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 31^st 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 32^nd 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...