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Showing posts with label ebooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ebooks. Show all posts

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Improve your Rook And Knight Endgames

My Rook and Knight Endgames - Strategy and Tactics (now also available in paperback format) book looks at endings with rook + knight Vs. rook + knight. This material balance occurs quite frequently in tournaments, and some classical ideas and endgames have become well-known. Nonetheless, there is some lack of discussion of this topic in chess literature. The book covers both the strategic themes, and gives the reader a chance to practice their tactical skills. Mikhail Botvinnik was well known for his great technique in this type of endings; the book includes several relatively unknown examples from his career to illustrate the typical ideas, but also games by other famous players such as Korchnoi, Morozevich and Anand are featured.
Here are some examples of positions that the reader would get a better understanding of by working through this book.
Scroll Down to see solutions
Petrosian, Tigran - Bannik, Anatoly, 1958
120
White's turn

Haba, P. - Dautov, R., 1995
121
Black's turn





Sutovsky, Emil - Bacrot, Etienne, 2003.11.09
122
White's turn

Raaste, Eero J - Tseitlin, Mikhail S, 1980
123
Black's turn

Solutions
Petrosian, Tigran - Bannik, Anatoly, Ch URS, 1958
148[4]
18. Bc5
A lot has been written about this move in different books. In this famous position Black suffers from weak light squares and lack of space. Petrosian found a brilliant way to consolidate his positional advantage... I mainly see the explanation in the common strategic idea of trading off bad bishop which protects good pawns. Now the pawn chain 'e5-f6-g5' becomes much more vulnerable. Also the white knight's domination over his black colleague becomes more apparent, as now the white knight can access an important 'c5' square.
18. ... Rxd1+ 19. Rxd1 Bxc5 20. Nxc5 Re8 21. Ne4 Re6 22. g4 a5 23. Rd3 Nd7 24. Kc2 b6 25. Rf3 Kd8 26. a3 c5 27. Kc3 Ke7 28. Rd3 Rc6 29. Rd5 Nf8 30. Ng3 Ne6 31. Nf5+ Ke8 32. e3 Nc7 33. Rd1 Ne6 34. Kd3 Rc7 35. Ke4
149[4]Another aspect of the exchange of bishops is that now the advance of the white king is more dangerous for Black than before.
35. ... Rc6 36. Nd6+ Ke7 37. Nf5+ Ke8 38. Nd6+ Ke7 39. Nf5+ Ke8 40. a4 Nd8 41. Nh6 Ne6 42. Ng8 Nf8 43. Rd2 Kf7 44. Nh6+ Ke8 45. Nf5 Ne6 46. Rd6 Rxd6 47. Nxd6+ Kd7 48. Nb5 Ng7 49. h6 Ne8 50. Kd5 f5 51. Kxe5 fxg4 52. Nc3 Ke7 53. Ne4 Kf7 54. Kf5 g3 55. fxg3 g4 56. Ng5+ Kg8 57. Ke6 Nc7+ 58. Kd7 Na6 59. e4 Nb4 60. e5 Nd3 61. e6 1-0
Haba, P. - Dautov, R., Deutschland, 1995
150[4]
30. ... Nxh4+! 31. Kf1
( 31. gxh4 Rxf4 -+ )
31. ... Nf3 -+ 32. Rd8 Nd4 33. Rh8 Rf5 34. Rxh5 Nxb3 35. Rxf5 exf5 36. Ke2 Na5 37. Kd3 b3 0-1
Sutovsky, Emil - Bacrot, Etienne, EU-ch Internet fin, 2003.11.09
151[4]
26. Nxa6! Ra8
( 26. ... bxa6 27. Rd6+ Kg5 28. Rxc6 +- )
27. Nc5 Ne5 28. Rxb7 +- Rd8 29. Kc2 Nc4 30. b3 Rd2+ 31. Kc1 Rxf2 32. bxc4 Rxg2 33. Nd3 Rg3 34. Kd2 Rxh3 35. c5 Rh2+ 36. Ke3 Ke6 37. Nf4+ Ke5 38. c6 Kd6 39. c7 Kd7 40. Nd5 Rh4 41. Nb6+ 1-0
Raaste, Eero J - Tseitlin, Mikhail S, Makarczyk Memorial, 1980
152[4]
32. ... Rxa2! 33. Nd6
( 33. Kxa2 Nc3+ 34. Kb3 Nxd5 also gave Black good winning chances. )
33. ... Rd2! 34. Ne8+ Kc6! 35. Rxd2 Nxd2+ 36. Kc3 Ne4+ 37. Kd4
153[4]
37. ... Kd7!
Black either wins the second pawn, or transposes into a winning pawn endgame. White chose the latter option, but resigned a couple of moves later.
38. Kxe4
( 38. Ng7 Nxg3 -+ )
38. ... Kxe8 39. Kd5 Ke7 40. b5 Kd7 0-1










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Saturday, June 3, 2017

Replayable games from The Break - Learn From Schlechter, Botvinnik and Kramnik

The link to Sample Games from the Break Book gives the first 20 unnotated games from my book The Break - Learn From Schlechter, Botvinnik and Kramnik. Get the book from amazon to see the entire 70+ example games and puzzles.

image[3]
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Sunday, April 30, 2017

The Break by Vladimir Kramnik – Examples from new Paperback book

My ebook The Break - Learn From Schlechter, Botvinnik and Kramnik is now available in paperback format, so you can order a physical copy and have it delivered to you like most chess books you probably already own. Here is a sample set of exercises from the chapter about Vladimir Kramnik. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see solutions.

image

Korobov, Anton - Kramnik, Vladimir
   2013.08.24   

160

Black's turn

Alexander Ipatov - Vladimir Kramnik
   2013.12.02   

161

Black's turn


Svidler, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir
   2014.03.15   

162

Black's turn

Kramnik, Vladimir - Ulibin, Mikhail
   1992   

163

White's turn

 

Solutions

 

Korobov, Anton - Kramnik, Vladimir
FIDE World Cup 2013   2013.08.24   

187

45. ... d4!?

Although this move is speculative, Kramnik sacrifices a pawn to activate his rook and bishop. Objectively it may be not the best, but for a human player passive defense is intolerable, so that justifies his decision.
46. exd4 Re6+ 47. Kd2 Bd3 48. d5 Rd6 49. Kc1 Bg6 50. Bb4 Rxd5 51. Rxa6 Kd7 52. Rf6 Rb5 53. Bc3 Rf5 54. Rb6 Rxf4
188The active rook is able to eliminate white pawns, achieving a draw now.
55. a6 Rf2 56. a7 Be4 57. Kd1 Ra2 58. Rf6 Ke8 1/2-1/2

Alexander Ipatov - Vladimir Kramnik
FIDE World Team Championship   2013.12.02   

189

29. ... e5 30. dxe5 Nxe5 31. fxe5 Qxe5

Black has only a pawn for a piece, but White's pieces are badly placed, and all of his pawns are vulnerable.
32. Nf1 Bg7 33. a3
( Defending the pawns was not really possible in the long run: 33. Kd2 Re6 34. Nb7 Bh6 35. Nc5 Bxe3+ 36. Nxe3 Qxe3+ 37. Kd1 Re5 -/+ [%eval -32767,0] Black has still more ways to improve his position with Rhe7, Qxg3 and d5-d4. )
33. ... Qxc3+ 34. Qxc3 Bxc3 35. Bd1 Re6 36. Bc2 Bg6
190Both White's rooks and knights are effectively out of the game for many moves to come, so the current material balance is virtually irrelevant here.
37. Nd2 Rxe3 38. Rd1 Bf6 39. Rhh1 d4 40. Rde1 Rhe7 41. Rxe3 Rxe3
In view of inevitable material losses, White resigned. A true positional masterpiece by Kramnik!
0-1

Svidler, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir
World Chess Championship Candidates   2014.03.15   

191

41. ... e4 42. fxe4 Qe2 43. Rf3 Rxd6 44. Qe8 f6 45. e5

192
45. ... f5 46. gxf5
193
46. ... Rf6!!
Paradoxically, this is the only move that keeps Black alive!
( After 46. ... Ra6 47. e6! the black rook would be cut off from the kingside and Black would lose: 47. ... Ra7 48. f6 +- )
47. Kg3
( 47. e6 Qe4 = )
47. ... Qe4
Now the game ends with a repetition.
48. Bc5 Qe1+ 49. Bf2 Qe4 50. Bc5 Qe1+ 51. Bf2 1/2-1/2

Kramnik, Vladimir - Ulibin, Mikhail
Chalkidiki   1992   

194

36. g5!?

White opens up the game to exploit the power of his two bishops.
36. ... hxg5 37. hxg5 Nxg5 38. Bc6 Rc8 39. Rh1
As compensation for the pawn, White's rooks are also obtaining a lot of potential - on both sides of the board.
39. ... Kg8 40. Raa1 Nce6 41. Rh4
White is threatening to double on the 'h' file, so Black has to create an escape square for his king.
41. ... f6 42. Rg1
195
42. ... Kf7 43. Bd5 Ke8 44. Rh8+ Nf8 45. f4 Ne6 46. Kf3 f5 47. Rg6
196Black's pieces are tied up in too many ways, so White begins to pick up the fruits of his labour.
47. ... Nc5 48. Bxg7 Rf7 49. Bxf8
( 49. Bxf8 Rxf8 50. Rxf8+ Kxf8 51. Rg8+ Ke7 52. Rxc8 +- )
1-0
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Sunday, April 2, 2017

Pawn Break in the Bishop Endgame

A couple of years ago I wrote a book about pawn breaks, and those usually are common in the middlegame, but here is an interesting example from a bishop endgame. With only seconds on the clock, I found the right idea, but executed it at the wrong moment.

image Black to move. Find a way to save the game.
  

See my book for a lot more examples of pawn breaks:
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Friday, March 24, 2017

Attack With Morozevich – Samples

The book Attack with Alexander Morozevich - Selected Games and Best Combinations is a collection of his selected games, with each game focusing on a tactical shot delivered by Alexander. Here are some sample combinations for you to solve (scroll down for solutions):

pasted_image

Morozevich, Alexander    --    Lempert, Igor
   1991     *


1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Bd3 e5 7. Ne2 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. O-O Nxc3 10. Nxc3 Nc6 11. Ne4 Bf5 12. c3 Be7 13. Nd6+ Bxd6 14. Bxf5 O-O 15. Be3 Qc7 16. Qa4 Ne7 17. Be4 f5 18. Bc2 e4 19. g3 Ng6 20. Rad1 Ne5 21. Rd5 Ng4 22. Bc1 Rae8

# White's turn 

wsq bsq wsq[1] bsq[1] wbr bbr wbk bsq[2]
bbp wbp bbq wsq[2] bsq[3] wsq[3] bbp[1] wbp[1]
wsq[4] bsq[4] wsq[5] bbb wsq[6] bsq[5] wsq[7] bsq[6]
bsq[7] wsq[8] bsq[8] wwr bsq[9] wbp[2] bsq[10] wsq[9]
wwq bsq[11] wsq[10] bsq[12] wbp[3] bsq[13] wbn bsq[14]
bsq[15] wsq[11] bwp wsq[12] bsq[16] wsq[13] bwp[1] wsq[14]
wwp bwp[2] wwb bsq[17] wsq[15] bwp[3] wsq[16] bwp[4]
bsq[18] wsq[17] bwb wsq[18] bsq[19] wwr[1] bwk wsq[19]

*

Morozevich, Alexander    --    Ivanov, Sergey
   1992     *


1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 O-O 8. Bd3 cxd4 9. cxd4 Nbc6 10. Qh5 Nf5 11. Nf3 f6 12. O-O Bd7 13. Rb1 b6 14. Re1 fxe5 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Rxe5 Rc8 17. Bd2 Qf6 18. c3 Be8 19. Qe2 Bg6 20. f3 Nh4 21. Re1 Bxd3 22. Qxd3 Rfe8 23. Qe2 Qg6 24. Kh1 Kf7 25. g4 h6 26. f4 Kg8 27. f5 Qf6 28. Rf1 Rc6 29. fxe6 Qd8 30. Qf2 Qe7 31. Qf7+ Kh8

# White's turn 

wsq[20] bsq[20] wsq[21] bsq[21] wbr[1] bsq[22] wsq[22] bbk
bbp[2] wsq[23] bsq[23] wsq[24] bbq[1] wwq[1] bbp[3] wsq[25]
wsq[26] bbp[4] wbr[2] bsq[24] wwp[1] bsq[25] wsq[27] bbp[5]
bsq[26] wsq[28] bsq[27] wbp[4] bwr wsq[29] bsq[28] wsq[30]
wsq[31] bsq[29] wsq[32] bwp[5] wsq[33] bsq[30] wwp[2] bbn
bwp[6] wsq[34] bwp[7] wsq[35] bsq[31] wsq[36] bsq[32] wsq[37]
wsq[38] bsq[33] wsq[39] bwb[1] wsq[40] bsq[34] wsq[41] bwp[8]
bsq[35] wsq[42] bsq[36] wsq[43] bsq[37] wwr[2] bsq[38] wwk

*

Morozevich, Alexander    --    Sveshnikov, Evgeny
   1993     *


1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. Ne2 O-O 6. O-O Re8 7. Ng3 e4 8. Be2 Be5 9. Bxe5 Nxe5 10. d4 exd3 11. cxd3 d5 12. d4 Neg4 13. Nc3 Qd6 14. Re1 h5 15. Nf1 g6 16. Qc1 c6 17. h3 Nh6 18. e4 Qf8 19. e5 Nh7 20. Qd2 Kg7 21. Rad1 Qe7 22. f4 Rh8 23. Bd3 Bf5 24. Ne3 Qd7 25. b4 Nf8 26. Na4 Bxd3 27. Qxd3 Ne6 28. Rf1 b5 29. Nc3 a5 30. f5 gxf5 31. Ne2 axb4 32. Ng3 Rxa2 33. Nexf5+ Nxf5 34. Nxf5+ Kg8 35. Qb3 Qa7

# White's turn 

wsq[44] bsq[39] wsq[45] bsq[40] wsq[46] bsq[41] wbk[1] bbr[1]
bbq[2] wsq[47] bsq[42] wsq[48] bsq[43] wbp[5] bsq[44] wsq[49]
wsq[50] bsq[45] wbp[6] bsq[46] wbn[1] bsq[47] wsq[51] bsq[48]
bsq[49] wbp[7] bsq[50] wbp[8] bwp[9] wwn bsq[51] wbp[9]
wsq[52] bbp[6] wsq[53] bwp[10] wsq[54] bsq[52] wsq[55] bsq[53]
bsq[54] wwq[2] bsq[55] wsq[56] bsq[56] wsq[57] bsq[57] wwp[3]
wbr[3] bsq[58] wsq[58] bsq[59] wsq[59] bsq[60] wwp[4] bsq[61]
bsq[62] wsq[60] bsq[63] wwr[3] bsq[64] wwr[4] bwk[1] wsq[61]

*

Solutions


Morozevich, Alexander    --    Lempert, Igor
Moscow7 op   1991     0-1


1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Bd3 e5 7. Ne2 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. O-O Nxc3 10. Nxc3 Nc6 11. Ne4 Bf5 12. c3 Be7 13. Nd6+ Bxd6 14. Bxf5 O-O 15. Be3 Qc7 16. Qa4 Ne7 17. Be4 f5 18. Bc2 e4 19. g3 Ng6 20. Rad1 Ne5 21. Rd5 Ng4 22. Bc1 Rae8

# 

wsq[62] bsq[65] wsq[63] bsq[66] wbr[4] bbr[2] wbk[2] bsq[67]
bbp[7] wbp[10] bbq[3] wsq[64] bsq[68] wsq[65] bbp[8] wbp[11]
wsq[66] bsq[69] wsq[67] bbb[1] wsq[68] bsq[70] wsq[69] bsq[71]
bsq[72] wsq[70] bsq[73] wwr[5] bsq[74] wbp[12] bsq[75] wsq[71]
wwq[3] bsq[76] wsq[72] bsq[77] wbp[13] bsq[78] wbn[2] bsq[79]
bsq[80] wsq[73] bwp[11] wsq[74] bsq[81] wsq[75] bwp[12] wsq[76]
wwp[5] bwp[13] wwb[1] bsq[82] wsq[77] bwp[14] wsq[78] bwp[15]
bsq[83] wsq[79] bwb[2] wsq[80] bsq[84] wwr[6] bwk[2] wsq[81]

23. Rxf5! +- Nf6
( 23. ... Rxf5 24. Qxe8+ )
24. Qxa7 Qc8
White is up a pawn and should have won, but he blundered and lost.
25. Rb5 Qh3 26. Rxb7 Re5 27. Bd1 Bc5 28. Qa6 Rf5 29. Qe2 h5 30. Be3 Rf3 31. Qxf3 exf3 32. Bxf3 Bxe3 33. fxe3 h4 34. Bg2 Qe6 35. gxh4 Qxe3+ 36. Kh1 Rd8 37. Rg1 Ng4 38. Bc6 Rd2 0-1

Morozevich, Alexander    --    Ivanov, Sergey
Russian Championship   1992     1-0


1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 O-O 8. Bd3 cxd4 9. cxd4 Nbc6 10. Qh5 Nf5 11. Nf3 f6 12. O-O Bd7 13. Rb1 b6 14. Re1 fxe5 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Rxe5 Rc8 17. Bd2 Qf6 18. c3 Be8 19. Qe2 Bg6 20. f3 Nh4 21. Re1 Bxd3 22. Qxd3 Rfe8 23. Qe2 Qg6 24. Kh1 Kf7 25. g4 h6 26. f4 Kg8 27. f5 Qf6 28. Rf1 Rc6 29. fxe6 Qd8 30. Qf2 Qe7 31. Qf7+ Kh8

# 

wsq[82] bsq[85] wsq[83] bsq[86] wbr[5] bsq[87] wsq[84] bbk[1]
bbp[9] wsq[85] bsq[88] wsq[86] bbq[4] wwq[4] bbp[10] wsq[87]
wsq[88] bbp[11] wbr[6] bsq[89] wwp[6] bsq[90] wsq[89] bbp[12]
bsq[91] wsq[90] bsq[92] wbp[14] bwr[1] wsq[91] bsq[93] wsq[92]
wsq[93] bsq[94] wsq[94] bwp[16] wsq[95] bsq[95] wwp[7] bbn[1]
bwp[17] wsq[96] bwp[18] wsq[97] bsq[96] wsq[98] bsq[97] wsq[99]
wsq[100] bsq[98] wsq[101] bwb[3] wsq[102] bsq[99] wsq[103] bwp[19]
bsq[100] wsq[104] bsq[101] wsq[105] bsq[102] wwr[7] bsq[103] wwk[1]

32. Bxh6! Qxf7
( 32. ... gxh6 33. Rf6 Qxf7 34. exf7 was also completely winning for White. )
33. exf7 +- Rf8 34. Bd2 1-0

Morozevich, Alexander    --    Sveshnikov, Evgeny
Podolsk   1993     1/2-1/2


1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. Ne2 O-O 6. O-O Re8 7. Ng3 e4 8. Be2 Be5 9. Bxe5 Nxe5 10. d4 exd3 11. cxd3 d5 12. d4 Neg4 13. Nc3 Qd6 14. Re1 h5 15. Nf1 g6 16. Qc1 c6 17. h3 Nh6 18. e4 Qf8 19. e5 Nh7 20. Qd2 Kg7 21. Rad1 Qe7 22. f4 Rh8 23. Bd3 Bf5 24. Ne3 Qd7 25. b4 Nf8 26. Na4 Bxd3 27. Qxd3 Ne6 28. Rf1 b5 29. Nc3 a5 30. f5 gxf5 31. Ne2 axb4 32. Ng3 Rxa2 33. Nexf5+ Nxf5 34. Nxf5+ Kg8 35. Qb3 Qa7

# 

wsq[106] bsq[104] wsq[107] bsq[105] wsq[108] bsq[106] wbk[3] bbr[3]
bbq[5] wsq[109] bsq[107] wsq[110] bsq[108] wbp[15] bsq[109] wsq[111]
wsq[112] bsq[110] wbp[16] bsq[111] wbn[3] bsq[112] wsq[113] bsq[113]
bsq[114] wbp[17] bsq[115] wbp[18] bwp[20] wwn[1] bsq[116] wbp[19]
wsq[114] bbp[13] wsq[115] bwp[21] wsq[116] bsq[117] wsq[117] bsq[118]
bsq[119] wwq[5] bsq[120] wsq[118] bsq[121] wsq[119] bsq[122] wwp[8]
wbr[7] bsq[123] wsq[120] bsq[124] wsq[121] bsq[125] wwp[9] bsq[126]
bsq[127] wsq[122] bsq[128] wwr[8] bsq[129] wwr[9] bwk[3] wsq[123]

36. Ne7+!
This shot wins an exchange regardless of Black's response.
36. ... Qxe7
( 36. ... Kf8 37. Ng6+ +- )
( 36. ... Kg7 37. Qg3+ Kf8 38. Ng6+ )
37. Qxa2 += Rh6 38. Qa8+ Kg7 39. Rd2
Here Morozevich starts to play somewhat imprecisely and eventually lets the game end in a draw.
( Instead better was 39. Qxc6 Nxd4 40. Qf6+! Rxf6 41. exf6+ Qxf6 42. Rxf6 Ne2+ 43. Kf1 Nc3 44. Rb6 )
39. ... Rg6 40. Rdf2 Ng5 41. Kh2 b3 42. Rf6 Ne4 43. Rxg6+ fxg6 44. Qxc6 b2 45. Rb1 Qf7 46. Rxb2 Qf4+ 47. Kg1 Qe3+ 48. Kh2 Qg3+ 49. Kh1 1/2-1/2
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