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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 24 August 2010 |
by Natalia Pogonina for her
Chess.com Tuesday column
The endgame is the final part of a chess game, characterized by a small number of pieces left on the board. Many chess players fall in love with studying the opening and middlegame and forget about the endgame, considering it to be dull. Some of them even find excuses and claim that one can win in the opening or middlegame, so why waste time on endgames? This is not the right way to treat chess though. The stronger the players, the higher the chance the game will be decided in the endgame. Thats why some chess legends said that a chess player is as good in chess as he is in the final stage of chess. The endgame is important not only in terms of playing it well, but for general understanding of the game. When the material is limited, it is easier to perceive the nature of each piece and feel how they interact with each other, their strong and weak sides. This experience will prove helpful in the opening and middlegame as well. Also, being an endgame master gives you a better understanding of what you are aiming for in the opening and middlegame and makes you feel confident about yourself. While players who lack technique avoid exchanging queens at all costs, experienced masters are happy to exploit a slight, but stable advantage.
"In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else, for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame."
-- Jose Raul Capablanca, World Champion 1921-1927
Some of the recommended authors (the list is not exhaustive by far) on chess endings are Silman, Shereshevsky, Panchenko, Portisch, Averbakh and Dvoretzky. In their books you will find information on all types of endgames, from basic to sophisticated ones. There are also many online courses (like Chess.coms videos and Chess Mentor lessons), as well as great software, e.g. Chess Assistants products. Practice makes perfect, so a person who wishes to improve in chess should be solving problems regularly and studying the games of such endgame classics as Capablanca or Smyslov. By following this advice you will feel the essence of chess better and develop your chess imagination.
Pawn endings are the foundation of endgame play. Those are followed by bishop, knight, rook, queen and mixed endgames. Rook endgames are most popular and so complicated that even top players make blunders in them. Thats why one should pay special attention to this type of endgame.
Each type of endgames has its own principles and key positions. Planning is also an important part of the endgame. The endgame hardly ever requires deep calculations. The necessary skill is to be able to come up with the right plan and exploit all the pieces left in the optimal way.
Simply studying games and theory doesnt work since people tend to forget abstract ideas very quickly. Practicing, e.g. solving chess studies or sparring, is the key to success. One should also have good basic technique e.g. quickly mating with a queen, rook, two bishops or bishop and knight. This is crucial in time trouble or blitz games. I have actually seen grandmasters not being able to mate with B+N at critical moments
Nowadays the Nalimov tablebases offer us unique opportunities for learning. They are available on the internet (free access) and can provide you with the precise evaluation (won, lost, drawn) of any 6-piece endgame or less. So, for instance, if you end up arguing with a friend about who was better in a rook + pawn vs rook + pawn endgame, you may instantly find the answer to it on the Internet!
Summing up the ideas of my three articles on opening, middlegame and endgame, the following can be said. From beginner to FIDE 2500 one should pay more attention to the middlegame and endgame (although it doesnt mean that the opening should be neglected!). At a highly professional level the priority goes to the opening, but other stages of the game are still being studied even by world champions.
Let's look at my final game at the Mullhouse 2010 GM event from the endgame perspective:
The game could have been decided in the middlegame, but after mutual mistakes White ended up in a bad ending. Black was too anxious to win, but got only half a point. When the opponent doesnt have any active plans, one should just patiently keep improving his/her position; no need to hurry!
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 24 August 2010 )
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The long and winding road to mastery-6
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Written by Administrator
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Saturday, 21 August 2010 |
Candidate master Peter Zhdanov's column at Pogonina.com
Why not take part in a World Championship? My friend Evgeny Sidorovsky and I have recently played a chess-poker WC match (all the other contenders received mental invitations from us, but didn't arrive somehow). It consisted of 4 rapid games (30 min/game, as we didn't have a Fischer chess clock at our disposal) and two poker heads-up matches (starting with 100 bb and rising up to 20 bb). A point for each win, so one needed to score 3.5 points or more to claim the title.
As this is a chess website, we will pay attention to the games only. First of all let me remind you who the players were. Both of us are candidate masters, but Evgeny is more experienced, old-school, while I am more "professional" and generally keen on chess. In fact, he is a semi-poker pro, while I treat poker as a nice game, but don't enjoy playing for stakes as much as he does. So, for me the result in rapid chess was more important in terms of getting some sparring practice and finding out how successful my studies are going. My opponent, also motivated about chess, was probably more concerned about poker for obvious reasons. As to the surroundings: they were rather informal, but we still managed to keep the custom of writing down moves (and signing the scoresheet in a stylish way - "World Chess-Poker Championship"), shaking hands before each game, etc. Unfortunately, during one of the first games the conditioning brok down, so we were forced to play in one of those terrible days in Moscow this year when the air is so hot and full of smoke that it's hard to breathe. Blame our occasionally poor play on this and the time controls.
Let's take a look at some of the critical positions in games 1 and 2.
Zhdanov (2049) - Sidorovsky (2153)
White to move
White clearly has the advantage in this Sicilian Four Knights position due to the weakness of the d4-pawn. What is the best way to prove it?
I played the obvious and not that good move b5, winning a pawn, but giving Black a very nice compensation for it due to better development and controlling the d and e-files. A much better continuation is Bb2, developing a piece and preventing most of Black's counter-chances.
Zhdanov (2049) - Sidorovsky (2153)
Black to move
Pursuing complications and trying to win the game, White played the tricky Bh6!? last move. What should Black do about it?
I saw the correct continuation otb: 20.Bh6!? Nd3! 21.Bg7 Ne8! (Evgeny missed this move and considered only 21...Ne1? Bf6+-) 22.Bd4 Ne1 23.Re1= In the game Black played 20...gh? and after the natural 21.Re5+/- White has an extra pawn.
Zhdanov (2049) - Sidorovsky (2153)
White to move
In this position White has to address the back rank threat and decide what to do about the hanging pawn on a3. I blundered by trying to fight for initiative (23.Rc1? Rf2 oops!), while the correct way was 23.Ra2 Ra2 24.g3 (forget about the pawn!) Ra3 25.Nf5 Kh7 26.Re7 b6 27.Nd4 Kg6 28.Nc6+/- attacking the a7-pawn and threatening Ne5.
Zhdanov (2049) - Sidorovsky (2153)
White to move
We have been making lots of small inaccuracies in time trouble, this is the moment for avoiding critical blunders. How should White play?
Patzer instincts tell us to stick to the knight. I instantly played 50.Kc4?? allowing Rb4! with an easily won pawn endgame for Black.
The correct way to treat this position was 50.Kd5! and if 50...Rb4 then simply 51.Rf7=; 50...Nb4 51.Kc4 Rc1 52.Kb3 and Black either gives up the pawn (=), or plays 52...f6 53.Rb5 Kg6 54.Kb4 Rb1 55.Kc4 Rb5 56.Kb5 Kg5 this is a draw: 57.Kc5 Kh4 58.Kd5 Kh3 59.Ke6 Kg4 60.Kf6=). Evgeny returned the favor and played 50...Nb4?? Now White may simply capture the f7-pawn and call it a draw. My hand lifted up the knight...omg! Touch-move, so 51.Rb4?? Rb4 52.Kb4 and Black will soon have a new queen. A devastating loss, especially given that I had missed a few excellent chances to win the game!
Now let's proceed to game #2.
Sidorovsky (2153) - Zhdanov (2049)
Black to move
Evgeny played an offbeat 6.Nb3 variation against my Dragon, definitely trying to avoid a theoretical clash with a well-known Dragon expert me. Strangely enough, a few days later Nakamura employed this very line against Ljuboevic. Well, how could he have missed the World Chess-Poker Championship match? 
How should Black deal with White's unambitious setup?
The most natural move that any Sicilian-playing person would suggest is 10...d5 with total equality. For some reason I hesitated and first played 10...a6?! and only after 11.Qd2 (11.Nd5!+/=) went d5.
Sidorovsky (2153) - Zhdanov (2049)
Black to move
One of my shortcoming has been overcomplicating things and preferring tactical positions to strategica ones. I am gradually getting rid of this weakness, but sometimes...What should Black do here?
A normal move like 16...e6 gives Black a solid equal position. My choice was a blunder, 16...Bc4?. The idea - open up the b-file and put pressure on White's pawns - might be ok, but the timing is wrong. After 17.Bc4 bc 18.Nd2 Ne5 White had a great resource.
Sidorovsky (2153) - Zhdanov (2049)
White to move
Can White win the c-pawn?
In the game Evgeny made a positional move 19.Bd4? and Black defended with Rfc8. A silicon beast, strong master or "uneducated" person might spot 19.f4 Ng4 20.Nc4! Rfc8 21.h3 Rc4 22.hg+/-
Sidorovsky (2153) - Zhdanov (2049)
White to move
Where is the white king heading?
Retreating is a way to draw the game. Moving forward (like my opponent did) normally signifies lack of knowledge of such positions, where White may end up only either mated or down material. My opponent wasn't awared of it and explained that "he thought he was preparing a mating attack". 33.Kg5? Kg7 34.g4 (forced)
Sidorovsky (2153) - Zhdanov (2049)
Black to move
How does Black exploit White's misstep?
33...R8c5 34.Kh4 hg 35.fg Ra5 36.Rbb7 Rf4 37.Kg3 g5 38.h4 Ra3 39.Rb3 Raa4 40.hg Rg4 41.Kh3 Rg5 42.Rf3 Kh6 43.Rf7 Rg6 44.Rh7 Kg5 45.Rae7 Ra2 46.Kg3 Kf5 47.Kf3-/+ Black wins the a-pawn and has some practical chances for a victory. However, this type of variations belong to IM Dvoretzky's books, not to no-increment rapid matches.
In the game I played 33...hg 34.fg R8c5 35.Kh4 g5? (35...Ra5-/+) 36.Kh4 Rc3 37.Rb3
Sidorovsky (2153) - Zhdanov (2049)
Black to move
Black is still playing under the impression that he should punish White for Kg5? and win the game. What is the real situation? How should Black continue?
The position is about equal, e.g. 37...Rb3 38.ab a5=. I was still searching for a forced win and played 37...Rc2?? (threatening mate) 38.h3 Ra2? (still failing to realize what is going on) 39.Rf3+- and the game is pretty much over.
In the next episode two more exciting chess fights will be presented, as well as the results for the heads-up poker match. You will also find out who the new Poker-Chess World Champion is!
Days to FM: 695
Episode 1: It has begun!
Episode 2: Epic fail
Episode 3: Moscow IM-norm tournament: analysis
Episode 4: Moscow IM-norm tournament: analysis-2
Episode 5: Moscow IM-norm tournament: analysis-3
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 22 August 2010 )
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Your questions answered by Natalia Pogonina-16
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 20 August 2010 |
The rules are simple - send us your questions and see them featured in the weekly Q&A column!
Q1: What was the longest game you have played?
A1: The game against Anna Muzychuk at North Urals 2007, 154 moves.
Q2: Has the Internet helped promote chess (in your opinion)?
A2: Generally speaking, yes. Nowadays one can watch broadcasts from chess tournaments all over the world, find sparring partners, communicate with chess friends, stay tuned to the news, etc.
Q3: What do you think about the ChessMaster series?
A3: They are quite entertaining and lively, can be especially recommended for kids. However, professionals are somewhat sceptical of the software since the engine itself is not top-notch (although quite strong).
Q4: Is there an opening novelty played by you that you are particularly proud of?
A4: I don't pay special attention to "greatest victories" or "fantastic novelties" that people like to ask about. Well...A few titled players mentioned that some of my plans/ideas in the Dragon were quite instructive.
Q5: Any embarassing accident that happened with you in chess?
A5: Embarassing? Well, I used to forget my openings or mix up preparation sometimes. Drew a knight and two connected pawns vs knight endgame once. Got mated without seeing it.
Less chess related: a chess book had a story about me forgetting the keys to my hotel room and having to play the game in a swimming suit, thus distracting the whole playing hall. A made-up accident though
Q6: Do you play at ICC/PlayChess/Chess.com, etc.? Fancy a game?
A6: Naturally, I have accounts at all these playing zones. However, lately I don't have much time for Internet blitz, sorry!
Q7: How do you evaluate Magnus Carlsen's chances of winning the challenge vs the World?
A7: The World will have a very low amount of time to choose one of the moves suggested by Nakamura, Vachier- Lagrave and Judit Polgar. Basically, it means choosing a RANDOM move out of those 3. This should not be enough to withstand the pressure of the World's number 1 (unless he blunders). Magnus is a clear favorite, in my opinion.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 20 August 2010 )
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