108 65 17MB
English Pages 896 [898] Year 2022
A Matter of
Endgame Technique By
Jacob Aagaard
Quality Chess www.qualitychess.co.uk
First edition 2022
by Quality Chess
UK Ltd
Second print 2022
Copyright ©
2022, 2022
Jacob Aagaard
A MATTER OF ENDGAME TECHNIQUE All in
a
rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
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Series Introduction Knowledge series, which is going to be a series of books where middlegame endgame topics are explained in depth. The first overarching theme of the series will be an unapologetic attention to detail. The second is that the books will be textbooks, not workbooks, unlike the previous books I wrote in the Grandmaster Preparation series, which were predominantly workbooks.
Welcome
to
the Grandmaster and
various
The title of the series should
not
be understood in the
same
way
as
the series of videos Alex
Yermolinsky once did, which were about what Every Russian Schoolboy Knows. While I think books that explain themes and ideas that are commonly known to grandmasters are great, and I do work on ideas for such books, there is an unquestionable need and desire for books that can teach even grandmasters something. Although it should be said that two of the all-time greats were not informed about the knowledge Yermolinsky considered common, as you can see on page
446. rated 2300 and
Players on
will be
to
these
an earlier stage of their progress as well. Although you are not the has also been reserved for you. the material in this series will be advanced, the intention is to make it as accessible as
focus audience,
Although
smaller part of the market for instructional material, so based this book is bound to be a commercial fiasco. But I hope this series
over are a
players alone, accessible to players at
sales
a seat
possible. I am of the firm conviction that chess is a difficult game to play, but not too difficult to explain once you have analysed the games thoroughly. The difference is that during a game, you will have competing rationales pulling you in different directions. In the analysis you work out which direction was preferable, leaving you with the task of
explaining why one
The first book
in this series is
model for the series
publisher. Jacob
rationale
A volume
Aagaard Glasgow, May 2022
as a on
was
superior.
really
five
or
six books in
whole, although I refuse
to
middlegame technique will
one.
This size is
not
going
to
be the
make any promises, despite threats from the follow, although not as the next volume.
Contents You don’t have
Exercises to
Chapter 1
2 3
4 5
6 7 8
9 10 11
1
-
read
everything!
9
Chapter 1 Endgame Elements
27
to
15
Promotion and
underpromotion Underpromotion Unstoppable promotion The importance of passed pawns Using passed pawns as a distraction Creating passed pawns Protected passed pawn Breakthrough Distant passed pawns Creating passed pawns Spread passed pawns can be stronger
27 31
40 42
44 45 52
55 58 62
than connected pawns
66 68
14
Eliminate all the pawns King blocking the passed pawn Attacking the pawns from behind
15
Pawns in the way
74
16
82
19
Zugzwang Triangulation Losing a tempo Unnecessary pawn
20
Mutual zugzwang
21
Opposition Distant opposition
12 13
17
18
22
73
74
86 90
94
moves
99 102 103 110
25
Corresponding squares Shouldering Provoking weaknesses
26
Domination
121
27
Mate in the
23 24
113
119
124
28
endgame Defending against attacks
29
Stalemate
138
30
143
31
Stalemate escapes Shortest stalemate
32
Newest shortest stalemate
148
on
the
king
138
148
Contents
33
rook
149
34
Perpetual Perpetual
35
Counterplay
154
36
Fortresses and passive defence Positional draw
156
37
check and pawn
153
endings
159 162
39
The 50-Move Rule Activate the strongest piece first
40
King activity
166
41
King penetration
169
42
King
flexibility Cutting off the king
171
43
44
Checks
178
45
The
46
diagonal diagonals The power of the two bishops
182
204 204
51
Knight paths Knight in the corner Kings are better than knights
52
The fourth
207
38
47
48
49
50
king belongs
Bishop Bishop
164
175
in front of the
passed
pawn
on one
179
183
on two
189
206
53
phase Simplifications in
54
Weaknesses
222
55
The
56
principle of two weaknesses Prophylaxis
226
57
The Shankland Rule
230
58
Schematic
231
59 60 61
the fourth
thinking key squares Fighting Knowing when to act and when Timing
223
for
63
The importance of the critical Anticipating the race
64
Active
62
218
phase
234 to
squeeze
moment
239
242 250 255
65 66 67
passive defence Capablanca shuffling Winning without doing Plus equal
258 275 277
68
Small details
283
69
Mechanical
70
The
or
290
manoeuvre
endgame
is
deeply
280
tactical
294
Jacob Aagaard
—
A Matter of Endgame
Technique
Deep calculation Deep resources
298
72 73
Miracle escapes
300
Exercises
307
71
to
2
Chapter
-
299
Chapter 2 Lack of Technique
311
Opposition and triangulation Being practical
311
2 3
Distractions
321
4
325
5
Pattern recognition Knights and flank pawns Basic principle of exchanges
6
Maximise your
347
7 8
Domination
1
9 10 11
317
-
advantage
before
striking
327
348
Micro-domination
356
Cutting off the
362
king
364
Shouldering Allowing counterplay Exercises
367 400
Solutions
402
12
Necessary and unnecessary complications
409
13 14
Overpressing Passed pawns
416 must
be
pushed
control
420 424
15
Losing
16
Pushing passed pawns Hanging on to material Overestimating dynamics Endgame theory Surprising endgame theory
428
Exercises to
Chapter 3
449
Fortresses
451
17
18 19
20
too
3
Chapter
-
far
431
433 440
447
of fortresses
1
Types
2
Fortress
3
4
Ways to Wrong bishop
for the
5
A
fortress
6
A fortress that relies
7
Fortress
8
The role of pawns in
9
Six fortress exercises
471
10
Solutions
473
11
vs
shouldering
Queen
451
defensive strategy break fortresses
as a
as a
corner
on
square
452
453 454
458
counterplay
surprise defence
breaking fortresses
rook and pawn
459
460 466
479
Contents
480
13
Expanding on a generic fortress Fortress in a complicated setting
14
Control
colour of squares
486
15
A stalemate and restriction fortress
488
16
Fortress
489
17
Breaking
defensive strategy down a fortress
18
Brute force
break down
500
19
Breaking a
12
over one
481
as a
to
fortress
Five advanced
a
494
fortress
slowly
502
examples
505
20
Blockade
21
509
22
Fighting stay alive A fluid fortress
23
A restriction fortress
527
24
Understanding fortresses
534
505 to
Exercises
Chapter
to
4
-
514
Chapter 4 Rook vs Bishop
545
547
3
breaking filmed backwards Symmetrical pawns Symmetrical h-pawns on the 4th and 5th Two symmetrical pawns
4
Three pawns
5
f-pawns only
564
6
565
7
g-pawns in the middle The game
8
Asymmetrical
580
9
Flank pawns
1
2
10
11 12 13
A fortress
547
-
on
the
same
flank
555
rank
555 560
563
568
pawns
583
back...
Looking Adjacent pawns
586
A few games in conclusion A passed pawn each
594 615
Exercises to
621
Chapter
5
-
589
Chapter 5 Exchanges
623
Going deep Comparing resulting endings
625 632 644
4
Same story more or less Guidelines for exchanges
5
A
646
1 2
3
6
-
with
value
guideline Exchanging one set of rooks only more
646 648
Jacob Aagaard
—
A Matter of Endgame
Technique 662
7
Transition into
8
664
19
Exchanging queens Pawn exchanges Don’t exchange your opponent’s weaknesses Transposing into pawn endings Looking for the pawn ending Broadening Loss of flexibility The transformation of advantages through exchanges Exchanges/Prevention of counterplay Clarity Exchanging for penetration Exchanges for king safety
20
On the other hand
702
21
A
9
10 11
12 13 14
15 16
17
18
22 23 24
Chapter 1
winning ending
complex example Exchanges from the defender’s Exchanges to make a draw Relying on strategic principles
Exercises to
2
a
6
-
668 676
677 678 681
684 686
690
691 699 701
704 point of view
714 716
721
Chapter 6
731
Illustrative Games
739
An illustration of opening
740
play
for
Fighting key squares Exploiting an advantage
745
The annoying small details Fortress
772 790
10
Breaking a fortress Plus equal Exchanges and the flow of the game Exchanges and clarity Creating passed pawns
11
Rook
vs two
minor
845
12
Rook
vs two
minor
13
The
3
4 5 6 7
8 9
14 15
pieces pieces
762
-
779
another
803 814 828 841
example
856
bishop pair Attack in the endgame Timing
864
Name Index
890
Bibliography
896
872 878
You don’t have to read everything! Looking
at a nine
hundred page book may be a daunting experience. On the one hand, it is a on the other, it is a big challenge as well. At our online academy, www.
lot of information, but
daily classes, leading to 40-50 hours of chess training available teenager with a deep passion for chess, this may be the greatest thing ever. But if you are a working professional, you may feel you are missing out, because there is no way you can ever watch even half the classes. Most find their own rhythm quite fast, but some do struggle with the idea of zoning in on the few things that are of especial interest to them and not feeling that they are losing out. We always wanted the academy to be a way to pool our resources so that our students can get the training they need, always, at an affordable price, thus making it killerchesstraining.com, each month. If you
we
have
are a
available to everyone.
principle. Rather than looking to maximise income, it seeks to convey possible. In the process of writing it, I decided to give up on the idea of what a chess book usually looks like and allowed it to be its own thing. I am trusting readers to understand that this book is many things, and you do not have to read all of it, simply stick to This book follows the as
much information
same as
the sections that pique your interest. The book contains
only six chapters, all of which could have been published as individual volumes. play in the endgame, in all its facets, with two notable exceptions. This is not a book about rook endings, although a few examples of rook endings are included, and it is not a book about endgame theory, although a few examples do discuss this topic as well. The original idea of the book was to include only examples where people misplayed their good positions, but as I got deeper into the writing of the book, this constraint became obviously artificial. The book still contains the idea that the endgame is difficult, and these are the ways we mess up, but it is only one dimension. It is
a
book about technical
The themes and
examples
in this book
are meant to
be multidimensional. To
some
readers,
a
lot
of the themes and ideas will be new, while others will be reacquainting themselves with existing knowledge. Learning something new is always a good thing. But so is the reminder of existing
knowledge, particularly through new examples. Those readers who are following top tournaments religiously may recognise a few examples, especially from the last chapter. But the explanations and thematic investigation should still make them fresh and revealing. I don’t use famous games to explain chess ideas. When I see a book full of examples I already know, because they have been
in many books
already, I mentally turn
off. I do
not want
this experience for you.
10
Jacob Aagaard
-
A Matter of Endgame
Technique
The examples are as important as the themes Learning anything involves
a lot of repetition and looking at it from different angles. Most will of two weaknesses. But principle seeing a new example explaining it will only expand In of the theme. chess your understanding nothing is absolute. We have a lot of ideas and concepts that can help our decision making during the game. Evaluating the strategic reach of them better
know the
is
an
important part of improvement.
make
sense
them will on
explanation can fully cover the themes, they only a lot of examples. Hopefully some of a understanding concept and seeing how it works
No verbal
in context. For this reason, this book contains
help
you
bridge
the
abyss
between
the board. How to deal with the
It is
deep analysis in this book
for readers of chess books to prefer verbal explanations over lots of variations. Often disregarded with the contemptuous description of “computer analysis”. Not always without justification. It is easy to press the space bar and fill the white spaces on the page. This is not what has happened in this book. The variations are meant to be an illustration of possible play, or to explain the tactical or technical nuances of the games. I find that it is easy to make a statement and get the approval of the reader. Usually, those who read a book are willing to believe that you know what you are talking about and will accept the evaluations as valid. But I am not looking for approval. I am wishing for you to improve your game. The variations and analysis in this book are thus illustrations and explanations and going through them will be a part of the educational process. The thematic explanation can be easy to follow conceptually, but without seeing what it means in practice, I doubt it will have any positive common
is
analysis
influence
on
your game. There
if you want, you
can
skip
are a
them. The
few times where the variations will be quite extensive and more
experienced you
are, the less this should be the
case.
If you are a less experienced player and some variations seem overpowering, you should skip whatever you feel you need to skip. As with our academy, it is never the intention that everyone
should understand
everything,
but that everyone will learn
something.
If you can, I recommend that you go through the variations in your head. This is good for your training in visualisation in general and where chess should be played. If you need to play
through
the games
your head.
others would
depending
on a
board, I recommend that you still try
Many strong players on
not
consider
reading
a
to
go
through
the variations in
board when going through a book; book without it. Personally, I am somewhere in-between,
would
never
think of using
a
the book and my mood.
Why the games are truncated explained to me his love of unannotated moves, as they reduced the need probably one of the reasons I dislike them so much? Larsen said: “Save me from unannotated games!” So, if you are one of the few readers times ask us why we start the game halfway and don’t include the first 30-40 moves?
A fellow author
for him Bent who
at
to
once
work. This is
You don’t have
to
read
The answer is: the parts of the games that are relevant for the
If you
want
included,
unannotated games, you
topic of the book
find them
can
had
many would believe that
are
If the first 30
everywhere. they play through these they should spend improving their endgame technique.
too
wasting time
11
everything!
to
moves
included.
moves
were
and would be
The organisation of the book The six
1.
chapters
are
organised
like this:
Endgame Elements
There
are
many small themes in the
endgame.
In this
chapter
we
shall deal with
a
lot of them.
Over the six months of writing this book, these are the main topics I could think of. To a strong player, most of them will be familiar, which is where the freshness of the examples is important. To
a
less
experienced player,
there will be
a
lot of new information.
2. Lack of Technique
chapter we shall look at common ways for things to go wrong. The core of the chapter big section on allowing counterplay, but on top of this, some topics are repeated from Chapter 1 and some topics are considered from both angles, such as hanging on to material and overestimating dynamics. In this is the
3. Fortresses
endgames and difficult to understand for a lot of the players I have worked special type of thinking, as rarely are the games decided on a move by move rather on schematic thinking and a special sensibility for fortresses. but basis,
A topic unique to with. It requires a
4. Rook vs
Bishop chapter we shall go deeper into an endgame that most of the time ends with fortresses. This chapter definitely goes from the simple to the advanced, with details that will stretch the imagination of any grandmaster. The cornerstone game, Aronian Dubov, is close to impossible to understand fully. I have done my best to do so, and explain what I have understood, but not certainly every aspect of this six-piece ending has been uncovered. In this
—
5. Exchanges When and what
chapter was
we
to
exchange
is
a
difficult topic in chess and no less so in the endgame. In this depth, and why the strategic concept I was taught when I
shall debate this topic in
younger is debateable. In
into this
going deep
topic,
I
hope
I
can rescue
you from
some
of
the disasters that befell my friends. 6. Illustrative Games The final
endgame
chapter
includes
a
few
battles. The concept is
to
recent
games and
show the
endgame
two
lesser-known games that feature
in its natural habitat and go
big deep. I enjoy
both small clear examples with one-dimensional explanations, and deep analysis of complicated games that tries
to
address all the elements
we encounter on
the battlefield.
12
Jacob Aagaard
The book has been
designed
to
-
A Matter of Endgame
be read in order. Start
at
Technique 1 and progress
Chapter
through
the
book. However, there will be many times where you encounter a point explained again, yet explained as if seen for the first time. This is intentional. Repetition is good. There is a lot of information in this book and at times
I presume you have
said, you do
as
not
done
not
have
read
to
However, I hope you will find the themes and explanations
A few general truths about the
Throughout some
years, Above them
this book you will be faced with
obvious, but are some
never
general
really
everything
to
benefit from it. And
so.
a
perhaps
endgame play,
read
to
on.
endgame
lot of thematic ideas:
written about, and
truths about
revealing and want
which
a
known for
some
a
hundred
few that I have noticed first.
are
well established.
Most games are won or lost incrementally Throughout this book, you will find many examples where one side has a significant advantage already. Either they will win with accurate play, or the other side is facing their last chance(s) to the game. This is not how
save
advantage.
This
endgames
most
simply
means
work.
Usually,
one
that the other side has
side
more
enters
the
problems
decades, defensive skills have increased, but the experience is still that to more than average results.
endgame
a
with
a
slight
solve. In the last few
to
slightly
better position
will lead A
big part of modern chess is to play for this technical advantage. At the top level, the days big novelties out of the opening leading to large advantages are behind us. If you get any advantage out of the opening, it is a cause for celebration. In my generation there were a lot of players who loved the opening more than anything else and dived deep, trying to win or draw straight from the opening. When I talk to these people today, some of them feel that chess has been played out to some extent, and all there is left is to attempt some “bluff”. Chess changes throughout the ages and in our age technique is more important than it has been for a while. of
Most blunders
come
from poor positions. So, if you
want to
rely on luck, you need
to create it.
this book you will find examples where games are won slowly. One side manages few problems for the opponent and keep up the pressure, until more mistakes occur.
Throughout to create a
The
zone
of one mistake
This concept arises from Lev Psakhis and has become Gelfand,
as we
explained
What it focuses
on,
in Technical Decision
rather than
looking
an
important part of the thinking of Boris
in Chess. The idea is
Making objectively
for the
best line,
or a
simple, yet powerful. forcing line leading to
win, is to get the opponent into an environment where he is likely to make fatal mistakes. This can be psychologically difficult, as those seeking control will tend to go for forcing lines. But, if a
you
want
The
following is
your opponent
an
to
example
make mistakes, you need of allowing the opponent
to
to
give him enough
rope
escape from the
zone
to
hang himself.
of one mistake.
You don’t have
Sam
Shankland
read
to
-
Jorden van Foreest
Prague
Sam
played
13
everything!
2021
the timid:
27.h3? The
sort
of
move
you make when you
are
disappointed
with the
of your main
outcome
intentions.
28.&gl £>e4 Black has enough counterplay. The game took many twists and turns, before move 62, but only because Black was trying to win the game along the way!
27.. .®d5t
White
won on
Stronger was: 27.Sb7! This was the
move
Sam wanted
squeezing after 27...^d5, but 26...h5!?,
was to
be expansive
to
was
on
the
play on thinking kingside.
intuitive
grounds.
He
was
happy
to
continue
that the intention behind Black’s last He thus calculated the
following
move,
variation:
28.Sc7 28.^?gl! would be an additional option for White, keeping flexibility. 28.. .ffd5t 29.&gl Sxb7 30.Sxb7 g4 31.Sxb6 ^e4 The knight is aiming for g5. White is pressing, but Black will hold with decent defensive play. 27.. .g5!?
But was was
seeing this variation
and to automatically extrapolate that the opponent was intending it and confident in it, and that he would have defended the endgame well over the next 30 moves, impractical. Better to allow the opponent to live in the zone of one mistake, than see your
advantage
die...
14
Jacob Aagaard
-
A Matter of Endgame
Technique
Depth of the analysis This book has been
deeply analysed and I
understand that there will of 2030 will have
a
mistake, please get editions
-
never
scope that
have done the best I could
be such
cannot
in touch with the
a
thing
be matched
publisher
to minimise
mistakes. Please
error-free book and that the computers the computers of 2021. If you do find a
as an
by
and corrections will be made for future print
should there be any...
Using this book as an exercise book I have written several exercise books and will write instructional book and the positions I want to cover.
However, there I do believe that
are
are
those who will wish
“thinking”
is the most
So, before each chapter I have created with
a
1-5
realistic
assessment.
in the years to
to use
this book
ability as an
important component a
the exercises
and in
in
to
come.
explain
Instead this is
an
the ideas and themes
exercise book and I respect that. improving in this game of ours.
list of exercises and marked them
As I have used many of the
feeling for how difficult
more
selected for their
positions with
according to difficulty hopefully have a
my students, I
are...
attempt not to make the book too long (I do get the of the of the exercises has been abandoned. You can refer to them by idea that) irony numbering their chapter number and page reference, if you need to remember where you were.
With the inclusion of the
stars
I should also say that the exercises
There
are
positions with
should make some
a
more
than
are one
an
mixed. A lot of them require accurate play, but not all. reasonable way to play. There are positions where you
positional/technical decision,
ways it simulates the
and there are positions you need to calculate. In of experience sitting at the board. You will not know how to approach
the position. The only hint you are offered is how difficult it is. I offer this mainly because I know that some people will spend 20 minutes being confused, after seeing the solution in 30 seconds. And others will spend 30 seconds on positions that even seasoned GMs would need to take far
seriously. Also, please accept that because this is not an exercise book, it is possible there are other sound ways to play than I have indicated in the text. Most often there will not be, but if you believe you more
have found
an
alternative solution, then check it and prepare
to
give yourself a
pat
on
the back.
Exercises to Easy.
Based
Friendly.
on a
Chapter 1
simple
Can be solved
Mid-range.
You need
Challenging.
to
idea
by most think, but
You will need
Brain crusher. After
not too
to concentrate
solving,
see a
much for these
ones
neurologist...
Solution
on
page 30
Solution
on
page 35
Solution
on
page 38
Solution
on
page 34
Solution
on
page 37
Solution
on
page 40
16
Solution
Jacob Aagaard
on
page 43
—
A Matter of Endgame
Solution
on
Technique
page 50
irikik
abcdefgh
abcdef
gh
abcdefgh
Solution
on
page 44
Solution
on
page 55
Solution
on
page 58
Solution
on
page 45
Solution
on
page 56
Solution
on
page 59
Solution
on
page 61
abcdef
gh
a
Exercises
to
Chapter
Solution
on
page 66
b
c
e
d
f
g
17
1
Solution
on
page 70
abcdefgh
Solution
on
page 63
Solution
on
page 67
Solution
on
page 72
Solution
on
page 64
Solution
on
page 70
Solution
on
page 73
18
Jacob Aagaard
-
A Matter of Endgame
AA
A 8
8
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
abcdefgh Solution
on
A Solution
on
A Solution
page 83
on
abcdefgh
abcdefgh Solution
page 76
on
gh
page 97
A
A
abcdefgh on
1 abcdef
abcdefgh
page 75
A
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page 85
on
page 98
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Chapter
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19
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page 109
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20
Jacob Aagaard
-
A Matter of Endgame
Technique
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Solution
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Jacob Aagaard
-
A Matter of Endgame
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24
Jacob Aagaard
-
A Matter of Endgame
Technique
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Jacob Aagaard
A Matter of Endgame
-
Technique
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Chapter 1 Endgame Elements Introduction The topics within this book will come across as quite challenging, but hopefully also comprehensible. But before we dive into the great depths to follow, let s dip our toes in the water with
few basic observations about the
a
A disclaimer: I will advance with the
endgame. So, although
the
some
endgame
in chess.
assumption that this is not the book where you first encounter
of what follows is
explaining pretty basic things,
the material is
somewhat advanced and included because it felt interesting. The
endgame is characterised by a through exchanges; playing
armies active
few for
commonly-agreed factors: the diminishing of the two diminishing as a strategy; the king becoming an
mate
piece and relatively safe; the importance of pawns increasing, especially with the
view of
advancing and promoting them. We are always talking about a sliding scale. In this way chess mimics life, where there are transition stages between childhood and adulthood, and adulthood and old age. Laws aside, we all know that childhood ends at different ages for different people, as it is with the opening in chess. The same with the beginning of old age, and the end of the middlegame. You may feel the transition, but you were not aware of when it started and when it ended. Only one day you find yourself old and grey, with no pieces left and no
ability
There
to move.
middlegame. This does not mean that they do not exist there. But just as mating attacks are far less frequent in the endgame, the promotion of pawns is far less common in the middlegame. It happens, but rarely. Even underpromotion happens. And our first theme is indeed those: are
many themes in the
endgame
which
1. Promotion and
Although is a
queens
or more.
to
hardly
ever seen
in the
underpromotion
ends with checkmate, the strategic path to achieving this for mate”. Rather, the goal of a large majority of endgame play is to promote We all know this from our early days in chess, when you needed at least two
all successful
rarely “playing pawn
are
endgame play
deliver checkmate!
28
Chapter
Obviously, hoping that extra
later in
our career, we are
the weakness will
pawn, then
a
turn
1
simply
into
an
pawn and then,
passed
Elements
Endgame
-
finally, winning piece, which will then decide the game. a
high-level spectrum, there is the scenario with multiple promotions, entering what Romanovsky called the Fourth Phase: an endgame with queens and rooks, with both passed pawns and attacks on the king. I cannot see a better way to start this book than a completely bonkers endgame involving plenty of promotions.
33.&xg6
b5
b4 34.f4! The the
passed pawns
are
White is
making sure pushed, keeping flexibility.
most active move.
34.d3 d5 47.'xc3
1
-
Endgame
Elements
44.&dl &e4
h5 48.&b4!
would win easily for White.
&x6 47.&d3 &e6 48.JLd4 JLg5 49.&xc3 d5 50.&b3 &d6 51.&a4 &c6 52.&a5 ie7 46.b4
abcdefgh 58.1c5 It
simpler to exchange light squares
was
control of the
pawns and take in the process:
58.&e3 ih2 59.ig7 &b6 60.&d4 &xb5 6l.&xd5 White’s next move is Ag7-d4!, off the black
cutting retreat.
abcdefg
h
loses
53.b5t?
exchange White is in
Truly poor technique. certainly comes in under
This
unnecessary pawn be happy. Slow
on
moves.
no
the category of
Steinitz would
not
58.. .1e5 59.ie3
next move is
&c7 60.id4 ig3 61.&e3
6xd5 36.exd5 £>xd5
abcdefgh abcdefgh
248
Chapter
1
-
Endgame
45.&d5?
40. a8=®t? Move 40. It is easy
to
forgive
a
player
for
making mistake when time is running out. Right? Not so fast. Vaishali had 18 minutes a
37.a7, and she still had about 18 minutes when she played this move.
when she A
move
played
it
diminished, but only with this
move
is
actually ruined.
position. to analyse the position for hour and will give you the winning line it
I allowed Fat Fritz 2 an
suggested. 45.£>d3t &d4 46.£>cl The point of this strange manoeuvre is to attack the b3-pawn and prevent the black
Instead, White should have exploited that the black king is unable to join the game, as long as
®d5t
It turns out that objectively, only this mistake throws away the winning position. With one minute now on the clock, Vaishali had no chance to work out the nuances of the
she made in 2 seconds. Remember
that she had to put the queen on the board too, so this leaves far less than a second for active thought. Already, the white advantage is much
Elements
is in the air and the pawn still
rank. White wins
on
the 7th
her position
by improving before giving up this advantage. 40.&g2 &e8 41. d5 ^d8 23.Sxd5!? ®xd5 24.ftcxe6t 22.ftxg7t &d7! 25.£k7 ®xd6 26.ftxa8 ®c5 27.^>xb6t ^c6 with a drawn ending approaching.
following variation
21 Jfe5
Sg8! The intermediate
is
abcdefgh
a
At this point Black has a lot of options and, obviously, MVL spent a lot of time.
disaster.
a
scary
on
move
22...Sg8?!
21...®xc3t? 22.^£1
23.Shel ftf6 24.®f5! is
proposition. White
e6. The black
is about to sacrifice
king is stuck in
22...ftf6 is better, but after still in grave
danger.
He is
not
the centre.
23.®e2! Black
managing
to
is
get
the pieces into the game. This is
objectively the that there is
best
move.
But it does
easy ride ahead. 19..Jbcd4 20.Bxd4 ®a2 21.0—0 looks very
not mean
an
dangerous for Black. Using an engine, find a path through the labyrinth that leads to a slightly better endgame for White, which is
we can
not
easy
The
to
hold in practice. practical solution is also the
most
imaginative. Black could play: 19...f5! 20.ftxc5 &f7!!
22.^dxe6! White has
to
go all in. Caruana was
obviously
still in preparation. 22...fxe6 23.^xe6
8
most
naan
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
mjKU0k inf, wmww
W
m
jliMS
|f§f ifH I ill |§fi fi abcdefgh
23..Jfxc3t!? abcdefgh Black has returned the piece
and is
It is very hard
ready
to
the pieces into the game. White does not have anything better than 21.ftxf5!? (21.4^d3
desperately
4k6
off at the first
bring
22.0-0
S=?e8
Black
is
absolutely safe)
21...exf5 22.S=?d4 ®a2 23.Sd2 ®c4 with
a
draw.
to
fault MVL for this decision.
If you were under combined attack from Stockfish and Caruana, you would also be attracted
to
possibility.
chopping
the queens
Chapter 6
782
-
Illustrative Games
Black would have been closer
to solving his when 23...^>f6!, problems played after the knight reacts, for example with 24.ftf8t> Black will play: 24..Jke6!!
if he had
abcdefgh The
success
of
Nepomniachtchi in the first was closely connected
half of the tournament to
White
cannot
play 25.^xe6 &f7,
and Black
to
exchange
while his preparation was With Black he got into
not
big great trouble twice in the French Defence. But he
wins. So instead, he has
playing well;
a
queens, but
this time on Black’s terms. 25.®xe6f ®xe6t 26.ftxe6 &f7 27.£k7 Sa7 and White has to
play a few accurate moves not to be worse. Certainly, Caruana knew of this and was prepared for it, so he would have shown a straight path to a draw, for sure. 28.0-0 29.ikc5 Bxdl 30.Bxdl b6 3lJbcb6 Sb7 32.£a8 £c6 33.ie3 Se7 34.ic5 Sb7 Xu Xiangyu 35J^e3 Se7 36.jkc5 Sb7 Sd8
success.
managed to outplay his opponents in three games, especially through practical and welltimed choices. Against Ding Liren he played
superficially, as he is known to do. But in general, the thing that gave him first place after eight rounds is good play. 26...&e4? Played after two
minutes.
-
Lu
Shanglei, Xinghua Jiangsu
2021.
24.®xc3 ^xc3 25.^c7t &f7 26.Sd3 Considering the onslaught he has been faced with, MVL has reacted well and in decent time. At this point he had 34 minutes and is almost out of the woods. And this is the time where I would like to revisit my claim about the danger of too deep preparation. What can
happen
is that
their time time
on
on
a
player
and his
team
spend
all
opening preparation and limited
practical
skills.
MVL is
dynamic player,
a
rook in the
corner must
But this is
not
the
not as relevant in
so
exchange, seriously at:
the
middlegame. Activity is the endgame. Obviously
MVL had decided in advance
but still it
sacrificing
have been tempting.
was
the
to
right
give
up the
time to look
26...Sa7! After 27.Sxc3 there
are
all kinds of tricks with 0-0t and £>d5-e7 to worry about. If MVL had tried to solve these
problems,
he would have.
783
5. Fortress
This is
a
good
moment
endgame.
material. But in
glance, reality it will
talk about the in
equal
be very difficult
the
queenside. The the kingside, eventually belong
to defend the pawns
will
to
Black is
At first
on
knights they will not be lost. But g7 is a weakness and the opposite-coloured bishops, which so often are a drawing factor, or a good way to ensure compensation for an exchange, are here really just the absence of a dark-squared bishop on
where
abcdef The
simplest way to
gh
do this is:
for Black.
27...&g6!
The strongest for White is now 28.0-0 &h7, a balanced position. It is time to look for
with
final
the brakes. If White
the point
hard, 28.ftd5 £k6! 29.Jkc5 Se8f 30.&f2 b6! and there is space for a check on f7
of the
king
pushes
too
we see
move:
and White will have
to
defend
an
endgame
a
pawn down. 27.0-0t It
g6
&g6?!
turns out
after the
that the
exchange
king is
was a
28.^xa8
not better off on
sacrifice.
27...£T6 28.ftxa8 Jke6 with White
All of these considerations, if we approach them in the spirit of Swedish endgame legend Ulf Andersson, leave Black scrambling for a
a
small
edge
better go. 29.^b6
for
not
endgame where too long to
take
with
two
Black is
drawing.
It does
conclude that it may be each on the pawns kingside.
watching the Chess24 broadcast with Magnus Carlsen, David Howell and Tania Sachdev. I felt they were a little too busy idolising MVL’s defensive skills, rather than debating the properties of the endgame. Those who followed the broadcast would probably be surprised that my view is so different from that of the World Champion and his co-hosts, but they simply did not get past the first glance. I
was
29...Sd8?! As it is hard
the
to
imagine
many set-ups
on
where Black will draw with
a kingside vs it made a lot of sense to knight, keep the bishop. 29...Jkg4 with a very dangerous position was thus better.
rook
30.^xc8! §xc8
Everything has gone wrong for Black. At this point Caruana had to slow down and work the best way to convert the advantage.
out
31.1a3!? abcdefgh
This is still winning, but it was worth for
simplicity.
looking
784
Chapter 6
-
Illustrative Games
31 .He 1! would have been
a strong intermediate 31...He8 (31...£>xd6 32.Hxd6t &h7 33.Hd7 will soon mean the end of the black move.
queenside, weakness
as
on
he will have
defend the second
to
g7.)
abcdefgh 35.h4?? Quick,
abcdefgh 32.jka3! Threatening Hde3, winning
a piece. 32.. .ftf6 33.Hxe8 ftxe8 34.Hd7 b5 35.Hb7 White wins the queenside and later the game.
31.. .Hc7 32.Hf4 White
confident and bad.
Steinitz
which
Rule,
more
weaknesses in Blacks
Don’t
make
unnecessary pawn moves in the endgame. It is clear that Caruana is dreaming of playing
h4-h5 and that he believes that the tactics
are
in his favour.
33.1b2!
creates
the
Violating
states:
35. h3!? makes
of
sense, controlling then bringing out important squares the king. But the strongest move is 35.Hd6!, some sort
and
position.
where 35...He It is met with 36.Hfl! and after
33.. .fce7 White is also winning after 33...^>a5 34.jtxf6
gxf6 35.Hd6 either
Hf7
36.Hg4t &f5
37...&g6 38.Hd3!
with 39.Hd7. Black and the
split
or
cannot
pawns
on
37.Hh4 and
37...&g5
38.Hhd4
hold the
the
queenside kingside are easy
36.Hb6 the queenside
35.. .£>f5
White will still have to
picks
is doomed.
play accurately, as he example: 36...h5
off the pawns. For
37.h3 a5 38.&h2! Hc2 39.Hf3 White is in control and will pick off the black pawns one
by one.
targets.
34.Jbcftj gxft) Everything has worked as it should for Caruana. The position is winning and he has over
50 minutes
move
40 and
on
the clock
to
take him
to
beyond. So, what does the World
Number 2 do? He makes
after 29 seconds.
a
committal
35.. .h5! MVL
luck. A
must
have found it hard
to
believe his
ago, his pawns were scattered they work beautifully together
moment
and weak, now with the knight, which either f5
or
move
can
be well
placed
on
g4.
36. Hg3t There
obviously
are
other
the idea.
36...&f7 37.Bg5
options,
but
this
was
785
5. Fortress
abcdefgh
abcdefgh 37.. .5clt! Caruana had was
understood that this
45...&f7! It is important
to
keep
the white
king out.
coming.
It is safe
for
by
now
to assume
37...^g6?
the check
on
that Caruana had
planned
38.Bxh5!, winning because of
45...^e5? This would lose and
cannot
as
the white
be kicked
king penetrates
out:
46.&h4! &f7 47.&h5!
the 7th rank.
39.S£2 ^xh4 expected this to be leading to was an Caruana easy draw, expecting a more Frenchman: from the dynamic approach 38.&h2
While MVL
39.. .6g7 40.Bxh5 ^e5 the
This is
queenside.
hoping to advance misunderstanding
a
of the position entirely. Caruana wanted to play 4l.^f3, but even stronger is 4l.Hf4! and Hhf5, after which the pawns will advance on the kingside and Black will be unable to do
anything on
the
abcdef
47...&g7
queenside.
If Black tries
40.Sxh5 43.Sb6f
4l.§h7t Sc6 44.Sxc6f ^xc6
gh
42.§xb7 ^e5!
45.&g3
to
defend with the
king
from
the other side, White wins with: 47...&e6 48.Sa2 &d3 49.Sxa6t &f7 50.&h6 £ie5 51.Sa4 £)c6 32.Sf4 &e5 53.g4 &e6 54.&g7
&e7
Chapter 6
786
abcdef
-
Illustrative Games
gh
White needs
to lose a tempo. 55.Se4 &e6 56.Sa4 &e7 57.Sf4 ftd7 58.Se4t &d6
59.Sd4t White takes
48.Sa2
on
Caruana
7
was
unsure
evaluation of this
to
go for the
48...ftd3
49.Sxa6
51 .Se6 the
knight
Trying
abcdefgh
d7 and wins.
g2-pawn
also fails. After
fcf4t
50.&g4 ftxg2
is
trapped. 51.g4 &f8 52.&g6
49.Sxa6 £ie5 50.Sa7t £if7
fte5t
not see
is
a
how
to
about
endgame,
endgame to play, players played.
no means
as was apparent from how the What Black needed to work out
organise the pieces. take
to
care
correct
make progress. This
draw, but it is by
idea is
the
but could also
It
turns out
easy
was
how
that the
to
key
put the knight on g7. The pawn will of the e5- and g5-squares, so the king
knight will take care of the light squares. Thus, the knight on g7.
and
51.&e4 &h6 52.Sa5 It is
key
to
understand that the
king
cannot
penetrate from the back. After' 52.&d5 fcf5
almost any knight move will hold the fortress, while Black can even go for
abcdefgh And
now
either
the
technically
53.&f5! or: 53.&xf6!? ftxg4t 54.&f5! The black knight is far assistance of the
protective 54...£>h6t 55.&g6 For
ftg4
correct
counterplay with 55...^g5?!,
which is
56.^f7 £>h4 Black holds nonetheless. unnecessary, but after
away
king.
from
56.Sa5!
46.Sc2 &b4 47.Sd2 &c6 48.&f4
&g4
entirely
57.&xf6
the
White wins.
example...
49.Sd6 ^e5 50.Sxa6
fcg7t 54.&e7
53.&e6
£T5t 55.&f8
&g6
52...&f7 53.Sa3 &d6f 54.6 55.Sd3
787
5. Fortress
60...&g6 61.&6t &f7 62.&e4
abcdefgh 55...&h6?
55...^g7!
was
a
draw
as
press conference, MVL said that he expected this to lose, but Caruana assumed, correctly, that it would be a draw.
56.Sg3t
7
abcdefgh
described. In the
57.&e4 &g8 58.&B £>e7t
62...£>e7? Knowing
where the
knight belongs
make
this position easy. If you do not know where it belongs, you might consider that 62...ftc7! being the only is an act of digital wizardry. But actually, 63.&f4 £>e6t 64.&g4 ftg7! with a fortress, is move
not so
difficult
to
understand.
63.&f4 &d5t 64.&B! £>e7t
abcdefgh 59.&f4?! 59.&g4? e7t 6l.^e4!
the
right
65.&e4! This time Caruana finds the winning line.
Chapter 6
788
-
Illustrative Games
65...^g8
79...£le4 80.Sxe4f and the
65...&e6 66.Sa3 &f7 67.Sa7 &e6 68.&f3! The right path to the kingside is avoiding
wins.
checks. 68...ftd5 69.Sa5 £>e7 wins after
66.Sh3
a
70.&g4
White
pawn
ending
80.&f8 &e4 81.&g7 £ig3 82.&g6 &e2 83.Sa2 Qftf 84.&h6 &h3 85.Sh2 Qf4 86.Sf2 &e4
lot of more action.
&g6 67.Sa3
87.5fl!
87.
The necessary concession.
Black had
16.if4®d7 This is
to
typical
a
mode. White has
scenario in the to
work
out
improve his position and keep The
worst-placed pieces
are
the fl -knight. As Black is
...Sae8 and
can
up the pressure.
the
a
a
to
play
there is little point Se2. So White needs to bring the
But which path it takes is
not
obvious.
to
reduce the pressure with
White has
serious way
no
apply real pressure. As we shall see, Black has number of chances to defend in this game,
but the failure
to
he will later have
take the easy ones means that to defend difficult positions.
18 Jbtd6 ®xd6 19.£}f5 ®d7 20.®h3
Threatening £}h6t> gaining an important tempo to make it possible to apply pressure. Nepomniachtchi said he remembered his preparation
to
around here.
abcdefgh
abcdefgh
20.. .6h8!
17.&g3?I An inaccuracy of
importance
no
to
the
course
of the game, but it did offer Black
chance
to
The best 20.. .§e6
equalise immediately.
correct
path
for the
knight
to
f5,
was
17.®e3!, when Black should play 17...Sae8, transposing to the game, as 17...g6?! does not work here. (And 17...^e4? would leave Black under pressure after 18.f3 5^e6 \9.&h2 5^d6 20.ge2.) 18.h5 and after
18...&g7
move.
a
This
The
chance
1-rook and
planning
exchange rooks,
playing knight to f5. to
plus equal
how he
a
18.h5 &f7.
17.. .g6!
or
18...&F7
could
intending
to
also
be
play ...g6
considered. or
Black
is
...Sfe8.
21. h5!g6 Without this,
nothing makes
21...Sfe8 22.§e3! also does to
relieve the pressure.
22. hxg6
hxg6
sense.
not
allow Black
806
Chapter
6
—
Illustrative Games
Here the strongest move is: 23.f4! (23.§e3 ®d6 24.§ael £}g5 holds, although Black is still under
some
pressure.)
One of the
important attacking techniques more
wood
Black
now
is to
most
bring
the fire whenever you can. has to play the very sad 23...gxh5, to
when after 24.§e3 Black is
unlikely
to resist
the pressure. 21.h5!
abcdefgh Black is
to
find
knight
preventing
...g6. 21...Sxelt 22.Sxel Se8
way to increase the pressure.
a
26.§g7t
24.gg3t
&f7
25.®h5t
&e7
wins the queen.
Sfe8
24.. .®xh3 move:
is
met
with
an
intermediate
25.§xg6f
25.Sfl! Sel 26.^d6 ffxh3 27.gxh3 Black is under serious pressure with pawns
and
®h7
23.. .gxf5
24.gg3
take the
up the pressure and
would relieve the pressure. White has
retreat
23.Se3!!
threatening
to
Keeping
two
currently hanging.
Black had another option. 20...^le6?, which is unpleasant for Black after: 21.h5 g6 22.£}h4!
Putting best
pressure
move
on
the weak
g6-square. The clearly
abcdefgh
is to take on h5, but this has
gone wrong.
22...xc4? would lose directly ®xc4
to:
30.£>xc4
abcdefgh 31.. .6b5 Black also had
a
fantastic active defence
with: 31.. .6e4!?32.@b8 32.©f4
&e7!
33.a4
&d7
also
holds.
Apparently. abcdef
gh
where the queen plans to penetrate the black position, while keeping the defence of the h6-pawn up. 31...&g8 The only move. 31. @h2!,
(31...@g8 32.@d6! leads to a direct mate) 32. @b8t &f7 33.©xb7t &e6 34.@xh7 ©xd4 35.@xg6
and White wins.
The best way
to
neutralise the pressure was is ready to deal with
29...^if71. The knight
problem in Blacks position, which h6-pawn. If White plays @h2, Black has ...@d6 with full equality. Thus, the most dangerous option is 30.c5!?, where Black is entirely OK in many ways. The most direct the main
is the strong
is 30...®xa2 31.@h2 @alt 32.&g2 ©xd4 33. ©b8t ©d8 34.@xb7 ©e8 and White has no
advantage
30Jfh2!
at
all.
&f7 31.c5
32...@xa2!! This is
a
defend f2
bit surprising. But White cannot conveniently after he picks up the
h7-pawn with
check.
34.@g7t &e8 35.©h8t &e7 36.©xh7t &d8 37.©h8t &c7 38.©g7t &d8 39.£>dl ©e2 40.©xg6 ©xdlt 4l.&g2 @xd4 33.©xb7t &f8
Black survives because of the counterattack against f2. 32.®b8
7. Plus
Black has
The fact that importance.
811
equal
plenty of problems left to solve. they can be solved is of much less In the game Wang Hao tried his
best and failed.
32.. JM7?
Finally, the
pressure
mistake. Black had
leads
two
ways
to
a
decisive
of saving the
game, but both
required some accuracy and understanding. Spending the last five minutes of his time, Wang Hao was not able to see in which direction he had
to
abcdefgh 34.. .@e4!!
go.
34...@xc5 35.a4 is
Black had another computer defence after: 32.. .^xd4!?
unpleasant for Black, although counterplay. 36.a5 fxg4 37.©b7t &e6 38.a6 g3! Black has enough counterplay, even though White can still create problems for him. 35...f5! still offers him
35.©b7t &e6 36.®xh7
Nepomniachtchi was a true professional, telling the journalists exactly what he was thinking, holding nothing back. He believed that there
was
no
way Black could deliver
with the
perpetual everything. But actually,
knight
on
e3
a
defending
there are several ways for Black the necessary counterplay. One way is ...©bit then ...£>e2.
to create
abcdefgh
33.©xb7t 33.©h8 leaves Black with smartass one
point that where it
I
has saw
a
very
two
defences. The
important illustrative
in another game
really was
the
yesterday, only option available
to hold the game. 33...&e7U 34.®xh7t ©f7 35.©h8 @f8 Black draws.
obviously 33...£>f3t 34.&g2 £>g5, defending the h-pawn, when
The human defence is after
35.©g7t &e8 36.®xb7 ®e4t
it is not
surprising that Black makes the draw with a
combination of counterplay and
perpetual
Another is 36...£>f3t 37.&fl £>d4. And finally 36...£>e2t 37.&fl, when the knight can nicest is
The
retract to
threaten ...@hl
mate.
But
37...£>g3t! 38.fxg3 ®f3t with a draw.
more
human
attempt
But White could still
create
was:
32...@e7
problems
for his
opponent. a) 33.£>c4 ©elt
34.&g2 @e4t 35.&h2 looks
bad for Black, but after 35...®f3! Black has enough counterplay to ensure the draw.
check. 33...®e7 34.@xa6
b) 33.®h8 &e6 34.^c2! This is more dangerous accurate
34.. .6c3
defence holds.
35.®g8t
for Black,
but
Chapter 6
812
-
Illustrative Games
abcdefgh 35...&d7! 35..JK7? 36.d3t! £>xd5 (36...cxd5 37.£>d4t &e7 38.©c8 and White wins) 37.£>d4t &e7 38.©b8 @e8 39.©xb7t @d7 40.&xc6t &e8
abcdefgh 34.f4! £ixd4 34...@xd4 35.©e8#
4l.@a8t &f7 42.&hl where White is close to
winning,
on account
as
Black
cannot
play 42...@xg4
of 43.^d8t and 44.®xd5.
36 Jfb3 £>b5 37.a4 £>c7 38.&e3 6! f4 40.£c4
39.©g8
@elt4l.^g2
34...@e7 35.f5t &d7 36.^£2! leaves Black utterly lost. The main threat is 37.hxg6 fxg6
38.©g7! and the h-pawn queens. And if Black plays 36...g5> he will face down the secondary threat 37.c4! when it is So, he has
to
at
least checkmate.
play 36...gxf5,
when after:
37.&xf5 ®f7 38.a4
abcdefgh 4l...f3t! Black survives by perpetual check: 42.^xf3 ©dlt 43.&e4 @xg4t 44.^d3
45.&e2 @g4t 46.&e3 ©g5t
abcdefgh
©f5t
Blacks position is disintegrating. He cannot knight to land on d6. It will hurt too
allow the
33 Jfh8!
&e6
much.
35.®g8t®f7 35...&e7 36.©xh7t and the h -pawn queens.
7. Plus
36.1fc8t®d7 36...&e7 37Jfxb7t &f8 38.®b8t
®e8
39.©d6f and White picks up the knight.
37.&g8t At first
believed that he
Nepomniachtchi
winning after 37.f5t gxf5 38.gxf5t &e7 39.®h8, but then realised that Black can
was
defend the pawn with 39...£lf3t! 40.2542 and Black is not worse at all.
£}g5
37...m
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
abcdefgh 38Jfd8!
Wang
Hao had missed this
threat of mate
on
move.
d6, Black has
38..Jfd7 38...£lb5 39.a4 also
wins
a
no
With the
options left.
piece.
39.f5t gxf5 40.gxf5t &xf5 4l.1=fxd7t &xd7 42.&xf5 &e6 43.£ie3 1-0
equal
813
814
8.
The following
game
seeds in the the
was
B-group, grandmasters.
Exchanges and the flow of the game
played
at
the 1999 Danish
Championship.
I
was
where I think I finished second, rather than getting
This game offers a chance general flow of the game.
to
learn
a
lot about how
to
manage
a
sadly
one
chance
exchanges
to
of the top play with
of pieces and the
We have talked about both topics earlier in this book, but seeing them in the context of complicated struggle between two strong grandmasters is still something we will benefit from. The first
a
phase of the game will see Black misjudge every possible exchange available to him and a good position out of the opening, to a more and more difficult position, until finally
drift from
it will be up to his opponent to show his skills in the conversion. There we shall see the importance of understanding when a
good position, incrementally improved, does not win by itself. At some point we have to show concrete play in order to defeat a grandmaster. This is not a skill we can conjure when we need it, but one we need to hone through regular training. follow the game live and see the players discussing it in the commentary room afterwards. I will not be able to quote them, but the impression of Black creating all his own I had
a
chance
difficulties
to
stayed with
me
and has
now
brought
Lars Bo Hansen
-
®H6 2.&B d5 3.c4 e6 4.$k3 le7
back
to
look
at
the game in detail.
Peter Heine Nielsen
Aarhus l.d4
me
1999
5.1g5 h6 6.!h4 0-0 7.e3 b6
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
abcdefgh 8Jfb3 Even 22 years ago, this move felt horribly artificial to me. The plan is to create a slightly beneficial pawn structure and slowly manoeuvre around to create long-term pressure. But the queen is not well placed on b3 and Black will be able to solve his problems with active play
8.
Exchanges
rather than wait around until White is to
exploit
the structural
815
and the flow of the game
ready
of the
advantages
position. An even weaker version would be the following:
8.ibcf6 Jbcf6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.©b3 After 10...jkb7,
we would transpose to the game. But Black does not put the bishop on b7 and then play ...exd5 because he wants to
organise the pieces
in this way, but because
White does not take
on
on
10.. .jLe6! ll.Sdl c5 12.dxc5
13...bxc5 This is lead
White has little choice. 12.^e2 c4 followed
abcdefgh
f6 and d5 until the
b7. In this constellation, Black bishop has the chance to seize the initiative. is
what most would
to a serious
It is unnatural
by
a
rapid queenside
expansion would be bad news Black is already slightly better.
for White.
12.. .6d7!
but
play
and it does
advantage.
to
give
up the
I4.exd4
13..Jbcd4!
good bishop,
bxc5,
was
also
very strong. Black is ready to fight for the d4-square and to put his rooks in the open files. It has all the my eyes,
even
makings of a miniature to objectively not stronger
if it is
than the game continuation. I4.^xe6fxe6 15.^e2§b8 I6.@c2@b6 17.§bl
abcdefgh The thematic
scheme. The
developing
tactic here is to block the
d-file,
so
key
...d4 is
threatened.
abcdefgh
13.&d4? 13.^xd5
^xc5
I4.^xf6t ©xf6
15.@a3
(15 .©c3 was played in Allan Askarova, corr. 1985. After 15...@xc3t I6.bxc3 Jbca2 Black
17...&xc3t! Black has
to
exploit
his
advantage
before
-
would the and
already be passed a-pawn, a
small lead in
I6.§xd8t
somewhat better, with the strong
knight on c5 development.) 15...Sfd8
§xd8 17.ie2
19.^h4 @c2 with full
@g6
18.0-0 ih3
compensation.
White manages
to
solve 90% of her problems
by castling. 18.©xc3 d4 19.©d2 dxe3! Keeping up the momentum. 20.©xe3 20. fxe3 c4! would bring in the knight via e5. 21. @xd7? §bd8 would win the queen and end the game
as a contest.
816
Chapter 6 8
-
Illustrative Games
21.. .@xd2t 22.^xd2 §xf2
mmjmm nf
7
Black has
m
6
game 20
jjiij
5
8.. .1.7
3
The
1
afl U,km,hm mMw,
White
The critical
moment
9.Jbcc4
of the game.
a
chance
10.. Jbcg2? would move
and
a
move
-
JT)7
10.£>e5
would
give
initiative, develop Black is not in trouble desperate yet. although But he has to be cautious, as something like
abcdefgh
20..JTa5t?! The natural
advantage and won the Cramling E. L’Ami,
later. P.
most consistent move.
8.. .dxc4
is
m
solid
Stockholm 2013.
4
2
a
moves
to
meet a
an
swift end:
that should
have been
punished. 20...©b4t! Comparison!
White does
not
have the option of giving up the pawn and now has to play 21.@d2, transposing to the game, as after 21.&fl £>f6! 22.@xe6t &h8 23.a3 ©f4 (23...©xa3!? also works.) 24.g3
©d4 25.©e3 £>e4 26.©xd4 cxd4 Black wins. The threat to f2 and of ...£>d2t is decisive. 21.@d2? White
misses
complications. cxb4
the
chance
to
create
23.§bcl! White
is
able
to
create
For example 23...§fc8? 24.Jlc4! and White wins material. If Black does
counterplay.
fall for any tricks, he will still have an advantage, but getting a full point from that not
will
not
abcdefgh
After 21.b4! ©xa2 22.0-0
jbchl 12.jbcf7t Sxf7 (12...^h8 would win on the spot due to the threat of smothered mate.) 13.@xf7t ^h7 14.0-0-0 kc6 15.Sgl ©f8 llJbce6!
13.@c2
be easy.
abcdefgh
I6.@g6t &g8 17.©xh6 abcdefgh
With
a
devastating attack.
8.
Exchanges
and the flow of the game
give White Huss
-
817
initiative. For
an
example,
in
Neuchatel 1998. Notice
Brugger,
quite common strategic concept here. Often in positions where one side gets the a
bishops,
two
it has been at the cost of giving
the opponent
lead in
development. correctly pointed out that although the two bishops will prefer to roam freely in an open position, we will need to complete the development before seeking to open the position; aligning
slight
a
In such situations
the
9Jhcft> executes
his strategic
player with
a
lead in
development.
I6.e5 ie7 17.id3 c5 18.dxc5
plan.
9..Jhcft> 10.cxd5 exd5 ll.Sdl White is playing according to
Watson
ourselves with another strategic concept, that opening the position most often favours
abcdefgh
White
John
his idea. Safer
was:
ll.ie2 c6 12.0-0 §e8 13.Sfel &d7 l4.Sadl £if8 15.e4
abcdefgh 18.. .^xc5 A tad imprecise. 18...d4!N 19.£>e4 jbi5 20.©c2 bxc5 would have
equalised comfortably. Compare powerful bishop on d5 to how it was in game just five
moves
the the
hence.
19.©c2 £xd3 20.§xd3
15...fce6! The knight is perfectly placed here matter
how the
play
Black would be able
continues. But to
play
any
White is no
really,
move
that
improves his position. All he has to avoid is opening up the position for the white pieces
with: 15...dxe4?
16.Jlc4
©c7
17.^xe4
would
a
bit better.
20.. .1b4? This is poor positional play. Black has not yet finished his development, but still seeks to
exchange his good bishop for White’s knight achieving any strategic concession
without
whatsoever. 21.a3
Jbcc3 22.@xc3
Chapter 6
818
—
Illustrative Games
abcdefgh White has
knight
vs
a
pawn and does
not
options
significant advantage. Good play against the isolated small lead in development. It
bad bishop, a
surprise
me
provided
that
to us
of the main
one
by
the engine is
to
38.f6 g6 39.e6 §a7 40.©b8 1-0 Yilmaz Batchuluun, Moscow 2015. -
11.. .5e8 12.1d3 In this pawn structure,
this is the
But the white
optimal king is still
up the pawn with ...d5-d4 around here. The game below is not annotated in detail.
square for the
Even
target for Black to exploit for his strategic ends. For this reason I am wondering if the bishop is
give
though
every
is still useful to
see
move was not
precise,
it
how White converted the
in the centre and the
not better
advantage.
bishop.
placed on
bishop
becomes
e2 for the time
a
tactical
being.
22...§c8 23.©d2 @c7 24.§c3! ©d7 25.&d4 §xc3 26.©xc3 £c8 27.©d2 ia6 28.h3! ©a4
12.. .c5 13.dxc5
&d7!
abcdefgh 29.f4!?
Preparing
this with 29.&h2!
&h7 30.f4
was
perhaps
or
even
makes little difference; the beyond doubt all the same.
29.©e3!
stronger. It
advantage
is
&h7 32.@e3 ic8 33.f3 ©a4 34.§el ©e8 35.©d3 35.e6 was another natural move. 29.. .©c4 30.§dl §c7 31.&h2
35.. .6g8 36.b3 a5
37.©g3 &h8
abcdefgh I4.c6! A thematic way
black
knight
to
wants
give back the to
go
to
c5,
pawn. The so
it is
no
inconvenience for it to have to take the pawn. But after this move, the bishop is somewhat
placed on c6 than it was on marginal, but so many things in chess
worse
b7. It is are.
8.
To illustrate the need for this
Exchanges move,
three alternatives that will show the
819
and the flow of the game
here
are
15.. .d4! I6.^xd4
would be bad for White: l6..Jbcf3! 17. gxf3 §e6 and Black is already better. 16. Jd>5
potential
of the black position.
16.. .1bcd4 17.exd4 £>xd3 18.§xd3 a5! I4.cxb6? So optimistic it borders on the naive. Black will gain important tempos and the white
king is
still
trapped
Creating space bishop. White
another
on
has
diagonal for the satisfactory way to
no
meet the threat of ...jLa6.
in the centre.
I4...ftc5 15.@c2 £>xd3t I6.@xd3@xb6
abcdefgh 19.£e3!
White the
abcdefgh
19.§d2?
is unable to castle without
19. §fdl is
giving
good
not
moves.
much better. Black has many One of them is:
19.&dl,
Black will take
because of the weakness of the g2-square. 20. ©c5 b4 21.^b3 ^e4 Energetic play.
22.§3d2?! Natural,
on
g2.
be
heading
for
a
winning
on
the
7
endgame for Black. 14.0- 0 &xc5 15.©a3 15.@c2 §c8 is very comfortable
ig6
losing
24.@f3
IP! IP IlP#!i
8 soon
but also
And after:
19.0-0 ia6 We will
met
spot. 22...§c8 23.©h5
17...d4!? 18.&xd4 §ad8 If
and Black wins.
with another strong blow: 19...b5!! The pawn is indirectly defended
up
exchange.
17.£d2 This is
Jbcg2
6
jll
5 4
for Black.
3 2 1
11
11x1*1
jMjsumm Jll
0%-,, Am O .,
BAB ||j|P
||pp
abcdefgh
24...@g5!
The double attack
and the rook wins
a
on
the
19...©xd4 20.©a4! The best move by far. White seeks an
inferior
ending,
knight
piece.
with
hopes
to enter
of survival.
Chapter 6
820
-
Illustrative Games
After I4.©c2, the simplest solution for Black would be l4..Jbcc3t 15.®xc3 bxc5, with total total failure, but also not equality. would choose to play with something anyone White in their preparation. This is
not a
16.. .a5 17.^e2 ^xd3!? 18.ffxd3 18.§xd3 ikb5! 19.Sd2 £ie7 looks
for White and would be favour of this
being
18.. .1b7 19.ffd2 §c8 20.fced4 ia6 21.Sfel le7 22.a3 Af6 23.h3
l4..Ac5? 15.cxb7 would give White many
pieces for the
Se7 24.^e2 §ec7
25.5^fd4 a4 26.5^c3 §c4 27.§cl
I4...ibt:c6 too
queen.
unpleasant
argument in the superior move order. an
g6
28.§edl
Ig7 29.fcde2 ib7 30.&d4 ffd7 31.®d3 S4c5 32.§c2 §a5 33.Scd2
15.0-0 %hc5 16.®a3
abcdefgh 33...ia6 34.ffbl ffb7 35.&hl ic4
36.&gl
38.&gl b5 39.^a2 Sd6 40.^b4 1fe7 4l.Sel ffe4 42.ffdl h5 43.®cl Sd7 44.ffdl Sc7 45.Sc2 gcc8 46.ffd2 §e8 Sd8 37.&hl Saa8
abcdefgh
47 M3 lf6 48.§ccl
16...ib7?! The bishop but not
is heading for a6 necessarily.
in the
long run,
8
M
MM
7
The
following game shows a great performance Simon Webb, a strong correspondence by and the author of Chess for Tigers, whom player I
played
twice in the Swedish
league. Sadly,
died in tragic circumstances and there will be a third game.
6 5 4
he 3
not
2 1
The game shows how Black and involves some clever
creation of weaknesses
can
play
for
a
win
manoeuvring and the
on
both flanks.
abcdefgh
48...g5 49.5^d4 g4 50.hxg4 hxg4 51.^e2
53.^g3 ffh7 54.fcd4 Ie5 55.fcdf5 Sf6 56.e4 d4 57.ffg5t ffg6 58.®d2 d3 59.Sedl Sfe6 60.ffb4 Sad8 52.fcc6 §d6
8.
Exchanges
821
and the flow of the game
17.. .£>xd3?! I do
piece
not
like this
is the rook
square is freed up
all. White’s
at
on
only inactive exchange, a Compare this
fl. With this
on
dl for it.
with the Webb game and you will see that Black does not have a ...Jib5 follow-up.
17.. .a5! would be analogous to the Webb game, but without the
same
tricks. It also
creates
trap in 18.jkbl?! being poor, on account of: 18..Jka6 19.Sfel lke7! The beginning a
abcdefgh
60...®g5 6l.§xc4 bxc4 62.WXC4 d2 63.®xa4 Jkxg3 64.5^xg3 §c8 65.&fl Scl 66.^e2 Sxdl 67.®xdl ffb5t 68.&e3 Sd6 69.^f5 ffc5t 70.&f4 ffxf2f 0-1 Merilo-Webb,
corr.
of
kicking the queen around. 20.®c3 §c8 2\Md4 (2\Md2 5^a4 with ideas of ...,S,b4, would be unpleasant.) 21...JT6 White is worse, but there is a lot of play remaining.
1999.
18.Sxd3 17. ^e2 17.ikc4 is
probably best met with
17...dxc4!?
18. §xd8 Sexd8 with compensation for the queen. I doubt White has a serious chance of
playing for an advantage.
abcdefgh 18..Jfe7?! Objectively even
does
abcdefgh With the opening
over,
the actual game
this game, Black will take a lot of decisions concerning exchanges and get more or less all of them wrong. Both when choosing
Throughout
make
exchanges
and when
choosing
not
not to.
make it less of
a
poor decision. The
play for an place is on the This is far more kingside. advantage to with the still on the likely happen queens main
starts now.
to
this is fine. Your engine may consider it first among equals. This where Black
can ever
board. Without queens, the importance of king safety diminishes to almost nil.
It
was
time for Black to look for
be able
to create one.
an
active
b5!?, he would 20.5} f4 b4 21.fd4 And
we
should mention that White is
actually threatening anything. £>d4-b5 easily be prevented, but even if it comes, not that dangerous.
not can
it is
23.£>xd4 24.B A typical technical move. Lars Bo Hansen has a good understanding of where to put the pieces
to exert
slow pressure.
Peter’s tactical point is that 24.b5 could met with 24...§c2, even though White is better after 25.£3. be
abcdefgh
8.
Exchanges
abcdefgh
abcdefgh
27.. .6f6?
24.. .a6 Another concession. Black has and is starting
to
a
bad
bishop
brick it in.
Black has made several decisions that have left him fighting for a draw, with little to no chance of
25.&£2
ever
to
evaluate if
25.g4
was
stronger. is that it should be. The key idea is
White
can
to see
to prevent Black from playing ...h5, where he will later be able to exchange this weak pawn,
hard
achieve.
when White tries
Thus, the
to
gain space on the kingside.
to
right
White has 25.. .g6 not
for
is the thematic
limit the
move
here. This
move
possibilities of the bishop, likely that any kingside
advantage or for the dangers
an
present him with. At this moment, the h4-h5 ideas and make them
he had
My feeling
does
fighting
win. Now he has to look out
It is hard
25...h5
823
and the flow of the game
move
some
was
27...Sell, where
advantage,
but
Black is
clinging on. In practice it is hard to defend a position like this, but this is the path Black has chosen. And
now
he has
to
walk it.
but would make it
would see Black getting rid of the outside pawn, which is the one most likely to become a weakness later on.
28.Sd3
26.g4! &e7 27.h4
28. h5!
expansion
White is initiating the
kingside.
a
serious mobilisation
on
Played a
with the idea of
introducing
§b3
as
threat.
was
already possible
now.
Black
cannot
the
advance, as after 28...gxh5?! exploit 29. §hl!, White has a serious attack and Black a lot of weak pawns. 29...hxg4 30.§xh6f &e7
(30...6 £>f6 2.d4 e6 3.e3 d5 4.id3 b6 5.0-0 kb7 6.b3 kd6 7&b2 0-0 8.£>bd2 c5 9.dxc5!? Traditionally; White played 9.®e5 £>c6 10.f4, but after 10...Sc8 1 l.a3 ®e7, Black is not worse.
9..Jbcc5 10.®e2 ^bd7 ll.c4 dxc4 12.^xc4®e7 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
abcdefgh 13.Sadi
is
At the time of the game, this was a novelty. A non-event in the not better and one move is not much different to another.
history of opening theory. White
A famous game went: 13.a3 a5 I4.^d4 §fd8 15.Sfdl Sac8 l6.Sacl £>f8 Black
was not worse
and later, when his impatient opponent over-pressed, he was even able to win the game and take the lead in the World Championship match. Carlsen Karjakin, New York (8) 2016. -
13...Sfd8 I4.£d4 &e4
under pressure, but just has a6?, when I6.^bd6 gives a big advantage. Black is
not
to
avoid
falling for small
traps like l4...Sac8 15.^b5
13. The
I5.&I1I a
the
A strange move. It is hard for me to imagine situation where the king is better placed
in the corner, but
apparently,
clumsy 20.®e4,
when Black is better in
many ways. The best being 20...jU)4, the advantage of the two bishops.
keeping
this is what
19.ie5
Kramnik did. The position is
865
bishop pair
equal
after almost any normal
White could §xd8
move.
a
pawn with 19.Sxd8t
20.®xa7, but after 20...j^a6! he will have
find
to
grab
a narrow
path
decent position.
to a
15...®h4 19...£>d5 20.e4 £>f4 21 Jfc2
®g5 22.ic7
Sdc8
abcdefgh I6.ibce4?! This I really dislike. I still believe that the is stronger than the knight, situation where most of the
bishop in
a
still
on
especially pieces
are
the board. It is clear that Kramnik is
looking for ways to
make the game interesting. played around 18 months
This game was before his retirement from competitive chess in January 2019. He later explained that he had lost the passion for chess and was trying to do whatever he could to make his games more
abcdefgh Kramnik has played
longer say
that.
23.ixf4? Kramnik will have known that this strategic
concession
It is hard for
bring the position out of balance, by giving up bishop for knight and then fighting for the light squares with the
way turned him
he seeks
to
pawns.
18.^b5 £>f6
Black has a strong consolidating move in based on the trick 19.®bd6?! jka6!,
18.. .9e7!?,
when White is about
to
lose material
or
play
me
to
on.
was
a
of great consequence. estimate if this in some
The
challenge
of
playing
inferior position may fill most of us with dread. But Kramnik, feeling his fighting passion wane, may have been tempted by an
fighting with the disadvantage of knights against bishops. And who could say that he was wrong. The game is thrilling and in the end, Kramnik had plenty of chances to the thrill of
16.. Jfxe4 17.f3 ®h4
strange moves, has insulated
move
him from getting into a worse position up to this point. With the next move, he can no
interesting. Here, rather than playing the best moves,
some
but the benefit of the first
win it.
866
But seen
6
Chapter
the other hand, he may just have anything better...
on
-
Illustrative Games
not
29.£>bd6 Sd8?! Later
we
will understand that the rook
would be better
One of the
key tactical points is that 23.J,d6? would get into trouble after 23...«S,a6!, with a vital point being that 24.a4 Jbcb5 25.axb5 Jhcd6 26.§xd6 ®xb5
nets a
pawn for Black.
But White could have
played
looks shaky, but has
no
23 J^e5!,
which
the
most
placed on c7.
important
moment
But this is
hardly
of the game.
30.Sfdl?! 30.g3 9f6 31.Scl! would have been an important way to fight for the key squares in the
centre.
discernible tactical
downside.
30...h4! Black takes control of the dark squares.
23.. .®xf4 24Jfe2 24.®bd6?
was not
the idea. After 24.. Jbcd6
31.®d2 ®xd2 32.B3xd2
25.§xd6 9xd6!, Black wins. 24.. .1c6 25.a4 h5! 26.£>d4 ie8 27.£>b5 M,c6 27...Jbcb5!? would also have been interesting. The white pawns would be targets long term. One of the powers of the two bishops is of that you
course
can
decide when
to
make
exchanges. 28.Sd3
abcdefgh 32...f6! Another
good positional
move,
fighting
for
the dark squares. As White has spent all his resources on controlling the light squares and
stabilising his
structure on
the
light squares.
Having said this, Oparin probably just prevented ®c4-e5.
33.Sd3 Sa7! Bringing the
abcdefgh
rook into the game.
28...a6!? 28...h4!, squares in
tighten
to a
doing anything choice.
the grip
on
the dark
situation where White is
not
apparent, would have been my
34.e5 Sad7 The white position is close to collapse. Kramnik decides to act before his opponent is able to do so.
13. The
867
bishop pair
35.b4!? Jbtb4 36.^xb6
abcdefgh 40...ie8! 41 .&xe6 §a6 42.&c7 Sxb6 43.&xe8 §c6! Dominating the knight. 44.&gl ^f7 abcdefgh
after 49...§xh2 Black has
36...5.7? A no
43.Sd8 Self 46.&E2 ic5t 47.&e2 gc2t 48.&d3 §xg2 49.®c7 The knight escaped, but
typical
business
time-trouble on
move.
a
technical win.
The rook has
a7.
36.. .§e7? would
drop the exchange to 37.®f5!.
36.. .§c7! would have been winning for Black. The centre is unravelling. If White takes on f6, the bishops will roam free and White will
struggle long
term.
And after 37.f4 fxe5
38.fxe5 §f8 Black would attack the g2-pawn with great power. 37.exfi6
another try. But after 38...§xd4 39.§xd4 §b7, Black stays in 37.Sd4 a5! 38.^dc8
abcdefgh
was
38.. .a5
control.
38.. .5c7!
37.. .gxft> 38.h3
wins with
was
probably
accurate
still strong.
But Black also had
better try, but after 38.. .a5 39.®b5 §xd4 40.®xd4, Black still
38.§d4
was
play:
a
to
a
tempting tactic, leading
simplifications:
38.. Jbca4!? 39.®xa4 Sad7 40.Sb3 Sxd6! 40.. 1bcd6? 4l.Sbd3 is Whites trick. 4l.Sxd6 J,xd6 42.§d3 J,e7!
would however fail to 43.®c5 &e7 44.ftb7! (44.®xa6? Sa8 would trap the knight) 44...§d7 45.®xd6 Sxd6 46.Sa3, when White will survive the rook ending 42.. .(&f7?
with
good play. 43.§xd8t Jbcd8 44.£>c5
868
Chapter
6
-
Illustrative Games
42.^gl J,g3 43.®xa5 Jbca4
44.§c4 jkb5
45.§xc7 Jbcc7 46.®ac4
abcdefgh 44.. .1e7! Black wins. If White takes
on
e6, the a-pawn
the finish line with great fervour. And if 45.®xa6 J,d6, the knight is trapped.
abcdefgh
runs to
The
knights
are
horribly
connected
to
each
other.
39.Sd4 Sa6? Black was still winning after: 39.. .§c7! 40.®dc4 §xd4 4l.§xd4
46..M7 47.&f2 &g6 48.&e3 &g5 49.&e4 ia6 50.&e3 f5 51.®a8 Af4t 52.&d3 ib8 53.®ab6 &f4 54.&C2 J,a7 Black wins.
abcdefgh 4l...iel!
key move. The bishop dominates the king, leading to a technically winning position. During a game, this is all we would need to see and if Oparin had seen this, he
The
abcdefgh
white
would have played it. But
this time, half the clock. at
of his gaze was focused on 41...J,d5? 42.§xh4 is still better for Black, but White has real drawing chances.
An interesting variation happens if we get into
analyse is what clean bishops vs
to a
40.^dc8! Sort of
have one
trapping the rook
slowly
on
a6. The tables
turned and Black should be the
who is careful from
now on.
40...Bxd4 4l.Bxd4 e5 4l...,i,c5? would lose 43.Sxc6.
knights endgame. 42.Sxh4 e4! 43.fxe4 M,c5
to
42.§c4!
J,xb6
43..J^b7!
the
bishop pair
stronger, threatening to trap White would have to give up
46.§g4t
was
knights.
the e-pawn
knights
13. The
get the rook in keep the balance.
to
and
to
support the
869
Another option
was:
7 47.Sf4 Black could hold with active play:
abcdefgh
abcdefgh 44.e5!? 44.§h5!
bit more dangerous for a (44..Jbcb6?! 45.®e7t would be really dangerous for Black.) 45.e5 JU)7 (45...fxe5 46.gxe5 again would be good for was
Black. 44...J,b4
White.) 46.exf6 Jbcc8 47.®xc8 §xf6
47...f5! 47...^d8 is passive, but should also hold in the long run.
48.gxf5t &e6 49.gf6t &d5 50.e6 &d4 51 .gh6 jkxa4 Black will get a lot of counterplay with the a-pawn. Even if he loses a bishop to the e-pawn, the a-pawn will secure a draw. 52.e7 id7 53.ga6 a4 54.ga8 &c4 55.e8=9 ibce8 56.gxe8 a3 The a-pawn will draw
by claiming the
rook.
abcdefgh
Although White is two pawns up, Black still drawing chances. The a4-pawn is in danger and the black a-pawn would be far away. But most importantly, the white knight is going to struggle to find a decent role or
has reasonable
abcdefgh 46...ile3? A
square.
horrible
problems. 44...Sxb6!
45.^xb6 ibtb6 46.exft>
mistake
that
leads
to
huge
Chapter 6
870
46...stf7\ 47.Sh7t &f8! The threat of taking We should
note
was
-
Illustrative Games
holding easily.
a4 is important. that both 47...&g8? 48.f7t on
defence
successful,
was
probably
have been
a
strong
would
one
so too.
then 49.Sh6, and 47...&g6 48.f7 £ic5 49.Sh8!
Black could have offered