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Let's Take A Look

Let's Take A
Look...
Nigel Davies
We invite you to submit games to be considered by Nigel in this column. For all
games submitted, please provide the following information: (1) Names of both
players; (2) Ratings of both players; (3) When and where the game was played;
(4) The time control used in the game; and (5) Any other information you think
would be helpful for us to know. Please submit the games (in PGN or CBV
format if possible) to: nigeldavies@chesscafe.com. Who knows, perhaps you
will see the game in an upcoming column, as Nigel says to you, "Let's take a
look..."
Ending in Style
Many great players have recommended studying chess from the endgame, but
very few people take this advice. Openings books continue to sell extremely
well, despite the market being somewhat saturated; with everyone thinking that
their problem lies in the first few moves. I doubt very much that Ill be able to
convince you otherwise, but at least I can try.
Why is the endgame so important? There are several reasons. First, you might
actually get one and it will then need playing. Be warned that a different kind of
thinking operates in the endgame. Instead of playing for mate you are trying to
queen pawns. Instead of keeping your king tucked away in the corner you must
use him actively. Patience is a greater virtue than passion and judgement tends
to triumph over energy.
Besides the possibility of having to play and endgame there are a number of
fringe benefits to studying them:
G Players get a better appreciation of how to use a full army of pieces after
learning to operate with just a few of them.
G Confidence in your endgame play allows you to make calmer decisions
in the middlegame.
G Endgames give you a better appreciation of strategic aspects of the game
because combinational elements are to a large extent stripped away.
The thorny question is how someone should actually study the endgame. I
personally am no stranger to this problem and have found very few endgame
books even remotely readable. The first one I managed to finish was How to
Play Chess Endings by Eugene Znosko-Borovsky. This is really an excellent
guide that explains which pieces you should keep on and which you should
exchange. The second was Mikhail Shereshevskys Endgame Strategy which
adopts a similarly explanatory style. So far there hasnt been a third, though
Ive promised myself to work through Victor Korchnois Practical Rook
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Let's Take A Look
Endgames when I get the time. The old warrior is one of the greatest ever
endgame players and here he explains some of his greatest achievements in the
field.
The books Ive never been able to face are those dull compendiums of positions
in which the king can be separated by one file or two and the pawn can be on
either the fifth or sixth rank. Has anyone ever managed to read one of those
things? Im actually amazed that anyones managed to write one. The best of
this genre may be Rook Endgames by Smyslov and Levenfish, but youve got to
be a real enthusiast to get through this book to the end.
Besides books dealing specifically with endgames, another good method of
improving your understanding can be to look at games of players who made the
endgame their speciality. Playing through the games of Capablanca, Rubinstein,
Smyslov or Karpov will do wonders for your endgame play, and also provide a
sense of how the opening and middlegame is linked to the endgame. In some
respects the games of Capablanca and Rubinstein are more instructive because
they were playing against unequal opposition and thus managed to execute
more of their plans; modern GMs tend to see whats coming and will fight tooth
and nail to confuse the issue. Conversely, the games of Smyslov and Karpov
featured more modern openings, so both have their advantages.
Are there other methods of improving your endgame? Well its good to actually
play them. Very often you see players, myself included, agreeing a draw once
the queens are exchanged, but guys like Korchnoi, Anatoly Karpov and Bobby
Fischer see this as the start of the game rather than the finish. One of the
drawbacks with many modern time controls (i.e. those involving a blitz finish)
is that you often dont get time to play them properly. The answer here is to try
and avoid games with this kind of time limit, perhaps opting instead for Fischer-
style increments of x seconds or minutes with each move that you play.
Its quite an interesting exercise to set up some typical endgame position and
then play it out against the clock. I once witnessed Jon Speelman indulge in this
kind of practice against his second, Jon Tisdall; I think they had six pawns each
and a bishop. Frankly I found myself nodding off at the spectacle, but if an
endgame expert like Spess thinks this is a useful practice then this is probably
the case.
This months game was sent to me by Scott Levin. He was concerned about
how a winning endgame could go so badly wrong, starting off a piece up, but
only getting a draw.
Marquis of Somerset - Levin,S
Internet, 2004
Nimzovitsch Defence B00
1 e4 Nc6 2 d4 e5
Tony Miles favourite way of playing this opening; the other move is 2...d5,
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Let's Take A Look
favoured by Nimzovitch himself.
3 d5 Nce7 4 Bg5?!
An extremely odd-looking move from the Marquis, though it soon becomes
apparent that he has a fondness for long bishop moves. I quite like 4 Be3 in this
position, preventing Blacks bishop from coming to c5.
4...h6 5 Qh5
Well, I guess thats one way of protecting the bishop. But hasnt the Marquis
heard the guideline about not bringing out the queen too early?
5g6 6 Qh3 Bg7 7 Bh4?
Maintaining the pin like this is already a fatal mistake. White should eat humble
pie by playing 7 Bd2.
7...g5! 8 Bg3 Nf6
Another good move is 8...h5 threatening both 9...h4 and 9...d6. White would be
forced to start trying to give up material with 9 d6 but then 9...Nc6! would
renew the threats to both Whites bishop (10...h4) and queen (10...g4 11 Qh4
Bf6).
9 Bxe5 d6 10 Bb5+?
This second long bishop move puts White in
even more trouble. He should have tried
giving up his queen with 10 Bxf6 Bxh3 11
Bxg7 Rg8 12 Bd4 when with two pieces and
a pawn White would certainly have practical
chances. Now the position is totally lost.
10...Kf8
Arguably even stronger is 10...c6, adding a
bishop to the tally of White pieces that are
under attack whilst maintaining the right to
castle. But it doesnt matter too much.
11 Qa3 dxe5 12 Nd2 Qd6 13 Qxd6
A surprising decision by the Marquis, given that hes a piece down, but staying
in the middlegame would not be much better and now at least he has a target
(d6).
13...cxd6 14 f3 Nh5 15 Nc4 Ng6?
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This is still winning for Black, but its getting harder all the time. 15...a6 would
save the d6-pawn after 16 Ba4 (16 Nb6 Rb8) 16...b5 17 Nb6 Rb8 18 Nxc8
Rxc8 etc.
16 Nxd6 Ke7 17 Nc4 Bd7?!
Another inaccurate move that leaves gaping weaknesses on the kingside
(notably f5); simply 17...Rd8 looks better, keeping an eye on Whites d-pawn.
18 Bxd7 Kxd7 19 Ne2 Rhc8 20 Ne3 Bf8 21 0-0-0 Ng7
This and Blacks last move make perfect sense. The knight protects the
vulnerable f5-square.
22 Kb1 Bc5 23 Ng4 h5 24 Nh6 Ke7 25 Ng3 Nf4?!
This looks natural enough, but its the
wrong square for the knight. A much
stronger move is 25...Nh4, covering the f5-
square and hitting g2. The fact that the
knight is on the edge is immaterial.
26 Ngf5+ Nxf5 27 Nxf5+ Kf6 28 h4?
Thus far the Marquis has been doing an
admirable job of defending himself, but here
he slips up. A much better move was 28 g3,
putting the question to the knight on f4 and
getting the g2-pawn safe.
28...Nxg2!
An excellent and cold-blooded move.
29 hxg5+ Kxg5 30 Rdg1 Bxg1 31 Rxg1 Kf4!
Excellent, using the king.
32 Rxg2 Kxf3
Not bad, but 32...Rg8 is even stronger. Knights are especially bad against rooks
in the endgame, especially when they dont have a rook to support their action.
So the exchange of rooks would win easily for Black.
33 Rh2 Rh8
Putting the rook in the right place behind the passed pawn.
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34 Nd6 Rh7 35 Rh3+ Kg4
Still winning, but 35...Kg2 is stronger.
36 Rh1 h4 37 Nxb7 f5 38 Nc5 f4 39 Ne6 h3 40 Rg1+ Kh4??
A grave error, putting Blacks king in a bad
position. 40...Kf3! 41 Ng5+ Kf2 42 Rh1
Kg2! is just winning for Black, though the
earlier inaccuracies have made precision
necessary here.
41 Ng5 h2
Black is right to avoid 41...Re7 42 Nf3+
Kh5 43 c4, when suddenly Whites pawns
are very dangerous.
42 Nf3+ Kh3 43 Ng5+ Kh4 44 Nf3+ Kh3 -
In the final position Black does well to make a draw. 44Kh5 45 Nxh2 would
leave White with all the chances because of his powerful passed pawns.
Recommended Reading
How to Play the Chess Endings by Znosko-Borovsky (Dover, 1971)
Endgame Strategy by Mikhail Shereshevsky (Everyman, 1994)
Rook Endings by Grigory Levenfish and Vassily Smyslov (Batsford, 1989)
Practical Rook Endings by Victor Korchnoi (Olms, 2002)
Copyright 2004 Nigel Davies. All rights reserved.

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