Remarkable King Pursuit

While exploring with a student some variations in a game with a dynamic imbalance yesterday, we came upon this position with Black to move.

At first it was surprising that the engine found the position equal. Then, we saw 34...Qa1+ 35.Kg2 f3+ 36.exf3 and Black forces stalemate with 36...Qg1+ (or h1).

Two lines needed more examination:

a) 35.Kh2 fxg3+ 36.Kxg3

Black to move

36...Qg1+ 37.Kf4 Qxf2+ 38.Ke5 and Black's queen should be able to continue checks until there is a repetition or the queen is captured by the king without blocking the bishop's control of h7 nor the rook's control of the g-file.

b) 36.Kxf3 Qh1+ 37.Kf4

Black to move

Here, Stockfish 16 favors 37...Qc1+, but I like the simple aesthetics of 37...Qf3+, which is easier to calculate. Two moves result in stalemate--capturing the queen with pawn or king. 38.Ke5 drops the rook and shifts the advantage to Black. That leaves 38.Kg5 and Black has a mate in two: stalemate, that is.

Clumsy

In an online game yesterday, I managed to trap my own queen. Nonetheless, I had compensation until I missed some things that should have been clear. Later, I dodged my opponent's forced draw with a losing move. Trouble begins at move 24.

Black to move

24...Rab8?

This move surrenders most of my advantage.

24...Qxd2+ 25.Kxd2 Bc6+-+

That I have been looking at discoveries in Thomas Engqvist, 300 Most Important Tactical Chess Positions (2020) makes this oversight even more distressing.

25.Qxa7 Ne5?

25...Rxb2! 26.Rxd3 exd3 27.Qa3 Rc2 was a little more difficult to see, but I could have done more to find ways to use my greater piece activity and the vulnerability of the White king.

26.Rxd3 Nxd3+

White to move

27.Ke2?!

27.Kf1 Rxb2 is equal. White's apparent material superiority includes a rook with near zero prospects of deployment.

27...Rxb2 28.Kd1

28...Kf1 is better.

28...Nxf2+ 29.Kc1 30.Kd1-+

Black has a bishop and rook for the queen. White's rook remains on its starting square.

Black to move

Rxg2??=

I considered 30...Be8, but failed to see a clear way forward after 31.Qc7. It should not have been difficult to see 31...Nf2+ 32.Ke1 Rdd2 and checkmate should come soon.

30...f4 was an alternative to which I was oblivious. 31.h3 Be8 and now 32.Qc7 is met with a clear mate threat 32...fxe3! White must give up the queen.

31.Qc7 Rc8 32.Qxd7 Nf2+? 33.Ke1?

33.Kd2 gives White an advantage

33...Nd3

Here, I was sure that I could force a draw if necessary, but that is an illusion. However, my threats render it necessary for White to force a draw with checks by the queen.

34.Kf1 Rf2+ 35.Kg1 Rxc3

White to move

36.Qd5+ Kf8 37.Qd8+ Kf7 38.Qd7+ Kf8 39.Qd6+ Ke8??

Of course, surrendering to the repetition with either 39...Kg7 or 39...Kf7 was the correct course.

40.Qe6++-

Black to move

My king is forced to a dark square where the queen can fork my king and rook.

I could have resigned here, but played on as my opponent was behind on the clock. White's rook became active in the final assault on my king.

Lessons from the Dragonslayer

The Dragonslayer is Spokane's oldest youth chess tournament, dating back to the late-1990s. I have been coaching at the host school since 2011. The prior coach was my opponent in the game featured in the inaugural post for Chess Skills in November 2007.

The 2025 Dragonslayer was held yesterday. There were 36 players representing 17 teams.

Some observations:

New players made a difference. A newcomer playing his first tournament led four 4.0 finishers to take home the second place trophy. Two of the second place team's top scorers were playing their first event as well.

Time management made a difference. One player won on time with only two pawns against two queens, a rook, and at least another pawn.

Basic checkmate skills mattered. One game ended in stalemate when the player with the queen did not see the mate in one and moved the queen to the wrong square. Another player in time pressure missed a mate in one. One player who drew a difficult game where both players in time pressure missed chances, did not see a forced mate in two with Nf6+ followed by Rg8# (Arabian mate).

Endgame skills made a difference. There were dozens of pawn promotions, many preventable by the opponent. There were as many as three queens in the possession of one side in games that I witnessed.

Many of my students this next week will see some positions that I recall or was able to capture with my phone.

White to move

Here or a few moves later, White brought the knight to g5. Also over several moves Black's rook on f8 went back to its starting square, Black's queen went to c8, and an exchange of bishops left White's queen on e7 with a mate in one. Black won the game.

I was called to the board by a player who was offered a draw and wanted to know whether acceptance was obligatory. I said it was not, and with the material on the board, the offer could be considered rude. This was the position.

Black to move

Black played Qc7?? instead of Qh6#.

In the last game of the tournament to finish, one of my students missed an opportunity here (creating the position from memory, I reversed the colors).

White to move

Earlier is this game, they had this position (reconstructed from a photograph, hence the colors are correct).

Black to move

Readers, especially young chess players, are encouraged to consider how they would play these positions. Any comments left with suggestions will receive a response.

Fighting Spirit

As noted in a couple of recent posts,* I prefer to play on in seemingly equal positions. Yesterday, a player rated above 2000 was not having a good game against me and I won a piece through a fork. Later in the game, my own error allowed a fork that returned the material. Then the exchange of queens gave us an ending with two rooks each after only 28 moves. The game went on another 50 moves.

White to move

Stripes,J (1802) -- Internet Opponent (2011) [D09]
Live Chess Chess.com, 21.03.2025

29.Rxe3 Rf2 30.Rd7 Rxa2 31.Ree7

At this point, I knew that I could not lose and considered forcing a draw.

31...a5 32.Rg7+ Kf8 33.Rgf7+ Ke8 34.Rde7+ Kd8 35.Rd7+ Ke8 36.Rfe7+ Kf8

It may have been here that the first draw offer was made by my opponent. He made two.

White to move

37.Rxh7 Kg8 38.Rdg7+ Kf8

Here, I spent 90 seconds in a ten minute game considering whether I wanted to play on or force the draw, concluding that best play will result in a draw. Nonetheless, with better pawn structure, I risked very little playing on. Moreover, I could force the exchange of one set of rooks.

39.Rxg6 Rd8

Black threatens checkmate in one.

40.Rh8+ Kf7 41.Rxd8 Kxg6 42.Rd5

Black to move

42...Kh5??

Either Ra3 or Rb2 holds things equal.

43.h3?

My failure returns the game to equal. 43.h4 was the winning move.

43...a4?? 44.bxa4+- Rxa4 45.Rxc5 Ra1+ 46.Kg2 Ra2+ 47.Kf3 Ra3+

White to move

At this point, I was fairly certain that my position was winning, but spent another full minute finding the way to proceed.

48.Kf2 Ra2+ 49.Ke1 Rg2

White to move

On the second opportunity to take advantage of the pin, I saw it.

50.h4! Kg4

50...Rxg3 51.Rxg5+ Rxg5 52.hxg5 Kxg5 leads to a position where White must move to the left of the pawn to successfully gain control of the key squares. An example appears on the first page of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual (2003).

51.Rxg5+

Two connected passed pawns with a rook leading them down the board are nearly always decisive.

51...Kf3 52.c5 Ke3 53.Kf1 Rf2+ 54.Kg1 Rc2 55.Rf5 Rc1+ 56.Kg2 Rc2+ 57.Kh3 Ke4

White to move

58.Rg5

Sensible would be 58.Rf8 Rxc5 59.Kg4 cutting Black's king off from the activity on the g- and h-files. The c-pawn is not important.

58...Kf3 59.Rd5 Rc1 60.Rd3+ Ke4 61.Rd8 Rxc5 62.Rf8 Rc7 63.h5 Rh7 64.Kh4 Ke5 65.g4 Ke6 66.g5 Ke7 67.Rf4

Black to move

67...Rf7

67...Ke6 at least forces me to show that I know what I'm doing. Offering the trade of rooks makes for a simple pawn ending, which the computer finds that I played perfectly. My opponent took the game all the way to checkmate.

68.Rxf7+ Kxf7 69.Kg4 Kg7 70.Kf5 Kh8 71.Kf6 Kg8 72.g6 Kh8 73.g7+ Kg8 74.h6 Kh7 75.Kf7 Kxh6 76.g8Q Kh5 77.Qg3 Kh6 78.Qh4# 1-0

*"Playing Drawn Endgames" and "Equal is not yet Drawn".

Informant 162

I’ve been a fan of Chess Informant nearly 30 years and have been a subscriber for more than a decade. Sometimes the book gathers dust unread. Other times, I go through many of the games or study an article or two. Since Informant 162 arrived on Monday, I’ve been reading the articles and looking at some games.

I watched some of the World Championship live and looked through all the games, usually the day they were played. Now, with the first article in Informant 162 devoted to the match, I have been revisiting the games. Following a two page synopsis of the ups and downs of the dramatic match by Igor Žveglić, Ivan Ivanišević offers additional narrative and annotated the games.

Ding Liren’s match losing blunder is presented as an exercise: “The position is a draw, but Ding successfully ‘composed’ the loss! Guess how?” (35) Four other positions are presented as exercises.

The second article concerns the European Championship and has seven games or game fragments. I spent a bit of time marveling at the ending in Derakhshani,B.—Ivanišević,I. After 53…d2, this position was reached.

White to move

In the end, Black's five passed pawns were more than White's extra rook and bishop could cope with.

The next two articles concern openings: a reasonably thorough exploration of White’s options in the Budapest Gambit and one on the Makogonov variation of the King’s Indian Defense, again with suggestions for the White player looking for a comfortable game.

“Michael’s Musings” by Michael Prusikin looks at long king walks and will command my attention sometime in the next couple of days.

Ivan Martić offers a brief article about Roman Shogdzhiev, who turns ten years old this year, and at the time of writing has met the requirements for the FIDE Master title and has one IM norm. There are four games.

Ian Rogers looks back on Garry Kasparov’s international debut and his own performance in the same event. He includes his loss to Kasparov late in the event. I’ve only started the article. I usually read Rogers’ articles when each new issue arrives.

I have not yet read the article on correspondence chess, nor looked at the usual elements that are standard in Informant: best game of the previous volume, most important novelty of the prior issue, studies, combinations, endings, and 200 games.

Lesson of the Week

Last week and this, most of my students are seeing a number of positions where correct play leads to a draw. Some are composed; several are from recent games. This one may be the most difficult. It was composed by Herman Mattison and published in Wiener Neueste Nachrichten (1931).*

White to move

The next one is of a different character. After the first move, variations are not forcing. Nonetheless, Black should be able to hold. It arose in a game that I played last week. To confirm that it is indeed drawn, I played the position against Stockfish 16 this morning. The position arose at move 47 and the game against Stockfish ended with a repetition at move 128. In the actual game, we repeated at move 113. My opponent, who had White, was critically short of time.

Black to move

I also used this one, which is derived from a composition by Gioachino Greco that appears in the Orsini (1620) and Lorraine (1621) manuscripts. I’ve reversed colors.

White to move

Several basic pawn endings and rook endings were among those my students were presented to solve. This important position appeared in Gligoric,S.--Fischer,R., Candidates Tournament 1959. It is the first endgame position in Thomas Engqvist, 300 Most Important Chess Positions (2018).

Black to move

As always, if you post answers in the comments, I will respond.

Clicking on the tag "Problem of the Week" takes you to posts about what I've been teaching in after school chess clubs over several years.

*I did not check the original source, but both Yochanan Afek, Anthology of Miniature Endgame Studies (2022) and Harold van der Heijden Endgame Study Database VI (2020) list the source and date.

Tactics Training

These days, it seems that I spend more time doing puzzles online (chessdotcom mostly, but also Lichess and Chess Tempo) than working with positions in books. Still, for serious improvement in tactical vision and calculation, books are superior.

After racing through Thomas Engqvist, 300 Most Important Chess Positions (2018) in less than three months, I’m more highly motivated to keep 300 Most Important Tactical Chess Positions (2020) near the center of my chess activities through the rest of 2025. Four of the first five positions in the book have forcing continuations that run deep enough that I anticipate some challenge working through the book. Difficulty makes the enterprise worthwhile.

Today’s position arose in Mason,J.—Winawer,S., Vienna 1882. Engqvist’s analysis is instructive. At least three problems for players at different levels can be extracted from Mason’s combination.

Engqvist's position is before Mason's 40.Rxg5 (see photograph). If Black refuses the rook sacrifice, 40...Qf8 41.Rg6 controls the sixth rank. Then, 41...Rxf5

White to move

42.Qxf5! Qxf5 43.Rg7+ Nd7 44.Rxd7+ Kc8 45.Rxb8+ (only move) 45...Kxb8 46.Rb7+ and whichever way Black's king steps, Black's queen is coming off the board and White has a winning endgame.

After the line played in the game (40.Rxg5 hxg5 41.Qh7+ Nd7 42.Bxd7 Qg8--this position appeared as a exercise on chessgames.com in 2003--43.Rb7+ Kxb7), there is a more basic exercise position.

White to move

The discovery (44.Bc8+) is Engqvist's theme for this exercise, and the interference is an important aspect of why it works. Posters on chessgames.com and Engqvist valorize Mason's technique bringing home the full point for the resulting ending of queen and bishop vs. two rooks.

The Superiority of Books

For beginning students, the sequencing in such books as Sergey Ivashchenko, Manual of Chess Combinations (1997) and Susan Polgar, A World Champion’s Guide to Chess (2015) will lead to much more rapid growth in tactics skill than random positions online. Of course, with certain membership levels, chessdotcom and Chess Tempo allow training with particular themes and rating levels, so these can be tweaked with appropriate guidance.

For players who know basic patterns, but need work on strengthening calculation skills and assessing resulting positions after a combination, such books as Mark Dvoretsky, Secrets of Chess Tactics (1992), Paata Gaprindashvili, Imagination in Chess (2004), and Cyrus Lakdawala, Tactical Training (2021) offer abundant exercises.

Yakov Nieshtadt, Improve Your Chess Tactics (2012) is highly regarded for its organizational scheme and definitions, while Yuri Averbakh, Chess Tactics for Advanced Players (1992) articulates a notion of contacts that should be more common in chess literature.

Fingerslip

Playing chess on the iPad, I will drop a piece one square short of its intended destination from time to time. Often this fingerslip is fatal to the game. Likewise, playing on the computer, mouseslips are a constant danger. One day, I had five mouseslips in five games. When I flipped the rodent over for examination, I discovered that a dog hair had lodged itself where it partially covered the optical reader. Removing the dog hair improved my play.

In Nottingham 1936 (1936), Alexander Alekhine claimed his 4.Bd2 in the first round against Salo Flohr was a "lapsus manus", a slip of the hand (17). He says that his intent was to play 4.e5 and 5.f4, as he had against Aron Nimzowitsch six years earlier. David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld doubt Alekhine's explanation, pointing to the move having been played against him in 1910 (Oxford Companion to Chess, 2nd ed. [1996], 136). It is from Alekhine's remark, apparently, that the Fingerslip variation gets its name:

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bd2!?

This variation was brought to my attention by two games in P.H. Clarke, 100 Soviet Chess Miniatures (1963), both games won by White with rapid assaults on an uncastled king.

Black to move

According to ChessBase Mega 2024, this move appears in just over 2% of French Winawer games.

The usual continuation leads to messy tactics and a material advantage for Black.

4...dxe4 5.Qg4 Qxd4

5...Nf6 is safer, according to Clarke, and is more commonly played according to the database. 5...Qxd4 was played in both Soviet miniatures in the text. Both games continued:

6.O-O-O f5 7.Bg5

Black to move

Here they diverge.

Kunin,V.--Ochsengoit, Moscow 1958 continued:

7...Qe5 8.Rd8+ Kf7 9.Nf3

ChessBase Mega does not have the game, but it can be found on chessgames.com. Clarke notes that the game was published in Shakhmaty v SSSR (2 Nov. 1959).

Black to move

9...Qa5

Clarke writes, "Black has failed--and who can blame him?" (54).

Clarke offers 9...exf3 10.Qxb4 and then analyzes three possibilities, none of which include 10...Nf6, which Stockfish finds equal. The game ended quickly after Black's ninth move.

10.Bb5 Nc6 11.Ne5+ and Black resigned.

Black struggled longer in the second game, also absent from ChessBase Mega but on chessgames.com: Serebriany -- Ivanov, Magnitogorsk 1959. Mato Jelic also offers the game on his YouTube channel, but incorrectly states that it was played in the Soviet Championship. Perhaps it was a regional qualifier for the championship. Clarke indicates that is was the championship of Magnitogorsk, a city east of the Southern Ural Mountains.

Black continued:

7...Qxf2

White to move

8.Qh3 Bd6

Clarke states that this move is an error, but offers no alternative.

9.Bb5+ Bd7

Clarke offers some analysis of variations after 9...Nc6.

"Now Black gets a nasty shock" (Clarke, 96).

10.Nxe4

Black to move

10...Bf4+?

Clarke notes correctly that this is a fatal error. He recommends, 10...Qb6, when it is not clear that White can win after 11.Bxd7 Nxd7 12.Nxd6+ cxd6 13.Nf3. However, White has 11.Nxd6+ cxd6 12.Be2 and there are still possibilities of making the Black king uncomfortable.

11.Kb1+- Qe3 12.Nf3 Qb6 13.Bxf4 Bb5

White to move

14.Bxc7!

Eliminates a defender.

14...Qxc7 15.Nd6+ Kf8 16.Nxb5 Qe7 17.Rhe1

All of White's pieces are in play while Black's knights and rooks remain on their starting squares.

17...Nc6 18.Nbd4 Nd8

White to move

19.Nxf5! Qc5 20.Ne5 Nf6 21.Nd6 Kg8 22.Nxb7 1-0