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Trivial Endings
Revealing the Secrets
Efstratios Grivas
The rights of Efstratios Grivas to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted in
accordance with the International Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.
All rights reserved. This book is distributed for free to the FIDE certified trainers, subject to the
condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, sold, hired out or otherwise circu-
lated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar
condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent owner.
Limit of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranty: FIDE makes no representation or warranties with
respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaims any
implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose and shall in no event be
liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special,
incidental, consequential, or other damages.
ISBN-13: 978-960-99379-4-8
Dedications
To all past and present top-trainers.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Bibliography
Chess Analytics - Training with a Grandmaster * Efstratios Grivas - Russell Ent. 2012
Chess Today * Alexander Baburin - 2000-2012
ChessBase * Various Authors - MegaBase 2012
Informator * Various Authors - 1966-2012
NewInChess * Various Authors - Magazines/Yearbooks 1984-2012
Practical Endgame Play - Mastering the Basics * Efstratios Grivas - Everyman 2008
I feel obliged to especially thank Russell Enterprises Ltd for allowing me to use material from
my recent book Chess Analytics - Training with a Grandmaster and GMs Alexander Baburin,
Mihail Marin and Karsten Muller for their valuable contribution in the theory of chess endings
(and not only!).
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 3
Foreword
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Chess has existed as a sport played at a competitive level for centuries. The common code gov-
erning the Laws of Chess is relatively recent, and the foundation of Fdration Internationale des
checs (FIDE), in Paris in 1924, is even more modern. FIDE currently has 177 member federa-
tions in all continents. Titles for players were introduced by FIDE in 1950, and titles for Arbiters
and Organizers followed. Now we are moving to a new phase, with titles for Trainers.
Chess is on the increase in schools across the world. It is part of the mainstream curriculum in
many countries. It is a goal of FIDE to make chess an educational tool, and generate worldwide
popularity for the game. Examples of the many educational advantages of chess are: shows the
need to make people realise the importance of advance planning; develops analytic and accurate
thinking; shows the necessity for a combative spirit; teaches fair play and emphasises the need for
preparation and hard work for success. However, with the increasing population of chess players,
comes the need for trainers to assist with their development.
This is a new TRG book written by the well-known author Efstratios Grivas; a manual for train-
ers, which fulfils a considerable need in modern chess literature, concentrating on the technical
side of the game. Efstratios reveals trivial knowledge mainly on the rook vs. bishop theme, and
then continues with a very interesting section on the wrong bishop and concludes with some rare
endings. The most special part of it is the notorious ending of rook & 3 pawns & a-pawn vs. rook
& 3 pawns! I am sure that this book will ensure that the next generation of players will be at a
great advantage over those that have gone before.
Symbols
+ Check = equal position
++ double check unclear position
# Checkmate with compensation
!! brilliant move Black is slightly better
! good move Black has a large advantage
!? interesting move + Black is winning
?! dubious move 1-0 the game ends in a win for White
? bad move - the game ends in a draw
?? Blunder 0-1 the game ends in a win for Black
+ White is winning (D) see next diagram
White has a large advantage White to play
White is slightly better Black to play
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 4
FIDE Trainers Commission (TRG)
Efstratios Grivas
Concept
Were all born with a natural sense of curiosity. Its what drives us to create new things and de-
velop new ideas. At TRG, were committed to nurturing our members pursuit of advanced scien-
tific and technological knowledge through its many research initiatives. TRG is partnering with
leading global trainers in a variety of fields including seminars, training methods, publishing and
research. The results of this cooperation can be applied in ways that benefit TRG intellectually and
culturally by transforming it into a cutting-edge leader in the creation of human chess-knowledge.
But most of all, TRGs research aspirations aim to inspire the trainers, and the whole chess world,
to discover new ways of unlocking their potential.
The FIDE Trainers Committee, predecessor of the Trainers Commission (which was formed at
the start of 2009) was created in 2000 during the Istanbul Olympiad and was chaired by GM Yuri
Razuvaev (ex-Honorary Chairman). The Committee created a real and decent training environ-
ment and established the guidance for its functioning for about eight years; its role is impossible to
overvalue. Now, in our second period, we have to re-examine our position at the moment and to
create new tasks for the future.
The most important task of TRG was the introduction of a system of titles and licences, as de-
manded by the IOC. The main idea was that the titles will boost the importance of trainers posi-
tions in the chess world. Licences are necessary for keeping up the level of the trainers, but until
the Sofia 2010 FIDE Presidential Board, these licences were not approved for worldwide use.
Now we have instruments to improve the level of trainers, but we need cooperation from the
Continental and National FIDE affiliated federations to implement the system correctly and effec-
tively. Our important role is to protect trainers and to help them to conduct their duties effectively
and with dignity. For further information see http://trainers.fide.com/trg-council.html and
http://trainers.fide.com/trg-members.html.
Aims
The FIDE Trainers Commission (TRG) is the official body of the World Chess Federation that
deals with trainers worldwide. TRG is responsible for and operates the following subjects:
1) Deals with any subject concerning trainers (http://trainers.fide.com).
2) Keeps the record of the list of trainers (http://trainers.fide.com/fide-trainers-system.html).
3) Keeps the record of the financial status of the trainers (as above).
4) Awards the highest training title worldwide, that of FIDE Senior Trainer (FST).
5) Endorses and records FIDE Academies (http://trainers.fide.com/fide-academies.html).
6) Prepares and follows its annual Budget (http://trainers.fide.com/minutes.html).
7) Runs the annual FIDE Trainers Awards (http://trainers.fide.com/awards-hall-of-fame.html).
8) Draws up the necessary Guidelines and Rules and proposes them to FIDE PB and GA.
9) Organizes the worldwide Educational Seminars for FIDE titles.
10) Organizes and supports various Youth Camps (http://trainers.fide.com/seminars.html).
11) Organizes Informative Meetings in various events (http://trainers.fide.com/minutes.html).
12) Lists its Recommended Books (http://trainers.fide.com/recommended-books.html).
13) Supports trainers with monthly Surveys, free of charge (http://trainers.fide.com/surveys.html).
14) Cooperates with CACDEC, ECU (European Chess Union) and IOC/ARISF (International
Olympic Committee / Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations), assuring
sponsored FIDE Trainers Seminars (for CACDEC federations) annually (2009-2012).
15) Supports trainers with valuable general information (http://trainers.fide.com).
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 5
Rook & Pawn vs. Bishop & Pawn - Same Flank
Concept Kosintseva Nadezhda
Rook & Pawn vs. Bishop & Pawn on the Lomineishvili Maia
same flank (and with no passed pawns) is an Dresden 2008
already very well analysed case in modern XABCDEFGHY
chess.
But still, chess players seem to ignore ba- 8-+-+-+k+(
sic strategy and rules that govern this case.
In this survey we will fully examine every-
7+-+-tR-+-'
thing that should be known for both sides. 6-+-+-+p+&
Lets start with the most basic - it is impor-
tant to know by heart - which are the theo- 5+-+K+-zP-%
retical won positions and which positions 4-+-+-+-+$
should be drawn.
3+-vl-+-+-#
Example 1
2-+-+-+-+"
XABCDEFGHY
1+-+-+-+-!
8-+-+-+-+(
xabcdefghy
7+L+-+-+-' This is a good piece of correct defence in a
6-+-+-+p+& top game. Black had few troubles to hold the
draw
5+-+-+-+-% 96...Lb2 97.Ke6 Lc3 98.Kd7 Lb2
4-+-+-+-+$ 99.Ke8 Lc3 100.Rf7 Lb2 101.Rf6 Kg7!
102.Ke7 Lc3 103.Rf3 Lb2 104.Rf7+
3+-+-mk-zP-# Kg8 105.Rf8+
2-+-tr-+-+" Fernandez Aransay Fernando
1+-+-+-mK-! Perez De Aranda Leonardo
Madrid 2011
xabcdefghy XABCDEFGHY
White, fully in accordance with the principle
of economic defence, has maximized the 8-+-+-+-+(
efficiency of his pieces, keeping the black
king away from the pawn. The white king 7+-+-+k+-'
controls f1 and f2, the bishop controls f3, g2, 6R+-+-vlp+&
g4, h3 and the pawn covers f4 and h4. In this
way, the black king cannot penetrate into 5+-+-+-+-%
White's camp, as the imaginary defence-line 4-+-+K+P+$
f1-f2-f3-f4-g4-h4 is strong.
1...g5 2.Lc6 Rf2 3.Lb7 g4 4.Lc6 3+-+-+-+-#
The careless 4.Lc8? Kf3! 5.Lxg4+ Kxg3
would lose, as the white king is in the wrong
2-+-+-+-+"
corner. 1+-+-+-+-!
4...Rf3 5.Kg2!
Of course not 5.Lxf3? Kxf3 6.Kh2 Kf2, xabcdefghy
with a won pawn ending. 48...Le7?
5...Rf6 6.Lb7 Rb6 7.La8 The bishop should be maintained on the long
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 6
diagonal (a1-h8) at all costs. Now White can Gelfand Boris
win. Ivanchuk Vassily
49.Ke5 Lh4 50.Ra7+ Kf8 51.Ke6 Lg5 Monaco 2011
52.Rb7 Lh4 53.Rd7 Lg5 54.Rd5! XABCDEFGHY
The winning idea.
54...Lc1 8-+-+-+-+(
54...Lh4 55.g5 allows the white king to 7+-+-+-mk-'
enter the important f6-square: 55...Kg7
56.Rd7+ Kg8 57.Kf6. 6-+-+K+p+&
55.Kf6 Lb2+ 56.Kxg6 Ke7 57.Rf5
10
5+-+-+-+-%
The previous game was lost because Black 4-+-vl-+-+$
didnt follow the correct approach. Well, 3+-+-+-+-#
there are a handful of examples of bad de-
fence and some of those can be seen in the 2-+-+-+-zP"
next two games. In the first, Black failed
but, in the second he defended well!
1+-+-+R+-!
Hatanbaatar Bazar xabcdefghy
Miton Kamil 61.Rf7+ Kg8
Dresden 2008 61...Kh6 draws as well, but when you are
XABCDEFGHY not sure, go with the tested version!
62.Rf4 Lc3 63.Rg4 Kg7
8-+-+-+k+( 63...Kh7? loses to 64.Kf7 Kh6 65.Rxg6+
Kh5 66.Rg3.
7+-+-+-+-' 64.Rg2 Lf6 65.Rc2 La1 66.Rc7+ Kg8
6-+-+-+p+& 67.h4 Lb2 68.Rc2 Ld4 69.Rd2
White should have tried 69.Rc4 as then
5+R+-vl-zP-% Black can draw only with 69...Le3!
4-+K+-+-+$ (69...Lb2? 70.Rg4 Kh7 71.Kf7 Kh6
72.Rxg6+ Kh5 73.Rg2 +) 70.Rg4 Kh7
3+-+-+-+-# 71.Kf7 Kh6 72.Rxg6+ Kh5 =.
2-+-+-+-+" 69...Lc3 70.Rd3 (D)
1+-+-+-+-! XABCDEFGHY
xabcdefghy 8-+-+-+k+(
The position is drawn, but some accuracy is 7+-+-+-+-'
expected... Probably Black was feeling 6-+-+K+p+&
safe and thought that every move leads to
Rome 5+-+-+-+-%
101...Lg7?
101...La1 or 101...Lf4 are the only moves 4-+-+-+-zP$
for Black to draw the game. 3+-vlR+-+-#
102.Rb6 Kf7 103.Rb7+ Kg8
R
104. xg7+! 2-+-+-+-+"
The trick - White wins the pawn ending. 1+-+-+-+-!
104...Kxg7 105.Kd5 Kf7
And simultaneously Black resigned due to xabcdefghy
106.Kd6. 70...Le1!
10
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 7
Only this draws (70...Lb2? 71.Rg3 Kh7 75.Rf7+ Kg5 76.Rf3 Ld6 77.Kf7 (D)
72.Kf7 Kh6 73.Rxg6+ Kh5 74.Rg2 +) - XABCDEFGHY
Black should attack the white pawn.
71.Kf6 Lxh4+ 72.Kxg6 Kf8 8-+-+-+-+(
The black king is able to escape to the cor-
rect corner.
7+-+-+K+-'
73.Rh3 Ld8 74.Rh7 Ke8 75.Kf5 Kf8 6-+-vl-+p+&
76.Ke6 Lg5 77.Rf7+ Kg8 78.Rd7 Kf8
79.Rd5 Lc1 80.Rd1 Lb2 81.Rf1+ Kg7 5+-+-+-mk-%
81...Ke8? 82.Rb1 is a 'usual' blunder! 4-+-+-+-+$
82.Rf7+ Kg6 83.Rf2 Lc1 84.Rg2+ Kh5
85.Kf5 Kh4 86.Rc2 Le3 87.Ke4 La7 3+-+-+R+P#
88.Ra2 Lb6 89.Kf4 Lc7+ 2-+-+-+-+"
Grivas Efstratios
1+-+-+-+-!
Minasian Artashes xabcdefghy
Debrecen 1992 77...Kh4 78.Kxg6 Lg3 79.Kf5 Kxh3
XABCDEFGHY 80.Re3 Kg2 81.Kg4 Ld6 82.Re2+ Kg1
83.Kf3 Lc7 84.Rg2+ Kh1
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-' In the next example, Black didnt blunder -
6-+-+-+pmk& his position was simply not holdable
6-+-+K+p+& XABCDEFGHY
5+-+-+-+p% 8-+-+-+-+(
4-+-+-+-zP$ 7+-+-vl-+-'
3+-vl-+-zP-# 6-+-+-+-+&
2-+-+-+-+" 5+-+-+-+k%
1+-+-+-+-! 4-+-+-+-zP$
xabcdefghy 3+-+-+K+-#
As we already know, this is a drawn posi- 2R+-+-+-+"
tion. But still some accuracy is needed. 1+-+-+-+-!
1...Ld4?
1...La1! is the correct square for the bishop. xabcdefghy
The text move allows White to win a critical And now White shows his point, which is
tempo. based on a beautiful zugzwang position:
2.Rb4! Lc3 3.Rc4 Lb2 22.Re2 Lf6
Or 3...Le1 4.Kf6 Kh7 5.Rc6 Lxg3 22...Lxh4 23.Rh2 Kg5 24.Rh1 Kh5
6.Kg5 +. 25.Kf4.
4.g4! hxg4 5.Rxg4 Kh7 6.Kf7 Kh6 23.Kf4 Ld8 24.Rc2! Le7 25.Rd2 Lb4
7.Rxg6+ Kh5 (D) 26.Rd8 Lc3 27.Kg3 Le5+ 28.Kh3 Lf4
XABCDEFGHY 29.Rd5+ Kg6 30.Kg4 10
NOTES
8-+-+r+-+( XABCDEFGHY
7+-+-+-+-' 8-+-+-+-+(
6pvL-+-+-+& 7+-+-+-+-'
5zP-+-+-+-% 6-+-+-+-+&
4-+-+-+-+$ 5zpL+-+-+-%
3+-+-+-+-# 4P+-+-+-tr$
2-+-mk-+-+" 3+-+-mk-+-#
1+-+-+K+-! 2-+-+-+-+"
xabcdefghy 1+-mK-+-+-!
13...Kd3 14.Kf2 Rb5! 15.Le1 Rf5+ xabcdefghy
16.Kg3 Ke2! 17.Kg4 This is an important theoretical position.
Or 17.Lb4 (17.Lc3 Rf3+) 17...Rb5 The evaluation and the recommended meth-
18.Lc3 Rb3!. ods of play have varied through the decades.
17...Rc5! (D) Of course, things have been settled from the
XABCDEFGHY theoretical point of view since the creation
of the six men tablebases, but in many cases
8-+-+-+-+( one understands very little about the end-
game by learning that a couple of moves
7+-+-+-+-' draw, while all the others lose in 38 moves
6p+-+-+-+& or less.
A good source to rely on is Yuri Aver-
5zP-tr-+-+-% bakhs five volume endgame manual. His
4-+-+-+K+$ analysis does not contain real mistakes and
although the tablebases sometimes recom-
3+-+-+-+-# mend lines that win in one or two moves less
(36 instead of 38, for example), it is more
2-+-+k+-+" important to stick with the human lines, be-
1+-+-vL-+-! cause they are easier to explain as a part of
the same general plan.
xabcdefghy Computer lines sometimes rely on casual
Winning either the bishop (18.Lb4 Rc4+) tactics, which are nice, but are more difficult
or the pawn (18.Lg3 Rxa5). to remember if you get this endgame over
0-1 the board.
To start with, the diagrammed position is
So, a mistake by the defending side drawn. Black's only winning chance consists
handed the full point to the opponent; this is of sacrificing the exchange for the a4-pawn,
something that happens often in this ending, but he cannot achieve this under favourable
as the defence must be accurate, while the circumstances.
stronger side is often allowed even to be Things would be different if the pair of
inaccurate! pawns was placed on any other file, but it is
This kind of ending either you know, or known that rook pawns offer additional sav-
else you fail ing chances in pawn endings.
Of course, this is the right of the mate- In order to reach the desired result, White
rial-up side! Lets see a second example: has to avoid three (!) main situations:
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 23
1. His king has to avoid being pushed onto Kg8 4.Rg7+.
the b-file or further. 3.Rg7+ (D)
2. His king has to avoid being pushed onto XABCDEFGHY
the fifth rank or further.
3. His king has to avoid being trapped in the 8-+-+-+k+(
immediate neighbourhood of the pawn!
The first two points are easy to explain. In
7+-+-+-tR-'
case of an exchange sacrifice, the king has to 6-+-+-+-mK&
be in time to reach the b1-square. However,
the latter aspect is far from obvious and, for 5+-+-+-+-%
many decades, remained unnoticed by theo- 4-+-+-+-+$
reticians.
3+-+-+-+-#
But one main question remains: how does 2-+-+-+-zP"
the rook win if it is able to capture the oppo-
nents pawn? Here is the solution: 1+l+-+-+-!
Rook pawns are an exception to what we xabcdefghy
know so far, assuming of course that the
And now Black has two main options:
defending king occupies the promotion
a) 3...Kh8 4.h4 Ld3 5.h5 Lb1 6.Rb7
square. La2 7.Rb8+ Lg8 8.Kg5 Kg7 9.Rb7+
If this square is of the same colour as that Kh8
on which the bishop moves, then the king is
in the wrong corner and thus the side with Or 9...Kf8 10.h6.
the rook wins easily. 10.Kg6 Lc4
If, however, the defending side has a The rook must follow the bishop's steps and
bishop moving on the opposite colour, then move accordingly so as to prevent any
the win is attainable only if the pawn has not checks until the very end.
crossed its 4th rank. 11.Rh7+ Kg8 12.Rd7! Kh8 13.h6 La2
14.h7 Lb1+ 15.Kh6 10
Example 3 b) 3...Kf8 4.h4 Ld3 5.Rg3 Le4 6.Rg5!
XABCDEFGHY (D)
8-+-+-+-mk( XABCDEFGHY
7+-tR-+-+-' 8-+-+-mk-+(
6-+-+-+-+& 7+-+-+-+-'
5+-+-+l+-% 6-+-+-+-mK&
4-+-+-+-mK$ 5+-+-+-tR-%
3+-+-+-+-# 4-+-+l+-zP$
2-+-+-+-zP" 3+-+-+-+-#
1+-+-+-+-! 2-+-+-+-+"
xabcdefghy 1+-+-+-+-!
The winning process is long and laborious. xabcdefghy
The first step is to force the defending king The white king must now free the path of his
to the f-file. pawn by retreating via the h5-square, at the
1.Kg5 Lb1 2.Kh6 Kg8 same time without allowing the opponent's
Nothing is changed by 2...La2 3.Rh7+ king to return to h8. Here it becomes evident
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 24
why the pawn must not have crossed its 4th Wijk aan Zee 2008
rank. XABCDEFGHY
6...Kf7!
The best defence, as 6...Ld3 7.Kh5 Le2+ 8-+-+-+-+(
8.Kg6 Kg8 9.Rd5 Kf8 10.h5 is a simple
win for White.
7+-+-+-+-'
7.Rg3 Lc2 6-+-+-+-+&
Or 7...Kf8 8.Kg5! Kg7 9.Kf4+.
8.Kh5 (D) 5zpL+-+-+-%
XABCDEFGHY 4P+-+-+-tr$
8-+-+-+-+( 3+-+-mk-+-#
7+-+-+k+-' 2-+-+-+-+"
6-+-+-+-+& 1+-mK-+-+-!
5+-+-+-+K% xabcdefghy
We have reached the diagram in Example 2.
4-+-+-+-zP$ 46.Kc2 Rh7 47.La6 Rc7+ 48.Kd1!
3+-+-+-tR-# The only good move! 48.Kb2? is analysed
in Example 4 (p.27).
2-+l+-+-+" 48...Rc6 49.Lb5 Rc3 50.La6 Ra3
1+-+-+-+-! 51.Lb5 Ra2 (D)
xabcdefghy XABCDEFGHY
8...Kf6 8-+-+-+-+(
Alternatively, 8...Lb1 9.Rg5 (intending 7+-+-+-+-'
Kg4-f4 and h5-h6) 9...Lc2 10.Kg4 Lg6
11.h5 Lb1 12.h6 Lg6 13.Kf4 Kf6 6-+-+-+-+&
14.Rb5 Ld3 15.Rb7! and 16.h7 or
8...Ld1+ 9.Kg5! Kg7 10.Rc3 Le2 11.h5
5zpL+-+-+-%
Lf1 12.h6+ Kh7 13.Rc7+ Kh8 14.h7 and 4P+-+-+-+$
15.Kh6.
9.Rg5 Ld1+ 10.Kh6 Kf7 11.Rg7+ Kf6 3+-+-mk-+-#
Or 11...Kf8 12.Kg6 Le2 13.Kf6 intending
Rg5, h5-h6, Rg7 and h7.
2r+-+-+-+"
12.Rg1 Le2 13.Rg2 Ld3 14.Rf2+ Lf5 1+-+K+-+-!
Or 14...Ke7 15.h5 Lb1 16.Kg7. xabcdefghy
15.h5 Ke6 16.Rxf5! Kxf5 17.Kg7 10
52.Kc1!
At the start of 2008 I was playing the We can notice an important element. Being a
Corus C in Wijk aan Zee and I was lucky long-range piece, the bishop, too, can act on
enough to watch the following game (that both wings. Here, the control of the d3-
was played in the A section) in the flesh. I square is as important as the defence of the
have to say that I was impressed by Rad- pawn. For instance, the careless 52.Lc6?
jabovs excellent knowledge of the ending. would lose to 52...Rd2+! 53.Kc1 (53.Ke1
The analysis of this game is made by the allows 53...Rc2 with a double [and deadly]
excellent GM and author Mihail Marin: threat) 53...Kd3 followed by ...Kc3. How-
ever, 52.Le8 is playable, too. After
Radjabov Teimour 52...Rd2+ 53.Ke1! the bishop is safe on e8,
Van Wely Loek because the interposition of the black king
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 25
on the e-file prevents the double attack 77.Kf4!
...Re2+. The king has to approach the dangerous 5th
52...Kd4 53.Kd1 Kc3 54.Ke1 Rd2 rank in order to maintain the diagonal oppo-
55.La6 Rd4 56.Lb5 Kc2 (D) sition. 77.Kf2? loses to 77...Rd3 78.Lb5
Re3 with zugzwang. If the bishop moves, it
XABCDEFGHY will be attacked by the rook, followed by a
8-+-+-+-+( check on the c-file, while 79.Kf1 Rf3+
immediately drives the king into the forbid-
7+-+-+-+-' den zone.
6-+-+-+-+& 77...Re3 78.Lb5!
Again, the control of the d3-square is essen-
5zpL+-+-+-% tial. After a careless move such as
4P+-tr-+-+$ 78.Lc6? Black establishes a frontal opposi-
tion with 78...Kd3 79.Lb5+ Kd4, forcing
3+-+-+-+-# the king to go further up than he would have
2-+k+-+-+" wished. 80.Kf5 (80.Ld7 is met by the fa-
miliar manoeuvre 80...Re7 81.Lb5 Rf7+)
1+-+-mK-+-! 80...Re4 81.Lc6 Re5+! 82.Kf6 (or
82.Kf4 Re6!) 82...Re3 83.Kf5 and now
xabcdefghy Black starts his decisive attack on the oppo-
Finally, Black switches plans. He will try to site wing with 83...Kc5 84.Lb5 Kb4
push the enemy king as far as possible. 85.Kf4 Ra3 86.Ke4 Rxa4 87.Lxa4 Kxa4
57.Ke2 Re4+ 58.Kf3 Re7 59.Kf2 Kc3 88.Kd3 Kb3 winning.
60.Kf3 Kd4 61.La6 Re3+ 62.Kf2! 78...Re7 79.Kf3 Kc3 80.La6 Kd4
One important defensive method is the di- 81.Lb5 Re6 (D)
agonal opposition. In case of 62.Kf4? Black
achieves the situation from point 1 with
XABCDEFGHY
62...Re6 63.Lb5 Rf6+ 64.Kg3 when 8-+-+-+-+(
64...Kc3 followed by the exchange sacrifice
on a4 ensures an elementary win. 7+-+-+-+-'
62...Ke4 63.Lb5 Kf4 64.La6 Re4 65.Lb5 6-+-+r+-+&
Re6 66.Lc4 Re4 67.Lb5 Rd4 68.Ke2
Rd6 69.Ld3 Rh6 70.Lb5 Ke4 71.Ld3+ 5zpL+-+-+-%
Kd4 72.Lb5 Rh2+ 73.Kf3 Ra2 74.Ld7
Ra3+ 75.Kf2 Kd3 76.Kf3 Kd2+ (D)
4P+-mk-+-+$
XABCDEFGHY 3+-+-+K+-#
8-+-+-+-+( 2-+-+-+-+"
7+-+L+-+-' 1+-+-+-+-!
6-+-+-+-+& xabcdefghy
82.Kf2!
5zp-+-+-+-% Radjabov deals correctly with the last dan-
4P+-+-+-+$ gerous moment for White in this game.
82.Ld7? loses to 82...Re3+ 83.Kf2 Kd3.
3tr-+-+K+-# 82...Re5 83.Kf3 Kc5 84.Kf2 Kb6
2-+-mk-+-+" 85.Ld3 Kc5
And, having convinced himself that Radja-
1+-+-+-+-! bov knows 'everything' about this endgame,
Van Wely resigned himself to the draw.
xabcdefghy
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 26
In 1954, Baranov discovered that Black retreat 56.Ka2 leads to a crucial position
can avoid being pushed too far and that the after 56...Rc1 57.Le8 Kb4 58.Kb2 Rc5
logical result would have been a draw. His (D)
conclusions are valid up to this moment, but XABCDEFGHY
only for the case when the defending king
escapes the zone surrounding the pawns. 8-+-+L+-+(
Later, the renowned endgame expert
Maizelis (who was one of Y.Averbakh's
7+-+-+-+-'
collaborators for the first edition of his 6-+-+-+-+&
books, published in the late 1950s), discov-
ered the dangers facing the king in the 5zp-tr-+-+-%
neighbourhood of the pawns. 4Pmk-+-+-+$
Lets return to the previous game after
Whites potential wrong 48th move: 3+-+-+-+-#
Example 4
2-mK-+-+-+"
XABCDEFGHY 1+-+-+-+-!
8-+-+-+-+( xabcdefghy
Black has made his regrouping and White
7+-tr-+-+-' will get into successive zugzwang positions.
6L+-+-+-+& It is typical for such endings that the rook
restricts both enemy pieces at the same time.
5zp-+-+-+-% The next step is to push the enemy king onto
4P+-+-+-+$ the back rank: 59.Lb5 Rc8 and now, apart
from king retreats, which is precisely what
3+-+-mk-+-# Black aims to provoke, White has only one
move: 60.Ld7 but this places the bishop on
2-mK-+-+-+" a vulnerable square, allowing the rook to
1+-+-+-+-! switch to lateral attacks, without letting the
king escape from the corner: 60...Rd8!
xabcdefghy 61.Lb5 Rd2+ 62.Kc1 Kc3 and Black has
Here is a sample based on the analysis of the made further progress and now the same
endgame expert Maizelis: method as on the previous step ensures him
48...Kd2 49.Kb3 Rc6 50.Lb5 Rc3+ the win: 63.Kb1 Kb3 64.Kc1 Rd8 (D)
51.Kb2 XABCDEFGHY
Black's pieces are not optimally placed yet.
In order to win, he has to carry out a major 8-+-tr-+-+(
regrouping. His king should reach b4, in
order to restrict the bishop's mobility, but the 7+-+-+-+-'
enemy king should not be allowed to escape 6-+-+-+-+&
from the dangerous zone at the same time!
51...Rh3 52.Ld7 Rh4 53.Le8 Rb4+ 5zpL+-+-+-%
54.Ka3 Kc3 4P+-+-+-+$
Black has strengthened his domination, but
the b4-square is not available yet. 3+k+-+-+-#
55.Lf7 Rb1 56.La2
White stubbornly keeps his king on a3,
2-+-+-+-+"
keeping b4 defended, but his bishop will not 1+-mK-+-+-!
be able to return to the b5-e8 diagonal under
favourable circumstances. The voluntary xabcdefghy
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 27
White is in zugzwang again. The only move sential regrouping in the meantime.
that maintains the pawn defended and avoids 63...Rc7 64.Le8 Rc5 65.Lb5 Rc8
mate in one is 65.Lc6 but this loses the And we have reached a familiar zugzwang,
bishop to 65...Rc8. so White has to give up sooner or later.
56...Rc1 01
Avoiding the trap 56...Ra1? with complete
Here is an old and very famous example:
domination and... draw by stalemate - this is
one of the tricks to be alert for! Salwe Georg
57.Lb3 Ra1+ 58.La2 Kd4 Rubinstein Akiba
The king retreats in order to enable lateral Prague 1908
attacks by the rook. With the a4-pawn vul- XABCDEFGHY
nerable now, White cannot save the game.
59.Kb2 Re1 60.Lf7 (D) 8-+-+-tr-+(
XABCDEFGHY 7+-+-+-+-'
8-+-+-+-+( 6-+-+-+-+&
7+-+-+L+-' 5+-+-+-vLp%
6-+-+-+-+& 4-+-+k+-zP$
5zp-+-+-+-% 3+-+-+-mK-#
4P+-mk-+-+$ 2-+-+-+-+"
3+-+-+-+-# 1+-+-+-+-!
2-mK-+-+-+" xabcdefghy
1+-+-tr-+-! According to endgame tablebases Black
wins with best play in 48 moves!
xabcdefghy 60...Rf7 61.Lh6 Rf3+ 62.Kg2 Rd3?
A desperate attempt to return the bishop to Now, as we have seen in the previous exam-
the b5-e8 diagonal. 60.Lb1 leaves the c4- ples, White should be able to survive!
square undefended, allowing a relatively Rubinstein obviously wanted to push the
easy win after 60...Kc4 61.Lf5 Kb4 enemy king away from the pawn and then
62.Ld7 Rd1 63.Lb5 Rd2+ 64.Kc1 Kc3 sacrifice the exchange. This plan does not
and so on, like in the variation starting with work against the best defence. The correct
56.Ka2 above. 60.Lb3 keeps the c4-square plan is pretty much the opposite: to keep the
defended, but deprives its own king of the white king closer to the pawn, so his bishop
b3-square and places the bishop on a vulner- won't be much help in defence.
able square: 60...Kc5! 61.Kc3 Re3+! With 63.Lg5?
the bishop on a favourable square, the white White missed the defensive idea with
king could escape now to the right wing, but 63.Kf2! =.
here this is impossible: 62.Kb2 Kb4 63...Kf5?
63.Ld1 Rg3 64.Lc2 Rg2 65.Kc1 Kc3 63...Rf3! was again correct. Rubinstein
and it is all over. managed to win the game, but only by a...
60...Re7 61.Lh5 mistaken method! He chased the king away
Or 61.Lg8 Kc5 62.Kc3 Re3+ 63.Kb2 from the dangerous zone and eventually suc-
Kb4 with a familiar position. ceeded in pushing it to the fifth rank, after
61...Kc4 62.Lf3 Kb4 63.Lc6 which the win was relatively easy.
Finally, the bishop has returned to the 'good' 64.Kf2!
diagonal, but Black has carried out his es- Finally, White found the correct idea.
64...Kg4 65.Ke2 Rf3 66.Lh6 Kg3
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 28
67.Lg5 Rf8 68.Ke3 Re8+ 69.Kd3 Kf3 88...Rb4?
70.Kd4 Re6 (D) But here Black goes wrong. Correct was
XABCDEFGHY 88...h3! 89.Lg3 Rg7 90.Lf4 Rg2 91.Ld6
Rd2 +.
8-+-+-+-+( 89.Kg2!
And now, according to databases, this is a
7+-+-+-+-' drawn position!
6-+-+r+-+& 89...Kg4 90.Le5 Ra4 91.Ld6 Ra2+
92.Kh1 Kh3 93.Lc5?
5+-+-+-vLp% And White returns the favour! 93.Kg1
4-+-mK-+-zP$ Ra1+ 94.Kf2 = was good enough.
93...Ra1+ 94.Lg1 Kg4!
3+-+-+k+-# This is the winning method already pre-
2-+-+-+-+" sented above.
95.Kh2 Ra2+ 96.Kh1 Kg3 97.Lc5
1+-+-+-+-! Rh2+ 98.Kg1 Rd2 99.Kh1 h3
And White was forced to resign
xabcdefghy 01
71.Kd5?
But not like that! White should have opted Mistakes are the salt and pepper of modern
for 71.Kc4 Ke4 72.Kc3! (the only move) knowledge. The next four examples are
72...Rd6 73.Kc2!! again, the only move - quite instructive, as much salt and pepper
White must keep diagonal opposition - this can be found!
is the key idea in this ending. But the winning and defending methods
71...Re4! 72.Lf6 Kf4 73.Ld8 Kf5 are the same and one must study them:
74.Lg5 Rg4!
After White's wrong 71st move, Rubinstein Mortensen Erling
plays nearly always the strongest moves. Baburin Alexander
75.Le7 Rg7 76.Lf8 Rd7+ 77.Kc6 Rd4 Copenhagen 1994
78.Le7 Ke6 79.Kc5 Rd5+ 80.Kc4 Rf5 XABCDEFGHY
81.Ld8 Kd7 82.Lb6 Rf4+ 83.Kd3
Rxh4 84.Ke2 Ke6 85.Kf3 Rg4 86.Lf2 8-+-+-+-+(
Kf5 87.Lg3 h4 88.Lh2 (D) 7+-+-+k+-'
XABCDEFGHY 6-+R+-+-+&
8-+-+-+-+( 5zp-+-+K+-%
7+-+-+-+-' 4Pvl-+-+-+$
6-+-+-+-+& 3+-+-+-+-#
5+-+-+k+-% 2-+-+-+-+"
4-+-+-+rzp$ 1+-+-+-+-!
3+-+-+K+-# xabcdefghy
2-+-+-+-vL" According to tablebases, this position is a
draw. Indeed, the black king is in the right
1+-+-+-+-! zone - not too close to the pawn.
xabcdefghy 71...Ke7 72.Ke5 Kd7 73.Kd5 La3
A position (similar) which we saw in our 74.Rc2 Lb4 75.Rh2 Kc7
This move is still OK but conceptually it is
Example 3 (p.24).
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 29
better to move away from the pawn: XABCDEFGHY
75...Ke7!.
76.Rh7+ Kb6 77.Rh6+ (D) 8-+-+-+-+(
XABCDEFGHY 7+-+-+-+-'
8-+-+-+-+( 6-+K+-+-+&
7+-+-+-+-' 5zp-+-mk-+-%
6-mk-+-+-tR& 4Pvl-+-+-+$
5zp-+K+-+-% 3+-+R+-+-#
4Pvl-+-+-+$ 2-+-+-+-+"
3+-+-+-+-# 1+-+-+-+-!
2-+-+-+-+" xabcdefghy
1+-+-+-+-! Both players seem to ignore the basic rules
of the ending. Correct was 88.Kc5 Lb4+
xabcdefghy 89.Kc4 +.
77...Kb7? 88...Kd4!
77...Kc7! was the only move, but it wasnt Back to the draw!
the only mistake in this game 89.Rh4+ Ke5! 90.Rh1 Kd4 91.Kb5
78.Kc4? Lb4 92.Rd1+ Ke5 93.Rd8 Ke6 94.Kc6
Now White returns the favour. He had to cut Ke5 95.Rh8 Lc3 96.Rh5+ Kd4
off the black king with 78.Rc6!. Here is 97.Rh4+ Ke5 98.Rc4 Lb4 99.Rc1 Ke6
White's path to victory: 78...La3 79.Rc4 100.Rd1 Ke5 101.Rd3 (D)
Lb4 80.Ke6 La3 81.Kd7 Kb6 82.Rc6+
Kb7 83.Re6 Lb4 84.Re5 Lc3 85.Rb5+
XABCDEFGHY
Ka6 86.Kc6 Ld4 87.Rd5 Lf6 88.Rd6 8-+-+-+-+(
Le7 89.Re6 Lb4 90.Re8 Ka7 91.Kb5
Kb7 92.Rd8 Kc7 93.Rd1 Kb8 94.Rd7 7+-+-+-+-'
Kc8 95.Kc6 Lc3 96.Rd1 Lb4 97.Kb6 - 6-+K+-+-+&
the key position - White wins.
78...Kc7 79.Kb5 Ld2? 5zp-+-mk-+-%
Of course it is not easy to defend. Here 4Pvl-+-+-+$
79...Kd7! = was correct.
80.Rc6+? 3+-+R+-+-#
White could achieve a winning position with 2-+-+-+-+"
the 'well known' 80.Rh1! Lb4 81.Rd1 +.
80...Kd7 81.Rc4 Lb4 82.Kb6 Kd6 1+-+-+-+-!
83.Rd4+ Ke5 84.Rd8 Ke6 85.Kc6 Ke5
86.Rd3 (D)
xabcdefghy
101...Ke4?
(see next diagram) Repeating the same mistake!
102.Rd5! Lc3 103.Kd6 Lb4+ 104.Ke6?!
86...Ke4? 104.Kc6 Lc3 105.Kc5 Lb4+ 106.Kc4
The black king moves to the undesired zone. wins.
Black could have drawn with a lot of other 104...Lc3 105.Rd1 Lb4 106.Kd7?!
moves, e.g. 86...Ke6, 86...Kf5 and The final 'mistake'. The correct continuation
86...Kf6. according to 'theory' was 106.Rd5! Lc3
87.Rd5! Lc3 88.Rh5?
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 30
107.Kd6 Lb4+ 108.Kc6, although Black 89.Lg5 Re8+ 90.Kd4 Kf5 91.Kd3 Kg4
could then claim a draw by threefold repeti- 92.Kd4 Kf3 93.Kd5?
tion! White voluntarily leaves the safe zone.
106...Ke5 107.Kc6 Ke6 108.Kb5 Ke5 93.Kd3 was correct.
109.Kc4 Ke6 110.Rd5 Le1 111.Kd4 93...Re4! 94.Lf6 Kf4 95.Ld8 Kf5!
Lc3+ 112.Kc4 Le1 113.Rd1 Lb4 Black has finally found the correct plan.
114.Kd3 96.Lg5 Rg4 97.Ld8 Rg8 98.Le7 Rg7
(D)
Aloma Vidal Roberto
Cabrera Alexis XABCDEFGHY
Calvia 2007 8-+-+-+-+(
XABCDEFGHY 7+-+-vL-tr-'
8-+-+-+-+( 6-+-+-+-+&
7+-+-+-+-' 5+-+K+k+p%
6-+-+r+-+& 4-+-+-+-zP$
5+-+-+-vLp% 3+-+-+-+-#
4-+-mK-+kzP$ 2-+-+-+-+"
3+-+-+-+-# 1+-+-+-+-!
2-+-+-+-+" xabcdefghy
1+-+-+-+-! 99.Lf8 Rd7+ 100.Kc6 Rd8 101.Le7
Re8 102.Lg5 Rg8 103.Le7 Ke6
xabcdefghy 104.Lc5 Rc8+ 105.Kb5 Kd5
According to the endgame tablebases, this 105...Kf5 also wins.
position is a draw. Interestingly, if the white 106.La7 Rc2 107.Kb4 Rh2 108.Kb3
king were on f2, Black would be winning! Rxh4 109.Kc3 Ke4 110.Kd2 Kf3 01
Black should try to get the white king closer
to the h-pawn - and then attack it, forcing the Kuzmicz Krystian
white bishop to leave its post on g5. The Musialkiewicz Jan
other plan - to push the white king far away Warsaw 2009
from the pawn and then sac the exchange -
does not work against best defence.
XABCDEFGHY
82...Kf3 83.Kd5? 8-+-+-+k+(
White had three moves which would draw
with correct play: 83.Kc4, 83.Kc3 and 7+-+-+-+-'
83.Kd3. 6-+-+-+K+&
83...Re4! 84.Lf6 Ra4?
Only 84...Kf4! 85.Ld4 Kf5 86.Lf6 Rg4 5+-+-+-+R%
87.Ld8 Rg1 88.Le7 Rg7 89.Lb4 Kg4 4-+-+-+-zp$
90.Le1 Rf7 91.Kd4 Rf1 + or 84...Ke3!
win - the former in 27 moves and the latter 3+-+-+-vlP#
in 29 moves.
85.Lg5?
2-+-+-+-+"
85.Ke5! =. 1+-+-+-+-!
85...Kg4?
85...Re4!. xabcdefghy
86.Ke5! Rb4 87.Ld8 Rb5+ 88.Ke4 Rb8 White is winning, as long as he can keep the
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 31
enemy king in the right (wrong) corner. GM Viktor Bologan isn't familiar with this
77.Rb5? endgame... 88...Kd3! 89.Kg3 Ke2 90.Kg2
But not like that! Correct was 77.Rf5! Lh2 Rd7 91.Lf4 Rd4 92.Kg3 Rc4 93.Lg5
78.Rd5 Kf8 79.Rd4 Lg3 80.Re4 and Rg4+ 94.Kh3 (D)
Black is in zugzwang. XABCDEFGHY
77...Kf8!
Black escapes from the box and finds salva- 8-+-+-+-+(
tion.
78.Kf6 Ke8 79.Ke6 Kd8 80.Rg5 Kc7
7+-+-+-+-'
81.Rc5+ Kb6 82.Kd5 Kb7 83.Rc6 Lf2 6-+-+-+-+&
84.Rh6 Lg3 85.Rh7+ Kb6 86.Rh6+
Kb7 87.Rg6 Lf2 88.Ke4 Lg3 89.Kf3 5+-+-+-vLp%
Kc7 90.Ke4 Kb7 91.Kd5 Lf2 92.Rg7+
Kb6
4-+-+-+rzP$
3+-+-+-+K#
Deszczynski Adam 2-+-+k+-+"
Bologan Viktor 1+-+-+-+-!
Warsaw 2009
XABCDEFGHY xabcdefghy
94...Kf3 95.Le7 Rg3+ 96.Kh2 Kg4
8-+-+-+-+( 97.Lg5 Rf3 98.Kg2 Rf8 99.Le7 Re8
7+-+-+-+-' 100.Lg5 Re2+ 101.Kf1 Kf3 102.Lf6
Re8 103.Lc3 (103.Lg5 Kg3 +) 103...
6-+-+k+-+& Kg3 104.Le1+ Kg4 105.Lf2 Kf3 +.
89.Kg3?
5+r+-+-vLp% Missing 89.Kf2! =.
4-+-+K+-zP$ 89...Rb2? 90.Le7?
90.Lh6!.
3+-+-+-+-# 90...Rb3+? 91.Kg2? Kf4?
2-+-+-+-+" 91...Rf3!.
92.Lg5+ Kg4 93.Kf2! Rf3+ 94.Ke2
1+-+-+-+-! Kg3 95.Le7 Rf5 96.Lg5 Re5+ 97.Kd3
Kf3 98.Kd4 Re1 (D)
xabcdefghy
This is drawn, but White must know how to XABCDEFGHY
defend. As said, the key idea is to avoid the 8-+-+-+-+(
area close to the h-pawn.
79.Kd4 Rb4+ 80.Kd3 Kd5 81.Lf6 Rf4 7+-+-+-+-'
82.Lg5 Rf3+ 83.Ke2 Ke4 84.Le7 Rb3
85.Kf2
6-+-+-+-+&
This move does not lose, but it would be 5+-+-+-vLp%
easier to defend after 85.Kd2!.
85...Rb2+ 86.Kg3? 4-+-mK-+-zP$
Now the white king gets locked up near the 3+-+-+k+-#
h-pawn. Black will create mating threats,
forcing the enemy bishop to abandon the 2-+-+-+-+"
pawn. Of course 86.Ke1! = would do the 1+-+-tr-+-!
job...
86...Rb7! 87.Lg5 Rf7 88.Kg2 Rb7? xabcdefghy
It is clear that even such a strong player as
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 32
99.Kd5? 61.Re3 + is equivalent, but 61.Rb6+?
Only to mess it up again! As said, White (in Kf7 62.Kf5 Ke7 = allows Black's king to
general) should not go above the 4th rank in escape from the dangerous corner.
such positions, so 99.Kc4 as a must. 61...Le1
99...Re4! 61...Kh6 62.Rf6+ Kg7 63.Kg5 Lc7
Finally, Black wins by the usual trick. 64.Re6 Kf7 65.Re4 Lg3 66.Re3 Kg7
100.Kd6 67.Rf3 Le1 68.Rf1 Lg3 69.Kh5 Kh7
Black's task would be much more difficult 70.Rf7+ Kg8 71.Kg6 Lh2 72.Rd7 Kf8
after 100.Ld8 but of course still wins: 73.Rd4 Lg3 74.Re4 and zugzwang! We
100...Kf4 101.Lg5+ Kf5 102.Ld8 Rg4. will see this method (and final position) in
100...Kg3 101.Kd5 Rxh4 the game as well.
01 62.Re3 Lf2
Similar is 62...Lg3 63.Re6+ Kf7 64.Kf5.
Although our first example had the pawns
on a5 and a6 (h5 & h6), up to here we have 63.Re6+ Kf7 64.Kf5
seen games where the pawns were placed on 64.Re2! Lg3 65.Kg5 is slightly faster.
the 4th and the 5th ranks. 64...Lg3 65.Re4 Lf2 66.Kg5 Lg3
In this case the situation is slightly differ- 67.Re2
ent, as the defending side has an advantage See the 64.Re2! line.
of space, due to the presence of pawns on 67...Kg7 68.Re7+ Kf8 69.Kf6 Lf2 (D)
the above mentioned ranks. XABCDEFGHY
Kramnik Vladimir 8-+-+-mk-+(
Ponomariov Ruslan
Moscow 2009 7+-+-tR-+-'
XABCDEFGHY 6-+-+-mK-+&
8-+-+-+-+( 5+-+-+-+-%
7+R+-+-+-' 4-+-+-+-zp$
6-+-+-+k+& 3+-+-+-+P#
5+-+-+-vl-% 2-+-+-vl-+"
4-+-+-+-zp$ 1+-+-+-+-!
3+p+-+-+P# xabcdefghy
2-+-+-+K+" 70.Re6
70.Ke6! Le1 (70...Ld4 71.Rh7 +) 71.
1+-+-+-+-! Rc7 Lg3 72.Ra7 Lh2 (72...Le1 73.Kf6
Lc3+ 74.Kg6 Le1 75.Ra4! Lg3 76.Re4
xabcdefghy +) 73.Rf7+! Kg8 (73...Ke8 74.Rh7 +)
58.Kf3! Ld2 59.Kg4 Le1 60.Rxb3 74.Kf6 Lg3 75.Kg6 - 61...Kh6.
From now on, the tablebases show the end- 70...Lg3 71.Kg6 Lh2 72.Re4 Lg3
ing is winning for White. Although Kramnik We have already seen that White must
doesn't always take the most straightforward achieve this position with Black to move,
path, he knows the basic principles of the thus forcing zugzwang.
winning method and he will never endanger 73.Kf6 Lf2 74.Kg6
his victory. If the black king could cross the 74.Re7! Ld4+ 75.Ke6 Lc3 76.Rh7 Le1
e-file then apparently it would be a draw. 77.Rc7 Lg3 78.Ra7 - 70.Ke6!.
60...Lg3 74...Lg3 75.Re2 Ld6 76.Kg5 Lg3
Or 60...Kf6 61.Rf3+ Kg6 62.Re3 +. 76...Le7+ 77.Kf5 Lc5 78.Re4 Lf2
61.Rf3
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 33
79.Kf6 Lc5 (79...Lg3 80.Kg6) 80.Ra4 Pinter Jozsef
Le7+ (80...Ke8 81.Ke6) 81.Ke6 Lg5 Kasparov Garry
82.Ra7 Kg8 83.Kf5 Le3 84.Ra3 Lc5 Auxerre 1993
85.Ra5 Ld6 86.Ra4 Lg3 (86...Le7 XABCDEFGHY
87.Kg6) 87.Kg6 Kf8 88.Re4 +.
77.Kf6 Lf4 78.Re4 Ld6 8-+-+-+-+(
78...Lc7 79.Rc4 Ld8+ 80.Kf5 Kf7 7+-+-+-+-'
81.Rd4 Le7 82.Rd7 +.
79.Rd4 (D) 6-+-+-+R+&
XABCDEFGHY 5+-+-+-+-%
8-+-+-mk-+( 4-+-+-+-zp$
7+-+-+-+-' 3+-+-+-vlP#
6-+-vl-mK-+& 2-+-+-mk-+"
5+-+-+-+-% 1+-+-+-+K!
4-+-tR-+-zp$ xabcdefghy
3+-+-+-+P# 84.Rg4 Kf1 85.Rg5 Kf2 86.Rf5+ Ke3
87.Kg2 Ke4 88.Rf7 Kd5 89.Re7 Kd6
2-+-+-+-+" 90.Re2 Kd5 91.Kf3 Kd6 92.Kg4 Kd7
1+-+-+-+-! 93.Kf5 Kd6 94.Re8 Kd7 95.Re6 Kc7
96.Ke4 Kd7 97.Kd5 Kc7 98.Re7+ Kb6
xabcdefghy 99.Rf7 Lh2 100.Rf2 Lg3 101.Rc2 Kb7
79...Lc7 102.Rc6 Lf4 103.Kc5 Lg3 104.Kd5
More resilient, but equally hopeless is Lf4 105.Rc2 Lg3 106.Ke6 Kb6
79...Le7+ 80.Kf5 Kf7 (the king won't es- 107.Kd7 Kb5 108.Rc6 Lh2 109.Rc2
cape: 80...Ke8 81.Ke6 Kf8 82.Rf4+ Ke8 Lg3 110.Ke6 Kb6 111.Kf5 Kb5
83.Ra4 +) 81.Rd7 Kf8 82.Ke6 Lg5 112.Ke4 Kb6 113.Kf3 Kb5 114.Kg4
83.Rb7 Ld2 (83...Kg8 84.Kf5 Ld2
85.Kg6 Kf8 86.Rb5 Lc1 [86...Le1 Of more interest is the next game. Just like
87.Rf5+] 87.Rh5 +) 84.Rf7+! Kg8 in the lines above, the king was trapped in
(84...Ke8 85.Rh7) 85.Kf6 Le1 86.Kg6 the surroundings of the pawns. Apparently,
Lg3 87.Re7 Kf8 88.Re4 +. this should be less dangerous, because the
80.Kg6 Lg3 81.Re4 king has more space available, but on the
This is the position we saw above, after other hand the bishop's good diagonal is
move 72 when White was to move. Now it is shorter!
Blacks turn and he is in zugzwang, there-
fore he resigned. Kasparov Garry
10 Jussupow Artur
Linares 1993
If the king is free, the attacker has to push (see next diagram)
him one file further than in the previous ex-
91.Rb4 Kc5
amples, namely to the opposite edge of the
The black king cannot escape the queenside,
board.
at least not before he puts his bishop on b3.
In Kasparov's game against Pinter, the ex-
92.Kg3 Lb5 93.Kf4 Kb6 94.Ke3 Ka5
World Champion managed to avoid this and
95.Kd4 Le2 96.Rb1 Lh5 97.Re1 Lf7
achieved a draw.
98.Kc5 Lb3 99.Re8 Ka6 100.Kc6 Ka7
It looked like a very easy defence after all:
101.Kb5
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 34
101.Re7+ Kb8 (101...Ka6 102.Kc5 and the XABCDEFGHY
king is boxed) 102.Rc7 was rather simple.
XABCDEFGHY 8-+-+-+-+(
8-+-+-+-+( 7+-+-+-mk-'
7+-+-+-+-' 6-+-+-tR-+&
6-+l+-+-+& 5+-+-+-mK-%
5+-+k+-+-% 4p+-+-+-+$
4p+R+-+-+$ 3zP-+-+-+-#
3zP-+-+-+-# 2-+l+-+-+"
2-+-+-+-mK" 1+-+-+-+-!
1+-+-+-+-! xabcdefghy
Curiously, the evaluation remains the same:
xabcdefghy the side with a rook should win by succes-
101...Kb7! (D) sive zugzwang positions. For a while, Kas-
101...Ld1?! 102.Re7+ Kb8 103.Kb6 Kc8 parov conducted his technique in the best
104.Re4 Lb3 105.Rd4 creates a zugzwang. way, but then let the enemy king escape,
XABCDEFGHY with an inevitable draw...
8-+-+R+-+(
Conclusion
7+k+-+-+-' According to the excellent researcher and
6-+-+-+-+& publisher of Chess Today, GM Alexander
Baburin, the defending side should avoid
5+K+-+-+-% two main situations:
4p+-+-+-+$ 1. His king is locked in the low right corner
(f2/f7, f1/f8, g2/g7, etc) with the rook cut-
3zPl+-+-+-# ting it off along the e-file.
2. His king is above the 4th (5th) rank and is
2-+-+-+-+" left of the e-file (i.e. the white king is on d5,
1+-+-+-+-! while Black has a rook on e4).
So, in conclusion, we can create a detailed
xabcdefghy guide of important facts:
102.Re7+? 1. The stronger side wants to sacrifice the
Letting the king out of the box. 102.Rd8 exchange back, when the defending king is
Kc7 103.Rd4 is secure. Now it's a draw... too far away.
102...Kc8 103.Kc6 Kd8 104.Rd7+ Ke8 2. Therefore the defending side must not
105.Kc7 Lc2 106.Rd2 Lb3 107.Re2+ allow his king to be pushed away beyond the
Kf7 108.Kd6 Lc4 109.Re7+ Kf8 c- or f-file.
110.Re4 Lb3 111.Kd7 Kf7 112.Rf4+ 3. The defending side should not move his
Kg6 113.Kd6 Kg5 114.Ke5 Kg6 king past the 4th (5th) rank either.
115.Rf3 Kg7 116.Rf6 Lc4 117.Kf5 Lb3 4. Usually the defending side should place
118.Kg5 Lc2 (D) his king in diagonal opposition to the enemy
And after all these useless moves, the ad- king (i.e. Kc2 vs. Ke4).
versaries decided that they had seen enough 5. The defending side does not want his king
and agreed to a draw. to be too close to his pawn either - there the
king will be in real danger.
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 35
Rook & 3 Pawns vs. Bishop & 3 Pawns
Same Flank - Same colour-corner Bishop
Concept squared bishop implies a weakening of the
This particular type of ending (rook vs. f2-square. Therefore, Black must:
bishop) is often met in practice: 1. Bring his king to e1, forcing White to
XABCDEFGHY push the f-pawn to f4 in view of the threat of
...Rb2.
8-+-+-vlk+( 2. Then, Black will prepare the ...g5 advance
by placing his rook on g7.
7+-+-+pzpp' 46...Ke7 47.La2 h6 48.Lb3 Rc7 49.La2
6-+-+-+-+& Kd6 50.Kh3 Ke5 51.Kg4 Ra7 52.Lb3
Rb7 53.Ld1
5+-+-+-+-% 53.La2 Ke4! is even simpler.
4-+-+-+-+$ 53...Rb2 54.Kf3 Kd4 55.Le2 Rb3+
56.Kg2 Kc3 57.Lf3 Rb5 58.Lc6 Rc5
3+-+-+-+-# 59.Le8 Rc7 60.Kf1 Kd2 61.La4 Rc1+
2-+-+-zPPzP" 62.Kg2 Ke1 63.Lb3 Rc7 64.f4 Ke2
Commencing the second stage of the plan.
1+-+-+RmK-! 65.Ld5 Ke3 66.La8 f6! 67.Kg1 (D)
xabcdefghy XABCDEFGHY
Rook & three pawns vs. Bishop and three 8L+-+-+-+(
pawns, on the same flank and symmetrical.
In this survey we will examine the case 7+-tr-+-+-'
when the bishop is moving on the same col- 6-+-+-zppzp&
our squares as his nearest pawn-corner.
5+-+-+-+-%
Speelman Jonathan
Kasparov Garry
4-+-+-zP-zP$
Graz 1981 3+-+-mk-zP-#
XABCDEFGHY 2-+-+-+-+"
8-+-+-mk-+( 1+-+-+-mK-!
7+-+-+p+p' xabcdefghy
6-+-+-+p+& 67...Rg7! 68.Kg2 g5 69.hxg5 hxg5 70.fxg5
Rxg5!
5+-tr-+-+-% White resigned in view of 71.Lc6 f5
4-+-+-+-zP$ 72.Kh3 Kf2.
01
3+L+-+-zP-#
2-+-+-zPK+" Of course this is an oft repeated winning
motif and a trained chess player should
1+-+-+-+-! know the pros and cons of these positions.
xabcdefghy Grischuk Alexander
Such endings are easily won for the side Carlsen Magnus
with the rook. The presence of a light- Astana 2012
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 36
XABCDEFGHY XABCDEFGHY
8-mk-+-+-+( 8-+-+-+-mk(
7+-+-tR-+-' 7+-+-+-zp-'
6-zp-mK-+-+& 6-+-+Lzp-zp&
5zp-zp-+-+-% 5+-tr-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$ 4-+-+-zP-zP$
3zP-zP-+-+-# 3+-+-+-zP-#
2-zP-+-+l+" 2-+-+-+K+"
1+-+-+-+-! 1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy xabcdefghy
This is another, recent, example, which 40...g6!
proves that specific knowledge of motifs Black slowly prepares the activation of his
counts... king and later on the application of the win-
49.b3 Lh1 50.Re2 Kb7 51.Rb2! Lf3 ning method.
52.b4! (D) 41.Lg4 Rc2+ 42.Kg1 Kg7 43.Lf3 Rb2
XABCDEFGHY 44.Ld5 Kf8 45.Le4 Kf7 46.Ld5+ Ke7
47.Le4 f5!
8-+-+-+-+( The ideal pawn structure is slowly formed!
7+k+-+-+-' 48.Ld5 Rd2 49.Lc6 Kf6 50.Lf3 Rc2
51.Ld5 Rc5 52.Lf3 Ke6 53.Lb7 Rc2
6-zp-mK-+-+& 54.Lf3 Kd6 55.Lb7 Rb2 56.Lf3 Kc5
57.Lg2 Kd4 58.Lf3 Ke3
5zp-zp-+-+-% And the king has arrived on e3 as well!
4-zP-+-+-+$ 59.Ld5 Rd2 60.La8 (D)
3zP-zP-+l+-# XABCDEFGHY
2-tR-+-+-+" 8L+-+-+-+(
1+-+-+-+-! 7+-+-+-+-'
xabcdefghy 6-+-+-+pzp&
Here it is again! 5+-+-+p+-%
52...cxb4 53.axb4 axb4 54.Rxb4! Le2
55.c4 Ka6 56.Kc6 Ka5 57.Rb5+ Ka4
4-+-+-zP-zP$
58.Kd5 3+-+-mk-zP-#
10
2-+-tr-+-+"
Modern chess players tend to think that
theory only applies to openings. This is a 1+-+-+-mK-!
very wrong attitude, as logic and practice xabcdefghy
have proven that theory counts for every part
of a game - see the next example as well: 60...Rd8!
The rook belongs behind the black g-pawn!
Wagner Florian 61.Lb7 g5 62.fxg5 hxg5 63.hxg5 Rg8
Herning Jens 64.Kh2 Rxg5 65.Lc8 Kf2 66.Lxf5 Rxf5
Nuremberg 2009 67.g4 Rg5 01
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 37
Pavlovic Dej Pap Gyula
Solomunovic I. Sahu Sekhar Chandra
Kraljevo 2011 Budapest 2010
XABCDEFGHY XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+( 8-+-vl-+-+(
7+-+-mkp+-' 7+R+-+-+-'
6R+-+-+p+& 6-+-+k+p+&
5+-+-zp-+-% 5+-+-+p+p%
4-+K+P+-+$ 4-+-mK-+-+$
3+-+-+PzP-# 3+-+-+-+P#
2-+-vl-+-+" 2-+-+-zPP+"
1+-+-+-+-! 1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy xabcdefghy
An easily won position, as the black pawns 46...g5
cannot restrict the white king. As 46...Lf6+ 47.Kc4 Le5 48.Rb6+ Kf7
48.Kd5 Le1 49.Kxe5 Lxg3+ 50.Kd5 49.Kd5 Lc3 50.f4 is known to be won,
Le1 51.e5 Lc3 52.Ra7+ Kf8 53.Rc7 Black tries some alternative defence. But the
The simplest is 53.e6 fxe6+ (53...f5 54.Kd6 text move fatally loses control over the f5-
+) 54.Kxe6 Kg8 55.Ra2 Kg7 56.Rg2 square.
Ld4 57.f4, reaching a known winning posi- 47.f3 h4 48.Rb4 Lc7 49.Kc4 Ld6
tion. 50.Ra4 Lh2 51.Kb5 Lg3 52.Kc6 Ke5
53...Lb2 54.Rc2 La3 55.Rc7 Lb2 53.Rb4
56.Ke4 53.Ra2 Ke6 54.Re2+ Le5 55.Re1 Kf6
Obviously White wasn't familiar with the 56.Kd5 Lf4 57.Re6+ Kf7 probably goes
winning method. nowhere. White rightly tries to invade via
56...La3 57.Kf4 Le7 58.Rb7 Ke8 Black's back rank.
59.Rb8+ Kd7 60.Ke4 Lc5 61.Kd5 Le3 53...Ke6 54.Rb3 Le5 55.Rb5 Ld4
62.Rb7+ Ke8 63.e6! 56.Kc7 Lf6 57.Rb6+ Ke7 58.Ra6 Ld4
Finally! 59.Kc8 Lf6 60.Rb6 Ld4 61.Rb5 Ke6
63...fxe6+ 64.Kxe6 Kd8 65.Rd7+ Kc8 62.Kd8 Le5 63.Ke8 Ld6 64.Ra5 Lb4
66.Rd3 Lf4 67.Kf6 g5 68.Rd5 Kc7 65.Ra6+ Ld6 66.Rb6
Black resigned due to 69.Rxg5 Lxg5+ Black is in zugzwang and must allow the
70.Kxg5 +. way in to the white king.
10 66...Ke5 67.Kf7 g4 68.Rxd6! gxh3
69.gxh3 10
The following two examples indicate an
alternative plan for the stronger side. Some-
times it is quite effective and sometimes, if
In this simple ending there are many op- not properly applied, can only cause head-
tions for both sides, some good and others aches. I would surely prefer the tried and
bad (depends of course on which is your tested path
side!), so we might examine some interest- Espig Lutz
ing cases, where something out of the ordi- Wagner Florian
nary happened. Germany 2009
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 38
XABCDEFGHY Sibenik 2010
8-+-+-+k+( XABCDEFGHY
7+-+-+p+p' 8-+-+-+k+(
6-+-+-+p+& 7+-vl-+pzp-'
5+-+-+-+-% 6-+-+-+-zp&
4-vl-+-+-+$ 5+-+-+-+-%
3+-+-+-zP-# 4L+-+-+-+$
2-+-+-zP-zP" 3+-+-vL-zPP#
1+-+-+RmK-! 2-tr-+-zPK+"
xabcdefghy 1+-+-+-+-!
37.g4 Kg7 38.Kg2 Kf6 39.Rb1 Ld2 xabcdefghy
40.Rb5! 54...g5
Preparing the h4-h5 plan. With hindsight, I would have preferred
40...Lc1 41.Kf3 Lg5 42.Ke4 Ld2 43.f4 54...Lb6 55.Lxb6 Rxb6 56.h4 g6 +.
h6?! 55.Ld7 Lb6 56.Lxb6 Rxb6 57.Lf5 Kg7
This gives White an easy game. Black 58.Le4 Rb3 59.Lc2 Rc3 60.Lb1 Kf6
should hold his h-pawn back: 43...Kg7 61.La2 Ra3 62.Lc4 h5 63.Le2 h4?!
44.h4 Kf6 45.h5 Kg7 when White can go Although this must win, it gives Black some
for: more problems to solve en route. The calm
a) 46.hxg6? hxg6 47.g5 Lc3 48.Rc5 Lb2 63...Kg6 64.Ld1 Ra1 65.Lc2+ Kf6
49.Kd5 Kg8 50.Kc6 Ld4 51.Rc4 Lb2 66.Ld3 Ra4 67.Le2 h4 was fine.
52.Kd7 f6! (52...Kg7? 53.Ke8 f5 [53...f6 64.gxh4 gxh4
54.Rc7+ Kg8 55.gxf6 Lxf6 56.Rc2 +] Now Black should opt for exchanging the f-
54.Ke7 Kg8 55.Rc8+ Kg7 56.Ke6 La1 pawns, reaching a won ending.
57.Ra8 Ld4 58.Kd5 Lb2 59.Ra2 Lc3 65.Lf3 Ke5 66.Lb7 Kd4 67.Lc6 Ra6
60.Ra3 Lb2 61.Rb3 and Black loses: 68.Le8 Rf6 69.Kf1 Kd3 70.Lb5+ Kd2
61...La1 62.Rb7+ Kf8 63.Kc4 Kg8 71.Lc4 Rf5 72.Lb3 f6 73.Le6 Rf3
64.Rb1 Lg7 65.Rb8+ Kf7 66.Rb7+ Kf8 74.Ld7 Rf4 75.Le6 Re4 76.Ld7 Re7
67.Rxg7 Kxg7 68.Kd5+) 53.gxf6 77.Lc8 Rg7 78.Le6 Kd3 79.Lf5+ Kd4
(53.Ke6 fxg5 54.fxg5 Kg7 =) 53...Kf7 =. 80.Lc2 Ke5 81.La4 Rc7 82.Le8 Ke4
b) 46.Rb2! Le1 47.Rh2 gxh5 (47...Lc3 83.Lg6+ f5 84.Le8 Rc8 85.Lh5 Rf8
48.h6+ Kf8 49.Rc2 +) 48.Rxh5 (for the 86.Ke2 Kf4 87.Kf1 Rg8 88.Lf7 Rd8
48.gxh5 pawn structure see the next game) 89.Lh5 Ke4 90.Kg2 Rg8+ 91.Kf1 Rh8
48...h6 49.Rf5 Ld2 50.Ke5 Kg6 51.Rf6+ 92.Ld1 Rc8 93.Kg2 Rg8+ 94.Kf1 Rg7
Kg7 52.Rc6 Le3 53.f5 Lg5 54.Kd6 Kf6 95.Lc2+ Kf4 96.Ld1 Rc7 97.Kg2 (D)
55.Kd7+ Kg7 (55...Ke5 56.Ke8 f6 (see next diagram)
57.Rc4 +) 56.Ke8 +.
44.h4 Le1 45.h5 Ld2 97...Rc3! After many useless moves, Black
45...gxh5 46.Rxh5 was examined above. found the correct strategy; to cut off the
But now White can achieve a passed pawn. white king and try to place his f-pawn on f3.
46.Rb6+ Kg7 47.hxg6! fxg6 48.Ke5 98.Lh5 Ke4 99.Lg6 Rc7 100.Kf1 Rg7
Lc3+ 49.Ke6 10 101.Le8 Kd3 102.Lc6 Kd2 103.Ld5
Rc7 104.Le6 f4 105.Lg4 Rc3!
Malakhov Vladimir Going again in the correct direction after
Bologan Viktor some 'tries'....
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 39
XABCDEFGHY But why should the weaker side place his
pawns on h5 and g6 (h4 & g3)?
8-+-+-+-+( If we can borrow a financial term and
think about the value of economy, we can
7+-tr-+-+-' easily understand that the pawns should be
6-+-+-+-+& placed on the opposite colour of the squares
of the bishop.
5+-+-+p+-% Well, this is the best by test pawn forma-
4-+-+-mk-zp$ tion and the following two examples can
help to prove it.
3+-+-+-+P# Reinecker Kai
2-+-+-zPK+" Ivaska Romas
Germany 2010
1+-+L+-+-! XABCDEFGHY
xabcdefghy 8-+-+-+-+(
106.Kg2
106.Lf5 f3 is curtains, so White must give 7+-+-+pzpk'
ground to the black king.
106...Ke1 107.Lh5 Ra3 108.Lg4 Ra2 6-+K+-+-zp&
109.Kf3 Rxf2+ 110.Ke4 Rf1 111.Lf3
Kf2 112.Kxf4 Rb1 (D)
5+-+-vl-+-%
XABCDEFGHY 4-+-+-+-+$
8-+-+-+-+( 3+-+-+-+-#
7+-+-+-+-' 2-+-+-zPPzP"
6-+-+-+-+& 1+R+-+-+-!
5+-+-+-+-% xabcdefghy
33...f6
4-+-+-mK-zp$ Weakening the light squares and placing the
pawns on the same colour squares as the
3+-+-+L+P# bishop's cannot be a correct strategy. Black
2-+-+-mk-+" had to fight with 33...g6.
34.Kd7 g5 35.Ke6 Kg6 36.h3 h5 37.g4
1+r+-+-+-! hxg4 38.hxg4
xabcdefghy And now White, by some rook check, will
win either the f5 or the f7-square for his
A won ending has arisen - White has little to
king.
fight for.
38...Ld4 39.f3 Le5 40.Rc1 Lb2 41.Rc8
113.Lc6 Rb4+ 114.Ke5 Kg3 115.Ld7 Kg7
Rc4 116.Le6 Rc1 117.Lg4 Ra1
41...Le5 42.Rg8+ Kh7 43.Kf7 Ld4
118.Lc8 Rc1 119.Lg4 Rc7 120.Kd4
Rg7 121.Le6 Kg2 44.Rg6 +.
42.Kf5 Le5 43.Rd8 Kf7 44.Rd7+ Ke8
121...Rg6! 122.Lc8 Rg8 123.Lf5 Rf8
45.Ke6
124.Le6 Rd8+ 125.Kc5 Rd2 was good.
And next comes the Rf7-xf6 continuation.
122.Kd3 Re7 123.Lg4 Kf2 124.Kd4
Re3 125.Kd5 Kg2 10
White resigned: 126.Kd4 Rxh3 Fressinet Laurent
127.Lxh3+ Kxh3 128.Ke3 Kg2. 01 Petrosian Tigran L.
Paris 2009
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 40
XABCDEFGHY usual method.
46.Kg2 Ke7 47.Kf3 Ld4 48.Ra2 Ke6
8-+-+-+-+( 49.Ke4 Lc5 50.Ra6+ Kd7 51.f4 Ke7 (D)
7+-+-+-+-' XABCDEFGHY
6-+-+-zp-zp& 8-+-+-+-+(
5+-+r+-zp-% 7+-+-mkp+-'
4-+-+-mkP+$ 6R+-+-+p+&
3+-+-+-+P# 5+-vl-+-+p%
2-+-+LzPK+" 4-+-+KzP-+$
1+-+-+-+-! 3+-+-+-zP-#
xabcdefghy 2-+-+-+-zP"
Again Black has an easy task, as White has 1+-+-+-+-!
given up important squares such as f4.
54.Lc4 Rd2 55.La6 Rb2 56.Lc8 Ke4 xabcdefghy
So, Black's plan should be to force White to 52.f5!
move his f-pawn as well. Then the black But here an extra chance is not kicked away!
king will have a party on the e3-, f4- and g3- Usually this is a blunder when the black king
squares! is on g7 and the bishop on the long diagonal.
57.La6 Kd4 58.Kf3 Rb3+ 59.Kg2 Kc3 Here we have an exception; Black is forced
60.h4 Kd2 61.hxg5 hxg5 62.Lc4 Rc3 to capture and destroy his pawn structure.
63.Ld5 Ke1 64.f3 Ke2 65.Kg3 Ke3 52...gxf5+ 53.Kxf5
66.Le4 Rc1 67.Lb7 Rg1+ 68.Kh2 Kf2 But now the white king will try to penetrate
01 or simply attack Black's h-pawn.
53...Le3 54.Ra2 Lh6 55.Ra7+ Kf8
Some extra chances might arise from time
56.Kf6
to time - see the following two games:
10
Croad Nicholas
Bennett Hilton Petrie Roktim Bandyopadhyay
Queenstown 2009 Swapnil S Dhopade
New Delhi 2007
XABCDEFGHY
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+k+pvl-'
7+-+-+-+p'
6R+-+-+p+&
6-+-+-+p+&
5+-+-+-+p%
5+-mk-+p+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
4-+-+-zP-+$
3+-+-+-zP-#
3+-+-+-zP-#
2-+-+-zP-zP"
2-+r+-+LzP"
1+-+-+-mK-!
1+-+-+K+-!
xabcdefghy
White has a won position and can go for the
xabcdefghy
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 41
White is late to form a decent defence, so Siebrecht Sebastian
here we can see another winning motif: Brandenburg Daan
39.h4 Rxg2! Dieren 2010
The pawn ending is clearly won for Black. XABCDEFGHY
40.Kxg2 Kd4 41.h5
41.Kf3 Kd3 42.Kf2 h6 43.Kf3 Kd2 8-+-+-+k+(
44.Kf2 h5 +. 7+-+-+p+-'
41...gxh5 42.Kh3 Ke3 43.Kh4 Kf3
44.Kxh5 Kxg3 45.Kg5 h5! 46.Kxf5 h4 6-+-+-+pzp&
47.Kg5 h3 48.f5 h2 49.f6 h1Q
01
5+L+-+-+-%
Obviously, the weaker side might have 4-+-+-+-zP$
some problems in defending well. This can 3+-+-+-zP-#
be exacerbated by numerous sporting prob-
lems: time trouble, ignorance, fatigue, etc. 2-+-+-zPK+"
Carlsen Magnus
1+-tr-+-+-!
Ponomariov Ruslan xabcdefghy
Moscow 2007 39.g4
XABCDEFGHY A horrible move! White had to play 39.f4
and get his bishop to the long diagonal - but
8-+-+-vlk+( Black still wins.
7+-+R+p+-' 39...g5 40.hxg5 hxg5 41.Kf3 Re1 42.Ld3
Kg7 43.Lf5 Kf6 44.Ld7 Ke5 45.Le8 f6
6-+-+-+p+& 46.Ld7 Ra1 47.Lc8 Ra3+ 48.Kg2 Kf4
5+-+-+-+p% 49.Le6
Here Black found a quicker way to force the
4-+-+-+-+$ white pawn onto f3.
49...Ra8! 50.Lf5 Rh8 51.Ld7 Rh4
3+-+-+-zPP# 52.Le6
2-+-+-zPK+" 52.f3 Rh7 53.Lf5 Rb7 +.
52...Rxg4+! 53.Lxg4 Kxg4 54.f3+ Kf4
1+-+-+-+-! 55.Kf2 f5
xabcdefghy 01
64...Kg7 65.Kf3 Lc5 66.Rd2 Kf6 Recalde Augusto
67.Ke4 Kg7 68.Rc2 Lb6 69.Kd5 La7 Britez Jorge
70.Kd6 Ld4 71.Kd7 Kf6 Asuncion 2008
A 'blitz' move that loses quickly. 71...Le5
(see next diagram)
72.Ke8 f5 73.f4 Ld4 74.Ke7 is also known
to lose! 40.g4?
72.Ke8 Ke6 73.Rc6+ Kd5 74.Rc2 Ke6 White had no clue of the winning method, so
75.Re2+! Kf6 76.Re7 he easily falls into a drawn position.
And a pawn is gone as well. 40...hxg4 41.hxg4 Le1 42.Rb7+ Kf6
76...g5 77.Rxf7+ Ke6 78.g4 hxg4 79.hxg4 43.Rb6+ Kg7 44.f5 gxf5+ 45.Kxf5
Lf6 80.Kf8 Ke5 81.Kg8 Ke6 82.Rf8 45.gxf5 Ld2 is another drawn position.
Le7 83.Rf5 45...Lc3 46.Rb7 Kf8 47.g5 Ke8
83.Re8 Kf6 84.Rxe7 Kxe7 85.Kg7 + 48.Rb8+ Ke7 49.Rb3 Lg7 50.Rh3 Kf8
was winning as well. 51.Rh7 Kg8 52.g6
10 A last try...
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 42
XABCDEFGHY White had to play 43.g4! fixing the pawn on
g5. Then he needs to force Black to push the
8-+-+-+-+( f-pawn, so the white king can get access to
the e6-square: 43...Kf6 44.Kg2 Ke6
7+-+-mkp+-' 45.Kf3 f5 46.h3 Le7 47.Rb6+ Ld6
6-tR-+-+p+& 48.Ra6 Kd5 49.Ke3 Ke5 50.Ra5+ Ke6
51.Kd4 Lf4 52.Ra6+ Kf7 53.Kd5 Lh2
5+-+-+-+p% (53...fxg4 54.hxg4 Lh2 55.Re6 Lf4
4-+-+KzP-+$ 56.Re4 Lh2 57.Kc6 Lb8 58.Kd7 Kf6
59.Re6+ Kf7 60.Re3 Lf4 [60...Lh2
3+-vl-+-zPP# 61.Rf3+ Kg7 {61...Lf4 62.Rxf4+ gxf4
2-+-+-+-+" 63.g5 +} 62.Ke6 Lb8 63.Rf7+ Kg8
64.Kf6 +] 61.Rf3 Kf6 62.Ke8 Ke6
1+-+-+-+-! 63.Ra3 Ld2 64.Ra6+ +) 54.Kc6 Lf4
55.Kd7 Lh2 56.Ra5 Kf6 57.Ke8 Lf4
xabcdefghy 58.Ra6+ Kg7 59.Ke7 and soon White will
52...fxg6+? play Ke6 and Ra7+, getting access to the
And Black falls into the trap. He could have f6-square.
drawn by 52...Kf8. 43...g4! 44.Kf1
53.Kxg6 Lb2 54.Rb7 La3 55.Ra7 Lc5 Now White's only plan is to go to e6 with his
56.Ra8+ Lf8 57.Rb8 king and then try to play f3.
10 44...f5 45.Ke2 Lf6 46.Kd3 La1 47.Kc4
A rare case is that of doubled pawns. It Kf7 48.Ra5 Lb2 49.Ra2 Le5 50.Kd5
shouldnt be that much of a problem for the Lc3 51.Kd6 Ld4 52.Kd7 Lc3 53.Kd6
stronger side, but still Ld4 54.Kd5 Lc3 55.Ra3 Lb2 56.Rb3
La1 (D)
Stokke Kjetil
Djurhuus Rune XABCDEFGHY
Bergen 2009 8-+-+-+-+(
XABCDEFGHY 7+-+-+k+-'
8-+-vl-+-+( 6-+-+-+p+&
7+-+-+pmk-' 5+-+K+p+-%
6-+-+-+p+& 4-+-+-+p+$
5+R+-+-zp-% 3+R+-+-zP-#
4-+-+-+-+$ 2-+-+-zP-zP"
3+-+-+-zP-# 1vl-+-+-+-!
2-+-+-zP-zP" xabcdefghy
1+-+-+-mK-! 57.f3! gxf3 58.Rxf3 Lf6 59.h4?
xabcdefghy But this throws away the win. White should
have opted for 59.Rf1 Kg7 60.Ke6 Lb2
In such endgames, the defender can often
61.Rb1 Ld4 62.Rb7+ Kh6 (62...Kg8
build up a fortress, placing his pawns on
63.h4 +) 63.Rb4 Le3 64.Kf6 Lg5+
light squares and controlling the dark
65.Kf7 Le3 66.Rb8 +.
squares with his bishop. The pawn on g5
59...Ld8 60.Rc3
makes this position unusual though.
60.h5 gxh5 61.Rxf5+ Kg6 62.Ke6 Lg5 =.
43.Kg2?!
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 43
60...La5 61.Ra3 Le1 62.Ke5 Kg7 XABCDEFGHY
63.Rd3
Or 63.h5 Kh6 64.hxg6 Kxg6 =. 8-+-+-+k+(
63...Kh6 64.Kf4 Lb4 65.Rd7 La3 7+R+-+-+-'
66.Rd1 Kh5 67.Kf3 Kh6 68.Ke3 Kh5
69.Kf4 Lb2 70.Rd6 Lc1+ 71.Kf3 La3 6-+-+K+p+&
72.Rc6 Lb4 73.Rc7 Kh6 74.Rd7 La3
75.Rb7 Ld6 76.Rb6 Lc7 77.Rc6 La5
5+-+-+p+p%
78.Ra6 Ld2 79.Re6 Lc1 80.Re5 Ld2 4-+-+-zP-zP$
81.h5 Kxh5 82.g4+ Kg5 83.Rxf5+ gxf5
84.gxf5 Kxf5 3+-+-+-zP-#
So, by now we have concluded that, apply- 2-+-+-+-+"
ing the methods examined, it shouldnt be a
great problem to convert the material advan-
1vl-+-+-+-!
tage to a win. But there is still another case! xabcdefghy
Had the stronger side placed his h-pawn on
Here Black smartly offered a draw and
h4 (h5) at some earlier stage, he would then
White (wrongly) accepted as he could not
be compelled to employ an alternative win-
find out how to proceed...
ning plan, one containing numerous tactical
nuances and complicated lines. Example 1
Hammar Bengt XABCDEFGHY
Cebalo Miso
Arco 2010 8-+-+-+-+(
XABCDEFGHY 7+L+-+-+-'
8-+-+-+-+( 6-+-+-+p+&
7+-+-+pmk-' 5+-+-+p+p%
6-+-+-vlp+& 4-+-+-zP-zP$
5+-+-+-+p% 3+-+-mk-zP-#
4-tR-+-zP-zP$ 2-+r+-+-+"
3+-+-tRKzP-# 1+-+-+-mK-!
2-+r+-+-+" xabcdefghy
1+-+-+-+-! Here is the way to do the job; the following
breakthrough is the only way for the
xabcdefghy stronger side to prevail.
55...Rc3?! 1...g5!
It should be better for Black to postpone the The only way, as the pawn ending resulting
rook exchange as long as he could. Now from 1...Rc7 2.La8 Ra7 3.Lc6 Kd4
White has a free hand, as Black is lacking 4.Kf2 Kc5 5.Lf3 Ra2+ 6.Kf1 Ra3
any counterplay. 7.Kf2 Rxf3+ 8.Kxf3 Kd4 9.Kf2! is
56.Rxc3 Lxc3 57.Rb3 Ld4 58.Ke4 La1 drawn.
59.Kd5 Lf6 60.Kd6 Ld4 61.Ke7 f5 2.hxg5
Sooner or later, as White is threatening Ke8 No help is offered by 2.fxg5 f4 3.gxf4 (3.g6
and Rb7, Black will be forced to play this f3 4.g7 Rg2+ 5.Kf1 Rxg3) 3...Kxf4, when
move. the white pawns will be lost.
62.Ke6 La1 63.Rb7+ Kg8 (D) 2...h4 3.gxh4
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 44
Not 3.g6 Rc7!. Example 2 - Study Moscow 1973
3...Rc7! XABCDEFGHY
A very accurate move. 3...Rf2? seems to
lead to a draw after 4.Lg2!! (4.Lc8 Rxf4 8-+-+-+-+(
5.Kg2) 4...Rxf4 5.Lh3! Rxh4 6.Lxf5
Rh5 7.Ld7 Rxg5+, despite the fact that 7+-+-+-+-'
the white king is near the wrong corner. 6-+-+-+p+&
3...Kxf4? also fails to achieve the aim: 4.g6
Rc7 5.h5! (5.Ld5? Kg3 6.Kf1 f4!). 5+-+L+p+p%
4.Ld5 Rh7! 5.Le6 (D) 4-+-+-zP-zP$
XABCDEFGHY 3+-+-mk-zP-#
8-+-+-+-+( 2-tr-+-+-+"
7+-+-+-+r' 1+-+-+K+-!
6-+-+L+-+& xabcdefghy
5+-+-+pzP-% This study by R.Kholmov & R.Huebner is
also valuable.
4-+-+-zP-zP$ 1.Lc6 Rd2 2.Kg1 Rd6 3.Lb7 g5! 4.fxg5
3+-+-mk-+-# 4.hxg5 h4 5.Kg2 (5.gxh4 Kxf4 6.Kg2
Kg4 7.Lc8 Rg6 8.Kh2 Rc6 9.Ld7
2-+-+-+-+" Rc2+ 10.Kg1 Kg3 11.Kf1 f4 12.Ke1 f3
1+-+-+-mK-! 13.Lb5 f2+ 14.Kd1 Rb2 15.Ld3 Rb1+
+) 5...hxg3 6.Kxg3 Rd4 7.Lg2 Rxf4
xabcdefghy 8.Lh3 Rf3+ 9.Kh4 Kf4 10.g6 Re3 11.g7
5...Ke4! Rg3 12.Lxf5 Rxg7 13.Ld3 Rd7 14.Lg6
5...Kxf4 6.g6 Rxh4 7.Kf2 Rg4 8.Lf7 Rd8 +.
Ke4 9.Le8 Ke5 10.Kf3 is also fine. 4...f4 5.gxf4 Kxf4 6.Kf2 Rd2+ 7.Kf1
6.g6 7.Ke1 Rh2 8.g6 Rxh4 9.Lc8 Kf3
6.Kg2 Rxh4 7.Lf7 Rg4+ 8.Kh3 Kxf4 +. 10.Kd2 Rd4+ 11.Kc3 Rd1 +.
6...Rxh4 7.Lf7 Rxf4 8.Kg2 Ke3 9.Kh3 7...Kg3 8.g6 Rd4 9.Lc8 Rf4+ 10.Kg1
Rg4 10.Le6 Kf4 11.Lf7 Rg3+ 12.Kh4 Rc4 11.La6 Rc1+ 12.Lf1 Rc7 13.Lb5
Rg1 13.Kh3 Ke3 (D) (D)
XABCDEFGHY XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+( 8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+L+-' 7+-tr-+-+-'
6-+-+-+P+& 6-+-+-+P+&
5+-+-+p+-% 5+L+-+-+p%
4-+-+-+-+$ 4-+-+-+-zP$
3+-+-mk-+K# 3+-+-+-mk-#
2-+-+-+-+" 2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-tr-! 1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy xabcdefghy
01
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 45
13...Rg7! 14.Le8 Re7 15.Lb5 Kxh4 Radev Nikolai
16.Kf2 Kg5 17.Ld3 Rd7 18.Lb1 Kf4 Pribyl Josef
19.Kg2 Rd2+ 20.Kh3 Rb2 21.g7 Rb3+ Tbilisi 1971
22.Kh2 Rg3 XABCDEFGHY
White wins the pawn and should win the
game. But his win isn't really trivial! Play 8-+-+-+k+(
might continue: 7+-+-+-+-'
23.La2 Rxg7 24.Le6 h4 25.Lh3 Re7
26.Lc8 (D) 6-+-+K+p+&
XABCDEFGHY 5+-+-+p+p%
8-+L+-+-+( 4-+-+-zP-zP$
7+-+-tr-+-' 3+-+R+-zP-#
6-+-+-+-+& 2-vl-+-+-+"
5+-+-+-+-% 1+-+-+-+-!
4-+-+-mk-zp$ xabcdefghy
3+-+-+-+-# 52.g4! hxg4
A tougher defence is 52...fxg4 53.f5 gxf5
2-+-+-+-mK" 54.Kxf5 Kf7 (54...La1 55.Kg6 +) and
1+-+-+-+-! now White has two winning continuations:
a) 55.Rd7+ Kf8 (55...Ke8 56.Rh7 g3
xabcdefghy 57.Rxh5 Lc1 58.Kf6 [58.Rh7? Lg5! =]
26...h3!! 58...Kd7 [58...g2 59.Rh8+ Kd7 60.Rg8
This is standard technique for such positions + ; 58...Lb2+ 59.Ke6 +] 59.Rd5+ Ke8
- Black gets rid of the pawn, but can then [59...Kc6 60.Rd8 Le3 61.Rg8 +]
attack the enemy king from all directions 60.Re5+ Kd7 [60...Kf8 61.Rc5 Lb2+
(the pawn acted as a shelter for the white 62.Kg6 +] 61.Re4 La3 62.Rg4 +)
king!). 56.Kg6! (56.Rh7? g3 57.Rxh5 Lc1
27.Lxh3 [57...Kf7 58.Rg5 Lf6 59.Rg4 Ke7 60.h5
27.Kxh3 Rg7 28.La6 Rg3+ 29.Kh2 Kf3 +] 58.Kf6 Kg8 [58...Lb2+ 59.Kg6 Lc1
30.Lc4 Kf2 31.La2 Rd3 32.Lb1 Rd1 60.Rf5+ Ke7 61.Rf3 +] 59.Rc5 Le3
33.Lc2 Rd2 34.Lf5 Rd5 35.Lg4 Rd6 [59...Lb2+ 60.Kg6 +] 60.Rc7 [60.Rc4
36.Lh5 Rh6 +. Lf2 61.Rg4+ Kh7 62.h5 Kh6 =]
27...Re2+ 28.Kg1 Kf3! 29.Ld7 Rg2+ 60...Lb6! [60...Ld4+? 61.Kg6 Kf8
30.Kf1 Rf2+ 31.Ke1 Ke3 32.Le6 Rf6 62.Rc2 Ke7 {62...Lf2 63.Re2! +}
33.Ld5 Rd6 34.Lf7 Rd7 35.Le6 Re7 63.Re2+ Kd6 64.Rg2 Lf2 65.h5 Ke5
36.Lh3 Rh7 37.Lg2 Ra7 38.Kd1 Ra1+ 66.h6 Kf4 67.h7 Ld4 68.Kh5 Kf3
39.Kc2 Ra2+ 40.Kb3 Rxg2 01 69.Rd2 Lf6 70.Rd6 Le5 71.Rd3+ Kf2
72.Kg4 g2 73.Rd2+ Kf1 74.Kf3 +]
By now we have understood the motif that 61.Rg7+ [61.Rb7 g2 62.Rg7+ Kf8
leads to the trivial win. 63.Rxg2 Ld8+ = ; 61.Rc2 Kh7! 62.Kf5
Well, not that trivial, since the stronger Lf2 =] 61...Kf8 62.Rxg3 Ld8+ =) 56...g3
side has to be careful to avoid some tactical
57.Rd5 Lc1 58.Rd8+! (an important in-
problems and some drawn positions.
termediate check that prevents the bishop
Surely, the defence is extremely difficult
from accessing e3 in the future - 58.Rd3
for the defender as well; this is not a picnic - Lf4 59.Rd8+! [59.Rf3? g2 60.Rxf4+
but on the other hand, he has nothing to lose Kg8 61.Kxh5 g1Q 62.Rg4+ Qxg4+
but a lost position!
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 46
63.Kxg4 = ; 59.Rd1? Le3! =] 59...Ke7 Or 56...Kh6 57.Ke5 Ld2 58.Rg5 +.
60.Rd1 +) 58...Ke7 59.Rd1 La3 57.Rxf4 Kg5 58.Ke5 g3 59.Ke4 g2
(59...Le3 60.Re1 + ; 59...Lf4 60.Kxh5 60.Rf8 Kh4 61.Rg8
+) 60.Rg1! (60.Kxh5? Lc5 =) 60...Ld6 10
61.Kxh5 Kf6 62.Kg4 Kg6 63.Re1 Lb8
64.h5+ Kh6 65.Re6+ Kh7 66.Rg6 Lc7 Svetushkin Dmitry
67.Kf5 Lb8 68.Rb6! +. Dreev Alexey
b) 55.Kg5 Le5 56.Kxh5 g3 57.Rd2 Kf6 Moscow 2009
58.Kg4 Kg6 59.Re2 Lb8 60.h5+ Kh6 XABCDEFGHY
61.Re6+ Kh7 62.Rg6 Lc7 63.Kf5 Lb8
64.Rb6! + (64.h6 Lf4 [64...Le5 65.Kg5 8-+-+-+-+(
Lf4+ 66.Kh5 +] 65.Kf6 Lc1 66.Rxg3
Lb2+ 67.Kg5 Lc1+ 68.Kh5 Lxh6
7+-+-+p+-'
69.Rc3 Ld2 [69...Lg7 70.Rc7 Kg8 6-+-+-mkp+&
71.Kg6 + ; 69...Lf4 70.Rf3 Le5
71.Rf7+ Kg8 72.Kg6 +] 70.Rc7+ Kg8
5+-+-+-+p%
71.Kg6 Kf8 72.Kf6! Ke8 73.Ke6 Kf8 4-+-vl-+-zP$
[73...Kd8 74.Rd7+ +] 74.Rf7+ Kg8
[74...Ke8 75.Rf2 Le3 76.Re2 +] 75.Kf6 3+-+-+KzP-#
+). 2-+R+-zP-+"
53.h5 (D)
XABCDEFGHY 1+-+-+-+-!
8-+-+-+k+( xabcdefghy
White must first force Black to play ...f5.
7+-+-+-+-' 59.Ke4 La1 60.Rc6+ Ke7 61.Kd5 Kf8
6-+-+K+p+& 62.Rc4 Ke7 63.Re4+ Kf8 64.Kd6 Lc3
65.Kd7 Lb2 66.Ra4 Lc3 67.Ra8+ Kg7
5+-+-+p+P% 68.Ke8 Ld4 69.Ra2 f5
69...Kg8 70.Rd2 Lc5 71.f3 and Black
4-+-+-zPp+$ must sooner or later play 71...f5.
3+-+R+-+-# 70.Ke7 Lf6+ 71.Ke6
Back to the critical (for the white king) e6-
2-vl-+-+-+" square.
1+-+-+-+-! 71...Ld4 72.Rd2 Lc3 73.Rd7+ Kg8
74.Rd3 Lb2 75.Kd5 Kf7 76.Rb3 La1
xabcdefghy 77.Kc4 Le5 78.Kd5 La1 79.Rb7+ Kf8
53...Kg7 80.f3 Lc3 81.Rc7 Lb2 82.Ke6 Kg8
Or 53...gxh5 54.Kxf5 Kg7 (54...Lc1 83.f4!
55.Kg6 Kf8 56.f5 +) 55.Rd7+ Kh6 After some 'checking' White proceeds with
(55...Kg8 56.Kg6 + ; 55...Kf8 56.Rh7 the correct plan.
+) 56.Rd6+ Kh7 (56...Kg7 57.Kg5 Lc1 83...Ld4 84.Rd7 Lc3 85.Rd3 Lb2
58.Rd3 +) 57.Kg5 Lc1 58.Rh6+ Kg8 86.Rd8+?!
59.Rxh5 +. From now on, White plays the endgame ter-
54.hxg6 Kxg6 55.Rd5 Lc1 ribly badly, allowing Black to escape with a
Black cannot be saved by either 55...Kh5 draw. After the correct 86.g4! Black's days
56.Kxf5 Kh4 (56...g3 57.Rd1 +) would be numbered...
57.Rd6! Lc1 (57...Kh3 58.Rh6+ Kg3 86...Kg7 87.Rd7+ Kg8 88.g4?!
59.Rg6 +) 58.Rh6+ Kg3 59.Rg6 +. 88.Rd2! Lc3 89.Rd3 Lb2 90.g4! +.
56.Rxf5 Lxf4 88...hxg4 89.h5?!
2-+-+-+-+" XABCDEFGHY
1+-+-+K+-! 8-+-+-+-+(
xabcdefghy 7+-+-+pmk-'
86...g5! 6-+-+-+p+&
86...Rc2 87.Ld5 Rd2 88.Lc6 Rd6 5+-+-+-+p%
89.Lb7 g5 is a well-known position already.
But the text move is fine as well. 4-+r+-+-zP$
87.hxg5 3+-+-wQPzP-#
87.fxg5 f4 88.gxf4 Kxf4 89.Ld5 Rg7 +.
87...h4 88.gxh4 2-wq-+LmK-+"
88.Kg2 hxg3 89.Kxg3 Rc4 +.
88...Kxf4?
1+-+-+-+-!
88...Rh7! is the correct way - the black rook xabcdefghy
should collect the pawns and then it should Black has won the exchange and he should
be placed behind the white g-pawn: 89.Ld5 now exchange queens, seeking the well-
(89.Kg2 Rxh4 90.Lf3 Kxf4 91.g6 Rh6 known position.
+) 89...Rxh4 90.g6 Rxf4+ 91.Ke1 Rg4 65.Qd3 Rc2 66.Qe3 Qc3 67.Qe4 Qc5+
+. 68.Qe3 Kf6 69.f4 Kg7 70.Qxc5 Rxc5
89.g6! Rg7 90.h5 Kg4 91.Ld5 Kxh5 71.Ld1 Rc3 72.Lf3 Kf6 73.Ld5 Rc5
92.Lf7 (D) 74.Lb3 Rb5 75.Lc4 Rb4 76.Ld5 Rd4
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 48
77.Lb3 Rd2+ 78.Ke3 Rg2 79.Kf3 Rb2 Accurate was 111...Rd8 112.Kh6 Rh8+
80.Lc4 Ke7 81.Ld5 Rc2 82.Ke3 Rc3+ 113.Kg6 Rg8+ 114.Kf6 Rxg5 +.
83.Kf2 Rc7 84.Kg2 Kd6 85.Le4 Kc5 112.Kh6 Rb4 113.Lf3 Rf4 114.Lh5
86.La8 Kd4 87.Kg1 Ke3 88.Ld5 f6 Ra4 115.g6 Kf6 116.g7 Ra8 117.Lg6
89.Kg2 Rd7 90.Lc6 Rd2+ 91.Kg1 Rb2 Rg8 118.Lxf5 Rxg7 (D)
92.Ld5 Rc2 93.Lb7 Kd4 94.La8 f5 XABCDEFGHY
95.Lb7 Ke3 96.Ld5 Rd2 97.Lc6 Rd6
98.Lb7 Rd1+ 99.Kg2 Rd2+ 100.Kg1 8-+-+-+-+(
Rb2 101.Ld5 Rb5 102.Lc6 Rc5
103.Lb7 Rb5 104.Lc6 Rb6 105.Ld5
7+-+-+-tr-'
Rd6 106.Lb7 (D) 6-+-+-mk-mK&
XABCDEFGHY 5+-+-+L+-%
8-+-+-+-+( 4-+-+-+-+$
7+L+-+-+-' 3+-+-+-+-#
6-+-tr-+p+& 2-+-+-+-+"
5+-+-+p+p% 1+-+-+-+-!
4-+-+-zP-zP$ xabcdefghy
3+-+-mk-zP-# White succeeded in exchanging all pawns,
but the unfortunate position of the white
2-+-+-+-+" king decides.
1+-+-+-mK-! 119.Lb1
119.Lh3 Rg3 120.Ld7 Rd3 121.Lg4
xabcdefghy Rd2 +.
I have noticed that the winning method is 119...Rg1 120.Le4 Rg4 121.Lf3 Rh4+
applied when everything else has been tried 122.Lh5 Rh2 01
already! This is probably due to the 'fear' of
the passed pawns that the weaker side tem- Hitzler Philipp
porarily will have and a lack of enough time Mons Leon
left to think about everything... Who wants Bayern 2009
to take a risk in this riskless position? XABCDEFGHY
106...g5! 107.hxg5
107.fxg5 f4 108.gxf4 Kxf4 109.Kg2 Rd2+ 8-+-+-+-+(
110.Kh3 Rd3+ 111.Kg2 Kg4 +. 7+-+-+-mkp'
107...h4 108.Kh2
Maybe White should have tried 108.gxh4, 6-+-+-+p+&
although Black smoothly wins as well: 5+-+-+p+-%
108...Kxf4 109.Kg2 Kg4 110.Lc8 Rg6!
111.Kh2 Rc6 112.Ld7 Rc2+ 113.Kg1 4-+-+-zP-zP$
Rc7 114.Le6 Re7 115.Lc8 Kg3
(115...Rg7 116.Kf2 [116.Kh2 Rh7
3+-tr-+L+-#
117.Kg2 Rxh4 118.g6 Rh6 +] 2-+-+K+P+"
116...Kxh4 +) 116.Kf1 f4 117.g6 f3 +.
108...hxg3+ 109.Kxg3 Rd4! 110.Kh4
1+-+-+-+-!
A last try of activity, as 110.Lf3 Rxf4 xabcdefghy
111.Lh5 Rb4 + was easy enough. 38...h5
110...Kxf4 111.Kh5 Ke5?! Easier was 38...h6 and then Black would
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 49
transfer his king to e3 and his rook to g7, Dobrovolskiy Konstantin
winning with ...g5. Kravchenko Leonid
39.Kd2 Ra3 40.Ke2 Kf6 41.Kf2 Ke6 Yuzhny 2010
42.Lc6 Ra6 43.Le8 Kd5 44.Kf3 Kd4 XABCDEFGHY
45.Lf7 Kd3 46.Le8 Kd2 47.Kf2 Re6
48.Lf7 Rb6 49.Le8 Rb4 50.Kf3?! 8-+-+-+-+(
This loses quickly. White should try 50.g3 7+-+-+k+-'
Rb6 51.Lf7 Kd3 52.Ld5 (52.Le8 Ke4
53.Lf7 Rb2+ 54.Kg1 Kf3 55.Lxg6 6-+-+-zp-+&
Kxg3 +) 52...Rb2+ 53.Kg1 Ke3, when
Black will proceed with the ...g5 method.
5+-+-zp-zp-%
50...Ke1! 51.Kg3 4r+-+P+-+$
Or 51.g3 Kf1! 52.Lf7 Rd4 53.Ke3 Rd6 +.
51...Rb6 52.Lf7 Kf1 53.Kh2 Kf2 3+-+-+P+-#
54.Le8 (D) 2-+-vL-+P+"
XABCDEFGHY 1+-+K+-+-!
8-+-+L+-+( xabcdefghy
7+-+-+-+-' The more centralized structure is to the
6-tr-+-+p+& stronger side's benefit, as the bishop has
fewer squares on which to manoeuvre.
5+-+-+p+p% 44...Ke6 45.Ke2 Kd6 46.Le3 Ra2+
47.Kf1 Kc6 48.g3?!
4-+-+-zP-zP$ White should go for the well-known pawn
3+-+-+-+-# structure with 48.g4 Kb5 49.Lf2 Kc4
50.Lb6. Then Black can win with:
2-+-+-mkPmK" a) 50...Ra6 51.Ld8 (51.Lf2?! loses to
1+-+-+-+-! 51...Ra1+ 52.Ke2 Ra2+ 53.Kf1 Rxf2+
54.Kxf2 Kd3 and the pawn ending is easily
xabcdefghy won) 51...Kd3 52.Kf2 (D)
54...Rb4 XABCDEFGHY
A lot of moves win for Black, for example
54...Ke3 55.Kg3 (55.g3 Kf3 56.Kh3 Rb1 8-+-vL-+-+(
57.Kh2 Kg4 +) 55...Re6 56.Lf7 Re7 +. 7+-+-+-+-'
55.g3
55.Lxg6 Rxf4 56.g3 Rf3 +. 6r+-+-zp-+&
55...Kf3 56.Lc6+
56.Lxg6 Kg4 57.Kg2 Rb2+ +.
5+-+-zp-zp-%
56...Kg4 01 4-+-+P+P+$
If we move the entire starting position of 3+-+k+P+-#
our survey (all pieces and pawns) one square
to the left, then Black would have to apply 2-+-+-mK-+"
another winning plan; the transition to a 1+-+-+-+-!
pawn ending. As the bishop is lacking a suf-
ficient number of squares available to move xabcdefghy
along the g1-a7 diagonal, the king of the And now Black should go for the white
stronger side would not have to move away pawns: 52...Ra2+ (52...Re6 53.Lc7)
from the theatre of action. He can choose 53.Kg3 Ke2 54.Lxf6 Ra3 55.Lxe5
between two ways to win: (55.Lxg5 Rxf3+ 56.Kg2 [56.Kh4 Kd3
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 50
57.Kh5 Kxe4 58.Ld8 Rf1 +] 56...Rf8 54.Le3 Kd3 55.Lc5 Ke2 +.
57.Kg3 Kd3 58.Lh6 Rg8 59.Kf3 Rg6 48...Kb5 49.f4 g4 50.fxe5 fxe5
60.g5 Rg8 +) 55...Rxf3+ 56.Kg2 Rf4 01
57.Kg3 Ke3 58.Ld6 Rxe4 +.
b) 50...Kd3 51.Lc5 Rb2! (here the 'usual' Conclusion
plan 51...Rc2 52.Lb6 Rc6 53.La7 f5? This ending is nearly always won. We just
doesn't win: 54.gxf5 g4 55.Kg2 =) 52.La7 need to know the appropriate motifs and the
Kc4 53.Kg1 (53.Le3 Rb3 54.Ke2 way to handle them with accuracy.
Rxe3+ 55.Kxe3 Kc3 +) 53...Rb7
NOTES
Borgo Giulio
6-+-+l+p+&
Ghaem Maghami Ehsan 5+-+-+-+-%
Beijing 2008
XABCDEFGHY 4-+-+-zP-+$
8-+-+-+-+( 3+-+-+-+P#
7+-+-+-zp-' 2-+-+-+PmK"
6-+-+rzp-+& 1+-+-+-+-!
5+-+-+-+p% xabcdefghy
43.g4
4-+-vL-+-zP$ The 'obsession' with the g-pawn continues...
43...Kf6 44.Kg3 Kg7 45.g5?
3+-+-+-zP-# But this is too much! White could win by
2-+-+kzPK+" careful play: 45.Rb8 Kf6 46.Rb5 (stop-
ping an eventual ...h5) 46...Kg7 47.Kf3 and
1+-+-+-+-! so on.
xabcdefghy 45...h6! 46.h4 hxg5 47.fxg5
47.hxg5 Lb3 48.Kf3 Lc4 49.Ke4 Lb3
57...g5? 50.Ke5 Lc4 51.Kd6 Lb3 52.Ke7 Lc4
This was a blitz game, but this kind of ex-
53.Rd6 Lb3 54.Rf6 Ld5 55.f5 gxf5
cuse cannot stand - an educated player
56.Rxf5 Lc4 leads to a theoretical draw.
should play the ending with his eyes shut! I
47...Lc4 48.Kf4 Lb3 49.Ke5 Lc4
am sure that the experienced Iranian GM
50.Rd6 Lb3 51.Rb6
knows the correct procedure but somehow
No break and no plan any more
forgot it for the time being...
58.hxg5 fxg5 59.La7 Rf6 60.Lc5 Rf5
61.Ld4 Rd5 62.Lb6 Rf5 63.Ld4 Kd3 As was easily noticed, the fifth square of
64.Lb6 Ke4 65.La7 Rf3 66.Lb6 h4 the g-file (g5 or g4) is very important for the
67.gxh4! final assessment of the position.
67.Lc5? hxg3 68.fxg3 Rb3 is curtains. The stronger side should keep it empty in
67...gxh4 68.La7 Kf4 order to place his rook (or king) there after
And here White resigned, as he thought he the f5-f4 advance and the exchange on f4
was losing. But this is another theoretical by the weaker side.
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 57
Webb Simon 88.Lf6 Rb3 89.Lg5 g3!?
Vukic Milan A last try, but a futile one nevertheless.
Skara 1980 90.fxg3 Rb2+ 91.Kg1 Kf3 92.Lf4 Ra2
XABCDEFGHY 93.Le5 Rg2+ 94.Kh1 Rxg3 95.Lxg3
Kxg3 96.h5!
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+r+pmk-' In the previous example, Black hardly
6-+-+-+p+& could do anything about his g4-pawn; it had
been there for some time.
5+-vL-+-+-% But in the following example, Black com-
4-+-+-+pzP$ pletely mishandled the position, not knowing
the details of this notorious ending:
3+-+-+-zP-# Anton Teodor
2-+-+-zPK+" Nanu Ciprian Costica
Cluj 2008
1+-+-+-+-!
XABCDEFGHY
xabcdefghy
The doubled black g4-pawn occupies the
8-+-+-+-+(
important g4-square, which is needed for the 7+-+-+-zpp'
black king/rook after the ...f5-f4 advance.
Thus, the position is drawn. 6-+-+-+-+&
64.Le3 Kf6 65.Lc5 Kf5 66.Le3 Ke4 5+-vL-+p+-%
67.Lg5 f5 68.Le3 Kd3 69.Kf1 Rb7
70.Lf4 Rb1+ 71.Kg2 Ke2 72.Le3 Rb3 4-+-+k+-+$
73.Ld4 Rf3 74.Lc5 Kd3 75.Ld6 Ke2 3+r+-+-zP-#
76.Lc5 f4 77.gxf4 Kd3!? 78.Ld6
After 78.Le7 Ke4 79.Lg5 Kf5 80.Lh6 2-+-+-zPKzP"
Ra3 81.Lg5 Rh3 White must continue
with 82.Le7 and not with 82.Kg1 g3!.
1+-+-+-+-!
78...Ke4 79.Lc7 Kf5 80.Ld8 Rxf4 xabcdefghy
81.Le7 Rf3 82.Ld8 Ke4 83.Lg5 Kd3 51...g5?
84.Le7 Ke2 85.Lc5 Rh3 86.Le7 Kd3 Here 51...f4! would do the job in no time.
87.Ld8 Ke4 (D) And of course the known and trivial win is
XABCDEFGHY with 51...Kd3 - we have studied all these
beforehand!
8-+-vL-+-+( 52.Le7! h6 53.h4! Rb7 54.Lf6 g4
7+-+-+-+-' Black would be happy if, after 54...gxh4
55.Lxh4, he could exchange his h-pawn for
6-+-+-+p+& the white g-pawn, reaching a winning posi-
5+-+-+-+-% tion. But as this is only an illusion, the posi-
tion remains drawn.
4-+-+-+pzP$ 55.Lc3 h5
55...f4 56.gxf4 Kxf4 57.Ld2+ =.
3+-+k+-+r# 56.Ld2 Kd3 57.Le3 Ke2 58.Lf4 Rb3
2-+-+-zPK+" 59.Ld6 Rd3 60.Lc7 Rd4 61.Le5 Rc4
62.Ld6 Rc3 63.Lb4 Rc2 64.La5 Rb2
1+-+-+-+-! 65.Lc3 Rb3 66.Ld4 Rf3 67.Lc5 f4
xabcdefghy 68.gxf4 Rxf4 (D)
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 58
XABCDEFGHY XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+( 8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-' 7+-+-+pmk-'
6-+-+-+-+& 6-tR-+-+p+&
5+-vL-+-+p% 5+-+-+l+p%
4-+-+-trpzP$ 4-+-+-zP-zP$
3+-+-+-+-# 3+-+-+P+-#
2-+-+kzPK+" 2-+-+-mK-+"
1+-+-+-+-! 1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy xabcdefghy
Black succeeded in carrying out the well- In this position White can, if necessary, em-
known plan (Ke2, Rf3 and ...f5-f4) ploy the f5 breakthrough twice; this eases
but the position remains drawn as the black his task.
g-pawn on g4 occupies a very important 62.Ke3 Lc8 63.Kd4 Lh3 64.Ke5 Lc8
square for the black win. 65.Rf6 Lh3 (D)
69.Le3 Ra4 70.Lc5 Ra2 71.Ld4 Ra3 Black could not save himself with 65...Lb7
72.Lc5 Rb3 73.Ld4 Rh3 74.Lf6 Kd3 66.f5 Lxf3 67.fxg6 Ld5 68.gxf7 Lxf7
75.Le7 Ke4 76.Ld8 Kf5 77.Le7 Rb3 69.Kf5 either.
78.Lg5 Ke4 79.Lf6 Rh3 80.Le7 Rd3 XABCDEFGHY
81.Lf6 g3
A last try as usual... 8-+-+-+-+(
82.fxg3 Kf5 83.Lg5 Kg4 84.Lf4 Rf3
85.Ld6 Rb3 86.Le5 Re3 87.Lf4 Re2+
7+-+-+pmk-'
88.Kg1 Kf3 89.Ld6 Rg2+ 90.Kh1 Rc2 6-+-+-tRp+&
91.Lf4 Kg4 92.Kg1 Ra2 93.Kh1 Kh3
94.Kg1 Rg2+ 95.Kf1 Rb2 96.Kg1 Kg4 5+-+-mK-+p%
97.Kh1 Kf3 98.Kg1 Rb1+ 99.Kh2
Rb2+ 100.Kg1 Rg2+ 101.Kh1 Kf2
4-+-+-zP-zP$
102.Le5 Kf1 103.Lf4 Kf2 104.Le5 3+-+-+P+l#
Rxg3 105.Lxg3+
2-+-+-+-+"
A weakened pawn structure is not neces- 1+-+-+-+-!
sarily a disadvantage. All details must be xabcdefghy
taken into account before we evaluate a par-
66.f5! Lg2
ticular ending.
The continuation 66...Lxf5 67.Rxf5 gxf5
Analysing data is not only a job for com-
68.Kxf5 f6 69.Ke6 Kg6 70.f4 leads to a
puters, but also the job of a well trained
won pawn ending.
chess player.
67.fxg6 fxg6 68.f4 Lh3 69.Ra6 Lf5
In the next game, the doubled f-pawns
help the stronger side to claim the win as 70.Ra7+ Kh6 71.Kf6 Le4 72.Rd7 Lc2
well: 73.Rd8!
And as usual, it is curtains!
Andreev Vladimir 73...Kh7 74.Kg5 Lf5 75.Ra8 Le4
Chepukaitis Genrikh 76.Ra7+ Kg8 77.Kf6 Ld3 78.Rg7+
St Petersburg 1998 Kh8 79.Rxg6 10
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 59
As it seems that the defence with placing XABCDEFGHY
the pawns on the same colour squares as
those of the bishop is not of real help, an 8-+-+-+k+(
alternative strategy, of placing the pawns on
the opposite colour squares of the bishop,
7+-+-+-+-'
might be applied. 6-+-+-+p+&
Practice has proved that the weaker side
has better chances to hold the draw, although 5+-+-trp+p%
everything depends on the full placement of 4-+-+-+-zP$
the pawn structures:
3+-+-vLPzP-#
Meszaros Gyula
Schlager Thomas
2-+-+K+-+"
Germany 2009 1+-+-+-+-!
XABCDEFGHY xabcdefghy
8-+-+-+-+( If any of the black f- and h-pawns was fur-
ther back, then Black could play ...g5 and
7+-+-+p+-' after an eventual exchange on g5 he could
6-+-+-+p+& go ...g4, gaining the critical f3-square. But
here Black's pawns are 'crippled' and White's
5+r+-+k+p% bishop is well placed to restrain them.
4-+-+-vL-zP$ 65.Kf2 Kf7 66.Lf4 Rb5 67.Lh6 Rb3
68.Lg5 Ke6 69.Lh6 Kd5 70.Lg5 Kd4
3+-+-+PzP-# 71.Ke2 Rb2+ 72.Ke1 Kd3 73.Lf4 Re2+
2-+-+K+-+" 74.Kf1 Re6 75.Kf2 Ra6 76.Kf1 Kc2
77.Ke2 Re6+ 78.Kf2 Kd3 79.Kf1 Ra6
1+-+-+-+-! 80.Kf2 Ra2+ 81.Kf1
There is no way for Black to improve, there-
xabcdefghy fore a draw was agreed.
White has applied the ultimate defence, but
Black can still win with the correct plan:
49...Rb3 50.Lc7 Ke6 51.Lf4 Kd5 Khasin Alexander
52.Lg5 Ra3 53.Lf4 Kd4 54.Lg5 Ra2+ Filipenko Alexander
55.Kf1 Ke5 56.Lf4+ Kf5 57.Lc7 f6! Moscow 1985
The easiest plan to prevail. XABCDEFGHY
58.Ld6 g5 59.hxg5 fxg5 60.Kg1 g4
61.fxg4+ hxg4 8-+-+-+-+(
Now that the critical f3-square is prepared to
host the black king, the win is trivial.
7+-+-mkp+-'
62.Lc7 Ke4 63.Ld6 Kf3 64.Lc7 Rg2+ 6-+-+l+p+&
65.Kf1 Rxg3 66.Lxg3 Kxg3 67.Kg1
Kh3 5+R+-+-+p%
01 4-+-+-zP-zP$
But what happens if the f-pawn of the 3+-+-mK-zP-#
stronger side has already moved too far
away? 2-+-+-+-+"
Jorgensen Jorgen 1+-+-+-+-!
Rukavina Josip
Condino 2009 xabcdefghy
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 60
Here again, the white pawn structure is no shouldn't push/exchange his f-pawn so
help and Black can defend: quickly. White should opt for 58.Ra8 Kg7
51...f6! 52.Kd4 Lh3 53.Rb6 Lg4 54.Kc5 59.Kd4 Lg2 60.Ra3 Kg6 61.Kc5 Kf7
Lh3 55.Rd6 Lg4 56.Kc6 Lf3+ 57.Kc7 62.Kd6 Lh1 and now 63.h4 is good:
Lg4 58.Rb6 Lh3 59.Rd6 Lg4 60.Rd3 63...gxh4 (63...Lg2 64.f4 Kg6 65.Ra5
Lh3 61.Re3+ Kf7 62.Kd6 Lg4 63.Re7+ gxf4 66.gxf4 Lh3 67.Ke7 Lg4 68.Ra6
Kf8 64.Ra7 Lh3 65.Ra5 Kf7 Kf5 69.Rxf6+ Ke4 70.Kf7 Lf5 71.Rb6
Draw agreed, as even the following attempt Kxf4 72.Kf6 +) 64.gxh4 Lg2 65.f4 Le4
with 66.f5 doesn't prevail: 66...Lxf5 66.Ra5 Lf3 67.f5 +.
67.Rxf5 gxf5 68.Kd7 Kg6 69.Ke6 Kg7 58...Kg7 59.Rb8 Kg6 (D)
70.Kxf5 Kf7 =. XABCDEFGHY
3+-+-+-zPl# XABCDEFGHY
2-+-+-+-zP" 8-+-+-+-+(
1+-+-+-+-! 7+-+-+kzp-'
xabcdefghy 6-+-vL-zp-zp&
72...h4!? 5+-+-+-+P%
Black understood that he must change his
policy, as he cannot stay put any more:
4-+r+-+P+$
72...Lg4 73.Rf6+ Kg7 74.h4 gxh4 3+-+-+-mK-#
75.gxh4 +, is a well known (at least accord-
ing to the above analysis) winning position. 2-+-+-zP-+"
73.Rh8? 1+-+-+-+-!
And again White misses the road. 73.gxh4!
gxh4 74.Kd6 + is a tablebase win. xabcdefghy
73...Kg7 74.Rh5 Kg6 75.Rh8 Kg7 The white bishop's targets on the kingside
76.Rb8 hxg3 77.hxg3 Kg6! are serious (g7, h6), so Black should think of
The only move to draw! - the black king can exchanging both the h- and g-pawns, reach-
efficiently attack White's last pawn. ing winning positions with only the f-pawns,
78.Rb5 Kh5 79.Kf6 Kg4 80.Rxg5+ Kf3 as in the previous examples.
81.Ke5 Lg4 82.Rg7 Lh3 44...Ke6
82...Kxg3 is drawing as well: 83.Ke4 Kh3 44...g6! would do the job: 45.Lf4
84.Kf4 Le2! (84...Le6? 85.Rg3+ Kh4 (45.hxg6+ Kxg6 46.f3 h5 47.gxh5+
86.Rg6 +) 85.Ke3 Lg4 =. [47.Lb8 hxg4 48.fxg4 Kg5 +] 47...Kxh5
83.Kd4 Lg4 48.Lf4 f5 49.Le5 Kg5 +) 45...Rc3+
A theoretical drawn position. White tried to 46.f3 (46.Kg2 gxh5 47.gxh5 Rc5 +)
win but in vain. 46...Kg7 47.Ld6 Rd3 48.Lc7 Rd5
84.Kd3 Lh3 85.Rg5 Lg4 86.Rg8 Lf5+ 49.Kh4 Rd1 50.hxg6 Kxg6 51.Kg3 h5
87.Kd4 Lh3 88.Rg7 Lg4 89.Rf7+ Kxg3 52.Lf4 Rd3 53.Kg2 Rc3 54.Kf2 Rc4
90.Ke3 Lc8 91.Rg7+ Kh4 92.Kf4 Kh5! (54...h4 55.Kg2 h3+ [55...f5? 56.gxf5+
Going for the 'correct' corner. 92...Kh3? Kxf5 57.Ld6 =] 56.Kg3 h2 57.Kxh2
would lose to 93.Rg3+ Kh2 (93...Kh4 Rxf3 58.Lc1 Kf7 +) 55.gxh5+ Kxh5 +.
94.Rg8 +) 94.Kf3 Le6 95.Kf2 +. 45.Lf8 f5?!
7+-+-+-+p' XABCDEFGHY
6-+-+-+p+& 8-+-+-+-+(
5+-+-+pmk-% 7+-+-+-zp-'
4-+r+-+-+$ 6-+ksn-+-zp&
3tR-zp-mKP+P# 5+-tr-+-+-%
2-+L+-+P+" 4-+-+-+-+$
1+-+-+-+-! 3zp-sN-+-zP-#
xabcdefghy 2L+-+-+P+"
42.Ra4! f4+ 1+-+R+-mK-!
42...Rxa4 43.Lxa4 Kh4 44.Kf4 +.
43.Kf2 Rxa4
xabcdefghy
If the rook retreats, then 43...Rc7 44.h4+ 62.Rxd6+
Kxh4 45.Rxf4+ Kg5 46.Rg4+ Kf6 62.Rd3 would have been a good practical
47.Ke3 + is the simplest way. decision, and would probably have been
44.Lxa4 Kh4 45.Lc2 Kg5 46.g3! answered by Carlsen's resignation. The latter
Sooner or later, this exchange should be of- said so at least, but such a remark must be a
fered. White reduces material but he wins part of some psychological warfare. It goes
more ground, forcing the black king to re- without saying that he would have continued
treat and not threatening any more the active regardless. In view of White's doubled
...Kh4-g3. pawns, his technical job will not be so easy...
46...fxg3+ 47.Kxg3 Kh5 48.f4 But on a 'scientific' approach, the text move
48.h4 is good as well: 48...g5 49.hxg5 Kxg5 is the best!
50.Lxh7 + ; 48...Kh6 49.Kg4 Kg7 50.h5 62...Kxd6 63.Ne4+ Kc6 64.Nxc5 Kxc5
gxh5+ (50...Kf6 51.hxg6 hxg6 52.f4 +) Kramnik 'carelessly' entered into the end-
51.Kxh5 h6 52.f4 + ; 48...h6 49.Lb3 g5 game, which is not winning easily. But from
(49...c2 50.Le6 c1Q 51.Lg4 #) 50.Lf7 #. such outstanding players, the low rated audi-
48...Kh6 49.Kg4 Kg7 50.h4! ence has its own demands...
Threatening 51.h5, as in the previous note. 65.Kf2 Kd4 66.Kf3
50...h6 51.Kf3 Kf7 52.Ke4 Kf6 53.Kd4 Garry Kasparov had just arrived at the
g5 54.hxg5+ hxg5 55.f5 g4 56.Ke4 Olympia playing hall and proposed 66.Ke2
Resigned, due to 56...Kg5 57.Ke3 +. because Black anyway does not have time to
10 go with his king to b2: 66...Kc3 67.Ke3
Kc2 68.Lf7 Kc3 69.g4 Kc2 70.Kd4 Kd2
71.Lb3! (guarding c2) 71...Ke2 72.Kc3
Kf2 73.Ld5 which wins, for example
73...g6 74.g5 h5 75.Kd4. But of course
there is nothing wrong with Whites natu-
A more difficult case appeared in the next ral choice after all. The problem is that
game, which has been extensively analysed later, White seemed not to know how to win
in various sources and many have called the game; he missed the details
Carlsen's escape 'magic'. Well, there is noth- 66...Kd3 67.g4 Kd2 68.Le6
ing magical; just pure logic and plain calcu- Black's big hope is the position after
lations, which White failed to show... 68.Kf4? Ke2 69.g5 hxg5+ 70.Kxg5 Kf2!
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 75
71.g4 which is a draw: 71...Kf3 72.Kf5 77.Le6 Ke3
g6+! 73.Kg5 Kg3 74.Ld5 Kh3 75.Kf4 White is unable to activate his king without
Kh4 76.g5 Kh5!. losing the g4-pawn, so the draw is evident.
68...Kd3 (D) 78.Kh2 Kf2 79.Lc4 Ke3 80.Kg1 Kf4
XABCDEFGHY 81.Le6 (D)
81.Kf2 Kxg4 82.g3 Kf5 83.Kf3 g4+
8-+-+-+-+( 84.Ke3 h5 is also drawn.
7+-+-+-zp-' XABCDEFGHY
6-+-+L+-zp& 8-+-+-+-+(
5+-+-+-+-% 7+-+-+-+-'
4-+-+-+P+$ 6-+-+L+-zp&
3zp-+k+K+-# 5+-+-+-zp-%
2-+-+-+P+" 4-+-+-mkP+$
1+-+-+-+-! 3zp-+-+-+-#
xabcdefghy 2-+-+-+P+"
69.Kg3? 1+-+-+-mK-!
69.Lf7? was bad as well after 69...Kd2!
(instead 69...g5? 70.La2 Kd4 71.Le6 Kd3 xabcdefghy
72.Lf7 Kd4 73.Ke2 Ke4 loses to 74.g3 81...Ke5 82.Lb3 Kf4 83.Le6 Ke5
Kd4 75.Kd2 Ke4 76.Kc3 Kf3 77.Lh5! 84.Lb3 Kf4 85.Le6 Ke5 86.Lb3
+) 70.Ke4 Ke2 71.Kd4 Kf2 72.Ld5
Kg3 73.g5 but now Black escapes: 73...h5! An interesting case is the one with 3:2
pawns on one side for the defender. There
(not 73...a2? 74.Lxa2 Kxg2 75.g6 + ; are many difficulties and the win (if any) is
73...Kf4!? 74.g6 h5 =) 74.g6 (74.Ke5 more hidden than someone might expect.
Kg4! 75.g6 Kg5! 76.Lf7 h4 =) 74...Kf4
Highly important is the placement of the
75.Kc3 h4 76.Kb3 Ke5 = and White can- rook pawns.
not win because Black later goes with his
king to f8 and White cannot achieve pro- Portisch Lajos
gress. But 69.g5! wins. The main idea is Stein Leonid
after 69...hxg5 (69...Kd4 70.Kf4!) to play Sousse 1967
70.g3! and later White will capture the g5- XABCDEFGHY
pawn, having his own pawn already on g3
(so, Black cannot force White to play g4 8-+-+-+-+(
early!), and it is gradually winning after- 7+-+L+p+p'
wards, as tablebases confirm: 70...Kd4
71.Kg4 Ke5 72.La2 Ke4 73.Kxg5 Kf3 6-+-+-mkp+&
and now 74.Kh4! is the killer, e.g. 74...g5+
75.Kh3 Ke3 76.Kg4 Kf2 77.Ld5! +.
5+-+-+-+-%
69...Ke3 70.Kh4 4-+-+-+-+$
Or 70.g5 Ke4! (70...hxg5? 71.Kg4 Kf2
72.g3 g6 73.Ld5 +) 71.Kg4 Ke3 =. 3+-+-+-zPP#
70...Kf2 2-+-+-mK-+"
Unfortunately for Kramnik, now it is a draw.
71.Ld5 g6 72.Kh3 g5! 73.Kh2 Kf1 1+-+-+-+-!
74.Le6 Kf2 75.Lc4 Ke3 76.Kg3 Kd4! xabcdefghy
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 76
It seems that White would have an easy Example 4 - Averbakh Yuri 1972
task... XABCDEFGHY
49.Le8!
Every tempo counts here; we will see why. 8-+-+-+-+(
49...Ke7 50.Lb5 f5
50...Kf6 51.Lc4 or 50...Kd6 51.Lc4! f5?!
7+-+L+-+-'
52.Lg8 doesn't change much. 6-+-+-+-+&
51.Ke3 Kf6 52.Kd4!
White has managed to get his king to d4, but 5+-+-mkpzp-%
the win is still quite tricky. 4-+-+-+-+$
52...h5
52...Kg5 leaves White with the hardest task: 3+-+-+KzP-#
53.Ke5 h5 54.h4+! (54.Le2? h4 55.g4 fxg4 2-+-+-+-+"
56.Lxg4 Kh6 57.Kf6 Kh7 =) 54...Kg4
55.Kf6 Kxg3 56.Kg5 f4 57.Le8 f3 1+-+-+-+-!
58.Lxg6 f2 59.Ld3+; while not much
different is 52...Ke6 53.Lc4+ Kf6
xabcdefghy
54.Ld5. 1...f4!
53.Ke3 (D) 1...Kf6? is a blunder 2.Ke2 Ke5 3.Kd3
Kf6 as now the white king can come to d4:
XABCDEFGHY 4.Kd4 Kg6 5.Ke5 +. We should note here
8-+-+-+-+( that even if White had an extra pawn on h3
or h5 and Black one on h6, still the text
7+-+-+-+-' move was good enough to draw!
6-+-+-mkp+& 2.g4 Kd4 3.Ke2 Kc3!
Black should keep his king in/near the cen-
5+L+-+p+p% tre, as long as it is needed.
4.Lb5 Kd4 5.La6 Kc3 6.Ld3 Kd4
4-+-+-+-+$ 7.Kd2 (D)
3+-+-mK-zPP# XABCDEFGHY
2-+-+-+-+" 8-+-+-+-+(
1+-+-+-+-! 7+-+-+-+-'
xabcdefghy 6-+-+-+-+&
53...h4
Black is helpless: 53...g5 54.Kd4 f4 55.g4
5+-+-+-zp-%
+ or 53...Ke5 54.h4 + or, finally, 4-+-mk-zpP+$
53...Kg5 54.h4+ Kg4 55.Kf2 Kh3 (55...f4
56.Ld7 #) 56.Lc6 +. 3+-+L+-+-#
54.g4 Ke5 55.Lf1 Kf6 56.Kf4 g5+ 2-+-mK-+-+"
57.Ke3 Ke5 58.La6
10 1+-+-+-+-!
In order to better understand the pros and xabcdefghy
cons of this ending, it is essential to know That's the best that White can do...
the next two studies and how the drawing 7...Ke5! 8.Kc3 f3!
and winning mechanisms are applied. Forced, but good enough to draw.
I found both of them to be quite instruc- 9.Kd2 Kf4 10.Lf5 f2! 11.Ke2 Kg3
tive. Believe it or not, the first one is a 12.Kf1 Kf3
drawn position! And Black keeps his king on f3/g3.
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 77
Example 5 - Speelman Jonathan 1981 It is not easy at all to win the resulting end-
XABCDEFGHY ing, so White should preserve his f-pawn
with 40.f4 +/ or, even better, 40.Rb7 Kd6
8-+-+-+-+( 41.b5 Rxf2 42.b6 Na6 43.Ra7 +/.
40...Rxf2 41.b6 Na6 42.Ra8 Nc5 43.b7
7+-+-+-+-' Nxb7 44.Ra7
6-+-+-+-+& The point of White's 40th move.
44...Rb2!?
5+-+-vLp+-% The position that can arise after 44...Kf6
4-+k+pzP-+$ 45.Rxb7 Kg7 46.Kg1 Rf5 47.Le4 Re5
48.Lc2 h5 49.Lb3 Rf5 (D) should be ex-
3+-+-mK-+-# tensively examined.
2-+-+-+-+" XABCDEFGHY
1+-+-+-+-! 8-+-+-+-+(
xabcdefghy 7+R+-+pmk-'
If we move everything one file to the left, 6-+-+-+p+&
then White wins as his king has room to get
round on the kingside: 5+-+-+r+p%
1.Ld4 Kd5 2.La7 Kc4 3.Kf2 Kd3
4.Kg3 e3 5.Kh4 e2 6.Lf2 Ke4 7.Kg5
4-+-+-+-zP$
10 3+L+-+-zP-#
If now we place a rook on the board for 2-+-+-+-+"
each side, then we have a completely differ- 1+-+-+-mK-!
ent mission for both players. Typical posi-
tions and plans need to be known in depth xabcdefghy
time trouble would never allow us to dis- White has no easy plan at his disposal, as
cover them Black's position is rock solid and has only
one weak spot on f7, which is well guarded.
Grivas Efstratios Also, the presence of the white h-pawn on
Georgandzis Konstantinos h4 doesn't allow White to exchange rooks
Athens 1986 (in most of the cases), as shown below and
XABCDEFGHY furthermore, it doesn't allow the winning
plan which is shown in the next example.
8-tR-+-+-+( Play might go: 50.Kg2 Rf6 51.Ld5
7+-sn-mkp+p' (51.Rb4 Rd6 [Black should change his
way of protecting his f-pawn, as 51...Rf5?
6-+-+-+p+& loses to 52.Rf4 Rxf4 53.gxf4 +] 52.Rf4
Rd2+ 53.Kh3 Rd7 [it is too early for
5+-+-+-+-% 53...f6 54.Rc4 g5 55.Rc7+ Kh6 56.hxg5+
4-zP-+-+-zP$ fxg5 57.Rc6+ Kg7 58.Lc2 Rd5 59.Lg6
h4 60.g4 Ra5 61.Lf5 Kf7 62.Rg6 and
3+-+-+-zP-# White should win: 62...Ra3+ 63.Kh2
2-+-+rzPLmK" Ra2+ 64.Kg1 Ra1+ 65.Kf2 Ra2+
66.Ke3 Ra3+ 67.Kd2 Ra2+ 68.Kc3
1+-+-+-+-! Ra3+ 69.Kb2 Ra8 70.Rh6! {70.Rxg5?
Rh8 71.Ld3 h3 72.Rf5+ Kg7 73.Rf1 h2
xabcdefghy 74.Rh1 Kf6 75.Kc3 Kg5 76.Lf5 Kf4
40.b5?
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 78
77.Kd3 Rd8+ =} 70...Kg7 71.Rb6 Rh8 47...Kf6 48.Kf3 g5?
72.Kc3 h3 73.Rb1 +] 54.Lc4 Ra7 This loses. White must be ready to answer
55.Kg2 Rd7 56.Kf3 Ra7 57.Ke4 Re7+ 48...h5? with 49.Kf4, not allowing ...g5, but
58.Kd4 Ra7 59.Rf3 Rc7 60.Ld5 Ra7 Black could draw with 48...h6! because the
61.Kc5 Ra5+ 62.Kd6 Ra6+ 63.Ke5 Ra7 white king cannot reach d4 in time: 49.Lc6
64.Rb3 Re7+ [64...f6+ 65.Ke6 Ra6+ (49.Ke2 h5! 50.Ke3 g5 =) 49...g5
66.Ke7 Ra7+ 67.Rb7 Rxb7+ 68.Lxb7 g5 (49...Ke5 50.Lb5 g5 51.h5 [51.hxg5 hxg5
69.hxg5 fxg5 70.Lf3 g4 =] 65.Kf4 Re1 52.Ke2 f4! {52...Ke4? 53.Ld7 Ke5
and White has made no progress) 51...Rf5 54.Kd3 +} 53.g4 Kd4 =] 51...f4
52.Le4 Rf6 53.Lf3 Rf5 54.Kf2 Rf6 [51...Kd4 52.Ld7 Ke5 53.Ke2 Ke4
55.Ke3 Rd6 56.Le4 Kf6 57.Lc2 Re6+ 54.Lc8 Ke5? 55.Kd3 +] 52.g4 Kd4 =)
58.Kf4 Kg7 59.Lb3 Rf6+ 60.Ke4 Kg8 50.h5 f4! 51.g4 Ke5 52.Ke2 Kd4 53.Lb5
61.Ld5 Kg7 62.Ke5 Rf5+ 63.Kd6 Rf2 Kc3 54.Ld3 Kd4 55.Kd2 Ke5 56.Kc3
64.Ke7 Rf5 65.Rd7 g5, and the best White f3! =.
can hope for is to end with rook & bishop 49.h5!
vs. rook, which is of course drawn, but in a 49.hxg5+? Kxg5 50.Lc8 h5 =.
practical game the chances to win are many. 49...Ke5
45.Rxb7+?! 49...f4 now loses to 50.g4 Ke5 (50...h6
A bad move, leading to a quick draw, due to 51.Ke4 +) 51.h6! +.
the presence of the white h-pawn on h4. 50.Lc8?
White should have tried 45.Kh3 h5 A comedy of errors - 50.h6! wins: 50...Kf6
46.Lxb7 Rf2 47.Ld5+ Kf8. 51.La6 Kg6 52.Ld3 Kf6 53.g4! +.
45...Rxb7 46.Lxb7 (D) 50...Kf6?
XABCDEFGHY Black once more missed the well-known
50...f4! 51.g4 h6 =.
8-+-+-+-+( 51.Ke2!
The correct concept! White must keep in
7+L+-mkp+p' mind to avoid the e3-square at all costs:
6-+-+-+p+& 51.Ke3? f4+ =.
51...h6
5+-+-+-+-% 51...f4 here doesn't help: 52.g4 Ke5 53.Kd3.
4-+-+-+-zP$ 52.Ld7 Ke5 (D)
3+-+-+-zP-# XABCDEFGHY
2-+-+-+-mK" 8-+-+-+-+(
1+-+-+-+-! 7+-+L+-+-'
xabcdefghy 6-+-+-+-zp&
46...f5?! 5+-+-mkpzpP%
And Black immediately returns (in a way)
the favour! He could easily draw with a
4-+-+-+-+$
well-known mechanism: 46...h5! 47.Ld5 f6 3+-+-+-zP-#
48.Kg2 Kf8! 49.Kf3 Kg7 50.Kf4 Kh6
51.Lf7 g5+ 52.hxg5+ fxg5+ 53.Kf5 g4!, 2-+-+K+-+"
and ...h4 is next, while 54.Lxh5 Kxh5 1+-+-+-+-!
55.Kf4 Kh6 56.Kxg4 Kg6 is easy as well.
47.Kg2 xabcdefghy
Now, as the pawn structure favours White, 53.Kd3! Kf6 54.Kd4 g4 55.Ke3! Kg5
Black should be very careful... 56.Le8 10
8-+-+-+-+( XABCDEFGHY
7+-+-+-+-' 8-+-+-+-+(
6-+-+-+-+& 7+-+-+-+-'
5+-+-+-+-% 6-+-+-+p+&
4-+-vl-tR-+$ 5+-vl-+r+p%
3+-+k+rzP-# 4-+-+-+-zP$
2-+-+-+-+" 3+-+k+-zP-#
1+-+-mK-+-! 2R+-+-zPK+"
xabcdefghy 1+-+-+-+-!
73...Rxg3? xabcdefghy
Leading to a drawn position, while A drawn position but not all moves lead to
73...Lc3+ 74.Kd1 Re3 75.Rf1 Ld2 76.g4 Rome...
Re2 would have mated in 22 moves! 69.Kf1?
74.Rf1 Ke3 75.Rh1 Le5 76.Kf1 Rf3+ 69.Kg1 was good enough.
77.Kg2 69...Lxf2! 70.Kg2
77.Ke1? Kd3 78.Kd1 (78.Rg1 Rf5 Black won an important pawn as White
79.Rh1 Lg3+ 80.Kd1 Rb5 81.Kc1 Lf4+ could hardly go for 70.Rxf2 Ke3! 71.Rxf5
82.Kd1 Rb1 #) 78...Lf4 79.Re1 Ld2 gxf5 72.Kg2 Ke2 +.
80.Rg1 Rf2 81.Rg3+ Le3 82.Ke1 Rf4 70...Lb6 71.Rb2 Ld4 72.Ra2 Ke4
83.Rh3 Ra4 84.Kf1 Rg4 85.Rh1 Kd2 73.Re2+ Le3 74.Ra2 Rd5 75.Ra4+ Kf5
86.Rh2+ Kd1 +. 76.Kf3 Ld4 77.Ra3 Le5
77...Rf2+ 78.Kh3 Kf3 79.Kh4 Kf4 01
80.Kh3?
80.Kh5! =. Leko Peter
80...Kf5! 81.Kh4 Lf4? Topalov Veselin
81...Rf3! 82.Kh5 Rd3 83.Kh6 Rd7 Dortmund 2002
84.Rh5+ Kf6 85.Rh4 Rd8 86.Kh7 Kf7 XABCDEFGHY
+.
82.Rh3! Rg2 83.Rh1? 8R+-+-+-+(
83.Ra3 =. 7+-+-+kzp-'
83...Ra2! 84.Kh3 Kg5 85.Rg1+ Kh5
86.Rg2 Ra3+ +. 6-+-+-zp-+&
01 5+-+-zp-+p%
A trick to be remembered can be seen in
the next example. A theoretical drawn posi-
4-+-+-tr-zP$
tion doesnt always lead to the desired draw 3+-vL-+PmK-#
- the human factor has an important role to
play and unfortunately humans tend to err 2-+-+-+P+"
Well, nobody is perfect in this ugly and
cruel world - its a blunderful world by any
1+-+-+-+-!
means! xabcdefghy
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 83
In this example, the bishop is the correct 69.f4 exf4 70.gxf4 Ra8 71.f5+ Kh7
one, nonetheless the technique of winning 72.Ld4 is an alternative win.
such endings is perfectly shown by P.Leko. 69...Rd8+ 70.Ke6
White should recruit his king by any means, White has achieved his purpose. The end is
to attack and capture Black's only real weak near.
spot - the g7-pawn. 70...Ra8 71.Ld6 Re8+ 72.Le7 Ra8
53...Rc4 54.Ld2 73.Rb7 Ra6+ 74.Ld6 Ra8 (D)
White's position is technically winning, but XABCDEFGHY
P.Leko plays cautiously not to spoil the de-
served point. 8r+-+-+-+(
54...Kg6
The rook exchange almost always favours 7+R+-+-zp-'
the stronger side. If Black defends his 2nd 6-+-vLKzpk+&
rank with 54...Rc7, then follows 55.Le3
Rd7 56.Ra7 +. 5+-+-zp-+p%
55.Ra7 Rd4 56.Le3 Rc4 57.Rb7 Rc3 4-+-+-+-zP$
58.Ld2 Rc2 59.La5 Ra2 60.Ld8 Ra8
61.Lb6 Rc8 62.Rc7 Rb8 63.Lc5 3+-+-+PzP-#
Now Black should always guard the f8-
square, so his rook must stay passive, allow-
2-+-+-+-+"
ing the white king to enter the battle. 1+-+-+-+-!
63...Re8 64.Kf2 Rh8 65.Ke3 Ra8
66.Kd3 Ra4 xabcdefghy
Also there is no rescue after 66...Ra5 75.f4!
67.Lf8 (67.g4 hxg4 68.fxg4 Ra4 69.Lf8 With the aim of winning the f7-square for
Rxg4 70.Rxg7+ Kh5 71.Rh7+ Kg6 his king.
72.Rh6+ +/) 67...Ra8 68.Lxg7! 75...exf4 76.gxf4 Ra6
(68.Rxg7+?! Kh6 69.Rg3+! [69.Rg8+ 76...Ra5 77.f5+ Kh7 78.Lf8 Re5+
Kh7 70.Rg7+ Kh6 71.Rf7+ Kg6 =] 79.Kf7 Rd5 80.Re7! + and not
69...Rxf8 70.Ke4 +/) 68...Rd8+ 80.Lxg7?? Rd7+ 81.Rxd7 =.
(68... g8 69. e4 xg7 70. xg7+ Kxg7
R K R R 77.Rd7 Ra8
71.Kf5 Kf7 72.g3! Kg7 73.g4 hxg4 77...f5 78.Ke7 Ra8 79.Le5 +.
74.Kxg4! Kg6 75.h5+ Kh6 76.Kf5 +) 78.f5+ Kh7 79.Kf7 Ra4 80.Lf8 Rg4
69.Ke3! Rg8 70.Ke4 Rxg7 (70...Ra8 81.Lxg7!
71.Lxf6 Kxf6 72.Rc6+ Kg7 73.Kxe5 +) The final touch: 81...Rxg7+ 82.Ke6 Rxd7
71.Rxg7+ Kxg7 72.Kf5 Kf7 73.g3 +. 83.Kxd7 (distant opposition) 83...Kg8
67.g3 84.Ke7 Kg7 85.Ke6 +.
67.Lf8 Rxh4 68.Rxg7+ Kf5 69.Rh7 10
seems good, but there is no need for ex-
changes.
67...Ra8
67...Ra1 loses to 68.Ke4 Rc1 (68...Re1+
69.Kd5 Rf1 70.Ke6 Rxf3 71.Lf8 +)
69.Ld6 Rd1 70.Lf8 Rd8 71.Rxg7+ Bareev Evgeny
(71.Lxg7 Rg8 72.g4 +) 71...Kh6 72.Kf5 Morozevich Alexander
Rxf8 73.Rg6+ Kh7 74.Rxf6 Rg8 Monte Carlo 2002
75.Rf7+ Kh8 (75...Kh6 76.g4) 76.g4 e4 Finally, a nice example which once more
77.g5! exf3 78.g6 Rg7 79.Rf8+ Rg8 proves that the king is an important piece
80.Rf6 Re8 81.Kg5 +. and should be recruited in the battle. Black
68.Ke4 Rh8 69.Kd5 correctly attacked with all his pieces White's
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 84
most vulnerable spot, the g2-pawn and he is
about to harvest...
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+R+(
Exercises
7+-+-+-+-' To complete this research into this very
6-+-+-+-+& interesting subject, here are eleven related
positions which will help you to practice the
5+-+-+p+-% knowledge that was just presented.
The reader already has got an enormous
4-+-+-zp-zP$ training from the previous 25 examples, so it
3+-+l+P+-# shouldnt be that difficult to try to solve the
next 11!
2-+-+-mkPmK" If it is still difficult, the solutions will be
1+-+r+-+-! enough to help enlighten!
xabcdefghy 1ABCDEFGH
80...Lf1?!
80...Rg1! was immediately decisive: 81.h5 8-+R+-+-+(
Lf1 82.h6 Lxg2 +.
81.Rg5
7+L+-+pmkp'
There is also no way out for White after 6-+-+-+p+&
81.h5 Rd6 82.Kh3 Rh6 83.Kh4 (83.Rg5
Ld3 84.Kh4 Rh7 85.Rg6 Lf1 +) 5+-+-+-+-%
83...Lxg2 84.Kg5 Rh7 85.h6 Kxf3 4-+-tr-+-+$
86.Kg6 Rd7 87.h7 Rxh7 88.Kxh7 Kf2
89.Kg6 Le4 90.Kg5 f3 + or after 81.Ra8 3+-+-+-+P#
Rd6 82.Ra2+ Le2 83.Kh3 Rg6 +. 2-+-+-+PmK"
81...Rd6 82.h5 Rh6
01 1+-+-+-+-!
Conclusion
xabcdefghy
The ending is more difficult than it seems
at first sight and can cause headaches to the 2ABCDEFGH
stronger side.
Some advice can be generated after the 8-+-+-+-mk(
examination of the above examples: 7+-+-+-zp-'
1. The king of the superior (sometimes of
the weaker as well!) side should play an im- 6-+-+-+Rzp&
portant role, assisting the rest of his army.
2. The placement of the rook pawns is of
5+-+-+-+P%
great importance (in general). 4-vl-+-zP-+$
3. The defending side should try to preserve
the rooks on the board, in order to try to 3tr-+-+-zP-#
achieve counterplay by attacking the enemy 2-+-+-+K+"
pawns.
4. But of course, when the rook pawn of his 1+-+-+-+-!
opponent has moved, then he should most xabcdefghy
often exchange them and go for the drawing
mechanisms.
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 85
3ABCDEFGH 6ABCDEFGH
8-+-+-+-+( 8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-zpk' 7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+& 6-+-+-+p+&
5+-+-+-tR-% 5+-+-+k+-%
4-+-+-+-zP$ 4-+r+l+R+$
3+r+-+-zPK# 3+-+-+-+P#
2-+-+-vl-+" 2-+-+-+PmK"
1+-+-+-+-! 1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy xabcdefghy
4ABCDEFGH 7ABCDEFGH
8-+-+-+-+( 8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-' 7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+p+& 6-tr-+-+-zp&
5+-+-+-+p% 5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-zP-+$ 4-+-mk-+-+$
3+-+-+kzPK# 3+-+-+R+P#
2-+r+-vl-zP" 2-+-vl-zPK+"
1tR-+-+-+-! 1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy xabcdefghy
5ABCDEFGH 8ABCDEFGH
8-+-+-+-+( 8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-mkp' 7+R+-+pmk-'
6-tR-+-+-+& 6-+-+-+p+&
5tr-+-+P+-% 5+-+-+-+p%
4-+-+-+K+$ 4r+-+-+-+$
3+-vl-+-+-# 3+-+-mKL+P#
2-+-+-+-zP" 2-+-+-+P+"
1+-+-+-+-! 1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy xabcdefghy
Trivial Endings - Revealing the Secrets 86
9ABCDEFGH Solutions
8-+-tR-+-+( XABCDEFGHY
7+K+-+p+-' 8K+-+-+-+(
6P+-+-mkp+& 7+-+-+p+-'
5+-+-+-+p% 6P+-+-+p+&
4-+-+-+-zP$ 5+R+-+k+p%
3+-+-+-zP-# 4-+-+-+-zP$
2-tr-+-+-+" 3+-+-+-zP-#
1+-+-+-+-! 2r+-+-+-+"
xabcdefghy 1+-+-+-+-!
73.Ka8? xabcdefghy
Leaves the a-pawn unprotected for one deci- a) In the variations that arise with 75...Ke4?
sive moment. In time trouble, any knowl- 76.a7 Kf3 77.Rb3+ Kg4 78.Kb7 Black
edgeable player would put his king specifi- lacks precisely one tempo to save himself:
cally on a8 - so as not to prevent the pawn 78...Ra1 (on 78...f6 or 78...f5, there follows
from taking a step forward. In the over- 79.Rb6! [threatening 80.Ra6] 79...Rxa7+
whelming majority of similar situations this 80.Kxa7 +) 79.a8Q! (79.Rb6? Rxa7+
logic is justified, but not here! Only with 80.Kxa7 Kxg3 =) 79...Rxa8 80.Kxa8 +,
time to think would you manage to recog- and, with a pawn on f7, Black's counterplay
nize the necessity of leaving the a-pawn un- comes too late.
der the defence of the king, which makes b) A draw can only be achieved by means of
itself plain in the variation 73.Ka7! Kf5 75...Kg4! 76.Rg5+ Kh3 and Black sur-
(73...Re2 74.Rd5 Rb2 75.Rd6+ Kf5 vives: 77.Kb7 (77.a7 Rb2 =) and now the
76.Rb6 Re2 77.Rb4 + ; 73...Rb3 white rook, which is able to protect the king
74.Rb8 Rxg3 75.Rb5 Re3 76.Kb6 Re6+ from vertical checks, doesn't help it against
77.Ka5 Re7 78.Rc5! [the rook prepares to the horizontal checks. So Black plays
shelter the king from both directions] 77...Rb2+ 78.Kc6 Rc2+ 79.Kb6 Re2
78...Ke6 79.Kb6 Re8 80.a7 f5 81.Ra5 f4 80.a7 Re6+ 81.Kb5 (81.Kc7 Re7+
82.a8Q Rxa8 83.Rxa8 Kf5 84.Kc5 Kg4 82.Kb8 Re8+ =) 81...Re8 =.
85.Kd4 Kxh4 86.Ke4 Kg3 87.Rg8 +) 74...Kg4 75.Rb8 Ra2 76.Rb3 (D)
74.Rb8! Re2 75.Rb4! +. 76.Kb7 doesn't help: 76...Kxg3 77.a8Q
73...Kf5! Rxa8 78.Rxa8 Kxh4 79.Kc6 Kg3
NOTES