QUEENING IN MASTER CHESS TOURNAMENTS: Ernest Rubin, American University and the University of the District of Columbia

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1 QUEENING IN MASTER CHESS TOURNAMENTS: Ernest Rubin, American University and the University f the District f Clumbia Intrductry Remarks Accrding t the Oxfrd Universal Dictin - ary, "queening" in chess was in frce as early as./ Currently, chess rules require that a pawn be prmted, when it has reached the eighth rank, t ne f fur pieces, i.e., a queen, a rk, a bishp r a knight./ Fr ver a century this manner f queening has-been adpted in master chess play./ The purpse f this essay is t describe tentative answers t certain questins regarding queening in master chess turnaments. Furteen chess cmpetitins, cvering the perid 67 t 97, were studied. Over, games were examined in detail and 9 queenings were identified in 7 games./ The fllwing results are based n this sample. Frequency f Queening Table prvides infrmatin n each turnament, it indicates ttal games played and the games in which ne r mre queenings ccurred. Smewhat less than 6 percent f ttal games invlve queening. The lwest percentage,.5 percent, ccurred in the U. S. Champinship Turnament f 969; the highest percentage, percent, tk place in tw turnaments, that f Hastings, 9 and New Yrk, 9. The data, viewed as a time series, suggest a decline, since 95, in the relative frequency f queenings in master chess turnaments. Many mre turnaments, hwever, must be studied befre definitive trends f queening in master chess can be established.5/ Outcme After Queening What is the relatin between queening and the utcme f a game? The answer t this questin is shwn in Table. Fr the sample f 7 games, draws ccurred times r.6 percent while white wn 9 times r. percent and black times r percent.6/ It will be nted that f the turnaments studied, the Vienna 9 and Baden 9 cmpetitins were gambit turnaments. The cnditins specified in the Vienna 9 turnament required white, the first player, t pen with the King's Gambit (i.e., P -K and then P -KB); and black, the secnd player, t accept the King's Bishp Pawn, by respnding, respectively, t white by P -K and PxP.7/ The Baden 9 turnament cnditins were less stringent than thse f Vienna 9. Only Gambit penings were allwed, but the acceptance f the Gambit was nt mandatry; a player had t btain permissin frm the turnament cmmittee, specifying the variatin he wuld play in declining the Gambit./ Separating the sample f 7 queening games by type f turnament rigin, there were 5 queening games in regular turnaments and such games in Gambit turnaments. In the "regular" turnaments white wn 7 games, black games and games were drawn; the crrespnding percentages are white.7, black.6 and drawn.7. In Table, cmparable data are prvided fr ttal games played in the turnaments. Fr the ttal f,9 regular turnament games the white wn 5 percent, black percent and 5 percent were drawn. In the tw gambit turnaments f 79 games, the crrespnding percentages are white percent, black 6 percent and percent drawn. The data fr the Gambit turnaments suggest a substantial advantage fr Black, bth as t queening and as t winning. Methds f Queening and Nature f Pawn Prmtin Tw ways determine pawn prmtin. A pawn may reach a square n the eighth rank by advancement r by capture f an enemy piece ccupying that equal. Of the 9 queenings that ccurred in the turnaments under investigatin, (r abut 9 percent), were the result f pawn advancement. Only six queenings came abut when an enemy piece was captured. (Table ). In the regular turnaments, white pawns queened times and black pawns times. Queening after capture ccurred twice fr white and fr black. Fr the tw gambit turnaments, there were nly tw queenings by white and eleven by black. In this grup nly tw queen - ings, by black, ccurred fllwing capture. Since the queen is the mst valuable piece, it is n surprise that pawn prmtin t queen is the verwhelming chice. Fr the 9 pawn prmtins that ccurred in 7 games, 7 were t queens and nly pawn prmtins were t knights. In this sample nt a single pawn was prmted t rk r bishp. Distributin f Queening Events and Their Outcmes In thery, eight pawns n each side have the ptential f becming queens. I knw f n game ever played in which ne side had nine queens and I wuld cnjecture this result t be impssible. Chernev refers t a game with five games, white and black, and t a wrld champinship game with fur queens, white and black.9/ Table 5 prvides the distributin f queening events in 7 games, with a breakdwn fr clr and type f turnament. In 55 f these games, nly ne side queened, i.e., white and black 7. If we cnsider regular turnaments, there were 5 games with queening events in which nly white queened, 7 times, and nly black queened, 9 times. Fr the tw gambit turnaments in which there were 56

2 queening events, nly black queened, 9 times, nly white, times; in ne game each side queened nce. Thus, the number f queenings in master play is predminantly f the singular type. There were nly fur games in which three pawns were queened. Of interest is the relatinship between queening, clr, game utcme and type f turnament. This infrmatin is prvided in Table 6. When nly white queened nce r mre, in 9 games, white wn, lst and drew 5. The cmparable infrmatin fr black in games is wins, lsses and draws, indicating a slight advantage t white. In 9 games, white and black queened nce, with the results that 5 games were drawn, white wn nce and black three times. Smewhat mdified results btain by cnsidering the type f turnament. In Table 6 cnsider the 5 results fr the twelve regular turnaments. White perfrmance appears appreciably better in regular turnament cmpetitin with regard t queening. In 7 games nly white queened nce r mre, resulting fr white in wins, lss and draws (a scre f.9). When nly black queened nce r mre in 9 games, black wn 5, lst and drew (a scre f.6). Queening Pawns and Queening Squares Which pawns queen mst frequently in turnament cmpetitin? Table 7 prvides the data based n 9 queenings in the 7 game sample. Fr white and fr black, the queen rk pawns queened mst frequently, fllwed by the king rk pawn. Tgether the queen and king rk pawns accunted fr queenings ut f a ttal f 9 queenings r better than percent. Secnd in imprtance are the knight pawns, with queenings r smewhat ver 5 percent f ttal queenings. Tied fr lwest were the king and king bishp./ Pawns with 6 queenings r arund percent. - These findings are cnsistent with chess practice and thery. On a priri grunds the expectatin is that the center pawns wuld queen relatively infrequently because these pawns are mst ften captured r exchanged./ Pawns n the flanks, i.e., the rk pawns, hwever, are usually the survivrs f penings and f early middle games. On the average, queenings ccurred n the 5st mve fr white and the 6th mve fr black./ On which squares d queenings ccur? The results (Table 7), fr the 9 queenings were smewhat unexpected in view f the distributin f the queening pawns. On the high side were the queen knight and king knight squares. These squares accunted fr queening sites, fllwed clsely by the crrespnding rk squares. The king and queen squares were f minimal significance, cnstituting the site f nly queenings. The crrespndence between the riginal psitin f the queening pawns and their queening squares, using rank crrelatin, was per- cent. The knight, as well as bishp, queen, and king, squares prvide three ways f pawn access (by capture f an enemy piece frm tw adjacent clumns r by advancement); the rk squares permit nly tw ways f pawn access. It is pssible fr a king rk pawn t queen n the queen knight square, in effect, a shift f seven clumns. In practice, hwever, the mves f a queening pawn are at mst tw clumns frm the riginal clumn psitin; and mst queening pawns remain in the riginal clumn. Queening and Castling The data prvided in Table relate queening and castling in the 7 game sample. In 9 games nly white queened and in games nly black queened; in games white and black queened. Of the 57 games in which queening was accmplished by either white r black, castling tk place 6 times. Thus, in games the queening player did nt castle (5 white and 6 black). Fr the games in which bth sides queened, the castling mve was cmpleted 6 times, i.e., times by white and times by black. 'ndicated in Table, castling n the king's ide predminated, 6 times, cmpared with times n the queen's side and times in which the castling did nt ccur. The distributin f queening by side f bard is much mre balanced than the distributin f castling. Queening and castling n the king side ccurred times and n the queen side times. When castling ccurred n the queen side, queening was equally divided, 5 n the king and 5 n the queen side. In the games in which castling did nt ccur, queenings tk place n the king side and 7 queenings ccurred n the queen side. While the prepnderance f castling n the king side was t be expected, it seems rather unusual that queening shuld ccur almst equally n bth sides f the bard. Further samples will have t be examined, hwever, befre any cnclusins f the relatinship between queening and castling sides can be asserted with any statistical reliability. The results btained in this paper are nt based n a randm sample and a sample f 7 "queening" games is nt large enugh fr the number f variables under discussin. These findings are, perhaps, suggestive r indicative f what may pssibly be expected frm a mre extensive sample. Summary f Principal Findings The principal results f this analysis suggest that queenings in master chess between 67 and 97 ccurred in abut 5 percent f the games played. There is an indicatin, hwever, that in master turnaments since 95 the percentage f queenings in turnaments has fallen belw percent. In general, the side t queen first wn but it shuld be nted that f 7 "queening" games resulted in draws, and in tw games the queening side lst. Of interest is the result that under- 57

3 prmtin, t knight, was made twice while the remaining 7 prmtins were t queens. Fr bth the white and black sides, the queen rk pawn queened mst frequently, fllwed by the king rk pawn and the king and queen knight pawns. This study shuld be regarded as a preliminary investigatin int the phenmenn f queening in master chess turnaments. Of interest wuld be a cmparable examinatin f queening in wrld chess champinship matches. A cnsiderably larger sample wuld enable us t relate chess penings t queening as well as t establish statistically defensible cnclusins. In terms f queening, it becmes very bvius that there is a variatin in the value f the pawns and perhaps further study shuld be made f pawn evaluatin in terms f their initial ps tin./ Finally, we must reiterate that the results f this study are subject t the strictins that (a) the sample is nt randm, and (b) the sample is small in terms f the number f cnsidered variables. It is hped, hwever, that this study will be a spur t further wrk n this prblem. Surces: a. Dundee Centenary Turnament, 967 and British Chess Assciatin Cngress, Dundee 67 by R. G. Wade (The Chess Player, Nttingham, England, 967) b. The Hastings Chess Turnament, 95, edited by Hrace F. Cheshire, (Dver Publicatins, N. Y., 96) c. Vienna Gambit 9, anntatins by Gerge Marc (The Chess Player, Omaha, Nebraska, 967) d. The Internatinal Chess Cngress, St. Petersburg, 99, by Dr. Emanuel Lasker, (Dver Publicatins, N. Y., 97) e. Baden 9 Chess Gambit Turnament, (James R. Schreder, Cleveland, Ohi. 97) f. Hastings Internatinal Masters' Chess Turnament 9, ed. by W. H. Watts (Dver Publicatins, N. Y., 96) g. Lndn Internatinal Chess Cngress 9, ed. by W. H. Watts (Dver Publicatins, N. Y., 96) h. New Yrk Internatinal Chess Turnament 9, ed. by Hermann Helms (Dver Publicatins, N. Y., 96) i. Nttingham Internatinal Chess Turnament, 96, ed. by W. H. Watts (Dver Publicatins, N. Y., 96) Sviet Chess Champinship 9, by M. M. Btwinnik (Dver Publicatins, N. Y., 97) k. Canadian Centennial Grand Masters Chess Turnament 967, ed. Ken Smith (Chess Digest, Dallas, Texas, United States Chess Champinship and Wrld Champinship Znal Qualifier, by Mrtn Siegel (United States Chess Federatin, Newburgh, N. Y., 97 m. The Match f the Century: U.S.S.R. v. Rest f the Wrld, by David N. L. Levy (The Chess Player, Nttingham, England, 97) Ntes and References. "Queen... In games a. Chess...the psitins n the bard attained by a pawn, when it is queened.," The Oxfrd Universal Dictinary n Histrical Principles, rd ed., revised Clarendn Press, Oxfrd, 955), p. 6.. Harkness, Kenneth, Official Chess Rulebk, (David McKay, N. Y., 97): "On reaching the last rank a pawn must be immediately exchanged, as part f the same mve, fr a queen, a rk, a bishp, r a knight f the same clr as the pawn, at the player's chice... ", p. 6.. The precise evlutin f the queening rule is difficult t establish. Fr a brief discussin f this pint see "Pawn Prmtin" in The Encyclpedia f Chess cmpiled by Anne Sunnucks (St. Martin's Press, N. Y., 97), pp. -9. Als f interest is Sunnucks' entry "Queen, The" at pp In Vlume VIII A New English Dictinary n Histrical Principles, ed. by James A. H. Murray (Oxfrd Clarendn Press, 9), ti.e fllwing cmment appears at page with reference t queening: "79 Twiss Chess II. 55 Damer le Pin, literally t queen the Pawn, is a French expressin. 797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. ) IV. 6 ntes, T queen is t make a queen." I believe that the current rule n queening was generally established in the first half f the nineteenth century.. In this survey f, games, the scre f each game, as given in the surces, was read at least three times. It cannt be claimed, hwever, that this survey is errr -free, in that a few games invlving queening may have been missed. 5. Changing styles f chess play between 67 t 97, primarily frm pen t clse games, may accunt fr relative changes in the queening phenmenn. Anther factr fr cnsideratin in this cnnectin is that f the selective basis fr player turnament participatin. In the last fifty years selectin has becme successively differentiated because f the imprved methds f rating masters, internatinal masters and grandmasters. 6. In Chess Life and Review, May 976, p. 77, reference is made t an article "White r Black?" by J. Alns which appeared in Ajedrez Canari (Spain) Octber 97. Alns sampled chess games fr the perid 95 t 97 5

4 and fund that "...the expectatin is % fr White, % fr Black, and 7% Drawn." 7. Vienna Gambit 9 (Spence Turnament Classics, The Chess Player, Omaha, Nebraska, 967), p. 5.. Baden 9 Chess Gambit Turnament (J. R. Schreder, Cleveland, Ohi, 97i), p.. 9. Irving Chernev, Wnders and Curisities f Chess (Dver Publicatins, Inc., N. Y. 97), pp. 7 - and p... Encyclpedia Britannica (st Editin Bell and MacFarquhar, Edinburgh, 77), entry "Chess" "...The difference f the wrth f pawns is nt as great as that nblemen; nly, it must be bserved, that the king's bishp's pawn is the best in the field...," Vl., p... Ernest Rubin, "Life and Death f a Chess Piece," The American Statistician, April 96, pp. -.. In the games that nly white queened, the average length f the game was 6 mves cmpared with the average length when nly black queened f 5 mves. Table. Queening in Selected Master Chess Turnaments: Date Cmpetitin Games with ne Games Played r mre queenings Percent 67 Brit. Chess. Cng. Dundeeá/. 95 Hastingsb/.57 9 Vienna Gambits/ 9.Ó9 99 St. Petersburg, Internatinal d/ Baden Gambitee/ 9. 9 Hastings, Internatinal!!. 9 Lndn, Internatinal New Yrk, InternatinalY. 96 Nttingham, Internatinals! Sviet Chess Champinship./ Centenary Turn. Dundee!'. 967 Canadian Centennial U.S. Champinship!! U.S.S.R. v Rest f Wrldm!.5 ( turnaments), 7.57 Subttal ( Regular Turnaments), Subttal ( Gambit Turnaments)

5 Table. Outcme After Queening in 7 Master Chess Games, by Cmpetitin: Table. Outcmes f, Games in Selected Masters' Chess Turnaments, by Clr: Date Cmpetitin Dundee Hastings Vienna Gambit St. Petersburg Baden Gambit Hastings Lndn Games with r mre queening 9 Wn by White _ Black 5 6 a/ 7 Drawn Games Wn by Date Cmpetitin Games White Black Draws 67 Dundee 5 95 Hastings á/ Vienna Gambit 9a/ 7 99 St. Petersburg Baden Gambit Hastings 9 Lndn New Yrk 96 Nttingham Sviet Champin Dundee, Cent. 967 Canadian Cent U.S. Champin U.S.S.R. v Wrld New Yrk 7a/ s, turnaments, Nttingham Sviet Champin. a/ s, Regular turnaments, Dundee Cent. Canadian Cent. s, Gambit turnaments U.S. Champin U.S.S.R. v Wrld a/ Des nt include game frfeited because f illness. 7 9 a/ In ne game, nly black queened and lst. b/ In ne game, nly white queened and lst.

6 Table. Methds f Queening, by Type f Turnament and by Clr, in 7 Master Chess Games: Methd f Queening Queening White Black Regular Turnaments By Advancing Pawn t th Rank 7 By Pawn Capture n th Rank Sub -ttal 76 Gambit Turnaments By Advancing Pawn t th Rank 9 By Pawn Captive n th Rank Sub -ttal Turnaments By Advancing Pawn t th Rank By Pawn Capture n th Rank Table 5. Queening E''ents, by Type f Turnament and by Clr, in 7 Master Chess Games: Queening Events (per Game) Regular Turnaments Number f Games Queenings White Black White, Black White, Black White, Black White, Black White, Black White, Black White, Black Sub Gambit Turnaments White, Black White, Black White, Black White, Black White, Black White, Black White, Black Sub - Turnaments White, Black White, Black White, Black White, Black White, i Black White, Black 6 9 White, Black

7 Table 6. Outcme in 7 Master Chess Games, by Clr, Table 7 Queening Event, and type f Turnament: Table 7. Queening Pawns and Squares in 7 Master Chess Games, Regular Turnaments: White Black Queening Event Wn Lst Drew Wn Lst Drew by Clr and Type f Turnament: White Turnament. White, Black 6 6 Turnaments Queening Original Pawn Gam - White, Black Psitin Regular Gambit Square bit All All Regular White, Black White, Black Queen Rk.Qa. 9 9 Queen Rk White, Black Queen Knight:.. Queen Knight White, Black Queen Bishp... 5 Queen Bishp 7 5 White, Black Queen Queen Sub -ttal King King King Bishp 5 5 King Bishp 5 5 Gambit Turnaments: King Knight.: King Knight 9 9 King 7 7 King Rk 6 6 White, Black White, Black White, Black Black White, White, Black Black Queen 9 Queen Rk 9 6 White, Black Queen Knight:. 7 Queen Knight B 7 6 White, Black Queen Bishp:. 5 Queen Bishp 7 5 Sub -ttal 7 7 Queen 5 5 Queen 6 6 All Turnaments: King 6 5 King King Bishp.:. King Bishp King Knight.:. King Knight King Rk White, Black 5 5 White, Black Black White, Black 7 7 White, Black White, White, Black Black Queen 7 Queen -Rk 7 White, Black Queen Knight: Queen Knight Queen Bishp 7 Queen Bishp 9 5 Queen 9 Queen 7 7 King 6 King 5 5 King Bishp. King Bishp 9 9 King Knight.: King Knight 7 Ring King Rk Table. Queening Games Only by White Queening and Castling, by Clr and by Side f Bard, in 7 Macler Chess Games: _/ Castling Side Queen Did Nt Castle Game On King Side 6 On Queen Side Only by Black n King Side 7 On Queen Side 5 7 r By White and by Black On King Side On Queen Side a/ In 6 games, queening by the same side ccurred twice. The scred queening ( by white and by black) has been mitted frm this table. b/ The ttal f 6 queenings represents games because white and black queened in the same game. 5