0 Training Regimen

I am spending a little time each day working through Rashid Ziyatdinov, and Peter Dyson, GM-RAM: Essential Grandmaster Knowledge (2000).

One way that I am working through this book is to devote time to one of the 59 games each week. In late 2014, I went through a three of these games in some detail (see "Training with Anderssen," and "Anderssen -- Staunton 1851"). Understanding these 59 games lead to mastery of 120 middlegame positions (see "To Know a Position"). This week I am working through the Evergreen Game, which I have been through several times in the past. Several books on my shelf have detailed annotations of this classic game, including Graham Burgess, John Nunn, and John Emms, The World's Greatest Chess Games (1998). I am studying these annotations.

External works are essential to proper reading of Ziyatdinov's text. He explains:

This book presents the key positions which must be known to achieve chess mastery. It does not undertake an explanation of them. There are other authors who have adequately explained the positions presented here. A list of references is included. (13)

Studying the 133 endgame positions is another way that I am working through Ziyatdinov's text. Several years ago, I wrote a note in my copy of the text concerning diagram 16: "1-175 Dvoretsky presents more difficulties--kings on g5 and g7. White pawn on g4" (29).

GM-RAM Diagram 16

Yesterday, I set out to find what Yuri Averbakh had to say regarding this position. Ziyatdinov lists Averbakh's Comprehensive Chess Endings. I have access to the Chess Digest edition, so started going through "Two Pawns v. One" in Yuri Averbakh and Ilya Maizelis, Pawn Endings, trans. Mary Lasher (1974).

I did not get far enough to discover whether this position is in this text. Instead, I worked through several somewhat more elementary positions. First, I played them rapidly against Rybka 4 to test my instincts. Then, I read what Averbakh had to say about each one.

The first presented no difficulties.

Averbakh Pawn 145

Stripes,James -- Rybka 4 x64
Blitz 5m Spokane, 02.01.2015

1.g4+ Kxg4 2.Kg6 c5 3.h4 Kxh4 4.Kf5 Kh5 5.Ke5 c4 6.Kd4 c3 7.Kxc3 ½–½

The second one required a second attempt because I did not calculate. My instincts were close, but wrong. Alas, there is no partial credit in chess games. A wrong answer can be fatal.

Averbakh Pawn 146

Stripes,James -- Rybka 4 x64
Blitz 5m Spokane, 02.01.2015

1.Kg7 e5 2.g4+

My first effort: 2.Kf6?? e4 3.Kf5 e3 4.g4+ Kxh4 5.g5 e2 6.g6 e1Q-+.

2...Kxg4 3.Kg6 e4 4.h5 e3 5.h6 e2 6.h7 e1Q 7.h8Q Qe4+ 8.Kg7 Qd4+ 9.Kg8 Qd8+ 10.Kg7 Qd7+ 11.Kg8 Qd8+ 12.Kg7 Qd7+ 13.Kg8 Qd5+ 14.Kg7 Qd4+ 15.Kg8 Qd5+ 16.Kg7 Qd3 17.Kg8 Qd8+ ½–½

The third position employs the same idea.

Averbakh Pawn 147

Stripes,James -- Rybka 4 x64
Blitz 5m Spokane, 02.01.2015

1.Ke7 b5 2.Ke6 

2.d5?? Kxd5

Pawn race produces a queen ending

2...Kf3!

Rybka played the least obvious of three drawing moves.

I expected 2...b4 3.d5 b3 4.d6 b2 5.d7 b1Q 6.d8Q Qa2+.

3.d5 b4 4.d6 b3 5.d7 b2 6.d8Q b1Q 7.Qf6+ Ke2 8.e4 Qxe4+ 9.Qe5 Kd3 10.Qxe4+ Kxe4 ½–½

After these three, I went back to the previous page in Averbakh's text. The first position is a simple matter of triangulation if White is on move. He offers solutions with both White and Black to move. I played these out against Rybka.

Averbakh Pawn 143

After two pages of Averbakh's Pawn Endings, I pulled another book off the shelf, Lazlo Polgar, Chess Endgames (1999) and glanced through the "Elementary Positions" section looking for similar positions. I played these against the box.

One diagram appears twice--with Black to move first, and then with White to move several pages later.

Two in Polgar

Detail: Training Regimen

0 Memorable Games

Lesson of the Week

In Chess Training for Budding Champions (2001), Jesper Hall recommends creating a book or database with one's best games or combinations. In order to train well an aspiring chess player must have fun.

Everyone has his own moments of happiness, moments that must not be forgotten. My first piece of advice to any player is therefore to keep a little book, or as I do today, open a file in the computer, where personal experiences can be saved. (7)

Among my fond memories are three games in which I forced an exchange of pieces to reach a winning pawn ending. I posted a position from one of these memorable games in "Kings and Pawns" (2008). Another instance remains my highest rated tournament win (see "Pawn Wars" [2012]).

This week I have been reexamining a game from the Spokane Chess Club's 2007 Winter Championship. According to the chess engines, I had a clear advantage and several ways to win. I chose the route that simplified via sacrifice into an easily winning pawn ending. When me opponent understood that he was lost, he opted to make it interesting by letting one of my pawns queen in the hope that he, too could promote a pawn. In the final position, I checkmated him with two queens on the same move that he promoted a pawn.

Black to move

37...Bxg2 38.Rxe3 dxe3 39.Kxg2 Rf7 40.Re2

This position has been on the demonstration board several times this week, and I have set it up during individual lessons too.

Black to move

40...Rf2+ 41.Rxf2 exf2 42.Kxf2 a4!

My move, which is best, was difficult for Fritz 9 to find during postgame analysis. The engine required more than ten minutes to choose it as best. Stockfish DD finds this move in less than ten seconds. Engines have improved since 2007.

I do not recall whether I found this pawn sacrifice from the first diagram or the second, but I know that I worked out that my king would easily win the c-pawn after mopping up White's pawns on the a-file. At the same time, a pawn majority on the kingside should keep the White king busy.

This pawn sacrifice is the most important memory from this game, but I also enjoy the final position.

43.bxa4 Kd7 44.Kf3 h5 45.Kg3 Kc7 46.a5 Kb7 47.h4 g4 48.Kf4 Ka6

White to move

Here the game became a comedy of sorts.

49.Kg5 g3 50.Kf6 g2 51.Kxe6 g1Q 52.Kf7 Qg4 53.e6 Qxc4 54.Ke7 Qxh4 55.Kf7 c4 56.e7 Qf4+ 57.Kg7 Qe5+ 58.Kf8 Qf6+ 59.Ke8 c3 60.a4 c2 61.Kd7 Qf7 62.Kd8 c1Q 63.e8Q Qcc7#

Detail: Memorable Games

0 Blowing an Endgame

Yesterday morning, I shared on Facebook a link to an excellent article from The Chess World, "7 Chess Training Habits You Should Drop Now." The author, Yuri Markushin, highlights several practices that develop sloppy and lazy thinking. He begins with blitz and bullet.

Last night, I played a blitz game that illustrates this problem with blitz. In contrast to calculating the consequences of a rook exchange and then playing the pawn ending correctly, I intuitively guessed that I would benefit from an exchange of rooks and then threw away the pawn ending.

Black to move

32...Re3+ was the correct move. But then, 33.Kd4 Rxa3 34.bxa3, it was time to assess the resulting pawn position.

I played 34...f5, playing hope chess. I hoped that my opponent would facilitate my dreams of a passed pawn with 35.gxf5. He refused to cooperate, playing instead 35.a4.

Did I then seriously consider 35...e5+, a move that may at least hold the draw?

No. I played 35...fxg4 and quickly reached a position that was hopelessly lost. Several moves later, we reached the position below.

White to move

My opponent wins easily with 44.Kf5. However, 44.Kd4 was played. In the ensuing pawn race, we both promoted pawns. The queen ending was a dead draw. But, as often happens in blitz, a series of senseless checks were employed to run the other player out of time.

Detail: Blowing an Endgame

0 Underpromotion

This position is from Kalnicky -- Charousek, Budapest 1896 and is another game found at Chessgames.com that is absent from the ChessBase Online database. As one of the knight forks yesterday, it requires promoting a pawn to something other than a queen. White has just promoted a pawn on h8, winning the pawn race but not the game.

Black to move

Detail: Underpromotion