White: Jonathan D. Whitcomb (previous UCER rating=1808) Black: Grant Hodson (previous UCER rating=1944), expected first-place winner

Transcription

1 Lessons From Chess Game a Tournament By Jonathan Whitcomb, a chess tutor in Utah UCER Ratings in Utah Certain chess clubs in the Salt Lake Valley have their games rated using the UCER system (Utah Chess Estimated Rating), which is similar to the national rating program used by the United States Chess Federation. UCER does not require membership in anything and is free, and it s based mostly upon informal games played in chess clubs. Senior Center Tournament Game in Utah The following game I played on June 14th against Grant Hodson, the tournament leader in the Harman Chess Club Championship (2017) in West Valley, Utah. If Grant and I both do well in the remaining few games of this double round robin, I ll win second place, but may get as close as half a point below him when the tournament is over. White: Jonathan D. Whitcomb (previous UCER rating=1808) Black: Grant Hodson (previous UCER rating=1944), expected first-place winner 1) d4 2) Nf3 3) d5 Nf6 c5 e6 4) Nc3... White moving c4 instead that would be a standard Benoni opening 4)... exd5

2 5) Nxd5 b6? The first mistake of the game, allowing White to get a solid advantage White should now play Bf4, aiming at Black s vulnerable c7 square. 6) Bg5... Bf4 would have been more to the point, for Black has weak squares, c7 and d6, which can be exploited by White. 6)... 7) Nxe7 bishops 7)... 8) e3 Be7... Qxe7 h6 I chose to gain a slight advantage with two

3 9) Bf4 d5 10) Be2 O-O 11) O-O Bb2 12) C4(?)... Better would have been c3 or h3 Black s best move here is probably Rd8. 12)... Re8 13) h3 d4 This is part of the point of Black s previous move Re8, for the white pawn at e3 is now pinned, for the bishop at e2 would be lost if White now moved 14) exd4. In my chess lessons I give to students in central Utah, I

4 often mention tactical situations on the chess board. In this position, at this stage of this game, Black was probably thinking of the potential influence his doubled queen and rook may on the half-open e-file. 14) Re1 dxe3 15) Bxe3 Nc6 16) a3 17) Qc2 move Nd4 Rad8.... probably not best, as it allows Black to 17).... Ne5 better was Nd4, but now Black s slight advantage evaporates 18) Nxe5 Qxe5 19) Bd3 Ne4 20) f3 21) Bf2 Nf6.... now White has a slight advantage because of the two bishops 21) ) Rxe8+ Qf4 Rxe8 23) Re1 Rxe1+ 24) Bxe1 Qe5 25) Qe2.... I saw the possibility of winning after the exchange of queens, for my two bishops might win one of Blacks queen-side pawns. 25) ) Bc3 Qd6 Kf8 White could otherwise break up Black s

5 king-side pawns with Bxf6 27) Bc ).... preparing for Qe5 Nh5? This mistake allows White to force the exchange of queens and to possibly win a pawn on the queen-side. That knight became obviously misplaced on the edge of the board, and my opponent and I afterwards agreed that this may have been a big factor in the outcome of this game. 28) Qe5! Qxe5 Actually, Black does not have to capture the queen, for the bishop on c2 is undefended. Black may play Qe6, and if White captures the knight then Black moves Qe3+, getting a perpetual-move-draw or winning that bishop. My opponent may not have seen that. 29) Bxe5 Ke7

6 An instructive chess end game White to move: either Bb8 or Kf2 are good 30) Kf2 This good that move.... was a difficult choice. Winning a pawn with Bb8 looks for White, on the surface, but Black has two ways to trap bishop, at least temporarily, and the white king needs to towards the center of the board without too much delay. 30).... a6 31) b4 f6? trapping his knight 32) Bc7 trying to prevent the loss of a pawn Black is corralling in his own horse, cxb4 33) axb4 b5? 34) c5 (?) White may now simply win the knight with Bg6.... This appears to win the game, in the long run, but Bg6 would have been quicker. 34).... in a corral 35) Ke3 g5 my opponent noticed that his knight was Ng7 36) Be4.... I wanted to bring my king into the center. The exchange of light-squared bishops appeared to me to be the best way forward. 36) ) Bd6+ Bc8.... My bishop will eventually need to make way for the pawn advance. I thought it might as well do that now, giving a check that delays allowing his knight to move to e6.

7 37).... for the knight 38) g4 Ke6 the e6 square is probably best reserved f5 39) Bd3.... to get to d5 probably a mistake, allowing the black king 39).... f4+ probably a mistake by my opponent (Kd5 would have been better) 40) Kd4.... now the white king has the center 40).... Bb7 apparently the best move under the circumstances, but it s too late 41) Be4 Bc8? 42) Bf8 Black could have survived longer after Bxe ).... Kf7? not the best but a simple road to victory Black should have moved Ne8 but now White wins easily 43) Bxg7 Kxg7 the black king is now too far away for White s passed pawn 44) Ke ).... Kf7 45) Kd6 46) c6 Be ) ) c7 48) hxg4 quicker would have been c6 and then Bf5 now nothing can stop c7 and Bf5 h5 hxg4.... I had plenty of time on my clock and more than my opponent had, so I chose the easy way.

8 48) ) Bf5 50) c8(q) 51) Bxc8 Bc8 Bb7 Bxc8 Black resigns With one game left in the tournament, for Grant Hodson, it looks like he ll probably finish with only one loss, the above game. The best that I can reasonably hope for is to finish in second place, half a point behind him. I missed a number of best-moves in this chess end game, but so did my opponent. Chess Instruction in Central Utah I teach chess lessons in the Salt Lake Valley. The first getting-acquainted session is free. If you choose to continue with regular lessons, the cost is only $25 per hour-long lesson. Feel free to contact me by . Jonathan Whitcomb (author of Beat That Kid in Chess) 5347 South New Hampton Drive (Chestnut Place condominiums, 925 west) Murray, Utah Feel free to phone me: ###. Chess lessons in Utah

9 My own philosophy for chess education includes the tutor giving the student opportunities to come up with his or her own ideas. With that said, when you have a chess lesson with me, you ll most likely find that most of the ideas about how you can improve will come from me, at least in the early stages.. Chess Tutor in Utah Why can private chess lessons help improve playing skill faster than other ways of progressing in chess abilities? At least in the instructional sessions you will have with me, each lesson will be tailor-made for the student.. Chess teacher at a tournament in Salt Lake City I was delighted that both my chess students who competed in this year s State Elementary Championship Tournament won trophies.. Learn chess in Utah Face-to-face tutor that s learn to win me at..... chess instruction from an experienced chess the fastest way to learn the royal game and chess games. For more information, please call I live in Murray, Utah.

10 An Instructive End Game at the Harman Chess Club By the author of the book Beat That Kid in Chess: Jonathan Whitcomb I m a chess tutor in living in Murray, Utah, and am active in the chess club of the Harman Senior Recreation Center in West Valley City. Recently I played an endgame there against one of the stronger players in the club. If you play at a beginner or intermediate level (or even higher), you might find the following an instructive chess lesson. Diagram-1: White has a number of acceptable moves here I was playing against Dennis, one of the stronger players in our chess club. After only twenty-one moves, we found

11 ourselves in a rook-and-pawn end game, and I was a pawn ahead. Being one pawn ahead in an end game, when handled properly, can lead to a win, but rook-and-pawn endings can be difficult. In fact, some of these end games allow the defender to draw even when a pawn behind. I knew I needed to play patiently and precisely against Dennis, to have any reasonable hope of winning this game. One of my first thoughts was this: I wanted to prevent my opponent s rooks from becoming active, especially I wanted to keep them off my first and second ranks. My rook in the middle of the board, on the e5 square, already controls the efile. The only way Black s rooks might infiltrate my position appears to be through the d-file, so I moved my other rook to d1: 22) Rd1 Raf8 Diagram-2: Black just moved over his rook from the upper-left corner White now controls both the d-file and the e-file, but Black has doubled his rooks and threatens to win White s pawn on f2.

12 I could have protected my pawn with one of my rooks but I saw that moving that pawn to f3 would be more efficient and allow my king to soon get closer to the center of the board. 23) f3 24) Kf2 g6 Kg7 Diagram-3: Both kings begin to approach the center of the board I was not surprised that my opponent was playing well, bringing his king closer to the center like I was. In his younger years, Dennis was rated at almost 2000 by the United States Chess Federation, and he has a lot of experience and understanding of chess. My next objective was to exchange one pair of rooks. With all four rooks on the board, it could be difficult to always prevent both of my opponent s rooks from becoming activated and aggressive, for the pawn structure would surely become more open before I would be able to advance a potential passed pawn very far.

13 25) Red5 Re7 Diagram-4: White to move will cause a pair of rooks to be exchanged 26) Rd7.... This forces a capture of one pair of rooks but it does not force Black to begin that exchange on his move. In fact, it would have been a serious mistake for my opponent to capture first, for that would have led to the exchange of the other pair of rooks, making it much easier for me to win this chess end game.

14 Diagram-5: Black now has five reasonable options 26).... Rff7 Dennis was wise in getting that rook protected rather than capturing my rook. 27) Rxe7 Rxe7

15 Diagram-6: How can White make progress in this rook and pawn end game? I wanted to progress with my kingside majority, which naturally first involves advancing my f-pawn. Yet, with this kind of rook-and-pawn ending, no simplistic advancing of pawns will both create a passed pawn and cause it to reach the final rank to become a queen. Still it appeared to me that this was a good time to begin advancing my f-pawn. 28) f4 Kf6 29) Kf3....

16 Diagram-7: Black to move, should he advance a pawn? Black s best move here may be to advance his h-pawn two squares: h5. This could eventually open up the h-file, perhaps allowing the black rook to become more active. In general, it s best to exchange pawns when you are behind in material. Pawn exchanges cannot be completely avoided by White, in this particular end game, but some exchanges might be even better for the defender than other exchanges. White s rook and king are perfectly placed for keeping the black rook away, in the above position, but an open h-file would more likely be useful to Black than to White. Notice that if the black king advances with Kf5, it could immediately be driven back after White s pawn move g4+.

17 Diagram-8: Black moved the h-pawn up only one space 29).... h6 (?) Black might have done better with h5 instead of h6. White should now move g4, preparing for an eventual advance of the f-pawn. 30) h3 (?) 31) a4 a5 g5

18 Diagram-9: White should now move g4 Perhaps my opponent would have done better with h5 instead of g5, but it now becomes obvious that I should have, a little earlier, moved g4 instead of h3. My best move, in the above position, is probably still g4, but I decided to keep my king on f3 a little longer, preventing the black rook from moving to e2. My move (fxg5+) was probably an error. 32) fxg5 hxg5 33) Rd5 Kg6 34) g3 Kf6

19 Diagram-10: White should now move c5! Now I had an opportunity to make a breakthrough and get a clearly winning position by moving c5. I missed it, however, making the obvious but inferior move h4. 35) h4 36) gxh4 gxh4....

20 Diagram-11: Black has an opportunity to activate his rook: Re1 It seems that my opponent now had an opportunity for drawing chances by moving Re1. He instead chose to attack and block my h-pawn. (A deep computer-chess-engine analysis gives Black s best move in the above position: Rf7. Yet few chess players would have found that move over the board; even experts and masters can miss such a subtle move.) 36) ) Kg4 38) Kf4 Rh7 Rg7+....

21 Diagram-12: Black s best chance for a draw is now Rg1 or Rg2 The defender in this rook and pawn end game has a limit on how long he can play passively. Now is probably the best time to get his rook activated behind enemy lines, for if he passively blocks White s h-pawn, another opportunity for a harassing defense may not come up until it s obviously too late. 38).... Rh7 39) h5 Rg7

22 Diagram-13: White has three good moves here; what would you choose? According to the chess engine Stockfish, White has three moves that are about equally good. Yet chess engines are not always at their best in these kind of end games. The best chess players often look for the best plan before looking for the best move. Chess computer programs, on the other hand, generally do nothing like thinking; they calculate. Of course calculating is often critically important in playing chess, yet some endgames have too many possible moves for computers, when the calculations require very deep analysis in the number of moves looking ahead. A little human wisdom can add wonders to good chess calculations in an end game. One of the three moves top moves chosen by Stockfish, however, also looks good after human pondering of the above position. In fact, I chose c5 in my game against my friend Dennis, in this end game that we played in West Valley City, Utah, on August 24, The other two moves recognized as good by Stockfish are Rf5+ and h6.

23 40) c5 Ke6 41) Re Diagram-14: Black has three legal choices. What would you choose? Actually my opponent had two major choices: Move the king to the right or left. Moving the black king toward my h-pawn would make it more difficult for me to promote that pawn, but it leave the two black pawns vulnerable. That is actually the better choice for Black, but my opponent chose to move his king toward his own pawns. 41) ) cxb6 Kd7 cxb6

24 Diagram-15: White s best move here is h6 43) Rb5.... I was too cautious here, thinking this would make it easy to win. By moving Rb5, I made it impossible for my opponent to have any real counter play. The black king will be tied down to defending the b6 pawn, and my king would aid my h-pawn in its advance towards promotion. 43) ) Kf5 Rd7 45) Re5 Rd3 Kc6 46) Rb5.... overly timid 46) ) Kg6 Rh3 and Black resigned It was not exactly a master performance on either side, but this end game can be instructive, a chess lesson for players

25 who play below expert level. ###. One free chess lesson in the Salt Lake Valley Jonathan Whitcomb, author of Beat That Kid in Chess, is now offering lessons in the Salt Lake Valley, with no travel charges for him to drive to your location, if you live in the central communities of the SLV. The $25 chess lessons include one free copy of his book and other materials of instruction. A getting-acquainted meeting is also offered and this first meeting is free, with no obligation for the student. An End Game in West Valley City, Utah Can a chess book prepare a club player for an end game? It depends on both the book and the game. Basic principles of the end game can be learned from chess books, to be sure, but experience over-the-board and careful possibilities can count for much. pondering of Library books in a Utah chess club Last month I looked through the chess library in the Harman Senior Recreation Center, West Valley City, Utah. (The senior-citizen chess club meets on Wednesday afternoons, from 12:30-3:00.) I found 102 chess books, some of them published in recent years. A queen-versus-rook end game I ve enjoyed watching Youtube videos by Derek Grimmell, instructional productions on various aspects of the queenversus-rook end games of chess. I don t recall even one of them that would not be of great value to an average (or above

26 average) tournament player who might want to be more proficient in this kind of end game. Be aware that very few chess books teach anything about queen versus rook endings.. Javelin in the Queen Versus Rook Introduction I ve enjoyed watching Youtube videos by Derek Grimmell, instructional productions on various aspects of the queenversus-rook end games of chess. I don t recall even one of them that would not be of great value to an average (or above average) tournament player who might want to be more proficient in this kind of end game. Be aware that very few chess books teach anything about queen versus rook endings. Attack With a Javelin Notwithstanding the debt we owe to Mr. Grimmell for his detailed study and his many valuable instructional materials, of the many key position-types that he demonstrates in his videos, the one least convincing to me, in his instructions, is the javelin. It s not that some javelin positions may allow the defender to escape eventual defeat; I ve worked on some of these positions and found them adequate for the winning side to win. Yet some of his statements (and one of his demonstrations) regarding the javelin I ve found to be questionable. If I ve made an oversight in this, I accept correction (See Addendum).

27 Youtube Videos Let s first look at the video Queen versus Rook endgame, Javelin 1. I see no problem with the first few moves. I d like to examine the consequence of the move Qd5+, however, what Grimmell calls the key move. Be aware that the following position is not itself a javelin but the resulting position we get to from his analysis of a particular javelin. See Diagram-5, near the end of this post, for the original position. Diagram-1 after Qd5+ In the video, the black king moves to c3 but that is taken back, replaced with Kb4. I think I understand the reason that Grimmell may have thought that Kb4 was a better defense, for it prevents the white king from advancing with Kb5. But let s look deeper into Kc3. What if the defender now tries to get into a third rank defense, with the black king trying to get to d1 or e1? It takes only one little move for the rook to get to h3, setting up a defense that is not impregnable but which takes quite a few moves to break down. Here s the position after White replies to Black s Kc3 by moving Kc5:

28 Diagram-2 after White s Kc5 This looks like a good time for the defender to put the rook on the third rank. Diagram-3 after Rh3 (But see *Addendum at the bottom of this post) Now let s try the obvious: pushing the defending king towards the edge with Qd4+*. The black king would like to get to d1, so let s have it then move to c2. What would then be more natural for the attacker than to advance the white king to c4? The rook would then be in danger, so the defender would move

29 it to a3. That gives us this: Diagram-4 after Ra3 (not likely you ever see this in a chess book) Notice that if White now moves Qf2+, the black king may move to d1, creating a standard third-rank defense. To win by breaking through that defense, when the defender plays very well, requires not only a precise technique but a good number of moves. That brings into question the idea that all javelin positions are key independent setups for winning. But what else is White to do in Diagram-4? If Qg1, denying the defending king the d1 square, Black has a number of check available from the rook. White may be able to convert this position into a corner defense, but that defies the concept of the javelin as a separate way of winning this queen versus rook end game. In Grimmell s first and second javelin videos on this chess end game, he makes a number of claims, one of which I extol while bringing others into question: 1) From the javelin position, you re always going to win the game on a fork. [second video]

30 2) The javelin differs from all the others [of the 21 position types]... when the javelin position appears on the board, you must win it by javelin rules. [first video] 3) You can t turn the javelin position into one of the other kinds of position types. In particular, the javelin position is the only one where the attacker wins without going through Philidor s position. [first video] On point #1, his own demonstrations of two winning methods in his second video they both show how to win, and I see no fault in the analysis. Yet one of those can result in the rook reuniting with the defending king, allowing the attacker to get a mate in three, and the other can result in a Philidor position. I would restate point #1: Threats of forking the rook commonly restrain the defending king until the attacker eventually forces the defender to choose between being checkmated and giving up the rook. I like Grimmell s statement in point #2:... you must win it by javelin rules. That s well put and correct. I recommend his videos on this special type of queen-versus-rook end game, for they are highly instructive in how to win as the attacker. Yet it seems to me that point #3 contains an overstatement, for at the end of his second javelin video we see the Philidor position (although that is just one of two ways to win from a position in this video, both of which he demonstrates well). I would restate it thus: The proper handling of a javelin, by the attacker, will not likely involve conversion into a Philidor position. Just remember that the Philidor is one of the easier and quicker position types for the attacker to win, if the opportunity comes up.

31 Now let s look at the original position in Grimmell s first javelin video, the position that gave rise to the one shown in Diagram-1: Diagram-5 an actual javelin position of queen-versus-rook Like all javelin positions demonstrated by Mr. Grimmell, the defender has the move. With White to move, just give checkmate, in this case with Qa4#. Conclusion Derek Grimmell has given us a wealth of instructional materials for handling these many types of variations in this wonderful kind of chess end game. Even if the two javelinposition videos are not quite up to the highest technical standards of many of his other videos, they are of great value to those who would learn how these variations can work. How grateful we should be to learn from them! And what a surprise it will be if one of us is ever the defender in a queenversus-rook and our opponent is a less-well prepared master! (Not a pleasant surprise for the master.) *Addendum From Diagram-3, I later found another possibility for White: Qd1. Black s Rd3 would quickly lose the rook after Qc1+ and

32 then Qc4+. On other hand, Re3 would lose the rook even more quickly after Qd4+. Almost all distant rook defenses would also quickly lose the rook to a fork. Perhaps the best defense for Black, after White s Qd1 from Diagram-3, would be to retreat the black king towards the corner, not a happy defense for Black. At any rate, the prospects of getting a third rank defense would appear bleak. ###. Teaching with the queen-versus-rook endgame How should a chess instructor teach basic tactics to advanced beginners or lower-ranked tournament players? Consider using the endgame of king-plus-queen versus king-plus-rook. What marvelous tactics can be taught in this kind of endgame! Chess Book Gift Short reviews of three chess books, including Beat That Kid in Chess. A New Method: Using Queen-Versus-Rook the How should a chess instructor teach basic tactics to advanced beginners or lower-ranked tournament players? Consider using the endgame of king-plus-queen versus king-plus-rook. What marvelous tactics can be taught in this kind of endgame!

33 Few chess books have anything about the queen-vs-rook, even good chess books on endings. Yet this is here presented as a tool for chess teachers, a gift that can lift the tactical abilities of their students. Teaching Beginners Let s look at a way to draw when you re on the losing side, probably not a popular approach for beginners, who naturally always think about winning. Diagram-1 with Black to move and draw We re not talking about the fifty-move rule here nor threemove repetition. For chess instructors, Diagram-1 is an easy draw for Black, a simple concept. Yet this position can help a beginner to see a possibility he or she never before imagined in an endgame. So how does a player find Rc6+ over the board? One way is to recognize that if the rook were removed from the board it would be a draw, with Black to move. It s because the only square available to the defending king, after four squares are eliminated by the queen, is b6, which is next to the attacking king. The sacrifice Rc6+ forces the White king onto a square that still covers the only escape route for the black king:

34 draw by stalemate. Another way to find this simple combination is to first notice that the white king and queen are on the same file, and then notice that the black king has no legal move. If you re a beginner rather than a chess instructor, notice that after the rook moves to c6 (checking the white king) and the white king moves to d5 to get out of check (avoiding a stalemate) then the rook captures the queen and Black will have a draw after the white king captures the rook. With only kings on the board, it s an immediate draw. Advanced Lesson I recommend the book Winning Chess Endings, by Yasser Seirawan (ISBN-13: ), which has twelve pages on the queen-versus-rook endgame, a whole chapter at the end of the book. That chapter is hardly a complete analysis of all the many challenges that may face a defender and attacker in this ending, but it has more than most chess books on the end game. It shows how to get to the Philidor position, which is critical in so many of these queen-versus-rook battles (which are actually rare in over-the-board competition). ###. Books on Chess Openings Tournament players generally need more than just a basic knowledge of opening principles. They need at least a little knowledge of opening variations, at least a few of them, to some breadth and depth. Chess Books for Teenagers

35 If you re looking for a chess book to give to a teenager or if you are the teenager either way, you need to consider the skill level of the reader. Chess Book Gift Three publications: How to Beat Your Dad at Chess (by Murray Chandler), Beat That Kid in Chess (by Jonathan Whitcomb), and Conquer Your Friends (by Maxen Tarafa). Queen Versus Rook Endgame What is the Philidor position? It depends on what kind of endgame you re talking about. With queen versus rook, it looks something like this... Gift of a Chess Book Beat That Kid in Chess was created to prepare the early beginner to win a game of chess as quickly as possible. Unlike many other books on chess, this one does not try to push you into an advanced tournament level of ability, which can take years (with or without books).. Third Rank Defense of Queen Versus Rook Let s look at the standard winning method against the Third Rank Defense in the queen versus rook end game. This is a challenging defense to break down.

36 Diagram-1 of this variation of the queen-versus-rook Notice the key elements: Defending king on the edge, on a center square of that edge Queen is a knight s move away, keeping the defending king on that edge The queen keeps the defending king off the other center square of the edge Attacking king is opposing the defending king, with two squares intervening Rook is blocking the attacking king from getting any loser to defending king Notice that the queen prevents the defending king from moving

37 to a4, the other edge-center square. This is important in the standard position. Also notice the key element to third-rank defenses in general: The rook cuts off the attacking king by staying on the third file or third rank from the defending king. The key position in this defense is shown in Diagram-1, and it includes the relationship between defending king and rook: One is two diagonal moves away from the other. Diagram-2 after Qe3 The queen moves away from the edge where the defending king was confined, landing on the square on which the queen s diagonal points toward the square between the defending king and the rook. In Diagram-2, this diagonal is from e3 to b6. Black s best move here is Kb5, as the defending king escapes from the confinement of the edge of the board.

38 Diagram-3 after Kb5 White s queen move appears to be a mistake, for it lets the black king escape, but this is only temporary. The queen now moves to e8. Diagram-4 after Qe8+ After Qe8+, if Black moves Ka5 or Kb4 then the rook will be lost (after Qd8 or Qb8). If Ka6, from Diagram-4, White can move Kd6 and Black will need to play Rc7, which will allow the white king to approach the defending king with Kc6, and Black will soon be trapped, obviously with the Third Rank Defense

39 broken down. Let s see what happens when Black instead moves Kb6 from Diagram-4. Diagram-5 after Black moved Kb6 White now forces the rook off the third rank with Qb8+. Diagram-6 after Qb8+ Black s only choice for saving the rook is Rb7.

40 Diagram-7 after Rb7 The defending king is now pushed back to the edge of the board, but this time the Third Rank Defense has been broken and Black should soon be cornered. Diagram-8 after Qd6+ Now if Ka5 then White can maneuver the queen to a4 (with the black king soon returning to b6) and the white king will move to d6, making an Euwe position, a fairly easy win. In Diagram-8, if Black moves Kb5, White wins the rook with Qc6+.

41 The only other move available to Black is Ka7, which allows Kc5 for White, an obvious breakdown of the Third Rank Defense. White should soon win this end game. Thanks to Derek Grimmell for his extensive research in queenversus-rook end games. ###. Beginners Chess Book Why show a chess student a position that s almost the same as one that was already shown to that student? Many small details can make an infinite difference in chess, and these can be created in nearly-identical positions. Chess Book Resources Many tens of thousands of books have been written about chess, over the centuries, and most of those were probably published since the beginning of the twentieth century. Queen Versus Rook Euwe Position Moving Rc8 soon results in a fatal back-rank prison for the black king as follows... Chess Book for Beginners [Reviewing two chess books] Besides the covers, with cartoon characters and similar titles, they have something else in common: Both emphasize the importance of tactics in winning chess games..

42 Queen Versus Position Rook Euwe This is the Euwe position of the queen-versus-rook end game, named for Max Euwe, who was briefly the World Champion of chess in the early 1930 s. It is the defender s move below, so what can black do?

43 Diagram-1 Moving Rc8 soon results in a fatal back-rank prison for the black king as follows: Rc8 2. Qf7+ Kd8 (forced) 3. Kd6 with mate soon to follow What if black moves the rook all the way down to c1? Consider this: Rc1 2. Qf5+ Ke8 (The black king must avoid the dark squares or lose the rook) 3. Qh5+ Kd7 4. Qg4+ Ke8 5. Kd6 (the point of the queen maneuvering: black cannot harass the white king) Black will then have to give up the rook to avoid mate. From Diagram-1, what about moving Rb7? Diagram-2 That s the best defense for black (Rb7) but there s a problem:

44 1. Qf7+ Kc8 2. Qe8+ Kc7 3. Kc5.... which brings us to Diagram-3. Does the position look familiar? Diagram-3 Compare the above position with that of Diagram-1. Each piece is one square to the left. This will be repeated (if black uses the best defense: Ra7), and the rook will soon have no room to retreat. Other positions, in queen-versus-rook, are not so easy as the above, but with proper technique, precise technique, white should also win other variations of Q-vs-R.

45 Special thanks to Derek Grimmell for his research and his Youtube chess videos on various patterns and procedures in these challenging Q-vs-R endgame variations. ###. Philidor Position of Queen-Versus-Rook A special case of corner defense, known for centuries Derek Grimmell s Youtube Video on Euwe Position A fine video on this aspect of queen-versus-rook chess end game Chess book for beginners If you know the chess rules but almost nothing about how to win, this book is for you.. Queen Versus Possibilities Rook Draw When you have the queen, in an ending with nothing but a queen and an opposing rook, watch out for the defender s drawing opportunities..

46 Queen versus Rook end game, with white to move In the above position, white may appear to have an easy win after Kd6, for three mates will be threatened. But look at this response: Re6+. Notice the game will then be a draw. When you enjoy the pleasure of having a queen against your opponent s rook, beware of putting your king and queen on the same rank or file. Be sure that an unpleasant rook move is not possible in the position, or only your opponent may be pleased. When the defender is an expert in defense, winning a queenversus-rook end game is no picnic, unless you know many precise methods of winning this particular end game.

47 How do you win the queen: at Then how easy approach, Qb7, Re7. in the above position? I see a better place for a7 or b7, with the other pieces the same. it would be to win with Kd6! But the direct allows the rook to drive away the queen after Can the black king survive on c8? Even with the black king on c8, the white move Kd6 would win quickly, as long as the queen would be on a7. So a key to winning is having the queen at a7 or b7 when the black king is on c8 or d8, with white to move. I see a challenge in preventing the defending king from escaping to e7 and then e8. Yet I also see a way to prevent that escape: Qd6+. I do not see, however, any way to force a position in which my queen is at a7 or b7 and the defending king is at c8 or d8. What about the queen at a6 and all else as in the diagram, with white to move? With the white king moving to d6, mate would soon follow, for there would be no draw available for the defender. Here then is the solution: 1. Qd6+ 2. Qa6+ 3. Kd6 Kc8 (forced) Kd8 (for alternatives, see a, b, and c below) and black cannot avoid mate from Qa8#, without giving up the rook with no stalemate possible. Alternative (a): Kb8 allows Qb5 which wins the rook Alternative (b) Kc7 allows Qa7+ and the white king will soon advance to d6 Alternative (c) Kd7 allows Qb7+ with results like Alternativeb ###. The Philidor Queen-versus-Rook

48 What is the Philidor position? It depends on what kind of endgame you re talking about. A Winning Combination Consider the chess puzzle below, a problem not for beginners but ideal for lower-rated tournament players. Queen Versus Rook Philidor Endgame What is the Philidor position? It depends on what kind of endgame you re talking about. With queen versus rook, it looks something like this: Here are the key elements to remember: Attacking king is two diagonal squares from corner

49 Rook is one diagonal from that corner Queen is a knight s move from both its own king and the rook Defending king is next to that corner and a knight s move from other king Another point is that black needs to have the move, in order for white to most quickly win. What if it s white s move? Follow this procedure: 1. Move queen to the center square that checks the defending king 2. Move queen to corner that almost completes a triangle of queen moves 3. Return queen to the original (Philidor position) square

50 The defending king needs to move to the eighth rank (allowing Qa8+) for moving Kh6 allows Qh4#. The above is a common triangulation method of losing a move. What can Black Do? In the queen-versus-rook Philidor, the defending king has only one legal move, and it results in the queen pinning the rook and capturing it on the next move. Let s look at possible rook moves: Short moves by the rook don t work. The one in which the rook is not immediately lost, Rg8, results in immediate mate: Qh5#. Let s look at longer rook moves, beginning with the ones that pass the attacking king, away from the queen, down the g-file: Rg4 quickly loses the rook to Qh5+. With Rg2, it s quickly lost to Qe4+. What about Rg3? My favorite technique, in that case, begins with Qh5+. After black plays the forced Kg8, white plays Qd5+ giving us this position:

51 Notice that Kf8 results in immediate mate (Qd8#) and that as long as the queen is on the a8-h1 diagonal, the defending king cannot ever move to h6 without the devastating Qh1+. The two key forking squares, for the white queen to get to in the above position, appear to be b8 and c7, one of which needs to be obtained while checking the black king. In reality, only one of those two is needed: b8. The winning method is simple. The white queen checks on one of the following two squares (depending on the black king moving to h8 or h7): a8 or b7. The longest delay of checkmate comes from the black moving Kh8. The winning combination is then as follows: 1) Qa8+ Kh7 2) Qb7+ Kg8 (or Kh8) 3) Qb8+ winning the rook So that leaves only one more possibility, if the rook moves down the g-file: Rg1, seen here:

52 The technique is similar to the previous one: The queen takes the a8-h1 diagonal with Qe4+. Notice the Kh6 results in immediate mate (Qh4#). Whether the black king moves to g8 or h8, the queen then checks at a8, forking the rook on the next move (Qa7+). Notice that a black king at h8 and the rook at g8 allows Qh1#, when the queen has that a1-h8 diagonal. Do you see how important is that attacking king on that particular square (two diagonal moves from the corner)? Let s now look at rook moves along the seventh rank, moving to the left in the following position (the original Philidor position): The first three rook moves to the

53 left result in its immediate capture, while Rb7 results in an immediate fork: Qe4+. That leaves Rc7 and Ra7. We ll begin with Rc7: The e4 square looks promising for the queen, for it gives access to both a8 and h1. Keep the queen on that a8-h1 diagonal and check the king again, on either g2 or h1, depending on whether the black king has moved to g8 or h8. As the queen gives checks while it approaches the h2 forking square, black has no way to avoid that loss of the rook, unless the a8 mating threat is ignored. That leaves only one more possible move for black, from the Philidor position: Ra7.

54 This may be the best defense for black, for it takes away the a8 from the queen. In the above position, I would aim for the forking square g1. It can be obtained by moving the queen to the following squares: h5, g4, h3, g3, h2, and finally the key square: g1. The black king cannot move to f8 without allowing the queen to mate at b8 or c8 and the rook interposing with the black king at h8 allows a similar mate. Look at the following pattern of queen moves: Notice the queen s zig-zagging moves above. It s not a simplistic pattern, for g2 is avoided, for good reason. The queen needs to keep an eye on either b8 or c8, until it reaches g1. With the black king at g8, a check

55 by the queen moving to g2 would be a mistake, for the black king could then move to f8, leaving no more reasonable checks for the queen. Why Bother Looking at a Queen-Versus-Rook Endgame? It s highly unlikely that you ll ever play a game that gets to the queen-vs-rook ending. But notice how the winning solutions were found. It was not random checks, trying to happen onto a fork or mate. The reasoning was logical, finding key forking squares and ideal checking squares for the queen. In your end games, look for the key points, the essence of the type of ending you find yourself in. Philidor Position In the queen-versus-rook endgame, the Philidor is an important key position. If you ever find yourself in this kind of endgame, with the queen, aim for that corner position, for even the best defender cannot remain alive when you use logic in finding the key squares. ###. Trapezoid Position With Queen Versus Rook Derek Grimmell calls this the trapezoid, a key position in the queen-versus-rook endgame. Although it may look innocent enough, black has no move that does not quickly lose. Beat That Kid in Chess The queen can be a powerful fighter during much of the game. But in the opening be careful about bringing the queen out too early, for it might be a target of your opponent s minor pieces and pawns...

56 Chess Moves in the Movies Some of the movies with chess games are indeed realistic, while others are not. In Casablanca it was realistic, for Humphrey Bogart was a good chess player and surely would not have allowed any glaring mistake in the setup of the board; quite likely he set up the position himself.. Endgame Study by Grigoriev (1932) Reviewed The Russian chess master Nikolay Grigoriev ( ) won clear first place in the following Moscow City Championships: He drew five of the seven games of the match he played against Alexander Alekhine in 1921 (A. A. won two). It was labeled a training match. But Grigoriev is better known as a composer of endgame studies, especially pawn end games. The following is taken from one of his studies, as recorded in the book Practical Chess Endings (by Chernev) and reviewed on the Fireside Chess site page End Games.

57 Black to move and possibly avoid losing Those are surely not words used by Grigoriev, possibly avoid losing. With best play, white apparently wins this endgame. But it is not a cook or an invalidation discovery that I found in this study or chess puzzle. It s a trap that can be set up by the defender. Grigoriev gives Kd1 for black, the obvious move. But white wins after the following: 2. Kd4 3. Kd3 c1(q)... (black has no escape from the mating net) A Chess Trap Set by the Defender Look again at the position above. Consider the less obvious

58 move by black: Kd2. Now look at an obvious sequence a careless attacker might pursue as white: 2. Kd4 Kd1 except... How similar this looks to the main line, 3. Kd3 (?)... White could have won with Kc3! c1(n)+ This knight fork draws the game for black. ###. End Game Draw With the move, can black draw?. An Endgame Beginners Puzzle for

59 With white to move, is it possible to win? This endgame study is especially important for beginners, but it may be too easy for many experienced tournament players. Notice that for the white king to move towards the kingside is worthless in trying for a win, for the black king simply moves towards the queen side. Here is the correct way to win: 1) a4 h5 2) a5 h4 3) b6 axb6 4) a6!... White wins

60 Here s the point: White queens first and covers black s queening square. Notice that in this approach (advancing the white pawns instead of moving the white king), the black king cannot quite get to b7 in time and so fails to prevent the white pawn s coronation to queen. Looking ahead from the position in the diagram, a C-rated player or lower might miss this, assuming such endgames are too simple and devoid of unexpected possibilities. Higher rated players should know better. Beginners commonly have no clue until they see it demonstrated for them. ### Queen versus Rook endgame (Trapezoid) Derek Grimmell calls this the trapezoid, a key position in the queen-versus-rook endgame. Although it may look innocent enough, black has no move that does not quickly lose.. Bishop Plus Knight Against Lone King Few endgame problems are as difficult as the B+N vs lone-king. If the defender knows to retreat the king into the corner of opposite color of the bishop, no checkmate can be forced there. The attacker must force the defending king into the corner of the same color as that on which the bishop moves.

61 Watch this Youtube video on how to force checkmate in this end game. Former World s Women Champion fails to win endgame In the Anna Ushenina v. Olga Girya game, played in the Geneva tournament of the FIDE Women s Grand Prix , the former world women s champion could not checkmate with bishop and knight against lone king. She apparently did not know the whole precise technique for winning that type of endgame. Ushenina could have tied for third place in that tournament, if she had won that game against Girya, who appeared pleased that she had survived that game with a draw.

62 In a master competition, the woman on the left could not force checkmate. Technique for Winning This Endgame Consider the position at the top of this post (with the black king in the h8 corner) and the following possible continuation. 1) Nf7+ Kg8 2) Bf5 (waiting move) 2).... Kf8 3) Bh7 Ke8 4) Ne5! Kd8 5) Ke6! Kc7

63 6) Nd7! 7) Bd3 Kc6 blocking the defending king from escape The rest is easier for white. Theoretically this knight-plusbishop endgame is a win, but it usually takes precise knowledge for a player to win against the best defense, in over-the-board competition. ###. Chess Finesse in an endgame With the move, can black draw?. Queen versus Rook Trapezoid

64 Black to move, what can be done? Derek Grimmell calls this the trapezoid, a key position in the queen-versus-rook endgame. Although it may look innocent enough, black has no move that does not quickly lose. Rook moves on the eighth rank Moving the king immediately loses the rook, so the rook must move. Checking the white king with Rb8 allows Kc6 with two mate threats, and white wins the rook or mates. But Ra8 loses the rook to a skewer. Rook moves on the C-file These also fail. Rc7 allows Qf8#, followed by Qf7#, winning the rook. What about Rc4 or Rc3 or Rc1? Those rook moves lose

65 to the queen moving to one of the following three squares: d5, f6, g5. Another use of the trapezoid Grimmell also points out that if the black pieces are not on the edge of the board it is still to white s advantage, for black must give ground. In a queen-versus-rook endgame the weaker side does better keeping the king and rook as far from the edge and corner as possible. Other key positions in queen vs rook The best known may be the Philidor position, but Max Euwe (world champion decades ago) and his associates came up with their own key position in the mid-20th century. Derek Grimmell has found many key positions, with names like the following: javelin cage third-rank defense.