andrew soltis - grandmaster secrets, endings
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BY
G
w St
Caricatures y Ro Long
.
Tinkers' Press, nc. Davenport IA u.s.a. 1997
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Grter Secre: Enn
Copyright by Andrew Sols
l gh reseed. No p of
work may be reproduced or rans-ted in any fo o by any means,electronic or mechanical, includingphotocopying and recording, or byany informaon storage or reeval
system, except may be eresslypemited by e CopyrightA or in wring om e pubisher
First Pnng: Janu
ISBN --Reques for peissions d repblicaon gh
shoud be addressed wrig to:Te' Press Ic.Editor, Bob LongPO Box 8
Davenpo 800008 U
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Grter Secre: Enin
CONENS
Wat Eve Grandmte Kows About e Endgame 72 Geng ed 5
Rules 4
Mismatches 67
Techniques 77
]ls
R(( 5
8 Queens 4
! nigh 6
Bishops 83
2 e ess ub 05
OColophon 4
e es' ess Caog 5
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Grter Secre
v
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Grter Secre: Endin
cA lot of readers are under the mistaken impression ta autors writecess books in one ui motion, moving from an idea to an ouline to a copleted manuscpt wiout interruption. No way-as e history of tis book sows.
My oginal idea for it ad been lurking around, undisturbed, in te back ofmy mind since e Ford Administration: I wondered if you could te a bookteaching te endgame by means of a Sorati dialogue
I visualized a conversation, punctuated b diagrams and simple analysis Itwas going to be a master talking at lengt with a young player who already newall the Trends In The atsisname Attack and who could improvise trougmost iddlegames-but wo suddenly collapsed in the endgame.
My idea was tat by means of Q&A te master and this endgaechallengedamateur could arrive at certain eteal trts about enings and understand whytey are tre I knew from enoug Class B players that ey ad heard aboutzugzwang or triangulation or e cecking distance of a Rook yet didn't appreci
ate how or why these things could work in their own gamesBut the idea was difcult to esh out. Aer all, a lot of smart people avebeen trying to capture the essence of Socratic dialoe since 399 B.C witoutsuccess. eventually realize tis project could tu out to be vey wordy, very
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Grter Secre: Endin
philosophic-and not very usel to someone trying to gure out why a Lucenaposition is not a Philidor position. ike a lot of my ideas, this one remained as abunch of scribbled notes on yellow legalsized pads at the back of a very deep le
cbinet for more an 15 yearsn the spring of 1993 was in between books when exchanged thoughtsw Bob Long about our next project. A really honest, downtoearth book onthe endgame would be worthwhile, wrote Bob, because "most people arebewildered by trying to gure out what they really need to know.
The problem with endgame books, Bob wrote in reply, is that they're usually"terribly designed and poorly written. The information presented is oen arcane, the type too small, the wording consing, the paragraphs too long, the
book just ugly. He wondered if had any idea for a format that would bothentertain and teach and yet say someting about endings that hadn't been saidbefore
And so Noah and Pat were bo (The names of the two characters camefrom my wfe Marcy Blame her.) revived the idea of a dialogue but, since Patwas your typical '90s junior, it was going to be a conversation with an attitude.Bob and worked up a plan for separating e analysis from the tak, for using alot of quote boxes and visual aids, and the rest fell into place. And the title? Wel,let's say there were several names on this book before we settled on this one
Andy SoltisNew York 1997
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Sce: chess lu the home e oj e etern rndmterNoh Tll.
Enter Pt Syre, eed, u young club mteur Syre
h just nshed gme W which begn
1. e4 c5 2. d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. xd4 f65. c3 a6 6. f4 e6 7. d3 e7 8. c6
9. xc6 bc6 0. b3 e5 11. f5 d5 2. b2 13. d cd5 14. 0-0-0 0-0 5. hld6 16. xd5!? xd5 17. e4 c5 18.a8 xf5 19. c6 20. xe5! c821. xc8t xc8 22. xe7 f5 23. e4!e3t 24. bl e2 25. xf6! xdlt 26.b2 d7 27. d3 g4 28. c4 f5 29.
b5 30. x 31. xt x
'
m
i
f
Ct
t1
[ l
l
F
.
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at DNo: You lost gin?at And from dedwon
gme shoud hve gotten tlest drw Let me show youon bod
No: Don't be so hrd onyoursef
at Why not? must be theonly idiot in e word whocn lose such position
No: At et you pyed the
Wat Ee Grter Kw
middlegme we at Well? ws crushing him
A * sc even
But then something hppened er I got his * bckI don't know wht my blunder ws
No: It wsnt just bundert took mny bd moves toose e win before you lostthe drw
You put your pwns on thewrong colorYou dilydllied with your
You left your psive
at And the worst prt is know ll never get y better just hate endges
No:el Youre no dierent om ybody ese Ateurs othe when e sgo o
32. b4?th 2 2 33 c4 hte
shou wn swy
32.
c4
33. ?
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45
46. b5?47. b5
48. Rei
b5h4!
h3
The h i prooes n wooves
Capte One
at It's not tht I'm so gret the mddege But therejust so much you need toknow bout e endng
No: Not tht you need toknow Don't beleve everythng you red n books keeuben ne's Basic ChessEis. Seventy percent ofthe nformton n them simpactical
at thought I w the onyone who found ne mpossble to red But wht do youmen by "mprctcl?
No: I me most of wht hecovers wll never occur your gmesIt's nce to mter the theory
of correspondng squres orbe be to ply
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Wat Ee Grter Kw
The Eed Od YuEver Going Bald if male ............................................ in .Ever Dying of a Heart Attack ....................................... in Ever Playing + + vs +\ .................... in 0eing Robbed This Year ........................................... in 00Playing Out + + vs. This Year ................ in ,000Being Diagnosed with Lung Cancer This Year
..... i ,00
Playig + + vs + This Year ............ i ,00Being Murdered This Year ................................... i ,000
0
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Arosz-CioceBai Herclne 1982
ie o Ply
1 a7!This shou end matters quickly
(I... a4 2 h8! a3 3. Wc4a44 . Wb3 xa7 5. h7 We66. xa7).
gx42. gft wx3. a8*t We74. *b7t Dra
After Back puts his at somesafe squae (g4, e5, f5) his fotress isimpregnabe.
But with 2. h8! ite wou
Chapter One
emerge a ce ahea ad wwihout much eort.
For exampe 2 .. . h3 3. Wd4h4 4. W5 a45. a8= xaH
6 xa8 g5 7 We4 Wg6 8. aan Back runs into zugzwg (8 . g4? 9 Wf4 o 8 . . . h4 9 W Wf510 a5 d 11. Wg4).
Pat: You mea like that youcan mte with W+2 v tblnot wit +24? Eve Iknow tht ort of stuNoah: Prhp. But you'd be
SlI ris(d hw eve veterasfntrntiplay err bady.
Hr's ae i poit (Diag.4) Wht as a choice betwe g a extra ori +* v. + .
He me a distrous choiceat: ot get it The dier-ee etwee * vs ad Nothig is about thesame.So why did Black draw?
No: a middlegame thediffereces are about the
same But ian edig withoe of your ow s e, *vs. can t out to be just 1piece vs. 1 piee.
1 1
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at So wht does it te towin?
No: n most cses, you needto be be to queen
at Spe for yoursef usully need etr or two
No: Wel, you do usuyneed to be hed to wiif you hve no pwnsBut of l endges
wil hve pwns f you cn
promote one, you'll probbly
nat How does it help to knowtht?
2
Wat Eery Grter Kw
No: As with most rues, thisone is most helpful whenmking tansitions, tht is,when chnging the nre ofthe struggle
at Like trding s?No: Yes, trding nything is trnsionn Digrm you see
song G throw wy hisst chnce to dvnce in the
cndidtes' mtches by forcing n endgme tht wn'tnealy s fvorbe s themiddegme he w in
at Becuse he didn't knowwht it tkes to win?
No: Becuse he went withthe instinct tht told him thtif you cpture the other guy's there is no endgme nstincts e dngerous to hvein the endgme
KorcoCaies mach p 1991
W to y
1. *tuch songe s 1. h , whh
pobaby wou have cause eae esgnaon.
1 *2. 3. *x6
Ofcouse, 3. *xg?? g7ses3. 4
e can ony y to wn nwby gabbng s an tyng to pooe hs own a o ! Back seup pegnabe fotess (/e7 ,
/f, /7):
6
hte paye anohe nnees befoe conceng a aw.
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ovDaugavpi 1978
Bk 1 . . . .2. *g3. xg.
*t*xgtg7f6
7
Back secres e es -poson efore he res o creae apsed i
S. 3 S6. fS7. 3 gS8 h3Or 8 W g 9
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4
"Don' ou ow t
drw? nk rrn ring irg in 1973
hinhi.
Wat Every Grater Kw at Well, do't have a world No Yo do't eed them.
champio as a teacher. Ad What yo eed to do is taecold't derstad ed stock of what yo kow adgames if they provided Cl do't kow abot the edig.Notes at I do't kow mch at all
"I ow i utI don'bee irn fr
n ring n 86 .
How mch do realy eed?Noah Wel, the edgamebooks usay ist a lot of "esseal st sch whe a*+ beats a + t o the7th rank ad whe it results
i stalemate.And the otorios bsiessabot the t ad wrogcolored t ca't be deiedthat these positios do arise,ad occasioaly alert defeder ca save himself, theway Back does i Diagram
8
This posiion (Diagram 8) haseen appearing in endge exsfor moe han a cenry. Black wins
becase is W decisively reachesg3 and wins e h . For exple8. W W 9 e 2 Wf (and 2 1 Wg3) or 2W W .
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irv-MMani 199Bk to y
1 5Oherwse Back des e way
mos pece-down players do fomzgzwang ( I. .. Wg6 2. e6 f4 3.We5 g7 4 Wf5 ec. .
2. x5 g3 hxg g5
DrnBecase afe gxf5 h3 ! 5 . gx3
xf5 he back W eaches h8 andcan be drven o.
Ce One
at So this is st yeed?
No Not t a o e-come a master by oy kig two basic positios of them occrig W++ v W+
at Why those?NoBecse + ede commo, ad they dp so oen i oe of the to
basic ositios, e key edigs e those with oe ad most of them ed peither i the wiig "Lcea ositio or the draw-ig "Phiidor positioWith a itte trig yo'
be be to visize we i
advace whether yo're get-tig ito Lcea or Phiidor
"Chess h thee hes:Te st wh one hes one h an
advante;Te second wh one beves one h an
advante;
the thid wh one nows one
goi to ose
vi rr
15
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"Bum all t book! Chess
sho ' be a sce"
-Davd Broei
16
Wat Every Grdter Kows .
Pat: here must have been aucena who discovered this.No: A 15th cenury Spid, as a matter of fact. Actuy this notorious positionwas discovered by someoneelse d it was ned erhim by miste 400 yes after he was dead That's chessfor you.Pat: he probem for me is a
these posions-Lucena, Philidor, whatever-ook these.
Luca-tpe posion
1
Wi tply
I 'h7! h2tBack h no other counterpayo preven g7g8=*
2 'g8! g23 g7 h2!
Otherwise h , ollowed by5 h7 and he i queens Foexampe, 3 g3? h 5h8 xg7 6 ! Kg6 7 g
d the alsThis is te inamous "LucenaPosion
4 e lt 'd7
Black must prevent the romgaining a igh squae ( 6? 5).
5. e4!
And this bulds the brdge whichenables White's o escapeFor example, 5 h 6 f
7 g6 g 8 h6 (wth athreat o e5-g5 h 9 g5g 10. g4 and queens
"Chs U' a sce."
-Hen Poicar
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M. Gurvi-RisTel Aviv 1989W t ply
1 5??O couse, . 4 heaenin
he unsoppabe (I . c6 2 5a4 3 W7) 2 W and 3. =wod have orced esinaion
1 a2 a5 a??
And Black rsi when hesaw 3 a7Wd ad7 5
W winsB2 . 4 woud have drawn
(3 7 4 4 W 4 5W6 We6 and bride buidin
Capter One
wh 5 5? ? x5 6 x5 e7woud even have os
"Of m easI havead at t tofoge most ofwhatI
have aed o ea
No O yo ea the ba-s pp oud snkn. T yo t ve o re-mn at
n g yo v heembarra 'xampl o thword's 1th rank
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"What are you thinkingabout? The position isdrawn, Capa told his 26ye old opponent. "Look inthe book!Flohr ooked and looked
and didn't see any draw forBlack So he got upset, seeda move and rushed to hishote room to analye.But he stil couldn't nd a
draw. He later admitted hewou have looked in "thebookbut he didn't have onewith him.
at But that was in the oddays, before databases anda the junk they have now.Way back then there prob-
ably wn't that much to leabout the endgame d noneof the mode technology tostudy it
Wat Eve Grter Kw
No Rubbish. There's always been too much to ea.The point is you rely get
punished for not knowingsome obscure "basic posi-tionHere's something Diagram
4 payed by a mode wordchampionwho also ked hisGM opponent: "Why e youcontinuing to play in this
drawn position?
ocMcw 935W toply
1. 2 !
12
Now 2 W h! 3 gxh f exf Wxf will eave ie wthony he h f sa daw even wihou he back f f
2 h3 5!hie couned on 2 We5?,
which allows wgae 3 Wd5 Wf We6 5 h!
3 5 h
W55 f 6Dra
ite can make no pogess,eg, 6 e fxe 7 xe f5 8 fW
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nr-rvrench Lee 1993
W to ply
I. f W62 g W73 Wf5 W6 8 W75 6 wc76 w W77 W5 wc78 7t W69 h2
1 g3And hite strugged another
7 moves before agreeing to a draw
Cape One
at Okay, so he knew t wadrawn and Wte ddn't. oethat mean shoud just brngots of reference works to every touament?
No No. Havng the rghtbook woud ony have savedWhte from havng to adjou.
at ou mean that asde fromwastng your tmeand your
opponent'st doesn't matterwhether you know the poston on the board s a wn or draw?
No Most of the tme? No.at But why?
a av
9
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No Because it doesn't teyou how to win it ake Diaa he books will tell you it's a
win with the black W/e 7, butonly a draw if it's on e6 or e .hat's the type of impracticainformation you nd all thetime in texts like Fine's andPaul eres.' hey give "ba-sic knowledge a bad name.
at Wouldn't a G M know in-stantly whether it's a win ornot
No obaby not But thatwould not aect his life atalluness he was hired as anadudicator.
at But why not
No good practical playerwould gure out the ony wayto win is to advce te Itwon't take more than two
20
Wat Every Grdmter Kw
minutes to reaize the best tryto do that is Wb. hat'strue whethe it a win o adaw
Pat But there must be timeswhen you really need to knowwhich it is
n exe a son who
h a the mtasthat can be in a v
naow i h
W toply
1 \Not d4 because d! 2
xd (ese th bac gets to thece) xd . Wb4 c! drawsby using the opposition, discussedater in this oo (4. c5 c7 5.W5 W7 6. c5 c7 etc.).
1 8t2 waS c8!3 \5 8t
wa6 c85 !
f the had been at e6 in theprevious diagram, Bac coud nowstop the pan with 5 .. . e5, forcing
te to give up he e or theprotection of the fBut here the f gets to he fh
ran (5 . . e6 6. W7 We5? 7 d5 or 6 .. c5 7 b6! c c5 eaching a etternown"boo won positonnot far fromucena.
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LnTLeniad 97Wi t ply
1 5t!Now on .. . d7 hite pays 2 and the wnnng pan ofg4 and f5-f6 cant be stopped.
1. Wf62 W3! 3
And wns because the ac s cu o e.g. 3 .. a4 4. c6 a6 5.
c a 6. c4 e6 7 d foowe by bb6 and c6-c7eadng nevtaby to "ucena
Capter One
No Surewhen you can se-cure a book draw (if you'relosing or a win by mingsome maor decision, like atrade of pieces or a sacrice
Here's a typica example(Diagr 7ite was one of the hf
dozen best payers in theworld, at the time, and neededa win to make sure of quaify
ing for the Candidatesmatches om an interzonalPat He must have knownwhether thwas a win
No Yeah, but that didn'ttell him how to win it Heactuay payed an error, 1.h5
Yet 1. e5winseasilysincethe black W h to choosebetween two osing sides ofthe board
In fact, ite had missedthe same kind of transitionsix moves earierand did itagain two moves after .h
2 1
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at: So you're saying I onyneed to know a handl ofpositions
Noah: Yes, because most ofthe time you can rely on genera principlesSure, somemes at doesn't
work For example, Diagram18, which w analyzed byAndr Philidormore 200yes ago.
at: Is this the famous "Phiidorposition I'm supposed toknow
Noah: Almost If it is Black'smove he draws by keepinghis g on his third rank untilthe pawn advances. the"Philidor you need to know.
at: So what happens on f6
Noah: er that, Black candraw ony ifhe keeps his a
22
Wat Every Granter Kw
's move away om hite's,and puts his g on the ele
It's a usel position to knowonly because it goes against acrucia genera principle ing endgames.Keep yo ebly placed possible.
at: his principle is so crucialthat it doesn't work
No: By putting the g one,
and giving up e chance forrank checks, Back violatesthe principle But he drawsbecause he can stop hite'sonly winning plan Stoppingthe plan was just more important hereBy the way, Philidor got the
anaysis all and concuded that Diagram 8 was aforced loss
W toply
1. Wf6!On e6 Bac draws wi .
a6! 2 Wf5 b6 and if e6en ... b since e cannoescape from cecs aong e es
1. . . . !No . a6? because of2. e6
reaenng mae and hen 2 . . d c7 4. W and hereaces "ucena.
And no f ? because of2. e6 Wmoves foowed by We 7 and e6 in eadedo "ucena.
2. w6!
8Oerwise e t can' advance
4 a e! 5. Wd6 W). a!
And draws 5 b a6 6f5 ! or 6. Wd7 a7 eg6)
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Dreev-BeyavskySvie ChampinhiP 1989
Wit toply
1. h4!Otherwise ... Wd3 wins
1 xh4?Not 1 Wd3 2 xg5 But there
wasa eaborate win in 1 g 12 We2 d3 3 d2 g2 4 d g4
2 xg5 3 d5!
Drawing (3 d3 4 c5 a laPhiidor)
3 . hlt4 2 h2t
Chapter One
5 wdl d36 cl! hlt7 b2 l
No better is 7 We3 8 c28 d8!
And a draw as agreed after 8 . e4 9 Wc 'e2 0 'c2
Pat:Yeah, it always seems thereae tos of stu like that in theboos Do they ever happeni ea f ?
No: t tme. A goodexamp of ow owing ithelps wa Dam 20. Bothpayers we o G Ms whowell knew t oo" of Diagram 1.But at cuc tme 20
only one of tem remem-bered it Black erred becausehe didn't recognize a bookdraw when e saw onePat: I see3 d5 is the samea .. e 1 in Diagram 18. lthat's happened is the coorshave been changed and
board's been reversedHow oen does a position
like that come up?
23
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No: You'd be surprised howoen the possbl arises Inthat same Larsen game thatwe ust ooked at, White
missed another winning tran-sition, in iagram 1He could have sacriced the
c t tobng about somethingalmost identical to the Phii-dor positionexcept thatBack's is so badly placed
that White wins.at: Badly paced on c5
24
Wat Every Granter Kw
No: Sad but true he pointis that even walking "bookencyclopedias c misuse eittle that they need to know.You need to not only knowa
few key positions You asoneed to be abe to gure outwhat to do in a sightly differ-ent positionWhite, who clearly knew
"Lucena, didn't look hard
enough to see a simple transi-tion to itat: I'll bet all this is a lot
harder than you're ming itNo: See for yourself End-
games aren't that scaryCome back to the cub to-
morrow and I can show you
what you shoud be doingInterested
at: Hmmm Lemme thinkabout it
Len-TeLeniad 97W t ply
1 g5!Not . c7? which hitepayed.
1 Otherwise 2 Wf6 and . h
aows hie o advance he f t to"ucena.
2 g6!Bac osesbecause he can'
pay 2 f ,
in Diagram I
2 cl3 h8t e7 f6t e6
6 And wins (6 ... Rg 5
Kg4 Rg 9 ec..
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In which Pt ler bout hpw nd drw ors ndconerti dntes-nd why the rst moe mny ndmsters mke in the enme with their et
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at Okay, I'm back.No: I thought you might be.at Butjust to sas my curi
osity. Suppose I wanted to
reay get into endgames.Where woud I start
No:You begin with this nottobeforgotten wing
26
An ame not amdlegame
Geg Sed
at hat's a nobrainerNo: Not true Many players
don't realize or y appreciate that
In the endgame there arebig dierences in thinking.You have to readjust
at HowNo: You have to start think-ing dierently about speedd space, not to mention
pawn structure, and safetyYour whole sense of how toevaluate a move or a positionchanges instanty when thefs are removed from thebod.
at How do the G Ms beginthinking dierenty when the
endgame beginsNo: Some of them take awak.
at hey te a walk
Candidaes na 1989
W to ply
1 f? good posiiona move in hemiddegamebut an eor here.
ih J threatening to econtro on e4 hite has good winning chances ( f5 2. e e5 .b5 Wf6 4. d and c4).
1 f5! positiona emonin the mid
degame. The game was drawnafter 4 more moves beginningwith 2 a4 Wf6 . c5 b6 andeventuay ..e5
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Capter Tw
f"->
_w.
_
he eme he me) r J
;.
I
Speed counts. Oen the winner is theplayer who gets there "fastest with themostest.
Space counts cramped position isusually a bad position.
safety is a major priority. The easiest way to win is to accumu
late advantages. Center s are more vuable thanwing s
When deciding whether to exchangesomething, masters try to trade badpieces for good ones, to avoid losingtime, and to exchange s when thatopens lines for their pieces.
Haste makes waste. Repeang theposition is good technique. Losing atempo oen helps
Control of more space than youropponent is relavely unimportant.
are generally safe. acvi ismore important
The easiest way to win is to cnvertone advantage to another. Wing s-particularly if they arepassedare oen more valuable because they're easier to queen
rading priorities depend on whetheryou're winning or losing. Usually theplayer with the edge wants to trade
pieces but not s, and vice versa
f
27
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No: It's old ussian idea,suggested in the 930s by amter named Sergei Bea-venets He said that soon
2
Geg Sed
as you trade you shouldstand up and walk around theplaying room to cam yournerves and clear your head
In this game (Diagram 4) ,White had hardly sat downwhen the went o But heneeded to reorient his think-ing aer 9 xb6 A strollthen wouldn't have hurt
at Okay, suppose I've traded
and had my walk WhatthenNo: First, gure out who'sbetter
One of the things that dis-tinguishes an ending from amiddegame is that it's usually much easier to see in ending whether you're play-ing for a win or just trying todraw
at For sure
KovacevcmrnZae 99
. f6 2. g5 3 f *a5t 5 f6 6
2 cx 7 3 *6 8*x c6
9 *xb6 60. ?
A ow prorty move. Better wa10. e4.
0. 5!. c7?
Payng for advantage n what snow an nferor poston Betterwas 11. d4.
11 5!
2. x6 And Back soon had an over
whemng ntatve ( 13 cxd4 e6!14. c5 d5 15. xe6 fxe6 16.c5 xd4! 1 xd4 exd4 and... e3/ .b4
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-a n Z 988
W to y
1 Da acc??te wnnng f4 2 e5 nvadng, or
c8 2 g5 3 Wh6 andwn by zugzwang
For example, 3 b6 4 Wh7c8 5 a4! a6 6 c5! or 5 b66
c8 7 h4!
Black doe better wth 3 a6 4
c5 f6 but t long 5 h4 6 h7 7 a4! f6 8 Wg8Wf5 9 g4 10 e8 xh41. d7 Wg4 2 xc8 Wf5 3
Capter Tw
b7 e6 4 b6
"I ko
n
Noah: Yet it constantly shocksamateurs to see how oenmasters accept draws in winning positions, like Diram
5, or resigndrawabe onesPat: What shoud White be
thinking in that positiono:hat e as a very good
and Black has a limpinghat if he wins either of the
black pawns he'll win thegamehat he has excelent
chces for imposing zugzwangAnd, most important, that
with no visibe Back count-erpay, it costs White abso
utey nong to pay onPat: But don't you have toknow what you're doing nextto rese a draw oer
Noah: G Ms accept draw offers when they see how theycan lose not when they'reunabe to see how to win.
Pat: Okay, so you evauate theposition. hen what
o: hen you try to understand what kind of advantageit is
Pat: Usually that's obvious.ght
29
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No: Sometimes yes, some-times no.For instance, with the Ex-
change for two s, White
c't be entirely sure he hasany real edge in Diagram 6.Black's ng is closer to
White's side s andBlack's can ttack the side s
at: sense a "but coming up
No: White has the Ex-change A basic rule of thumb
you're up theExchange you want to
trade a pair of s.
hat's because a trade mag-nies the mismatch betweenthe remning v. piece.
at: It's weird that White can
0
Geg Sed
retreat the ike that and letthe Back in.
No: Yes, but very logical. A is superior to a only
when it n a like a hat is, only when it h
open les. o make such aled create a winning White had to force a trade.
"Fight the ywith the weapo
he lac. Fi aha
Aan uvv f Ruian ia
Hmn-RmannHersn 1989W toply
1 1 g5Or ... b 2. axb xb 3.hb c 4. b8 and the a- ifalls.
2 h WfNo better is 2 . . . xb I 3. xb
Wf4 4. xb7 x 5. a7 Wxe4. xa Wd5 a8 g5 8. a andwins.
3 x5 5
Better than 4. b 1 b4 5. cxb4Wx drawing chances forBlack.
Now the creates a winningpassed a i W . (not . xd?? b3 t e W c 10 and 11
so 7... g5 8. xb7 c5 9 xc7 e3 0. xc4 Wxg4 1. aWf4 2. c7 g4 13. a7 xa7 4.
xa7 Wxe4 15. g7 f5 . Wxb3W 1 c4 and wins.
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ad-ndzSSR 1955W toply
Ths poston w adoued dhte resie bunder snce hecan draw by threatenng mate wth Wd6! and checkng.
For exampe Wc 2. c IWb73 b Wa6 4. Wc6! threao 5. a mate
Then 4 .. . W 5. Wc5 Wa4 6.Wc4 Wa3 Wc3 Wa2 8 ! and
snce .. . g2? ? loses the i wthcheck Back has nothng betterthan 8 h5 9 d3! and tedraws wth We2-J.
Capter w
at:What happens ifm worsewhen the endgame begins
No: Same sort of thing Youneed to know what your
opponent's advantage con-sists ofBut you aso have to recog-
nize where your own setsieand not to underestimatethem
at: You got an exampleNo:
Sure In Diagram 28White was so raid of theblack s that he completelyoverlooked the power of thestrongest piece on the bod,his own
at: Okay, suppose know have the edge d understd
what kind of edge it is WhatnextNo: good next step is togure out what speccally it
takes to win.at: You mean like winning a
or something elseNo:No, you generally don't
need to win ything in anending
at: You don't
o o o
3 1
S d
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No: o. n the endgame thede preng for a wn uually ha ome knd of advtage already.
What a player need to do,lke Whte n Dagr 9, to convert one advtage ntoa more gncant one.
Pat:Seem lke Whte jut gveaway the Exchge for noth
2
Geg Sed
ng.No: Actually he elmnate
the only good black pece leto top the cpawn.
Aer xe6, Black mut try toblockade wth h -and a , a you'll lea, a terribleblockader.
So once Whte knew what ttook to wn, the ret wa eay.A winnng converon.
Pat:But what f you're playngfor a draw?
No:hen you need to knowwhat t wll tae for to wn
Don't y to gure out whatt te for you to draw.Uually there no uch
thng.Pat: ll beleve that. Okay,what' happenng n Dagram30?
dBvLres 199W topl
. !Theatening 2 xe6!, eg, h5 2 xe6 fxe6 3 c5 b4 4Wa3 b8 5. c6 g5 6 c7 c8 Wa4 and xa5b6b
. t2
Or 2 d7 3 e7.3 x6t! 6
d wins e.g. 4 f6 5 c6b8 6 c7 c8 7 a4 e5 8xa5 d4 9 c6 e3 0 f4
c3 d 2 Wb6Too ate is xc7 12 xc7
xg3 3 xg7 Wxf4 4 h7
Ch t T
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MMiDerecen 199W tply
1 a! c62 c53 a6 c4 ??
30
ite wins wi 4 d3! ! eg4 c3 5. xe3 d I=* 6 xdxd d2 and 8. a7
Or 4 f4 5. xe3 xd3 6xd2
c3t5 xt x6 a7 c2
Da
Chapter Tw
Because e * ending sdead aer 7 a* d * 8.xe3 *gI 9 e2 *x2
No: A ange but not at allrare mundertandngWhte may have aked hmelf at the dagram I
better and, f o, why?he anwer would be "Of
coure, am-but becaue ofthe a- ot o uch becaue of the Exchange hatwould have gven hm thewnnng plan
Pat I gue that me eneNo: But when t wa cnch
me, at move four, he ed tokeep a he ddnt needntead of elmnatng the only couterplay Blackhad
Pat t ure mut help f you've
won th knd of poton before
33
G g S d
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Geg Sed
No:ten, Pat, t hep moref you've lostth knd before
ow, take Dagram 31.What would you do here?
Pat: I'm not ure. But . xc3look rght
No: Why?No: Becaue t elmnate a
-and a pretty dangerou, t ook lke. And t avoda endgame aer xe4
No: When you've had moreexperence you'll know .xc3 a blunder radng ony enarge the advantage of the remanng overthe
Pat: I gue I ee that now hec n't runnng away andWhte' much more actve. But what about the
endng?No: Wth tme you'll aloapprecate how notoroulydrawih + endng are
Pat: What f you haven't a clueabout what' gong on n apoton?
No: hen a good way totart-after you've had yourwalk- to gure out whatpece you want to trade andwhch you don't.
Pat: For exple?
"It s no dce wheth ouwn o oseunt ou e
Ann
4
ov-ovMscw 199W to ply
2!Not 1 . c3? c3 2 c3c2 whch leave Black wt ecellent wnnng chance
For eaple, 3 Wd2 f5 4e3 h3 5 Wd4 g2 6 f4 W e5 e7 and 8 f6 Back akng progre
1 g72 3 g5Or 2 a4 3 c3 e4 4
fe4 f6 5 enoughcounterpay to draw
3 ! g g g5 x! xc2
Chapter Tw
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Vaganan-Mn 199W to
??Passing such a 1 *a6 2 *a5! akes it hd forBack to ake progress
But ite counts on 1 *xc32 xc3 a4 3 d2 and 4 d4with a draw
a!And Back wns eg 2 d2
*xc3 3 Wxc3 xb3 4 Wxb3Wg6 5 a4 h5 6 b5 g4 Wc6 xf4 8 xd6 e3
Chapter Tw
No: For example, Dagram33 te concluded that hecol raw f he maged totrade the .
at: He wa wrong?No: No, the mnorpeceendng is drawn becauete can lqiate the de and eep Blac omcreatng a ped f .at he overlooed wa
that Black c force a \+ endngwhch wa quite lot
at: So ome ade are verygoo. .
No: . . d ome trade areut al Remember what Iad about the mportance oftraitio.
example of good tradeon both de Dagram 34
"Exchanng thesoul ofchess. g g
35
Geg Sed
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at: at' happenng here?No: Yor bac plover
6
Geg Sed
eqal edge for te Heha the better A d h opponent ha e weaer get, at and c6
If he c trade h a forthe b8 , h remanngpece wll be mch betterthan Black', and he c eh me wth a plan of, ay,creatng a ped a , wb2b4
at: Bt Blac me h owngood trade, a bad pece for agood one-even f t loe ph trcture
No: Not o loed p In theend the f5 not mchwore th the one at g2 andb2 A draw me ene
at: Yo colda fooled me loe poton lke the onegranater agree to drawn
dn-ODs Heans 199
W to y
1 !A good ida 2 b3)1
Black also ss a good trad,.. f5
2 3 x3tBlack can avoid th trad with
2 . 8, but aftr 3 Wd2 to stop3 . it hav a big
dg 4 b7 r4 b6or3 . . .c7 4 bb5)3 x3 f5 5
it's bst chanc w 4 f1 4 5
hit can mak no progrss,.g., 5. c3 intnding 6. fb8 6 Wa3 g8 Mtr g3?
xg3 Black i s vn bttrA draw w agrd soon aftr 5.
c2 f4 6 b3 h5 7 d3 b8
Chapter Tw
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Beov
toy
1
!Not .. . xd I ? 2. xc6 with
vry sim winning chancs.2 2 3 a2 f1 gS!
Back prpars to crat a psd t { ..f5f4}.
S 2
6 27. x8 wg9 wg2
fS!xttf6
Chapter Tw
Now 11... xf, crating a+ t nding, would win aily.
1 1 S f12
And Black won aftr 3. h4 14. h3 h5 15. c 6 5, .g., 68 3 fx3 fx3 18. b5 2!19. x2 g .
No: Wth experence you'llle what a drawable potion look lke Oen e exact ame poton-e ,
e < potion- a wnwth on the board or *onBut t may be a ea draw
with the aditon of a par of or a pr of Or vcevera
at: How do you know thevce from the vera?
No: By lookng ahead andeeng whch pece tuatonwould be the eaet to wnIn Dagram 35 Black can
ee that a trade of all thepece lead to a
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at: You're talking a lot aboutpece, but what alway cone me in ending whereto put my .
mean, what' the deal withthe h?n jut about every GM
game 've ever een, t eemWhte play h2h4!? andBlack reple .. .h h5 !? .
No: here are reaon forthat. For one thng, it make thder for your opponent tocreate a paed , a Blackdoe n Dagr 3.
at: ee. f Whte had a ath4 then Black would havehad to trade two et of \ide , tarng wth ...f6
Geg Sed
and . . .g5 to create a pae .
No:Wth a likely draw. tme
A the game goe, Blackforce a favorable trade of becaue of the threat of 9 .. .h3.
n other game wth a mlar truce you may eeBlack winning by attackingtheenemy \de wth .. .\g4and ...hxg3.
at: there an ideal endgame formation?
No: hat uually dependon whether youre playng towin or draw.For example, in Diagram
39 Black end up with theexact ame \ide ucture hi opponent-and loe becaue of it.
VadRKrjc 195Bk ply
. gS!f Back had aowed 2 h4 hisadvtage would be microscopic
2. a3 2
hite h othig better. On 3 .h3 Black creates a psed i with .. . f5 ad ... h4.
3
3 fSS c2 !6 c3 t7 gS
8 2
8 h!9 ht
Oeise 9 .. . h3 folowed by
a6b6b I g g2
9 xhBlack wo after 10 e5 g5
d4 a4 2 . d3 f6 d...e5.
Chapter
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Vaan-HeUeNew Y 199W topy
1 h b22 we63 3 f6
Psing s Black's only pocy g25 f b2
Thr folowd som mor manuvring as it prpard topush his passd !: . b g
f bg 10 e 11. b.
Chapter
11 f6??A bundr or psing, with
. b3 12 b8 Wf6 and W6f6 would draw.
12 b7t13 b8t1 615 5!16 c
h8g7b3
And Black loss bcaus his Wplays no rol: 16 f 1 b7Wh6 18 d7 b 19 Wc5 c120. Wd6 d 2. c7 c1 22Wd8 b 23 d6 0.
at: Let' do thi one lowy Iteem like ve een poitionlike thi a jillion time
No: Okay White tt by
retraining Black' g with h4 hat alo create achn, o he c protect all hiide pawn with a at e3
at: Why doe he tae hi timein puhing the b ?
No: Becaue that would low Black' to cut off hi by going to the ith rank likeon 2 b4? b3!
at: Okay, o White can movehi < to e3 and then puh hi t .
N:hat allow hi to goto f4 and protect hi entire
ide while the b advance.But it houldn't have beenenough to win.
at: y?
No: Becaue hi only winningplan would have been toadvance the to b6 anthen hi < to efend itBlack' woul have eatenmot of the
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g
40
In which Pt lerns tht rules he exceptions tht some
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p rules re exceptionl-nd tht no rule substitute rthinking
Read and Forget: les ld
do Basc Cess Enn"-
vs. + : when ie hass on he and es, wih ony one more, if acks is on he e he canusuay draw bu if it is on he e he wias a rule lose.Wih 3 conneced passed s agains a )
a win is possibe ony if al he s cansucceed in crossing he 4h rank excep forcerain specia cases)
coected vs. ifneiher i has reached he sixh rank his isalways a draw, bu if one is on he sixh andhe oher is on he fh, a win is possibleprovided here are no
-s
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at: I haven' forgoen whawe alked abou yeserdayye.u oday I'd like o move
on o anoher reason I haeendgameshe rles. Thereseems o be a million dier-en res you have o memo-ze
Noah: You mean like"*+
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GurevicFroniLucee 1989W y
1 e3?ong aftr a i that h nosignicanc No bttr was 1 ?x 2 x f4 whch wnsboth rmaining whit s
But winning was 2 c3 Wf4 3 , g, 3 Wx4 a6 xg4 5 b4 and 6 c5
. g6Now 2 x 3 xa5 hdraws, as in th gam
2. xg5 h53. x
Dat's ony a draw bcaus th
rmaining whit l s ar iminatdaftr 4 WX hxg4 5 fxg4 W4 6c 1 g5 and W
s Inease inValue
as th Advance.
at: Wha oher kind?No: Closeness of a o is
queening square. The reonis explained by anoher rule:
s Inee in Value th Advance
In fac, a on he sixhrank is oen wice vauable one on he fourh,paricuary in minorpieceendings.
at: Why picuarly hose?No: ecause unlike heavier
wood, a or cno conrol more han one or wosquares in he pah of a aa given ime.
at: So?
No: So in Diagram 42 heony sque in he as pahha he conrols is donce i is kicked away, he
reaches a quicklyThen l Whie needed o
win w o drive he o heg a7 diagon and promoe.
The increed vue ha a picks up s i advances isillusraed bes by your oldfriend, he square.Even wih severa minor
pieces, you have o keep inmind wheher your < is inhe square o cach a passed .
at: Yeah, he square Tha'sone ofhe rs hings I leedabou endgamesand one ofhe few I remember.
43
Re
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44
"Te od ofthe ame
the sed aw
ec
No:And you'd be urpriedhow much it gure in grand-mter ge.
It come up in many form,
ike Diagram 43 BecaueBlack' r i one tep out ofthe quare of the a , Whitecan win with an amazing two-piece acrice.
at Ye, pretty aming. E-pecialy ince White can wina , at leat temporiy with
c4No: But that allow the en
emy r ino the quare andcomplicate the win.A it goe, Back ct ac-
cept the econd piece acri-ce and the ret i ey.
at Okay, o, incree invalue a they advance i agood rule to know. But howdo I ue it?
ovHseiel 199
W y
1. xb5Too slow is 1 c4 d7 2 cxbcxb5 3 xb5
1. cxb52. xb5
And 2 axb5 oses to 3 a6because Blacks is out of thesquare and 3 e6 is met by 4b6
Black had to try somethingike but resigned soonafter x e
Capter Tree
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sisViRsv n Dn 1993
W y
1 b2f you'r willing to calculat,
youl nd . xh8 b=* 2a* hit wns bcaus Backschcks stop aftr 2 . *f Wg*g 4. *g2! or .. *e 4h2
But not: . a8=* b=* 2xb ? xa8 which s drawn
1. 82. ! g53 4 Wf6
Or .. . f5 4. a e5 5. e4
Wf6 6. Wg4andtheg-fwil fall Noa: Once you realize theaftr Wg5 and 8 a6. power of a paed you'll
:! be aert to the opportunitie6 g5 c6 of trading into a won game,
7 x Rsis like Diagram 44.Bcaus of .. Wb6 8 a at: Thi look confuing.xa79 xa7xa7 Wf6 b7 EvebodyqueeningI I. Wx6 and wns No: It' actuay imple once
ade iecesW u'reAhead Matea
ade awnsW u're
Behin
you ee that White doen'thave to promote immediatelybut can get a paralyzing poition with 1. xb2 and 2
a2Since ite will win any
ending ariing fromb7 and . . xa7, Blackcan't do anything but pawith hi
at:But how doe White queen
the a ?No: Doen't need to. He'llrun the black and outof move, then pick up both
and, nally, win with thee
at: I like genera rule like increae in vaue . . Got
any more?No: You're probably familiar with thi one:
Trade eces u're Ahead Mate
Trade Paw You're Behin
at: I've heard omething likeit. What' the reoning?
45
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No: Remember what I aidabout what it take to win?
46
Pat: That generally you needto promote a .
No: Correct. Well, the morepiece you trade, the le en-
emy reitance to keep a from promoting.Pat: And the more you
trade?No: The fewer that canbe promotedand the fewertarget to go after.
In Diagram 45 Black, even
though two down ter ...g6/3... exd5, ha drawingchance. But he h none af-ter it become jut v
Pat: The ure look ickafter 5. x.
No: And White can pro-
mote either on the ide oride.That' another unique thing
about endgame.
deMueUeruesga 1991Bk y
1
e7?Black can aord o gve up a
n order o oban counerplay wh g6 2. 7 f5! , hreaenng . f4
Mer xd5 exd5 Black whhs own passed h excellendrawng chances
b6 c6?!
e should eeps s on heboard wh 2
c6 and possby
. d43 xc6 xc6
4 ! x5.xt
he won afer e .e e! (else he a advances) d
10 ! (ps) d 11. d ec
Chapter Three
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ovdRquerune 199
Bk y
1
xg4?
h Blac wns qucly2 e2 xg4 . xg4 =* or .f f4 ec.
x!And he forces a draw afer
2. x c4 and 4 xb4 or he game wen e .
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at: The rt one look prettyeay but I don't know about4
No: It' a clic example of
4
trying to n endgame withmiddlegame move
Intead of taking hi timeand crying out a lowbut
unbeatableplan, White im-plied with a hy tempo-rary acrice of a i
Remember, are cheapwhen you have eight ofembut prohibitively expenivewhen you have one or two.
at: I thi trading rule away
true?No: No, like mot rule, it i
onlygallyue Somemethere are higher law
at: ike what?No: ike Fne's La
If you are one i ahead, in
99 cae out of 100, the gamei drawn if there are ononly one ide of the bod.
at: And i that ue?
uer-Gruedalma e Marca 1989
W y
1 g4??he should wn wh h4
sealng he W-sde folowed bybrngng hs o c5.
1 hg4 g4 h6!
uch beer han 2 .. fxg4 e5. Now Bacs W ges o g5.
3 5 5
4 g3 g5And he wh only one lef, wll allow Blac o draw wh...c4. E.g
bx f and ..g6-f6(bu Blac blundered aer and los).
Chapter Three
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eeoanaes Mach 1991
Bk t y
1 c7? 1 Bac should
raw f6 e5. t Wd64 7
And e won soon afer . e e .
Forexample xd4exd4and 9 a7 wns anoher i orrades
Or f he can aso
wn wh e6 9 d and now 10 e2 followeby 1 1 g4 and Bacs i evenuay as
No: Maybe not 99 out of100, but in an awl ot ofituation That' why Blackoe in Diagram 48
The minorpiece endgamewith only one paed , at e3er 1 b8!, i drawablebecaue Black' remaining e hard to attack thank toFne LawWhite would have a hard
time trying o promote hi e-
pawn after 2 xb8 and 3.xd5
Pat: But?
Ev le h
exceptio.
No: But played, Blackleave himelf with two weak and an inferior That lead to another rule of
thumb on rule:
Eve leh exceptio
Pat: I wa afraid you weregoing to ay that.
o: It' true. And ome-
time in che it eem thatthe exceon outnumber therule. ut like in life.
Pat: Uhhuh.
49
s
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50
" Your o Ooe olor of
ur Biho"-Capaanca
No Some have more exceptions than others, likeCapabnca's Ru Yo s o
Oosi olo of Yo .In Diagram 0 Black threat
ens to put U his s on lightsquares and draw by keepingthe white W at bay and byblockading te side s.
But ite beats him to it,and eventually wins by pick
ing up the Black s on darksquares
But you were talking aboutexceptions. y isn't Capa-bnca '5 Ru ls true?
No Because there are always going to be specialcases-like when creating apassed or locking out theenemy W-when "bad moes work
BJay-AdamAdelide 9W to y
h3!Not W? e4 2. we2 g4! and
Wd5-c4 blockades1 Wd52 g4 f43 . f6
Or 3 Wc4 4 g7 Wxc3 5xh6 e7 6 b5 nd ns
4 fThe e ende oon afer 4
e4 e4t wxe4 6 b d 7 bwc 8. e7 9. c4 d8 and We4
Capter Tree
3 5 b C h k N T h B h
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51
Lihuanian hampih 199
W y
1 b5!No c because L b ocks
he -sde.Now 1 d7 aows 2. c5 dxc
b6 c 4 . c4 foowed by .g whch rades a -sde t forhe back e6- t er xe6 hewns wh d and b6-b7.
1 We7 h5!
ere 2. g? h! seals he sde
7
3 c5! bxc54 b6 c85 g5!
The pon5. hxg5
6 h6 f67 c4 Wg68 xe6! b7
Of course no xe6 9 . b7.9 5 c8
10 b7 xb71 1 xb7 c41 c8 xh613 g4 Resis
n vew of he unsoppabe e-d2c and wns
"o our gam,ta osom ofour
advrsas oss for noing
Joseh Ben, 1735
at: Can you think of an example?
No: For example, in Diagram 51, the chromatically
correct move, c4c5 d g4g5, would alow Black toblockade he poition anddraw.
at: Even though he woud bemaking hi own bad andgiving White protectedpaed ?
No: True enough But theproper winning plan involvecreating two paed at b6and h6, and the only way to
do that it to me White' temporariy into a very bad by rt putng the atb5 and h5Thi how how endgame
theory change: HowardStaunton, in the betellingche book of the 19th cen
tury, aid if you have the inferior game you houd put your on the ame color youro you could protect themmuch better
"On Knh at th nd ofth gam, ga suor to on ho
o non, 1847
51
I j b d
Ru
Si b T h I '
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at: I jut remembered a rue.I hed a ong time ago:
All +t Endis areDraw
Ateat they alwaytmoutthat way when I'm one or two up.
No:We owe that bit of irony
52
to Siegbert Tarrach. It' nota bad rulea ong a youreaize it doen't work a otof the time.
For exampe, in Diagram52, even at the cot of a ,White woud have won the + ending aer 1 .. . xe5
at: But he won in the ongrun ...
No: . becaue he ti man-aged to trade piece and cut
the back< o aong the ce.White' and b were
then a mimatch for the en-emy , and Back reignedwhen he aw he'd have tourrender it for the .If you're ooking for ue
rule, I'm ure you can cre-ate a few of your own.
at: Like what?
BeevIvcuLinres 1994W toly
1 e5! 7Bac mus begn o rerea be
cause he + f endng s los afer1.. Axe5 2. dxe5 Wxe5 b5a 4. b6 d6 5 b5 and 6. bn
. b5 d8Ese he f advances decsvely.
3. c6 4t
4. Wb3! 8Bes play by Bac bu5. xd8! xd86 c
Blacesedaer . 9 10 II.
Chapter Three
3 b5 wf N Oh h b t "It b3!)
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Yudanies Mach 199
W y
1 xe3?ang easy or he h
I b! Blac can sll gh Eg, b6 W d6 We and 4 d7 or 2. d6 Wg7 c d 4d W6
2. d??Clearly wnnng s 2. c (con
rong he queenng squares Wg7 b5! eg b4 d6and5 d7or d 4. b6
2 wg7Now d7 d has he
3 b5 wf No: Oh, how about "It4 7t e 7 eier to promo a dntped
And he had nohng beer than a near one han 5 d d d
at: Isnt that obvious? Seems e
2 Bac drew hans ohs superor and W
Ofcours, som sa on to th a
wh th advant. And
som s a on toth on ti to draw
T
to me a on, say b4 or c4, isalways going to be easier toqueen than one on g4I mean, if both sides castled
sideNo:True, but even if they're
not on the same rank, thedistant oen has better
chcesor example, in Diagram
54 Black simplies the taskby permitting White to advance two s to the h rank,ensuring that one couldqueen He should have
stopped the distant one (1 . . .
b3!)at: Then where did White gowrong?
No: By ying to promote
the nearer If he hadpushed the b instead ofthe d , Black would havehad to commit his -andone of the s would havesailed rough.
at: Seems like you really enoy collecting endgame rules
No: You might too if yougave them a chance
Of course, some rules applyonly to the player with theadvantage And some rulesapply only to the one yingto draw
53
Pat: How does that work?
R
, 4 f5 5 ,d6)
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Pat: How does that work?No: Well, something like
the last rule goes:Wen Defending, Go
Aer e Most DangeusEnemy i .Pat: That i too obvious.No: Not really In Diagram
55 with only a few s le onthe boad, Black took the ithat didn't threaten him in-stead of the one that did
And this w played by theNo. 3ranked player in theworld at the me in the closest thing to a world championship match
Pat: It seems like everyone hassome pesona rles they needto remember. Do you haveany?
No: Sure, my Three Com-mandments.
54
, 4. f5 5 ,d6) ,e7 \d 6 ,d8
Kv-SvCandites superna 1987
Blk oply
1. x4??Mter 1 xa4! White's ony
winning chance is to trap the by2. ,d4
But 2. .. \d6 followed by 3 ..c6 and 4 .. . c5 wil draw
2. \b5 c53. f!
Now ,d4? xa4! wouldhave drawn (4. \xa4 f5 5 ,e5g5 or 5 ,e \g4)
3. 7And Back resiged after
Capter Tree
Pat: Okay let me start wt know your opponent knows
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k-VoS Smvec 1979
W oy
1 Rsigns?But 1. We2We52 Wd3Wd53.
c4t Wc5 4. Wc3 a5. Wd3! is a
aw ae allFo exampe 5 . f5 6 Wc 7
d We Wxc4 9 WxJb4 10. We xa4 1 1 d2 b1 c Wa2 and c2- -2 ec.
Pat: Okay, let me start wt know your opponent knowsCommandment No 1 . ow to wn Id never stop te
How ome I see GMs re loks n +v +, forsgnng all the tme n pos example
tons tat dont look lost to Sre, ts a book loss Butme? almost no one knows teNo: In some es ts a bookprde tg Tey dot watto play ot ugly postons nfront of spetators. But amateurs ant afford prdeIts far more embarrsng
to resgn prematrely As apratal matter, wheteryour postion s a fored losssould not affet you.Here, n Dagram 56 for
example, Wte sold playthe obvos 1. e2 and seewat appens
at: But wat f you knowts abook loss?
No: Never resgn ntl yo
"Let no man surrder so
long he unwoundedand can gh
Fid Mrs Mongor ois roos on v of
B of in.
55
at: Every GM must
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6
ou Shalt Not Trade
Down to w UnlessYou Can Safely BetYour First-Bo Child
On e Resul
at: Every G M mustNo:Then why did Ljubomir
Ljubojevic play it out withthe against Gata Kamsky
at Lines 1991? Or NigelShort against alery Salov atBcelona 1989, in Diaa 5
In fact, Short played out+W v to the very end Ifthere's any doubt in yourmind that your opponent can
win, let him prove itat: I guess that makes sense.No: That leads to Com
mandment No 2:
ou Shalt Not TradeDown to + Unless
You Can Safl Bet Your
First-Bo Child On eResul
ov-oarcelna 1989W y
1 8+ Wh72. 8!
A zugzwangposon has beenn he boos or 00 years.
Ye, Blac payed on 2 10 #
Capter Tree
at: Thats perfect for me I promote the h Total 8
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inGrozseereeme 1993Bk y
1 xe5??2 Wh3!
Black may have assumed 2xe xe5 xe5 Wxe5 4.g Wf5 5. Wh4 Wg6 dras
Or he may jus have mscounedha happens here no.
2 d53 xe5t xe54
xe5 xe5
5 h4 d5 xh5 wc4
7 h4 Resigns
at: That s perfect for me. I59 always nd + endings
hard.o: Yes good players mess
them up tooeven when theposition is largely a matter ofcounting like Dagram 58.
at: Counting?o: Sure If Black had seen
t's obvous after 7... Wxb4 .g6 9 h5 a4 10. h6 1 1 h
2. h3 a neat but simplegain of a tempo he couldhave said to himself: "Okay
Wen In DoubDon
all the pieces e going o ntwo moves ."The result is + s. But I
cant stop xh5. Thereforemy only chce is ...xb4.
at: So far Im with you.No: Well then he contin
ues: "ter 4 . xe5 t willtake White two moves to capture the h one to get the out of the way and ve to
promote the h Total 8moves.By the same count you c
see it also takes Black 8 moves
to queenbut White movesrst.That means 12 h8=*
comes n time to answer 12 .a=* with 13 *xa
at: I couldnt see all thato: Thats a corolly to
my second commandment
In Doub Don
Its nny how oen peoplerush headlong into lost ordrawn + endings longbefore theyve exhaustedtheir options such
1. .. d5
back in Dagram 58 Its theworst tradng decison youcan make
57
But don't peope make Vhat about 2 e4
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"Nobody everdied/rom
playing a Kingandpawnendingbut
why ta achance?GM
But don t peope makeother bad trade, into ending or ending
o: Ye, but in practica
term there i nothing naa + Except maybedeathYou amot alway hae
ome way of compicatingyour opponent life whenhere wood on the boardYet in Diagram 60 Black
had an untoppable winningplan of 1 folowed bybngng hi to g7 and f6That win the g
Vhat about 2 e4o: Then Black lock up
the enemy with 2 f5d Vhite odd of urial
are about one in a milion Speaking of odd, I betthat game made an impreion on Back hel neer forget YusuovLjubojevc
Lire 199Bk toy
1 fS?hte assumes that 2. xf s
an easy n for Back (t s and that2. We4 xg5 s almost as good (tsn't.
2 W43 xgS4 S Wf4 W
xgSfWgt
the gae s ucky dranby f 3or 6. W W th dstantopposton.
Chapter Three
No:amatteroffact,Black
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esLjuojeLire 19W toy
1 d4?2. d33. d5t4
c7t??g5f5
And hie dre afer W . ec
Only in he pos morem did akbizer poin ou ha 1. xd4 2xd4 g5 ins because hesoon runs ou of "passes ( We4a5 4 e5 b6 5 We4 f6 6. Wd5Wxh5 c6 f5.
No:a matter offact, Blackhad made a very smlar error n the se event fouryears before
In Dagram 61 he was offered a cold wn wth 1. xd4and gave t away
at: hats pretty embarrassng for a top
No: It was worse than youthnkhe dagram was an d
joued poston so Black lterally had hours to count outmoves lke 1. d4?
at: Ouch So why dd Whteplay 1 d4?
No: Smple He also blundered People get tred nendgames smply becausethey are the e of games
Pat: What f theres no chocebut to go nto + t ?
"Fatie makescowar of al
na eoge .aon J.
59
Res
No: Theres almost always 3 g4 f6
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60
ya choiceIn Diagr62 White prob
ably thought he w at least
drawinguntil it w too late.Pat: Sure looks good aer 1.h1 Theres no way Blackcan save the h . Then atrade of s would leaveite with e outside psedf
No: But it remains the out
side for about a femtosecond-unl dIm always carel about
trading o my last Youcan te it o the bod butyou cant put it on.
at: hatever
Obov-brov 1991W toy
1 l??
he sees he can n the h- fand thnks hat mus be a dra.But f he calculaes t out he
ould force hmself to nd heacve defense 1 b ! h3 2 b 7and no 2 . We8?? 3. b8 and2 . g8?? 3 . g6 acually lose.
o he game should end n adra afer 2
! 3. g5! and
checks a b7 and b8 . 3. 6
4 x3 x35 x3 d5!
Rite s ou of the suare (6
cxd5 c4
Chapter Three
No: Thats other danger at: Ye, but usuly you
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GrvDerecen 199W toy
1. g4??
t's ot etirey cear hat hiteis iig after 1 e4 ad e5e6 But there's a excele chaceof it particuarly if he reaches
1 xg4t2. xg4
The game as dra 22 movesater g d e 1 d de e e.
g y yin + endings: the margin see G Ms ust shing piecesof error is much smaller than back and forth for hours.other endings. Thats not hurrying. But what
at: Meing what? it?No: Meaning that one error No: Subterge. Somemes
is oen fat-and if youre its advantageous ust to renot winning, youre probably peat the position when anlosi opportnity arises.That brings up my third at: Why? Because you wt a
commandment: draw?
N Shalt ou Hu
at: What mes "hurry?No: Anything that rushesinto a signicant change inthe number of s or piecesor exple, in Diagram 63White should have tried to
exploit the tget at g beforehe traded o one of his tworemning s.
"Rashness oenccee. Still more
oen it fai.oon Bon
61
Re
No: No it gains time on the No: Usuay it's when you The ca move ( c6 46 f 6 b 6 6
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cock and cores mindpointsPsychoogical warfare
Oen the side ghting for adrawwi me rther wenesses-to avoid repetitionbecause he starts doubtinghimselfIn Diagram 64 White un
derstood that the best winning pan was to sacrice theExchange at some point he
probem is guring out theright pointat: ow do you know when
it is right?
y ycan't signicantly improveyour position rther In thiscase White waited unti hehad exhausted a of thetempomoves Back coud usein the inevitabe w+ endng
Of course this applies bestto positions ike Diagram 64when the enemy has ite orno counterpay
at: As if you're paying without an opponent?No: Exactly White has that
uxury here, so he can waituntil the a has gone as faras it can go
"e most valuable commodi in the dgame
next to a proteed psed pawnpance. Anonu
62
GeerovParduice 199W toy
1. a4
No 1 d6 e7 2. xg6??xg6 xg6 e6 ad heres o (eg 4 e4 a
he oe o
1. e42 d6t e73
ll oo early ( xg6?? xg64 xg6 We6 S e4! a! ad Blackdras6 gS d7 fS c6 8WxeS xcS 9 bS!
3 a6
xg6 fS 4 a6 bxa6 S xa6ad he a- falls
4. x x5. x
d he s hrough heopposo: S e6 6 e4 -moves fS or 5 d7 6 fS c6 7xeS xcS 8 e4 bS 9 axb6 xb60 d6 ad he uees rs ads h checks a b8 ad a8
Chaper hree
g4g5g6 etc2 4
o:Rmmbr ha unss rushing his back o h
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s-oseoepndence 198
W toy
1 W4
Not 1 xg4 xa6 2 Wf4 Wc7 J d6 4 g4 We7 5 g5 nd 6 Wg7 Back can then drast by movng hs forever Theg7 bockade can't be broken
1. . . . a7orse s 1 c7 2 a7 J
xg4 A move ke 1 bos 2 xg4 folloed by f4
g4g5etcAnd a move ke 1 d 1
os 2 xg4 c2 c8 and
2 xg4 xa3 Wb
t's a race but ths tme Black's loses
4 g45 g5. g7. wg5
Wdwec4
Black resed after because after 8 9 h6 Wg8the W can be drven o g8 by 0e4 W 11 h7 Wf6 12 h8
foloed by h7g8
h posiion has drioradino som mad t quningrac you can your imwih a manuvr or woorfour or vAso bcaus of h curious
naur of ndgams you cangain mpi by aking yourim
Pat: uh?o: ou hard m righ
And Diagram is a prfcxampl of iPat: Do his on slowy I hav
ral probms wih ndings vn simpl ons
o: Okay wha's happning is ha Whi can ong4 whnvr h wans.
And h ony way Back canhn draw is o m xg4wih xa folowd by
sidPat: Tha's a ong way o goo: Somims s ar sur
prisingy fas Anyway ifWhi aks on g4 immdialy Black gs his o g7in plny of im
Pat: Buo: Bu by aking his imwih 1 f4! Whi acuaygains wo movs Black hn
has o ry for a blockad on g8insad of g7 Bu g8 is a ighcoord squar and h can b drivn away byWhi's of h sam coor
Pat: I didn' hink hr washa much cculaion in hndgam
63
Noah: Someimes yo msb ll f
Re
at: ow's ha?N I h
1 movesN B h d d ' k
drawing posiion or he L
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conb no generally fyo ke yor ime yo mayno have o s like Jos Capablanca d his endgeeyesCapa once came pon a
cople of amaers rying ogre o some cople ending like Diagram 68
Wiho even asking whose i was o move Capa
beg shing pieces ondnil he had ond a winningormaion or WhieThen he wen back o he
original posiion o see howo ge from poin A o poin B
at: Wha's he poin o hesory?
No: This-in an endgameVisug is oen mompot ang
64
No: In he opening yo cnge by on memory B henyo s cclaing In hemiddlegame i 's oen a maer of how well yo calclaeyor side atack as i raceso bea his * side aack oreple
at: And in he ending?No: Time is cheap B the
ability o visalize is oen
crucialere Whie is shooing for azgzwang posion-his ond and Black's on d
at: e can force hat canhe?
Noah: No b he c y Andby no hying he sets litleraps
at: Which Black evenllyfals ino-even thogh i es
No:Becase he didn' knowwha he los posiion lookedlike Whie did
at: Tha's wha yo mean byendgme eyes
Noah: Sre As I sd abohow a maser sees a ending wih one t and in moscases he can visalize-wiho really calclating-wheher i will reach he Philidor
cena nnng one.at: One hing I'm sre o
wasn bo wih endgameeyes
Noah: obody is a bo endgame player Bobby Fischerws already a twoime worldchampionship candidaewhen he decided o aserendgesby locing himself in a Manhaan hoel
room for hree months wihjs a se d a mess o booksat: hink Ill pass on ha
idea or a leas I won' hyNoah: There are beer wayshan Fischer's Come backomoow d I'll show yosomehing invalable yowon' nd in any book
Chapter hree
5. o a Bac has avoided al he
hie coiues 9 b3 adow 9 c6 1 c2 d7 1 1
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er-ermeerSeva 1991
W toy
Because Bac's s ae o a
suaes hie has good wiig chaces
1 h5 d5 dl b7
Bac has ohe good passesch as 2 c4 ad i3 c2 e6
d3 he 4 dha hie is looig o is a
gzwag posiio hie /d3
acs /d7 ad Blac o move3. e c64. fl e8
o a Bac has avoided al heie aps Fo isace, 5 g6??woud acuay lose o 6 h3! adBlac is i zugzwag
Fo example 6 Wc6 Weo 6 We6 Wc5 o 6 h 7 f !
6.
Now he igh pass was 6 c46. . . e8??7. b7!
Hee 7 c7 8 d5 Wd6 alows he ey zugzwag posiiohe oe hie has bee payigo
ow 9 c6 1 c2 d7 1 1d o 9 d7! 1 d !! e6 e2 d7 2 d3!
The acua game ish was vey
simia7. .. . d78 d5! e8 b3 d7
1 dl !! e6Ad Bac esiged i view o
e2 d7 2 d3 ad:
7
N .
//h
:
.
hie ally eaches he wi
igposiio 12 We6 c o2 Wc6 1 We5
65
s
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66
In which Noh expi why chess King like dieck in otll-nd tht in either gme two usuy e ({
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g yone
O
l
c
Pat: Oay, whats this mysterious secret I wont nd in y
matche
White adds a sixth And ifBlac has one more defender
The d8piece is a Agai pomoio ca be pe
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ous secret I won t nd in yboo?
No: Its the single most impoant principle of endgameplay- mh
Pat: The mismatch?No: Its other reminder
that endgame is not a middlegame Mismatches areuniue to the ending
Pat: How so?
No: In middlegames, thebod is lled with pieces andthe battle is lie a tugofwarWhite may have, say, ve
pieces attacing a d5 t but ifBlac has ve defenders, thesituation doesnt change unl
6
Blac has one more defenderits in balance again
Pat: d in the ending?No: Its more like handto
hand combat one pieceagainst otherAnd if you can mae it two
vs one, you have a favorableif not winning, mismatch
at: But it must depend onwhich o against which one
No: A bit But as you cansee from Diagram 7 even a cannot mae progressalone against a mere W+ t Against other single pieces
theW+ t c force progresseven against theoreticallystronger pieces
Pat: But creating a 2 vs situation only happens ifyoure ahead material, right?
vs Bk to o
ha happes iThe d8piece is a
Blac cao wi he i Thebes a uaided ca do is sop iom advacig e.g. d 2Wd4 b4 3. WeS cS 4. We6e3 ec.
The d8piece is a The i ca' be capued o
bocaded ad is pomoio ca'be sopped eg e8 2 WS d8 3. We6 e8 4. Wd7 ad S.d6 ec.
Agai pomoio ca be peveed. The ca sacice ieo he i ae . c
The d8piece is a The ca si sacice isel
e.g. b7 2 WS d6 3. We6c4!
The d8piece is a WThe i ca be haed oly by
opposiioad he oy becauseo saemae ( Wd7 2 WeS We7
3. d6 Wd7 4. WdS Wd8 . We6We8 6. d7 Wd8 Wd6.
Chapter Fou
Noah: Actuay sometimesyoucan createamismatchby
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KovTmmaLinares 1992
W topy
1. e8t Wf
2 x6! Wx63 g5t Wf4 h6 Resis
For example, 4 .. . a4 (4 ... We6?1 h7) 5. We5 d 6. Wd6 b3 c a4 8. Wb6.
hite must create a wnningf : 9 .. . b5 9 a4! xa4 to Wxa6Qd7 1 b5 c8 12 Wa7 and b6-
7b8=*.
you can create amismatch bygiving up material
In Diagram 72 ite winsby ting theback W out ofthegame with moves 24
Pat: I see, because he mustprevent h 7h8*.
Noah: Precisey Back resigned when he saw therewas nothing to stop the Wom reaching the *-side d
creating a passed b-1 .Black must eventualy giveup the. for the 1 , on b5 orb7 ter which ite's tretus triumphanty to theW-side, where there's othermismatch.
Pat:That must be a pretty re
situation.
"Chess the movet ofpces eatin each other.
-Mcel Du
69
matche
No: Not eally It occusoen wen one paye gets
5 c5 \6. d6
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"e fundamentalobje ofall milita combinations
to gain localsuPeriori con
centration. Re dra ed
aer
0
oen wen one paye getsis invoved in te gameong befoe its opposite numbe-as in Diagam 3.
It ooks ike Wite's soud ust win easiy buttee e tactica pobems( 1 e4 e).
at: But how can e get awaywit sackng the xcange?Wat's tat about?
No: It's basicay ust a tadeof one piece fo anotebutit aows a 2 vs. 1 mismatc todecide te game
at: Okay. I get you pointtat one guy as a big edgebecause is pays and teote doesn't. But in most
endings bot payes haves.
erooealnii 1988
W toy
1 c5!
hie makes o pogess by 1We4 e7 (2 W5? e51. 2. W4!
Now 2 g7 is bes2. xc5t?3 \xc5 ct
Ohewise he is jus ovewhemed ad he W is oo sow (3
4 d4Wg8 5 d6 6 Wc6We8 h5.
4. Wb6 c2
Back el o ime i a os posiio ae . d b4 d
Chapter F
Wg4. . re7
Noah: Ys, bu in most casshr is a an hra ofon
Back c us bary hodthforonhsidwhr
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ovM Gureiel 1993
W toy
1 e4
No . Wc? g6 2 5? e51. . 2. h5 e3 e2!
aig: 3 Wc6 alows 4 We5!d 5 6 so 3 We6 4 4(ea o 67) c6 5 cWd6 6 W5 ad 5 W6 6 Wd5
3 54. 5!
Now 4 c3 5 c4 ad 6Wg6 o 4 e7 5 W6 ad 6
5. e5! 6so 5 c3 6 c xa2! ? 7
xc2 W 8 W6 ad e Bac Weve eaches h8 wie ie playsWg6x6g6 ad 5678
6 a4 t 5! c58 e6
so 8 b3 9 a6! d .g6 xe2 1 a7 ad quees
9 a6! Ri
hr is a an hra of onplayrs< to run to on wingor th ohr Tha's h casin Diagram 74
at: I don' g it Whi has apassd a bu h sts bygoing o h sid
Noah: H nds a scond winning p, such as winningh h . If Back hn shifshis W o h dfns of h6, h
aows a W+ vs imbc on h sidat: It's vn wors afr 5
5 I looks ik W+ vsnothing
Noah: Tha's whn Backrushs th back into acionbut its oo a Th g's
nish, d h simil 8
b
9. a6! in typical of mismachs
th for on h sid whrh h his xtra picbuth's hr mpi om salvation on th sid
at: So if mismachs ar hgras hing sinc h invnion of h mov, howdo I m hm?
Noah: You can wak ino aosing mismach of your ownmaking if you pay with ony
on pcat: or sur
71
No: But not always obvious. In Diagram 76 Black
matche
h6? c5).at: I get it. ter 2 c8 Black
4. cSt!No draw!
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gplays a losing move becausehe thinks it will actually givehim the edge (... e3 2
72
g is playing without a . AndBack loses if he aowse6xd6 by paying . . . xb3.So the rest of the game . .
No: . .is another mismatchbetween his and the White+d.
at: Tell me, do mismatchesoccur in all endings?
No: No, you usuay need
s on both wings for a truemismatch. If all the s are onthe se side it's much easierfor a mismatched defender torush from one key square toanother one nearby.But with s on both wings,
particulary in + and
+ endings, it ends upmore like football th chess.
at: How's that?
BroeBUS Campiip 198
Bk toy
1 e
h 1. .. Wc5 Black's Wacivi esures a draw For isace 2.h6 e3 or 2 h7 b6 3 b7e3 (abeerry is 3 c7 Kb4 4c6 bu aer4 . Wxb35 xb6Wxc4 6. xd6 b4 boh sideswi have o give up heir s eveualy for he las eemy f
2 c8!
Now 2 xb3 3 We6 wis2 e5t
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ee-GoHi 1988-89
W toy
1 dt! We7
s eier aer 1 . Wc7 2 d3whe Blacs W is cu o, leavigBlacs tiely yig o stop he rom advacig the e
d5! Oheise hie reverses di
recio ad advaces he b ae3 . Wd4! .
5 Wd7!
4 7t 65 4!Theateig o go bac o Pa
gd6 xb3 . c 1 ad eSe6 eadso ucea.
Otheise Pa B (9 Wc6 ad. bS) soo brigs about ucea.
9 e5! eTo sop . e6.
10 5Ad Bac esiged aer 10 11. 7 1. b6
IS. We7 o 13 ... Wd8 4. Wc6Wc IS. b7).
No: Wel, in Diagram 77,you can see that if White promotes a , he wins If hefais, it's a draw
at: I've had positions ike
thisd never gured outhow to get the two s movng
No:You don't need s,just one So White tries tostick his next to one
at: Where's the football comein?
No:Thin of Black's as afree sety He's the ast lineof defense
ballthat is, the enemy isat: So if White moves his to the side of the b
No: Black must folow suitOtherwise: touchdownIn this case, White con
stanty threatens to cut o theenemy until he nally isolates it It tus into + + against either with the b
or the e In the mnline Back has a choice between allowing Lucenawith the e or gettingmated with the b
at: So the secret to mismatches is to get your piecesghting weaker ones in a par
ticular section of the bod
73
No: Yes, but its not alwaysclear which are the weaker
Mimatche
Here the ony ce winningtry is a piece sacrice to set up
xb6! o 5 c5! xe6 daws4. 5 c8t5 7 7
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ones.For example, Diagram 79
starts out with Back trying to
eiminate the *side as a factor.
at: Is it so clear that 2 axb4would have been a draw?
No: Usualy a endingwith only one is a draw
There are a few exceptions
youl le. But usually: draw.
74
y p pa + vs batte on the*side.
at: ute.
No: Oen a can stop a+ if only by commitingsuicide But Blacks bunderat move 3 was decisiveHe allowed a nal sacrice
of a , that le both his and on the wrong side of
the board.at: You said mismatches occur often in + s and+ s Why?
No: Both s and s can beoverpowered by s. e-member a unlike a isa shortrange piece that
moves sowly from one wingto the other.
at: Almost as slow as a .
eoBovSS.R. 1991Bk to y
1. 4!adad dawig saegy hie has oy oe Blac may
daw (2. axb4 axb4 3 xb4 e 74 d7 g6
Ad i 5 d5 g7 6 d8Bac has 6 e5! e7 c6
2 x4! 4 4 e7??
o avoid a mismach he h
o aac he b om behidha is 3 e5 4 b5 c4 5d7 b6 6 c6 c4 b6
5. c7 e7
d7!
so wiig is 6 b6 d5
d8W
d57. e7! xe78. Rei
Capter F
4. h5!5 W5
xh5 No: That's why the key to
A d i i (5 d6 6winning most + endings
from being carried outSomemes the key to win
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rovHberMani 199W toy
1 a4! Wc7
O . .. We72 . Wd4 Wd6hieis wih . b2 ad 4. c4.Themai aleaive is 2 .. . W
e which hie ceaes a misach wih . xb6 xb6 4. Wc5d wis (4 . . d7 5. Wd b. Wc6 c4 d6 o 4 .. . a4 5.c6 e7 6. d6 Wd8 7 b6.
2 Wd4 d
Agai 2 .. . Wd6 . b2 ad 4.c4 wis we5! x5
Ad ie wis (5 .. . d6 6 .We6 b5 c5 or 5... Wd6 6.xb6Wc5 d7Wxd5 8. 6Wd4 9 xh5 We 1. We5.
g gis to create a mismatch.In Diagram 8 the threat of
a4b2c4 forces Black tochoose between putting hisr on the side, around f6or e7, or the side, aroundc
at: And whichever way hechooses, White runs the otherway Is that it?
No: Yesalthough it mayinvolve sacrices (2 f6 3.xb6! or, in the game, 3e5) for the to penetrate
at: If mismatches are such abasic winning technique, howcome I've never heard ofthem before?
No: Beats me. It aso pays amajor defensive role by pre-venng e only enemy reat
yningor drawingis to prevent your opponent fromcreating a mismatch
at: How's that?
75
Noah: Here's a case of winning by avoiding a mismatch
Msmathes
battle on either wing, withBlack's on the wrong side. 82
We6 nd ite emintes the atf by 6 d5 nd h8=!.}
2
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In Diagram 82 Black uses zugzwang to make sure the enemy goes in the same
direction as Black'sPat: Why is that good?Noah: Because White can
draw if he can get in a vs
76
Then White would be ableto sacrice his hi to get ridof the c5pawn
Pat: So how can Black win?Eventually he mutuse his to win the c i .No: True, but by that time
Black's i is on the sixth raand he can aord to give upthe Pat:
Not bad. But tel me, if Iace this mismatch businesswi I nally be able to understand what goes on in heending.No: Not sofast, my younggrossmeister. I said the mismatch is the ost important
technique in the endgame.But it ain't the only one-aswe' see next time.
Chrstansen-KensMani 1992
Blk toply
t ppers 1.. g5 wins-(2.
\d7 \d4! or 2 f4 with mismtch coming up}.But 2 W f4 3 e6! xg4
4 d5 e3 5 h6 xh6 6 xc5drws
1. Ae3!Zugzwng Now on 2 f4
3. h6 Bck hd 3 . g5! , whichleds to winning f ending,
4 h 7 d4 5 g8 ' xg4 or 4 ' e6xh6
(But not 3 xg4 4 h7 d4 5.
2
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Pat: Okay, Noah, I'm feeingsharp today. Like I'm ready
i ll h h k h
Tecnique
ners know how to win + vs. Y b bl l d i b
Ltte choce for Bck now5 g5 a5t
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to nai all the other key techniques you were talkingabout.
No: Good. Let's start byrecalling something one moretime ...
Pat: Lemme ess. n end-game is not a middlegame.
No: orrect. There e afew techniques which are
unique to endgames that youhave to leand zugzwangis at the top of the list.But you aready know a
good dea about zugzwg.Pat: I do?No: You must. Even begin
78
You probably leed it before you knew what aanchettoed or the aro-
ann Defense was.Pat: But I never saw that as
zugzwang.No: Zugzwang is actally amisnomer the way we use it.True ZZ is relatively rare andoccurs ony when neither side
has a benecial move.But zugzwang has come tomean when one player is runout of moves and it's such ausel term it hardly seemsworth correcting the error.ZZ is one of the relativey
mode contributions to end-
ge theory. In Philidor's dayhardly anyone understood it.
Pat: Even the great Andr?
W to o
te mkes no proess wth"threts, such 1 d (thetenng 2 h5 becuse of Wc5!
(or e5! And f 2 c, then 2 d5
1 a4!hs eds qucy to ft zug-
zwng (1 Wc5 2 51 e52. d3 f53 e3 g5
Bck contnues to be foced( e5 4 5
4. 'f h55 g3
a5tAnd hte repets the process
unt, sy, 8 8
Chapter Fie
No:Even him He gave Dia-a 84 as a mate in 8 IfPhiid h d i t d
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2 h7!And mtes next, thnks tozz (or Wb8 2 Wc6
W Wb6
Phiidor had appreciated he could have saved White 5or so moves
at: So sometimes you needzugzwang to win and sometimes it ust makes the winfaster?
No: You got it Zugzwangoccurs l e time in piece-up endings In fact, you oen
can't win even when a peceahead without ZZat: Why pieceup endings? I
thought they won themselves
Oer endgames acan' be won wiouzugzwang incude:
+ ' vs + 2s + ' vs + 2s
+ ' vs + + ' vs + + 2s vs
+ + vs
79
No: No, they e hd towin in other ways because ofthe nature of 2 vs battles
Tecque
gram 85 Nor can he count onusing his extra piece to crowdthe enemy out
f5 6 e7 g4 d6 J ndWg2
2. g2!
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the nature of 2vs battlesthat I mentioned yesterdayeven when it's two s vs one
The player with the extrapiece can't always count onpicking off the enemy suness he can force them toadvance, as in 2 d5 in Dia
80
the enemy outAfter 2 d5 there is no way
for Back to force the win of
any except by runningWhite out of movesAs Euel Lasker put it, a
right, in this case, the ght tomove, is aso an oligation
at: Sounds ike a high schoolgraduation speech
No: Well, Lasker thought was one of the few thingsthat didn't have a parale inreal lifeBut he was wrong There is
something in ife ike this zug-zwang: (see Bisguier pg 8)
at: ute But, tell me, how
does zugzwangthe chesskindhappen?Seems ike luck to me
jrGGal 1993Bk toy
he direct fS ows 2
e7 nd the d nd W oerhite serious counterpy Bckmust try to win s whie stopping
g3c we74 h4 !
ot 4 Wd7 becuse of 5 f5!
gxf5 6 h5 e4 d4! , drwingS. wc Wf!
ow 6 d6 Wf5 runs hiteout of use moves Zugzwng
6. 'c5 fSAnd here d6 We6 is nother
zugzwng since f5 gxf5 9 h5oses to 9 xh5 1 Wc6 e
7 Wd g2!And not Wxf4 8 We6! g4
9 Wf6 f5 1 d68 Wc5 4both dS-6-7 nd Wf6
1. e4! e re2. dS n view of 9 d6 h 0 Wc6
Or 2 cS e6 h4 J nd g
ite is out of movesf the white W temporizes (2
d7 fS d6 Bck cn begin queening rce, which he winsfter xf4 4 d5 gS S We6
Chapter Five
4 5 a5!6 g5
b7e7hxg5
Noah: Good players maketheir own luck. It takes only aminor slipupbyBlack inDia
zwang happening with somuch material on the boardNoah: Zugzwang actually oc
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RomansnBenjnGronien 1993Wt t ply
1 c7?
ith 1.. c4! Blac keeps actve and can lure hite into passivty (. c3? a!).
2 f6t! Wh8Not ... g7?? 3 e8 or 2 ..
W 3 xh7.3 g4! h64 h4
Nowg4-g5, rendering Black's
W useless, can't be avoidedMter 4 ... d7 hte wns a fwith 5. e8 b7 6 d6.
g7 hxg58 c59 a4
gwg7e4
The threat of a4aS and c8g8# quicly runs Black out ofmoves.
The game ended with 9 0. a6 2 b8 e! and Blac forfeited.
minor slipup by Black in Dia-gram 86 to alow White toparalyze him with simple
moves.Pat: Why should Black lose
such a position?Noah: There's nothing wrongwith it from a mateal orstructural view.But by allowing his pieces
to become psive, his options e slowly but steadilyreduced.Pat: I see. First he ties his tothe second rank. Then hec't move his from theside.No:Notice that Wite didn't
even need his to win thisending.
Pat: It's hd to imagine zug
Noah: Zugzwang actually oc-curs a ot more in pure 4endings or 1 endings, and
ess so with heavy pieces.Pat: Why is that?
"ZzUang ik geingtraed on a safe and inm ofa hhwa wh a
thundsto star. You don'want to move. But ou have to. "
-Aur Bisier
81
Techqe
No: Smy because wtbg wood tere's less cceto ru out of moves
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82
"at dlt about manver to ma the devious
route the most dire n
T A of a
stroyed the enymerely marches.
an n h 1805 Asagn
to ru out of movesYet t ca ae y
edgad wt ute a bt
at stake, as gr 8 sowsBors Sassky advced tos rst wold cosmatc wt te el of ZZ ts osto
at: Looks lke Wte coudgve t u mmedately He
does't ave a moveNo: So al Black eeded tocreate ZZ w to make tWte's m te same osto
at: NeatNo: Ad eve te foremostedge autores c mss
a as agram 88
1 Wd2hte h oy oe use move
2. a4 Wcow move og the e-eoses the c-
3 h d3!Ad with o move hte
must ow the f to dvce tovictory, 4 e 5 f e
Chapter Fie
at: Wat's aeg ere?No: Yur Averbak oe ofte est edgame alysts
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W toy
Wd7?Correct s d ! fter whch
Bck's W must gve wy, eg,
We4 2 d6 d Wc5 e 4Wc4 d2 5 cA better s d5! so tht
2 f6 We4! bocks the W out nddrws But 2 d7 ! wns (2 Wc4 e6 d 4 e5 etc
1 d3!2 c Wd43 W5
d drws (4 h Wc2 4 c b2
te est edgame alystsever oce gave 88 as a drawsayg d7 was te best
but sucetwg tryYet t's a ey w
at: I get t cever drec-to te black goes tewte goes te ooste
No: A commo teme te edgame
at:How do you kow weyou're close to zugzwag?
No:Tere are usuay cluesat: Lke wat?
Several Englh-language replacemen for zugzwang haveeen sueste Among them:
ove-oundlank walk
ovideSqueeze (a rie term)
83
No:Lke we you see yourooet as just about ruoutofgoodmoves, asTalad
Technique
peg ere?
Conterng the threat of* 1 xa2 with a gger threat of*h8
* t
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out of good moves, as Tal ad te revous examle.I agram 89 you ca
readly see tat Black's olygood "s wt te * s.. .*cWt a bt more exa
to, you ca see tat f tewte * reaces a7, were tattacks 3 s, oe wl fal.
at: So e just maeuvers utBlack rus out of usefumovesad tat aes after 2 . g ! It ooks a loteaser ta I tougt
No: It usualy takes more tow ta just radom maeuversaltoug t oe looks
exactly lke tat. Cosderagram 90Wat do you tk s a
84
at: Let's see. Wte oly astwo s le ad tey're bot
s. Ts must be ard to.
No: I fact, tere e someedgs wc s ebetter t ceter s. Remember, edgames .. .
at: . are ot mddegames.Eoug already! I got t.But wat's te wg a
ere?No: Te best la, sometmes, s o aor tscase, severa lasWte ws by sg back
d fort, attackg te a ad
c s wle treateg tobrg s to Black's c,at e4 or c4.
aekoGrabarkKawice 1991W toy
1 *e5!! h7
Zgzwang s relatively rare n*+ endings t here s one: 1 *c6 2 *8 g7 *a7 winning a eg *J 4 *xcS
2 wgl!Estalshingzgzwang snce 2
*c6 *e7 g7 4 *a7 is againlost and so s 2 g8 *e7 and4 *a
2 h3 *e7 *f54 *d8!
4 5 h2 *t!
*lt*2Rei
kBroeSan Francc 1991
W toy
1. a4 c72 Wd3 h5
Other moves lose the a or
permit the whte to go to e4/c43 aS g4Or h4 4 a4 and Black
give way (4 .. . e5 5. c4 4 6 Wxc5 d 7. c6).4 4 eS
hi d W f
Chapter Fie
91at: But e ca't seem to break
troug He just kees reeatg te osto
RealzgtatBack's s become rogressvely weerad were o dger of
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hites and W e too ft
r4 .. . e6 5. xa6 h4 6. e3.S 4t!
orcing a choice: On 5 .. . Wd5f e7 e6 a7itepickso a - .S fS c4 7 e3 weS
Also: .. h4 8. a4 g3 ses to
! hxg3 hxg3 10. W e5
xa6 d4 2. xg3 c4 3. .8 4 c79 4t! fS
And here 9 .. . Wd5 10. e7d6 1. h7 or9 . . . Wd6 1 Wd3e6 a4 c7 2 Wc4 andBack is ot ofgood pses ( 12 ... h43 Wd3! wins a W-side .
10 c4! 11 4
Back is lost ecase he mstmove ( 1 1... c7 2.
1 1 h412 x g313 g3 g314
And Black resigned soon after1 1 xg3 e4 1 and W
eatg te ostoNo: It oly looks lke reet-
tos No ostos occurs
more ta oceat: Ad yet after moves of
sg back ad fort wts W d ...
No: Wte ws trougzugzwag, pure ad mpe
at: Eve toug e startedwt oly two s Amg
No:But e ad eoug wg las I fact, e admore as ta sI ts case Wte ad tree
ways to w(a) by caturg te a ;(b) by elmatg al te -
sde s ; ad(c) byeetratgatc4re4wt s W
ad were o dger ofromotgeped Wte
at: But ultmately s "lwas just to go from oe w-g dea to aoter, uBlack w out of moves
No: True Ad somemescreatg zugzwag reuresaoter secal tecuetemo gg
at: Ad tere's also temolosg, rgt?
85
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