Module 1, Part 2


Module 1

Part 2: Some more endgame training: The power of Active Rooks

In endgames with K+R+pawns v. K+R+pawns, it is extremely important to be able to activate the rooks. Many a times, this can be done at the cost of a pawn. This part will consider some more important positions. As thorough study is required, the reader s advised to keep almost 3 hours for the study of this part! Even if the reader goes through the part faster than that, he is requested to keep coming back and analyzing this part as several draws can be converted into wins and several losses into draws because of a thorough understanding of the concepts discussed here.

We begin with a well-known position, arising after the 31st move in Flohr-Vidmar, Nottingham 1936.

Black




(Position 1-4, White to play)




White


Before reading further, you are advised to evaluate this position and com up with a detailed plan for white in 15 minutes; considering Black’s best line of defence.


It is obvious that white has the advantage here – the rook is well placed on c5, it can go quickly to a5 (the manouevre Rc1-c5-a5 in such positions is typical and worth remembering). However, the immediate 32. Ra5 is bad. Black responds with 32…c5! 33. Rxa6 c4. This position will be a draw even if Black is a pawn down. We may refer to this position as position 1-5.



(Position 1-5, White to play, the position is drawn with correct play)









The reader is advised to spend another 15 minutes analyzing the resulting position deeply to convince himself if the position is drawn. If the reader is convinced – well and good. If the reader is not convinced – still, well and good! We will be coming back to this point later. The reader may come back to this position after he goes through the rest of the module to check whether he can draw the position as Black!


Now let us go back to position 1-4 where it is White’s 32nd move. The correct continuation is 32. Ke2. The game continued 32…Ke7. 33. Kd3 Kd6. 34. Ra5! Ra8. 35. Kd4 f5 (preventing e4). 36. b4 Rb8? (Dvoretsky gives this as a decisive mistake. The correct plan to hold a draw is 36…Kc7, bringing the king to the defence of the a pawn, leaving the rook free to pursue an active course. For example, 26…Kc7. 37. Kc5 Kb7. 38. Kd6 Re8. 39. Ra3 g5!. 40. Rc3 [If 40. g3, then 40…g4! holds.] 40…f4. 41. exf4 gxf4 and Black holds. The reader is advised to play through this continuation and study it for 20 minutes. It is important to study these continuations in detail as they form the basis for more complicated problems which shall be discussed later!) 37. a3 Ra8. 38. e4! (a point to note – white enlarges the battlefield!) White duly went on to win the game, and the reader may analyse the rest of the game by seeing it from the database. Please analyse the rest of the game for at least 30 minutes as there are several interesting continuations which come up!

Let us now turn to position 1-6. This occurred in Karpov-Kasparov, World Ch., 1985. It is white to play, and white threatens Re3-e5-a5. Indeed, in the position white went on to play 34. Re5. As Black, the reader is advised to think over the position for 10 minutes keeping in mind the active technique of correct defense highlighted in position 1-4 and 1-5. How would you continue as black after 33. Re5 is the question.



(position 1-6, white to play, white plays 33. Re5)









How does Black continue after Re5 is the question?


The answer is - learning from the analysis of position 1-4: Activate the rook! 34…Ra6 condemns black to a lifetime of passive defence and it is likely that black will eventually lose. Instead, Kasparov chooses a much more active line of play to reach a draw. 34… Rc3!. 35. Rxa5 Ra3. (Rook goes behind the pawn. A lot of chess engines analyse this as being a plus for white – Kasparov shows that this is not so.) 36. h4 Kg6. 37. g4 Kf6. 38. Rf5+ Ke6. 39. Rf4 g5. 40. hxg5 hxg5. 41. Rb4 Ke5. 42. Kg2 Ra2+. 43. Kf3 Ra3+. 44. Ke2 Re3 (This should be noted – how and when Kasparov switches flanks with his rook is worth noting.) 45. Kd2 Rg2+. 46. Ke3 Rg3+. 47. Ke2 Ra3. 48. Kd2 Rg3. 49. Rc4 Kd5 and a draw was agreed. The reader should spend about 45 minutes going over this endgame in detail. In doing so, besides going through and understanding the entire line in detail, the reader may pay attention to move 38. Instead of Rf5+, what is Black’s best plan if white plays 38. h5 – needs to be considered. The reader is advised to work out the draw for himself.

Having done this, we may now turn to the very interesting position 1-7. This arose after 27 moves in the game Riazantsev-Ksenofontov, Moscow 1997.






(Position 1-7, white to move)







The reader is advised to evaluate the position and come up with white’s best plan. The time allotted can be approximately 10 minutes. Obviously, white’s d4 is threatened and white must take counter-measures. Again, the reader is advised to keep in mind Kasparov’s example in Position 1-6. Active rooks are good, passive rooks are not!



The game continued 28. Rd1? Preferring passivity. 28…Rg4! 29. Kf1 g5. 30. hg hg. 31. g3?! (31. Re1 – activating! Was the only last chance, but there too, white is worse – you may analyse this position for a further 10 minutes) 31… Kg6. 32. Ke2 Re4+. 33. Kd3 g4. 35. Nh4+ Kg5. Black duly went on to win.


Now let us go back to position 1-7. The best chance for white is given by 28. Rc5! Nxd4. 29. Nxd4 Rxd4. 30. Rxa5 (threatening Rb5) 30… Rb4. The reader is advised to consider, for another 10 minutes, the continuation 31. Rb5 Rxb5. 32. axb5.

White’s plan is to play g2-g4, b5-b6, and b3-b4-b5. This ensures that the queenside is closed; and after any pawn move by black, white closes the kingside as well (g4-h5 or h4-h5, depending on whether black plays …h5 or …g5). If white can achieve that, he will have a fortress- there is no entry for the black king and the game will be drawn. The reader is advised to note this technique – it can be very useful at times! However, in the particular position, white loses by one tempo! After 32. axb5 g5! (or 32…h5. 33. f4 g5!) 33. hg (34. h5 g4!. [34…gf?. 35. g4! =] 35. f3 g3!, intending …g6 wins) 33…Kg6! (33…hg 34. g4! Draws – white gets his fortress). 34. gh gh 35. f4 Kf5. 36. g3 h5 and black will soon win. The reader is advised to play through and understand this line for a further 15 minutes.


The reader is requested to go back to the position after 30...Rb4 and to consider for 30 minutes whether the technique for white to hold is 31. Ra8 followed by 32. Re8. White’s rook is very active, and white retains considerable drawing chances. A sample line is 31. Ra8 Rxb3. 32. Re8 Rb4. 33. g3 Rxa4. 34. Rxe6 b5.35. Rb6 Ra1 36. Kg2 (this king-side position is ideal for white – pawns on f2, g3, h4 is the best chain in such positions) 36…Rb1. 37. Rd6 b4. 38. Rxd5 b3. 39. Rb5. The reader is requested to consider this position deeply for 15-20 minutes.


This closes Module 1 - Basic endgame knowledge. Remember, active rooks are good; and also remember that good accurate calculation is required in the endgame too..! The 7 positions discussed in this module are very important to have as part of our knowledge-base...

Module 1, Part 1

Module 1: ENDGAME TRAINING.

Part 1: How to play Rook Endings: Some basics

Part 1 of Module 1 is a short part, and can be covered in a total time of 1 hour. After this, the reader will do well to analyse the positions thoroughly for himself as per his own schedule.

Rook endings are amongst the most important endings as they occur very frequently in practice. This introductory module gives basic ideas of how to play rook endings. The sources used in preparation of this module are the classis works of Averbakh and Dvoretsky, and also the works of Gufeld. Other sources are used as and when appropriate.

We begin with the very basic Philidor draw. Position 1-1 occurs in Philidor (1977)


White

(Position 1-1, Black to play, draw)






Black


Before proceeding further, you are advised to look at this position and think about it for 5 minutes and find the best possible continuation for Black.


Philidor found that Black has a simple path to holding the draw. The black rook stays on the 6th rank until white advances the pawn to e6. Once white advances the pawn to e6, black takes his rook to the first rank and keeps checking the white king from behind. For example, 1…Ra6. 2. e4 Rb6. 3. e5 Ra6. 4. Rb7 Rc6. 5. e6 Rc1. 6. Kf6 Rf1+ with a draw.

White may try to dislodge the black rook from the 6th rank by playing Rg6. Then the correct method is, 1…Ra6. Now if 2. Rg6 Ra5+. 3. Kf4 Ke7 (the white king is now cut off on the fifth rank instead of the sixth rank as in the first line) draws.

Finally, Black must remember that if white plays Rg6 offerring an exchange of rooks when the white pawn is already on e5, the Black will exchange rooks to reach a drawn king and pawn ending. For instance, 1…Ra6. 2. e4 Rb6. 3. e5 Ra6. 4. Rg6 Rxg6. 5. Kxg6 Ke7. 6. Kf5 Kf7 with a drawn ending.

This is a very important position, and the eager student must know this position very very well.

We now move to a more difficult position. Position 1-2 occurred after Black’s 40th move in Gligoric-Fischer, Candidates 1959. The game is discussed as Game number 12 in the classic My 60 Memorable Games.


Black



(Position 1-2, White to play).





White

You are advised to study the position for 15 minutes, and evaluate it. As it stands, white is a pawn up, but the h2 pawn is threatened. How should white continue?




The game continued, 41. Kd4 e1=Q!. [If 41…Rxh2, 42. Kd3 and Black loses.] 42. Rxe1 Rxc2 [This is the point- the h2 pawn is anyway weak.] 43. Rb1 Kf7. [43…Rxh2 will be met by 44. Kc5 penetrating the position.] 44. a3 Ke6. 45. b3 Rxh2. 46. Kc5 Kd7. 47. Kb6 Ra2. 48. Kxa6 Rxa3. 49. Kb7 [If 49. Kxb5, then 45…Kc7 with a draw. Work this out based on the discussion of position 1-1 above in 5 minutes.] 49…Kd6. [49…b4 draws. The reader is advised to work out the draw in 15 minutes for himself, as I strongly believe that endings are best learnt by hard self-study. If in 15 minutes the reader is unable to work out the draw, then he should proceed without bothering with this line for now.] 50. Kb6 Kd7. 51. b4 Rh3. 52. Rc1 Rh8? [This is the losing move! Fischer throws away a draw. Better is 52…Rh5 drawing. Fischer gives 52…Rh5. 53. Rc5 Rxc5. 54. Kxc5 Kc7. 55. Kxb5 Kb7, and black takes the opposition and draws.] After 52…Rh8? We reach position 1-3.




Black




(Position 1-3, White to play)




White


The reader is advised to work out the best play for white in 15 minutes. Is 53. Kxb5 correct? Or does white have a better plan?

The game continued 53. Kxb5? [This throws away the win! The correct continuation is 53. Rc7+ winning! The advantage of this move is that the black King cannot get in front of the pawn. For example, Fischer gives 53. Rcl+! Kd6. 54. Rc6+ Kd7. 55. Kxb5 Rb8+. 56. Rb6 Rh8. 57. Rb7+ Kc8. 58. Ka6 Rh6+. 59. Ka7 with a win. The reader is advised to study this continuation for another 15 minutes, to ensure that he understands the nuances and techniques of the win correctly.] The game continued after 53. Kxb5? Rb8+. 54. Ka4 Ra8+. 55. Kb3 Rc8. 56. Rxc8 Kxc8. 57. Kc4 Kb8! With the distant opposition and a draw. Work out the final draw in 2 minutes.

This brings us to the end of Module 1, Part 1. We will cover Module 1, Part 2 tomorrow. This part will deal with rook endings with multiple pawns tomorrow. That will cover our basic discussion of these type of endings. More advanced material for such endings will be discussed in subsequent modules.

Module 2 will move to a different topic – analysis of some previous games to find out weaknesses in play. I hope you enjoyed Module 1, part 1. Please give me your feedback – this is particularly important in the initial modules as it helps me consider and develop the appropriate training scheme.

Introductory position 3

Black to play.

Another famous position. Your task:

1. If Black plays 1...Qa6, white cannot play 2. Bxa6, because of 2...Nxa2#. But, after 1...Qa6, what if white plays 2. g4. What is Black's best continuation after that? (2 minutes)
2. 1...Qa6. 2. g4 Qxa2. 3. Be3. What is Black's best finish? (1 minute)

Total time: 2 + 1 = 3 minutes

Introductory Position 2

White to move.


This is a very famous position. Here are your tasks:

1. Do you recognise which game this position is from? (30 seconds)
2. At first glance, without deep thought, who has an advantage? (30 seconds)
3. What is White's best move? (1 minute)
4. What happens after 1. Ba3 Qxa3? What should white play then? Give detailed variations after white's best continuation. (5 minutes)

Total time: 30 seconds + 30 seconds + 1 minute + 5 minutes = 7 minutes

Introductory position 1


White to move.

Your task is to answer each of the following questions in the following order.

1. Evaluate the position. What are the advantageous and disadvantageous features for White and Black? (Time to be taken: 7 minutes)
2. Should white play for a win or should white accept a draw? (Additional time to be taken: 2 minutes)
3. Find the best plan for white. Please consider that Black's best possibilities also in forming the satisfactory plan. (Additional time to be taken: 10 minutes)
4. What specific move should white play? How is the play likely to go ahead? Give some variations. If white plays 1. Rb5, and Black responds with 1...Rb7, what is the best continuation for white? (Additional time to be taken: 6 minutes)

Total time: 7 + 2 + 10 + 6 = 25 minutes