-e5-e8-b8 and also can- not capture the trouble-maker. This enables White calmly to carry out the outflanking manoeuvre #d3-c3-f3- f4-e4, etc. Eventually, White will force the black king away from the a5-pawn and thereby win a second pawn.30 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING TYPICAL PAWN STRUCTURES IN PAWN ENDINGS (1) 31315 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING w 3.16 TYPICAL PAWN STRUCTURES IN PAWN ENDINGS (1) 33 Passed Pawns A pawn that cannot be hindered by an opponent's pawn on its way to the promotion square is called a passed pawn. If this pawn is protected by a friendly pawn, then we talk about a protected passed pawn. If this second pawn is also a passed pawn, then we talk about two con- nected passed pawns A passed pawn that is far away from the main mass of pawns is called «an outside passed pawn. 3.2 ProkeS; Ceskoslovensky Sach, 1946 16 ers, The black king has to step into the Square of the pawn. 295 Now White has a protected passed pawn, 2utog® 2.152 3 gxf6 ST 4 h7 + 3 hd2 deh7 (D) Abe 16 ‘This procedure is called breaking. up and will be dealt with in more de- tail later. 5 gxfé dexh6 6 defd 95+ 6...2h7 7 Hg5 Gh8 8 Lh6! Ls 9 sbxg6 + 7 Sf5 Lh7 8 exes Lh8 9 Lh6t Never forget the opposition! 9..Sag8 10 sag6 SEB 1117 +— Silently moving to the seventh rank. Connected Passed Pawns If one side has two connected passed pawns, then the power of the protected passed pawn is magnified 3.3 1 sto ed8 1,..h2 2 de7 hIW 3 d8+ xc6 4 + + 2 she6 h2 3 sed6 hI 4 c7H# 3.4 1...e3! (D) 1..h1W+9? 2 exh WF3 3 egl +- : a a nee! Jy | 27 h1W+ 3: &xhi S24 BW g2+ 5 Ph2 gl + 6 Gh3 West34 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING As we can see, far-advanced con- nected passed pawns may give rise to mating themes. Outside Passed Pawn 3.5 This typical position illustrates the principle of the outside passed pawn very clearly: 1 a4 Sed5 2 bS axbS After 2...a5 a protected passed pawn is created: 3 b6 &c6 4 Wxe4 kxb6 5 kd5 £b7 6 cS a6 7 cb ha7 8 kbs Lb7 9 kxas da7 10 Gbs &b7 11 dac5 dc7 12 eds seb6 13 eS and White wins. 3 axbS deeS We observe how the king is lured to the queenside by the outside passed pawn, Meanwhile the kingside will be easy prey for the white king 4 bxed xb § LFS wed 6 kgs ed3 7 xho +— The starting position would also be won for White if Black were to move first. 3.6 This seemingly totally equal posi- tion is in fact won for White, as he possesses the outside passed pawn ‘Therefore White will be able to attack the opponent's pawns on the queen- side first. The game might continue as follows: 1 dig? hag? 2 dig ego 3 dees tt 4h3 hig6 5 h4 who 6 hS 16 7 ets &xhsS 8 xf Led 9 heb LE3 10 dG seed 11 wee7 Hed2 12 soxb7 Led 13 dexe6 sexb2 14 ¢4 4 The power of the outside passed pawn lies in its ability to deflect the opponent's king from the main theatre of battle. Usually the outside passed pawn will be sacrificed for this pur- pose. 3.7 Nimzowitsch — Tarrasch San Sebastian 1911 Here again the outside passed pawn constitutes a decisive advantage. How- ever, Black has to proceed very ener- getically: 1...a5 2 hed £541 ‘This way Black neutralizes White's kingside pawns 3 dd After 3 Waxf5 the white king has stepped out of the square of the a5- pawn: 3..a4 +, 3. + Now Black's king will definitely capture both white pawns while his white counterpart is taking care of the a-pawn. After 3...a4? 4 g3! White has created a protected passed pawn. The game would then end in a draw: 4...42g6 5 decd hS 6 Seb4 deed 7 sexad f4 (7...dxg3 8 WS £4 9 6 £3 10 h7 f2 11 nsw FW) 8 gxf4 ext =. Further Examples 3.8 Schuster Das Endspiel im Schach, 1975 White simplifies toa won pawn ending with an outside passed pawn: 1..2b5+ 2 Qed fixed+ 3 bred Dred 4 xe —+ TYPICAL PAWN STRUCTURES IN PAWN ENDINGS (1) 35 3.9 Apart from the outside passed pawn, Black can count on another advantage: his g5-pawn blocks the white pawns at g4 and h3, so despite being a pawn down, Black can even win (more about the subject of blockade in Chap- ter 5). 1...a4 2 Sed4 a3 3:dec3 dexeS 4 Sb3 Wuf4 5 cloxa3 g3 6 beb3 sbexh3 —+ 3.10 Averbakh Lehrbuch der Schachendspiele, 1979 White is able to boast an outside passed pawn, but it is outside the square of the b-pawn and therefore White will not be able to prevent Black {rom capturing it. If the white king tries to capture the a5-pawn he steps ‘out of the square of the b-pawn and it will queen in three moves. Therefore Black is winning. 1..ske6 2 Sedd sed6 3 shed dees 4 e3 4 def4? b3 —+. 4.526 5 todd os 6 eS seoxgd 7 Seed! (D) The most stubborn defence. White wants to keep the black king away with the help of the opposition. Never- theless, Black can make progress be- cause the white king is tied to the square of the b-pawn 1onSkaQ5 7..slag3 8 ee3. 8 dee3 FS 9 ded3 weS 10 ded? 10 de3 ded5 11 dd3 cS also wins for Black. 10.204 11 de2 seed 12 eb2 bad! 12...63? 13 a3 = 13 dee2 Se3 14 el ed3 15 &b2 hd2! 16 seb3 sel! 17 ead te? 18 skal Seb3! —+ Not 18...b3?7 stalemate! 3.11 Kyhle — Andersson corr, 1973 The queenside is obviously blocked, but how can White make progress? 1 £5! gxfS+ 2 df White has created an outside passed. pawn by means of a pawn sacrifice. 2..ie6 3S Hf6 4 h6 keg6 5 h7 bxh7 6 dextS deg7 7 Leb heg6 8 dT 216 9 eT ke 10 eb7 ed6 11 bxa7 bes 11...8c7 12 a6 Lb8 13 Sexbo. 12 a6 1-0 3.12 Kling and Horwitz Chess Studies and Endgames, 1851 Leét The most elegant solution. Some readers of the first German edition of this book recognized that White can36 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING also win with the simple | a2 dd7 2 kxa3 Leb 3 kbs Gxes 4 kes. 1...fxe6 2 a2 eS 3 xa3 ed 4 eb3 3 5 tc3 2 6 Sed? S77 exe2 web 8 ciee3 7 9 eed See6 10 sed wee7 1 eS G8 12 £7 +- 3.13 Louma Slovensky Narod, 1926 Both sides possess outside passed pawns and so the game is decided by a race of the passed pawns — this is a very typical situation in pawn endings: i gat Cautious players would probably prefer | xa7?, butafter I...h5!2 26, hd2 3 kes de3 4 hes Heir 5 ddd bx_g2 6 bes hg 7 He3 Hxhs 8 LK2 Gh3 9 deel = they would have to be content with a draw. 1...a5 2 g5 hxgs 2...a4 3 gxh6. Shs! 3 hxg5? a4 4 6 a3 5 g7 a2 6 go al W 7 Wel+ @b2 =. Bug 3.04 4 h6 a3 5 h7 a2 6 h8 wins, although after 6....%b1 White has to play accurately to secure victory. More about this in Chapter 14. 4h6 g3 5h7 926 h8W giW7 Walt = Grigoriev 64, 1930 1 ba! 1 we2? dee7 2 63 deeb 3 texts ed: 1..cdeeTt 1.axb4? 2 a5, 25! Now White has a protected passed pawn. The alternative 2 bxa5 sed7 is useless for White. 2...82d6 3 He2 Heb 4 det3 kes 5 sega! heat 5...Sed5? 6 dexf + is hopeless for Black. Therefore the black king has to leave the square of the b-pawn, hoping to save the day with his own passed pawn. 6 6 £3 7 Hg3 He3 8 b7 £29 DSH £18 (D) White can now force the win of the aS-pawn and then the exchange of queens. Otherwise this exercise would belong in Chapter 15. 10 WeS+ ded2 10...f¢d3? 11 WbS+ +-. 11 WraS+ dd 11...e2 12 WeS+ Seb3 13 WhS+ 12 Was+ eet 12...d2e2 13 Wg2+ 4. 13 WeS+ Sal 14 Wad+ dec? 14...c1 15 Wal 15 Wis + TYPICAL PAWN STRUCTURES IN PAWN ENDINGS (1) 37 3.15 Horwitz The Chess Monthly, 1879 1 g6t | hxg?? fxg5+! 2 dexgS sexg7 = leads to a simple draw. 1 gxf6 gxh6 2 hs ef L.ugxh6 2 Sg4 £8 3 eF4 Les 4 Ged S18 5 Sd5 Le7 6 WeS LeB 7 ed ef White now faces the problem of having to keep an eye on the h6-pawn. ‘The white king must not leave the pawn’s square without good reason. 8&7! (D) B White sees some mating possibili- ties based on far-advanced connected passed pawns. 8 de6 g7 does not White anywhere; then 9 e7? h5 is even losing for him. 8.8298 8..n5 9 deeb hd (9...skeg7 10 ed5) 10 Sxf6 h3 11 g7+ Seg8 12 eg6 h2 13 fo WB 14 £78, 9 eT! eg7 9...b5 10 Sxf6 h4 11 g7h3 12 bg6 h2 13 £6 h1W 14 £74 is a theme we al- ready know. 10 ske6! (D) B White hurties back into the square of the h6-pawn ~ and at the same time 10...eg8 11 dext6 +- 11 ed5 hd 12 Sed +— 3.16 Wotawa Wiener Montag, 1951 White's situation seems to be hope- less: how can he stop the f5-pawn? 1b6! 1 de7? dea7 2 Sed7 ebb —+. 1.28 L..cxb6 2 de7 +- 2 Reb! kecB 2...f4 3 ded7. 37+ deb8 4 dexfS White has already achieved a lot the £5-pawn is gone and he has created a powerful protected passed pawn on b7. 4..cea7 § seed &b8 6 ded5 a7 6...25 7 bxg6 hxgo 8 seb, 7 Sec Lb8 8 SebS sea7 9 eas Lbs 10 a6! (D)38 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING Now the black king has no more moves and Black has to weaken his pawns. 10...g5 11 hxg6 hxg6 12 tebS a7 12..g5 13 Bed gd 14 ded4 g3 15 he3 ds 16 213. 13 deed eb8 14 ded5 sea7 15 eo HbE 16 def6 kea7 17 exgé Lb8 18 sefs Back to a6. 18...32a7 19 ved eb8 20 ded5 a7 21 sed eb8 22 kebS sea7 23 seas skb8 24 a6 (D) 2S Now the d-pawn is ripe for pluck- ing: 25 debS d4 26 weed sea 27 dexdd kb8 28 seas dea7 29 see6 Leb8 30 skd7 +— 4 Typical Pawn Structures in Pawn Endings (2) Pairs of Isolated Passed Pawns * Space Advantage Pairs of Isolated Passed Pawns ssed pawns that are separated by one file can protect each other: 1h £5 1..oxf3? 2S +. 2 has bg6 Black tries to capture the front pawn, White prevents this 3 fat 3 sbxa6? is a big mistake due to 3.sdehS 4 £4 Sexh4 =. 3..82hS 3.15 4 hSt 4 fst White has reacted in time by ad- vancing his f-pawn, this rendering the h-pawn immune. 4..2h6 5 &xa6 &g7 (D) Once again White must take care: hs! 6 db6? L167 HS Lxt5 =. 6.8286 6...82h6 7 £6 +. Th6 S47 8 Lb6 16 Black can only watch helplessly as the white king, steadily approaches. After 8...d2g8 9 16 fT 10 h7 + the pawns even queen without the support40 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING TYPICAL PAWN STRUCTURES IN PAWN ENDINGS (2) 41CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING TYPICAL PAWN STRUCTURES IN PAWN ENDING: The Common Square In order to simplify the assessment of positions containing pairs of isolated passed pawns, one defines the ‘com- mon square’ of two isolated passed pawns as the square which has a diag- ‘onal that goes from the least advanced pawn to the file of the other pawn. For example: ‘Thus the diagonal can also reach heyond the edge of the board. In posi tions with pairs of isolated passed pawns that stand on the same rank, the following rules are valid: 1) If the common square of the pawns reaches the eighth rank or be- yond, the pawns will queen without he support of the king. 2) If the common square of the pawns does not extend to the oppo- nent’s baseline, the distance between the pawns is decisive: 2a) If there are one or three files between the pawns they defend each other. 2b) If there are two files between the pawns they can be captured by the opposing king, (2) 43 4.2 If there are two files between the pawns, they can be captured by the op- posing king, L.dhS 2 €5 het 2...sdexhd? 3 e6 +. 3 dig? 3 hS+ Sexh5 =. The king is still in the square of the e-pawn. 3.85 4 bS 4 2g3 Gres 5 heed B16 6 hS eg7 =. See also Chapter 6, ‘The Rook's Pawn’ 43 If the common square of two iso- lated passed pawns reaches the eighth rank or further, then the pawns quecn without their king’s support. 1...22h6 2 €6 g7 3 h6+ —+ 44 Rosen 1989 ‘The black pawns are separated by three files. Thus the white king can- not capture them. However, the com- mon square of the pawns does not reach the eighth rank and if they are advanced incautiously, White will at- tack the front pawn and then win both of them, 1 be6t After | 8216? cS 2 deS g5 the pawns are far enough advanced to queen in- dependently: 3 &f5 c4 4 dexg5 03 —+, 1.cdee8t 1...g52 2 G5 c5 3 dxgs 04 4 bed =. White cannot win after the capture of the c4-pawn either as Black can44 CHE: save himself with a stalemate; for ex- ample, 4...c3 5 #e3 c2 6 Bd2 cl W+ 7 Bxcl G8 8 Se2 Hb7 9 kc3 eb8 10 bcd Sb7 11 Ge5 Hb8 12 de6 was 13 b7+ (13 ac7 stalemate) 13.,.9va7 14 &e7 stalemate. 2 sheS ded7! (D) Black uses the limited room al- lowed by the b6-pawn to its full ex- tent. 3 hed $6! 4 he3 055 hed g5 With the help of their king, the black pawns have advanced decisively. Now their common square reaches the eighth rank and so they can promote independently. 6 GIS 047 heed gd —+ Space Advantage 45 Helmert - Rosen 1976 We have already seen that far-ad- vanced connected passed pawns may create mating possibilities. In general, more advanced pawns are an asset as they provide a space advantage. In the ENDGAME TRAINING present position as well, Black’ advantage allows him an easy win: 44...Gif3 45 Sel €3 46 fxe3 Lexe3 47 sted texdd 48 ded? deed 48...ded4, 49 de edd 49...b3+? gives away the win: 50 shd2 Sd4 51 te? ded 52 ded? d4 53 Seed d3+ 54 ded2 dad 55 bad 50 Sed? deed 51 se dd 52 wel 52.b3 d3+ 53 del de3 54 del d2+ 55 Sed1 deed 56 dexd2 hdd 57 cd Be3 58 Gel Gd3 59 2 ted? 60 Boi gc3 61 dar dr 52...d¢d3 53 ded b3 —+ 46 Kostiev Schach lehren ~ leicht gemacht, 1987 Here again White’s space advan- tage proves decisive 1 S2g6 teas 2 GES hs 2...82b7 3 de6 nS 4 ded7 h4 5 ave Bxa8 6 Be7 +, 3 Leo! hd 4 bd7 db7 5 ass! cexa8 6 S2e7 +— 47 Maizelis 1956 Two connected passed pawns face a pair of isolated pawns. As the black pawns are separated by one file, they defend each other. If White wants to win, he can therefore only count on his, space advantage and possible mating themes 1 kee5 hg One must not deal with pairs of iso- lated passed pawns in a careless way: TYPICAL PAWN STRUCTURES IN PAWN ENDINGS (2) 45 I..a4 loses simply to 2 deb4 and the pawns are captured 2061 a4 3 He7 a3 4 h8W+ Sxhs 5 Gf7 a2 6 27+ Wh7 7 gBW+ dh6 8 Weot Further Examples 48 A test to make sure you are paying attention! White has to take care of his pawns. I hd! +~ advances the h-pawn in time so that the f-pawn is indirectly defended. 49 ‘The common square of the hS- and US-pawns reaches the opponent's first rank, so the pawns promote without the support of their king. The white king cannot support his pawns fast enough to generate mating ideas, and therefore Black wins very easily’ 1 weS hd 2 dexd5 h3 3 eS h2 4 ab Wi —+ 4.10 Makhatadze Chervoni Girnik, 1986 ‘The white pawns queen without the Support of their king. Therefore Black has to try to make something out of his far-advanced connected passed pawns 1s soon as possible. I shed First of all White has to take care of the h-pawn, 1h3 1...Sxe3 2. a5 h3 3 g3 +; 1...sdedS 2a5 Be5 3 ed. 2 sbg3! (D) GM Karsten Milller points out that the endgame tablebases prove that the queen ending after 2 dxh3 Wf3 3 a5 24+ 4 bh (4 h2? 2 5 a6 234+ 6 Ph3 g27 a7 gi 8 asW Wy3H) 4...23 5 a6 g2 6 a7 glW 7 a8W+ is also won (7..Shxe3? 8 WaT+ at least does not have to be analysed further), but of course the text-move is much simpler. 2g 3 a5 dexe3 4 a6 h2 5 deg?t 5 doxh2? def? 6 a7 g3+ 7 seh3 g2.8 asl 18 = 5...h1W+ 6 Sexht Sf2 7 a7 g3 8 asf +— 411 Kling and Horwitz Chess Studies, 1851 The black pawns are not far enough advanced. White can creep up to the pawns on the file midway between them and at the right time turn left to his connected passed pawns: 1 Stat ‘The black pawns must not advance because then White would attack the more advanced of them and capture it within the square of the other pawn.46 1.26 1.h5 2 dogs 4; 1...d5 2 eS +. 2 det5! dee7 3 ef! One should not be too hasty; after 3 she6? hS 4 eds (4 Sf5? dS is very good for Black) 4...h4 5 b6+ dexb6 6 sdexd6 h3 White cannot win. 3..8b6 4 eG See7 4...h5 5 €xd6 h4 6 c7 h3 7 c8W h2 8 Wao, 5 ded5 hS 6 b6+! dexb6 7 txd6 hd 8e7 4 Now the black pawn is too slow. 4.12 Bozdoghina - Soos Romania 1960 The connected passed pawns on d3 and e3 look threatening, but White can skilfully use his pawn majorities to create an even more dangerous pair of isolated passed pawns: 1 £5 gxf5 2 gxfS eds 3 06 fxe6 4 f61 1-0 Black resigned due to 4...82d6 5 bS axb5 6 axbS +-. 4.13 Esser — Davidson Amsterdam 1910 Black has a space advantage and some spare tempi (see Chapter 5), but with accurate play White can draw: 1..f4! 2 gxfa! 2 exfd? e3 3 fxe3 dexe3 ~+ stag 3 dve2? Réti pointed out the correct de- fence, 3 Sf 1!. Then: a) 3...964 dag? doxhd (4.525 3+ ext3+ 6 ef2 Sexhd 7 xt3 g5 8 ed! +=) 513 ex3+ 6x13 g5 7e4 Gh3 =, So § ENDGAME TRAINING b) 3..dexhd 4 £3 exf3 5 ed died 6 5 G5 7 Bf =. B.S 3...toxh4? 4 13 4 cont 4134 exf34 5 def? 26 +. 4..claxh4 5 sag? og 6 deh? tef3.7 sgt h4 0-1 bl h3 9tg1 h2+ 10dexh2 dext2 11 Sah3 dxe3 12 digd 26 13 dogs G13 4.14 ‘Sveshnikov — Kasparov USSR Ch (Minsk) 1979 In this early game of today’s world number one, Black was able to convert his space advantage into a full point: 36..82b4 37 ee? Sa3 38 debt aS 39 deal ad 40 bxad dxa4 41 Sb1 41 deb2 b4 42 dec? dia3 43 dbl b3 +. AL...Sva3 42 al b4 43 eb 1 b3 0-1 In the end the pawns on the king- side will be easy prey for Black’s king. 415 Behting Rigaer Tageblatt, 1894 Here too White's connected passed pawns are far-advanced, so that mat ing ideas arise quite naturally. How- ever, White must not pursue his aim too hastily 13! White cannot make any progress with 1 de4? cS 2 Sd3 Ges 3 Ser ELT = since 4 dexe5? d3 5 bd6 d2 6 a7 d+ -+ even loses. Also | g5? leads to a lost queen ending for White after 1...d3 2 sho d2 3 e8W+ TYPICAL PAWN STRUCTURES IN PAWN ENDINGS (2) 47 ‘bxe8 4 eg7 dW 5 17+ Sed7 6 f8W Wess. 6 1...05 2 deed transposes to the text. 2 Sat c5 3 Led! (D) Only now does the white king at- tack the pawns and thereby force the black king to the inferior e&-square. be8 4 d3 Ld7 5 deed Ye8 6 sexe5! d3 7 ea6 d2 7..SefT 8 ted7 d2 9 e8W+ +— 8 te a1 9 £74 4.16 Zinar and Archakov Kliborob Ukrain, 1986 Here are the most important fea- tures of this position: + The white king is not inside the square of the a7-pawn, + The common square of the black pawns does not extend to White's first rank. + The black pawns are separated by two files and thus they are not able to defend each other, + White has a space advantage which makes mating themes possible. 1 gst In order to be successful, the white king must be effective on both wings Therefore he chooses to move along the diagonal 1...a5 2 Gf4! a4 3 SeS! (D) A branching point is reached, White threatens to start a mating attack with ££6 or to step into the square of the a- pawn with dd, A beautiful example of play on two wings! 3..s2g7 3...a3 4 def a2 5 g7+ Sexh7 6 ST alW 7 gsW+ Gho 8 Weer. 4 cedd dS 5 he3! + Everything works with mathemati cal precision and White wins both black pawns.5 Typical Pawn Manoeuvres in Pawn Endings Spare Tempo » Blockade * Breaking Up » Breakthrough The Spare Tempo Sveda - Sika Brno 1929 Here we see a typical problem in pawn endings. Both kings are tied to the defence of their pawns and who- ever has to step back first loses. The game will be decided by the supply of pawn moves. b6? 2 hd! HS (2...n6 3 HS BS 4 b5 3 b4 nS 4 a3 +-) 3 a3 ad b) 1...b5?2 bat h6 3 h4 hS 4.a3 and White wins. ¢) 1...n6? 2.b4! NS 3 hd b6 (3...b5 4 a3 +-) 4 ad a5 5 b5 +. 2b3 2 hd ad! 3 HS h6 4 b3 axb3 5 axb3 b66b4 D5 +—;2a3a4—+;2ad h63hd hS 463 b6 —+. 2uub5 3.23 3hd bd 4hS h6 +: 3 ad bd 4hd h5 + 3..a4 4 bxad bxad 5 hd hS—+ At first glance the variation tree just seems to be inscrutable. Is there per- haps a key idea that will help us to un- derstand the position? Black started with the a-pawn be- cause it had already moved before. whereas his other pawns could still de cide between moving forward one ot two steps. It is obvious that in a fight for tempi such a possibility should be conserved as long as possible. In pawn endings in which it is nec- essary to put the opponent in zug- zwang with the help of pawn moves (run him out of tempi’), usually the side that has more pawns in their origi- nal positions has the advantage, TYPICAL PAWN MANOEUVRES IN PAWN ENDINGS50 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING TYPICAL PAWN MANOEUVRES IN PAWN ENDINGS52 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING 5.2 Grigoriev Sbornik Shakhmatnik Etiudov, 1954 ‘The white king is nearer the king- side. This is sufficient for a win pro- vided White saves his spare tempi long enough: 1 e2 bd7 2 bt3! After 2 se3? g5 3 h4 f4+! Black destroys the white pawn position by a breaking-up manoeuvre. 4 gxf4 gxh4 5 ef3 Le6 6 keg? SHS 7 Hh3 xis 8 Gxhd L139 kxhs Gxl2 2.806 2...g5 no longer saves Black: 3 h4! gxh4 4 gxhd deb 5 def4 Hf6 6 £3 Seo (6...8e6 7 Bgs +-) 7 eS +—. 3 dif Sef6 4 hat (D) White fixes the black pawns while reserving the f-pawn for tempo moves. 4...def7 5 dogs shg7 6 £31 ‘The first tempo move clears the way for the king to advance to {6 or h6. 2177 Gh6 Lt6 8 £41 the second tempo move wins the opposition. 8.0017 9 dah7 Sef 10 dig8 + The Blockade 5.3 If White were to move, he would win immediately with 1 h4 because the black king is outside the square of the h-pawn. Black to move can fix the whole white kingside with L..g4!. AE ter2 dad SbS 3 b3.a4+ 4 had Sas 5 ta? cebd 6 deb? a3+ 7 ta? dead 8 bl &b3 9 Lal a2 White is in zug- zwang and has to move the h- or f pawn. Black promotes first and mates immediately. Breaking Up 5.4 Horwitz Neue Berliner Schachzeitung, 1867 White simplifies to an easily won pawn ending. 1 Qxf5 extS L..gxf5 allows White an outside passed pawn: 2 ded4 set 3 bd +— 2 ded f6 3 hd Gif7 4 dogs eT The black pawn-chain appears to be intact, but the following break-up makes it clear how unstable the chain is: SHS! gxhS 6 dexfS +— Breakthrough ‘The pawn breakthrough is one of the ‘most important tactical themes in pawn endings. This tactic is based on the fact that promoting a pawn to a queen provides such an overwhelming ad- vantage that it can justify the sacrifice of several pawns, TYPICAL PAWN MANOEUVRES IN PAWN ENDING 5.5 Cozio I Gioco degli Scacchi, 1166 This breakthrough position is. fa- mous: 1 b6! exb6 1...axb6 2 c6! bxe6 3 a6 + 2 a6! bxa6 3 c6 +— 5.6 Ed. Lasker - Moll Berlin 1904 1442 White misses his chance. Instead he could have won with 1 f6!: 1..gxf6 2 14 ded4 3 g5 fxg5 4 fxgs Wes (4...hxg5 5h6 +=) 5 gxh6 daf6 6 c2 +- and Black is in zugzwang and has to leave the square of the h6-pawn. 2.g8 ddd 0-1 57 Wotawa Deutsche Schachzeitung, 1961 Stalemate and breakthrough themes play an important part in this study. Le6t After 142 g4+! (but not I...gxf4? 2 24!, when White achieves his break- through after all: 2..dxe5 3 g5 +-) 2 Jexgd dxeS 3 fxe5 c5 —+ the black c- pawn is too fast Lutxe6 2 Fa! gate! After 2...gxf4 3 g4 Wc3 4 g5 ded3 5 ‘gd Bed 6 gxh6 £3 7 dg3 de 8 h7 12.9 hgW f1W the queen ending is a raw. 3 cuhdt dS 3...05 4 £5 c4 (4...exf5 is stalemate) 5 fxe6 3 6 e7 c2 7 8H cl 8 Wb8+ 53 4 £5! (D) 4...exf5 stalemate. 5 fxe6 d3 6 e7 d27 e8W dl 8 We2+ Wxe2 Stalemate, Further Examples Hints for a possible breakthrough: + A majority of pawns in the relevant part of the board. + Space advantage in the relevant part of the board + Weakness in the enemy pawn-struc- ture (for example, doubled pawns). + The opposing king is far away and will be outside the square of a passed pawn. 5.8 OF course the position is an easy draw if Black can create a passed pawn. In order to do this he just has to prevent his pawns from being blocked. 6! 1...g6? 2 g5! + — blockade. 2 teed g6 3 hd fi54 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING 5.9 Kling and Horwitz The New Chess Player, 1853 White must aim to promote on f8 so as to check Black’s king. 1S! (D) ‘The only move leading to a suc- cessful breakthrough. The other ad- vances result in defeat; for example, after 1 g5? fxg5 2 hS gxf4 and | e5? fxeS 2 h5 ext Black promotes with mate, while 1 £5? exf5 is an eas for Black oa Fg 1..gxhS Or 1...25 2 e5! fxeS (2...2xf4 3 exf6 and 2...f5 3 gxf5 also win for White) 3 £5! e4 4 f6 and White promotes with check. 25! fxeS 3 £5! hxgd 4 (6 g35 £7 g2 6 18+ White wins. Wh 5.10 Schuster Das Endspiel im Schach, 1975 A basic example: 1a6é! dS! 1...bxa6 2 bxe6 +-. 2. b6! axb6 2...bxa6 3 bxa7 +-. 3a7 + 5.11 Grigoriev 64, 1933 The black pawns have no more moves whereas the c2-pawn still has two spare tempi. If White uses both correctly, he will decide the game in his favour: 1¢3(D) 1 c4? carelessly gives away one of the two spare tempi ~ and also half a point: I...8d8 2 dc6 deck 3 b6 cxb64 Sexb6 (4 dexd6 bS 5 exbS deb7) 4...d5! Sexds &d7 =. 1...ded8 2 Hee6 dee8 3 c4! L846 exb6 5 Lxb6 dS 6 cxd5 eB 7 ke Gd8 8 &d6 +- 5.12 Capablanca - Conde Hastings 1919 Black is relying on his protected passed pawn, The white majority on the kingside seems to be devalued by TYPICAL PAWN MANOEUVRES IN PAWN ENDINGS 55 the doubled pawns while the white queenside seems to be safely blocked Nevertheless, with the help of pawn breakthroughs White can create an unstoppable pair of isolated passed pawns 1 bd! axb4 L.exb4 2 Gexd4 hd6 3 g5 fxg5 4 Ixg5 bxg5 5 hxgs +— 2.g5! fxgs 3 fxgS hxgs 4 hxgs b3 5 bd3 + 5.13 Rosen 1989 “Well, one inevitably asks oneself, “isn't this a famitiar position?”. If we look at it in more detail we will recog- nize that it is different from the study by Cozio (5.5) in that the black king is inside the square of the c-pawn. ‘Therefore White has to work hard to save the game because otherwise the black king will capture his pawns. Again a pawn breakthrough comes to his aid Lb6! (D) 1..axb6? loses to 2 6 bxo6 3 a6 4+; the black king cannot reach that far! 2 axb6t 2.a6? is wrong due to 2...bxa6 3.06 $e6 —+, but White has a second draw- ing option in 2 cxb6 a6 3 Sf2 deed 4 by3! das 5 lH edd 6 bets = decd? 7 be6 Sb5S 8 ded7 dexaS 9 Lc7 kbd 10 dxb7 a5 11 @c7 a4 127 a3 13 DS w+ + 2.uaxb6 2.85? 3.06 +—, 3 cxb6 eS 4 hed SAS 5 ted3 be5 6 de3 Lxb6 7 Lbs = Once again we have reached the mother of all drawn positions! 5.14 Grigoriev (end of study) Shakhmaty v SSSR, 1938 Apart from his better king position White can also count on the spare tempo of the g2-pawn, 1.8847 (D) 1...s¥e7 ultimately leads to the same picture: 2 dc6 de6 3 g3! de 4 dec? she6 5 ted8 S17 6 ded7 transposes to the main line.56 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING 2shdS de7 3 eS HT 4 ed6 6 5 8ed7 Sef7 6 g3! (D) White gains the opposition. 6.848, 6.96 7 He8 deo 8 b18 bi 9 hg8 Leb 10 dg7 is also winning for White. 7 hoe6 shag 8 de deg 9 26 Gh7 10 Sf7 Gh6 1 kegs +— 5.15 Kok De Schaakwereld, 1940 This position is certainly not as straightforward as it appears at first glance because the black king is ready to support his own pawns, if neces- sary. Moreover, White's space advan- tage is not as big as in the study by Cozio (5.5) since his pawns are only on the 4th rank. 12! (D) Not a) 1 BS? c5! 2 dxeS dxeS 3 dee? B63 4 a3 heed —+. by 1 dab2? df2 2 c5 bxeS 3.5? (3 dxe5 =) 3...0xd5 4 b5 d4 5 b6 d3 6 b7 42.7 DSW dW +. €) 15? dxe5 2 bxe5 (2b? exdd+ 3 daxd4 c5+ 4 dS Wf3 5 eb c4 6 Sbxb6 c3 7 taG c2 8 b6 c1W —+) 2...bxe5 3 dxe! 4) 1:d52¢5! (1..cxd5? 2 edd! xed. 3 dxc4 bef3 4 dadS +-) 2 bxeS bxeS 3 hb3 G3 4 dead ded 5 dbs dd 6 de06 xed 7 Sxd6 Sb4 8 he7 c4 =, Other moves do not help either: 1...b5 2.45 cxd5 3 cxbS +; 1...d5 2 dS 105 2 dxeS dxeS 3 bxeS bxeS 4 bed + 2 eS! dxeS 2...bxe5 3 d5 exd5 4 b5 +. 3 bS! exbS 4 d5 +— 5.16 Halberstadt 64, 1930 ‘A seemingly hopeless position for White, but the game is saved by a hid- den stalemate idea: 1 gst hxgS 2 6! dxe6 2...fe6 3 dxe6 dxe6 4 6! exf6. 3 txe6 3 d6? ext5+—+. 3uufixes 4 d6! exd6 = 6 The Rook’s Pawn Key Squares of the Rook's Pawn « Rook's Pawn and Minor Piece The Key Squares of the Rook’s Pawn 61 WB Many of the rules of Chapter | can- not be applied to positions with a rwok’s pawn, The diagram shows the critical position: only if Black man ages 10 get his king to one of the key squares gl or g2 can he force the pauwn's promotion, If White is to move, he can prevent this and secure the draw: 1 she? dog3 2 bl hd Or 2..d2h2 3 G12 hd 4 fl 3 S S112 hI 6 Fl h2 7 sf2 stalemate. 3cbgi h3 4 ht h2 and this time it is White who is stalemated. If Black is to move, he manages to get his king to the key square g2 and forces the promotion of the hS-pawn: 1..kog3 2 deed og? —+58 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING THE ROOK'S PAWN 5960 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING TH Rook's Pawn and Minor Piece 6.2a The possibility of stalemate pre- vents White from exploiting his big material advantage: the black king stays in the comer and the approach of the white king leads to stalemate: 1 weds kb7 2 &d6 La8 3 de7 stale- mate. 6.2b The same principle holds when the knight defends the pawn from c6. White's king cannot defend the a7- pawn without giving stalemate. 6.2c Here again the approach of the white king leads to a stalemate: 1 aS &b7 2 deb5 wea8 3 wec6 stalemate. Rook's Pawn + Bishop In positions with a rook’s pawn and a bishop against a lone king, the promo- tion of the pawn cannot be forced if the opponent's king reaches the pro- ‘motion square and the bishop cannot control it. In such a case we talk about the wrong bishop. 63 I is true that we do not have a rook’s pawn in this instance, but there are some similar ideas because the pawn’ proximity to the edge of the hoard provides drawing possibilities. White must play very tely even with a knight’s pawn: 1de7 : ROOK’S PAWN 61 1 b6+? gives away the win: 1...8a8! 2.b7+ (with another pawn 2 &c7 leads to a win but with the knight’s pawn only toa stalemate) 2...seb8 3 s2b6 is a stalemate we are already familiar with 1..sta8 2 kb6 2.b6? is again stalemate. 2...deb8 3 a6! (D) Only when the white king moves to the edge can he force a win. 3 6 Ba! repeats the original position. 3.u8a8 3.07 4 a7 +-. 4.6 2b8 5 b7 + With the king at a6, the black king can escape via €7 and so there is no lemate, White wins. 6.4 This is another important position, and knowing it could save some half- points. Black can block the white king in the corner but he has to choose the right square: 1...dee8! 1.587? 2 Db6 (2 Du6 also wins) 2...S8xb6 3 sb8 +.62 CHE: 2 Dbo+ Le7 3 Dd7 Se 4 Des ke7 = The knight cannot prevent the king from moving up and down on the squares c7 and c8. Rook’s Pawn + Knight In positions with the pawn on the sev- enth rank in which the defending king blocks the opposing king in the corner, his should choose the square that has the same colour as that occupied by the enemy knight. 6.5 ‘The white bishop is so badly placed that it cannot move without abandon- ig the protection of the g7-pawn When the white king tries to appro: the game ends once again in stale- mate: 1 Se5 segs 2 wes stalemate Note that the same position would be easily won for White when pushed one file to the left: Black can do nothing against the manoeuvre $d5-e5-f5, 2hS followed by Gg6xg7. ENDGAME TRAINING 6.6 Troitsky Novoe Vremia, 1895 Without the e7-pawn the position is a draw (see 6.5) — with it, White wins the game! 1 gsi! 1 ee5? e6 2 dhd6 05 3 sixes dg’ = 4 Ge6 stalemate. xg8 2 de Lh8 3 07 Without the e7-pawn Black would now be stalemated, but in this case there is: 3.05 4 2g7H 6.7 Stalemate ideas also play a role in this ending: bal Sed 2 243! 25 2..S0xd3 stalemate. 3 edt 2a2(D) 4.20% White keeps the black king pinned down on the edge. 4..b3 After other moves White continues the pursuit of the bishop. 5 2xb3! Sixb3 = THE ROOK'S PAWN 63 Black is left with a ‘wrong bishop’ 5...axb3 is stalemate, Further Examples 6.8 Here i 1éfs 1 &f6? stalemate. L.deg7 2 ho! Without this sacrifice no win is pos- sible because Black has occupied the comer, 2 Se6 @h8 3 S17? is stale- mate. 2uctexh8 3 06 seg8 4 97 + s easy to go wrong: 69 The proximity of the edge prevents a white win, When the pawns are one rank less advanced, White has an easy win, as we have already seen (see 3.1). 1 db2 &b7 2 ceb3 kb8 3 deed eb7 4 SS GbE 5 kee6 Sa 6 b7+ 6 7 stalemate. 6..58b8 = 6.10 We already know that White cannot win with the h4-pawn alone, so the only try is to sacrifice this outside passed pawn and to rely on the a- pawn ThS Sf6 2 deh7 E73 h6 EB 4 seg6 Sg8 5 26 Lh7 6 Se6 Sxh6 7 :d6 G2g6 8 Hc6 EtG 9 Sb6 “Hes 10 sexaS Sed! 10.86? 11 &b6 + 11 26 eB = Black controls the key b7-square in time. 6.11 A knight alone cannot mate? In the case that the king is blocked in and the opponent has a rook's pawn that takes away an important escape square, he can 1...Dg5+ 2 dh8 £8 3h7 DTH 6.12 Rosen — Brunner Berlin 1987 White easily forces a draw against a rook’s pawn and a knight: 70 Sixgst This is the easiest solution 10... xgde 71 g3 h2 72 eg? HES 73 Shi Led 74 Lg Yr-" Be careful: a stalemate can easily become a checkmate: 74 £52? £3 75 £6 g3 76 £7 DF2#. 6.13 Troitsky Shakhmaty Ziurnal, 1896 Due to the wrong bishop, White has to prevent the black king from reach- ing the comer square h8 because that would mean an elementary draw. 1 2e6!(D)64 1...s8e7 1.8 2 h6 +. 2hot ete 2...82xe6? 3 HT +— 3.afst Afier 3.2.28? Seg6 4 h7 Sg7 = the king has arrived exactly where he needs to be to secure the draw. Buckef7 4 QH7! 4 betd gs 5 dogs Bhs = Now the bishop and pawn form a nice barrier, and after. 4.8206 5 Std the problem is solved because the black king's access to the h-file has been definitely blocked. 5.8207 6 SES e687 16 +— 6.14 Loyd The Chess Monthly, 1860 Here a sharp fight flares up about the promotion square hl 1 26+ sgl! (D) 1, .DF3+ 2 Be2 h1W 3 Axf3+ Sgl 4 &xhl Sxhl 2an! ENDGAME TRAINING After other moves, ...g2 will lock ‘out the bishop; for example, 2 &d5 Dgdt +. 2...Dg2+ 3 he2 exh 4 Sit = White moves to a light square, be- cause the black knight is also on a light square. Not 4 $812? Ae3 —+ 6.15 For the sake of completeness, here is a normal win with a knight plus a rook’s pawn. When the pawn has not yet reached the seventh rank, every- thing works very smoothly: 1 hdd a8 2 die5 sha7 3ub5 HB 4 eb6 seb8 5 a5 5 a7+?, however, is still premature: 5. 5...ska8 6 De7+ &b8 7 a7+ + 6.16 Mendheim Aufgaben fur Schachspieler, 1832 ‘The giant black knight is a match for no fewer than four pawns 1...Db5 2 06 2.d4 Dxd4 3 Sa7 Sc7 4 La8 DS transposes to the text. 2.587 3.d4 Dxdd 4 tea7 DbS+ § a8 He8 6 c7 Lxe7! 7 a7 Dd6 8 bS Ded 9 b6+ AxbGH This chapter completes the topic of pawn endings for now. The last six ex- amples served as a foretaste of end- ings with minor piece ‘Many rules and principles valid for pawn endings also serve as a valuable guide for the correct treatment of other endings. 7 Knight Endings Knight vs Pawn(s) © Knight and Pawn vs Knight © Strategy in Knight Endings 2..Da7 3 &b7 DbS 4 Sb6 Ado! S ight Pe Knight vs Pawn(s) a7 Dc8+ 6 Eb7 Dxa7 = However, if the rook’s pawn is al- ready on the seventh rank then the knight will be trapped in the comer and be captured. 12b74+- Due to its special way of moving, the knight is particularly adept at dou- ble attacks. Although by nature it op: crates over short distances, it can often considerably extend its range with the help of such forks. It can also use this, possibility in the fight against a far- ulvanced passed pawn. Even under the unfavourable circumstances of the above diagtam it still manages to stop the pawn, For example: 1bb6 De8+ 2 ke7 2 kb7 Dd6+ 3 Sc7 Dbs+ 4 Lb6 !5.a7 De8+ and Black eliminates the pawn,66 CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING KNIGHT ENDINGS 67 Do WY 18CHESS ENDGAME TRAINING How should 1...Bxc4+ be evalu- ated? KNIGHT ENDINGS 69 Knight vs Pawn(s) ‘The knight on its back rank is helpless against an attack from an enemy pawn on its seventh rank. The knight faces particular difficul- ties when it has to stop a rook’s pawn. 72 A basic example: 1 2ixb8+ Axb8 2 T+. 73 Here the knight has to burry in or- der to catch the pawn. 1297! 1 go? h3 2 Ae4 h2—+. 1...h3 2 Dd6+ ‘Thanks to this check, the knight just manages to control the hl-square in time. 2uuteb6t 2..s8eS 3 Ded+ edd 4 D2 h2 5 ske7 makes it simpler for White to achieve the same draw as in the main line. 3 Ded h2 4 De2! kee (D) White starts a zigzag that ultimately leads to Black’s king being locked up in the comer. 5...8ed6 6 Eb7 hes 6..58e5 7 Aga, 7 cb Ef5 8 Sods kd 9 hdd et3 10 Dh gd 11 e3 exh 12 Lt2 stalemate 74 Normally the knight is not able to draw by itself against two connected passed pawns. In this position, how- ever, it makes good use of a great num- ber of forks: 1 Dest g4 2 Dg7! £4 2...93 3 Dxf5 g2 4 De3+ =, 3. DhS! £3 4 D061 3 (D) 405 Dxes f1W 6 Ded abso leads to a draw. Z 5 Dedt 92 6 Dd2+ hd3 7 Axe3 ‘The knight can stop any pawn ex- cept the rook’s pawn if it can control the promotion square; this applies even if the pawn has already reached the seventh rank. The opposing king is