Caro-Kann on the Olympiad Opening Review. Tactical Rook Endings. Understand the Najdorf Structures - Part 1

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Caro-Kann on the Olympiad Opening Review. Tactical Rook Endings. Understand the Najdorf Structures - Part 1"

Shona Skinner
5 years ago
Views:

1 Issue 0 M a g a z i n e Caro-Kann on the Olympiad Opening Review Tactical Rook Endings Understand the Najdorf Structures - Part Endgame Series 0: Active Rook in the Endgame French Structures - Closed Center

2 ONTENTS k 9 0 kz 9 0 :: 0 Endgame Series 0: Active Rook in the Endgame (GM Davorin Kuljasevic) Sarana,A. () - Zvjaginsev,V. () / st ch-rus HL 0 (.) Wojtaszek,R. - Demchenko,A. () / 9th ch-eur Indiv 0 (.).0.0 Vitiugov,N. () - Valsecchi,A. (00) / rd Olympiad 0 (9.) Analysis Tomashevsky - Dubov,0 Smyslov,Vassily - Keres,Paul / Leningrad/Moscow () 9 Najer,E. () - Popov,Iv RUS 0 / st ch-rus HL 0 (.).0.0 Ni,Hua (9) - Ding,Liren () / Shenzhen Celebrity th rapid () Anand,V. () - Carlsen,M. () / World Blitz 0 (.) 9..0 French Structures - Closed Center (GM Mihail Marin) Kasparov,Garry (9) - Ivanchuk,Vassily (0) / Horgen ().0.99 Manea,Alexandru (0) - Marin,Mihail () / ROU-ch Men 0 ().0.0 Machulsky,Anatoly D - Bronstein,David Ionovich / URS Cup Tbilisi (Georgia) 9 Chistiakov,Alexander Nikolaevi - Petrosian,Tigran V / Moscow-ch Moscow (Russia) 9 Minasian,Artashes () - Kortschnoj,Viktor Lvovich () / EU-ch nd Ohrid ().0.00 Guliyev,Namig () - Marin,Mihail () / Baku ol (Men) nd (.) Bassan,Remo () - Marin,Mihail () / Panama Panama-Stadt () 9..0 Tactical Rook Endings (IM Yochanan Afek) Introduction + Example - Exercise - Author's Study - Answers fl 0 9 Understand the Najdorf Structures - Part (GM Renato Quintillano) Structure : Geller,Jakov () - Sjugirov,Sanan () / Moscow op-a () Structure : Hou,Yifan () - Grischuk,Alexander (0) / Moscow FIDE GP ().0.0 Structure : Navara,D. () Wojtaszek,R. () / Vugar Gashimov Mem 0 (.).0. Structure - With : Chirivi (0) - Rodriguez () / COL-ch U0 Girls () Structure - With 0-0 : Nisipeanu,LD. () - Giri,A. () / th GM 0 (.).0.0 Structure : Mainka,Romuald () - Pigusov,Evgeny (09) / MK Cafe Cup-A () Structure : Georgiadis,N. () - Mamedyarov,S. (0) / st Biel GM 0 (.).0.0 Structure : Nevostrujev,Vladimir (9) - Efimenko,Zahar (9) / Chigorin Memorial th ().0.00 Ol Caro-Kann on the Olympiad - Opening Review (GM Boris Avrukh)

We start with a grandmaster encounter from the recently finished Russian Higher League: Sarana,A. Zvjaginsev,V. st ch-rus HL 0 (.) 0.0.0 Hello, Dear chess friends!

3 Modern Chess Magazine Endgame Series 0: Active Rook in the Endgame positions, but in many of them, this is indeed the case. Our goal in this survey is to explore exactly such endgames where activation of the rook is the best strategy, even at the cost of a pawn. We start with a grandmaster encounter from the recently finished Russian Higher League: Sarana,A. Zvjaginsev,V. st ch-rus HL 0 (.) Hello, Dear chess friends! In the new issue of Endgame series, we will cover an important endgame principle: rook activity. Rook is a piece that often shows its greatest strengths in the endgame, when most of the pawns and pieces disappear and it can move freely across the board. According to the statistics published by Mueller and Lamprecht in 0, the most common type of endgame is exactly rook vs. rook endgame (.% in all games played), while endgames involving at least one rook appear in approximately % of all games played. So, when you sit at the board, there is more than one in three chance that you will play a rook endgame on that day! I do not think that we need to give further reasons why it is important to have a good understanding of rook s capabilities in the endgame. Now, a well-known rule of thumb says that active rook in the endgame is worth a pawn. This does not apply to all White has a strong pressure in this endgame. Not only does Black have two isolated pawns on the same color as his bishop, but his pieces are also very passive. Black's position looks hopeless on the surface; however, experienced grandmaster Zvjaginsev finds a nice maneuver to activate his rook:...rc! reminding White that he has a weak pawn, as well. [ Other moves are too passive:...kf.nb Rc and here White forces a favorable rook trade:.rc! Rxc.Nxc

4 Modern Chess Magazine [ Other moves are too passive:...kf.nb Rc and here White forces a favorable rook trade:.rc! Rxc.Nxc [ similar is ).Rb Bf.Nb Rc= ] [ Finally, the most stubborn option was ).Rb!? Black retreats Rc In this endgame, Black is lost because his pawn structure violates Capablanca's rule. Bb.Nb Ke.Kd Kd.Kd+- and Black will soon get into zugzwang. ] [ or...rd.nb d.c+when White gets a passed pawn. ].Ne White wins a pawn with this move, but, as we shall see, this also allows Black to activate both his rook and bishop. [ White had many other possibilities at this point: ).Rd is another way to win a pawn, but after Ra.Rxd Bb.Rd Bc! (an important intermezzo) (...Bxf?.Ne ).Rc Bxf.Ne Bd= Black returns it, with a great position. ] [ ).Nb stopping Rc-a maneuver, but here Black has d.cxd Rxd+.Ke Rc.Nxa Ra= ] and surprisingly, White does not have a good way to improve his position. Both his c- and a-pawns are a burden, so it is difficult to rearrange his pieces in a better way. For example:.rd (.Rb Rc ;.Nf Rc )...Be.Nc Rc.Nb Rc and White's positional advantage may just prove insufficient to win the game. ]...Ra.Rc Be [ Of course, not...bb?.rc+- ].Rxa d! This simplifying move makes Black's life much easier..cxd Rxd+.Kc Ra

5 Modern Chess Magazine What a transformation! Just a few moves ago, black pieces were stuck on last two ranks. Now black rook is more active than the white one, while the bishop can operate on the whole board. Black has a completely adequate compensation for the pawn, which was proved in the game:.kd Bd It is important to put pressure on White's kingside pawns..ra [.Kc!? may have been more precise, not allowing a black king to activate. ] [ On the other hand,.f leaves the g-pawn exposed and after Be 9.Kc Ra+ 0.Kb Rb+! ( 0...Rxg?!.Rc Rb+.Kc Ra.a ).Kc Rc+! (the purpose of these checks was to drive white king to a worse position).kd Rxg.Rb Ra= Black is in time to stop the a-pawn. ]...Kf! 9.Nd+ Kf 0.Nb Ra+.Kc Be.a Ke Now Black king is active as well..ra Kd!.a Ke Black's counterplay comes just in time..g Kxf.gxh gxh.kb Rb+!? [...Ra= does not allow the pawn promotion, but why complicate matters. The bishop vs rook endgame is a dead draw. ].Kc Rxb 9.Rd Ra 0.aQ+ Rxa.Rxa Kg.Kd Kxh=.Ra Kg.Ke h.kf f.ra Bd.Rh Be.Rh Bd By activating his rook and putting it behind the a-pawn, Zvjaginsev followed the well-known Tarrasch rule that states: The Rook's place is behind the passed pawn; behind the enemy pawn in order to hold it up, behind one's own in order to support its advance. One should remember this rule because it holds true in most cases. Let us see another instance where the defender employed this endgame strategy. /

MODERN CHESS. Endgame Series 16 MAGAZINE. Typical Attacking Ideas. You Don't Know? Master the French Structures Benoni Structures : So, Dig Deeper!

MODERN CHESS. Endgame Series 16 MAGAZINE. Typical Attacking Ideas. You Don't Know? Master the French Structures Benoni Structures : So, Dig Deeper! ISSUE MODERN CHESS MAGAZINE You Don't Know? So, Dig Deeper! Part Typical Attacking Ideas Learn How to Use the Dangerous f-pawn Master the French Structures Benoni Structures : Methods of Playing Endgame