60 Days, 300 Positions: Day One

Thomas Engqvist, 300 Most Important Chess Positions (2018) has been in my possession about five years. I bought it early in 2019 (see “A New Book and a Morphy Game”). Often it sits on the shelf, but I read bits from time to time. I’ve studied some of the positions for my own edification, and used some with my students. This afternoon, I resolved to read the whole book in 60 days.

Failure may be expected. Life offers many opportunities that disrupt a disciplined schedule of study, as well as occasional challenges. But, perhaps, perseverance will get me through. I do not expect to blog the process every day and certainly will present only a fraction of the positions here. Readers who wish to know the contents of Engqvist’s book should buy a copy. It is not my intention to violate the author’s intellectual property.

Going through this book in 60 days is violation enough of the author’s work. He suggests five positions per week, not five per day. In my defense, I will note, however, his advice that a student needs “to integrate the positions into your conscious chess thinking as early as possible in your life” (6-7). I am 64 years old and have been reasonably serious about studying as well as playing chess since 1975.

Because of the nature of the book, I will not read it in sequence. Today, I did positions 151-155, the first five endgame positions. I use two of them routinely in my teaching. The ideas in the other three also occur while I’m working with students via other positions.

One of today’s positions intrigued me enough that I set it up to play against the computer on chessdotcom. Usually, I’ll play set-positions against Stockfish on my iPad or against one of several engines on my notebook computer with ChessBase and Fritz software installed. The website’s computer gave me the same frustration I usually find with elementary endgames on other devices: it did not make the moves that are most testing. The position is a Nikolai Grigoriev composition.

White to move

Unhappy with the computer’s move on chessdotcom, I also played this position on my iPad. That early version of Stockfish running on a weak processor started with the line Engqvist gives in the book, presumably the most testing.

1.Kg3 is White's only drawing move. Why?

If I could calculate deeply enough, I might recognize this square as the only one that assures I will be able to step onto b4 after Black plays Kxb6. White must take the opposition at that point.

1.Kh3 takes the distant diagonal opposition. Why does this effort fail? Black's shouldering manuever leaves the White king too far from the b-fil when the pawn on b6 falls. 1...Kc2 2.Kg4 Kd3 3.Kf3 Kc4 4.Ke4 White has taken the opposition with each move, but will no longer be able to maintain it when it matters.

Although Engqvist does not mention it, Kg3 begins an outflanking maneuver.

1...Kc2 is Black's critical try, as it leaves White only one drawing move. Chessdotcom's computer played 1...Kb2, giving me three three viable moves, including the option of seizing the distant opposition. Only after the subsequent 2.Kf2 Kc3 3.Ke3 Kc4, was there a single drawing move. In this case, it is an elementary outflanking maneuver. 4.Kd2.

2.Kf2 is the only move.

2...Kd3, is testing in the sense that White again has a single drawing move is offered in a variation in 300 Most Important Chess Positions.

2...Kd2 also leaves White a single drawing move.

3.Kf1 Kd3 4.Ke1 Kc4

Black to move

5.Kd2

It is clear that White's king will be able to reach b4 at the critical moment.

For the fifth time, White had only one move that draws. It would be nice if chess engine programmers could create an algorithm that has the computer choose the move that leaves the opponent a single choice to maintain the evaluation. Engines would become better training partners for this sort of endgame that way.