CAPÍTULO 2. GENERACIÓN DE FORMAS
8. TÉCNICAS NUMÉRICAS EMPLEADAS EN CFD
Have no fear, I am not about to tell the famous story of how a competi
tor was ejected from the British La
dies Championship after it was discovered that the player was in fact a man in 'drag ' . But I would like to add a few words about our prized possessions. Many believe that an endgame is not really an endgame if queens are involved and, even if it is, the outcome is bound to be a draw because there is no doubt that a per
petual check should figure some
where !
These people are wrong. Queens can be involved in endings and a suc
cessful pawn promotion does not mean a return to the middlegame ! Obviously on a fairly open board with exposed kings and queens around, there is a lot of scope for checking.
But this does not necessarily mean that the king should be kept safely tucked away. Indeed if it is just an enemy queen to deal with, often the king can venture out without any fear of being caught. Pawns usually provide some sort of shelter, and it is often difficult for a queen to keep
checking while guarding its own pawns. This is why the king can do a raid on some enemy pawns and then return to safety when the mission is completed.
In the following recent encounter the exploratory king finds a nice ha
ven:
B
Sherzer -I.Almasi Hungary 1995 1 ... 'iVd4-gl+
2 �g3-f3
The only move, as the alternative 2 �g3-h3 runs into 2 . . . g5-g4+ 3
�h3-h4 °ligl -h2#.
2 g5-g4+
3 �f3-e2 'ir'gl-g2+
4 'iii>e2-el 'ilfg2-e4+
Throughout this game Black ap
pears to enjoy toying with his oppo
nent. Careless is 4 .. . °lig2xa2 because this leaves the queen offside, and consequently after 5 °lig8-d5+ it is difficult for Black to avoid perpetual check.
5 �el·f2 ..We4-f3+
All the King 's Men 109
6 �f2-gl 'iVf3-g3+
Initiating a little repetition, just to show who is in command.
7 �gl-fl 'ir'g3-f3+
8 'it>fl-gl g4-g3 With this move the white king is very boxed in and mate is threatened.
However, Black must be careful, for if White had no pawns a kamikaze queen sacrifice would lead to stale-mate.
9 �g8-c8+ �f5-e4 10 ..Wc8-e6+ �e4-d3 11 ..We6-c4+ �d3-d2 12 �c4-d4+ �d2-c2 13 'iVd4-c5+ �c2-b2 14 'iWc5-e5+ 'iVf3-c3 Here 14 ... 'it>b2-bl would also have been fine, but not 1 4 .. . 'iii>b2xa2? 1 5 'iie5-b2+ ! 'it;a2xb2 stalemate.
15 'ir'e5-e2+ �b2-a3 Now Black's king is no longer in the firing line. Obviously White can
not allow a queen trade, so this rules out 16 �gl-g2 'lic3-b2.
16 ..We2-e6 'ir'c3-al+
17 �gl-g2 'iialxa2+
18 'it>g2-h3
1 8 'iii>g2xg3 'ii'a2xb3+ wins for Black. After the text it is also possi
ble to take the b-pawn.
18 'iia2-h2+
19 �h3-g4 g3-g2 20 �g4-f3
I am not sure why White is play-ing on. Now Black makes a joke.
20 g2-glliJ+
21 'iti>f3-e4 'ii'h2-e2+
22 �e4-f5 'iie2xe6+
0-1
110 All the King 's Men
The trouble with queen endings is that a lot of patience is required and they are notorious for going well be
yond 1 00 moves ! When hardly any
thing remains on the board it is often necessary to use to your advantage the position of your opponent's king, and on this note I would like to pro
vide an important and highly instruc
tive example.
White needs only to advance his extra pawn one more square. Although Black has no more checks at the mo
ment since these allow a promotion, the onus is now on White to make the final progression. Impatient attempts to unpin the pawn merely result in more checks or pins elsewhere. In
stead White needs a long-term plan, and he has an appropriate one in mind.
1 'ii'g6-g3 'iii>a2-al 2 �g8-g7 'ii'd5-d4+
3 'iii>g7-h7 'ii'd4-e4+
4 'iii>h7-h6 'ii'e4-e6+
5 �h6-g7 'ii'e6-d7 After a little bit of manoeuvring, White's strategy can be revealed. He
intends to bring his king back along the g-file so that the black queen will no longer be able to pin the pawn.
Although his king can expect many checks, his plan is to be able to meet a check with a check. It is a brilliant concept which needs a little prepara
tion.
6 1i'g3-gl+
7 'iigl-f2+
�al-b2 'iii>b2-al Black's own king cannot assist in halting White's pawn so it stays out of the way in the corner, though White intends to use its exposure wherever it is. If the black king goes to the third rank, for example 7 .. . �b2-a3 , then White reacts by retreat his king to g2. Then any black queen check is met by a check on the third rank.
8 'ii'f2-fl+ 'it>al-b2 9 �g7-h6 'ii'd7-e6+
10 �h6-g5 'ii'e6-d5+
11 �g5-g4 'ii'd5-e4+
12 �g4-g3 ii'e4-g6+
13 �g3-h2 '1Wg6-h6+
14 �h2-gl (D)
The ingenious strategy is very close to completion. Note how any check allows White to block with a check of his own. Consequently, with f7-f8'ir' still threatened, Black resorts to blockading - usually a sign that the game can no longer be held.
14 'ir'h6-f8
15 'ii'fl -f6+ rJi>b2-a3 16 �gl-fl!
A final precautionary measure.
White intends to get his queen to either e8 or g8, but he does not want the black queen to deliver a check.
16 ... �a3-b4
Black can retrieve his queen from f8, but with two white queens on the board, he can but dream of a perpet
ual check.