What a Mess

I had White in this position with the move in a three minute online blitz game yesterday. We had each used just over a minute getting here.

White to move

Black has two extra pawns, both passed, but perhaps White's piece activity balances matters somewhat.

27.Bxf8??

Simplification into a major piece ending does not help when two pawns down, but what else was White to do?

The immediate 27.f5! was a consideration, but the optics of an exchange on d6 gave me pause.
Attacking the queen with 27.Rc7 was also worth considering.

27...Rxf8-+ 28.f5 gxf5?

28...exf5 was best

29.gxf5 Qg5+ 30.Kf1??

Here, simplification into a rook ending was the correct idea. 30.Qg3 Qxg3 31.Kxg3 and Black's extra pawns have little prospect of advancing.

Black to move

30...Qc1+??

Black does not perceive that he has the advantage. 30...Rfc8 shows that White's king lacks protection. After the subsequent 31.Rg2 Rc1+ 32.Kf2 Rc2+ 33.Kg1 Qxg2+ 34.Qxg2+ Rxg2+ 35.Kxg2. Black's extra pawns are decisive.

31.Kg2 Qg5 32.Kh1 Qc1+ 33.Kh2 Qh6+ 34.Qh3 Qxh3+ 35.Kxh3

Black to move

Are rook endings ever simple?

35...a4??

35...exf5 36.Rxf5 a4=

36.f6??

White thinks that this move helps confine the king when, in fact, it allows Black to pursue an attack with Rab8. 36.Rg2+ leads to checkmate.

36...Kh7= 37.Rb4 Rh8??

Black must think that his king escapes check with a discovered check.

37...Rab8 and White's only recourse is a perpetual. 38.Rh4+

38.Rg2!

Cutting off the king. 

Black resigns

A few of the positions in this game and in the analysis should prove useful for the young players whose after school chess club begins this afternoon.

Queen vs. Advanced Pawn

White played an excellent game to reach a simple win and then made two consecutive moves that made it appear that everything prior to that was a fluke. Time was not a factor with 4:19 remaining in a 10-minute game.

White to move

53.b4??=

53.g6 wins quickly.

53...Kxg5 54.Kb5??

Now, Black is winning. Perhaps White saw that both players would promote and failed to anticipate who would have the first check for if Black did, the check would lead to a skewer. Otherwise, this move looks like an effort to lose.

54...h4 55.Ka6 h3 56.b5 h2 57.b6 h1Q 58.b7

Black to move

The technique here is simple, but Black's execution was a bit clumsy. The simple idea that every student should learn is to drive the White king in front of its pawn, then step the king closer. Eventually, there will be an opportunity for checkmate.

With the advanced pawn on the b-file (or g-file), checkmate opportunities come sooner. Black was oblivious to this fact.

58...Qa1+ 59.Kb6 Qb2+

59...Qe5 is better, controlling the promotion square, another element of the basic technique of battling a pawn one square from promotion. To prevent Black from occupying b8 with the queen, 60.Ka7 is forced. Now, 60...Qa5 61.Kb8 Kf6 brings checkmate closer.

60.Kc7 Qg7+ 61.Kb8 Kf6

61.Kf5 was better, stepping closer without restricting the queen's mobility.

62.Ka7 Qg1+

62...Qc7 lead to a more rapid checkmate. Pinning the pawn is a third element of the basic technique.

63.Ka8

Black to move

63...Qg2

Although this move works towards eventual checkmate, less clumsy would have been the simple checkmate in five. 63...Qa1 64.Kb8 Qc3 65.Ka7 Qa5+ 66.Kb8 Ke7 67.Kc8 Qd8#

64.Ka7 Qa2+ 65.Kb6 Qb3+ 66.Kc7 Qc4+ 67.Kd7 Qb5+ 68.Kc7 Qc5+ 69Kd7 Qb6 70.Kc8 Qc6+ 71.Kb8

Black to move

71...Ke7

Black, who has spent many hours teaching the elementary checking technique to young students, could show more finesse and attention to opportunities in the position.

Here, for example, 71...Qc5! forces 72.Ka8 and a mate in three identical to that found in the mate in five above at move 63.

72.Ka7 Qa4+

Better was 72...Qc5+ 73.Ka6 Qb4 (controlling the promotion square via X-Ray) 74.Ka7 and again mate in three.

73.Kb6 Qb4+ 74.Kc7 Qc5+ 75.Kb8

Black to move

75...Kd7

Black knows this checkmate well, but should know also the pattern of mate in two that has presented itself several times earlier in the game. 75...Qa5 76.Kc8 Qd8#

76.Ka8 Qa5+ 77.Kb8 Kc6 78.Kc8 Qc7#

Black was relieved that his opponent threw the game through two consecutive blunders, converting a win to a draw, and then a draw to a loss.

Black showed a simple winning technique, but missed opportunities to end matters more quickly offer some learning opportunities and some positions that might be beneficial teaching young students this fall.

The basic element of this endgame is simple: check until there is an opportunity to move the king closer without allowing the advanced pawn to promote. Prevention includes checks, pins, and controlling the promotion square. Be alert to possible checkmates to show better technique.

Should have been easy

Late Thursday night during a thunderstorm, I played a few three minute games online. Two draws from dead lost positions became lessons in elementary endings to end the spring term for my before school elementary chess club.

In the first, my opponent ran desperately short of time in a bishop ending where he had an significant advantage in number of pawns. After promoting a pawn and using the queen to capture my last pawn, he had a forced checkmate in seven, but only 4.0 seconds left.

Black to move

50...Qe4+

My opponent opts for a sequence where premoves can be played to save time.

50...Qc7 leads to mate in six moves more.

51.Kd6 f4 52.Kc5 f3 53.Kd6 f2 54.Kc5 f1Q

A second queen appears and 3.0 seconds remain on the clock. It is also forced mate in three. Black has done well and should win.

There are two schools of thought on this position:
1) a decent player resigns in such a hopeless position, and
2) its is foolish to resign in a blitz game when your opponent has three seconds left.

55.Kd6

Black to move

What should a player know about checkmate with two queens?

From the hardest position against a lone king, it is mate in four. Checkmate can occur in the middle of the board. Checks are often the best move.

Most players, however, seem to think the ladder mate is simplest and therefore best. In this case, it can be accomplished with premoves.

55...Qff5

This move does not get closer to checkmate. That is, mate is still three moves in the future.

55...Qf6+ executes an easy ladder mate unless White opts for 56.Kc5 Qfc6#
I would probably play 55...Qa6 in a heartbeat.

56.Kc7 Qee6 57.Kd8

Black still has 2.8 seconds remaining and a simple mate in one.

57...Qff7??

The premove squandered half a point.

The second undeserved draw had gross errors by both players. Time was a less critical factor with both having more than half a minute on the clock.

White to move

58.Rh6??

I would play 58.Rb6

One of very few non-winning moves in this simple rook ending.

58...Rh1+ 59.Kg4 Rg1??

Black here is stuck in unimaginative routine moves that were wholly unnecessary when simply calculation shows that 59...Rxh6 draws easily.

60.Kf4 Rf1+

White to move

I started with this position with the young students, explaining that moving the king towards the rook puts an end to harassing checks. Ke4-d3-e2 (or f6+ if the rook gives up the checks).

61.Ke5 Re1+ 62.Kf4 Rf1+ 63.Kg4 Rg1+

At this point the game is technically drawn, as a repetition is about to occur. It is sad that a player rated in the mid-1900s does not know how to win this ending.

64.Kh5 Rh1+ 65.Kg4 Rg1+ drawn by repetition.

Beginner's Club: This Week

Many of the young students in my after school club have only begun playing chess when they joined the club. Others have more experience and more skill, but very few have played in tournaments and with limited success. My focus in these sessions is teaching elementary skills and cultivating enjoyment of the game. Most sessions begin with a short lesson that consists of a small number of problems on the demo board, or a short game. Sometimes, I show a simple technique and ask them to practice, such as building a shrinking box to force checkmate with heavy pieces.

This week, I pulled two checkmate exercises from the Facebook group Chess Teachers & Learners.

The first was presented as a difficult checkmate in one.

White to move

Obviously White has overwhelming force, but the stipulation is that there is a mate in one.

There are many possible checks, including some that would be illegal. One young student immediately suggested Bb3+, so I pointed out that the bishop was pinned by the queen. Beginners need to learn that pieces pinned to their king cannot move off the rank, file, or diagonal along which the pin occurs. Although this bishop cannot move, it still defends the h7 knight from capture. But, as we will see with the solution, the immobility of a pinned piece reduces its power.

The correct answer took me half a minute when I saw this position on Facebook because I subconsciously rejected moving the pinned queen. Then, I saw that the rook attacking the queen is also pinned.

With the young students, we looked at every possible check except the correct one and saw why it does not achieve checkmate. Then, a student saw the correct answer, 1.Qb3#.

We moved on to the second problem--a mate in two.

White to move

This one proved difficult. The students tried several ideas. I stressed the importance of the pin on Black's pawn by the queen to help. After we had spent fifteen minutes on the lesson without finding the answer to this problem, I had the get chess sets and play chess, leaving the position on the board.

They played for 30-40 minutes and started to seem a little restless, so I brought them back to the demo board and showed them the solution (it turns out that there is a second solution that I missed).

1.Qd4 is an elegant move that forces Black to move a rook, the capture of which delivers checkmate.

1.Rd7 is the alternate solution that I missed.

Then I set up a position from William Lewis, Elements of the Game of Chess (1822) that I use with some frequency (see "Teaching Elementary Checkmates"). It is mate in five.

White to move

Students were directed to work in teams solving this. If they found the correct solution, each member of the team would earn a chess pencil. Several came close.

After they struggled a bit with simple forcing moves that were not forcing enough, I offered some hints: find a move that leaves Black only one legal move, force the defending king to remain in the quadrant of the board in which it begins (of course, I had to explain the word quadrant).

Tested

Sometimes you must test your opponent's ability to demonstrate what should be elementary skills, especially when time is running short. In the penultimate round of a local tournament a few years ago, the top two players--both experts--were running short of time. The one defending sacked his rook to test his opponent's ability to deliver checkmate with knight and bishop. The gamble worked and they drew. My online opponents often test my ability to deliver checkmate with a queen and king against a lone king in under 15 seconds. I usually pass this test.

This morning, my opponent tested my ability to force checkmate with two bishops in under a minute. I had 59 seconds left when my last pawn was captured and 51 when I finished eliminating his pawns. When checkmate was delivered, 29 seconds remained on my clock. I made 24 moves in 22 seconds to finish the game.

After 69 moves and just over 18 minutes of play in the game 10, we had the following position. My opponent had 53 seconds left to 60 for me.

White to move

70.Nd6 Bxd6

Stockfish would pushed the pawn.

71.Kxd4 Bc5+ 72.Kc4 Bf7+ 73.Kc3 Ka5

I hasten to eliminate White's pawns so that I can begin the mating sequence.

74.Kd3 Kxa4 75.b6 Bxb6 76.Ke4

Black to move

76...Kb4

76...Kb5 leads to mate one move faster.

77.Ke5 Bc4 78.Ke4 Bc5

78...Kc3 is faster

79.Ke5 Kc3 80.Ke4

Black to move

80...Bd4

I teach students to place a protected bishop next to the king because it is easy to see and forces the defending king closer to the edge. 

However, 80...Bd6 leads to checkmate two moves faster, and if White does not move towards the edge, 81.Ke3, then 81...Bd3 is the same sort of move.

81.Kf3 Kd3 82.Kf4 Bd5

Again, there is a move that leads to checkmate two moves faster, 82...Be6

83.Kf5 Ke3 84.Kg4 Be4 85.Kg5 Be5

Time remaining: 0:35 -- 0:42

86.Kg4 Bf4

The recurring pattern that forces the king to the edge.

87.Kh5 Bf5

87...Kf3 is easy to find and two moves faster.

88.Kh4

The rest of my play was perfect and used 12 seconds.

Black to move

88...Kf2 89.Kh5 Kf3 90.Kh4

Those learning how to finish this checkmate should observe the simple way that my bishops drive the king to the corner.

90...Bg6 91.Kh3 Bg5 92.Kh2 Kf2

My king must end up here.

93.Kh3 Bf5+ 94.Kh2 Bf4+ 95.Kh1 Be4#

As is happens, one of my students is finishing the Bishop Award and has this checkmate and two pawn endings remaining.

Forcing Moves

From this morning’s tactics session while I drank my coffee.

White to move

Solve at the link: https://www.chess.com/puzzles/problem/1188690

I spent a little over four minutes working out the full sequence.

A Pattern

The relationship between two puzzles on chess.com surprised me Wednesday morning and I made it that afternoon's lesson for my beginning students. Sometimes I use this feature of the website and iOS app regularly. During the first fifteen years that I was a member of chess.com, I only did puzzles occasionally, completing fewer than 5000. That changed in December 2022 and I've completed nearly 17,000 in the past three years.

Wednesday, I completed 41, failing 13. One that came up early in the session took me five seconds. This mating sequence crops up most days, as it did again this morning. It also appeared in the last puzzle Wednesday morning, but with a twist that took me nearly a minute to recognize that it was essentially the same.

Because the website only shows me the past 30, I was not able to put the early position in front of my students. Instead, I found a game played by Adolf Anderssen in 1861 that finished with the same idea.

White to move

The first student to offer a solution suggested 21.Bxg7, but after 21...Nxf2+ 22.Rxf2 Kxg7, it was clear that White was worse. We did not look at 22.Kg1 Nh3+ 23.Kh1, but Black has two good choices that neutralize the attack.

The students then saw the correct 21.Rxg7+, but I had to show them the key idea after 21...Kh8 22.Rg8+! and mate follows when the other rook comes to the g-file.

This morning's version took me six seconds.

Black to move

20...Rxg2+ 21.Kh1 Rg1+ 22.Kxg1 Rg8+ 23.Bg5

Sometimes, in the puzzles that chess.com feeds me, there are several pieces that can step into the line of fire and increase the move count.

23...Rxg5#

Seeing the same pattern in this next exercise took longer and brought a pleasant surprise. My young students did not see it until I showed it to them.

Black to move

30...Rxg2+ was obvious, but I did not play it until I saw the follow up after 50 seconds. 31.Kh1 Rg1+ 32.Kxg1 (32.Kh2 also leads to mate on the move) 32...Qxg3#.

Chess patterns are familiar ideas in slightly different positions. Good puzzle books and sometimes chess websites help aspiring players learn and train recognition of these ideas. The first two volumes of The Manual of Chess Combinations by Sergey Ivashchenko are particularly good in this respect.

Checkmate Pattern: Two Pigs

The pattern that I call Two Pigs is usually referred to as the “Blind Swine Mate”. It is an unfortunate and illogical term that violates an unsourced quote credited to Dawid Markelowicz Janowsky (1868-1927). The unsourced quote has been in circulation at least since 1953, the original publishing date of The Art of Attack in Chess.

“The pair of rooks which “grunt out check” on the seventh rank but cannot get a sight of mate were once nicknamed ‘blind swine’ by Janowski” (Victor Vukovic, The Art of Attack in Chess [1993], 73).

If they are blind, they do not find checkmate.

I knew less about the history of this pattern name when I created my self-published A Checklist of Checkmates twenty years ago. The contents of page 15:

Edward Winter often has written about the appalling number of unsourced quotes in chess literature.* Regarding the Janowsky quote, see Chess Notes 3494, 3525, and 5160 (scroll down). The last of these was prompted by my correspondence with Winter, noting two instances when Janowsky had two rooks on the seventh rank and could manage only a draw. Although the quote is unsourced, one can imagine Janowsky grumbling about pigs that cannot see checkmate. However, in the game that I cited in A Checklist of Checkmates, his blind pigs saved an otherwise lost game.

Such was my idea in a blitz game yesterday, when blind to the advantage that I had, I set up a draw that was not forced until my opponent returned the favor.

White to move

39.Rff7??

39.Rc8+ Kd7 40.Rg8+- was the winning line.

39...b1Q??

After 39...Rxe4+, Black still gets a queen, while White's blind swine cannot force a draw.

40.Rfe7+ and the game was quickly drawn by repetition as Black cannot escape endless checks.

In another online game in July, I was on the receiving end of the Two Pigs checkmate, except that in this case another piece (knight or king) was needed, and so the pattern is not the same.

White to move

29.a6

This desperate try failed. 

29.Rxd5 was another possibility that fails.

29...b6 30.Rc1 Rg2+ 31.Kh1

31.Kf1 Ne3+ 32.Ke1 Rbe2#

This is a pattern that Raf Mesotten, The Checkmate Pattens Manual (2022) calls Vukovic's Mate (45-49). It appears to be an instructive book, but like every other book on the subject, it passes on common attributions grounded in bad history and unsourced quotes (see "Pillsbury's Mate"). To Mesotten's credit, he notes clearly that his sources for the pattern names were chessgames.com, Wikipedia, and Chess Tempo (7).

31...Rxh2+ 32.Kg1 Rbg2+ and I resigned as a knight-assisted "Ladder mate" was coming.

The Two Pigs Mate pattern appears in this game played on Internet Chess Club in 2001.

White to move

21.O-O?

White is much worse, but castling here gives Black a forced mate in three, which I promptly executed.

21...Rgxg2+ 22.Kh1 Rxh2+ 23.Kg1 Rcg2#

*I also have some articles on the topic and related topics, such as "Plagiarism and Related Crimes".

Checkmates Missed; Checkmates Found

This morning during a momentary lapse of reason, I threw away a game.

Black to move

I played 40...Bxh2?? and was mated.

A couple of days ago, in a game that I won, I missed not one, but two forced checkmates in two moves.

White to move

30.Be4+ did not throw away the decisive advantage, but did extend the distance to mate. After 30...Kb8 31.d7 Bxe4 32.d8Q+ Kxb7, I had a second opportunity to play a simple mate in two.

White to move

The game continued 33.Rc7+ Kb6 34.Rxf7+ Black resigns.

Later that same day, I found a mate in four after my opponent threw away a winning position with 28.Ng6??

Black to move

Last night, just before bed, I managed to find a forced mate in six in a three minute game after my opponent played 31.Rcc7

Black to move

I have not given any of the checkmate sequences, leaving them for the reader to find.

Tough Choices

Reading is central to my life. Last night, I finished John Steinbeck, Tortilla Flat (1935) and placed an order for In Dubious Battle (1936). I am working through all of Steinbeck's books in order of publication. Herman Melville, The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (1857), which I started appropriately on 1 April, is slower going.

I also read chess books and usually more than one at a time. I bought the first edition of Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual (2003) within a year of its first publication and later acquired the second edition on my Kindle app, a second copy of the first edition in Chessbase format, and the fifth edition. Dvoretsky's book has served as an indispensable endgame resource and frequently the first of my many endgame books that I open when I want to understand something. As I wrote in late-April, the chapter on rook endings is part of my regular work at present (see "Working through Dvoretsky").

After racing through 300 Most Important Chess Positions (2018) in 74 days from December to March, the sequel, 300 Most Important Tactical Chess Positions (2020) has on a table in the living room, on my desk, or in a chess bag as I am beginning a slower process of working through it.

Some newer books are offering me tough choices or distractions from focus.

Think Like a Super-GM (2022) by Michael Adams and Philip Hurtado joined my chess book collection on 1 May. I took it with me on a trip that weekend (see "Think Like a Super-GM"). When I returned home, I set up the second position on the dining room table, looked at it some with neither a note pad nor discipline and focus. I had to remove it from the table in preparation for hosting a family get together on Mother's Day.

I remain a subscriber and occasional reader of Chess Informant, which now serves class players as well as it served masters in the days before ready access to recent games that came with the internet. I referenced an opening article from CI 162 in "When preparation meets opportunity", showing a game where I beat a player gambling with the Budapest.

At Spring Break Chess Camp, Jim Maki was using a lot of challenging checkmate problems with the young players. In a conversation about sources for such exercises after one of the sessions, I immediately remembered Anthology of Chess Problems, 2nd ed. (2021), a reissue of the anthology published in the 1990s by Milan Velimirovic and Marjan Kovacevic. I took it to camp the next day to show Maki, and brought it again to the youth tournament that Saturday when Maki and I were working the analysis table. It was with me during chess lessons with young players the following week. The mate in twos that begin the book are challenging enough to keep me busy far longer than I am likely to invest in the effort.

Two days ago, another book arrived that I bought not only because the topic is interesting, but also because I really liked the cover art by Kallia Kleisarchaki.

Cyrus Lakdawala takes on the task of ranking chess players past and present in The Greatest (2025). No one will agree with his rankings, of course, because the topic remains more interesting so long as chess enthusiasts enjoy arguing with any and every list ever constructed.

Naturally, I immediately found fault with his chronology that begins with Philidor. Giulio Cesare Polerio's innovations and Gioachino Greco's improvements on those innovations remain underappreciated in chess history. Nonetheless, I find no fault either with his top four, nor with the sequence he offers. I also find his defense of the arrangement logical and compelling. Numbers five and six were the focus of Chess Skills for two months in 2021. 

After his "Classical Era Top Tier List", Lakdawala lists twenty criteria that informed his list. The Greatest will be earning more of my attention in the coming days and weeks and I work through at least some of the 80 games that Lakdawala selected to develop the theme of chess greatness.

From time to time, I am still also working through P.H. Clarke, 100 Soviet Chess Miniatures (1963). It might be how I take my coffee in the morning if not for always playing at least two words games with my wife on our iPads--Scrabble and Words with Friends.

Masters Err Too

After some dubious choices in the late opening and early middle game, I was being punished. White has a decisive advantage and is preparing the knockout blow. It was a ten minute game and we both had plenty of time remaining.

White to move

FM Roar Elseth -- Stripes,J [C03]
Live Chess Chess.com, 09.05.2025

33.Rg8+

Good enough, but not best.

33.Ba7+! Ka8  34.Qxe4 Rxe4 35.Bb6 Rc4 36.Rg7 Be8+-
33.Qxe4 dxe4 34.Bb6 Rc6 35.Rg7!+-

33...Rc8 34.Ba7+

34.Qxe4 dxe4 35.Rg7 Be8 36.Bb6 h4+-

34...Ka8+- 35.Rxc8+?

From a decisive advantage to slightly better. This error solves some of Black's problems.

35.Rg7 Qxe3 36.Bxe3 Be8 37.Kg3+-

35...Bxc8+/-

White to move

36.Qc5?

Did my opponent overlook the check or underestimate it?

Better was 36.Bd4 Kb8 37.Qxe4 could lead to an interesting position (37.Qc3 offers winning chances). 37...dxe4 38.Kg3 Kc7 39.Kh4 Bd7 40.Kxh5 Bb5 41.Be3 Be2+ 42.Kg5 Bf3 43.h4

Black to move

Analysis diagram

43... Bg2 44.h5 Bh3=

36...Qxe5+= 37.Kh1 Qe4+ 38.Kg1 Qg6+ 39.Kh2 Qxf6 40.Bb6

White threatens checkmate.

Black to move

40...Qf4+ 41.Kg1 Bd7 42.Bc7

White used 40 seconds on this move, which renews a mate threat.

42...Qg5+ 43.Kf1 

If there is a refuge from checks, it may be in the center.

43...Bb5+ 44.Ke1 Qg1+ 45.Kd2 Qg5+

White to move

46.Ke1

Another 40 seconds were used here by my opponent.

46.f4 does not escape from my relentless queen. 46...Qg2+ 47.Kc1 Qf1+ 48.Kb2 Qe2+ 49.Kb3 Qc4+ forces the queens off the board.

46...Qg1+ 47.Kd2 Qg5+ 48.Ke1 Game drawn by repetition ½-½

I should have lost, but my opponent fell short and gave me a chance to force a draw.

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.

Recognizing Known Positions

Earlier this month at a youth tournament that I ran, I watched one of my students miss an elementary checkmate in two moves. It was a ladder mate (or rolling barrier, as it is called in Bruce Pandolfini, Pandolfini's Endgame Course [1988]). But, a few moved later, this same player executed the checkmate. When he was successful, he controlled the first and second rank. He missed it when the mate could have occurred on the h-file with the g-file also under control.

I suspect that known patterns may be harder for young students to recognize when they are rotated 90°.

Last night, I reached a position where I had to execute a checkmate with knight and bishop. It was the first time that I had such a position that was not due to seeking it, such as when I underpromote a pawn. After I captured my opponent's last piece, I had very nearly the position that I have used in training. The checkmate took me 32 moves, but there were a couple of times when my move extended the distance to mate by six. My opponent answered these with moves that helped me get back on course.

Black to move

I played 107...Nd6, one of two optimal moves.

After 108.Ka5, Kc6 would have kept me on a known path, but I played 108...Bc5, which is equally good in terms of distance to mate. The move I played shows that I was not recognizing the pattern.

Several moves later, White's king has ventured into territory that I might have controlled.

Black to move

116...Nc3+ extends the distance to mate by one move.

Had I played 116...Be3, forcing White's king to the edge, I would have been following advice I've given students dozens of times, usually while teaching two bishops against a lone king. Here, that is the best move. Then again:

Black to move

I was feeling confused when I missed the mate in eleven that forces in three moves a position that I know.

118...Bc3 119.Kb3 Kd3 120.Ka4 Kc4 121.Ka3

Black to move

121...Bb4+ forcing White to the second rank when 122.Kb2 Ne3 sets up the barrier that I studied in Pandolfini's Endgame Course the first time that I learned this elementary checkmate.

White to move

Alas, I made a knight move and it was still mate in 18, as it had been since my move 116.

Nonetheless, I finally reached a position where I was able to draw on memory and calculation only two to three moves deep to finish the job.

Black to move, mate in nine

My work studying Thomas Engqvist, 300 Most Important Chess Positions (2018) resumes today with this position from Timman,J. -- Lutz,C., Wijk aan Zee 1995.

Black to move

Here, Black must defend successfully, avoiding the position analyzed by François-André Danican Philidor in 1849, which I spent some time working on Friday, and between rounds in a Swiss tournament this past weekend. It was the previous position in Engqvist's excellent book.

The 90° rotation might vex me the same way it did my young student.