Piece Sacrifice in the Endgame

Kurnosov – Zagaratski, 2003
White to move.
Solution in  "Endgames By Juniors" Ebook, Video.

2 Years, 18 eBooks, Thousand Puzzles, Hundred Annotated Games Later

Two years ago, I started converting my published and studying materials into electronic books that I thought would be great to read anywhere, on any mobile device, on the internet, offline, etc. The eBook format seemed to be a natural fit, and I have been uploading my content on Amazon, with some samples on this blog, on my YouTube channel, and on Kobo. The project turned out “a bit” more ambitious than originally anticipated, but it has been a great learning experience so far.

The table below summarizes roughly the amount of content in each book, and should give you an idea what book you might be interested in. As I continue to tweak the process, I’d also like to hear your thoughts on the format, content, pricing, and really anything related to these books.

Book Title	Training Positions *	Annotated Games	Price	Series
Bishop Endgames: Do Opposites Attract?	44	27	2.99	Practical Endgames
Exchange Slav - Strategy and Tactics	27	28	2.99	Opening Preparation
Counterattack with Alexander Morozevich	42		0.99	Practical Tactics
Spanish Opening - Strategy and Tactics	28	11	2.99	Opening Preparation
Play Like a Grandmaster - Tactics from Chess World Cup 2013	54		2.99	Practical Tactics
World Championship Preview - Combinations by Anand and Carlsen	131		2.99	Practical Tactics
Rook and Knight Endgames - Strategy and Tactics	26	19	2.99	Practical Endgames
Attack with Alexander Morozevich - Selected Games and Best Combinations	54	10	2.99	Practical Tactics
Play Like a Grandmaster - Best Tactics of 2013	82		2.99	Practical Tactics
Best Combinations - January 2014	51		0.99	Monthly Tactics
Best Combinations - February 2014	57		0.99	Monthly Tactics
Best Combinations - March 2014	40		0.99	Monthly Tactics
Best Combinations - April 2014	51		0.99	Monthly Tactics
Best Combinations - May 2014	54		0.99	Monthly Tactics
Best Combinations - June 2014	102		2.99	Monthly Tactics
Endgames by Juniors - Instructive Games and Blunders	9	23	2.99	Practical Endgames
Best Combinations – July 2014	101		2.99	Monthly Tactics
Best Combinations – August 2014	103		2.99	Monthly Tactics
Total	1056	118

* Training positions typically also contain annotations and are computer checked for accuracy.

Power of Exchanges in Chess – Transitioning into Bishop endgame

Jiganchine – North, Keres Memorial 2014
White to move. Find the winning idea.

The title of the post obviously contains the hint, but I would still suggest you consider what is the biggest weaknesses in Black’s position, what piece defends that weakness, and what is the best piece to attack it attack it. Alas in the game, I overlooked it, and gave Black a chance to defend, which he in his turn – also missed.

Knight Endgame Lesson - Back to the Basics

Reviewing your games with a strong human player is the best way to get a “second opinion” about your chess skills, much better than doing it with a computer engine. Here is one example that was shown to me, that illustrates the power of basic strategic components such as distant passed pawn in knight endgames.

Lai – Jiganchine, 2012
 Black to move. Find the best move/plan (feel free to post it in the comments section).
Hint: Black wants to a create a passed ‘a’ pawn.

Endgame Lesson–Bishops of Opposite Color

Cheng – Jiganchine, 2013 (analysis)
 Black to move. Find the best move/plan (feel free to post it in the comments section).
Hint: Black wants to a create a pair of connected passed pawns, such that they would be impossible to blockade with the white king and bishop.

June Tactics - Power of the Rook on the 7th rank

Hector, J.    --    Bromann, T.
Whitsun GM 2014   2014.06.04     1-0     C11
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nbd7 6. Nf3 h6 7. Nxf6+ Nxf6 8. Bh4 c5 9. Bc4 cxd4 10. O-O Be7 11. Qe2 O-O 12. Rad1 Qb6 13. Ne5 Nd5 14. Bxd5 Bxh4 15. Bb3 Bf6 16. Rd3 a5 17. a4 Qc5 18. Ng4 Be7 19. c3 dxc3 20. Rxc3 Qb4 21. Bc2 Rd8 22. Ne5 Bf6 23. Rd3 Rxd3 24. Qxd3 Qb6 25. Rd1 Kf8 26. Ng4 Bg5 27. Qh7 f5 28. Ne5 Bf6

White to move

Solution: in a Video or Ebook

June Tactics - Ponkratov - Galliamova - Unexpected Rook sacrifice

Ponkratov, P.    --    Galliamova, A.
36th Nezhmetdinov Mem 2014   2014.06.05     1-0     B80
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Be7 7. g4 h6 8. Bg2 Nc6 9. h3 O-O 10. Nf3 Rb8 11. g5 hxg5 12. Nxg5 b5 13. f4 b4 14. Ne2 d5 15. e5 Nh7 16. h4 f6 17. Qd3 f5 18. Bd2 a5 19. Qg3 Bc5 20. Bf3 Qe8 21. Qg2 Nd4 22. Nxd4 Bxd4 23. Rh3 Bxb2 24. Rb1 Bd4 25. Rg3 Rb7 26. Nxh7 Kxh7 27. Rg5 Qc6 28. Rh5+ Kg8 29. Qg6 Bd7 30. Rh6 Rf7 31. Bh5 Be8 32. Rb3 Qxc2 33. Qh7+ Kf8 34. Qh8+ Ke7

White to move

Solution: in a Video or Ebook