Capítulo 4. Factores determinantes, características propias, áreas de impacto y el papel de
4.1 Identificación de los factores y análisis de sus relaciones
Rook and pawn against rook The most classical and primitive (though not for everyone) endgame which should not, it seems, present any particular problem for players of grandmaster rank. But John Nunn wrote an interesting book about these endings on the basis of com
puter analysis where he gave quite a few complicated positions. However in everyday practice it is much more simple and tragic (or more confus
ing). Knowledge of precise posi
tions and methods of defence here have exceptional significance.
The edge pawns
The most frequent case-rook and pawn against rook.
People have already programmed computers for this type of ending, and so for the right method of play we should now tum to the Endgame CD!
Here are a couple of characteristic examples.
Emms-Riemersma Gausdal, 1993
1.. . .l:Ial?
Correct is 1...�a3 ! 2 �g2 :a2+ 3
�fl a4 4 J::rh3+ 'it>c2 5 1::rh2+ �bl 6 lih3 .l:Ic2 7 c,t>e 1 lib2 8 .l:Ia3 11b4 9 'it>d 1 'it>b2 1 0 lid3 a3 1 1 lid2+ c,t>b 1 , and the a3 pawn cannot be stopped.
2 c,t>g2?
But now White misses a draw by 2 �g5 ! a4 3 J::rg3 �c2 4 .llg2 'it>d3 5 .l:Ig3 'it>e4 6 .l:Ig4 �f5 7 l:tb4 �e5 8 Wg2 'it>d5 9 lih4 a3 1 0 l:!.h3 ! when White reaches a well-known position.
2 . . . a4 3 @f2 a3 4 .l:Ib5+ 'it>a2
There was a quicker win by 4 ... c;t>a4!
5 @e2 .l:Ibl! 6 .l:Id5 @b2 7 l:td2+
c;t>b3 8 .!id3+ c,t>a4 9 .!id4+ l:tb4 10 lld8 a2 7 'it>d3 @b3 White resigned.
Bagirov-Kraidman Grieskirchen, 1 998
1. .. :ic5?
Correct is 1 . .. l:!.g5, holding the draw as in the previous example.
2 'it>d4 J:icl 3 .l:If6+?
is 3 a5 winning easily.
3 ... 4 .l:Ib6 .li(al 4 .!la6 4 .!lb4 led to a draw after 4 ... 'it>f5, and the king rushes to c8.
4 ... @f5?
Again he should go for the draw
ing mechanism 4 ... l:tfl !? and check on the f-file.
5 a5 .!idl + 6 'it>c5 l:ral 7 'it>b5
@e5 On 7 ... .l:i.bl+ there is 8 @c6 l:tal 9 'it>b6 .!lb l+ 1 0 'it>c7 l:ta 1 1 1 .!la8
@e5 1 2 a6 'it>d5 1 3 .!ld8+ @c5! 14 .!ld6!, winning.
8 .!ih6! @d5 9 'it>b6 .!lbl+ 10 @c7 .!lcl + 1 1 @b7 l:tbl + 12 .!lb6 .l:Ihl 13 .l:i.c6 .!ih7+ 14 .!lc7 I:l.hl 15 a6 l::tbl+ 16 @c8 'it>d6 17 a7 Black resigned.
Rook l:!,'ndings 5 7
Tosic-Gyimesi Yugoslavia, 1998
l .l:Ia5?
Simply driving back the king first by 1 l:tc5+ @b2 2 l:tc8 l:!.xh4 3 'it>d2 draws.
1. .. J:ixh4 2 .l:i.a8
2 l:!.a7 is also enough for a draw.
2 . • . .l:Ib4 3 'it>dl?
The decisive mistake. 3 .!lc8+!
@b2 4 @d2! .l:Id4+ (4 ... a3 5 l:tc2+!) 5 'iite3 .!ld5 6 .l:i.b8+! saves him.
3 ... 'it>b2 4 �d8 a3 5 .!id2+ @bl and White had to resign.
Herrera-Vasquez Cuba, 1998
1..Jlal?
He can achieve a draw by any move except this, including even
1.. Jle7, but best of all is 1 .. . .!le8 ! . 2 a4 'it>f6 3 @d6, Black resigned.
58 Rook Endings
Vyzhmanavin-Lerner USSR (ch), 1 984
1 'it>d2?
There was a simple draw by 1
�b2 .l:Ig3 2 �c2 c,t>d5 3 'it>d2 .!la3 4 'it>e2 etc.
1...h2! 2 c,t>e2 l:.al ! and White resigned.
Vladimirov-Rashkovsky Chelyabinsk, 1 97 5
1 l:1c3?
Correct was 1 .llg8+ �f5 2 l:tf8+
Wg4 3 l:!.g8+ 'it>h3 4 .l:Ig5 and after the advance of the h-pawn a draw is achieved since the white king is cut off only by three files.
1 ...h4 2 .!le3??
Interestingly, this mistake is typi
cal for grandmasters. A mirror im
age of this position was encountered in the game Dvoiris-Kovalev,
Simferopol, 1988, where the same mistake was repeated! 2 .l:Ic6! 'it>g5 3 l:!'.c8 ! .l:Ih7 4 .l:Ig8+ leads to a draw.
It is nearly always necessary to at
tack the king from behind, and not in front, because in the end the king will get the better of the rook.
2 . • . l:l'.h7! 3 .l:Iel
In the above-mentioned game fol
lowed 3 l:l'.h3 'it>g5 4 �e2 'it>g4 5 .!lhl h3, winning because of the poor position of the rook.
3 • . . h3 4 .!lhl 'it>g5 5 'it>e3 'it>g4 6
@f2 If 6 1:1'.gl+ 'it>h4 7 l:1hl , then 7 ... l:1a7 followed by 8 ... .!la2, 9 ... h2 and then 10 ... 'it>h3.
6 . . • l:1f7+ 7 c,t>gl l:1a7 White
resigned.
Since after 8 .!lh2 there follows not 8 ... c,t>g3? 9 .l:Ig2+! !=, but 8 ... lial+ 9 @f2 l:tbl ! with a decisive zugzwang.
Novikov-Lalic Manila, 1992
It seems that it is not easy for Black to defend himself, but he finds his only saving resource:
1.. • .l:Ih8! 2 'it>b7 �dS 3 l:1g4 After 3 a6 �c5 4 l:tbl l:1h7 the draw is inevitable.
3 .•. 'it>cs 4 l:1g7 .l:Ih6! 5 a6 l:!'.b6+ 6 c,t>a7 .l:Ibl 7 llb7 :!al Drawn.
Kamsky-Karpov Linares, 1994
What system of defence should he choose: wait for the approach of the black king to the a4 pawn or adopt the more active method. It is clear that the second solution is more ef
fective, but it requires accurate play.
1 .l:If6+! 'it>e4 2 .!lg6! 'it>e3 3 .l:Ig4!
The main thing is to maintain con•
tact with the opponent's pawns.
3 ... a3 4 .l:Ig3+ 'it>e4 5 .l:Ib3 l:!a2+ 6 Wg3 Obviously it is better not to go to the first rank.
6 ... 'it>d4 7 �f3 l:1al 8 'iii>g2 And the opponents agreed to a draw.
Euwe-Alekhine World Championship (m), 193 7
White is i n a dilemma, whether to go forward or back, and the world
Rook Endings 59
champion does not 'go for' for the side.
1 Wf4?
Correct was I @f6, threatening a check from g4. If now l...a3, then 2 .l:Ig4+ Wd5 3 .li(g5! with a drawn pawn ending.
1. .. l:!e8! 2 'it>f3 'it>d3 3 .l:Ib2 .!if8+
Cutting off the king looks a deadly blow for White.
4 'it>g3 Wc3 5 .l:!b7 .l:Ifl 6 .l:Ib8 After 6 'it>g2 .l:Ia 1 the position is lost.
6 ... .l:Ial 7 @f3 .!lxa2 8 We3 .l:!h2 9 l:1c8+ 'iii>b2 10 .!lb8+ 'it>cl !
Clearly not 1 0 ... 'it>al ? because of 1 1 �a8 .l:Ih3+ 12 'it>d2 a3 13 Wcl with a draw.
1 1 .l:Ic8+ 'it>bl 12 .l:Ib8+ .l:Ib2 13 .!la8 .l:Ib3+ 14 'it>d4 a3 15 'it>c4 Wb2
And in this theoretical position White resigned.
Rook endings Several pawns on one flank This type of ending is met quite often in practice. With various posi
tions of the pawns on both sides in the majority of cases the weaker side should hold a draw even in those instances where his pawn structure is weakened.
Beliavsky-Spraggett Elista (ol), 1998
60 Rook Endings
1 h4?
Correct was 1 g4 hxg4 2 hxg4 and then 3 g5, shutting in the black king, whereas 1 f3 was also a possibility with the future transfer to another type of classical position, looked at in the next section.
1. .. 'it;>g7 2 1Ig5 'it>h6 3 g4
Now the plan with f3 promises less since it is not clear how Black's position can be breached if White, after an exchange on f3, puts his own pawn on e5.
3 ... hxg4 4 .l:!xg4 l:!e5 5 @fl 'it>h5 6 1If4 1Ie6 7 �e2 .l:te5 8 'it>el !
White gains a tempo-on 8 'it>d2 there is 8 ... l:rf5.
8 ... @h6! !
Black has calculated the pawn ending clearly.
9 @d2 .l:If5! 10 'it;>c3
Rather better was 1 0 .l:Ixe4 .l:Ixf2+
1 1 'it>c3, but even here there are no real chances of a win.
10 ... 1Ixf4 1 1 exf4 'it;>h5 12 'it>d4 'it;>xh4 13 'it;>xe4
On 1 3 'it>e5 correct is 1 3 ... 'it;>h3 ! .
13 • . . �g4 14 'it>e3
Clearly not 14 'it;>e5 �f3.
14 • . . �h3!!
Only this leads to a draw.
14 ... 'it;>h4? is no use due to 15 f5 ! . 15 ,'it>f3 'it;>h2! 16 'it>e3
After 16 'it>g4 'it>g2 17 �g5 there is the only move 17 ... @f3 ! !.
16 ... 'it;>g2 17 �e2 �h3 Drawn.
Bagirov-Berzinsh Riga, 1998
Black demonstrates a clear and instructive way to realise his advantage.
1. .. J:id5! 2 �f2 .l:Ig5 3 �f3 f5 An important link in the plan:
now White's pawn fortifications are quickly smashed.
4 gxf5 exf5 5 'it>f4 J:ixh5 6 1lb7 1Ig5 7 .l:Ia7 'it>h7 8 J:ib7 'it>g6 9 llb6+ 'it>f'7 10 1Ia6 g6 11 'it;>e5 J:ig3 12 .:i.a7+ �e8 13 'it;>f6 h5 14 l:!.h7
Also there is no salvation in 14 e4 fxe4 15 1Ie7+ 'it>f8 16 lhe4 g5.
14 •.. �d8 15 :Ia7 h4 16 1Ih7 h3 17 1Ia7 h2 18 1Ih7 1Ig2 19 'it>e5 g5!
20 �d6 'it>c8 White resigned.
Madsen-Hansen corr, 1 974
The position to all intents and pur
poses concurs with the previous one, and here 1 .!le4 l:tc 1 2 'it>g4 should be played. But White chooses another system of defence.
1 l:l.'.b4 J:icl 2 l:ra4 @g7 3 l:tb4 nn+ 4 'it>e3
Here already no help is 4 c;t>g4 h5 5 @h3 �el 6 l:!b5 �e4 - +.
ample the king also had the possibil
ity of attacking the h-pawn in this
He cannot allow Black the possi
bility of playing ... g6-g5.
1...l:!b8
After l ...e5 follows 2 'iS?g2 l:rc2 3 g4 J:icl 4 g5+ 'it>f5 5 l:If7+ Wg4 6 l:!f6 @xh4 7 l:Ixg6 winning.
2 'it>g2 l:tg8 3 g4 g5 4 h5
This is more accurate than 4 hxg5+ l:!xg5 5 'it>g3 e5 6 l%h6+ with some chances of victory.
4 ... l:ta8 5 �b7 .lih8 6 @fl!
Now the king can proceed to the other side.
6 ... l:!g8 7 'it>e2 .!Ia8 8 h6 .!Ial 9 h7 l:!hl 10 Wd2 @es 11 c;t>c3 nb4 12
@c4 l:!h2 13 'it>c5 �hl 14 'it>c6 'it>f6 15 l:!d7!
Making a future path for the king.
15 ... .!Ih2 16 @c7 i::!.hl 17 'it>d8
nesses in Black's pawn structure.
1. .. @g7 2 llf4 f5 3 h3 'it>g6 4 g4
62 Rook Endings
After l 1 ....!lb8 1 2 @e4 .!le8+ 1 3 'it>d4 .!ld8+, adopting a frontal at
tack, secures Black a draw.
12 1If8 .!lal 13 @e4 J:Ia4+ 14 'it>d5 l:1a5+ 15 'it>d4 .l:Ia4+ 16 @c5 .l:.a5+ 17 'it>b4 J:ia2?!
Again correct was 1 7 ... �e5 ! 18 .l:If3 .!le8 19 @c4 .!lc8+ 20 'it>d3 .!id8+ 2 1 @c3 l:tc8+ 22 'it>d2 .!ld8+
23 @el .l:.a8 24 @f2 .!la4! with a draw.
18 .!lf2 J:ic2 19 e4 @g4?!
Rather better, though already in
sufficient, was 19 ... @g6.
20 e5 'it>g5
If 20 ... @g3, then 2 1 @b3 ! l:rc8 22 .!lf5 @g4 23 e4 with a win.
21 'it>b5?
Correct is 2 1 J:ig2+! 'it>h6 22 @b5 .!lc8 23 e6 .!le8 24 @cs .!lxe6 25
@d5! with a theoretically winning position.
21. .. @g6 22 e6 J:Ic8 23 J:tf3
23 •.• @g7?
Missing the typical drawing mechanism 23 ... 24 e7 .!le8 25 l:!.e3 @f4! 26 .!le6
24 e7 .!le8 25 .l:Ie3 'it>f7 26 Wc6 .!lxe7 27 l:txe7 Wxe7 28 @d5 Black resigned.
One extreme but typical case occurred in a practical position.
Szab6-Keres Moscow, 1 956
Black has great problems and it is quite complicated to transpose into a drawn position with f and h-pawns.
1. .. h6
If 1 ...h5, then 2 g5+ @f5 3 .!lc6+, and there is no defence against 4 .l:If6.
2 J:ih7! .l:Id6 3 h5!
Possible is 3 1Ixh6 @g7 4 g5 fol
lowed by 5 f4 and h4-h5.
3 ... 4 .!lg7 'it>h4 5 .!lxg6 .l:.d2+
6 @fl 7 .:i.f6! .l:Ia2 8 @el l:th2!
9 @dl! l:tg2 10 'it>cl .!lh2 11 @bl ! The king moves further away from its opponent.
11 ... .!lg2! 12 J:ixh6 @xf3 13 l:1g6
@e4 14 h6 .l:Ih2 15 g5 @d3 16 .l:i.g7
@c3 17 h7 @b3 18 l:rb7+ Black resigned.
And here we see how difficult it is even for a class grandmaster to defend a classic position.
1 I:l.c5!
A serious mistake-correct was to attack the e3 pawn by 7 .. Jlal 8 'i¥te4 and Black's defence, with the white king on f2, is to play ... h6-h5.
This is the point of deploying the rook on the d-file. After 19 @f5 'it>f8!, according to an analysis by Kopaev, the game is drawn.
19 ... lial 20 f5?
which is in every text book. Even with a very lucky author and 12 ... J::rf3+ 13 'it>g2 .l::.a3 14 .l::.d6! a passed e-pawn it's drawn!
64 Rook Endings
Novikov-Beliavsky Graz, 1997
1...l:!c7 2 .l:Ia5 We6
He had to try the plan with the ap
proach of the king via h6.
3 .!le5+ Wf6 4 J::ra5 Wg7 5 h3 'it>h6 6 I:!'.e5 I:!'.c2+ 7 'it>g3 'it>h5 8 .!le7 h6 9 .lle5 J:ic3+ 10 Wh2 l:tcl l l g3!
After 1 1 'it>g3? J::rfl 1 2 l:ta5 there is 1 2 ... g5 ! 13 .!lxf5 e3 with a win.
Now, however, despite the 'cut-off king from the first rank, Black does not succeed in improving his position.
1 1 ... J:ic2+ 12 Wgl J::rc8 13 'it>g2 l:if8
How else to promote ... g6-g5?
14 'it>t1 g5 15 We3 g4 16 h4 J::rf6 17 'it>t1 Wg6 18 J:ie8 l:!a6 19 l:te5 h5 20 @fl 'it>f6 21 'it>t1 .l:Ia3 22 lies .:i.a5 23 'it>e2 @f7 24 l:rh8 'it>e6!?
But even the sacrifice of two pawns does not help.
25 I:!'.xh5 .l:Ia2+ 26 'it>e3 l:!a3 27 'it>t1 <tiid5 28 J:ixf5+ 'it>d4 29 .!le5 e3+ 30 <tiifl .!lal+ 31 <tiig2! l:ta2+ 32 'it>gl 'it>d3 33 f5! .:i.al+ 34 'it>g2 e2 35 f6! and it's a draw!
Rook endings of five pawns against four are a rarer formation,
and the plan of the stronger side consists of creating a passed pawn on the d-file which promises him great chances of success.
1 �al
Bagirov-Veingold Tallinn, 1 981
With the idea of defending the pawn and freeing the king.
1... 'it>g6 2 .!ifl .!la2
After 2 ... f5 3 l:!a 1 fxg4+ 4 hxg4 the e6 pawn would be too weak.
3 <tiie4 l:te2 4 We5 Wg7 5 e4!
White's plan is clear-after preparation to play d4-d5.
5 ... <tiig6 6 f'3! I:l.e3
If 6 ... Wg7, then 7 'it>d6 and d4-d5, when 6 ... l:l.'.h2 is too late because of 7 d5 exd5 8 exd5 .!lxh3 9 d6 J:ih2 I 0 l:td 1 ! .
7 d5! exd5 8 'it>d4! .!la3 9 exd5 '\t>f6 10 :!el!
Cutting off the king is more im
portant than a pawn!
10 ... .!lxO 1 1 d6 l:tt1 12 'it>c5 .!lc2+ 13 'it>b6 l;Ib2+ 14 'it>c7 J:ic2+
15 <tiid8 l:rc3 16 d7 J:ixh3 17 We8 l:td3 18 d8='*l¥ l:txd8 19 Wxd8 h3 20 J:ie2 Black resigned.
1 h3!
Ehlvest-Polugaevsky Hanninge, 1990
Preparing l:tc5-c4 and g3-g4.
1 ... f5 2 h4!
It is necessary to fix the weak
nesses and not allow ... g6-g5 and ...
h5-h4.
2 .•. @f6 3 l:ta6
Unfavourable for White is 3 e3 e5!, and the d3 pawn is weak.
3 ... f4! ? 4 @g2 .l:Ib2 5 'it>f3 fxg3 6 fxg3 J:ib3 7 lia5 lib4
Not allowing d3-d4.
8 lies e5 9 .l:Ic6+ Wg7 10 l:!c4 J:ib6 1 1 l:ta4 Wf6 12 'it>e4 'it>e6 13 e3 There is no other plan for White.
13 ... �f6 14 J:Ial lib4+ 15 'it>d5 l:!b5+ 16 @c4 lib2 17 J:ia6+ 'it>f7 18 .li(a5 J:ic2+
On 1 8 ... 'it>f6 White's plan would be 19 d4 exd4 20 exd4 l:tg2 2 1 J:ig5, and then the advance of the d-pawn.
19 'it>d5 lig2 20 lia7+ 'it>f6 21 J:Ia6+ @f7 22 'it>xe5 23 �a7+
�g8 24 d4 l:txe3+ 25 :b3 26 d5 lif3+ 27 @xg6 @rs 28 �h7! l::tf4 29 d6! 'it>e8 30 'it>xh5 lid4 31 d7+
@d8 32 .l:If7 :ds+ 33 @g6 lid6+
34 .l:If6! lidl 35 h5 Black resigned.
Rook Endings 65
Complicated Rook Endings It is interesting to see why grand
masters cannot hold slightly inferior positions in which the method of playing for a draw is well known.
Dautov-Alterman Germany, 1998
In such positions 'standing still' is not to be recommended: there are two active plans:
(a) Petrosian's plan l ...f6!? and ...
g6-g5, creating a weakness on h4;
(b) leaving the pawns alone by 1 ...l:tg2 2 'it>f4 lib2 3 a4 .l:Ib4+ 4 'it>e5 l:!b3, and White does not suc
ceed in advancing the a-pawn very far before the D and g3 pawns fall.
In the game followed:
1...lic2? 2 a4 l:ta2
After 2 ... J:ic3+ 3 'it>e4 Itc4+ 4
�d3 J:ib4 5 a5 .l:Ia4 6 f4 lia3+ 7 'it>c4 lixg3 8 lib6 lig4 9 a6 :Ixf4+
10 Wb5 .l:If5+ 1 1 'it>c6 l:!a5 12 'it>b7 White wins.
3 c;t>e4 lia3 4 a5 :Ia4+ 5 @d5
�a3 6 @c6 lic3+
If Black takes the pawn 6 ... J:ixD, then after 7 J:ib6 .l:Ixg3 8 'it>b7! .i:la3
66 Rook Endings
(8 ... g5 9 a6 .!:!'.a3 10 hxg5 +-) 9 a6 f6 10 a7 l::Ixa7 1 1 <tlxa7 g5 12 l:Ibl ! gxh4 13 Wb6 @g6 14 Wc5 <t>f5 1 5 c;i;>d4 <t>f4 16 :n + @g3 17 @e3, White wins, but also the move in the game does not save him.
7 @b7 l:!a3 8 f4 .l:tal 9 l:!.a8 @f6 10 a6 @rs 1 1 �f8 .l:tbl+ 12 @a7 f6 13 �b8 �el 14 :b3!
An important reconstruction. The rook has two defensive functions: to defend the g3 pawn and control the b-file in order to free the king.
14 ... @g4 lS <t>b6 .i:te6+ 16 'it>aS
![e7 17 .kla3!
One more function: to support the a6 pawn.
17 ... gS 18 fxgS fxgS 19 hxgS
�es+ 20 <t>b6 �xgS 21 a7 �g8 22
�c3! gg6+ 23 �b7 :g7+ 24 @b8 Black resigned.
Mikhalchishin-Eslon Kecskemet, 1983
1 ... .:.a3+?
In analogous situations where the pawn has not advanced to the fourth rank, it is correct to activate the king, but the rook gives a frontal check.
2 <t>e4 cj;e7 3 'it>dS rs 4 <t>cs h4?!
Again correct is 4 ... l:l'.a8, prepar
ing' to meet 5 'it>b4 with 5 ... �b8+. S <t>b4 l:!.e3 6 a4!
Material is nothing-activity (in view of the passed pawn) everything.
6 ... hxg3 7 hxg3 gxg3 8 aS �gl 9 l:!.a2
9 ... 1:1'.bl+?
Better at once 9 ... Wd6!, not allow
ing in the white king, while on 1 0 a6 :tb l .
1 0 <t>cs l:!.b8 1 1 a6 gS 1 2 �c6
�f6?
In such positions it is useful to prepare to push away the white king. 12 ... <t>e6 1 3 a7 :as 14 <t>b7 l:!.xa7+ 1 5. <t>xa7 'it>d5 ! with clear chances of a draw.
13 a7 l:1a8 14 @b7 nxa7 lS !Ixa7 g4 16 'it>c6 <t>es 17 @cs g3 18 'it>c4
@f4 19 @d3 Black resigned.
Keller-Mikenas corr, 1 992
Black must lose because of the weakness of the e4 pawn.
1 a6! g6
After l ...h4 2 gxh4 :!.al+ 3 'it>e2
�a2+ 4 'it>e3 .l:Ia3+ 5 'it>xe4 lhh3 6 f4! �xh4 7 .l:Ia8 .!lhl 8 l:tf8 and 9 a7 wins. In the event of passive de
fence by Black, White pushes his pawn up to a7, then the king goes to e5, the Black rook must keep watch from the a4 square. Then White plays 'it>f4 and, on ... 'it>h7, '\t>f5 with a win.
2 �a8 'bf7 3 a7 'it>g7 4 'it>el 'it>h7 S 'it>dl 'it>g7 6 @cl Wh7 7 'it>bl I:!'.a6 8 g4!
Determining the pawn formation on the flank.
8 ... hxg4 9 hxg4 @g7 10 gs 'it>h7 11 'bb2 'it>g7 12 'bb3 'it>h7 13 'it>b4 r:j;g7 14 'it>bS �a2 lS Wb6 .l:Ib2 16 'bc6 .!lc2+ 17 'bd6 .!la2 18 .!lc8!
lha7 19 .!lc7 and the pawn ending is easily won. Black resigned.
Lerner-Dorfman Tashkent, 1980
1...'it>g7?
Passive play-correct is l ...'it>e6 -or l ....:i.a2 detaining the king on f6. 2 as �a4+ 3 'bes .!la3 4 'it>e4 lfa4+?
Simpler is 4 ... @f6 ! 5 a6 'be6 giv
ing a draw.
Rook Endings 67
S 'it>dS 1Ia3 6 a6 .!lxf3?
This is a decisive mistake-after 6 ... 'it>f6 7 'bc6 .l:Ixf3 8 1Ib8 .!la3 9
�b6+ 'it>f5 1 0 @b7 @g4 1 1 a7 .!lxa7 12 'it>xa7 'it>xg3 13 .!lb4 f6! there is an easy draw by ... g6-g5.
7 �b8 �a3 8 .l:Ib6 .!lxg3 9 'it>c6 .l:Ia3 10 Wb7 gS 1 1 hxgS h4 12 a7 h3 13 a8='i' .l:!xa8 14 'it>xa8 h2 lS .l:Ih6 f6 16 .l:!xh2 fxgS 17 .!lt1! !
We advise paying attention to this move.
Now the white king avoids being shouldered away and hurries over to the opponent's pawn, therefore Black resigned.
Konopka-Shcherbakov Pardubice, 1 996
This position resembles the previ
ous one, but there are a number of important differences. Black has a
68 Rook Endings
doubled pawn, and the greater num
ber of pawns creates more prerequi
sites for a White victory.
1...f5
Worthy of attention is 1 ... e4!?, for the present maintaining the pawn on fl so as to defend the king against checks from the flank.
2 .l:Ib8 e4 3 h3 h5 4 h4 J::rbl+ 5 'it>xe6 .:.b5 31 .l:Id8 Black resigned.
Andersson-Hubner lixf6 Wg7 13 .l:Ie6 .l:Ia4 14 'it>g3 lib4 15 h4 gxh4+ 16 'it>xh4 l:ta4 17 Wg3 .l:Ib4 18 .l:Ie5 'it>g6 19 llf5
With the idea of llf5-f4, f2-f3.
19 ... .l:IbS 20 'it>f4 .l:Ie8 21 lie5!
.l:Ixe5 22 'it>xe5 <;tig5 23 Wxe4 c;tixg4 24 'it>d3! Black resigned.
1 a7 sacrifice the f2 pawn.
1. .. c;tie5 for the king to approach.
6 @d2 .!ia2+
A move such as 6 ... We7 can al
ways be made.
7 @c3 .!la3 8 Wc4 llaS 9 'it>b4 .U,a2 10 @cs J::ral 1 1 Wc6
No use is 1 1 l:th8 .iha7 12 l:txh6+
@g7 13 fxg5 .lla5.
11.. . .!la2 12 @cs J:Ia6 13 'it>d4 lla4+ 14 @d3 .!la3+ lS We2 l:taS?
Completely losing his sense of danger-why not 1 5 ... 'it>g7?
16 �h8! l:txa7 17 l:!.xh6+ 'it>g7 18 fxgS k.i.a3 19 'it>f3 .llaS 20 h4 I:i:bS 21 ltf6 Black resigned.
Y ermolinsky-Seirawan USA, 1 997
1.. . .!lxa2?
Black does not suspect any danger associated with the the white pawn on h5. Therefore correct is l ...f4!.
2 f4! d4
The other chance is to hide on h7 and wait with 2 ... 'it>h7 3 @fl . But then the white king enters the game via bl, attacks the d5 pawn and as a result of zugzwang captures the d5 and f5 pawns.
3 @fl d3 4 'it>el ! @rs
Losing is 4 ... l:txg2 5 l:l'.d7 .!la2 6 a7 @h7 7 'it>dl, and the white king captures the f5 pawn, and then goes to b8.
S .!la8+! 'it>e7 6 a7 @f7 7 'it>dl lla4
Rook Endings 69
In the game after 7 ... g6? 8 l:th8 Black resigned.
8 @d2 .!la3 9 i;t>e3 .!IaS 10 @xd3 :Ia4 11 Wc3 .!lal 12 'it>c4 .!Ia2 13 'it>cS J:ial 14 'it>c6 .!Icl + lS 'it>d6
Preparing to meet @es with the move .!la5, but now he threatens to tranpose to a pawn ending.
lS ... J:ial 16 .!lc8! .!Ia6+ 17 .llc6 .!lxa7 18 J:ic7+ J:Ixc7 19 Wxc7
Note an important fine point-the tempo g2-g3 is decisive. With the pawn on g3 it would be a draw.
19 ... @e7 20 i;t>c6 'it>e6 21 @cS!
Destroying the opposition.
21...'it>f6 22 @dS g6 23 hxg6
@xg6 24 'it>e6, winning. But with the pawn on g3, 24 ... 'it>hS 25 'it>xf5 is stalemate.
Vujala-Smith corr, 1993
70 Rook Endings
1 g4!
Fixing the opponent's weak
nesses.
1. .. h6 2 'it>g2 .l:Ia3 3 h4 i;t>f6 4 h5!
<ttg7
Underlining White's advantage.
4 ... 'it>e6 5 leads to victory for White.
9 J:id8! !ta4
It is too late for 9 ... h5 10 gxh5+
i;t>xh5 because of 1 1 l:th8+ <ttg6 12 l:tg8+ followed by J::rg4.
10 l:tg8+! <ttf7 1 1 .l:Ia8 �al 12 f4
The sealed move. It is easy to cal
culate that on l ... l:!.xb5 Black does move-and consequently a draw
by 8 ... l:1a8. But White plays the <ttf4-Black does not stand his ground.
5 fxg4 fxg4 6 l:tb4 J:if8+ 7 i;t>e2 J:ie8+
In the variation 7 ... @c5 8 .l:Ixg4
<ttxb5 there is 9 J:if4 ! J:ie8+ 1 0 <ttf3 'it>c5 1 1 g4 J:ig8 12 l:tf6.
8 <ttf2 l:tf8+ 9 <tte2 J::l.e8+ 10 <ttd3
<ttc5 1 1 �e4 J:id8+ 12 <tte3 <ttxb5 13 .l:Ixg4 i;t>cs 14 z:!'.g6 <ttd5 15 <ttf4
�f8 16 @g4 �e4 17 l:1e6+ @dS 1 8 lth6! with an advantage that is quite easy to realise.
Guseinov-Beliavsky Pula, 1 997
White has a weakness on c4, but this is small and Black needs to create another.
t. .. hS! 2 Wf4
After 2 gxh5 .!lxh5 3 @g3 .!lc5 4 l!c3 follows 4 ... 'itd7! with the threat ... @c7 and ... d5.
2 ... gS+! 3 'itt3 h4
Now there is a weakness on h3.
4 l:rdl
Preventing .!le6-el and hi.
4 ... l:IcS 5 :!:!'.el+ ctid7 6 �e4 I:!'.eS!
7 bi.d4 'itc6
Now the king is included in the attack on the weak c4 pawn.
8 .l:Id3 WcS 9 J::rdl f6! 10 J:id2 bi.e6 11 J::rc2 ctid4 12 :!:!'.cl I:!'.e3+ 13
\tg2 .l:r.g3+ 14 Wh2 .llc3+ 15 J::rdl +
�d3 16 .l:Icl :n 17 l:l.'.dl+ @cs 18 l:rcl .!lf2+ 19 'itgl I:!'.f4 White resigned.
Mikhalchishin-Khmelnitsky
Mikhalchishin-Khmelnitsky