Issue 23

Magazine
The Skill of Manoeuvring
Middlegame Positions

Understand the English

Hedgehog Part 3

Tactical Vision
Battery and Discovered
Check

Master the Pawn Play

Endgame Series 23
Knight’s Versatility
in the Endgame
CONTENTS
3 The Skill of Manoeuvring: Middlegame Positions (GM Swapnil Dhopade)

4 Amin,B (2709) - Swiercz,D (2655) / 12th World Teams 2019 (1.3) 05.03.2019
5 Sasikiran,Krishnan (2673) - Artemiev,Vladislav (2761) / Karpov Poikovsky Tournament (3.1)
7 Harikrishna,Pentala (2733) - Almasi,Zoltan (2707) / Bundesliga 2017/18 (4.1) 12.11.2017
9 Tomashevsky,E (2706) - Alekseenko,K (2668) / 72nd ch-RUS 2019 (11.3)
11 Yu,Yangyi (2765) - Tissir,Mohamed (2388) / Olympiad 2018
12 Puzzle 1 - 10
14 Answers

Understand the English Hedgehog - Part 3 (GM Mihail Marin)

22
22 Uhlmann,Wolfgang (2530) - Suba,Mihai (2435) / Bucharest (4), 1979
26 Stefanov,Parik - Gheorghiu,Florin / Romania 25/69 1978
27 Karpov,Anatoly (2690) - Gheorghiu,Florin (2545) / October Revolution 60 (16) 18.07.1977
30 Polugaevsky,Lev (2620) - Gheorghiu,Florin (2605) / Moscow (4) 04.1981
31 Renman,Nils Gustaf (2425) - Kasparov,Garry (2595) / EU-chT (Men) 07th (3.8) 01.1980
32 Cserna,Laszlo (2200) - Portisch,Lajos (2625) / HUN-ch Hungary 1975
33 Solovyov,Viktor - Marin,Mihail / Sankt Petersburg (rapid) (7) 2016
34 Plaskett,H James (2460) - Adams,Michael (2505) / BCF-ch 76th Plymouth 1989

Endgame Series 23 - Knight’s Versatility in the Endgame (GM Davorin Kuljasevic) 

36
36 Sousa,Andre Ventura (2376) - Nguyen,Thai Dai Van (2548) / 28th EY Open U18 2018 (6.3) 26.08.2018
38 Grigoriev 1932
40 Grigoriev 1938
42 Heuacker 1929
43 Horwitz,Kashdan 1928
45 Amin,B. (2709) - Kozul,Z. (2612) / Tournament of Peace 2018 (9.3)
47 Kuljasevic,Davorin - Kovacevic,Blazimir / Analysis
50 Wojtaszek,Radoslaw (2741) - Lalith,Babu MR (2557) / FIDE World Cup (1.2) 12.09.2015
51 Kuljasevic,Davorin (2550) - Ascic,Pero (2318) / Croatian League 1A (1.4) 28.09.2019
54 Wei,Yi (2696) - Carlsen,Magnus(2855) / Bilbao Masters 9th (2) 14.07.2016
58 Exercise 1 -6
60 Solutions

Master the Pawn Play (GM Valeriy Aveskulov)

62
62 Steinitz,William - Paulsen,Louis / Baden-Baden 1870
64 Short,Nigel D (2660) - Timman,Jan H (2630) / Tilburg 1991
65 Wang Hao (2730) - Bologan,Viktor (2638) / 30th ECC Open 2014
67 Tarrasch,Siegbert - Walbrodt,Carl August / Vienna 1898
68 Kasparov,Garry (2630) - Petrosian,TigranV (2585) / Interpolis Tilburg 1981
70 Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2751) - Harikrishna,Pentala (2750) / Moscow Grand Prix 2017
71 Gashimov,V.. (2759) - Grischuk,A.. (2736) / 7th World Team Championship 2010
74 Questions and Answers

Tactical Vision - Battery and Discovered Check (IM Yochanan Afek)

82
 Modern Chess Magazine
The Skill of Manoeuvring:
Middlegame Positions
Ever wondered how strong players take
their pieces effortlessly to the best
squares? It seems, transferring the
pieces from worse to good posts is their
second nature. As an expert driver
drives without really thinking about it, so
does a strong Grandmaster Maneuvers
his pieces without much conscious
thinking. They can ‘feel' the way for their
pieces. Maneuvering is essentially
transferring pieces to better squares,
where they can do a better job than
what they are doing currently. Such a
transfer of a piece may enhance our
chances of achieving a desired result
(gaining an advantage, equalizing, etc.).
I consider maneuvering a skill just like
driving which can be improved with
proper training and practice. By solving
a lot of positions on maneuverings, by
studying the games with instructional
manoeuvrings one can develop a good
feel for the good placement of their
pieces.
In the first article on this subject we saw
how this skill of maneuvering has helped
me in my own games. In this article we
www.modern-chess.com
3
will have a look at excellent examples
of manoeuverings in the middlegame
from the games of strong players.
Manoeuvrings in middlegames can
serve a lot of useful purposes, for
example:
1) Favourable exchange of pieces:
We can use manoeuvrings to achieve
the favourable exchange of pieces.
2) Increase attacking potential:
Sometimes some of our pieces are
already near the opponents king but
they still need support of other
colleagues to crash through!
Manoeuvrings can help us bring more
pieces in the attack.
3) Exploiting weak pawns:
Some opponents pawns can be weak
as they are left with little support. We
can manoeuver our pieces to win such
lightly guarded pawns.
4) Exploiting weak squares:
Advance of pawns can create
weaknesses of squares. Such weak
squares can be exploited by good
manoeuvres.
5) Increasing pressure:
Sometimes with efficient manoeurings
we can increase pressure on
opponents position.
The annotated games will be followed
by test positions for you to solve! All
these annotated games and positions
are selected from recent tournament
games. All the best!
In this game we will see how Black
skilfully exploits opponents far
advanced weak pawns.
 Modern Chess Magazine
Amin,B 2709
Swiercz,D 2655
12th World Teams 2019 (1.3) 05.03.2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3
Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 a6 7.Bb3 0-0
8.Re1 h6 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.Nf1 Bxb3
11.Qxb3 Qd7 12.Ng3 Rfe8
Black prepares for the d6-d5 break by
supporting the e5 pawn. 13.h3 d5
14.exd5 Nxd5 15.Ne4 Bf8
16.Bd2
[ 16.Bxh6? is not possible due to...
Na5!-+ when White loses his h6
bishop. ]
16...b5 gaining space on the queenside.
17.a4? start of a wrong plan! White
wants to weaken the light squares on
Black's queenside, but White's
misplaced pieces gives Black a lot of
initiative.
[ 17.Rad1 with the idea to break with
c3-c4. Rad8 18.c4 Nf4 would have
led to an unbalanced position playable
for both sides. ]
17...b4! 18.a5?!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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4
now Bh6 is a threat as Black does not
have Nc6-Na5 anymore. But I think
White missed Black's strong manoeuvre!
Can you find the best move for Black?
18...Rab8! a nice manoeuvre! The rook
obviously belongs to the b-file, but it
also intends to go to b5 hitting whites a5
pawn and also defending against the
threat of Bh6. 19.Qc4 Rb5 The rook is
well placed on b5. White's position is
already difficult! 20.Ng3 bxc3 21.bxc3
Nf6! Black retracts the knight away from
the d-file in order to put pressure on the
weak d3 pawn. Both the a5 and d3
pawns are terrible weaknesses for
White.
[ There is no need to take the weak a5
pawn immediately with, 21...Nxa5?!
as after, 22.Qa2 threatening c3-c4.
Nb3 23.c4! White will have a slightly
better position. ]
22.Reb1? after this White's position
simply collapses.
[ 22.Be3 was a better try. But after,
Nxa5 23.Qh4 Qxd3 24.Bxh6 Qh7!
and Black is clearly better. ]
22...Nxa5 23.Qa2
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
Find the best move for Black.
23...Qxd3!By temporarily sacrificing
the a5 knight, Black eliminates the d3
pawn which opens new possibilities for
Black.
24.Rxb5 axb5 25.Qxa5 e4 this is the
point, Black recovers the piece.
26.Nd4 Qxd2 27.Nf1 Qd3 28.Qxc7
b4 29.Rc1 e3! another strong move.
30.fxe3 Rxe3 31.Nc6 b3 32.Qb8 b2
33.Qxb2 Re2 0-1
Sasikiran,Krishnan 2673
Artemiev,Vladislav 2761
Karpov Poikovsky Tournament (3.1)
In this game we will see how
manoeuvring can help us in attacking
play. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 e6 7.Be3
b5 8.Qd2 b4 9.Na4 Nbd7 10.0-0-0
Qa5 11.b3 Bb7 12.a3 Qc7 13.axb4
d5
a b c d e f g h 2018 ]
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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5
Black just played d6-d5 intending to get
counterplay for the sacrificed pawn on
the queenside. How should white
handle blacks plans?
14.Bf2! A cool maneuovre! The white
bishop goes to g3, attacking the black
queen and disrupting his co-ordination.
[ 14.Bf4?! with similar ideas as in
the game is inferior due to, e5
15.Bg3 h5! 16.h4 g6 with a fine
position for black. ]
14...Bd6
[ 14...dxe4?! 15.Bg3 e5 16.Bc4!and
white seizes the initiaitive. ½-½ (37)
Borisovs,L (2229)-Taylor,B (2168)
ICCF 2017 ]
[ 14...e5 15.exd5!? ( 15.Nf5
0-1 (29) Bok,B (2607)-Gordievsky,D
(2622) Wijk aan Zee 2018 ) 15...exd4
16.Re1+ Kd8 17.Bc4 leads to
massive complications. ]
15.Bg3!N
[ 15.exd5 1-0 (36) Nakamura,H
(2781)-Grandelius,N (2647) Caleta
15...Bxg3 16.hxg3 the exchange of
the dark squared bishops have eased
the pressure on the b4 pawn. White
can also use the h-file to create
chances on the kingside. 16...dxe4
17.g4!
white immediately starts an action on
the kingside. 17...Nd5 18.Bc4 Ne5?
[ Better was, 18...exf3 19.gxf3 0-0
 though white still has the upper
hand. ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
19.Bxd5 exd5 20.fxe4 dxe4 21.Nf5
0-0
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Find the best move for white?
22.Qc3! White finds a very strong
manoeuvre, transfering his queen to
the kingside which will create a
crushing attack against the blacks
king.
[ There were other ways to win as
well, for example a forcing way to
win would be, 22.Rxh7 Kxh7
23.Rh1+ Kg8 24.Qg5 f6 25.Qh5+-
with a winning posiiton for white. But
the way in which Sasikiran played is
very clean. ]
22...Rfc8 23.Nc5 blocking the c-file
and now the queen is all set to go to
h3. 23...f6 24.Qh3 h6
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6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
25.g5! this pawn sacrifice opens the
queens route to e6. 25...fxg5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
26.Rd7! Nxd7 27.Nxh6+ gxh6
28.Qe6+ the queen has succeded in her
journey (d2-c3-h3-e6)! Now the whites
queen and rook becomes an
unstoppable force. 28...Kg7 29.Qxh6+
Kf7 30.Qe6+ Kg7 31.Qe7+ Kg6
32.Qh7+ Kf6 33.Nxd7+ Ke6 34.Qg6+
Kd5 35.Rd1#
1-0
 Modern Chess Magazine
Harikrishna,Pentala 2733
Almasi,Zoltan 2707
Bundesliga 2017/18 (4.1) 12.11.2017
In this game we will see how Harikrishna
slowly increases the pressure by some
really nice manoeuvres. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6
dxc6 6.Nbd2 Be6 7.0-0 Nd7 8.Nb3
Bxb3 9.axb3 0-0 10.Kh1 a5 11.Bg5
Be7
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black offers to exchange the bishops.
What should White do?
12.Bd2! Ofcourse Hari doesn't exchange
his better bishop. White takes his bishop
to c3, attacking the e5 pawn which will
temporarily tie blacks pieces down to e5.
12...b6 13.Bc3 Bf6
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7
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black defends the e5 pawn from f6 in
anticipation of the d4 break when the
exchange of the bishops are very likely.
But White has different plans!
14.h3! White decides to improve the
position of his f3 knight. The knight
wants to go to g4 via h2. 14...Qe7
15.Nh2 Qe6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black supports the e5 pawn and is ready
to move the f6 bishop to g5 in case White
opts for Ng4.
16.Qg4! transferring to queen to g3 from
where it will exert pressure on the
kingside and also the e5 pawn. 16...Rfe8
 Modern Chess Magazine
[ 16...Qxg4 17.Nxg4 Rfe8 18.f4
would give White a clear advantage in
the endgame. ]
17.Qg3 Nf8 Black decides to transfer
his knight on g6 covering a lot of
important squares on the kingside.
18.Ng4 Ng6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
It seems Black has everything under
control. But now White finds a way to
create problems for Black.
19.Qf3! Another nice little manoeuvre!
White threatens to take the f6 bishop
destorying Black's pawn structure.
19...Be7
[ 19...Bg5 20.Qf5 Qxf5 21.exf5 Ne7
22.Nxe5 f6 23.Nf3 Nxf5 24.Ra4! ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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8
20.Qf5! the point behind White's
previous move. Black is forced to
exchange the queens on e6 and as
we will see there is no satisfactory
way to recapture it. 20...Bd6
21.Qxe6 fxe6
[ the desirable recapture,
21...Rxe6 leaves the a8 rook
unsupported and white can exploit
it by playing, 22.b4!
a4 23.b3 and Black will
have problems with his a-
pawn. ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
22.Ne3! another simple but nice
manoeuvre! White transfers his knight
on c4 where it will be unshakable, as
b6-b5 will drop the a5 pawn. 22...Nf8
23.Nc4 Nd7 With his minor pieces on
optimal squares, now white makes
slow and steady improvements in his
position. 24.g3! Rf8 25.Kg2 c5
26.h4 Rae8
 Modern Chess Magazine
27.h5 gaining space on the kingside.
27...h6 28.f3 Rf7 29.Rh1 Ref8
30.Raf1 Ra8 31.Ra1 Raf8 32.Rhf1
Re8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
33.Kf2! White takes his king to e2 away
for the g-file, where action is about to
begin. 33...Ref8 34.Ke2 Kh7 35.Rf2
freeing the path of the a1 rook to the
kingside. 35...Kg8 Black has no other
option but to just wait. 36.g4 Ra8
37.Rg2 Raf8 38.Rf1 Kh7 39.g5
finally the decisive break. 39...Rf4
40.gxh6 gxh6 41.Rg6 R8f6 42.Rg4
Rf7 43.Rf2 R4f6 44.Rg3 Rf4 45.Rg6
Nf8? this allows White to finish the game
quickly.
[ 45...R7f6 46.Rxf6 Rxf6 47.Ne3
with the idea of Ng4, where both h6
and e5 pawn are weak. White would
have slowly capitalised on his
advantage. ]
46.Rfg2! Rh4 47.Nxe5 Rxh5
48.Rxh6+ Rxh6 49.Nxf7 Rh2
50.Rxh2+ Bxh2 51.Be5
1-0
www.modern-chess.com
9
Tomashevsky,E 2706
Alekseenko,K 2668
72nd ch-RUS 2019 (11.3) 22.08.2019
In this game we will how White expoit the
weak squares in Black's camp created
by his far advanced weak pawns. 1.d4
Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 c6
5.Bg2 d5 6.0-0 0-0 7.Qb3 a5 8.Rd1
a4 9.Qb4 Re8 10.Bf4 Nbd7 11.Na3
e6 12.Qe1N a novelty! White brings his
queen back home before Black uses her
exposed position to gain tempo's.
[ 12.Rac1 ½-½ (21) Cheparinov,I
(2710)-Ding,L (2777) Riadh 2017 ]
12...h6 13.Rac1 g5 14.Bd6 Ne4
15.Bb4 f5 Black has gained a nice
control over the centre, especially the
e4 square and some space on the
kingside, but has weakened some
squares in the process for example the
e5 square. This structure similar to the
Dutch stonewall structure. 16.Nc2
The knight was stranded on a3, so white
decides to bring it back to the game.
16...g4? Black tries to drive White knight
away from the centre but this weakens
squares on the kingside like h4, f4 and
g6.
[ using this opportunity to win the c4
pawn is bad, as after, 16...dxc4?!
17.Nd2! eliminating the strong knight
on e4 as soon as its support is
loosened due to ...dc4. ( 17.Ne5!? )
17...Nxd2 18.Qxd2 White not just
aims to win the pawn back with Nc2-
a3 but also break in the centre with e2-
e4. Nb6 ( preventing the e4 break
with, 18...Nf6 is simply met by,
19.Na3 White will recover his pawn
and the weak squares in Black's camp
 Modern Chess Magazine
will begin to tell. ) 19.e4 ( 19.Na3
allows Black to take a strong break,
e5!= ) 19...fxe4 20.Qe2 White will be
temporarily a pawn down but Black
has too many weaknesses in the
centre and on the kingside. ]
[ 16...Qf6! followed by Qg6 and then
advancing on the kingside with h5 was
the correct way to play on this
position. ]
17.Nh4 b6 18.cxd5! In this structures if
White is able to force Black to recapture
on d5 with the c-pawn then usually this
exchange favours White. 18...cxd5
19.f3!
[ another interesting option was,
19.Bxe4!? usually White doesn't
exchange his g2 bishop for the knight
on e4, but in this case he is counting
on the weak squares in Black's camp.
fxe4 ( 19...dxe4?! would allow White
to open up the position in his favour
with, 20.d5! Black's pieces are not in
a harmony to face the opening up of
the position. ) 20.Ne3 h5 21.Neg2!
the knight goes to f4 and Black's
kingside is full of weaknesses. ]
19...Ng5 20.Ne3 Nf6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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10
21.Ng6! White pounces on the
opportunity to take is knight to the
dream e5 square. 21...Nf7 22.fxg4
fxg4 23.Ne5! h5
[ 23...Nxe5 is bad due to, 24.dxe5
Nd7 25.Nxd5!+- ]
24.Nxf7 Kxf7
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
25.Nc4! another strong knight jump!
This knight is aiming to go to d6 or
e5. 25...Bh6 26.Nd6+ Kg6 27.Nxe8
Bxc1 28.Rxc1 Qxe8 White has got
the bishop pair, Black's king is a bit
exposed and Black's queenside
pieces are still yet to leave their initial
squares. 29.e4! Ba6 30.e5 Nd7
31.Rc6 Kh7 32.Bxd5!exd5 33.Qb1
+ Kg7 34.Qf5 the army of queen,
rook and bishop is enough to hunt
down the Black king. 34...Bd3
35.Qxd3 Nxe5 36.Rc7+ Nf7 37.Qf5
+-White won the game comfortably.
 Modern Chess Magazine
37...Qe3+ 38.Kf1 Qf3+ 39.Qxf3 gxf3
40.Kf2 Kg6 41.Be7 a3 42.Rc6+ Kf5
43.Rf6+ Ke4 44.bxa3 Nh8 45.Rxb6
Kxd4 46.Kxf3 Nf7 47.Rb4+ Ke5
48.Rh4 Nd6 49.Bxd6+ Kxd6 50.a4
Kc5 51.Ke3 Rb8 52.Kd3 Rb2
53.Rxh5 Rxa2 54.Rh8 Ra3+ 55.Ke2
Kd4 56.Ra8 Ra2+ 57.Kf3 Rxh2 58.a5
Kc5 59.a6 Kb6 60.Rd8 Kxa6 61.Rxd5
Kb6 62.g4 Rh8 63.Kf4 Kc6 64.Rd1
Rf8+ 65.Ke5 Rg8 66.Kf5 Rf8+ 67.Ke6
Rg8 68.Rd4 Kc5 69.Ra4 Re8+ 70.Kf7
Rb8 71.g5 Rb7+ 72.Kg8 Kd5 73.Rf4
Rb1 74.g6 Ke6 75.g7 Ke7 76.Rh4
1-0
Yu,Yangyi 2765
Tissir,Mohamed 2388
Olympiad 2018 (1.3) 24.09.2018
In this game we will how manoeuvrings
can help is to achieve favourable
exchanges of pieces. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6
3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5
h6 7.Be3 e5 8.d5 Na6 9.Qd2 Nc5
10.f3 a5 11.Bd1 c6 12.Nge2 cxd5
13.cxd5 Bd7 14.a4 Qb6 15.0-0 Rfc8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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11
Black has is focused on playing on the
queenside instead of kingside which
rarely works well for Black in practise.
Find the best way for White to
continue?16.Nc1! A fairly obvious
move, but the main idea is to manouvre
the bishop to b5 and exchange it for the
Black's good light square bishop.
16...h5 17.Be2 Qd8 18.Bb5 Be8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
19.Ra3! covering the b3 square and
intending Nd3 or Nb3 thus exchanging
White's passive c1 knight for Black's
active c5 knight. 19...Nfd7 20.Nd3
Nxd3 21.Qxd3 Nc5 22.Qd1 Na6?
23.Rb3! A clever move. Provoking the
knight to come to b4 where it will be
badly placed. 23...Nb4 24.Bxe8!
Qxe8 25.Nb5 Bf8 26.Rc3 in just a
matter of few moves White has gained
complete control on the queenside.
26...Qd8
 Modern Chess Magazine 12

27.f4! with queenside under firm control, Puzzle 2

white starts action on the kingside.
27...exf4 28.Bxf4 Rxc3 29.bxc3 Na6
30.Qf3 Qd7 31.e5! dxe5 32.Bxe5 a b c d e f g h
White is in complete control and
8 8
converted his advantage quite well.
32...f5 33.d6 Re8 34.Qd5+ Kh7 7 7
[ 34...Qf7 35.Rd1 Qxd5 36.Rxd5 Kf7
6 6
37.Nd4 the centralized White's
pieces coupled with the passed d6 5 5
pawn gives White a clearly better
position. ] 4 4

35.Rd1 Bh6 36.Nc7 Rc8 37.Kh1 Be3 3 3

38.Qf3 Nxc7 39.dxc7 Qxa4 40.Qd5
Kh6 41.Qd7 Qxd7 42.Rxd7 Bg5 2 2

43.Bg7+ Kh7 44.h4 1 1

1-0
a b c d e f g h

Puzzle 1
Find the best move for White

a b c d e f g h
Puzzle 3
8 8

7 7
a b c d e f g h
6 6 8 8

5 5 7 7

4 4 6 6

3 3 5 5

2 2 4 4

1 1 3 3
a b c d e f g h
2 2

1 1

Find the best move for White a b c d e f g h

Find the best move for White

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine 13

Puzzle 4 Puzzle 6

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

8 8 8 8

7 7 7 7

6 6 6 6

5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

Find the best move for White Find the best move for White

Puzzle 5 Puzzle 7
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 8
8 8
7 7
7 7
6 6
6 6
5 5
5 5
4 4
4 4
3 3
3 3
2 2
2 2
1 1
1 1
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h

Find the best move for Black Find the best move for White

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine 14

Puzzle 8 Puzzle 10
a b c d e f g h

a b c d e f g h 8 8

8 8 7 7

7 7 6 6

6 6 5 5

5 5 4 4

4 4 3 3

3 3 2 2

2 2 1 1

1 1 a b c d e f g h

a b c d e f g h
Find the best move for White

Find the best move for Black Answers

Lenderman,A 2640
Puzzle 9 Mandiza,F 2386
13th Philadelphia Int (2.3) 2019

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

8 8 8 8

7 7 7 7

6 6 6 6

5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

20.Re4! White transfers his rook to h4,

Find the best move for Black defending his c4 pawn at the same time.
www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
20...dxe5 21.Rh4 white threatens to
take on g7 and follow up with Qd2-h6.
So Black sidesteps it with, 21...Bf6
22.Bxf8 Bxh4 23.Qh6 Bf6
White's queen and bishop are on the
best squares possible and have reached
their limits. They need the support for
their team members. 24.Ne4!
the c3 knight comes to the rescue!
White threatens to go to g5. 24...Nxd5
25.cxd5?! this is good enough to win as
well.
[ A spectacular finish to such nice
manoeuvres would have been
provided by, 25.Nfg5! Be6
defending the f7 square. 26.Qxh7+
Kxf8 27.Nxe6+ fxe6 and now,
28.Ng5! Bg7 ( 28...Bxg5 29.Bxg6+-
leads to a quicker mate ) 29.Qxg6 Kg8
30.Qf7+ Kh8 31.Qh5+ Kg8 32.Bh7+
Kf8 33.Nxe6# ]
25...Rxe4 26.Bxe4 Nd6 27.Ng5 Qb4
28.Bxe7 Bxe7 29.Qxh7+
1-0
Muzychuk,M
Tan Zhongyi
FIDE Women's Candidates (9.4)
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
www.modern-chess.com
15
Find the best move for White.
the bishop on c2 is passively
placed, hence White improves it to a
better square. 17.Bb3! Be6
18.Bc4 Nd7?
[ it was essential to exchange the
c4 bishop immediately before it
creates more problems for black.
18...Bxc4 19.Nxc4 the position is
static and I prefer white. The knight
on c4 is well placed and White can
create pressure on the kingside.
White is slightly better. ]
19.Bb5! White refrains from the
exchange and plants the bishop on the
strong b5 post. 19...Ndb8 in just two
moves the knight from the active f6
square has landed on the passive b8
square! 20.d4! with Black pieces un-
coordinated, white quickly breaks in the
centre. 20...bxc3 21.bxc3 cxd4
22.exd4 exd4 23.Nxd4 Nxd4
24.cxd4 d5 25.e5 f6 26.Qe3 Raf7
2563 27.Nf3
2513
2019
[ 27.Nb3!+- it would have been
better to take the knight to c5 also
mainting pressure on the a5 pawn
in the process. ]
27...Nd7 28.exf6?! there was no
need to release the tension.
[ 28.Rac1! intending to enter with
Rc6 was strong. If, fxe5?! 29.dxe5
+-white also gets access to the d4
square. ]
28...Rxf6 29.Ng5 Bf5 30.Rae1
Rg6 31.h4 h6 32.Rxf5! Rxf5
33.Bd3
 Modern Chess Magazine
Rfxg5 34.hxg5 Rd6 35.Qe8+ Nf8
36.Qxd8 Rxd8 37.g6!+- the g6 pawn
dominates Black's kingside. 37...Rb8
38.Re5 Rd8 39.g4 Kh8 40.Bf5 Rd6
41.Re8 Rf6 42.Be6 h5 43.Bf7
1-0
Vachier Lagrave,M
Mamedyarov,S
Riga FIDE Grand Prix 2019 (4.2)
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Find the best move for White.
White's knight on f5 is aggresively
placed and needs support from his
pieces to create a strong attack on the
kingside. 24.Qf2! The queen goes to g3
creating problems for the Black king.
24...Re6
[ 24...Kh7 was an alternative way to
protect the g7 square. 25.Qg3 Rg8
26.e5! Nd7 27.Ng4+- White's queen
and two knights are a formidable force
on the kingside while the Black queen
www.modern-chess.com
16
is a mere spectator. White is
threatening e5-e6 with a winning
attack on the kingside. ]
25.Qg3 Ne8 now White simply grabs
the pawn. 26.exd5 cxd5 27.Nxd5+-
Kf8 28.Qh4 Rd7 29.Nde3 Ncd6
30.Nd4 Re5 31.Ng4 Rd5 32.Ne5
1-0
2775
2765
2019 Nepomniachtchi,I 2775
Nisipeanu,LD 2672
47th GM 2019 (6.2) 2019
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Find the best move for White.
White has gained space on the kingside
with the advance of the h-pawn while all
his pieces except the a1 rook are within
the striking distance of black's kingside.
But they still need one more guy to help
them in their endeavours. 14.Rh3!
the rook joins White's army against the
Black king. 14...Nc6? exchanging the
powerful centralized d4 knight looks
 Modern Chess Magazine
logical, but frees the d4 square for the
White bishop, which will prove to be
even more dangerous than the White
knight.
[ the prophylactic, 14...Kh8?!
is strongly met by, 15.Rf3!
when the Black queen gets stucks on
the awkward d7 square because of
the f7 pawn. ]
[ 14...Qd8 15.Rg3 Kh8 16.Re1!
bringing the last piece in action. White
has a strong initiative. ]
15.Rg3 Kh8 16.Nxc6! bxc6 17.Bd4
threatening Qd2-h6+ 17...Re6 18.Qf4!
threatening Qf5 18...Qe8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
19.Re3! a cool move to finish the game.
Black cannot handle White's numerous
threats against the king.
1-0
www.modern-chess.com
17
Bhakti,K 2322
Girya,O 2456
12th World Teams Women (4.1) 2019
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
find the best move for Black.
29...Bf3! a beautiful transfer of the
bishop to exploit the weak a4 pawn!
30.Nf1!? White finds an interesting
knight manoeuvre of her own.
[ If White prevents Bd1 then black can
play, 30.Rc1 Bd5!-+ intending Bd5-
b3, when the Black bishop finds
another way to reach to the weak a4
pawn. ]
30...Nf6! this would have been another
nice manoeuver as well! The knight
intends to go to b6 via d7, also
threatening Nf6-e4 along the way.
[ 30...Nd6 was played in the game
when Black managed to win after a lot
of difficulties. ]
[ 30...Bd1?! would have allowed White
to show her idea, 31.Ne3 Bxa4
32.Nc4 White will win the a5 pawn.
 Modern Chess Magazine
The a-pawns have eliminated which is
not a good sign for Black. Black is
still better but her advantage has
diminished. ]
31.Bf4 Nd7! 32.Rg5 Nb6 33.Nd2 Bd5
the bishop dominates the d2 knight. If
now, 34.Bc7 then 34...f6!-+ and Black
has a winning advantage.
0-1
Adhiban,B.. 2668
Arias,Daniel 2274
Batumi Chess Olympiad | Open (1.3)
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Find the best move for White.
White has just exchanged the bishops
and weakened the dark squares around
Black's king. Now he finds a way to
exploit them with, 21.c4! the queen
transfers to c3 exploiting the weakened
a1-h8 diagonal.
[ 21.Qg3 e5 22.Nc2!+- was another
strong possibility. ]
www.modern-chess.com
18
21...Nf6 22.Qc3 White now
threatens Nd6. 22...e5
[ 22...Na4 is met by, 23.Bxa4
Bxa4 24.b3 Bd7 ( 24...e5
25.Nf3+-followed by Nd6 and
Black loses the e5 pawn. )
25.Nd6+- threatening the e8 rook
as well as Nf5+. ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Can White still go for Nd6?
23.Nd6! yes! 23...exd4 24.Rxe7
dxc3 25.Rxf7+ Kh8 26.Rxf6
[ 26.Nxe8 Nxe8 27.bxc3
+-is winning too. ]
26...Re6 27.Rxe6 Bxe6 28.bxc3+-
White is simply two pawns up.
28...Bg8 29.c5 Nd7 30.Nxb7
1-0
 Modern Chess Magazine
Andriasian,Z 2600
Hayrapetyan,Ho 2449
12th Asrian Memorial 2019 (6.2) 2019
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Find the best move for White.
All White's pieces are optimally placed
except the knight on c3. But there are
two ways to improve the placement of
the knight:- b1 and e2. Which one is the
best?
17.Ne2! is the correct and the fastest
way to reach to the kingside.
[ In the game White chose, 17.Nb1!?
which is find too as it addresses
White's problem, but it is much slower.
Bb7 ( 17...c4! 18.Bf1 Kg7 19.Nd2
a5 20.Nf3 Ba6 21.Rd4 White has a
firm control on the dark squares and
stands better. But he still needs to
work to get a decisive advantage. )
18.Nd2 Kg7 19.Nf3 Rhd8 20.Ng5
Nf8 21.Be2 White was clearly on top
and won the game without any
problems. ]
17...Qxe5
[ 17...Nxe5? is bad due to, 18.Nf4
threatening Re5. Kg7 19.Nh3!
provoking f6 f6 20.Nf4+- the kingside
falls apart. ]
[ 17...c4 is an important move to
www.modern-chess.com
19
consider while playing Ne2. 18.Bxg6!
Rg8 ( 18...Qxe5 19.Nf4 Qf6
20.Bxf7+- the Black's king shelter
disappears. ) 19.Qa3+ Qc5 20.Qxc5+
Nxc5 21.Bxh5+- with a winning
endgame. ]
[ 17...Kg7 with this Black tries to hold
his kingside together. 18.Nf4 Nf8
19.c4 d4 20.Be2!+- and White will
win the h5 pawn. ]
18.Nf4 Qf6
[ 18...Qxb2 19.Nxe6+ fxe6 20.Rxe6+-
is crushing ]
19.Re3!+- and Black cannot hold his
kingside together.
1-0
Svidler,P 2729
Grischuk,A 2759
Levitov Chess Week Rapid (4.1) 2019
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
24...Qc7! Black not only threatens Rf8-
b8 but also after the only defense, 25.c4
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
to play...
25...Qc5! Black protects the a5 pawn
threatening ...Rb8 again, forcing White
to play,
[ 25...Rb8 26.Bxa5 Qa7 27.Qb5
Bd8-+ was also good for Black but not
as clear as in the game. ]
26.Qb5 and now,
26...Qd4! the queen has completed her
journey from d8-d4 with tempo's!
27.Bxa5 White's pieces are strangled on
the queenside, so its time for action on
the kingside. 27...f3! a beautiful pawn
sacrifice not only opening the f-file for
the Black rook but also freeing the Black
queens way to the kingside. 28.gxf3
Ng4! 29.Rf1 Nxh2 30.Kxh2 Qh4+
31.Kg2 Qg5+ 32.Kh1 Rf4 33.Qe8+
Bf8 and White resigned.
0-1
www.modern-chess.com
20
Yu,Yangyi 2761
Sevian,Samuel 2642
WchT 12th Astana (2.2) 2019
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
28...a5! the knight on c7 is in a bad
shape as its movements are limited.
Hence, it is important to improve the
position of the knight and not hang on to
the d4 pawn.
[ 28...bxa4?! is inferior due to,
29.Rfc1! Re7 30.Rxa4 Ne8
31.Rxa6 when is slightly better. The
Black knight still suffers. ½-½ (3) Yu
Yangyi (2761)-Sevian,S (2642) Astana
KAZ 2019 ]
29.Rfd1 Na6 30.Rxd4 Nc5
even though Black is a pawn down, the
knight on c5 is nicely placed putting
pressure on the e4 pawn. Black will also
get pressure on b2 pawn. Black is
slightly better in this position.
½-½
 Modern Chess Magazine 21

Nd6 24.Rc5 Nc4 now white should

Anand,V
Dubov,Daniil
GCT Rapid Paris 2019 (8.3)
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2764 play, 25.Ra4+- intending to play Ra4-
2700 b4 and White has good winning
2019 chances. ( 25.Ra2? Nxd2 26.Nxd2
Rfb8= would be equal. )]
23...Rfb8 24.Bc5 Rxb5 25.Rxb5 Rxb5
26.b4 the bishop on c5 and the pawn on
b4 works beautifully as a team. 26...Bh6
[ 26...g5 can be met by, 27.Rd1 g4
28.Rxd5+- ]
27.g3!+- preventing the Black bishop's
transfer to d6 via f4.
[ 27.Rd1 was fine too. Bf4 28.Rxd5
Bd6 29.Kf1+- ]
½-½

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h

23.Bb4! A difficult manoeuvre to find! It

was essential to transfer the bishop on
c5 even at the cost of the b5 pawn. The
bishop will be amazingly placed on c5,
cutting black's f5 knight out of the
queenside.
[ 23.Bc3? This logical move was
played by Vishy in the game. White
supports the b2 pawn and prepares to
advance the b5 pawn (in case it is
attacked by ...Nd6 or Rfb8) in order to
attack the d5 pawn.
But with the pawn so far behind on b2
and the e6 pawn needing constant
protection it is not so easy to for White
to create winning chances. Nd6 24.b6
Rxb6 25.Rxd5 Rc8 26.Bd4 Rb5!=
Black was fine here and drew
comfortably. ]
[ 23.Rc1!? was another possibility.

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
Understand the English
Hedgehog - Part 3
The pawn breaks examined in the
previous two articles (...b6-b5 and ...d6-
d5) are mainly aimed at questioning
White's stability on the light squares.
Since White's central space advantage is
ensured by the c4- and e4-pawns we may
call these the main pawn break plans.
Additionally, Black disposes of over ...e6-
e5, which we can consider as an auxiliary
break. The usually favorable
circumstances for Black are with the g-
pawn on g6 (or else with Nd4-f5
inoffensive) and the white pawn on f4, in
order to clear the e5-square for the black
pieces or else provoke the opening of the
e-file with increased pressure on e4.
Sometimes, ...e6-e5 can prove effective
even with the pawn on f2, as driving the
knight away from d4 would make ...b6-b5
easier to carry out. And of course, it
would help if White has played g3-g4,
chronically weakening the e5-square. If
White plays h2-h3 Black can sometimes
try combining ...e6-e5 with ... h5-h4,
www.modern-chess.com
22
gaining the control over f4. All these
aspects make us understand that the
potential danger of the break on dark
squares tends to inhibit the active plan
based on f2-f4, or at least, provoke the
willingly knight retreat from d4. We had
this situation in the previous articles, but
now we will examine games in which this
pawn break came true. In the first game
we will see that in such cases not all that
glitters is gold actually.
Uhlmann,Wolfgang 2530
Suba,Mihai 2435
Bucharest (4) 1979
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.g3 b6
5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0-0 a6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4
d6 9.e4 Nbd7 10.Qe3 Be7 11.Nd4
Qc7 12.b3 0-0 13.Bb2 Rfe8 14.Kh1
Bf8 15.f4 g6 16.Rae1 Bg7 17.h3
Rad8
In the article focusing on ...d6-d5, I have
mentioned that this system was
popularized by Uhlmann. We have
already seen how he lost to Gheorghiu,
now he will fall victim to another leading
Romanian grandmaster. 18.g4
 Modern Chess Magazine
The idea behind this move is not very
clear, as after 19. g5 Nh5 Black would
exercise unpleasant pressure against f4
and g3.
[ It is true, however, that White does
not have obvious ways of developing
his initiative, for instance 18.e5? dxe5
19.fxe5 Bxg2+ 20.Kxg2 Qxe5!
(Suba) and the d4-knight is hanging. ]
[ Removing the knight from the center
with 18.Nc2 does not work as a
preparation for e4-e5, for instance: b5!
(The c2-knight is hanging) 19.e5?
Bxg2+ 20.Kxg2 dxe5 21.fxe5 Nxe5
22.Qxe5? Rd2+ 23.Rf2? Rxf2+
24.Kxf2 Ng4+!-+ wins the queen. ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
19.fxe5 Rxe5
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
18...e5?! This thematical move is
premature and gives meaning to White's
previous move.
[ The best way to prepare for the
central break was 18...Nc5
Black increases his pressure against
e4 before opening the e-file at the
cost of weakening the d5 square.
19.Ba1 Trying to avoid a pin along the
long diagonal and avoiding a later
double attack against d3. ( 19.e5
still does not work due to dxe5
www.modern-chess.com
23
20.fxe5 Nfd7 which collects the e5-
pawn as 21.b4 Nxe5 22.bxc5
Nxc4-+ retrieves the piece and keeps
the extra pawns.; 19.Rd1 avoids the
tactical threats but offers Black
pleasant play on the dark squares and
along the e-file after e5 20.fxe5 Rxe5
21.Nd5 Bxd5 22.cxd5 Rde8 ) 19...e5
20.Nde2 ( 20.fxe5 dxe5 21.Nc2
Rd3 followed by ...Rxc3 and ... Nfxe4
with a strong initiative for the
exchange. ) 20...exf4 21.Nxf4 Qd7
planning ...b5 to endanger the e4-
pawn.. ]
[ 18...h6!? would be the second best
way of preparing ...e6-e5. Since after
the central break one of White's ideas
will be to weaken Black's control over
d5 with g4-g5, it is best to take
preventive measures. ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
[ The natural 19...Nxe5 is somewhat
better. True, White retains his
space advantage even though Black
remains stable. 20.Qd2 Rc8
21.Nd5 Qd8
22.a4 ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
20.Nde2?! After this neutral move,
planning to prepare g4-g5 with Ng3,
Black gets entirely satisfactory
counterplay.
[ The critical move was: 20.g5! Nh5
21.Nd5 The main point is that the only
way to capture is Bxd5 22.cxd5
allowing a later Nc6, while Bf3 is also next move restores the communication
an unpleasant threat. ]
20...Rde8 21.Ng3 h6!
a b c d e f g h due to Nxd5 25.exd5 Nxg4!?
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h 27.Nxb5 Qd8! Taking full advantage
Better late than never. 22.Qd2 R5e7
23.Re3 Ne5 An indirect way of
preparing against Nd5.
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
www.modern-chess.com
24
[ The discussion whether in such
situations 23...Nc5!? would be
better is initiated in the next
examples. ]
24.Ba3? White starts to lose the thread.
Black is forced to defend d6, but the
between the wings.
[ He probably refrained from 24.Nd5
26.Rxe7 Qxe7 but things are not
entirely clear here: 27.Bxg7 Kxg7
28.Qd4+ ( 28.hxg4? Qh4+ )
28...Ne5 29.Qxb6 It is not clear yet
whose majority is more dangerous. ]
24...Rd7 25.Re2 Rc8 This slows
down a bit the rhythm of the initiative.
The rook was well placed on e8.
[ 25...b5! is one of the best two ways
of taking over the initiative, combining
threats on both wings. 26.cxb5 axb5
of the merits behind ...Rd7. 28.Bb2
( 28.g5 hxg5 29.Qxg5 allows a series
of tactical blows: Ba6 30.Nc3 Nh5!
31.Qe3 Nxg3+ 32.Qxg3 Qa5 33.Bc1
Bxe2 34.Nxe2 Qxa2-+ ) 28...Nfxg4
retrieving the pawn and seriously
weakening the white kingside. ]
[ 25...Qd8! 26.Kg1 b5 leads to similar
play. ]
26.Ref2?! Once again forcing a useful
regrouping move.
[ 26.Nd5! would still have been
reasonable. ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
26...Qd8! Threatening ... Nfg4. 27.g5
[ Suba analyzes 27.Kg1 b5
28.cxb5 Nfxg4 Indeed, Black has
strong initiative: 29.hxg4 Nxg4
30.Nce2 Qh4 31.Bf3 Nxf2 32.Rxf2
axb5 Black is not worse from a
material point of view and has
very active play. ]
27...hxg5 28.Qxg5 Ne8!?
[ With the rook on c8 instead of
e8, the familiar 28...Nh5 does not
work due to 29.Qxd8+ with
check. ]
[ But 28...Nh7! is more active as
the knight could later go to g5. ]
29.Qxd8 Correctly assesing that
the queen exchange somewhat
restricts Black's initiative.
[ If 29.Qd2 b5 30.cxb5 Nd3 31.Rf3
Bxc3 32.Qxd3 axb5 33.Qxb5 Be5 
Black is much better coordinated and
has many attacking ideas based
on ... Ng7, ...Qh4 (possibly
after ...Bc6) or ... Rc2. ]
www.modern-chess.com
25
29...Rdxd8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
The consequences of the central break
clearly favour Black, who has the better
structure and excellent piece activity.
30.Na4?!
[ 30.Nd5!? Bxd5 31.exd5 b5 ]
30...b5 This always comes as an
excellent complement to ...e6-e5.
31.Nb6 Rc7 32.cxb5 axb5 33.Rd1
Rc3 34.Nf1
[ 34.Kh2 Nf6 planning ...Nfg4+. ]
34...b4!-+ 35.Na4
[ 35.Bxb4? Nd3-+ ]
35...Rd3 36.Rxd3 Nxd3 37.Rd2 Ba6
The same as in the game with
Gheorghiu (see the previous article),
Uhlmann's pieces are dominated by the
black knight on d3. 38.Bb2 Nxb2
39.Nxb2 Rc8 40.Nd3 Bc3 41.Rd1 Nf6
42.Nf4 Be5 43.Nd3 Bxd3! 44.Rxd3
Rc1 45.Kg1 Nh5 46.Kf2 Nf4 47.Rd2
Bc3 48.Rxd6
 Modern Chess Magazine 26

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

8 8 8 8

7 7 7 7

6 6 6 6

5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

[ 48.Rxd6 and without waiting e5! In the absence of the threat g4-g5,
for Rc2+ this is an entirely well-timed break.
18.Nc2
White resigned. A long time ago,
[ If 18.fxe5 any capture is good, but
after failing to achieve anything
the simplest is dxe5 19.Nc2 b5
concrete against Spassky's isolated
achieving counterplay at once. ]
queen pawn and despite doing
18...exf4 19.Qxf4
everything as recommended by his
[ White has to conceal the control over
countryman Nimzowitsch, Larsen
e5, as 19.gxf4 allows Nxe4
famously exclaimed: "One needs to
even though 19...b5 is also good. ]
grab that pawn, not just block it!" We
19...Nc5!
will now examine two games played
[ Gheorghiu calls this a novelty
by Gheorghiu with black, trying to cast
mentioning that 19...Ne5
some light over this issue, concerning
was previously played in Karpov-
the e4-pawn. ]
Gheorghiu (see below) in a similar
0-1
position, yielding Black only equality.
Strictly speaking, the game had
Stefanov,Parik entered unknown paths earlier, but the
Gheorghiu,Florin use of the term "novelty" is interesting,
Romania 25/69 1978
as it refers to a new idea. One way
or another, Black's concept is fully
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.g3 b6 justified. White will not have adequate
5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0-0 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 ways to defend his center. ]
8.Qxd4 d6 9.e4 a6 10.Qe3 0-0
11.Nd4 Qc7 12.b3 Nbd7 13.Bb2 Rfe8
14.Kh1 Bf8 15.f4 g6 16.Rae1 Bg7
17.h3

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
20.Nb4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Nh5?! This tempting move is premature
as it releases the pressure on e4.
[ 20...Nfxe4 runs into 21.Nbd5 ]
[ and 20...a5 can be met by 21.Nb5
Qd7 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.Qxf6 axb4
24.Qxd6= ]
[ Black should have resorted to the
idea played one move later at once:
20...Qd7! , getting with the queen out
of the knights' range and targeting h3.
The point is that the same method as
recommended below 21.Re3 allows
Nfxe4! ]
21.Qf2 Qd7 22.Ncd5?! This allows a
series of tactical blows deciding the
game in Black's favour.
[ 22.g4 Nf6 would still leave White a
bit hanging. ]
[ But the complications after 22.Re3!
, over defending g3, should peter out
in a draw. Nxe4 23.Rxe4 Rxe4
24.Bxe4 Qxh3+ 25.Kg1 Bxe4
26.Nxe4 Bxb2 27.Qxb2 Re8
28.Nf6+! ( 28.Qd4? loses to Rxe4
29.Qxe4 Qxf1+! 30.Kxf1 Nxg3+ )
28...Nxf6 29.Qxf6 and Black does not
have anything better than a perpetual
www.modern-chess.com
27
check with Qxg3+ ]
22...Bxd5!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
23.Bxg7
[ 23.Nxd5 Nd3 wins material. ]
23...Nxe4! 24.Rxe4 Bxe4 25.g4
[ Or if 25.Bb2 Qxh3+ ]
25...Nxg7 26.Bxe4 Rxe4 27.Nd5 Re6!
28.Qf3 Rb8 and without any
compensation for the rook White
resigned. Let us now examine the game
mentioned by Gheorghiu in his
comments:
0-1
Karpov,Anatoly 2690
Gheorghiu,Florin 2545
October Revolution 60 (16) 18.07.1977
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.g3 b6
5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0-0 Be7 7.d4 cxd4
8.Qxd4 d6 9.Rd1 a6 10.e4 Nbd7
11.Qe3 0-0 12.Nd4 Qc7 13.b3 Rfe8
14.Bb2 Bf8 15.Rac1 Rac8 16.h3 Qb8
17.Re1 g6 18.Rcd1 Nc5 19.f3 Bg7
 Modern Chess Magazine
20.Ba1!? Karpov immediately
anticipates the danger of the pin along
the long diagonal before it becomes real.
20...Ncd7 21.f4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
e5 22.Nc2 exf4 23.Qxf4 Ne5
A solid move which leads to
approximate equality.
[ But Black could have obtained
immediate counterplay with 23...b5
24.cxb5 ( 24.Qxd6 Qxd6 25.Rxd6
Bf8 26.Rdd1 bxc4 retrieces the pawn
with comfortable play. ) 24...Nh5
( 24...axb5 25.Rf1 Ne5 26.Nb4
allows White to consolidate. ) 25.Qd2
( White can defend both c3 and g3
with 25.Qe3 but this leaves the c2-
knight hanging allowing axb5 26.Nb4
Be5 with strong counterplay. )
25...Nxg3 with double-edged play. ]
[ The same method as in the previous
game is less effective as the
a1-bishop is defended: 23...Nc5
24.Nb4 ]
24.Nb4 The position is rather static and
about equal. But in such situations,
Karpov used to be very strong. The last
move targets the c6-square but the
www.modern-chess.com
28
chances to invade it are not clear yet.
White will manage to carry it out only
with Black's "cooperation". 24...h5
25.Rf1 Qc7 26.Kh1
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Re6 Since the knight blocks the e-file,
the plan initiated by this move is a bit
neutral.
[ Gheorghiu might have come up with
the idea of 26...Qd7!? as played
during the previous game (actually
chronologically later) while analyzing
his loss to Karpov. It is worth
mentioning that due to the hanging h3-
pawn 27.a4 does not prevent b5
for instance: 28.axb5 axb5 29.Nxb5
( Or if 29.cxb5?! Black can use the
same ideas based on the hanging h3
pawn with Rxc3! 30.Bxc3 Nxe4!
and if 31.Ba1 Nc3! ) 29...Bxe4!=
A familiar trick to retrieve the pawn.
The point is that 30.Bxe4? Qxh3+
31.Kg1 Neg4-+ threatens mate and
attacks the e4-bishop. ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
27.Qd2 Rce8 28.Ncd5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White invades this square only after
Black has invested some time in
doubling his rooks. Soon Black will need
to waste some time again, but this is
more of a psychological success for
White. 28...Nxd5 29.cxd5 Rf6!?
[ Interesting and probably viable, but
the simpler 29...R6e7 30.Rc1 Qd7
would have maintained the previous
character of the position. ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
www.modern-chess.com
29
30.Rf4!? The most principled move
aimed at obtaining a mobile center even
at the cost of an exchange.
[ 30.Rfe1 a5 31.Nd3 Ba6 32.Nxe5
dxe5 does not offer White too much. ]
30...Rxf4? Equivalent to a positional
capitulation.
[ Sooner or later Black would have to
allow gxf4, but it would have been
better to win an exchange along the
way: 30...Bh6 31.Qf2 Bxf4 32.gxf4
a5 33.Nc6 ( The same thematic
invasion as in the game. If 33.Nc2?!
Rxf4! 34.Qxf4 Qxc2 Black maintains
his stability while; 33.Nd3 Nxd3
34.Rxd3 Qc1+ wins at least the f4-
pawn. ) 33...Bxc6 34.dxc6 Qxc6
35.Qd2 b5 36.fxe5 dxe5
The material is about equal and even
tough two bishops are usually
worrying, White's king is too exposed
to claim an advantage. ]
31.gxf4 Nd7 32.Bxg7 Kxg7
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
33.Nc6! White's domination is complete
now and Karpov will win quickly.
33...Kg8
[ 33...Bxc6 34.Qc3+ Kg8 35.dxc6 ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
34.e5 Kh7
[ 34...dxe5 35.d6 Qc8 36.Ne7+ ]
35.Rc1 dxe5? A blunder which loses at
once.
[ 35...Rc8 would have prolonged the
agony but hardly changed the result.
White would have had to find the best
way of playing e5-e6 and conclude his
attack on the kingside. ]
36.Nxe5 Qd6 37.Nxf7 Qf6 38.Ng5+
Kg8 39.Rc7 Nc5 40.b4 Qd6 41.Rf7
1-0
Polugaevsky,Lev 2620
Gheorghiu,Florin 2605
Moscow (4) 04.1981
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
It may seem that after Black's earlier ...
e6-e5 and ...b6-b5 White has stabilized
the position and enjoys a comfortable
plus. Do you find a way to keep Black's
counterplay alive?! 23...h5! This strong
positional move threatens to shake
www.modern-chess.com
30
White's stability on the dark squares
with ...h5-h4. 24.Rf2?!
[ It would have been safer to release
the tension with 24.f5 , but Black's
last move would have been useful
anyway as it slows down the advance
of the g-pawn. Black could continue
with Rc8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
followed by ...Qa7+, ...Nb6-c4 with
"insanely pleasant play", as the
Russians say. ]
24...h4! 25.fxe5?! After playing this
dubious move White offered a draw
which was prematurely accepted by
Black.
[ The best way to maintain
approximate equality was 25.g4 exf4
26.g5 Nh5 27.g6! ( It is best to
weaken Black's kingside as after
27.Bf1 g6 28.Qxb5 Qd8 29.Nf3 Bg7
30.Qa5 Qc8 Black retains dangerous
threats against the white king, while
he is in absolute safety. ) 27...fxg6
28.Bf1 Ne5 29.Qxb5 Qd8 30.Nf3
with White counterplay. ]
[ 25.gxh4?! is no better than the game
move: exf4 26.Rxf4 Ne5 27.Qb3
 Modern Chess Magazine
( 27.Qe2 d5 28.Rf2 Qb6 29.h5 d4
with perfect control on the dark
squares. ) 27...Qa7+ 28.Kh2 ( 28.Kh1
Nh5 ) 28...d5 ]
[ 25.fxe5 After the game move, Black
could have continued with Nxe5!
26.Bxe5 ( 26.Qe3 hxg3 27.Qxg3
allows the dangerous attack starting
with Re6 28.Nb3 Nfd7 29.Nd4 Rg6
Marin ) 26...dxe5 27.g4 ( 27.gxh4
Nh5! invades f4 soon. ) 27...Rd8!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
with serious structural problems for
White and dangerous black initiative
(Gheorghiu) ]
½-½
Renman,Nils Gustaf 2425
Kasparov,Garry 2595
EU-chT (Men) 07th (3.8) 01.1980
www.modern-chess.com
31
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White's queen is obviously exposed in
the center. Is there a way to take
advantage of this circumstance?
23...Nc5! The knight is taboo, Black
threatens with the fork ...Nb3 and also
to win the e4-pawn with ...e6-e5, the
thematic move in this article.
[ 23...e5 only leaves Black with
problems along the d-file. 24.Qd3 ]
[ If 23...g6 Black is not in time to
threaten the queen with ...Bg7
because of the weakness on d6.
24.Red1! ]
24.Rc2
[ 24.bxc5 dxc5-+ ]
24...e5 Black simply loses a pawn.
25.Qd1 Ncxe4 26.Nxe4 Bxe4
[ 26...Nxe4 27.Nd5 Nf6 ( 27...Bxd5
28.Qxd5 Nf6 29.Qb7 Kasparov )
28.Nxf6+ gxf6 29.Qg4+ Bg7 30.Bc1
Bxg2+ 31.Kxg2 Qb7+ 32.Kg1 Qd7 ]
27.Bxe4 Nxe4 28.Qf3
[ 28.Nd5 Rxc4! 29.Qd3 Rdc8!
30.Qxc4 Rxc4 31.Rxc4 Nxf2+
32.Kg2 Nd3 33.Re2 Qb7-+
Kasparov ]
28...Nf6 29.Rd1 Qa7!
 Modern Chess Magazine
[ 29...b5?! 30.c5 dxc5 31.Rxd8 Rxd8
32.bxc5 Kasparov ]
30.g4 [d5] 30...b5 31.g5 Ne8
32.Rdc1 bxc4 33.Rxc4 Rxc4 34.Rxc4
Nc7! 35.Qc6 Ne6 36.h4 d5! 37.Rc2
Nd4! 38.Qc7 Qa8! 39.Bxd4 exd4
40.Nf5 d3! 41.Rd2 d4+ 42.Kh2 Re8!
43.Qg3? Re1 44.Qxd3 Qh1+ 45.Kg3
g6! 46.Nh6+ Bxh6 47.gxh6 Rg1+
48.Kf4 Qxh4+ 49.Ke5 Rg5+ 50.Kd6
Qf4+ 51.Kc6 Qf6+-+
0-1
Cserna,Laszlo
Portisch,Lajos
HUN-ch Hungary
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black met 17.f4 with 17...e5
without spending time on ...g7-g6 and
thus showing that he did not fear 18.Nf5
What justified his optimism? 18...d5!
www.modern-chess.com
32
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
2200
2635 Threatening to pin the queen with ...Bc5.
1975 19.fxe5 Bc5 20.Nd4 Nxe4 21.Nxd5
Qxe5 22.b4 Bf8 After dissolving
White's center Black's play is more
pleasant, but White should be able to
maintain the equality. 23.Qxe4 Qxe4
24.Bxe4 Rxe4 25.Nc3?
[ The correct move order was 25.Nf5!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
threatening among others Bxg7. g6
26.Nc3! Re6 27.Rxd7 Bc6 28.Rd5
gxf5 29.Rxf5 Bxb4 30.Nd5
 Modern Chess Magazine
with simplifications and a probable
draw. ]
25...Ree8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Now White's position is in ruins. 26.Nf5
Ne5 27.Nd5 Bxd5 28.cxd5 Rxc1
29.Bxc1 Bxb4 30.Kg2 f6 31.Nd4 Rd8
32.Nf3 Nc4 33.Rd4 b5 34.a4 Bc5
35.Rd3 b4
0-1
Solovyov,Viktor
Marin,Mihail
Sankt Petersburg (rapid) (7)
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
www.modern-chess.com
33
The game went 17...e5 18.Nd5
Your move. 18...Qd8!
[ It makes no sense to allow the
knight's access to c6 with 18...Nxd5
19.exd5 Bf6 20.g5 Bg7 21.Nc6
with uncertain play. The game
continuation offers Black an
advantage. ]
19.Ne2
[ The point is that the generally
desirable exchange 19.Nxe7+ Qxe7
activates the queen whilst leaving
several white pawns hanging. 20.fxe5
( 20.Ne2 Nxe4; 20.Nb3 exf4-+ )
20...dxe5 21.Nb3 Rfd8
Black defends the knight threatening
to take on b4 without fearing g4-g5.
There is also a newly created threat, ...
Nc5 so White cannot save his b4-
pawn. If 22.g5 Ne8 the g5-pawn is
hanging too. ]
19...Bxd5?!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
2016
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine 34

[ Overestimating the next move. It Qxb5 27.Qb3 Bxg3 28.hxg3 Rxc1

would have been better to keep c6 29.Rxc1 Qe2+ 30.Kh3 Qxe4 31.a4
defended with 19...Nxd5! Nf6 32.Rd1 Re8 33.b5 Qf5+ 34.Kg2
20.exd5 in order to be able to play Re2+ 35.Kf1 Qe4
exf4 21.Nxf4 Ne5 Attacking c4 0-1
22.Re4 Bh4with great play on the
dark squares. ]
20.exd5
[ 20.cxd5 Rxc1 21.Qxc1 exf4 Plaskett,H James 2460
22.Qxf4 Ne5 ] Adams,Michael 2505
20...e4 BCF-ch 76th Plymouth 1989
[ 20...exf4 21.Nd4 ]
21.Bg2? a b c d e f g h
[ 21.Nd4! exf3 22.Nc6 Rxc6 23.dxc6 8 8
Nxg4 leads to unclear
consequences. ] 7 7
21...Nxg4 22.Bxe4 Nxf2 23.Kxf2 b5
6 6

a b c d e f g h 5 5

8 8 4 4

7 7 3 3

6 6 2 2

5 5 1 1

4 4 a b c d e f g h

3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Everything is basically over now.
24.cxb5 Bh4+ 25.Ng3 Qb6+ 26.Kg2
Black has a comfortable position and
with 24...Nc5 he threatened to gain the
bishops' pair with ...Nd3. There is an
additional, hidden, threat. How could
White parry them both? 25.Rd1?
[ Blindly falling into the trap. 25.Ba1!=
was necessary. ]

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine 35

25...Nxb3!
a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h

26.Nxb3 Nxc4 27.Qf3 Nxb2 28.Qxf7+

Kh8 29.Rxb2 Rc7 30.Qf2 Rxc3-+

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h

31.Nd2 Rf8 32.Qe1 Bd4+ 33.Kh1

Re3 34.Qg1 Rd3
0-1

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
Endgame Series 23 -
Knight’s Versatility in
the Endgame
In this issue of Endgame series,
we will talk about the special role of the
most unpredictable chess piece, the
knight, in the endgame. The specific
geometry of movement of the knight,
unlike any other piece on the board,
gives rise to many unique possibilities in
the endgame. It is this knight’s versatility
that inspired many chess composers to
compose beautiful and instructive
endgame studies, some of which we will
see in this article, as well. While being
quite short-legged when it comes to
covering large areas of the board, the
knight is a very tricky piece on a smaller
area since it can cover a lot of important
squares and ‘shape-shift’ its routes in
many different ways. I am sure that
every chess player had a situation in
their career when he/she missed some
unexpected knight jump that changed
the situation on the board sharply.
www.modern-chess.com
36
It is not without a reason that knights
are more coveted pieces than bishops
when in time scramble or in a blitz
game. I think that the following
practical example illustrates quite well
how tricky the knight can be, even in a
very simple-looking position:
Sousa,Andre Ventura 2376
Nguyen,Thai Dai Van 2548
28th EY Open U18 2018 (6.3) 26.08.2018
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White dreams of sacrificing his knight
for a pawn to achieve a drawn
endgame. Black should be able to
prevent it with a few precise moves,
though, and eventually promote his
pawn. Still, one should always be
careful when knights are running the
show...
 Modern Chess Magazine 37

a b c d e f g h
92...Nb3+ 93.Kc2 Nc5 94.Ne2 d3+
95.Kd1 8 8

7 7
a b c d e f g h

8 8 6 6

7 7 5 5

6 6 4 4

5 5 3 3

4 4 2 2

3 3 1 1

a b c d e f g h
2 2

1 1
Nf3+! The key. 98.Kxf2 d2
a b c d e f g h and d-pawn promotes on d1 or c1. ]
[ Equally bad would have been
White plans to attack and destroy the 95...Nb3? because White can achieve
pawn with Nf4 or Nc1 next, so Black the same idea as in the game with:
needs to prepare ...d3-d2 with one of his 96.Nf4 d2 97.Ne2 Nc4 ( while the
knights. From 4 possible ways to do it, king march is too slow: 97...Kd5
he chooses one of the two wrong ones, 98.Nc3+ Kd4 99.Nb1= ) 98.Nd4+!= ]
missing a beautiful defensive idea. 96.Nf4 d2 I believe that this endgame
was played in time trouble and this
95...Nf3? would explain why Black thought that he
[ Instead, the simplest win was was winning here. White's knight has
95...Nc4 96.Nf4 d2 97.Ne2 Ne4 and the worst possible diagonal geometry
now White does not have the stalemate with the d2-pawn, so it is impossible for
trick from the game. After 98.Nd4+ it to sacrifice itself for the pawn before
Kd5 99.Nb3 Nc3+ Black completes one of winning
the pawn promotes to a queen on the manoeuvres Nc5-e4-c3/f2+ or Nc5-a4-c3/
next move. ] b2+. However, he missed another
drawing idea... 97.Ne2! Ne4
[ Another, although less straightforward,
[ 97...Kd5 stops the check on d4 but
way to convert the advantage to a full
gives White an extra move to destroy
point was 95...Ne4 96.Nc1 and now the d-pawn with 98.Nc3+ ( or
Nf2+! ( but not 96...d2 97.Nb3= ) 98.Ng1= ) 98...Kd4 99.Nb1= ]
97.Ke1 [ 97...Nb3 allows the same idea in an
even nicer version:

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine 38

98.Nd4+!= a b c d e f g h

a b c d e f g h 8 8

8 8 7 7

7 7 6 6

6 6 5 5

5 5 4 4

4 4 3 3

3 3 2 2

2 2 1 1

1 1 a b c d e f g h

a b c d e f g h
The knight is notoriously poor at catching
with a really cool knight geometry on a passed rook's pawn. There is, however,
the board. ] one safe zone - if the knight reaches a7-
98.Nd4+! Nxd4 and White king is c8-d6-b5 square in time, the game is
stalemated. drawn. With the current piece set up,
1/2 this looks almost impossible, but the
knight is sometimes capable of heroic
acts, as we shall see. 1...Ng5 2.Kd6
Grigoriev Of course, the king needs to shoulder
1932 the knight away from the central squares
[ since after 2.a5? Nf3! 3.a6 Nd4
the geometry works in Black's favour,
Using knight’s unique geometry The and the knight gets into the safety
following ‘classical’ studies by the zone just in time. 4.Kd7 ( 4.a7
famous composer N. Grigoriev allow us runs into Nc6+= ) 4...Nb5 5.Kc6
to marvel at knight’s ability to catch the Na7+= ]
passed pawn in a seemingly hopeless 2...Nf3! This precise move gives black
situation. knight the most flexibility with potential
routes toward the pawn.
[ 2...Ne4+ is met by 3.Kc6!
when the knight is completely
helpless against the march of the a-
pawn. ]
[ while in case of 2...Nf7+ 3.Kd5!
the board is too narrow for the knight
to manoeuvre its way to the a7-
square: Nd8 4.a5 Nb7 5.a6+- ]
www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
3.Kd5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White king takes a diagonal opposition
against the knight. Its dominant position
in the centre seems to have shut down
all inroads to the pawn, but Black has a
fascinating knight manoeuvre at his
disposal: 3...Nh4!! The knight 'resets'
itself in order to obtain access to the
other route toward the a7-square.
[ The other attempts fail: 3...Ne1 4.a5
Nc2 5.Kc5+- ]
[ and: 3...Kf2 4.a5 Ke3 5.a6 Nd4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
www.modern-chess.com
39
6.Kc5! Avoiding the last trick. ( 6.a7?
Nb5= ) 6...Ne6+ 7.Kb6+-
and the knight can't reach the safety
zone. ]
4.a5
[ White can continue chasing the
knight with 4.Ke4 but in that case it
can escape via Ng6 5.a5 Ne7 6.a6
Nc6= ]
4...Nf5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
This turns out to be the key square for
this type of knight vs pawn endgame,
which is also useful to remember for
practical purposes. It gives the knight
access to two routes: f5-e7/d6-c8 and f5-
d4-b5. Opponent's king is unable to shut
them both down. 5.Kc6!?
This is White's trickiest attempt.
5...Nd4+!
[ It would be wrong to play 5...Ne7+
due to 6.Kd7 Nd5 7.a6 Nb6+
8.Kc7 Nd5+ 9.Kb7+- ]
 Modern Chess Magazine 40

6.Kb6 Black seems to be in a similarly

desperate situation here as in the
a b c d e f g h
previous study. Even though white only
8 8 has a b-pawn, it still seems very unlikely
7 7 that Black can prevent its promotion
considering the poor placement of his
6 6
pieces - the king is not in the square of
5 5 the pawn and the knight seems to be
4 4
hopelessly stranded on the wrong side of
the fence (it would be an easy draw if it
3 3 was on b6). Still, Grigoriev
demonstrated another brilliant knight
2 2
manoeuvre that saves the game:
1 1 1...Nc2+
a b c d e f g h [ 1...Kg6 fails to 2.Kc4 Nc2 3.b6
Ne3+ 4.Kc5+- and the pawn
b5-square has been covered and the promotes. ]
knight has no useful checks. However, 2.Kc5 Ne1!
once again the knight can be reset in
order to achieve the most favourable a b c d e f g h
route toward a7: 6...Nf5! 7.a6 Nd6 and 8 8
the knight reaches safety zone just in
time to threaten the fork on c8 should 7 7

White push his pawn forward. The 6 6

position is drawn.
5 5
Grigoriev 4 4
1938
3 3
a b c d e f g h
2 2
8 8
1 1
7 7
a b c d e f g h
6 6

5 5 Having the previous study in mind, this

counter-intuitive movement away from
4 4 the pawn should not come as a surprise.
3 3
Black is aiming for the key square d3,
much in the same way as it did the f5-
2 2 square in the previous example. 3.Kc4
1 1
This is White's most stubborn attempt to
fend off the pesky knight.
a b c d e f g h

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
[ In case of 3.b6 Nd3+ we
can see why d3 is the perfect
springboard for the knight: it
can take control of b8-square
via one of two routes: d3-e5-d7
or d3-b4-a6. Variations below
show that White can not
prevent this: 4.Kc6 ( 4.Kb5
Ne5 ) 4...Ne5+!
( 4...Nb4+?5.Kb5+- ) 5.Kc7
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and now we use the resetting
tactic, as we have seen in the
previous example: Nd3! 6.b7
( or 6.Kd6 Nb4 7.b7 Na6= )
6...Nc5 and Black draws thanks
to the well-known fork motif:
7.b8Q Na6+= ]
www.modern-chess.com
41
3...Nf3 4.Kd5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
As in the first Grigoriev study, white king
manages to assume the perfect position
to keep the knight away from its pawn.
And yet, Black can still save the game
with an already familiar idea: 4...Ne1!
Resetting the knight, in order to reach
the key d3-square. It turns out that
White has no way of refuting this
defence. 5.Ke4
[ or 5.b6 Nd3 6.b7 ( 6.Kc4 Ne5+ )
6...Nb4+ 7.Kd6 Na6= ]
5...Nc2 6.Kd3 Ne1+! Retreating to the
most flexible square and avoiding the
last trap.
[ Moving forward with the knight
6...Nb4+? would have been
counterproductive since after 7.Kc4
Nc2 8.b6 Ne3+ 9.Kc5+- it would not
have the right 'geometry' to reach
the promotion square in time. ]
7.Kc3 White has no more aces up his
sleeve.
[ 7.Ke4 Nc2= repeats the position. ]
7...Nf3 8.b6 Ne5 9.b7 Nc6=
 Modern Chess Magazine
Heuacker
1929
I believe that after seeing Grigoriev’s
studies one immediately develops an
appreciation for counter-intuitive routes
that the knight can take to reach the
‘promised land’. This should help solve
the riddle of White winning in the
following interesting study.
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
A similar position without the white
knight is a theoretical draw due to the
stalemate motif. At first glance, it seems
that its presence does not change too
much because it is far away from the
promotion square. To solve this problem,
it is necessary to find the key square
that the knight should try to reach. In
this case, it is d3-square, as it allows
the knight fork when the black king is
forced to b2-square. Therefore, we start
with... 1.Nh5!!
[ 1.Nf5 looks more natural, but it does
not work here. Kb1 2.Qb7+ Ka2
( 2...Ka1?? would justify White's first
move in the view of 3.Nd4 c1Q
www.modern-chess.com
42
4.Nb3++- ) 3.Qa6+ ( In case of 3.Qh1
Kb2=
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
as in the solution, we can see how
knight's geometry is not appropriate,
even though it is optically closer to
the pawn. ) 3...Kb2 4.Qb5+ Ka2
5.Qa4+ Kb2 6.Qb4+ Ka2 7.Qc3
Kb1 8.Qb3+ Ka1 White has gotten
as close as possible to the king with
zig-zag checks, but now an attempt at
mating attack with 9.Nd4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
does not work because c1Q 10.Nc2+
Qxc2 11.Qxc2 is a stalemate! ]
1...Kb1 2.Qb7+ Ka2 3.Qh1!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
This is the key move that forces the
black king to b2-square and provides
purpose for the knight. 3...Kb2 4.Nf4
and White wins since 4...c1Q 5.Nd3+
fork wins the queen.
Horwitz,Kashdan
1928
Sometimes, taking a step back is the
only way forward…
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
www.modern-chess.com
43
This is another one of devilish studies
with the knight which shows the full
potential of this fascinating piece. The
white king is too far away to prevent
Black's plan to exchange last white
pawn with Kb5-b4, a6-a5-a4-a3. Thus,
it is up to the knight to hold the fort
alone, which seems to be far from an
easy task.
A solution exists, though it is far from an
obvious one: 1.Nb3
[ 1.Ke7 Kb4 2.Kd6 a5= is fruitless. ]
1...Kc4 1...Kb4 is answered in the same
way. 2.Na1!!
[ 2.Nc1 would not do the job because
after a5 3.Ke7 a4 4.Kd6 Kb4 5.Kd5
a3 6.b3 a2= Black forces the
exchange of pawns. ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
An absolutely brilliant concept: the knight
 Modern Chess Magazine 44

protects the pawn, and the pawn
protects the knight! Black's best attempt
is 2...Kd3 trying to get around to the b-
pawn with his king.
[ The original plan: 2...a5 3.Ke7 a4
4.Kd6 Kb4 5.Kc6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White king is just in time to
indirectly defend its knight, but the
choice of squares on the c-file is
crucially important. 6.Kc6! Only like
this!
[ 6.Kc5? would be sloppy as
after Kc3!= White is the one in
zugzwang! ] 6...Kc3 7.Kc5 This little
triangulation forces black king away
from the b-pawn, and after 7...Kb2
8.Kb6 Kc3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4

fails because of the brilliant tactical 3 3

point: a3 ( Otherwise 5...Kc4 6.Kb6
2 2
Kb4 7.Ka6+- puts Black in
zugzwang. ) 6.Nc2+ Kb3 7.bxa3+- 1 1
and White wins. ] a b c d e f g h
3.Ke7 Kd2 4.Kd6 Kc1 5.b4 Kb2
a b c d e f g h
the 'forgotten' knight returns to the
game with a decisive effect: 9.Nc2!
8 8
Kxc2 10.Kxa6+- A simply brilliant
7 7 study.
6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine 45

Amin,B. 2709 [ It would be wrong to be greedy with

Kozul,Z. 2612 51.Nd6+? because after Kd4
Tournament of Peace 2018 (9.3) 52.Nxb5+ Kc5=
a b c d e f g h

After looking at some of the most 8 8

impressive endgame studies with knights, 7 7

we will change the course and examine
knight’s versatility in practice. 6 6

a b c d e f g h 5 5

8 8 4 4

7 7 3 3

6 6 2 2

5 5 1 1

a b c d e f g h
4 4

3 3
White is not in time to defend the
2 2 pawn from the back (rule 2). ]
51...Ke5!? This is the trickiest move that
1 1
sets up some traps for White.
a b c d e f g h [ White wins in a straightforward
manner in case of 51...Kd4 52.b4
Endgames of this sort are fairly common Kc4 53.Nc6 Kd5 54.Na5+-
in practice. Due to limited material, the a b c d e f g h
weaker side can hope to make a draw
by exchanging off or capturing White's 8 8

last pawn. White needs to manoeuvre 7 7

accurately with his knight in order to
avoid that. The rule of thumb goes like 6 6
this: if the opponent has a pawn in front 5 5
of your own pawn (as in this case),
defend the pawn from the front. On the 4 4
other hand, if the opponent does not 3 3
have the pawn in front of your pawn,
defend it from the back. Let's see how a 2 2
strong GM applies the first rule in the 1 1
following endgame: 51.Ne7! The knight
a b c d e f g h
is headed toward the complex of key
squares in front of the pawn (c6,a5,b4,a6).

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine 46

and White proceeds to eliminate the h- 52...Kd5 53.Nb4+

pawn. For example: Kd4 55.Kh4 Kc3
56.Nc6 Kc4 57.Kh5 Kd5 58.Na5+- ] a b c d e f g h

[ as well as 51...b4 52.Nc6 Kd3 8 8

53.Kh4 Kc3 54.Na5+- with the same
7 7
outcome. ]
52.Nc6+! The only move that wins. 6 6
[ 52.b4 would be premature due to
Kd6! 53.Nc8+ Kc7! ( 53...Kd5? 5 5

would allow 54.Na7 Kc4 55.Nc6 Kd5 4 4

56.Na5+- )
3 3
a b c d e f g h
2 2
8 8
1 1
7 7
a b c d e f g h
6 6
This turns out to be the key
5 5
transfer square from which the
4 4 knight can be dispatched to one
of the winning
3 3
squares (depending on what Black does
2 2 now). 53...Kd4
[ In case of 53...Kc5 we would have
1 1
an exception to the rule because the
a b c d e f g h knight has to retreat behind the pawn:
54.Nc2
taking away key squares from the
a b c d e f g h
knight. 54.Na7 Kb6= and the knight
runs out of good squares. ] 8 8
[ 52.Kg4 would also be inadequate,
7 7
since Black can tie down white pieces
to the defence of the b-pawn with Kd6 6 6
53.Nf5+ Kc5 54.Kf4 Kb4 55.Nd4
5 5
Kc3 56.Ke4 b4 57.Ke3 and then
deflect them with h5= ] 4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
similar to Horwitz & Kashdan study.
However, Black could not do anything
to threaten the b-pawn seriously
anyway; for example: Kd5 55.Kh4
Ke4 56.Nb4 Kd4 57.Na6! b4 58.Kh5
Kc3 59.Nc5 Kd4 60.Na4+-
with an already well-known winning
position. ]
54.Na6!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Now, the pawn will be defended from
the front either way. 54...b4
[ or 54...Kc3 55.b4+- ]
55.Kg4 Kc3 56.Nc5 Kd4 57.Nb7 and
Black resigned in the view of 58.Na5
next.
1-0
www.modern-chess.com
47
Kuljasevic,Davorin
Kovacevic,Blazimir
analysis
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
This position could have happened
in the game Kuljasevic-Kovacevic,
B, Pozega 2018. White has very
good winning chances due to his
queenside pawn majority, but the
position is trickier
than it might seem at first glance.
Somewhat unexpectedly, the best
move is 51.Ne4+!
[ 51.Kxa7 is inaccurate as it
allows Black to exchange a pair
of pawns and achieve a draw by
simplification after: Nc6+ 52.Kb6
Nxb4 53.Ne4+ Ke5! ( 53...Kd7
looks safer, but here White has a
brilliant resource, just like in the
main line: 54.Nf6+!! Kd8
55.a5+- ) 54.Nd2
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and here Black should make sure to
keep the a-pawn in check with Kd6!
( because he loses the pawn race
after 54...Kd5 55.a5 e5 56.Kb5 Nc6
57.a6 Nd4+ 58.Kb6 Nc6 59.Nc4 e4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and here White wins by force using a
nice knight's geometry: 60.Ne5! e3
61.Nxc6 e2 62.Nb4+ Kc4 63.Nc2+- )
55.a5 Nd5+ 56.Kb7 Nb4!
and White can't make progress. The
problem is that winning the piece with
57.a6 Nxa6 58.Kxa6 is not enough
www.modern-chess.com
48
since the h-pawn is easy prey for the
black king. Ke5= ]
[ A more promising option is 51.a5
though it allows a possibility of a
blockade on b5 after e5 52.Ne4+ Kc6
White can still play for a win with the
familiar motif: 53.Nf6! Nb5
54.Ng4! e4 55.Ne3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
putting Black in zugzwang. Still, it may
not be easy to break Black's blockade
after Nd6 56.Kxa7 Kc7
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
and the white king seems to be
cornered, while the constant threat of
the passed e-pawn makes it difficult
for White to bring his knight over to
the queenside. I have a feeling that
the two connected pawns on the
queenside should still prove to be
decisive, although White would need
to find a very precise way to prove it. I
will leave this task to the reader.
57.Ka8 ( 57.a6? Nc8+ 58.Ka8
Nb6+=; 57.Ka6 Kc6 ) 57...Nb5 ]
51...Kd5 52.Nf6+!!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
This is the beautiful point of knight's
manoeuvre from c5-square. The knight
can not be taken because the h-pawn is
a runner, and White can now attack the
'second weakness' - g7-pawn - with Nf6-
e8. 52...Kc4 White wins trivially
otherwise.
[ 52...gxf6 53.h6+- ]
[ 52...Ke5 53.Ne8+- ]
53.b5! As mentioned in the introductory
example, one should never get relaxed
too early when knights are on the board.
Only this precise move wins,
[ but it is very easy to err with the
tempting 53.Ne8?
www.modern-chess.com
49
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
when Black miracoulously saves the
game with e5! ( 53...Nf5? 54.Nxg7!
Nxg7 55.h6+- ) 54.Nxg7 e4
and the g7-knight is not in a position to
catch the e-pawn. 55.h6 ( 55.Ne8 e3
56.Nd6+ Kd5= ) 55...e3 56.h7 e2
57.h8Q e1Q= ]
53...e5
[ Nothing is changed by 53...Kb4
54.Kxa7 Kxa4 55.b6 Nc6+ 56.Ka8
e5 57.b7 Kb3 58.Nd7 e4 59.Ne5+- ]
54.Kxa7! The knight on f6 is
untouchable. Black makes his last
attempt to draw by liquidating the
connected pawns: 54...Nxb5+ 55.axb5
Kxb5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
but White wins beautifully, almost like in
a study, using the full extent of knight's
geometry: 56.Ne8! e4 57.Nxg7 e3
58.Nf5 e2 59.Nd4+ picking up the e-
pawn and promoting his own h-pawn, all
by a single tempo.
Wojtaszek,Radoslaw 2741
Lalith,Babu MR 2557
FIDE World Cup (1.2) 12.09.2015
Due to the knight’s versatility in the
endgame, it is important to carefully
consider the knight’s role when one
makes a transition from middlegame to
endgame. In the following example,
Black failed to do that and allowed his
opponent to execute an unexpected
knight manoeuvre that quickly decided
the outcome of the game.
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black is under pressure, but he can set
up a solid defence in the endgame (after
exchanging queens on c5-square).
However, in the game, he does that in
the wrong way: 30...Ra8? GM Lalith
retreats the rook in order to regain the
www.modern-chess.com
50
pawn with Ra8-d8 in the endgame.
However, he misses a clever idea by
White.
[ Instead, it was better to play 30...Qc5
immediately, keeping the rook on a2.
After 31.Qxc5 bxc5 32.R4d3 Kf8
33.exd6 f5! White's extra pawn
would be rather irrelevant considering
that he could not easily improve his
pieces. ]
31.exd6 Qc5 32.Qxc5 bxc5 33.R4d3
Rad8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black was counting on regaining the
pawn on the next move and setting up a
blockade of the b-pawn. However, this
proves to be an illusion after the
following move: 34.Nc2! The knight is
headed toward the key b3-square via a1.
This manoeuvre can be easily missed
from afar because a lot has changed
over the last few moves (the queen trade,
pawn structure, rook left the a-file) .
Knight is indeed a very tricky piece!
34...Nxd6
[ 34...Rxd6 is not any better because
after 35.Na1! Rxd3 36.Bxd3 Kf8
37.Nb3 Rc8 White can play 38.Be4
 Modern Chess Magazine
Bxe4 39.fxe4+- and the control of the
open file and defended passed pawn
should lead to a technical win. ]
35.Na1! Bc8 Black clears b7-square for
the knight, but this will also prove to be
insufficient. 36.Nb3 Nb7 37.Rxd7
Rxd7 38.Rxd7 Bxd7 39.f4!+-
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Just in time! Wojtaszek prepares to
activate his bishop on h1-a8 diagonal,
forcing the knight away from b7 and
clearing the path for his passed pawn.
39...Kf8 40.g3 Bc8 41.Bg2 Nd6
42.Na5! White uses the knight's flexibility
to defend the c-pawn and support its
passed pawn at the same time. The c5-
pawn is not important any more. Black
resigned on the next move. 42...Ke7
43.b6
1-0
www.modern-chess.com
51
Kuljasevic,Davorin 2550
Ascic,Pero 2318
Croatian League 1A (1.4) 28.09.2019
In the next game, White faced a similar
issue, only transitioning from one type of
endgame to another.
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White has a clear positional advantage.
Black has a weak pawn on c6, as well as
some potential weaknesses around the
king which queen&knight tandem is
always ready to exploit. My dilemma
here was whether I should keep
maneuvering in this endgame or force a
transition into the knights endgame with
44.Qxc6? It will turn out that this was a
wrong decision because I missed a
counter-intuitive (at least to me at the
time) knight move for my opponent,
several moves down the line.
[ 44.Qe4 would have been better,
after all. ]
44...Nxb4 45.Ne8+ Kf8 46.Qxe6 fxe6
47.Nd6
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
I thought that this was a clever way to
transform my positional advantage
because White has a passed pawn while
all black pawns are very weak. I just
need to centralize the king and I should
have great winning chances. After
calculating a few lines that confirmed this
assessment, I was confident that 44.
Qxc6 was the right move. However, just
as my opponent played 47...Ke7
I realized that I had forgotten to look at
48...Na6. Somehow this backward move
escaped my attention as I had only
looked at active knight jumps. Sure
enough, after 48.Kf3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
www.modern-chess.com
52
my opponent did not take too much time
to play 48...Na6! Here, I realized that
black knight is placed much better on a6
than on d3 as it can not be hit by the
king. Suddenly, White's winning chances
have started to dwindle.
[ One line that I had calculated before
making my 44th move was 48...Nd3
49.Ne4 Kd7 50.Ke3 Nb2
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
51.Ng5! Na4 52.Nf7 Nxc5 53.Nxe5+
Kd6 54.Nxg6+- ]
[ while the other one was 48...Kd7
49.Nc4 Nd3 50.Ke3 Nxc5 51.Nxe5+
Kd6 52.Nxg6+- ]
49.Nb7
[ White can win a pawn on the kingside
with 49.Ne4 Kd7 50.g4 but Black
should draw this comfortably after Kc6
51.gxh5 gxh5 52.Nf6 Nxc5 53.Nxh5
e4+ 54.Kf4 Kd6 55.Ng3 Nd3+
 Modern Chess Magazine
56.Ke3 Ke5 57.Nxe4 Ne1 58.h5
Kf5= ]
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
The last attempt. 49...Nb4??
This was a very welcome surprise.
Black obviously did not understand that
his position is structurally hopeless and
that he needs to immediately go after the
c-pawn.
[ Therefore, the right continuation was
49...Kd7 50.Ke4 and now Kc7!
( 50...Kc6 loses to 51.Na5+! Kxc5
52.Kxe5+- ) 51.Nd6 ( 51.c6 Kxc6
52.Nd8+ Kd7 53.Nf7 Nc5+ 54.Ke3
Ke7 55.Nxe5 Kf6= ) 51...Nxc5+
52.Kxe5
www.modern-chess.com
53
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
I thought that I would have good
winning chances if Black plays 52...
Nd3+, but I missed that he can simply
play Kd7! 53.Nc4 Ke7= It is this line
that refutes the operation initiated with
44.Qxc6 by force! ]
50.Ke4+-
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White should be technically winning now.
50...Nc6 51.Nd6 Nb4 52.Nc4 Na6
53.c6 Nc5+ 54.Ke3 Playing it safe,
[ although 54.Kxe5!? Nd3+ 55.Kd4
Nxf2 56.Kc5 Ne4+ 57.Kb6+-
was even more convincing. ]
54...e4 55.Kd4 Nd3 56.f3 Nc1
[ 56...Nb4
 Modern Chess Magazine
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
is what I mainly calculated and here
besides the prosaic 57.c7, there is
also a poetic way to win: 57.Ne5!?
( 57.c7 Kd7 58.Kxe4 Kxc7
59.Ne5+- ) 57...exf3 58.c7 f2 59.c8Q
f1Q 60.Nxg6+ Kd6 61.Qb8+! Kd7
62.Ne5+ Ke7 63.Qxb4++- ]
57.Kxe4 Ne2 58.g4 hxg4 59.fxg4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White won a pawn, so the outcome of
the game is not in doubt. 59...Nc3+
60.Kf4 Kf6 61.g5+ Ke7 62.Ne5 Nd5+
www.modern-chess.com
54
63.Ke4 Kd6 64.Nxg6 Kxc6 65.h5
1-0
Finally, let us see how the World
champion masterfully used cooperation
of knight and rook to win an equal
endgame against another top-level
player.
Wei,Yi 2696
Carlsen,Magnus 2855
Bilbao Masters 9th (2) 14.07.2016
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
At the moment, Black is up an exchange,
but since moving the rook would lead to
material losses, he will have to return it.
The outlook seems to be quite drawish
after that, but Carlsen finds a way to
avoid simplifications and pose the most
practical problems to his opponent:
29...Rd8!
[ Most people would gobble up the free
pawn 29...Nxa2+ but that would most
likely lead to a quick draw after
30.Kb2 Nb4 31.Bxc7 Kxc7 32.Rf6
 Modern Chess Magazine 55

Rf8 33.Ng5= ] An unpleasant move for White

30.Kb2
because not only g2-pawn is
[ White would run into a mating net in
case of 30.Bxc7?? Kxc7 31.Rxa6 hanging, but Black also threatens to
Rd1+ 32.Kb2 b4!-+ ] reset his knight to c3 (via d1) in some
30...Nd5! This strong centralizing knight lines and reintroduce mating threats.
move eliminates the equalizing Rb6-f6 34.c4! The best reaction.
option and keeps the tension in the [ White could not play 34.g3 due
position. 31.Bxc7 Kxc7 32.Rxa6 Kb7!
to Nd1+ 35.Kc1 Nc3!
a b c d e f g h

8 8 a b c d e f g h

7 7 8 8

6 6 7 7

5 5 6 6

4 4 5 5

3 3 4 4

2 2 3 3

1 1 2 2

a b c d e f g h 1 1
This was the point of Carlsen's play. He a b c d e f g h
sacrificed a pawn in order to centralize
his pieces and decentralize white rook.
and he loses tactically because of
33.Ra3 Ne3!
the misplaced rook on a3! 36.Nd2
a b c d e f g h ( 36.b4 Rd1+ 37.Kb2 Na4+ 38.Kb3
8 8 Rb1# ) 36...Rxd2 37.Kxd2 Nb1+
38.Kc1 Nxa3 39.Kb2 b4-+ ]
7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
34...bxc4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
35.Ne5? Wei Yi decides to activate his
own knight, but it was much more
important to activate the rook, instead.
[ Thus, 35.b4 was the right solution.
Nxg2 ( 35...Nd5 is well met by
36.Ra5!= ) 36.Rc3 f5 ( 36...Rc8
would be met by 37.Ne5 ) 37.Rxc4
and in this sharp endgame White's
chances are no worse than Black's. ]
35...Rd2+ Another downside of 35.Ne5
was that it allowed black rook to
become extremely active on the second
rank. 36.Kc3 Rc2+ 37.Kd4
[ I wouldn't be surprised if Wei Yi had
missed something in his calculation
when he played 35.Ne5 - perhaps it
was that after 37.Kb4 Nd5+ 38.Kc5
www.modern-chess.com
56
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
which looks good for White at the first
glance, Black can go c3!
and the knight can not be taken:
39.Kxd5 Rd2+ 40.Ke4 c2 41.Nd3
Rxd3-+ ]
37...Nf5+ 38.Kd5 c3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Add a passed pawn to all Black's
positional advantages and White's
position has become critical. 39.Kc5!?
Wei Yi is resourceful - he prepares the
mating net for opponent's king. Carlsen
remains alert, though, and finds an
excellent defence: 39...Nd6! Knights are
considered to be the best defensive
 Modern Chess Magazine
pieces because they can cover a lot of
squares on a small area of the board.
This can be the case even the opponent
tries to launch a mating attack in the
endgame, as Wei Yi did here.
[ 39...Rd2? 40.Nc6 would allow a
serious attack on the black king. If c2?
41.Ra7+ Kc8 42.Kb6 c1Q 43.Rc7# ]
40.Nc6 Ne4+ 41.Kb5 Kc7!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
This was the point behind intermediate
check on e4. Black king escapes the
mating net. After a few mutual
inaccuracies in a complicated endgame,
Carlsen managed to find a winning
sequence on move 48. 42.Ra7+ Kd6
43.Ra4 f5 44.Kb6 Rxg2 45.Rd4+ Ke6
46.a4 Ra2 47.a5 Rb2 48.Kc7
www.modern-chess.com
57
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Nc5! Carlsen is very strong in positions
with knights. He seems to spot important
knight geometries and key squares very
quickly. In tactical variations that follow,
a6 is the key square.
[ White was hoping for: 48...Rxb3??
49.Rxe4+! fxe4 50.Nd4+ Kd5
51.Nxb3 Kc4 52.Nc1 ]
[ and 48...c2 49.Rc4= ]
49.Rc4
[ In case of 49.b4 Black wins with c2
50.Rc4 Na6+ 51.Kd8 ( After 51.Kb6
the point is Nxb4!-+ ) 51...Kd5 52.Rc3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
and now: f4! Passed pawns are there
to be pushed. 53.b5 f3 54.bxa6 f2
55.a7 f1Q-+ ]
49...Na6+ 50.Kb6 Rxb3+ 51.Kxa6
Kd5!-+
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
This is the point of Black's combination.
The white rook can not remain behind
the passed pawn any more. The knight
was sacrificed for a greater goal - pawn
promotion - but it played the key role in
this endgame. 52.Rb4 c2 53.Ne7+
Kc5 54.Rxb3 c1Q 55.Rb6 Qc4+
56.Kb7 Qe4+ 57.Nc6 Qd5 58.Kc7
Qd6+ 59.Kb7 Qd7+ 60.Kb8 f4
Conclusion:
- Knight is the trickiest piece due to a
variety of tactical tasks in which it can be
involved: forks, changing routes,
underpromotion, stalemate, etc. Thus,
one should always be on alert in
endgames with knights and never get
relaxed too early.
- The knight is notoriously poor at
catching rook’s pawn. Still, a ‘safety zone’
in the square a7-c8-d6-b5 (against white
a-pawn) exists.
-Generally, the best way to fight against
the knight with the king is to take the
diagonal opposition.
www.modern-chess.com
58
- Some techniques to remember in
endgames with knights are: taking
counter-intuitive routes, resetting the
knight, using backward movement.
- A key square, or a complex of squares,
often exists in endgames
with knights, so one should look for even
the most unusual knight routes to get to
that square (s). - In most cases: If the
opponent has a pawn in front of your
own pawn, defend the pawn from the
front. On the other hand, if the opponent
does not have the pawn in front of your
pawn, defend it from the back. - Knights
are considered to be the best defensive
pieces because they can cover a lot of
squares on a small area of the board.
This can be the case even the opponent
tries to launch a mating attack in the
endgame
0-1
Exercise 1
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White to move and win.
 Modern Chess Magazine 59

Exercise 2 Exercise 4

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

8 8 8 8

7 7 7 7

6 6 6 6

5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

White to move and win. White to move and win.

Exercise 3 Exercise 5

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

8 8 8 8

7 7 7 7

6 6 6 6

5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

White to move and win. Should Black play 33...Qh3 ?

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine 60

Exercise 6 Solution: Exercise 2

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

8 8 8 8

7 7 7 7

6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black to move. What is the best move?
Solution: Exercise 1
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
1.c8N!
[ 1.c8Q Ne7+ 2.Kf7 Nxc8 3.e7
Nxe7
4.Kxe7 Kb4= ]
1...Nf4+
[ 1...Kb4 2.Nb6! Ne7+ 3.Kf7 Nf5
4.Nc8! Kc3 5.Kg6+- ]
2.Kf7 Nxe6 3.Nb6+!
[ 3.Kxe6 Kb4 4.Nb6 Kc3= ]
3...Kb4 4.Nd5+! Kc4 5.Kxe6+-

5 5
Solution: Exercise 3
4 4
a b c d e f g h
3 3
8 8
2 2
7 7
1 1
6 6
a b c d e f g h
5 5
52.Nf5+! 4 4
[ 52.Ne8 d3 53.Kf2 d2 54.Ke2 h4
3 3
55.d6 d1Q+ 56.Kxd1 h3 57.d7 h2
58.d8Q h1Q+= ] 2 2
[ 52.Nb5 Kg7 53.d6 Kf7 54.Nxd4
1 1
Ke8= ]
52...Kg5 53.d6 Kf6 54.d7+- a b c d e f g h

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine 61

54.Nb5+! Solution: Exercise 5

[ 54.Ne8+ Kc6 55.Nf6 Kc5 56.Kf7
Nh1! 57.Kxg6 ( 57.Ne4+ Kd4= )
57...Nxg3 58.Nxh5 Ne2! 59.Nf6 Kd6
60.h5 Nf4+ 61.Kg5 Nxh5 ]
54...Kb6 55.Nc3 Kc5 56.Ne2! Kc4
57.Kf6 Kd3 58.Nf4+ Ke4 59.Kxg6
Kf3 60.Nxh5+-
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5

4 4
Solution: Exercise 4 3 3

a b c d e f g h 2 2

8 8 1 1
a b c d e f g h
7 7

6 6
33...Qh3?
[ 33...Kg7 ]
5 5 34.Qxh3+ Nxh3 35.Nb1!
[ 35.Kd1 Ng1 ]
4 4
35...Kg7 36.b4 Kf7 37.Nd2
3 3
Solution: Exercise 6
2 2
a b c d e f g h
1 1
8 8
a b c d e f g h
7 7

62.Rxf3 gxf3 6 6
[ 62...Kxf3 63.Kh2 Kf2 64.Nh6 5 5
( 64.Nd4!? Ke3 65.Nc6 d4 66.Ne5
d3 67.Nxg4+ Ke2 68.Kg2 d2 4 4

69.Nf2+- ) 64...Kf3 65.Nf7 Ke4 3 3

66.Kg2 d4 67.Kf2+- ]
2 2
63.Nh6 Ke3 64.Ng4+!
[ 64.Kf1? f2 65.g4 Kf4 66.Kxf2 1 1
Kg5= ] a b c d e f g h
64...Ke2 65.Nf2 d4 66.g4 d3 67.g5
d2 68.g6 d1Q+ 69.Nxd1 Kxd1 34...Nd7! 35.a6 Nc5 36.a7 Ra3
70.Kf2+- 37.Nc3
[ 37.Rxb2 Ra1+ 38.Kf2 Nd3+-+ ]
[ 37.Ke1 Rxa7 38.Kd2 Na4-+ ]
37...Rxc3! 38.a8Q Rc1+ 39.Ke2 Rxb1
40.Qb8 Nd7! 41.Qb5 Rg1-+

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
Master the Pawn Play
One of the first things every kid learns
on his first lessons is that he needs to
secure his own king. In order to achieve
it, we usually develop minor pieces and
castle. When we become stronger we
get the idea that we can also castle long
and the whole play become more
interesting. Having more experience we
can even dare to leave the king in the
center and sometimes it gives a positive
effect. Of course, all three scenarios
(short, long castling and leaving the king
in the centre) do not contradict - simply
different situations require different
actions. But there is also one more
possible role for the king... First World
Champion Wilhelm Steinitz can be
named as a father of positional chess
but many people know him thanks to his
phrase that king can defend himself. Of
course, quite often such strategy lead to
disasters but nowadays we mainly recall
his successful attempts. Let me show
you one of the most famous games
played by Steinitz and his king.
www.modern-chess.com
62
Steinitz,William
Paulsen,Louis
Baden-Baden 1870
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.d4 Qh4+
5.Ke2
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
To explain the core of this ugly looking
move I offer to read Kasparov's quote: "A
blasphemy for a normal player of the
time. Since the quick development of the
white pieces is interrupted by the king in
the centre, Black should be automatically
better. But Steinitz noted that long-term
factors could override temporary
inconvenience. The white minor pieces
will gain extra tempi attacking Black's
queen. White's better control of the
centre will help him to organize future
attacks and also prevent Black's pieces
from harmonious development. As it later
turned out Steinitz' Gambit was proven to
be not very dangerous for Black, but only
as a result of precise and very dynamic
play. Not surprisingly Steinitz' opponents,
who weren't ready to take this ugly
opening seriously, couldn't resist testing
his revolutionary strategy". I can just add
that my database contains 20 games
played by Steinitz in this variation and his
record is +12-5=3. 5...d6
 Modern Chess Magazine
[ With a different move order following
moves happened in the last game of
the first World Championship match:
5...d5 6.exd5 Qe7+ 7.Kf2 Qh4+
8.g3 fxg3+ 9.Kg2 Nxd4 10.hxg3
Qg4 11.Qe1+ Be7 12.Bd3 Nf5
13.Nf3 Bd7 14.Bf4 f6 15.Ne4 Ngh6
16.Bxh6 Nxh6 17.Rxh6 gxh6
18.Nxf6+ Kf7 19.Nxg4
Black resigned and Steinitz became
the first World Champion; Steinitz,
W-Zukertort, J USA 1886. ]
6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Bxf4 0-0-0?!
[ 7...f5!? would underline how
awkward position of White king is.
8.exf5 0-0-0 9.Kd2 Qh5
with initiative. ]
8.Ke3! An exclamation mark for White's
bravery. King makes one more move
forward on move 8 (!). 8...Qh5?!
[ Black wastes own time. 8...Bxf3
9.Qxf3 f5 was more tempting. ]
9.Be2 Qa5? Black loses a control over
the position. From now White steadily
increases his pressure in the centre.
[ 9...g5! 10.Nxg5 Nf6 would be a
correct way to play the game with a
white king placed on e3. ]
10.a3!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
www.modern-chess.com
63
Queen experiences serious problems of
surviving - b2-b4 and Nd5 is a concrete
threat at the moment. 10...Bxf3
11.Kxf3!
[ White takes with the correct piece.
Black's consideration was 11.Bxf3??
g5! (when opponent's king is trapped
in the centre time becomes the most
valuable treasure. 12.Bg3 Bg7 and
Black attacks opponent's central
pawns. 13.b4 Qb6 14.Ne2 f5!-+ ]
11...Qh5+
[ 11...g5? 12.b4 Qb6 13.Be3
+-was fatal for Black queen. ]
12.Ke3 Qh4 13.b4 Steinitz shows that
with a king on e3 it is even possible to
play on both sides. Amazing! Even if the
engine does not support this idea.
[ Engine's offer is: 13.d5! Ne5 14.Qd4
Kb8 15.Raf1 followed by Nb5, Kd2-
c1, g2-g3 etc. ]
13...g5 14.Bg3 Qh6 15.b5
Nce7 16.Rf1 Nf6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
17.Kf2! Now the king can walk home.
Center is under White's control and the
position is close to winning. 17...Ng6
[ Black's best (only) chance was
17...Nxe4+! 18.Nxe4 f5 but here
White also grants the advantage with
19.Nxg5 Qxg5 20.Kg1 ]
 Modern Chess Magazine 64

18.Kg1! Qg7 19.Qd2 h6 20.a4 White [ 29...Qxf6 30.Qc3+- ]

begins the decisive attack. 20...Rg8 30.c4 Na7 31.Qa2 Nb5 32.Nd5 Qxd5
a b c d e f g h 33.cxd5 Nxd4 34.Qa7+ Kc7 35.Rc1+
Nc6 36.Rxc6#
8 8
1-0
7 7

6 6
Short,NigelD 2660
5 5 Timman,JanH 2630
4 4 Tilburg 1991
3 3

2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
21.b6! Steinitz conducts own attack as
he lives in the XXI century. Pawn is
nothing if the object is the opponent's
king. 21...axb6 22.Rxf6!
[ 22.a5 was easier but First World
Champion aims to get total
domination. ]
22...Qxf6 23.Bg4+ Kb8 24.Nd5 Qg7
25.a5+- Difference between attacking
and defending pieces is amazing. The
rest is easy; I will just add a few
sidelines. 25...f5
[ 25...Ne7 26.axb6 Nxd5 27.Ra8+!
Kxa8 28.Qa5+ Kb8 29.Qa7# ]
[ 25...b5 26.a6 b6 27.a7+ Kb7
28.Nxc7! Kxc7 29.Qc3+ Kb7
30.Bc8+ Rxc8 31.Qxc8+ Kxc8
32.a8Q+ Kd7 33.Ra7+ Ke6 34.Qd5+
Kf6 35.Qf5# ]
26.axb6 cxb6
[ 26...fxg4 27.Ra8+! Kxa8 28.Qa5+
Kb8 29.bxc7++- ]
27.Nxb6! Ne7
[ 27...fxg4 28.Ra8+ Kc7 29.Qc3+
Kxb6 30.Qa5+ Kc6 31.d5+ Kd7
32.Qxd8# ]
28.exf5 Qf7 29.f6 Nc6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
We are used to seeing how the king
bravely walks on the board in the
endgames but in the middlegames, giant
slalom by the king is also possible. If
there was a poll with the question “What
is the most famous king walk in chess
history?” the next example might have
all chances to appear in TOP-3. In
absolutely dominating position, (engine
shows more than +3 for White) тхе
future World Champion Challenger has
found the most extraordinary way to end
the game. White major pieces have
achieved the maximum activity. The only
thing that somehow complicates White's

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
task is a battery on the big diagonal that
disables the moves of White's knight.
But it appears so that there is one more
piece that can help to checkmate the
black king. 30.h4 First Short makes h7-
h6 impossible. 30...h5 31.Kh2!
Now king starts his running. Black
pieces are so bad that they can not do
anything to disturb it. 31...Rc8
[ Black cannot push the rook away
from d7. 31...Bc8 allows 32.g4!
(with a bishop on b7, this move would
have been impossible) hxg4
( 32...Bxd7 33.gxh5 gxh5 34.Qg5+
Kh7 35.Qxh5+ Kg7 36.Rg4# )
33.Ng5! Bxd7 34.h5! with a mating
attack. ]
32.Kg3! Rce8 33.Kf4! Bc8 34.Kg5!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black resigned since he has no defence
against Kh6 idea. 34...Kh7 35.Qxg6+
Kh8 36.Qh6+ Kg8 37.Kf6
1-0
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65
WangHao 2730
Bologan,Viktor 2638
30th ECC Open 2014
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
In the next game Chinese GM used
similar motive but to be honest there
were more risks for his king. Black
offered to exchange the light-squared
bishops and the position looks
absolutely equal. But there is one
nuance - h-file. 27.Bxf6 gxf6 28.Bxb5
Rxb5 29.Kg3! Even the engine does not
feel a danger for quite a long period.
White king simply goes to h5 or h6 to
support the pawn attack (h2-h4, g2-g4-
g5). Black had to foresee the whole plan
to find the best defending setup.
29...Rb6?
[ Running away would not help.
29...Kf8? 30.Kh4 Ke7 31.Kh5 Qd8
32.h4+- ]
[ Win of the a6-pawn also does not
help to resolve all problems: 29...Ra5
30.Rd2 Rxa6 31.Qd1! Kf8 32.Kh4
Ke7 33.Kh5 followed by Kh6xh7, g2-
g4, h2-h4 etc. ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
[ Seemingly a good defending idea
was to bring the rook to g8 and the
queen closer to g5-square in order to
prevent g4-g5. 29...Rb8! 30.Kh4 Qb6
31.Kh5 c4 32.g4 ( or 32.Rd2 Rd8
33.Rxd8+ Qxd8 followed by Qd3 with
equal play. ) 32...Kh8 33.h4 Rg8
34.Rd2 Qg1 35.Qg2 Qe3 36.g5
fxg5 37.hxg5 Qxc3 38.Rd7
The engine says it is equal but for
humans, there is a lot to calculate. ]
30.Kh4 Rd6 31.Kh5 Qb8
[ After wasting a few moves, bringing
the rook to g8 already is not very
effective. 31...Rd8 32.h4 Qb6
33.Kh6 Kh8 34.Rd2! Rg8 ( after
34...Rxd2 35.Qg4 mates ) 35.Qe2!
( 35.g4 allows unnecessary queen's
activity Qb1 ) 35...c4 ( 35...Qb1
36.Rd1+- and then g2-g4, Rd5, Qd1
etc. ) 36.Rd7 Qg1 37.Qd2! Rxg2
38.Rd8+ Rg8 39.Rxg8+ Qxg8
40.Qd6 Qg7+ 41.Kh5
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White king feels perfectly here. h6
42.Qb8+ Kh7 43.Qxa7+- ]
32.Qe2! White does not forget to prevent
Qb1. 32...Kh8
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66
[ 32...Qb1 33.Rb2 Qc1 34.Qg4+ Kf8
35.Rb8+ Ke7 36.Rb7+ Rd7 37.Qg8!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
and checks do not help: Qd1+ 38.Kh6
Qd2+ 39.Kxh7+- ]
33.h4 Qg8 34.Rb2 Rd8 35.Rb7?
A mistake that could overcross all
previous play.
[ Immediate 35.g4!+- with the same
plans would minimize Black's
counterplay. ]
35...c4?
[ Black missed his saving chance.
35...Qg3! 36.Rxf7 Rg8 (with idea of
Rg5). 37.Rxf6 Qg7 38.Re6 Qf7+
39.Kh6 Qg7+ 40.Kh5 Qf7+= ]
36.g4+- Now it is over. Black pieces can
not change anything. 36...Qg7 37.g5
fxg5 38.hxg5 h6 39.g6 Qf6 40.Qe3
[ 40.Qg4! fxg6+ 41.Qxg6+-
was a bit faster. ]
40...fxg6+ 41.fxg6 Kg8 42.Rf7 Qd6
[ Even in the rook endgame Black had
no chances. 42...Rd3 43.Rxf6 Rxe3
44.Kxh6 Rxc3 45.Rc6 Rh3+
46.Kg5+- ]
43.Qf3 Rd7
[ 43...Qd2 44.Rg7+ ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
44.Qf1 Attacking on c4. 44...Rc7
45.Rxc7 Qxc7 46.Kxh6 Qg7+ 47.Kg5
Qe7+ 48.Qf6 Black resigned because
he can not avoid hopeless pawn
endgame. 48...Qc7 49.Qf7+ Qxf7
50.gxf7+ Kxf7 51.Kf5
1-0
Tarrasch,Siegbert
Walbrodt,CarlAugust
Vienna
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
In previous two games, we saw how
king's assistance resulted in mating
attacks. Now I offer to look at how a
king walk prefaces the mass exchanges
in order to get a winning endgame
(analogical example can be found in the
exercises at the end of the article).
White got a dominating position but his
opponent does not have serious
weaknesses. The most natural try 41.h5
would be met with 41...g5 without any
progress. But as you have already
guessed White king also can be useful.
www.modern-chess.com
67
41.Kh2! Be6 42.Rg5 Bd7 43.Kg3!
[ Here 43.h5 might not be met with g6-
g5 but Black can continue the passive
defence with Be8 44.hxg6 Bxg6
and it is not clear what to do next.
That's why White's king keeps
walking. ]
43...Be8 44.Kf4! Bd7
[ 44...b6 was more tenacious but it
does not change the evaluation of the
position. 45.h5 bxc5 46.bxc5 Qb7
1898 47.hxg6 Bxg6 48.Be2 (idea is Bh5).
Qb2 49.R5g2 Qc2 ( or 49...Qb7
50.Bh5 Bxh5 51.Rxg7 Rxg7
52.Rxg7 Qxg7 53.Qxh5+-
with a winning queen endgame. )
50.Bf3 Qd3 Black has prevented Bh5
idea but his king is less defended
now. 51.Rh2 with inevitable threat or
Rxg6 +-. ]
45.h5 Be8 46.hxg6 Bxg6 47.Be2!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
As we know Bh5 leads to winning
endgame - Kf4 is well prepared.
47...Qd8 48.Bh5 Bxh5 49.Qxh5 Rxg5
50.Rxg5 Rxg5 51.Qxg5 Qf8 52.e6
Black resigned.
1-0
 Modern Chess Magazine 68

Kasparov,Garry 2630 like this. But being under both time and
Petrosian,TigranV 2585 psychological pressure could not find
Interpolis Tilburg 1981 the winning line.
a b c d e f g h [ 32...bxc4?? leads to a checkmate
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
One more reason for the king walk is to
run away from a direct attack.
Sometimes, it is possible to run away in
advance; sometimes we need to run
undershooting. There are many
successful king walks and every time
when it happens chess fans mark such
games and award them with different
prizes. Especially remarkable are those
escapes that happen in the games
against strong opposition. Here I would
like to present my favourite walk-
escapes. In 1981 Garry Kasparov
already had a higher rating than
Petrosian had but "Iron Tigran" still had
resources to surprise his young vis-a-vis
with unexpected king play. Position on
the diagram is already not easy for Black.
33.Rxa6+! Kxa6 34.Qxc4+ ]
[ The strongest according to the engine
was 32...Bd6 but it allows White to
take the pawn back keeping a strong
attack: 33.Rxb5! Rxb5 34.Nxd6
Qxd6 35.Qxb5 ]
33.Bb4? White misses the chance to
punish the black king.
[ In his books Kasparov writes that
move 33.Na3 that has been found by
him after the game had been the best
one. To prove this he has used the
most powerful computers (for his time
of course). ]
[ But nowadays we have a way more
powerful engines and they show that
move 33.Qb1!! ends the game even
more convincingly. White major pieces
use all three open files on the
queenside to create threats. By the
way, Kasparov mentions this move in
the book but giving no lines he states
that it does not win.
A) 33...Bb6? 34.Bb4 bxc4
35.Bxe7 cxb3 36.Qxb3+-;
B) 33...N7b6 34.Rxb5! axb5
35.Na5+ Ka6 36.Nc6++-;
C) 33...Ra8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7

White has a powerful attack for one 6 6

pawn. 32...Kb7! It is hard to mark this
move with a proper evaluation.
Objectively it is not good but practically
only this idea could help to slip out of
Kasparov's hands. Kasparov himself
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

admits that this move shocked him - he 1 1

could not believe it is possible to play a b c d e f g h

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 Modern Chess Magazine
34.Bxd5+ exd5 35.Rxb5+! axb5
36.Qxb5+ Nb6 ( 36...Bb6
37.Qxd5+ Kc7 38.Rxa8+- )
37.Nxb6 Bxb6 38.Qxd5+ Kc7
39.Rc2+ Kb8 40.Rxc8+ Kxc8
41.Qxa8++-;
D) 33...Re8! Is the most tenacious
move - Black prepares evacuation
of the king via c8-square. 34.Rc2!
One more difficult move - White
prepares to meet the king on c8.
Black hardly can make a move
without giving up some material.
Ka7 ( 34...N7b6 35.Na5++-;
34...Kc8 35.Na5+- ) 35.Qa1!
(with idea of Ra2 or Ra3). Kb7
36.Bb4 Qd8 37.Nd6+ Bxd6
38.Bxd6 Rc8 39.Rxc8 Qxc8
40.Rc3! Qd8 41.Qc1+-
So, objectively 32...Kb7 was not a
good move but all lines Kasparov
mentioned in his books or we
mentioned here were hard enough
even for Kasparov to find them. ]
33...Qe8 34.Bd6 Ra8 35.Qb1
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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69
Finally Kasparov comes to Qb1 idea but
here Black already has an answer.
35...Kc6!! Played almost instantly! If 32...
Kb7 was a mathematically wrong
decision this move is simply the best.
King defends itself and White can't catch
it. Moreover, White already had to find
the only sequence to save the game -
Nc4 and Bd6 are in bad positions.
36.Rba3?
[ Everything might end with an equal
endgame had Kasparov played
36.Bxc7 bxc4 ( In case of 36...Kxc7
White saves the pressure. 37.Nb2
Kd8 38.Nd3 ) 37.Rb7 Rxc7
38.Rxa6+! Rxa6 39.Qb5+ Kd6
40.Qxa6+ Ke7 ( 40...Rc6? 41.Qa3+ )
41.Bxd5 Rxb7 42.Bxb7 ( 42.Qxe6+?
Kd8 43.Qxe8+ Kxe8 44.Bxb7 c3-+ )
42...Qb8= ]
36...bxc4 37.Rxa6+ Rxa6 38.Rxa6+
Bb6
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Black minor pieces defend the king very
well. White has no compensation for the
piece. 39.Bc5 Qd8 40.Qa1 Nxc5 41.dxc5
Kxc5! Black king makes the last move in the
game. After 42.Ra4
 Modern Chess Magazine
(seemingly this move has been sealed)
White resigned. I hope you have liked
the given examples and are ready to
play bravely by your own king. But to
make sure that everything will go
smoothly in your games, I offer to train a
bit more and to solve a few exercises.
0-1
Nepomniachtchi,Ian 2751 34.Qf5 Kc5! 35.Bg2 Qd4?
Harikrishna,Pentala 2750
Moscow Grand Prix 2017
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Having a free pawn the black king does
not feel really well. But the Indian GM
had a plan. 30...Rd2 31.Rf1+
[ Black had a strong answer in case of
31.Qe4 Qb2! and Ng6 is defended.
32.Rf1+ ( 32.Qf3+ Qf6; 32.Qxg6??
Rxh2+ 33.Kg1 Qf2# ) 32...Rf2!
and again White can not take the
knight because of checkmate on f1. ]
www.modern-chess.com
70
31...Ke7 32.Qe4 Ne5
[ Here 32...Qb2? would be a serious
mistake because there is no mating
net near White king. 33.Bh3+ Ne5
34.Qf5 ]
33.Bh3 White threatens to build a
battery on h3-c8 diagonal; Black king
feels abandoned. 33...Kd6! King bravely
moves forward. There are not so many
opponent's pieces on the queenside.
[ Black king had to keep running.
35...Kb4! and White can not do
anything. 36.Rb1+ Rb2-+ ]
36.Qf8+?
[ White missed own chance. After
36.Rf4! Qa1+ 37.Bf1 Black king
already can not hide on b4 when Qf8
is an unpleasant threat. Kb4
( 37...Rd8!? to cover f8-square;
position is unclear. ) 38.c5+ Kxc5
39.Qf8+ Rd6 40.Qxg7
with a complex endgame after Qxa2
41.Qxe5+ Qd5+ 42.Qxd5+ Kxd5 ]
36...Qd6 37.Qf4 Qd4 38.Qf8+ Qd6
39.Qf4 Re2 40.Qc1 Qd3-+ Opponents
made 40 moves; result of Black's
extraordinary play is winning position.
41.Qf4 g5 42.Qf8+ Qd6 43.Qf5 Qd2
44.Bxc6 Rxh2+ 45.Kg1 Re2 46.Bb7
Qe3+ 47.Kh1 Re1 48.Qf8+ Kd4!
49.Qd6+ Kc3! 50.Qa3+ Kc2!
Checks and surviving hopes are over.
51.Qxe3 Rxe3 52.Rf2+ Kc3 53.Kg2
Nxc4 54.g4 Rd3 55.Rf6 Ne3+
White resigned.
0-1
 Modern Chess Magazine
Recently on the final press-conference
of the first stage of Grand Prix-2019
(that has been held in Moscow)
Alexander Grischuk said that there were
three games in his career he could be
most proud of - win over Nakamura in
the given tournament, win over
Rodshtein (ECC of 2014) and the next
game. So, we simply have no right to
not take a look at it. It is my personal
number 1 for king walks! From e8 to b1
with all major pieces on the board!
Unbelievable! Look and enjoy!
Gashimov,V..
Grischuk,A..
7th World Team Championship
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4
Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 Najdorf Variation is
definitely one of the leaders by the
number of crazy kings walks under
direct shooting. Black often provokes
White to sacrifice something and hopes
to defend. If the defence is precise, one
can remain with free material at the end.
Otherwise, White will score a nice win.
6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
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71
Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.f5 Be7 11.fxe6
fxe6 12.Be2 Qa5 13.Bd2 Qc7
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
2759
1 1
2736
2010 a b c d e f g h
14.g4!
[ Previous game between these
players continued with 14.0-0 0-0
15.Qc4 Qd7 16.Qb3 Kh8 17.Bc4 d5
18.exd5 b5 19.Be2 Bc5 20.Kh1
exd5 (Elista, 2008). ]
14...h6 15.Qh3 White prepares g4-g5.
There were also other continuations: 15.
Rg1 (the move that helped Fabiano
Caruana to beat Nakamura in Stavanger,
2017), 15.Rf1, 15. g5, 15.e5. One of the
interesting facts about this position is
that Azeri players are the main experts
in this variation - most of the games
here were played by Gashimov,
Guseinov, Rauf Mamedov and
Radjabov. 15...Rh7 16.Rf1?!
[ Both players were sure that g4-g5 is
not a problem for Black after his last
move. But there was nuance. 16.g5!
hxg5 17.Nxe6
 Modern Chess Magazine
A) I suppose both saw taking on e6
but what to do after 17...Qd7??
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
both Q and Ne6 are hanging.
18.Qxh7! Nxh7 ( 18...Qxe6
19.Qxg7+- ) 19.Bh5+ g6
20.Bxg6#;
B) 17...Bxe6 18.Qxe6 Qd7
19.Qb3 the same variation;
C) 17...Qc6 18.Qf5 Bxe6 19.Qxe6
Qd7 20.Qb3 with an advantage. ]
16...Nc6 17.Nxc6 Qxc6 18.e5
Vugar makes the most natural move.
[ Engine notes that 18.Rb3
gives White a serious advantage. I am
not going to argue with it. I can just
say that for a human it is not so
obvious. ]
18...dxe5
www.modern-chess.com
72
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
19.Bd3 e4 20.Nxe4! Nxe4 21.Qh5+
[ The more prosaic 21.Qe3!?
would lead to a position with a free
exchange but with good compensation
for Black. Nxd2! 22.Bg6+ Kd8
23.Qxd2+ Bd7 ( 23...Qd5 24.Bxh7 )
24.Bxh7 Rc8 White king is badly
secured. ]
21...Kd7
[ 21...Kd8?? 22.Ba5+ Kd7 23.Rd1+- ]
22.Rd1 Rh8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine
A key moment. 23.Bf4?? Too optimistic.
It is hard to say what was blundered by
Gashimov. But in order to prove that his
position is winning, Black needs to
demonstrate unprecedented courage.
[ White had to play 23.Rf7! allowing no
checks from b4. The position is
extremely hard to calculate and I do
not think it is possible to explain it by
some lines. Definitely, it is a good
training position for young players to
become better in calculating. ]
23...Bb4+! I do not believe Vugar didn't
see this move. Something behind it was
blundered. 24.c3 Nxc3 25.Bd2
[ 25.Qf7+ Kd8!-+ check is not a
mate! ]
25...Qd5!
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Having a free material, Grischuk readily
offers exchanges. At the same time he
cleans up the way for his own king.
www.modern-chess.com
73
26.Rf7+ Kc6! The king continues to run.
27.Rc1 Kb6! 28.Be3+
[ There is nothing after 28.Bxc3 Qxd3
29.Bxb4 Qe4+ and 30...Qxb4 -+ ]
28...Ka5 29.a3
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Probably White's hopes were related to
this move but the Russian GM is ready
for this trick. 29...Ka4!! The move of the
game! King unpins the queen and
sidesteps the check after a3xb4.
Moreover, the king will now support the
knight. 30.axb4 Qxd3 31.Qa5+ Kb3
Black's defence was so great that he
even managed to create a threat of
checkmate in 1! White should take on
c3. 32.Rxc3+ Qxc3+ 33.Bd2 b6!!
Having the free rook Black wins only
thanks to this pawn move. Amazing!
[ If Black made the normal move
33...Qd3?? after 34.b5 he would need
to agree with a draw - there is no
defence against the perpetual. ]
34.Qxb6 Qe5+ 35.Kd1
 Modern Chess Magazine 74

a b c d e f g h
Wei,Yi 2730
Bromberger,Stefan 2521
8 8 Qatar Masters Open 2015
7 7

6 6
a b c d e f g h
5 5
8 8
4 4
7 7
3 3
6 6
2 2
5 5
1 1
4 4
a b c d e f g h
3 3

Bb7! Finally other pieces come to help 2 2

the king! 36.Qxb7 Rhd8 37.Rf3+ Ka2 1 1

38.Rf2 Kb1! a b c d e f g h

a b c d e f g h
Calculate the move 22.Rxe6.
8 8

7 7

6 6
Wei,Yi 2730
Bromberger,Stefan 2521
5 5 Qatar Masters Open 2015
4 4
a b c d e f g h
3 3
8 8
2 2
7 7
1 1

a b c d e f g h 6 6

39.Qf3 Rac8 40.Qb3+ Qb2 41.Qxb2+
Kxb2! Quite symbolically, the last move
is made by the hero of the game! White
resigned! A brilliant game!
0-1
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1

a b c d e f g h

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 Modern Chess Magazine 75

22.Rxe6! a b c d e f g h
[ White could also reach the winning 8 8
position by means of 22.Qe2 Bf7
23.Bxf7+ Kxf7 24.Qe7+ Kg8 7 7

and here the quiet move 25.Re2! 6 6

grants material winnings. ]
22...Rxd1+ 23.Kxd1 Qd8+ 24.Ke2 Kf8 5 5

4 4

a b c d e f g h 3 3
8 8
2 2
7 7
1 1
6 6 a b c d e f g h

5 5 Enough! 32.Re8+ Qxe8 33.Bxe8 Kxe8

4 4 34.Kg6 Kf8 35.Kh7 Kf7 36.g5
Black resigned.
3 3 1-0
2 2

1 1 Volokitin,And 2493
a b c d e f g h Ponomariov,Ruslan 2673
Lausanne YM 3rd 2001
Black has defended against Re8 and at
a b c d e f g h
first sight, it looks that White has
nothing more than playing for tricks in 8 8
the pawn endgame. But analysis shows
7 7
that there are not so many winning
chances. Young Chinese star used the 6 6
trick that we saw in the main part of the
5 5
article - before all exchanges happen,
White improves his own king to be 4 4
better prepared for the upcoming pawn
3 3
endgame. 25.Kf3! Qd7 26.Re1 Qd8
27.Kg4! Qd7+ 28.Kh5! Qd8 2 2
Is everything ready for Re8? Not yet.
1 1
Let's also improve pawns! 29.a4 a5
30.g4 Qd7 31.h4 Qd8 a b c d e f g h

Find the winning plan.

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine 76

Volokitin,And 2493 a b c d e f g h
Ponomariov,Ruslan 2673 8 8
Lausanne YM 3rd 2001
7 7

6 6
a b c d e f g h
5 5
8 8
4 4
7 7
3 3
6 6
2 2
5 5
1 1
4 4 a b c d e f g h

3 3

2 2
Now White disconnects pawns c5 and
d4. 41.b4! cxb4 42.c5! Bc7 Now it is
1 1 time to win the d4-pawn. 43.Kxb4 Bf4
a b c d e f g h 44.Kc4 Be5 45.Ng3 a5 46.Ne2
That's it. Easy as 1, 2, 3.
1-0
White knight dominates over the black
bishop but so far Black successfully
Onischuk,Alexander 2657
defends his own weaknesses.
Belozerov,Andrei 2541
Volokitin finds a good king maneuver EU-Cup 19th Rethymnon 2003
in order to break the fortress down.
a b c d e f g h
First of all, the king goes to a4.
8 8
36.Kd3 Kh7 37.Kc2 Kh6 38.Kb2
Kg7 39.Ka3 Bd8 40.Ka4 Bb6 7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h

Find the strongest continuation.

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine 77

Onischuk,Alexander 2657 36.g3 Be2?

Belozerov,Andrei 2541 [ Here was the last moment to defend:
EU-Cup 19th Rethymnon 2003 36...f6 37.h4 with variations similar to
the lines that we saw after 34...f6. ]
37.Ke5! The king goes to win the rook.
37...Bxf3 38.Kd6 g5 39.Kc7 f5
a b c d e f g h
40.Rb2 Kf7 41.Kb7 Rxb8+ 42.Kxb8
8 8 Ke6 43.Kb7 Good job, Your Majesty!
7 7
1-0

6 6

5 5
Bienstock,Wladimir
Capablanca,JoseRaul
4 4 Paris casual 1919
3 3
a b c d e f g h
2 2
8 8
1 1
7 7
a b c d e f g h
6 6

Another example of a long king maneuver. 5 5

Surely, the king should the e5-square,
but first White needs to lock the black 4 4

rook down. 32.Bb8! Bd3 33.Kf2 Bb5 3 3

34.Ke3 h6
[ Seemingly, Black did not see the 2 2

opponent's idea, so he even did not 1 1

try to prevent it. After 34...f6!
a b c d e f g h
White would need to undermine the
opponent's pawn structure with g4-g5.
35.g4 Bc4 36.Kf4 Bd3 37.h4 h6 Black to play.
38.g5 hxg5+ 39.hxg5 Bc2 and now
40.Bd6! with idea, Be7 could force
Black to move his f6-pawn and to free
the way for the king. But anyway Black
had to try this chance. ]
35.Kf4 Bf1
[ The king was not able to stop his
colleague. 35...Kf8 36.Ke5 Ke8
37.Kd6 Kd8 38.Rxf7+- ]

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 Modern Chess Magazine 78

Bienstock,Wladimir Nyback,T. 2643

Capablanca,JoseRaul Giri,Anish 2588
Paris casual 1919 Corus B Wijk aan Zee NED 2010

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

8 8 8 8

7 7 7 7

6 6 6 6

5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

Black has a pair of bishops but as many Black to play

say the core of this advantage is that at
any moment when you need you can Nyback,T. 2643
exchange one of your bishops. Giri,Anish 2588
21...Bxc3! 22.bxc3 Kb7! King simply Corus B Wijk aan Zee NED 2010
uses the light squares for a walk. 23.Be3
Kc6 24.Bd2 Kb5 25.Re3 c4!
Disconnecting the a3-pawn from the rest
a b c d e f g h
of the world. 26.Re1 Ka4 27.h3!
White defends very well but Capablanca 8 8
is careful till the end. 27...Bxh3 28.Rh1
7 7
Be6 29.Rxh7 Kxa3 30.g4 Bxg4
31.Rxf7 Ka2 32.Rxc7 Rh8 33.Be1 Rh1 6 6
34.Kd2 Kb2! King gets even more
5 5
activity. White is hopeless.
4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h

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 Modern Chess Magazine 79

21...Kd6!! The engine does not consider Lloyd,Sam

this move among its TOP-5. But it is one
a b c d e f g h
of those moves that you are ready to like,
disregarding what engines say. The 8 8
whole concept of Giri is so good that 7 7
Nyback could not offer any resistance
6 6
against it. The black king surprisingly
finds a safe square practically in the 5 5
very centre of the board. Behind this 4 4
construction, the Dutch player prepares
3 3
an attack on the queenside. 22.a3 Qa4
23.Rd3 b5 24.Rc3 Rhc8 25.Be2 Ne5 2 2

1 1
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 8
Checkmate in 3.
7 7

6 6
Lloyd,Sam
a b c d e f g h
5 5
8 8
4 4 7 7

3 3 6 6

2 2 5 5

1 1 4 4

a b c d e f g h 3 3

2 2

1 1
Everything is ready for the pawn assault.
Engine shows 0.00 after 26.Qg3 or 26. a b c d e f g h
Rd1 but already White is the one who I rarely like all these studies about mate
should prove this evaluation. The in 2, in 3 or especially 4+. But this one
Finlandia GM fails right away. Here, I just has fully deserved to be here. 1.Ke2!
show how the game has ended. The threat is 2.Rf8 Kxe4 3.d3#. 1...f1Q+
26.Kd2 b4 27.Rc2 bxa3 28.bxa3 Rab8 2.Ke3!! Fantastic move! New-born
29.Rhc1 c4 30.Rc3 Rb2+ 31.R1c2 queen can't help avoiding the checkmate
Qb5 32.Rxb2 Qxb2+ 33.Rc2 Qb1 in 1. 2...Qe1+
34.Qc3 Rc5 35.g3 f5 36.Rb2 Qxe4 [ 2...Bf2+ 3.Rxf2# ]
37.Kc1 Nd3+ White resigned. [ 2...Qg1+ 3.Rf2# ]
[ 2...Re2+ 3.Bxe2# ]
[ 2...axb5 3.Rxf1# ]
3.Be2#
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 Modern Chess Magazine
Tactical Vision - Battery
and Discovered Check
Tactics for the club player "Chess is 99
percent tactics" said the German master
Richard Teichmann meaning that
throughout the entire game our thoughts
and decisions are continuously affected
directly or indirectly by tactical
possibilities. This article is the first in
a series of articles dedicated to common
tactical devices we use over the board,
or behind the scenes, in almost every
game. Trainers worldwide naturally use
examples from master and grandmaster
games but also more and more endgame
studies and they have plenty of good
reasons to do that. Composed positions
demonstrate tactics in their purest form
with the most relevant pieces at the
focus. Solving studies have the power to
improve one's calculating skills as well as
endgame knowledge and understanding.
In my book "Extreme Chess
Tactics" (Gambit 2017) I emphasize also
the importance of the sharpening of the
crucial sense of
www.modern-chess.com
80
pattern recognition and the appreciation of
chess beauty in general as well as piece
power and harmony. Our first theme in this
series is battery play and discovered attack
A battery is a set of two pieces of the same
color targeted at an enemy piece, not just
the king, or even a certain square. Moving
the front piece exposes the target to the
threat of the rear one. The rear piece may
be any line mover (queen, rook or bishop),
while the front piece may be any piece but
the queen. Unleashing the battery may
generate a Discovered attack or even a
discovered check. Here are four not too
complex examples: two from over the
board practice and two from the magic
world of the endgame study. Example
No.1: The tenth world champion was
probably expecting the recapture 33. Qxd3.
33.Qg8+!!
Must have come as a shocking surprise.
[ 33.Qg8+! Kxg8 34.Be6+ Kh8
35.Rg8# ]
1-0
Iivo Nei
Tigran Petrosian
Soviet Republics Team-ch 1960
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
 Modern Chess Magazine 81

Karel Mokry Example No.3: Normally a queen is not

Yochanan Afek
Czech open Pardubice
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Example No.2: All white pieces seem
mutually well protected. Well, except
one... 32...Qxc3!
[ 32...Qxc3! 33.Qxc3 Rxe2+
The battery is unleashed 34.Rxe2
Rxe2+ 35.Kf1 Bxc3 wins. ]
0-1
better than a Rook pair but there are
1998 some exceptions. 1.Qc3! A powerful
battery against the cornered enemy
King threatens mates and changes the
picture. 1...Rg8
[ The echo main line is: 1...Rh7
2.Kg6+! Kg8 3.Qc4+ Kh8 4.Qd4+
Kg8 5.Qd5+ Kh8 6.Qe5+
Forking to mate next. ]
2.Kf7+! Kh7 3.Qd3+ Kh8 4.Qd4+ Kh7
5.Qe4+ Kh8 6.Qe5+ Forking the other
rook and mating.
1-0
Leopold Mitrofanov
Commendation Lokker MT 1974
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6

5 5
Gleb Zakhodyakin 4 4
Special prize Trud 1977
3 3
a b c d e f g h

8 8 2 2

7 7 1 1

6 6 a b c d e f g h

5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Example No.4: The following example
demonstrates a change of roles between
the battery components. 1.Rc6+ Kb7
[ 1...Kb8 is obviously met by 2.Bb3 ]
2.Bd5! Creating the battery with the
Rook as its front piece and the Bishop
as the rear one. 2...Bc5+

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 Modern Chess Magazine 82

[ 2...d1Q 3.Rc1+ wins the queen by a 47...Nxa3? ignoring the threat and
discovered check. ] severely punished: 47.Rd8+ Kh7
3.Rxc5+ Kb6 4.Rc6+ Kb5 It seems 48.Nf6+! Unleashing the battery 48...gxf6
that Black has managed to get away 49.Rxd2 Nb5 50.Rd5
and stopping the promotion would now 1-0
cost White his Rook. Is that a fact?
5.Rd6! Surprise! A new battery is formed
with the newborn queen as its target and Evgeny Bareev
the white pieces exchanging roles: The Yuri Yakovich
Rook is now the rear piece while the Russian championship U20 1986
Bishop becomes the front one to deliver
the deadly discovered attack. 5...d1Q
6.Bc6+
[ Or 6.Bc4+ winning. ] a b c d e f g h
1-0
8 8

7 7
Larry Melvyn Evans
Walter Shawn Browne 6 6
USA 1971 5 5

4 4

3 3
a b c d e f g h
2 2
8 8
1 1
7 7
a b c d e f g h
6 6

5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Is there any better option for White other
than a queen retreat? There is indeed:
18.Nxe6!! Black laid down his arms in
view of
[ 18.Nxe6 Qxh5 ( or 18...fxe6
19.Qxd5 ) 19.Ng7+ Kd8 20.Re8# ]
1-0

Battery play exercises: Two of the most

dominant American grandmasters in the
second half of the 20th century: Black
has just captured a poisoned pawn by

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 Modern Chess Magazine 83

Martijn Verbeek a b c d e f g h
Yochanan Afek 8 8
Vlissingen HZ open 2013
7 7

6 6
a b c d e f g h
5 5
8 8
4 4
7 7
3 3
6 6
2 2
5 5
1 1
4 4 a b c d e f g h

3 3 One of the most famous premature

resignations in chess history. White has
2 2
just played here 36.Rd1 and in view of
1 1 what seemed to be the inevitable fall of
a b c d e f g h his pinned Bishop Black decided to lay
his arms down. Was that the right
decision? Black could turn the tables by
moving the pinned Bishop 36...Bg1!!
Can Black take advantage of the to create a double royal threat that may
momentary disharmony in White's not be refuted!
camp? Try to Identify 2 soft spots and 1-0
attack them simultaneously! After
17...Nc3! Alexander Khalifman
[ 17...Nc3! 18.Rxe8+ Qxe8 Vladimir Burmakin
Black threatens both the white queen Russian championship 1999
and mate on the first rank. ]
0-1 a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7
Ignatz von Popiel
Georg Marco 6 6

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo MNC 1902 5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1
a b c d e f g h

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 Modern Chess Magazine 84

White is positionally totally winning. His= Black forgot to develop his kingside.==
pieces are controlling the open files and= Can you punish him for that? 11.Nd5!
the key squares while the Black king is= [ 11.Nd5! A discovered attack on the
stuck in the center. What is the quickest= Black queen Qxd2 is defeated with no
way to put an end to his agony? delay by the smothered mate
28.Rxb7! Rd8 12.Nc7# ]
[ The recapture 28...Qxb7 lures the 1-0
Black queen to an undefended
position allowing a discovered attack
by the Queen + Knight battery:
29.Nd6+ ( Or 29.Nf6+ )] Richard Reti
29.Nf6+ The Black queen falls. Saviely Tartakower
1-0 Vienna 1910

Claude Landenbergue This miniature was an offhand game

Matthias Roeder
Bern
A rare miniature in master level 1.d4
Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bf4 c5 4.f3 Nf6
5.dxc5 Na6 6.e4 Nxc5 7.Nc3 d6
8.Qd2 Bd7 9.0-0-0 Qa5 10.Kb1 Rd8?
between two of all-time greatest chess
1993 thinkers. 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4
4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Qd3 e5?!
[ A time consuming idea. The simple
5...Nxe4 6.Qxe4 Nd7 was one of
several better options. ]
6.dxe5 Qa5+ 7.Bd2 Qxe5 8.0-0-0!

a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

8 8 8 8

7 7 7 7

6 6 6 6

5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1
a b c d e f g h a b c d e f g h

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 Modern Chess Magazine 85

Creating a battery on the "d" file. Where should the attacked Bishop
8...Nxe4? move? Actually nowhere! Former female
The decisive error. world champion definitely found better
9.Qd8+!! Luring the king to the battery file. than that: 36.Bd3!! Creating a masked
9...Kxd8 10.Bg5+ battery 36...Nxd2 (?) Losing on the spot
A double-check= forces a royal move if however Black, in fact, has no proper
there is one. Here= there are two flights defense against the mighty threat 37.
each for a mate by a different piece of the Rf6+! eg:
battery. [ 36...h6 37.Rf6+! Bxf6 38.Rxf6+
10...Kc7 Kh7 39.Rxh6+ Kg8 40.Rg6+ Kf7
[ Or 10...Ke8 11.Rd8# ] 41.Bxe4 Rxe4 42.Rg7+ Kf8 43.Rxb7
11.Bd8# with a huge material advantage. ]
1-0 37.Re5+ Mating next.
1-0

Maia Chiburdanidze
Roman Slobodjan Adolf Anderssen
Lippstadt 2000 Jean Dufresne
Berlin 'Evergreen' 1852

a b c d e f g h

8 8
a b c d e f g h
7 7
8 8
6 6
7 7
5 5
6 6
4 4
5 5
3 3
4 4
2 2
3 3
1 1

a b c d e f g h 2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h

This is the final stage of the "evergreen

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 Modern Chess Magazine
game" by the first unofficial world
champion, one of the most famous and
inspiring games in chess history.
21.Qxd7+!! To lure the enemy king to
the file of the already set battery.
21...Kxd7 22.Bf5+ A double check may
be met just by moving the attacked king.
22...Ke8 23.Bd7+ Kf8
[ Or 23...Kd8 ]
24.Bxe7#
1-0
Evgeni Sveshnikov
Jan Timman
Tilburg Tilburg NED
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
White's last move 17.Rxc4 puts Black in
a rather unpleasant situation already in
such an early stage of the game. Why is
that? What would he face after a simple
queen retreat? 17...Qb5 In either case
the queen is at the eye of the storm
becoming a target to the just created
Bishop + Rook white battery.
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86
[ Or 17...Qa6 18.Rxc6! Qxc6 19.Bb5
with a deadly pin. ]
18.Qxb5 Bxb5 19.Rxc8+! Rxc8
20.Bxb5+ White has gained sufficient
material advantage which he now
comfortably converts. 20...Kd8 21.Kf1
Kc7 22.Rc1+ Kb8 23.Rxc8+ Kxc8
24.Be8 f6 25.a4 Be7 26.Bf7 Kd7
27.d5 exd5 28.e6+ White will next
move his knight to f5 and his passed
pawn will eventually decide the battle.
1-0
Yuri Razuvaev
1992 Tom Middelburg
Porto San Giorgio 2000
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
22.Bg5! Qxg5
[ 22...Qe6 23.f4 is extremely strong
eg: Qc6 24.a5 Bc7 25.Rad1 Nf8
26.Bb5 wins. ]
23.e6 The battery Rook+ pawn is aimed
at the enemy queen 23...Qf6 24.exf7+
Qxf7 Right into another powerful
 Modern Chess Magazine
Bishop+ Rook battery! 25.Rxd7! Rxe2
26.Rxf7 Now the same battery is
directed at the King. 26...Rc2
Black is helpless since his Rook is
threatened too 27.Rf4+ Kh7 28.Rh4#
1-0
Viswanathan Anand
Joel Lautier
Biel
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
World champion Viswanathan Anand
spots the enemy royal couple as the
weakest links in the black camp. By a
surprising discovered attack he creates
a double threat . 21.Bg6!! The Bishop
activates the battery against the black
queen and not only attacking f7 but also
pins it! Thus 21...Ne7
[ 21...Qf6 is defeated by 22.Bxf7+
Qxf7 23.Rxf7 Nxe3 24.Qxd8+! Kxd8
25.Bxe3 Bh3 26.Rxa7+- And wins
comfortably. ]
[ 21...Qxd1 may be met by 22.Rxe6+
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87
Kf8 23.Bxh6+ Kg8 24.Bxf7# ]
[ 21...Nxe3 22.Bxf7+ Kf8 23.Qxd4
Rxd4 24.Bxe3+- ]
22.Qxd4 Rxd4 23.Rd3! Now opening
another white battery against the square
h6 with the follow up 23...Rd8 24.Rxd8+
Kxd8 25.Bd3!
[ Following 25.Bd3 Bh1 26.Bb2 Re8
27.Bf6+- Black is totally paralyzed ]
1-0
1997
Boris Verlinsky
Ilya Rabinovich
Soviet championship 1925
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Two of the finest Russian
representatives of the early 20th century
demonstrate the power of a battery
created by the ultimate sacrifice.
32.Qxc7+!! Rxc7 33.Rxc7+ Kb8
The battery is set for action! 34.Rc1+!
[ 34.Rc3+ is equally good. ]
34...Ka7 35.Ra1+ Ba6 36.Raxa6+ Kb7
37.Reb6+ Kc8 38.Ra8+ Kd7
 Modern Chess Magazine
39.Rxd8+ Black threw in the towel just
before the upcoming lethal fork
1-0
Carlos Torre Repetto
Emanuel Lasker
Moscow Moscow (Russia)
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Another classic- the windmill- Is the
highlight of the over the board selection.
25.Bf6!! The ultimate sacrifice! 25...Qxh5
26.Rxg7+ Kh8 A battery has been
created 27.Rxf7+ Kg8 28.Rg7+ Kh8
29.Rxb7+ Kg8 A modest harvest. Time
for regaining the investment. 30.Rg7+
Kh8 31.Rg5+! White could win the third
pawn a7 but wisely decides to skip it in
order to avoid opening the "a" file to any
undesired future counterplay of the
Black Rook. 31...Kh7 32.Rxh5 Kg6
A counter fork regains the Bishop and
yet the material damage is still
significant. 33.Rh3 Kxf6 34.Rxh6+ Kg5
35.Rh3 Reb8 36.Rg3+ Kf6 37.Rf3+
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88
Kg6 38.a3 a5 39.bxa5 Rxa5 40.Nc4=
Rd5 41.Rf4 With 3 pawns ahead the=
rest of the game is just a matter of=
technique. 41...Nd7?! 42.Rxe6+ Kg5=
43.g3
1-0
1925
Test 1
Igor Kantorovich
Shakhmaty v SSSR 1952
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Answer
1.Rh6+!
[ 1.a8Q? may be refuted by perpetual
check by 5 different queen moves on
the third rank as well as on the "f"
file. ]
1...Kg1 2.Rh1+!! Deflecting the Black
king to the edge of the longest
diagonal... 2...Kxh1 3.a8Q
As the target of newly created royal
battery! 3...Kg1 It is equal material but
black, though on move is totally helpless.
[ 3...Kh2 4.Qh8+ Kg1 5.Qg7+ Kf1
6.Qa1+ ]
4.Qa7+! Kh1
 Modern Chess Magazine 89

[ Or 4...Kf1 5.Qa1+ ] [ 4.Kh3+ is equally good. ]

5.Qh7+ Kg1 6.Qg7+ Mating. 4...Kh7 5.Kg3+ Kg8 6.Kh2+ Kh7
1-0 7.Kg1+ The white king has finally ended
the "slalom" to win both queen and
knight.
Test 2 1-0
Alexander Gulyaev
3th-4th Hon Mention, New Statesman
Test 3
a b c d e f g h Leopold Mitrofanov
"64" 1978
8 8

7 7 a b c d e f g h

6 6 8 8

5 5 7 7

4 4 6 6

3 3 5 5

2 2 4 4

1 1 3 3

a b c d e f g h 2 2

1 1
Answer
a b c d e f g h
Can white tame the black queen? Yes
he can by an amusing battery play with
the king acting as the front piece of a Answer
pair of alternating batteries! 1.Rh1+! It's hard to imagine the Black king being
[ White should pick up the right route. mated in such an open position. White
After: 1.Rh2+? Kg8 2.Kh5+ Kh7 should look for more sophisticated
3.Kg4+ Kg8 4.Kh3+ Kh7 5.Kg2+ tactical devices to trap the King. 1.Bb7+!
Qh6! 6.Rxh6+ Kxh6 7.Kf3 Nc3! Kd4
white is unable to trap the black [ 1...Qxb7 is met by the skewer
knight. ] 2.Qf3+ ( Or 2.Qg2+ )]
1...Kg8 2.Kh5+ Kh7 2.Qe4+ Kc3
[ Along the entire solution 2...Qg7 [ Or 2...Kc5 ]
is met by 3.Rhg1! Qxg2 4.Rxg2+ 3.Qe3+ Kc4 4.Qb3+ Kd4 5.Qb6+!
and the knight is trapped by a fork. ] Ke5
[ while 2...Kf7 allows 3.Rf1+ Ke8 [ Or 5...Kc3 ]
4.Rxf8+ Kxf8 5.Rxa2 and wins. ] 6.Qb2+! And Black should choose the
3.Kg4+ Kg8 4.Kh4+ way he prefers to lose his queen, either

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 Modern Chess Magazine 90

by a discovered attack if he moves his Bishop who finds no refuge along the
king to a light square or by a skewer if entire diagonal 5...Ba2
he moves it to a dark one. [ 5...Bb3 6.Nd4+ ]
1-0 [ 5...Bc4 6.Na5+ ]
[ 5...Be6 6.Nd4+ ]
[ 5...Bf7 6.Ne5+ ]
Test 4 6.Nb4+ The Bishop is trapped by a=
Mark Liburkin discovered check wherever it moves.
3rd Prize "64" 1931 1-0

a b c d e f g h
Test 5
8 8
Abram Gurvich
7 7
Shakhmatnaya Moskva 1959
6 6
a b c d e f g h
5 5
8 8
4 4
7 7
3 3
6 6
2 2
5 5
1 1
4 4
a b c d e f g h
3 3

Answer 2 2

White is 2 pieces ahead, which usually 1 1

is sufficient for a win however here his a b c d e f g h
cornered knight is in immediate danger.
1.Nf2!
Answer
[ 1.Be4? is met by Bd5! 2.Bxd5 Kxd5
where the only way to release the Can White guard his last pawn to secure
sieged knight is to capture the last the win? 1.Bg8!
pawn without which the win is gone. ] [ He can try by the natural 1.Ra8?
1...Kc6 however after b3! ( Neither 1...Kxa4
[ 1...Bd5 2.Ne4+ Kc6 3.Nf6 Bg2 2.Kb6+ Kb3 3.Bg8+; Nor 1...Rxa4?
4.Ne8 ] 2.Kb7+ Kb5 3.Bd3+ would dothe
2.Nd3! Kb7 3.Be4+ c6 The knight is trick. ) 2.Kb7+ Kb4 draws, thus let's
finally lost however White has gained forget about protecting the pawn and
the tempos for a surprising resource. try to take advantage of its king's
4.Nb4! Kxa8 5.Nxc6! The newly position. ]
powerful battery is dominating the Black 1...Rb2!

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 Modern Chess Magazine 91

[ The alternatives fail too; 1...Rxa4 Answer

2.Rh5# ]
[ Or 1...Rg2 2.Bb3 Rg7+ ( 2...Rg5 1.Bd3+! Nf5+!
3.Kb7 Rg7+ 4.Kc6 ) 3.Kb8 Rb7+! [ The best tactical chance. The
4.Kc8! ] alternatives are no better: 1...Kg5
2.Bb3!! 2.Rg7+ Kxh6 3.Rg6+ Kh5 4.Re6
[ Blocking the black pawn at the cost of wins ]
a whole Bishop! 2.Bc4? is met again [ 1...Kh5 2.Bxe2+ Nxe2 3.Kf6! wins ]
by b3! ( 2...Kxa4? 3.Kb6! b3 4.Kc5 2.Bxf5+ Kh5! 3.Bg4+! Kg6 4.Rg7+
Rc2 5.Ra8# ) 3.Bb5 Rg2! 4.Rb8! Kxh6 Can white meet the double threat
( 4.Rh3 Kb4! ) 4...b2! 5.Bc6 ( 5.Be8 he is facing? 5.Kf7! e1Q 6.Rg6+ Kh7
Rg8! ) 5...Rg6 Positional draw by 7.Bf5! All of a sudden the queen has no
repetition. ] refuge against newly born battery.
2...Rxb3 7...Qe5 8.Rf6+ Kh8 9.Rh6#
[ 2...Rh2 3.Rf8! Rf2 4.Ra8 Rf8 1-0
5.Kb7+ wins. ]
3.Ra8! Kxa4 Test 7
[ Or 3...Rd3 4.Kb7# ] Stanislav Belokon
4.Kb6#! 1st HonMention Springaren 1965
1-0
a b c d e f g h

8 8
Test 6
7 7
Vitold Yakimchik
Bulletin Central Chess Club USSR 1979 6 6

5 5
a b c d e f g h
4 4
8 8
3 3
7 7
2 2
6 6
1 1
5 5
a b c d e f g h
4 4
Answer
3 3
Who can face the advanced pawn pair?
2 2 1.Rc7! Just a strong battery. 1...b1Q!
1 1
2.Ba2+ The front piece exposes the
enemy king to a discovered check by the
a b c d e f g h
rear piece. 2...Kh8
[ The other main line is: 2...Kf8
3.Rf7+! ( Since 3.Bxb1? a2! 4.Bxa2

www.modern-chess.com
 Modern Chess Magazine
is stalemate! ) 3...Kg8 4.Rf2+
to win the queen. ]
3.Bxb1 a2 4.Rh7+!
[ 4.Bxa2? is stalemate again. ]
4...Kg8 5.Rh1! a1Q A new battery is
formed with the Rook once again acting
as the rear piece! 6.Bh7+ To win the
second queen next.
1-0
Test 8
Mario Matous
Source unknown
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Answer
White is about to lose his shaky single
pawn. Any plan B insight to maintain his
winning hopes? 1.Ng4!
[ A serious try is 1.Nd3? Kg3 2.Bc8
Bd1 3.Nc1 ( 3.Ne5 Be2 4.Ng6 Bf1!
5.h4 Be2 6.Kc5 Bh5 too. ) 3...Bf3
4.Kc5 Kh4 5.Nd3 Kg3 6.Nc1 Kh4
is a positional draw. ]
1...Kg3 2.Bc8! The idea is building up a
battery first with the knight as its front
piece. 2...Kxh3 3.Ka5! And then step
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92
by step pushing the enemy Bishop from
the edge of the board to within the range
of the battery! 3...Bb3 4.Kb4 Ba2
Any other Bishop retreat results in its
loss by a discovered check. 5.Ka3 Bb1
6.Kb2 Bh7
[ 6...Bg6 7.Ne5+ ]
7.Nf6+ The Bishop is trapped by a
discovered check.
1-0
Test 9
1987 Leopold Mitrofanov
4th Prize city match, 1985
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Answer
A struggle against promotion and then
against the promoted queen. 1.Rg8!
A passed pawn is usually stopped from
behind.
[ Not 1.Rc1? Ng7 2.Kd5 Kxe7
draws. ]
1...Ng7 2.Kd5! g1Q 3.e8N+! Kf5!
[ 3...Nxe8 is defeated by 4.Rxg1
Nc7+ 5.Kd6 Nxe6 6.Rf1+
trapping the knight. ]
 Modern Chess Magazine
4.Nxg7+ A battery is built up against the
newborn queen. 4...Kf4 5.Nh5+!
The battery is operated by a discovered
attack. 5...Kf5! 6.Ng3+!
[ The battery is rebuilt by the front
piece on a different square since
6.Rxg1? is stalemate! ]
6...Kf6
[ 6...Kf4 is met by the fork 7.Ne2+ ]
7.Ne4+ A second discovered attack, this
time with no stalemate, finally wins the
queen.
1-0
Test 10
Nikolay Ryabinin
3rd Prize "64"
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Answer
White should face a double threat
against his knight and the pawn
promotion. 1.Ra4 Kb6! 2.Nc8+
[ 2.Bc6? is met by Rb2 3.Be4 g2
4.Nc8+ Kc7 5.Rc4+ Kd8
and the dangerous pawn costs white a
piece. ]
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93
2...Kc7 3.Rc4+ Kb8 4.Bc6! g2
[ First battery: 4...Kxc8 5.Be4+ ]
5.Bxg2 Rg1
[ 5...Rc1 loses to 6.Nd6 ( Or 6.Nb6 )]
6.Rg4!
[ 6.Rc2? Rc1 7.Rxc1 ]
6...Re1
[ A second battery 6...Kxc8 7.Bb7+ ]
7.Bh3!
[ 7.Bh3 A third and decisive battery:
Kxc8 8.Rg1+ ( Or 8.Re4+ By now all
is under control and white maintains
his winning material advantage. )]
1-0
Test 11
1986 Leonid Topko
Brest 1996
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Answer
The cornered Black king is the key to
White winning aspirations. 1.Kg3+
A first battery is unleashed. 1...Kg1
2.Nf3+ A second battery is built up ...
2...Kh1 3.Ng5+ ...And activated. 3...Kg1
4.Bxc4 Threatening mate in two. 4...Rd1
 Modern Chess Magazine
The only defence. 5.Nh3+ Kh1 6.Nf2+
Kg1 7.Be2! Resuming the mate threat
this time with no defence left. 7...Rd2
8.Nh3+ Kh1 9.Bf3+ Rg2+ 10.Bxg2#
1-0
Test 12
Pal Benko
Chess Life & Review 1998
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Answer
Can White maintain his two knights
advantage? 1.Na2!
[ 1.Bxa3? is refuted by Kc2 2.Ne2
Be5 draws. ]
1...Kc2 2.Nxa3+
[ 2.Nbc3? fails to Be5 3.Nd5 Kb1!
4.Ndb4 Bd4! 5.Be7 Bf6 With a draw
by either repetition or stalemate. ]
2...Kb2 3.Kg2! Bh4
[ On 3...Be1 A battery wins by 4.Nb4!
Kxa3 5.Nc2+ ( Or 5.Nd3+ )]
4.Kh3! Bg5
[ As 4...Bd8 is met again by 5.Nb4
Kxa3 6.Nc6+ wins. ]
5.Kg4! Bh6 6.Kh5 Bg7 7.Kg6 Bh8
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94
8.Kh7 Owing to the chessboard
limitations the black Bishop cannot
avoid the white potential battery anymore
8...Bf6 9.Nb4! Kxa3 Or else White
maintains his winning materia
advantage. 10.Nd5+ The battery is
unleashed and the Bishop falls.
1-0
Test 13
Joseph Peckover
1st-2nd Prize "Szachy" 1959
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Answer
The white pawn is stronger being
supported by his King. 1.e6 Kc7
[ 1...d2 loses to 2.e7 Rf4+ 3.Kg7
Re4 4.Kf7 Rf4+ 5.Ke6 Re4+ 6.Kd6
Rd4+ 7.Ke5 Rd3 8.Ke4 wins. ]
2.e7 Rf4+ 3.Ke8! Rd4
[ Since 3...Rf3 allows 4.Rc1+ Kd6
5.Kd8 Re3 6.Rc3! d2 7.Rxe3 d1Q
8.e8Q wins. ]
4.Kf7!
[ A subtle try is 4.Rf1? d2 5.Kf7! Rf4+
6.Rxf4 d1Q 7.e8Q Qh5+ 8.Kf8
 Modern Chess Magazine
( 8.Ke7 Qe5+ ) 8...Qh6+ draws. ]
[ 4.Rc1+? faces a battery check after
Kd6 5.Kd8 Ke6+ draws. ]
4...Rf4+ 5.Ke6 Re4+ 6.Kf6 Rf4+
[ 6...Re3 is met by 7.Rxd3! ]
7.Ke5 Rf3 8.Ke4 Rf2 9.Kxd3!
[ Creating a new battery while 9.Rxd3?
fails to Re2+ 10.Re3 Rxe3+ 11.Kxe3
Kd7 draws. ]
9...Kd7 10.Ke3+ trapping the Rook by a
discovered check.
1-0
Test 14
Yochanan Afek
The Problemist 2018
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Answer
1.Bd3!! Opening up the file for a rook
invasion while creating a royal battery to
protect the only pawn after any black
check. Other attempts bear no fruits:
[ 1.Bc4+? Kg7 2.Ra7+ Kh8= ]
[ 1.Kg5? Nf2! 2.Bc8 Ne4+= ]
1...Rxh7
[ The pawn is too dangerous to be left
on the board e.g.: 1...Nf2 2.Ra7+ Kf8
3.Bc4 Nd1 4.Kg6 Rg2+ 5.Kf6 Rf2+
6.Ke5 Rh2 7.Rf7+ Ke8 8.Rg7
winning. ]
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95
[ Or 1...Kg7 2.Ra7+ Kh8 3.Kf6 Rf2+
4.Bf5+- ]
2.Ra7+ Launching a long chase of the
black king with a couple of batteries
involved. 2...Kg8 3.Bc4+ Kh8 4.Ra8+
Kg7 5.Rg8+ Using the black rook as the
first obstacle to obstruct its own king.
5...Kh6 6.Rg6+ Kh5 7.Be2+ Kh4
8.Rg4+ Kh3
[ 8...Kh5 allows a second battery:
9.Rg7+ Kh6 10.Rg6# ]
9.Bf1+ Kh2 10.Rg2+ Kh3 The second
role of the black knight finally becomes
apparent. In addition to maintaining the
material balance it blocks the only
uncovered square along the route of the
black king. 11.Rg7+ The final battery is
created and unleashed to win the enemy
rook and the game. 11...Kh2 12.Rxh7+
wins.
1-0
Test 15
Alexander Maksimovskikh
Shakhmaty v SSSR 1982
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Answer
1.Kb4! Bb5! Playing for stalemate.
[ 1...Ba4 is just transposing to the
main line following 2.Ra5 ]
2.Rxb5 f1Q 3.Ra5+ Kb1 4.Ra1+ Kc2
 Modern Chess Magazine
5.Ra2+!
[ 5.Rxf1? stalemate is naturally what
Black was hoping for. ]
5...Kb1!
[ Or 5...Kd1 6.Rd2+ Kc1 7.Nd3+ Kb1
8.Rb2+ Ka1 A battery has been
created ...and activated by 9.Rf2+ ]
6.Rb2+ Kc1 7.Ne2+ Kd1 8.Rd2+ Ke1
Another battery has been just created
9.Nf4! Zugzwang!
[ Attention: 9.Ng3? Qc4+ 10.Kxc4
is stalemate again! ]
9...Qxf4+ 10.Rd4+ The battery is
operated again by a discovered check
and the queen is trapped.
1-0
Test 16
Mark Liburkin
"64"
1940
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Answer
Here we have a set battery along the
longest dark diagonal. 1.Ka3! Rc1
Activating the battery is not an easy task
as the Rook is going to chase its front
piece. 2.Bd4! That's the way-step by step
in a long and patient systematic
movement. 2...Rd1 3.Be5! This way the
light-squared Bishop makes sure that his
fellow Bishop may not be vertically
attacked! 3...Re1 4.Bf6! Rf1 5.Bg7! Rg1
6.Bh8! Game over! No defense left
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96
against the deadly battery. 6...Rg3+
7.b3+
1-0
Test 17
Yochanan Afek 2006
Dedicated to Karel van Delft
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Answer
White is huge material ahead but his king
is exposed to endless queen checks. How
should he put an end to the various
threats of perpetual check? 1.Ra8+!
[ Quiet moves lead to just perpetual
check: 1.Rd8!? Qh5+! 2.Kb4 Qb5+!
3.Kc3 Qxc6+ 4.Kd2 Qg2+ 5.Kd3
Qf3+ 6.Kd4 Qf4+ 7.Kd5 Qg5+
8.Kc4 Qc1+ 9.Kd5 Qg5+ 10.Kc6
Qxd8= ]
1...Kxa8 2.f8Q+!
[ 2.Rh4? does not rescue the white
king either Qd5+ 3.Kb6 Qd8+ 4.c7
Qd6+ 5.Kb5 Qd5+ etc. ]
[ while 2.Bh7+? Ka7 3.f8Q Qxf8
4.Rxf8 is stalemate! ]
2...Qxf8 3.e7! Qxe7 4.Bd5+! Ka7
5.Ra8+! Same piece same square!
5...Kxa8 6.c7+ Ka7 7.c8N+!
The winning fork! This study was
dedicated to the 50th anniversary of my
good old friend Karel van Delft a chess
teacher, writer and organizer from the
Dutch city of Apeldoorn.
1-0