CAPÍTULO 1. FORMAS DE BUQUES DE ALTA VELOCIDAD
3. EMBARCACIONES MONOCASCO DE ALTA VELOCIDAD
3.3. Formas del casco
3.3.1. Secciones transversales
As a quick revision of what we have covered so far regarding such pawns, observe in the following instructive game the typical errors and misun
derstandings that can occur:
D. Wilson - Sinden Kent Schools League 1996
The win should be fairly straight
forward for White. He has an extra pawn and should obtain a passed one by moving his king over to c3 and then playing a2-a3 and b3-b4. Once the passed pawn has been created, then it can ultimately be used as a decoy while the white king wanders over to the kingside in the quest for black pawns. In other words the last
stage of the winning plan should in
volve White demonstrating his two pawns vs no pawns technique on the kingside. However, these players have
a slightly different outlook ! 35 a2-a4??
Worthy of a ' ?? ' as other than 35 b3-b4 ?? this is the worst move on the board ! With both the a5- and the c5-pawns controlling the b4-square, this was not what the Doctor had or
dered ! Although after this White can still obtain a passed pawn with the b3-b4 break, this will now obviously entail giving Black a dangerous passed pawn of his own. Assuming Black would be wise enough to cap
ture with the c-rather than the a
pawn, such a strategy could only be advised if the black king were on the h-file, with the white king no further to the right than the e-file (i.e. out or in of their relevant 'squares' ).
35 �f8-e7
36 �gl-f2 �e7-e6 37 �f2-e2
Since 35 a2-a4, both sides have done as they are supposed to (i.e.
centralised their kings) - until this move, that is ! Afterwards White ex
plained that this is a subtlety as if now 37 .. . �e6-e5 White has 38 �e2-e3 with the 'opposition' . This state
ment is true, although its relevance is
46 The Soldiers
hardly great since Black's king could also hover around his third rank with the same idea in mind.
37 ... �e6-d6
38 �e2-d3 �d6-c6?
Committing what should be a de
cisive error. One can only wonder about the intentions Black had for his king on the queenside when clearly 38 . . . �d6-e5 would be more to the point. Then, assuming there are no more critical errors, a draw would be the most likely result.
As you may recall, earlier I em
phasised the point that being a pawn up (with several pawns around) should be enough to win. Unfortunately for White, from the starting position the blunder 35 a2-a4 drastically reduced the significance of the extra b-pawn.
39 'ili>d3-c3?
Not to be outdone, White follows suit ! Winning is 39 'iti?d3-e4 'iti?c6-d6 40 �e4-f5 �d6-e7 (intending to de
fend the g7-pawn) 4 1 �f5-e5, be
cause the c5-pawn will soon leave the board.
39 •.• �c6-b6?
Incredible ! Black could have re
deemed himself with 39 . . . �c6-d6 but instead allows White to scramble his king back to e4. This invitation is not taken up as White discovers an
other amazing idea!
40 b3-b4?? (D)
White's justification was that 'he wasn't getting anywhere' . Other than the fact that he could have won with 40 �c3-d3 (followed by 41 �d3-e4 ), even doing nothing would result in a
draw. The text makes progress, but only for Black!
40 aSxb4+
Black effectively sticks to the principle we are taught about recap
turing with pawns towards the cen
tre. If we assume for the time being that the more outside the pawn the better (in the endgame), then clearly this rule should be challenged.
I guess the point is that in the opening we generally put our pawns in the middle. The logic behind this is to push our opponents back, as well as to allow ourselves freer de
velopment. By transferring more pawns to the centre this also allows us to command more space through
out the middlegame.
In the latter stages of a game, with fewer pieces on the board, space is in abundance everywhere and passed pawns are more of a threat. We have seen how, in king and pawn end
games, a passed pawn is stronger the nearer it is to the edge of the board (although with a bare king and pawn,
it is not possible to win using the op
position technique with a rook's pawn, with other pawns on, it pro
vides an excellent decoy). Similarly in minor-piece endgames, such pawns are also especially dangerous (re
member how effectively a knight is taken out of the game when forced to the side).
With outside pawns in mind, coming up soon are queen and rook endings, but returning to our game I would say that 40 ... c5xb4+ would be better. The simple reason for this is that the passed pawn with which White would be left is on the c-file, rather than the less central a-file. We are about to see why 'supported passed' pawns are so good - firstly, such a pawn is supported, and sec
ondly it is passed, as you might guess ! After 40 .. . c5xb4+, as in the game continuation, the b-pawn is ex
cellent, only with this move instead, Black has access to the c5-square for his king. Black will win quite easily because an unstoppable winning game plan is:
a) Trade the b-pawn for White's c-pawn in such a way that:
b) Black can squeeze the white king away from protecting his a
pawn.
c) Capture the white a-pawn and then use it as a decoy to gain time to approach and capture White's king
side pawns.
Therefore play might go 4 1 'it>c3-d4 �b6-c6 42 c4-c5 b4-b3 43 �'it>c3-d4- �d4-c3 �c6xc5 44 ��d4-c3xb3 'it>c5-d4 45
The Soldiers 47
�b3-b2 (kingside pawn moves are to no avail; Black could match them with his own pawns or oscillate his king between d4 and d3, waiting for White to run out of moves) 45 ... �d4-c4 46 �b2-a3 ��d4-c4-c3 47 �a3-a2
�c3-b4 48 �a2-b2 �b4xa4. In other words, all according to plan!
41 'it>c3-b3
Assuming there are no awful mis
takes, White now has no hope of winning . He cannot capture the b
pawn while it is supported by the pawn on c5 and he cannot attack the c5-pawn because his king must stay within the square of the troublesome b4-pawn.
Many simplistically assume this sort of position to be drawn. With 40 .. . a5xb4, Black has made things more difficult for himself, but never
theless the power of the supported passed pawn reigns supreme.
41 . . . �b6-a5?
This hardly looks like a bad move, but it serves to highlight how com
plicated things can be in what appear to be simple positions.
Instead Black could have won with 41 . . . 'it>b6-a6 ! . Ideally he wants to play . . . �(a6 or b6)-a5 when the white king will ultimately have to re
treat from b3 (where it needs to be in order to protect the a-pawn). With this in mind, if there were no king
side pawns present, 4 1 . . .'it>b6-a5 would be the correct continuation, but as it is we must take into consid
eration the waiting moves available on the other flank.
48 The Soldiers
For example, after 4 1 ... 'iti>b6-a6 ! 4 2
�b3-b2 �a6-a5 43 'iti>b2-b3 h6-h5 ! White will run out of pawn moves first (e.g. 44 h2-h3 g7-g5 45 h3-h4 g5-g4).
42 h2-h4?
White blows his chance now as he bows out with a whimper, inviting Black to run him out of moves . The saving line was 42 g3-g4 !. Then after both continuations 42 . . . g7-g5 43 h2-h3 and 42 .. . g7-g6 43 h2-h4 ! h6-h5 44 g4-g5 , it is the black king that is forced to give way.
So in either of the above vari
ations White holds the draw with a little bit of care. Obviously he should move to and fro between a2 and b2, his king only advancing to b3 in the event of ... �(a6 or b6)-a5 .
We can now see why 40 .. . c5xb4+
was superior to 40 .. . a5xb4+. Unable to make progress by attacking the a4-pawn, Black would like to change tack and turn his attention to the c4-pawn. Indeed with the black king on d4, this pawn could be in trouble.
However this is not an option here because, although the king would be in the ' square ' , the two c-pawns ob
struct his clear path back.
Regarding the latter I should make one final important point. White must not advance his a-pawn unless it is destined for a successful promo
tion, since it cannot be safely pro
tected once it passes a5 (even on a5 it is weak, for putting the king on a4 would fall foul of a simple 'triangu
lation' - the black king using a6, a7
and b7, while White's only has a4 and b3).
42 ... h7-h5! (D)
White's mistake on move 42, cou
pled with this punishing reply, leave the first player having to move when obviously he would rather not. An
other case of 'zugzwang' (note how - although here it is not going to be needed - Black has available another waiting move in . . . g7-g6).
43 'iti>b3-b2 �a5xa4 44 'it;b2-bl 'itta4-b3
0-1
Well - a little bit later anyway.
After a loss of mine vs Grandmas
ter Keith Arkell was published in Piece Power (a book in this series by GM Peter Wells), I felt that somehow I would have to seek retribution. No doubt I will get my own back on Pe
ter some other time, but here and now a marvellous opportunity presents it
self. First the following encounter il
lustrates the joys of having an (extra) outside passed pawn and, secondly (of course), revenge is sweet!
Ward - Arkell British Championship 1995 With White to play, everything in the position seems to be in my fa
vour. I have a passed pawn with a rook behind it (putting rooks behind passed pawns not only applies to stopping those of your opponent, but also to helping your own), and the pawn is far from the black knight (and king). Also the white bishop sits pretty on g2, from where it not only covers the a-pawn' s queening square, but controls other useful squares too, thus limiting the move
ment of the enemy (in this case Keith's) pieces.
I suppose I should have played the simple 30 a4-a5 . It is worth noting that even if Black could reach some
thing like the following diagram, then he would still lose rather easily.
Even though 1 i.g2xa8 l::rf8xa8 leaves the black rook hopelessly pas
sive, more precise is 1 .i::tal-bl with the intention of l:.bl -b8. This is an idea (i.e. using the pawn to protect
The Soldiers 49
the rook) which is worth remember
ing since it is often the best way to deal with defending rooks. Used here, Black will be lucky if he can even get the pawn for his knight.
Returning to the game, I was rather short of time so I avoided any of the complications that might have resulted from 30 a4-a5 ttlf6-g4 or 30 .. . l:.f8-b8 (intending . . . l:.b2-bl + ).
This seems like a poor excuse but, in my defence, I was 1 00% sure that I was winning with the text.
30 .i::teS-bS l:tb2xb5 31 a4xb5 ttlf6-d7 32 l:.al-a8
I have, needless to say, adhered to the principle of exchanging pieces when a pawn up, although I cannot deny that the rook could also have been used to trouble the knight.
32 ... l:.f8xa8 33 i.g2xa8
Later I was amazed to find out that the commentary team had informed the audience that I had 'blown it' by not going it alone with the a-pawn.
Now, apparently, it was 'not so
50 The Soldiers
clear' . However, after the game Keith (himself renowned for his end
game prowess) agreed with me that Black is definitely losing here.
A misleading factor is that the b
pawn is halted on a square that can never be controlled by the light
squared bishop. Does this mean that Black can simply remove his king
side pawns from the evil grasp of this same bishop while simultaneously keeping the white king out with his own? The answer is a categorical 'NO' ! (but Black does try).
33 ... �h8-g7
34 f2-f4
This lets the king out and assumes some control of the dark squares.
Throughout a game it is usually a good idea to move pawns onto the opposite colour of a friendly bishop.
This way they complement each other rather than the bishop being obstructed. This game is no excep-ti on.
34
35 �gl-f2 36 �f2-e3 37 �e3-d4 38 .ta8-d5 39 .td5-t7 40 �d4-e4
�g7-f6
h7-h6
�e6-d6 t7-f6 g6-g5 (D)
The bishop is unable to capture any of Black's pawns, but it covers some important squares and the route is now clear for the white king.
40 ... 'it>d6-e7 41 .tt7-a2
Out of sight, but not out of mind ! Black no doubt expects a 'iite4-f5-g6
infiltration. However he cannot put his king on g7 as perhaps he would like since this would allow the white king to change direction and head for the queenside. The black king on g7 would then be too far away from White's kingside pawns for him to be able to sacrifice his knight for the b-pawn. Besides, the latter is not an option as the active bishop suggests an 'encirclement' is more likely, and the pawn will safely turn into a queen.
41 42 43
�e7-d6
�e4-f5 cltd6-c5 .ta2-t7 (D)
A neat although undoubtedly un
necessary trick. 43 . . . 'ifi>c5xb5 is not playable on account of the reply 44 .tt7-e8.
43 44 g3xf4 45 .tt7-e8
g5xf4 ti.Jd7-b6
For the sake of simplicity the out
side pawn is preserved in favour of taking the f-pawn.
45
46 .te8-c6 47 �f5-g6
ti.Jb6-d5 ti.Jd5-e3+
It is the h-pawn which I had my heart set on and, anyway, 47 'ifi>f5xf6 allows 47 . . . ti.Je3-g4+.
47 ti.Je3-g4
48 h2-h3 ti.Jg4-f2 49 h3-h4 1-0
The black pawns are soon to fall, e.g. 49 .. . ti.Jf2-g4 50 .tc6-d7 or 50 'itg6-h5/f5 .
Moving ahead a little (ahead of the lecture which will soon follow on rook and pawn endings), the position below is a 'theoretical draw' .
The Soldiers 51
I guess the word 'theoretical' -which often seems to be associated with endgame summaries - suggests 'with best play ' .
Here the white rook i s superbly placed in contrast to Black's, which cannot move without losing the a
pawn. This is a tremendous example of how effective rooks are at restrain
ing passed pawns. Here the fact that it is an outside pawn means that the black king has further to go to offer support (here such a plan would be unsuccessful).
The white king can do precious little to interfere as bringing the king to e3 or d3 allows . . . :al-e l ( or d l )+
and ... a2-al 'ii', while the d2-square is no better in view of ... :al -fl with a skewer in mind after l:.a7xa2.
However the white king can just sit tight, allowing his capable rook to do all the work. No matter how far out the black king ventures, :a7xf7 will never be possible since the black rook then moves to facilitate . . . a2-al 'ii'. Nevertheless, as soon as the black king gets down to b3 (freeing the rook), White can just check him away and then return to the a-file (again tying down the rook).
Queens are obviously different because they are able to move diago
nally and consequently would not become stuck in front of a passed pawn in this same manner. In the next game Black misses a clear way to simplify. Despite this, an extra pawn is retained and some interest
ing points, both old and new, feature.
52 The Soldiers
Westerinen - Ward Gausdal Troll Masters 1 995 Q. As Black to play (and again a little short of time), what is the sensi
ble continuation that I should have found?
A. Here we see that White has what is commonly recognised as 'the most deadly attacking force' - a queen paired with a knight. Not great at halting outside passed pawns (any combination which includes a knight will not be), but often good at deliv
ering checkmate ! I am not saying that Black is in serious danger in this respect, although the most logical move to kill off the game would be 40 ... .id4-e3!, when after the knight moves Black can follow up with 4 1 . . .'i'c6-c l , forcing an exchange of queens. In the resulting ending the a-pawn would pose insurmountable problems in an even more blatant fashion than we saw in the previous game.
However this simple solution was not used.
40 ... t7-f6
This is not such a bad move, of which the intention is clear. Black wants the white knight chased away in order to reduce any potential mat
ing threats.
41 'ii'fl-dl
White decides that withdrawing the knight to a significantly less threatening square would be too gen
erous a concession at this particular juncture, electing instead to gain a
tempo.
We have seen before (and will again) just how good bishops are when there are pawns on both sides of the board. Coming back to the point that queen and knight form a particularly aggressive partnership, it would not be a surprise to see Black (unable to exchange queens) trading off minor pieces. Indeed, doing so now with 4 1 . . .f6xg5 42 ii'd l xd4 'i!Vc6xf3+ would even mean netting an extra pawn. However, the a-pawn is sufficient (a simple battle of this pawn and queen vs queen would result in a promotion) and the only difficulty Black might experi
ence is finding a balance between supporting this pawn while simulta
neously guarding against a perpetual check (White's best chance).
The conclusion is that damaging the kingside pawns (as 41 .. .f6xg5 would do) merely removes essential cover from Black's king.
41 ... .id4-b6 Careful to prevent 42 °ii'd l -d8+.
The alternative 4 l . . .e6-e5 weakens
Black on the light squares and on the a2-g8 diagonal.
42 ti:Jg5-e4 a7-a5 43 �hl-g2
Notice that the white king is not in as much danger from a queen and bishop combination. Remember also that White is happy with a draw and consequently must avoid only check
ing sequences which force an ex Central domination with the queen is nearly always a good idea. The queen commands in the middle of the board and is able to reach any sector very quickly.
46 'i'd3-a6 'i'd5-d2+
Content with the safety of his own king, Black is now happy to trade minor pieces. Black only allowed the knight back to g5 because he had this sequence in mind.
47 cJtgl-h3 'i!Vd2xg5 48 'i'a6xb6 (D)
The Soldiers 53
48 ... 'i\Vg5-h6+
Black has no desire to lose the e
pawn as it provides extra cover for his king. Although the queen now stands on a less influential square there will be no problem relocating later thanks to the possibility of a The first stage is now completed.
Everything is protected and Black's next task is to facilitate the further advance of the a-pawn to its ultimate destiny !
52 'ii'h3-a4 -Ji>g8-t7 Freeing the queen from the de
fence of the e6-pawn.
53 'i\Va4-a8
The white queen continues to monitor the a-pawn, but is forced to take up position on the edge of the board due to the aforementioned central dominance of Black's queen.
53 .•. 'i'd6-d3!
Black allows White a spite check, for now it is the white king which could soon be in trouble. Bringing the king back to the safety of g2 only serves to present Black with checks which help the final advance the a
pawn.
54 'i'a8-a7+ 'it>t7-f6 55 'i!Va7-a8
Preparing a more awkward check, but overlooking where the action is really at !
55 ... 'i'd3-fl+
0-1
54 The Soldiers
After 56 �h3-h4 g7-g5+ 57 �h4-h5 'iVfl -h3+ it is mate !