Botvinnik on the Endgame

MIKHAIL BOTVINNIK

Translated by Jim Marfia

1985
Coraopolis, Pennsylvania
Chess Enterprises
© Copyright 1 9 8 5 by Chess Enterprises

ISBN 0-93 1 462-43-6

Editor: B . G. Dudley

Translated from an original manuscript

Cover Design: E . F.Witalis, Jr.

Witalis-Bu rke Associates
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Typeset by: G M Editions

London, England
Contents

Foreword 5
1 Decades in Search of the Truth 7
2 Guilty Without Cause 10
3 An Exchange up, but a King down 13
4 Pieces on a Swing 16
5 Strength in Simplicity 19
6 When the King's in the Net 22
7 Two Zugzwangs in a Single Ending 24
8 Even Piece-Down Endings May Be Saved 27
9 A Classic Zugzwang Position 29
10 Mate in Midboard 32
11 No Rule Without Excepdon 35
12 How Endgame Theory is Made 37
13 Caissa Rewards Effort 40
14 What We Call "Trousers" 44
15 Sometimes Even Rook Endings May Be Won 47
16 Queen and Knight Work Miracles 50
17 The Birth of a Plan 53
18 Stalemate - the Seed of Salvation 57
19 The Encircled King 60
20 Riddles in the Game and Analysis 62
21 The Subtleties of a Simple Endgame 67
22 The Trapped Queen 69
23 Paul Keres' Study 71
24 A Resourceful King 74
25 Final Victory 78
Foreword

The present collection consists of 25 endgames; what makes this

collection outstanding is that not one of these endga mes is like another.
Although I have been a specialist of some renown in this particular genre
of the art of chess, I never attained complete mastery of the technique of
the endgame. As in the other p hases of the game as well, I tried always to
get to the 'heart' of a position . That's probably why these examples a re
so varied . . .
Since they are so va ried, it's hard to use this collection for the
enlargement of endgame theory. There is one example which
undoubtedly deserves a place in the textbook , and that is the queen
ending of the game with Minev.
After studying this collection, the reader may come to understand why
t he re are many grand masters who are not so strong in this phase of the
game (of course , this observation certainly doesn't apply to such
champions as Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine , Eu we and Smyslov). Here
one needs great accuracy in calculating long va riations, as wel l as fa ntasy
and independent positional judgment. But most of all, the master in the
endga me must feel like a miner - he has no room for error; in the
midd lega me, on the contra ry, there are many more opportunities to
rectify one's inaccuracies.
How the chessplayer enlarges his store of e xperience is something no
one knows for certain . Nevertheless, one may hope that, having fully
analyzed t hese endga mcs, the reader will not merely obtain pleasure
from the beauty of the chess play, but perhaps will not play any weaker in
the endgame hi mself.
M . Botvinnik
Moscow, September 1 98 2
1 Decades in Search of the Truth
Occasionally the secrets of some
positions a re not revealed u ntil
many years after the game is
played . And someti mes the search
goes on . . . Going back to the
archives sometimes leads to dis­
wve ries; sometimes t he results are
unexpected.
That' s what happened with the
ending of what was probably the
first very i m portant ga me of my
life . This (see diagram 1) was
played in the Leningrad Cham­
pionship Semi-final of 1 926. Only
the winner of this tournam ent
would advance to the Fi nal. Prior
10 this ga me my opponent , one of
the city's strongest first-category
players, had won all his other
games, while I had drawn one.
Shebarshin
Botvinnik
The remammg participants, of
course, trailed far behind the two
of us. Thus in order to reach the
Fi nal it was absolutely necessary
for me to win t his endgame.
73 l'ic7+
73 l'Ia8 would lead to nothing,
of course, afte r 73 . . . *b5 74 a7
*b6.
73 *b5
My opponent i nstinctively heads
towards the passed pawn with his
king, intending to restrict the
White king with his rook. However,
with this continuation I succeed in
exchanging my passed pawn for
both of my oppon-:nt's pawns.
This gives me a thecretically won
position with the g-pawn, since
the Black k i ng is u nable to prevent
its advance.
What I would have done in the
event of 7 3 . . . c;!;>d4, I do not know,
since I was unable to find a winning
co ntinuation. Indeed, the Black
king prevents its opposite number
from breaking in, while marching
the White king i nto the queen's
wing appears to lead to the loss of
both g-pawns.
This is what I had calculated:
74 a 7 ll a6 75 *d2 �e4 76 *c3
*f3 77 �b4 (see diagram 2).
8 Decades in Search of the Truth
2 76 ct>c3, can prevent the incuri:.ion
B of Black' s king by 7 6 lU7!. After
Analysis
And now Blac k plays n ei t h er
77 'it>xg4 7 8 'it>b5 Jita l 79 Jit c4+
..•
and 80 Jit a4, nor 77 . ..c;t>xg3 78
Jitc3+ ct>xg4 79 Jita3 lha7 80
Jitxa7 'it>f3 (80 . . . h5 81 'it>c4 h4 82
�3 h3 83 �2 h2 84 llh7 'i!;>g3
85 ct> f l ) 81 'i!;>c3 g4 82 'it>d2 g3 83
*e l g2 84 J:a3+, which would
wi n for White, but instead the
clev er continuation 77 ...'it>g2!
(and on 78 llc2+, 78 . . . 'it>h3!), in
orde r to give up his rook for the
a-pawn only after White's king
has b een draw n still farther from
the first ran k . For example, 78
'it>b5 Il a I 7 9 'i!;>b6 'i!;>xg3 80 llc8
'it>xg4 81 a8W J:lxa8 82 J:xa8 h 5
83 'i!;>c5 h4 8 4 'i!;>d4 h3 8 5 'it>e3 h2
86 Ilh8 'i!;>g3 and draws. Or i f 80
lik4, t h en 80 ... 'it>h4 81 'i!;>b 7 h5
and White still cannot win.
And now for t h e misappreh en­
sion that p ersisted for d ecades:
more recent examination o f this
gam e discloses that 73 ... 'it>d4 also
loses, since after 74 a7 Ila6 75 *d2
'it>e4 White, instead of the h asty
this Blac k can only play 76 . . . �d4
77 ct>c2 ct>c4, but now after 78
J:c7+ ct>d4 79 'i!;>b3 ct>e4 80 Jitf7!
White wins by supporting th e
a-paw n with his king.
And now, back to the g am e (see
diagram 3).
.J
w
74 a7 Ua6
Here the game was adjou rned
for the second time. and my pal
Seryozha Kaminer (who later
beca me known as a study co m ­
poser), who was older than I and
knew a lot aboul endgame theory,
quick ly ex p la ined 10 m e ho w we
would reach a won endgame .
H owever, my opponent was still
counting on m y inexperience; by
means of a t h ir d party he offered
me a d r aw expla ining t h a t he was
,
convinced that we would both be
admitted to the Final if we were
both to com pl e te the tourn am ent
 Decades in Search of the Truth 9

without a loss. But after Seryozha's endgames was to be explained

explanat ions I could see that I some years later by N . D .Grigoriev.
would be the only one admitted ! The rest m;eds no further comment.
7S c;!;if3 lla4 78 lilg7
76 lilh7 �cS 79 �eS lig8
77 lilxh6 lixa7 80 lile6 lilf8
78 �e4 8 1 llg6 lle8+
Black's king is now cut off from 82 �f6 lite4
the king's wing both horizontally 83 ctixgS �dS
and vertically. The i mportance of 84 lif6
the horizontal cu t-off in rook and Black resigned on move 97.
2 Guilty Without Cause
The year was 1 927, a n d I was
playing in my fi rst S oviet Cham­
pionshi p . I had already fu lfilled
the norm for the maste r's ti tle but
the battle for t h e top prize was s t ill
ragi ng and natura l ly I wanted to
win this adjourned game (see
diagram 4).
Botvinnik
4
w o nly at a knight endgame i n this
Grigoriev
H e re White sealed his 46th
move. H e had t wo choices: e i t he r
to avoid t h e trade of bishops, or t o
g o into the k n igh t endgame.
N . D .Grigoriev, the great master
of pawn e ndga mes, decided to
ca rry on without the long-range
pieces. Apparen tly , in 1927 he was
still not aware that k night e nd­
ga mes are very similar to pa wn
endgames, in which the outside
passed pawn gives its possessor
good winn ing cha nces .
I spent the tournamen t sha r i ng
a roo m in the Hotel Liverpool
with A . Model (who scored a great
success in this tourna ment, sharing
3-4th places a nd also earni ng the
master's title); we a nalyzed our
unfinished ga mes together. Abra m
Yakovlevich grew very upset with
me when I persis ted in looking
positio n , and showed no i nterest
in the variations after the bishop
retreats to a2. In that even t , Black
would have good winning ch ances
with 46 . . . .i.c6 ( threatening 47 . . .
i.d5) 4 7 lllc 5 i.xg2 4 8 lllc 4+ ri;e7 .
I c o u l d not bring myself to give
Model any explanation before t h e
end o f t h e tourn a m e n t . A s a
matter of fact, one of the spectators
had seen G rigo riev write down his
sea led move, which was 46 lLid4.
At first I had been s keptical of t h is
i nformat ion, as I believed that
46 .ta2 was stronger. But my
admi rer passionately insisted he
was right - he even confided that
my opponent had underlined his
move twice.
And so i t was! And I, who had
o nly learned the moves some fo u r
 Guilty Without Cause I 1

years prior to the Championship,

was thus able to analyze m y 6
adjourned position in detail - as w

the reader can see for himself.

46 l!Jd4 i.xb3
47 l!Jxb3 a4!
The outside passed pawn must
advance as far as possi ble, restrict­
ing the White knight's mobility.
48 lLJcS
(see diagram 5)
S3 �c4
On 53 cli>d5 Black replies 5 3 . . .
g 5 5 4 h 5 lLJc3+ 5 5 �d4 l!Jd l 5 6
�e4 l!Jf2+ 5 7 �f3 lLJd3 with a n
easy win.
S3 g5
54 hg+ �xg 5
SS cli>b4 �xg4
S6 �a3
If 56 @xa4 h5 57 �3 h4 58 �xa2
h3 and the h-pawn is unstoppable.
48 a3 56 l!Jc5
Also sufficient to win was 57 lLJ a l l!Je6
48 ... lLJd5+ 49 �e4 lLJxc3+, and if 58 �xa2 l!Jd4!
50 �d4 then 50 . . . lLJb5+ 5 1 �c4 (see diagram 7)
lLJd6+ 52 �d5 lLJf5 53 lLJxa4 l!Je3+,
or 50 �d3 lLJd5 5 1 lLJ xa4 l!Jf4+,
which would lead to the loss of
Black's a-pawn, but the win of
White's kingside pawns . But I was
unwilling to part with my outside
passed pawn.
49 g4 a2
SO l!Jb3 lLJdS+
St �e4 lLJx c3 +
S2 'it;d4 lLJa4
(see diagram 6) White resigned
12 Guilty Without Cause
A picture of a position. White's
knight is stalemated and the Black
pawn marches through unhinder­
ed: 59 'it'b2 h 5 60 'it'c3 h4 61 'it'xd4
h3.
When the adjourned session
was over, I went back to the hotel,
showed Model what had happened,
and made a clean breast of every­
thing. Abram Ya kovlevich laughed
heartily, and said that I certainly
knew how to keep a secret.
Later Grigoriev and I became
fast friends - we analyzed a lot
together - but I never got up the
nerve to tell him abou t what had
happened. And why not? What
had I done wrong - or, more to the
point, what else could I have done?
In other words, I had found myself
guilty without cause.
Tha nk God, Grigoriev also
secured his master's norm in t his
tournament.
3 An Exchange up, but a King down
This was the first tou rnament of
my life i n which only masters
played; that's what it was called,
i n fact - the "Leningrad Masters'
Tournament" ( 1930). Obviously, I
wa nted very much to finish fi rst,
especially since i t was my first
such opportunity. We played
twice a week, leaving plenty of
time to analyze unfinished games.
Botvinnik
Ragozin
One glance at this pos1t1on,
h owever, would be enough for
anyone to see how difficult Black's
situation is. H is king is far away
from the queenside , where the
threat of b5-b6 seems unstoppable.
Although Slava Ragozin and I
were friends even back then, I
certainly did not want to l ose to
him. The upshot was that I was
able to demonstrate my first good
piece of analysis.
38 bS
My opponent had sealed this
natural move.
38 lbf3
Naturally, Black's only hope is
to advance his f-pawn.
39 b6 cb
40 cb lld8+
This check must be given at
once, while White's king cannot
go to c5. After 40 ... Il:e3 41 b7
lld8+ 42 <!?c5! f3 (or 42 . . . ll xc3+)
43 ©c4 White must win.
41 <!?c4
The continuation 4 1 'lt>e5 llxc3
42 'lt>xf4 lik5 43 b 7 llb5 favors
Blac k .
41 lle3
Clearing the way for his own
pawn and threatening the exchange
of rooks after 42 . . lite4+, after
.
which the f-pawn would be
unstoppable.
42 ©c6
This looks very s trong, but it
creates problems for White as
well. It was better to avoid the
exchange of rooks by playing 42
liia 2! , w h ich after 42 ... liic 8+! 43
'lt>b4 lle6 44 'lt>b5 lite5+ 45 <!? b4 (if
14 An Exchange up, but a King down

45 �a6, then 45 . . . lila8+) 45 .. . dra w. I saw t h i s po siti o n i n my

Iie6! leads to a repet i t i o n of home analysis, a nd co nsidered it
move s , and a draw. drawn. But upon s e e i n g it over t he
42 lile4+ boa rd, I knew t h e game was saved,
43 lLid4 f3 and decided to see if I could get
44 Jita2 lilc8+ more out of it . . .
(see diagram 9) 49 I!d8
(see diagram JO)

45 �b4!
The o nly move by which W hite 50 lLic6
is able to re tain the b-pawn. 45 The obvious move, which leads
�d3 was bad o n account of 45 . . . in amazing fashion to a loss. Later,
Jite7 followed b y 4 6 . . . lib7, o r i f N. Grigoriev showed that White
4 5 �d5 lle7 4 6 lLixf3 l::td 7+ 47 could only have saved the game
;;ie6 Jitb7. On 45 �b5 there with 50 lLib3 Jie2 51 :S:a l f2 52
follows 45 . . . :S:e5+ 46 wb4 lilb8, llfl lU8 53 b7 Ilb8 54 lLia5, when
when Black once again succeeds in the Black pawn is stopped at f2,
winning the dangerous passed while the Black king holds White's
pawn. c-pawn.
45 :S:el so lile3+
46 c4 Forcing White's king back to
On 46 b7 Jib8 48 :S:a8 Black the b-file.
would play 48 ... lil ee8 . 51 �b4 ll e2
46 lile4 52 lilal f2!
47 ;;ic3 lile3+ (see diagram 11)
48 �b4 Jie4 Now 53 l U l lilf8 54 b7 Jib2+
49 �c3 loses, so White makes a desperate
White is willing to accept a attempt t o complicate.
 An Exchange up, but a King down 15

56 1Ia7+ 'it>f8
JJ S7 b7 lilb l+
w 58 'it>c5
(see diagram 12)

53 tLlxd8 liel
54 lia8
S4 b7 is bad too, of course, in
view of S4 ... lixa I.
S4 fl'ir 58
55 tt:lc6+ and White resigned a few moves
After SS lbe6+ rt;f7 S 6 1If8+ later. I nterestingly, Black managed
'it>xe6 S7 lilxfl lilxfl Black's win is to win without the participation of
also clear. his king - in other words, against
SS <iftg 7 his opponent's superior force.
4 Pieces on a Swing

This endgame occurred i n our in the subu rbs of Nottingham),

second encoun ter, at Nottingham with the aid of my pocket set I
1 936. In our previous game worked out the precise winning
(H astings 1 934/35) , Sir G eorge method. There remained but to
Thomas had won . So my rival for tell my wife that everything was in
first place, Jose Raul Capablanca, order, and off w e went to the
had high hopes for my opponent, tournament hall.
who was also his card-playing 40 b4
partner. White will bring his knight to f4
( tying the pawn at c6 to the
Thomas defense of the d5 pawn); then,
13
after a4 and b5-b6, he will be
w threaten i ng to sacrifice on d5.
Therefore Black will have to bring
his king to the queenside, to
prevent the b-pawn from queening.
40 \tg5
41 'it>g3 \tf5
42 lLJh3 'it>f6
43 a4 'it>fS
44 lLJf4 'it>f6
Botvinnik 45 bS ab
46 ab
In the diagrammed pos1t1on (see diagram 14)
White has the material advantage
of a k night for two pawns, but the
far-advanced protected passed
pawn on f3 ties down one White
piece, which makes the winning
plan far from obvious. But in the
i nterim period, after bolting down
a humble repast in the student
cafeteria (the tournament was
held in the old University building
 Pieces o n a Swing 17

White already threatens 47

eLJxd5+ cd 48 c6 be 49 b6 and the
pawn queens.
46 we7
47 h6 cad7
Otherwise 48 ll\xd5+ cd 49 c6.
48 ll\hS!
This wins the h-pawn - Black's
king is unable to defend it since it
cannot leave the queenside. For
example, 48 ... we7 49 li:Jg7 cad7
50 eLJf5 cac8 5 1 eLJd6+ cab8 52 ll\e8
wc8 5 3 eLJf6 and the rest as in the goes to f5 (or e8), and Black's king
game. must retreat to defend the b7
48 cad8 pawn.
49 eLJf6 h6 58 we6
SO li:Jg4 hS 59 eLJg7+ Wd7
51 eLJf2 60 ll\fS Wc8
Now the knight restrains the 61 li:Jd6+
f3 pawn, while the king deals with White repeats moves in order to
the h-pawn. gai n time.
s1 cad7 61 cab s
s2 cah4 cad8 62 ll\ f5 wc8
5 3 caxhS 9!1e7 63 caf4!
s4 cag4 Once agai n , White's king and
The king has done its work by knigh t give each other freedom -
eliminating the important enemy trading places, as thou gh on
h-pawn; now it returns to give the swings. Now the knight h olds the
knight freedom of action . f-pawn while the king crosses
54 9;;e6 the board to stalemate his opposite
s5 cag3 9!1d7 number.
s6 ttJh3 cad8 63 cah8
(see diagram 1 5) After 63 . . . cad7 64 9!1e5 White
57 eLJf4 'st>d7 also achieves his goal .
58 eLJhS 64 wes Wc8
This is a position we saw before, 65 9!ie6 9;;b 8
but this time without the h-pawn. 66 Wd7 wa8
Via the g7 square Wh ite's knight (see diagram 16)
18 Pieces on a Swing
6 7 ll:lg3!
Naturally not 67 rt/c7 at once
because of 67 ... f2 68 lt:lg3 fl 'it'
69 lt:lxfl - sta lemate.
67 rt/b8
68 ltifl rt/a 8
69 rt/c8 Black
resigned
Obviously after 69 ... f2 White
plays 70 rt/d7 rt/b8 7 1 rt/e6, bringing
his king back to capture the f-pawn,
after which the win is not diffi cu lt .
Sir George accepted his m is­
fortune with distinction, and like a
true gen tleman: he offered myself
and my wife a lift bac k to the hotel
in his agei ng automobi le (other­
wise we would have had to avail
ou rselves of the city buses). When
we en tered the hotel lobby, we
found another bridge game in
progress. Capablanc a turned, with
a hopeful gl ance at his friend.
Thomas only sh rugged his shoul­
ders , and everything was clear ...
For trut h's sake, I should add
that the next day Fine pointed out
an other winning plan in this
position ( from the ne x t -to -las t
diagram) , n amely: 57 ltig5 rt/e7
58 ll:lxf3 ef 59 rt/xf3 rtlf6 60 e4 de+
6 1 rt/xe4 rt/e6 62 d5+ cd 63 cti>d4
rt/d7 ( 63 .. . rt/e7 loses to 64 c 6 ! ) 64
rt/xd5 rt/c8 65 rt/e6 rt/d8 66 �d6
rt/c8 67 rt/e7 rt/b8 68 <;t>d7 '\f/a8 69
c6 be 70 rt/c7 and Black has to
resign.
Thank Heaven I had little time
for analysis, and was able to find
only one secure way to win;
otherwise I would have spent a lot
of time trying to find the best .
5 Strength in Simplicity
My only previous encounter with
Alekhine (Nottingham 1936) had
ended, after a brief but fierce
encounter, in a split point. And
now two years later we met again,
in a hall of the Krasnopolis Hotel,
in the A VRO tournament. This
time the game followed a quiet
course, leaving my opponent, who
possessed an exceptional combin­
ative eye, no chance whatever to
complicate the game.
Alekhine
B otvinnik
White's positional advantage in
this endgame is obvious. He holds
undisputed control of the c-file,
while Black's rook has no way of
generating activity on the e-file. In
a difficult position Alekhine finds
the best chance: he drives the
White rook from the seventh
rank.
22 f6 !
23 c,iffl
A mistake, of course, would be
23 lilb7 lk8! 24 'ittf l b5, which
loses ..:ontrol of the c-file.
23 nn
24 lk8+ llf8
25 llc3!
Although White has no material
advantage, and the pawn structure
is virtually symmetrical, owing to
the differences in the placement of
the pieces Black is on the verge of
zugzwang. Thus, for instance,
after 25 ... li)d7, 25 ... lle8 or 25 ..
.
<;ttn White's rook returns to the
seventh rank, with a vengeance.
Black must therefore weaken his
own pawns, by advancing the g­
and h-pawns, in order to free his
king from the task of defending
them.
25 g5
26 li)el h5
In the end this makes the h-pawn
a welcome target. However, after
26 ... h6 27 li)c2 c,iff7 28 li)e3 �e6
29 g4 White also retains a clear
positional advantage.
Now, on the other hand, after
27 li)c2 c,iff7 28 llc7+ c,ite6 Black
20 Strength in Simplicity

would have improved his position White disdains the win of a pawn
susbstantially. by 32 � b4.
27 h4!
(see diagram 1 8) 19
w

32 f3 gf
33 gf a5
27 �d7 Preventing 34 �b4.
Black had an unpleasant choice. 34 a4 �f8
After 27 . . gh 28 �n or 27 .. �f7
. . 35 11c6 �e7
28 �f3 (Alekhine feared 28 hg fg 36 �n :rs
29 �n g4 30 �e5+, but this seems 37 b3 'IW 8
less convinci ng to me) 28 . . g4 . 3 8 �e2 �b8
29 �e I 'iPe6 30 �d3 �CS 31 g3 A transparent trick: after 39
(or 3 1 f3) 3 1 . . �e4 32 �f4 Black's
. 11xb6 �c7 followed by 40 ... �c6
position_ becomes critical. Black has improved his position at
28 lik7 the price of a pawn.
White's rook seizes the fi rst 39 lilg6 �c7
opportunity to return to the 40 �e5 �a6
seventh rank . (see diagram 20)
28 :n
20
29 �f3 g4 w
30 �el f5
31 �d3 f4
(see diagram 1 9)
The only way to preve nt White's
knight from occupying the f4
square . Now, however, the f4
pawn will need continual watching.
In order to fix this weakness,
 Strength in Simplicity 21

Here the game was adjourned,

and White sealed. Before the
21
adjournment Alekhine informed B
me, through an intermediary , that
he would resign if I had sealed
41 Ilg5 .
Rather than mull over this offer
I sent back to my opponent that i f
h e thought I was going t o seal an
i nferior move then he had no
business making such an offe r,
which could destroy the secret of
the sealed move. 47 lilc6
White has more than one way to 47 . . . llxd4 would have been
win here. h opeless in view of 48 lUS! c;t>b7
41 lil g7+ 'it>c8 49 ll f6 �c7 50 h 5 , when Black is
42 lL!c6 paralyzed.
Black must lose material now. 48 lilbS c;t>c7
42 Ilf6 49 llxb4 llh6
43 �e7+ �b8 so lil bS :llxh4
44 lOxdS lld6 SI �d3 Black
45 lilgS l0 b4 resigned
Black's last hope is for a rook One of those endgames where
endgame. But his position is so there are neither pretty moves nor
poor that even with the knights complex ca lculations. All the
gone he will find no salvation. moves look simple, but not one of
46 .l0xb4 ab the m may be left out, since all are
47 lbhS tightly interconnected . In this lies
(see diagram 21) there strength.
6 When the King's in the Net

This game was played at the

tournament in Groningen, 1 946.
Here Black had to seal a move,
and he played the most natural
continuation.

Botvinnik
22
B • •
m •
• • • ,
Analysis

• • . 45 fg hg 46 a7 g2+ 47 'i!'.>h2 lLJf3+

. . •.• , 48 'i!'.>xh 3 g l 'ii 49 a81W 'tllh 2+ 50
'i!'.>g4 ll:le5+, ma tes the enemy king.
AD. B. II After 45 a7 (instead of 45 fg)
Black would win by 45 . gf 46 . .

Tartakower a811V fl 'tll + 47 'i!'.>h2 lLJf3+.

42 ll:lc4+ �s
41 hS 43 ll:le3+ 'i!'.>e4
Despite the material equality , (see diagram 24)
White's position is critical in view
of the terrible threat of . . . h4 and
... g3-g2 mate. He hasn ' t much
choice. Either he brings his knight
immediately back to the defense,
as he does i n the game, or he must
i m mediately create threats on the
queenside , with 42 a4. But here
also, by cutting the knigh t off
from the kingside with 42 . . . lLJd2 !
(Bronstein), Black, after 43 a 5 h4
44 a6 g3 (see diagram 23) With White's knight bac k on
 When the King's in the Net 23

the ki ngside, Black has to bring

his own king into play in order to
set up a mating net.
44 a4
This line allows the maneuver
. . . 'i&d3-e2xf2, which leads to
mate. A n other defe nsive try was
44 b4, so that after 44 . . . 'it>d3 45 b5
'it>e2 46 b6 'it>xf2 47 l0f5 h4 48
lLixh4 g3! (if 48 . . . lLixh4 then 49 b7
g3 50 b8'ft' g2+ 5 1 'it>h2 gl't!H 52 next move.
'it>xh 3 , and Black has no win) 49 47
lLixf3 'it>xf3 50 b7 c;!;>f2 5 1 b811f g2+ I could point out that Black also
52 'it>h2 gl'ft' 53 'it>xh 3 White wins by 47 . . . gh 48 a5 c;!;>g3 49 a6
defends the g3 square, and there lLig5 50 a7 l0e4 5 1 a 89 l0f2+ 5 2
is no mate. 'it>g l h2+ 5 3 'it>fl h 1 1!f + 5 4 11fxh l
But in that event Black, instead lUxh l 5 5 b4 l0f2 56 b5 l0e4 5 7 b6
of 44 . . . 'it>d3, would have continued li:id6 5 8 'it>g l h4 59 'IPh l h 3 60 'it>g l
44 . . . l0d4! , preventing 45 b5, and h2+ 6 1 �hi lLie4, when mate is
the Black king reaches the f-pawn forced.
via f3, one tempo earlier. White But Black selects a more natural
faces disaster no matter where he and simple plan.
turns, because the mati ng threats 48 lLif4 g3
agai nst his k i ng give his opponent 49 lLig2 'it>f2
the necessary tempi to win the so as h4
pawn chase. SI l0f4 c;t>O
44 c;!;>d3 There is no defen se to . . . h 3 .
4S lLidS S 2 l0g2 h3
Trying to liquidate the t h reat of SJ li:ie3+ '1Pf2
mate by the threat to sacrifice his S4 l0g4+ '1Pe2
knight for the h 3 pawn . White resigned
4S 'it>e2 Savielly Tartakower was an
46 lLif4+ c;!;>xf2 original and talented grandmaster,
(see diagram 25) who would ven t ure courageously
47 lLixh3+ into interesting complications.
Nor does White save h imself by Sometimes he would keep his
47 l0xh5 g3 48 lLixg3 Ci&xg3 49 a5 head above t hem; at other ti mes,
h2 50 a6 lLig5 51 a7 lLie4 and mate he drowned.
7 Two Zugzwangs in a Single
Ending
This was the deciding game of the
1 95 1 match for the World Cham­
pionship. At that point the match
score stood at 1 1 !,1- 1 0!.1 in favor
of Bronstein. I n the final, 24th
ga me of the match I wo uld have
Black, and had few hopes that I
could win back my point there .
Consequently, my back was to
the wall: I had no choice but to
win this endgame after adj ourn­
ment. Even though Black has the
extra pawn , White's advantage is
obvious: he has two powerful
bishops against his opponent's
two passive knights.
B ronstein
Botvinnik
In the diagrammed position
White h ad to seal his move . For
twenty minutes I mulled over
whether 42 .i.d6 or 42 .i.b l was
better. On gene ral considerations
I decided that 42 .i.d6 was the
move to seal. But when I arrived
home and set up the pieces, I
concluded that after 42 . . . lLlc6 43
.ib 1 'i!if6 White cannot strengthen
his position any further, e.g. 44 ed
ed 45 .ta2 'i!te6.
At the same time , I saw that on
42 .tb 1 (the move I had not sealed)
42 . .. lLlc6 ( if 42 ... lLlc4, then 43
.if4 and 44 i.a 2) 43 ed ed 44 .i.a2
lLlab4 45 .tb3 or 44 ... lLle7 45
.th4 Black would lose a pawn.
And after 42 . . . fe (instead of 42 ...
lLlc6) 43 fe de 44 i.xe4+ <tig7 the
gam e opens up and White's
bishops dominate the board. One
interesting variation was pointed
out by Salo Flohr: 45 .i.xb7 lLlxb7
followed by 'i!ic4-b 5 x a6x b6, and
White gets a passed a-pawn.
Alas, however, it was the other
move I sealed . . .
42 .td6 ©c6
43 .i.b I 'i!if6
I spent the whole night looking
for a way to continue the fight. It
 Two Zugzwangs in a Single Ending 25

was eight o'clock in the morning pawn. Black therefore decides to

before I stumbled on a n amazi ng trade f-pawns (in order to free the
idea , which I succeeded in playi ng king from the f-pawn's defense),
after a djournment. but this decisively increases the
Had Bronstein suspected the activity of the light-squared bishop.
unpleasantness i n store for him, 44 fe
then perhaps he might have found 45 fe h6
the continuation 43 ... li:Ja7 (in all This saves the h-pawn.
honesty, I unde resti mated the 46 .tf4 h5
strength of this move while analyz­ 47 ed ed
i ng) 44 ed ed 45 .ta2 b5 46 a5 b4+ A useful exchange , i n that
47 �d3 illl b 5 48 i.e5 li:Jac7 49 'it>c2 Black's knight can no longer
9';C7 50 Wb3 illla 6; in that event he occupy the central square d5 (after
would most likely have achieved a 47 ... llle 7 followed by 48 ... de).
draw, and probably have become 48 h4 li:Jab8
the seventh World Champion. 49 i.g5+ Wf7
However, t here was a surprise in 50 i.fS
store for him. (see diagram 28)
44 i.g3!! White prevents 50 ... li:Jd7,
(see diagram 2 7) while also t h reatening to attack
the pawn at b7.

A zugzwa ng position has been

created. The point to this maneuver
is that after 44 . . . li:Jab4 45 .te5+
Wg6 (after 45 .. . lllxe5 46 de+
Black loses a piece) 46 .ld6 llla 6
47 ed ed 48 .ta2 Wh i te wins the d5
50 illla 7
50 . . . illl e 7 would have been
t rickier, but Wh ite would have
had the choice then between 5 1
.txe7 <lixe7 5 2 i.g6 li:Jc6 5 3 i.xh 5
26 Two Z ugzwangs in a Single Ending

lt:la7 54 'itib4 and 5 1 .th3 lt:lbc6 52

i.g2 'itig7 53 .txe7 lt:lxe7 54 'itib4
lt:lc6+ 55 'itibS lt:lxd4+ 56 'itixb6.
51 .tf4 lllbc6
52 i.d3 4Jc8
53 .te2 'i&g6
54 i.d3+
The expe rience of the practical
player comes to the fore . I had
already foreseen the zugzwang
posi tion , but decided to rid myself
first of all of the threat of time Although Black still retains his
pressure by repeating moves to extra pawn, he loses to another
reach the time control . zugzwang, the second in this game.
54 'itif6 For example , 5 7 . .. 4Jc6 58 i.xd5
55 .te2 'itig6 lt:ld6 59 .tf3 'itif5 60 i.c 1 ! (poin ted
56 i.f3 lt:l6e7 out by Smyslov) 60 . . . b5 61 .txc6
After 56 . . . lt:l8e7 5 7 .tc7 lt:lfS 5 8 be 62 a s .
.txd5 lt:lfxd4 59 i.x b6 or 5 7 .tg5 After forty minutes' though t ,
lt:lf5 58 i.xd5 lt:lfxd4 59 .te4+ Black resigned, and the match was
'itig7 60 'itic4 White wins easily. even. The 24th and last game
57 i.g5 ended in a draw, allowing me to
(see diagram 29) retain the title of World Champion.
8 Even Piece-Down Endings May
Be Saved

In the following position fro m a Itc l + 54 c;!;>g2 lic2+ 55 'it>g l lLJxh2

game played in the USS R Cham­ o r 50 lib8+ 'it>h7 5 1 lif8 de! (but
pionship (Moscow 1 9 5 1 ), Black not 51 . . . lLJh6 owing to 52 cd) 5 2
has an extra kn igh t , with what lixf7 ef 5 3 g f lixe4.
seems to be a n assured wi n . He SO c6 lic3
needs only to give his king air, 51 lib7!
before starting the decisi ve action . Here the rook occupies an ideal
position, as though in ambush.
Keres 51 'it>g7
Now White's problems a re over.
Black could still have won cleverly
wi th 5 1 . c;!;>f8! 52 lib8+ (but not
. .

52 c7 because of 52 ... 'it>e8) 52 . . .

c;!;>g7! (if 52 . . c;!;>e7 then 53 l'ilb 7+

.

'it>e8 54 liblH ct:ld8 55 lilc8 c;!;>e7

56 lk7+ c;!;>e 8 57 lic8 with a dra w)
53 It b7 and Black has won a
tempo, by comparison with the
text , with decisive effect: 53 ... f5!
Botvinnik 54 fe de 55 ef gf (see diagram 31).

49 g6
After this unfortunate move
White finds an a mazing resource
to render Black's win difficult.
Had Keres guessed what diffic ulties
awaited him, he would certainly
not have exposed the sevent h rank
but instead h ave played 49 . . . h 5 !
with an easy win, e.g. 50 c 6 Ik3
5 1 Itb7 lLlh6 52 lid7 lLJg4 53 It xd6 Analysis
28 Even Piece-Down Endings May Be Saved

Now in the game, after 52 c7 f5

53 fe de 54 ef gf, White's pawn
would already stand at c7 i n the
diagrammed position, which would
allow him to con tinue favorably
with 55 d6. But in the line fol lowing
51 'i!;>f8 White m ust con tinue
...

{from di a gra m 31) wi th 56 l:td7,

since 56 c7 is met by 56 ...'it>f6.
Before the positio n after 56 lld7
,

was mistakenly con sidered drawn;

52 llc2
however, B lack pl ays 56 ... 'i!;>f8! {i f
53 'Ct>gl h5
now 57 c7 then 57 . . 'it;>e8) and
.

54 h4 llc4
White's game is hopeless.
c7!
SS 'i!;>g2 llc2+
52
(see diagram 32) 56 'i!;>fl llc4
S7 �g2 llc2+
Now Black cannot improve the
posit ion of his pieces si nce he is
,
SS 'i!;>fl lik4
Draw
tied down by the threatened c8't!V.
9 A Classic Zugzwang Position
The majority of these chess episodes
start in positions where the task of
forcing the win or demonstrating
the draw looks like i t will be a
difficult one. But then something
remarkable occurs . . .
Sometimes, however, it happens
the other way round . Here, for
example, is one of my ga mes fro m
the 20th USSR Championship
(Moscow 1952). It was adj ourned
in the following apparently easily
won positi on.
Bohinnik
Moiseyev
Here White sealed his move .
Black is a n exchange to the good,
with no counterplay at all for his
opponent . What more could any­
one ask for ?
I n fact, despite t h e White rook's
passive pos1t1on, Black's win
involves great technical difficulties.
There a re no passed pawns, so
there can only be play on one wing,
which diminishes the power of
Black's roo ks. Additionally, the
Black pawns are fixed on squares
the same color as White's bishop.
However, home analysis un­
covered the winning method, which
is far fro m simple .
57 i.e2
Note that 57 l::t h 2 Iig4+ 5 8
i. x g4 (if 5 8 �f2 o r 58 �h3 , then
58 . . . �f4) 58 . . . hg 59 � (or 59
h 5 Iib3+ 60 �h4 g5 mate) 59 . . .
�f4 would lead t o a quick loss fo r
White. O f course, I was not expect­
ing such an easy finish; at this
point, indeed, this combination
gives Black nothing, ·owing to 57
. . . Ilg4+ 58 �h2. The winning plan
consists of the exchange of rooks
on h l , keeping the White k ing from
getting to the h -file; then the g6
pawn will be exchanged for the h4
pawn, after which Black's king
reaches the square g3 . I t is interest­
ing that my opponent considered
the position after the exchange of
rooks to be draw n . Thus he was
more than willing to help me carry
out this plan, which speeded
30 A Classic Zugzwang Position

Black's victory by a few moves. bring h is king to h2, setting up a

57 ltd2 drawing " fortress " .
58 J.f3 liln 6 6 i.d7 g5
59 llh2 Paradoxically, in spite of the
On 59 � h2 Black plays 59 . . . small number of pieces left. Black
�4. and i f 60 lilg3 then 60 . .. seeks fu rther simplification: i t is
Ith!+. necessary t hat he act ivate his king.
59 llc2 The h-pawn must quee n !
60 i.d5 1k3+ 67 hg+ lt;>xg5
6 1 i.f3 �e5 68 i.�8 h4+
6 2 Jlh3 Itccl 69 �f3 Il:cl
63 i.b7 lii'. h l 70 i.d 7
64 llxh l l hh l A clever trap. After 70 ... Ik3+
65 i.c8 7 1 �e4 Ilg3 72 i.h 3 (see diagram
(see diagram 34) 35) Black to move cannot i mprove

Analysis
Both sides have reached the
position they were aiming for. his posi tion. With White to move,
65 �f6! Black has an easy win, as his king
Now the afo rementioned pawn can get to f4.
exchange is unavoidable. White 70 llc2
finds himself one tempo too late : if 71 i.e6
the bishop were already on h 3 he 7 1 i.h3 Ik3+ 72 'itte4 lilg3 leads
would play 66 �f4 here, when to the position from the previous
Blac k could only exchange pawns note - which is won for Black
by moving his rook away from h I, since it is his opponent's move.
which in turn allows his opponent 71 lk7 ! !
(after the exchange of pawns) to (see diagram 36)
 A Classic Zugzwang Position 31

The reader already knows that

72 .th3 loses. No improvement
is 72 �e4 lle7 73 �e5 lile8, a nd
Black's king reaches the all­
i mportant f4 square . White must
therefore help make a passed
pawn for his opponent.
72 g4 llc3+
73 �g2 h3+
74 �h2 �h4
75 gS lilc2+
White
A classic zugzwang positio n . resigned
10 Mate in Midboard
Towards the end of December 1952
the 20th USS R Championship was
drawing to a close. When this game
from the last round came to be
played off, my disposition was not
very pleasant. I had every hope of
winning to begin with, but I played
weakly; by Black's 58th (diagram
37), it was clear that the game must
end in a draw: opposite-color is
opposite-color, after all. And only
a win in this game would allow me
to catch the leader Taimanov and
thus continue the fight for the title
of National Cha mpion .
Botvinnik
Suetin
And winning this title was just
about forced for me . Some months
previously I had been voted off the
, bishop very active: i t must defend
Olympic team by the tea m's other
members, on the grounds that I was
no longer playing good chess. This
was my first tournament after the
Olympics, and I n a tu rally wanted
to show that the World Champion
had not yet los t his form.
But how does one retain winning
chances in such a p osition? First
of all, by keeping at least one
queenside pawn from being traded
off. Since W hite threatens a 5
followed b y b 5 , Black's move is
obvious.
58 as
59 ha .tc3+
60 �b3 .txa5
61 .tbS b6
My fi rst aim is no\V achieved:
the b p a w n can no longer be
-
exch anged . Of course , in order to
ensu re this, the bishop mus t be
kept at the edge of the board,
where it stands n one too ac tively.
But perhaps it was this very thing
which lulled my opponent's alert­
ness. In fact, the bishop does more
than merely defend t he b-pa w n
and blockade White's a-pawn: at
the right moment i t may well leap
from ambush to take an active
pa rt in the struggle. Nor is White's
Wh ite's last pawn.
 Mate in Midboard 33

62 �c4 'it>f6 73 :h4

63 'it>d4 llf4+ 73 :h3 was simpler, defending
64 'it>e3 'it>eS the third rank . W hite correctly
65 : hi ll e4 + considers the position drawn but
66 'it>d3 llg4 fails to see that, while his king may
67 lil hS+ 'it>d6 seem stronger in the centre, it is
(see diagram 38) also in greater danger.
73 :g3+
38 (see diagram 39)
w

Black's only chance for activity

is to advance h is passed pawn to
e4, where it will be close to the
queening square, which he controls.
For the moment, however, there
seems to be no way to achieve this.
68 lit h8 'it>eS
69 ll hS+ 'it>f4
Now . . . e5-e4+ is threatened.
70 :h3
To meet 70 ... e5 with 71 .tc6,
and Black no longer has the move
7 1 . . . llg3+.
70 ll g8
Played primarily to avoid the
three-time repetition of position
(after 70 ... 'it>e5 71 Il h5+). But
now Black's king must go back.
71 lil h4+ 'it>eS
72 ll hS+ �6
74 'it>e 4
74 'it>d4 was more exact, meeting
74 . . . .tc3+ with 75 �4. The
natural desire to avoid putting the
king on a square where both bishop
and pawn may check it leads to
trouble this time.
74 i.d2!
Finally the bishop gets back i n
the game. N o w Black threatens
75 . . . Ile3+ 76 'it>f4 (76 <Sd4 e5+
7 7 'it>c4 litc3+ 78 'it>b4 Ilh3+) 76 . . .
'it>d5 ! , and the e-pawn inexorably
advances. It appears the only
salvation lay i n 75 �4. and i f 75
... e5+ then 76 'it>e4 Ile3+ 77 'it>f5
�d5 78 J.c4+; while after 75 . . .
liie3 7 6 llh6 Black cannot improve
34 Mate in Midboard

h is pos it ion. 78 Iitxg5 lld5+. but this will not

7S i.d3 prevent the i n evit a b l e loss. White
This move gi ves Black the tempo resigned.
he needs to set up an un expected
mate threat in midboard. It may
be that Wh i te s error had a psycho­
'

logic a l basis. With Black havin g

ac ti va ted his bi shop , White of
course i. tri v e s to do the same. But
the a-pawn should not have been
left unp rotec t e d under any c i rcu m ­

stances.
75 �g5!
Driving White's rook from the
fourth ra n k and c lo sin g off the Meanwhile my rival Taimanov,
fifth as well. along with his !miner Flohr. were
76 Iih5 sitting in the cafe of the Central
White still does not sec what Cultural Hall of Railroadmen
awai ts his king. Otherwise he wou ld ( wh ere the Championship wa s
have continued 76 lih8 lig4+ 77 being played). wa i ti ng for the
..tf3, giving up the a-pawn; sc i l l
, draw t o be ann ounc ed From time
.

Black's two extra pa wns make the to time •he demonstrator would
win on ly a of time.
m a t te r drop in w ith the la tes t moves.
76 <be5!! Fi na l l y he an nounc ed that Suetin
(\·ee diagram 40) had resigned! "That's a lie", they
A rare posit io n indeed! W h il e s a id in chorus. But when the
may. of course, avert mate by demonstrator show e d them the
pla yin g 77 llxg5+ or 77 �e5 llxd3 final position, silence rei g ned .
11 No Rule Without Exception

And so I began a match with White is willing to exchange,

Taimanov for the title of
Champion. The match was to con­
sist of six games and took place
in Moscow. February 1953. The
first game led to an endgame with
major pieces.
Botvinnik
USSR but not if it unites Black's pawns.
However, this is what he should
have played, since he has chances
of putting up a successful defence
after 44 'ti'xb4 ab 45 f4, for example:
45 ... f5 46 1Ig2 1Ih6 47 llh 1 Iila8
48 �bi llha6 49 llh3 b3 50 1Ihh2.
44 fe
45 "Wxb4
Now this is forced, even though
it loses an important tempo. 45
lhe5 would have lost after 45 . . .

'Wxe I+, and o n 45 de there follows

45 ... 'tirc5! and ... d4.
45 ah
46 lheS
Black's pawns advance quickly
after 46 de d4, giving him good
Taimanov winning chances, but the pawn
ending is still worse for White. My
Black has some advantage here, opponent was confident, however,
chiefly because his king may that his connected passed e- and
become more active than White's f-pawns guaranteed him a draw.
in the event that the queens are 46 llxeS
exchanged. So. at the first avail­ 47 lixeS
able moment, Black must offer 47 de rt/g7 is bad too, since then
to trade down into a four-rook Black's king has time to blockade
endgame. the e- and f-pawns.
42 be 47 ItxeS
43 't!rxc3 'tWb4 48 de
44 fi"b2 (see diagram 42)
36 No Rule Without Exception

49 e6 cSg 7
50 f4 ct>f6
51 f5 d3
52 ct>b2 h5
(see diagram 43)

48 d4!
The re is a rule that con nected
pawns are stronger than split pawns;
here, however, the reverse is true.
Blac k's k i ng will easily hold the
conn ected enemy pawns, while
White has no way of preventing Zugzwang! After 53 ct>b l b3 54
Black from setting up isolated ab cb 5 5 ct>c l <l;e7 o ne of Black's
pawns at b3 and d3. Now Taimanov pawns will quee n . This was the
saw what was in store for him: on position Black had in mind when
the preceding move he had offered he wen t in for the exchange of
a draw . . . heavy pieces. White resigned.
12 How Endgame Theory is Made
I had two wins in my game with
M inev from the I I th Olympiad,
A msterdam 1 954, but missed them
both. At last, after two adjourn­
ments, it was adjourned agai r . i n a
position si milar to one from which
I had won against Ravinsky a
decade earlier in M oscow, at the
1 3th USSR Championship. In
that ga me I did not play the ending
too convincingly, as was pointed
out by Keres, analyzing in the
collection Chess 1 947-49. But the
general winning method for W hite
was demonstra ted neither in the
game nor in the a rticle; and that
morning, I had to carry o n in this
position.
Minev
Botvinnik
I spent several hours analyzing,
ending at 3 am. My wife of course
begged me to "come to bed, or else
you won't have the energy to play
the adjournment." But I h ad to
work it out to the end. A t our villa,
the window opened out into the
garden; the peace and fresh air
made my brain work well in the
pursuit of trut h .
7 4 'iff6!
The only way! A fter 74 �h6
'ifh4+ 75 <t/g7 'ffh 3 White has a
much harder time of it, since the
king's position on the last ranks
gives Black's queen more possi­
bili ties. This was the mistake I h ad
made in my game with Ravinsky,
although Keres had not seen it.
But if the White king is o n the
same rank as Black's, or next to
it, then the enemy queen checks
must eventually become exhausted,
since White will have a queen
in terposition which also offers
check !
This, h owever, was not the only
mistake Keres and I made. I n
general, this type o f queen endgame
is always analyzed with the pawn
on the 7th rank and the king on
the 8th. In t his situation, a winning
maneuver was found with a pawn
at f7 that would not work with a
38 How Endgame Theory is Made

pawn at g7; therefore the e ndgame 82 'it'e4

was considered a draw. Such an (see diagram 45)
error may only be explained by
presuming that the researchers
acted as though it were a roo k
ending.
In a queen endga me, however,
everything is different. Both queen
and k i ng may operate at a dist ance
from the g-pawn - so long as they
keep close to one another, which
gives the queen support points.
The mai n th ing is that the k i ng
must be on the same file or ran k as
its opponent, or next to it. This Once the checks have ended , the
"discovery " was, i n fact. the chief further advance of the pawn is
result of m y all-night analysis. assured.
74 \WdS+ 82 't!lh6
75 't!lfS \Wd8+ 83 "tires+ 'it'a4
76 'it'hS 11t'e8 84 g7 11t'hl+
Using his last chec k , 76 85 'it'd4 "trdl +
'lt'h8+, would have left Black in 86 'it'cS 'tlfcl +
difficulties a fter 77 'it'g4 . For 87 'it'd6
example, 77 . . . 'Wg7 7 8 "trt7 ! "i!Vc3 8 7 'it'd5 i s inferior: the a2-g8
79 g7 ! . He therefo re m a k es it a pin diagonal must be left open for the
instead. queen.
77 1!t'f4+ 'it>aS 87 'tlfd2+
78 't!Vd2+ 'it'a4 Or 8 7 . "i!l'h6+ 88 *d5 ! - no
. .

Now B lack ma kes it easier for more checks, and the g8 square
White to bring his queen to d4 cannot be blockaded.
wi th tempo, but he erroneously 88 'it'e6 't!la2+
follows the recommendation of 89 "ttd 5 W'e2+
Keres in the aforementioned ana­ 90 'it'd6 'tlrh2+
lysis: that B la c k should keep his 91 'it'c5 ! !
k i ng at a4. (see diagram 46)
79 't!ld4+ �as Black resigned. The final position
80 'it'gS 1i'e7+ provides a very clear example of
8 1 'it'fS ! 1Wf8+ the winning method.
 How E11dgame Theory is Made 39

White wins by the method dis­

covered a decade later. In view of
46
B
White's threat of 1 24 't!rg5+ and
1 25 g8't!r Black has no other move.
1 24 'ires+ �a4
1 25 �g6 1Wc8
Otherwise White's queen reaches
f7 by force.
1 26 Wf4+
Black resigned, s ince the king
cannot retreat to the fifth rank
because of 1 27 1Wf5+, or to the
third in view of 1 27 't!rf8+ o r 1 27
And now let us see how I 1'f7+. Thus it was the final stage
managed to win the queen e nding of the ga me here that suggested to
with a g-pawn the first time me the method I discovered later.
around. I might add that immediately
after the Olympiad I published the
Ravinsky ga me with Mi nev, with my
47
annotations, in which I outlined
B the general winning method, in
the pages of Shakhmatny v SSSR
(No I , 1 955). I t is not without
interest to note that Averbakh,
who published a book of queen
endgames in 1 962, which wen t
through several printings, both in •

the USSR and abroad, said not a

word about the game Botvinnik­
Botvinnik Minev or of my notes to i t, in
which the winning method i n this
123 1!fg8 co mplicated endgame was first
After 1 23 . . . 't!re3+ 1 24 1!t'g5+ revealed .
13 Caissa Rewards Effort
I have been a devotee of N i mzo­
vich's Variation of the French
Defense ( 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 lbc3
i.b4). I was taught how to
play this line as early as 1 927,
by Master A . Model . By 1 934 the
main ideas were clear enough , a nd
I obtained my first success with
Nimzovich's move at Hastings
1 9 34/35 . But against the West
German Grandmaster Wolfga ng
Unzicker I had tremendous prob­
lems with this variation. In our
ga me fro m the Amsterda m Olym­
piad 1 9 54, I fell into a difficu lt
posi tion right off. Only a miracle
allowed me to adj ourn the ga me
in a rook ending.
Botvinnik
Unzicker
White's extra pawn, coupled
with the passive position of Black's
king, assure him the win.
There fol lowed a night of still
less sleep than when I analyzed the
endga me against Minev: only at
5 a m did I lie down to sleep. At
first Boleslavsky helped me, but
by eleven o'clock I had to let him
go, having only managed to wake
him with great difficulty. Then
Flohr came to my assistance.
Sharp as ever, he awoke im medi­
ately. At 2 a m we said goodnight,
with the understanding that he
would come back at 8 am to check
my analyses. Upon his return,
however, Flohr struck me a serious
blow: as he demonstrated, there
was one line in which Black could
still lose .
To tell the truth, during the
adjourned sessi on I found another
way for White to win. We finished
the game alone in the enorm ous
Apollo-H alle. A lmost none of the
chess reporters showed up, so
convinced were they of the hope­
lessness of Black's position. But
soon Paul Keres appeared: alone,
he paid close attention to the game,
leaving only when the result became
obvious.
And so . . .
 Caissa Rewards Effort 41

48 rs 'it>g3 llb l 5 5 ll xd4 llg l + and

The sealed move. The attempt Black has counterplay.
to play actively would not save 52 liaS
Black : 48 . . . li b I+ 49 'it>e2 ll h 1 Black can o nly await events. He
(still worse is 49 . . . lib2+ 50 'it>f3 loses quicker after 52 . . . llb 1 53
lld2 5 1 h5 lilxd3+ on account of Jle7 e4 54 lld7 llb4 55 de fe 56 g4.
52 't>e2 and 53 h6) 50 g3 e 5 5 1 q,.f3 53 h6 llbS
f5 52 't>e2, and there is no defense 54 lilg7+ q,.h8
to 53 Ita5. SS ll e 7 :as
49 g3 56 'it>f3
On 49 h 5 there follows 49 . . . Finally selecting the right plan,
JJ.b l + and 5 0 . . . llh l . and leaving me j ust one chance.
49 'it>f8 S6 lldS
so lld7 57 g4
As Smysl ov pointed out, White (see diagram 50)
would soon have obtained the 57 h 7 would leave Black less of a
same position as in the ga me by choice: 57 . . . ll a 5 5 8 ll f7 or 57 . . .
playing 50 h5 'it>g8 5 1 :i:Ie7! e 5 52 e4+ 5 8 d e fe + 5 9 llxe4 - but perhaps
h6 'it>h8 5 3 'it>g2, since 50 . . . lib I + my opponent was unwilling to give
5 1 'it>g2 'it>g8 i s bad fo r Black on up his h-pawn?
account of 5 2 lite7 lle 1 5 3 h 6 e5 54
't>f3 't>h8 55 g4 e4+ 56 'i!?f4 e 3 5 7 fe
50
B .
� B • ��
fg 58 e4 g 3 59 Iig7 . - - - �.•
�
so eS .� l'J. �
•�� •l'J.�i•
i"'r.I • �
·• •
·
,. ·�
.� • � 8 ."
S I lt>g2 'i!?g8
(see diagram 4 9)
• • 8 •@•
l'J.. � �"
- ��
� .
.•
- � [Q�� •.•
·
. ."
� �

S7
�

e4+
58 de fg +
59 q,.e2
Naturally, I had not hoped for
59 'it>xg4? d 3 .
S9 d3+
60 lt>d2
On 60 'i!ld l I would have played
42 Caissa Reward.� Effort

not 60 . . . lid4, beca use of 6 1 c.t>d2 69 c.t>e5 ! lle2+ 70 c.t>f4 lilxf2+ 7 1

giving back the move, but 60 . . . c.t>e3. The text move prematurely
lia5 ! , as analyzed, with the same lets the opposi ng k ing out, which
idea as I later played . leads to a d raw.
60 Itd4 61 'i!?h7
(see diagram 5 1) 62 Iite6 lla4!
Up until a moment ago , all
of Black's counterplay centered
around the d-pa wn, which he must
now gi ve up!
63 c.t>xd3 lla3+
64 �e2 Iif3
A curious position, in which
two extra pawns a re not enough to
wi n . White cannot impro ve his
position (65 lla6 It f4); after 40
61 lie8+ minutes' thought, he decided to
6 1 e5! wins, since on 6 1 . . . ll f4, give up his e-paw n .
which was the move White fea red. 65 eS llfS
Flohr's maneuver 62 lig7 ! forces 66 wet llf4
the e-pawn through . And after 6 1 (see diagram 53)
. . . lid5 , a s I discove red to m y
great chagrin during the adjourned 5.1 � �
�
session, White wins after 62 e6 IY • • • �• •
• & 1!�• � ,
� ·

�-
lid6 63 lle8+ ! c.t>h7 64 e7 lle6 65
�xd3 lle5 66 c.t>d4 lle6 67 c.t>d5
lie2 68 c.t>d6 lld2+ (see diagram 52) • •-�n • ... .
�
. .. . , �
� ��
� � � "'i A
m - • •
,. . ..7. . . :
:: . �. .. p - .
.
� • • �
.... J. 7.
p m •
�

• ,
..... 7.
• .
- m �� . •
• • • •
. . . ... . 67 lU6

·p•
p • �·.
•z.....,•�·
The t ry 6 7 Wfl g3 68 lU6 ( 68 f3
- lbf3+ 69 c.t>g2 ll e3 70 Wh3 lla3)
• • B. • 68 . . . llxf6 69 e f 'i!?xh6 70 fg �g6
p
- -
. �
7 1 Wg2 Wxf6 72 c.t>h3 'i!?g5 is a
A nalysis draw; however, the pawn ending
 Caissa Rewards Effort 43

would prove to be a fatal miscal­

culat ion after 67 . . . li x f6 68 ef
� x h 6 69 'it>e 2 �g6 70 � e 3 �xf6 7 1
'it>f4 g3 7 2 fg ! .
67 lie4+
68 �fl ll xe5
69 �2 lila5
70 �g3 lig5
By the way, this position would
be a draw even without the g-pawn .
71 �h4 lig8
72 �h5 g3 the endgame by a miracle . But
D raw when, seven years later, I played
If 7 3 li f7+ �h8 74 h 7 (see dia­ this variation of the French Defense
gram 54) t h e most elegant draw is yet again (at the European Team
74 . . lig4 ! , although Black could
. Championships at Oberhause n ,
also play 74 . . . lia8 7 5 fg lila5+ 76 1 96 1 ), the Goddess's patience had
�g4 lig5+ 77 �f4 lig4+ . clearly run out. I had no oppor­
tunity even to bring the matter to
And so this time the Goddess an endgame, since I suffered defeat
Caissa smiled upon me, and I saved while still in the middlegame.
14 What We Call "Trousers"

This was the 22nd USSR Cham­ a wait i ng m ove .

pionship, and it was to be t he last SS .US!
in which I would pa rticipate Black's bishop re positions itself
-

(Moscow 1 955). I had ta ken the to the e6 square , which appears at

Champion's title in seven, and was
close to the same achievement on
this occasion as well . Only a loss
to Keres in the final rou nd kept m e
fr o m first place . B u t I d i d manage
to play several interesting ga mes
in this to urnamen t . U ndoubtedly
my best achievement in this eve n t
was t h e endga me against Kotov.
Botvinnik
.U
w
first sight to be a more passive
positio n . I n fact, fro m this sq uare
the bishop will be able to defend
the b-pawn when it marches to the
third ra n k , as well as to cover the
g8 square , where a White pawn
may end up queening.
56 i.f6 'it>f3
S7 .i.e7 b3
58 'it>c3 i.e6
Blac k could have won another
pawn here with 58 . . . 'it>xe3 59 c;t>xb3
'it>xf4, but then the dra wing facili ty
of the opposite-colored bishops
would appear in full measure (60
'it>c3 *e3 6 1 i. g5+ 'it>e4 62 'it>d2).
But now my b-pa wn is taboo : 59
*xb3 d4+ 60 'it>c2 de 61 *d i *f2
62 .ic5 i.b3+ 63 'Cttc l *f3 (see

• ·• ·•
Kotov
�. �
�

. . •
.
�� �� ·J :
�

The position appears hopelessly •

� • r/J
drawn, but let us see how events . • o.
·
developed
·.
• .t • .. . .
�. �.- -,. �.
.

SS .i.e7
This is not an attack o n t h e
b-pawn (since the bishop i s obliged � �IP<', � �
to defend the h-pawn), but simply A nalysis

diagram 56) and W h i t e loses the
f-pawn, which in turn allows Black
to break with . . . g5 and win.
59 .tc5
(see diagram 5 7)
Th is appears to be an obvious
move, since White's king must hold
the b-pawn, and conseq uently the
White bishop has to protect the
e3 pawn. But t he truth in this
position lies in the paradoxical
continuation 59 'itt d 2, wi t h which
the White king appears to be
underta king a hopeless chase after
two rabbits (defending the e-pawn
and holding the b-pawn). But the
fact of the matter is that White
cannot capture the b-pa wn on the
third rank, while on the second
ran k he may do so (as i n t he vari­
ation after Black's 5 8t h move)
whenever he pleases. Let's try this
continuation in our new version:
59 @d2 b2 60 'i!i>c2 @xe3 61 'itt x b2
@xf4 62 @c3 and d ra w s .
White's decision n o t to keep
con trol of g5 leads t o the creation
What We Call " Trousers" 45
.
of a passed Black h-pawn, and this
makes the defender's position
hopeless.
59 g5 ! !
This w a s t h e possibility that
Blac k had in mind when he moved
his bishop to e6. Capturing with
the h-pawn leads to a "prosaic"
loss: 60 hg h4 61 f5 ( 61 .td6 .tf5 62
g6 i.xg6 63 f5 .txf5 64 ctixb3 <tig2)
6 1 . . . .txf5 62 'it>xb3 h3 63 .td6
'it>xe3. Kotov's choice makes the
ending "poetic" !
6P fg d4+ !
The central pawn, advanci ng
bravely into a triple crossfire,
sacrifices itself in order to ensure
the l ife of the outside passed pawn.
61 ed
Capturing with the king makes
no sense, as then the b-pawn would
queen; while a fter 6 1 .txd4 <tig3
62 g6 'it>xh4 63 ct>d2 the win is
achieved by 63 . . . 'it>h3 ! ! 64 'it>e2
c;t>g2 65 .tf6 h4 etc.
61 c;t>g3
Black could still stum ble i nto
t he following drawing variation :
6 1 . . . c;t>g4? 6 2 d5 .txd5 6 3 .tf2.
6 2 .ta3
With the fal l of t he h -pawn ,
all White's hope of salvation is
destro yed.
62 'it>xh4
63 @d3 'it>xg5
64 'itte 4 h4
65 c;t> f3
It's n o t Black's fault that his
46 What We Call " Trousers"

opponent didn't walk i nt o the be inven ted , to achieve t hose

more spectacular finish 65 d5 "Trousers" !
.i.xd5+.
65 .ldS+
(see diagram 58)
White resigned
You see before you a standard
opposite-colored bishops endgame
·
position with widely separated
passed pawns, which in Russian
we commonly call "Tro users " .
But oh, t h e fi nesses that h a d t o
15 Sometimes Even Rook Endings
May Be Won
I n 1 956 there was widespread
obse rva nce in the chess world of
the tenth anniversary of the death
of Alexander Alekhine. An in ter­
national tournament in M oscow
was dedicated to the great player's
memory. And even though only a
few days had passed since t he e nd
of the e xhausting M oscow Olym­
piad, none of those invited felt
they could refuse to play in this
new tournament, dedicated to the
memory of the fourth World
Champio n .
This tournament was responsible
for two interesting ga mes to add
to my collectio n . Herewith , the
fi rst of them:
Najdorf
Botvinnik
The exchange of queenside pawns
is fo rced. When there are pawns
only on the king.c;ide, then a minimal
material advantage in a rook ending
does not guarantee a win. But here
the weakness of the g6 square and
the passive position of Black's king
inc rease White's winning chances.
56 <Sf5 Iilb5+
After 56 . . . Ilxf3+ 57 �g6 Black
loses at once.
57 �e6
It is also possible for White
to find himself mated here : 57 <Sg6
llg5 .
57 a3
58 f4!
White takes firm control of g5,
while also preparing to create a
passed e-pa wn.
58 al
On 58 . . . �h7 White would
exploit the king's absence from
the battlefield with 59 �d7 a 2
60 ll a7 Iilxb6 61 l h a 2 , when the
e-pawn soon advances. And on 5 8
. . . ll a 5 White h a s t h e reply 59
lla7.
59 lla7 llxb6+
60 <Sf5
(see diagram 60)
48 Sometimes Even Rook Endings May Be Won

60 ll b7 6S 'it>e7
The only chance to give his king 66 e6
a li ttle activity . The atte m pt to A ga me is not the same as a
hold on to his passed pawn with com posed study, in which the win
60 . . . llb2 leads to defeat: 61 'it>g6 must be achieved by mea ns of a
� 62 lla8+ 'it>e7 63 'it>xg7 lilg2 si ngle variation. So Lilienthal's
64 lla 7+ 'it>e6 65 f5+ 'it>e5 66 Ii a5+ discovery of the more complex,
'it>xe4 67 'it>xf6 'it>d J 68 g5 ! . but similarly effective, continuation
61 llxa2 'it>n 66 l'id4 does not dimi nish the
62 :as v a l u e of the line tha t actually
The first order o f business is to occu rred in the adjournment .
bring the rook to the central square 66 lii: a 4
d5, where it protects the White king If 66 . . . 1la6 White wins, after
from checks. Afte r the e-pawn 67 Iid7+ 'it>f8 , with a k ing race:
advances , the rook t h reatens to 68 'it>g6! lii: xe6+ 69 ®h7 and Black
move to the seventh ra n k . assuring loses both pawns.
White a won pawn endga me . 67 gS
62 llc7 After 6 7 lld7+ 'it>f8 the fifth
63 I:dS lla7 ra n k wou ld be left u ngua rded ,
64 eS re which wo u ld render the g-pa wn's
6S re a d v ance te mporaril y imposs i b l e .

(see diagram 6 1) Let's examine Aronin's curious

Already the a bovementioned defensive idea , 67 . . . lla 7 . which
threat is looming: 66 lld7+ ! llxd7 is based o n th e fact that now the
67 e6+ 'it>e7 68 ed @xd7 69 @g6 co mbi nation 68 lld7+ lii: xd 7 69 ed
etc. �xd7 70 �g6 hg 7 1 ®xg7 g4 on l y
 Sometimes Even Rook Endings May Be Won
A nalysis
Now the threat is 69 cag6 �f8
70 e7+, which i n turn forces the
exchange 68 . . . hg 69 �xg5. Again ,
White wants t o play 70 cag6 - for
example, on 69 .. . Jita6 or 69 . . .
� ( a possible continuation in
the latter case would be 70 ... Jite7
71 h6 gh 72 caf6). Thus: 69 ... l:ta l
70 cag6 llfl ! 7 1 �xg7 l:tg l + 72
cah6! :g2 13 :gs :f2 74 cag1
caxe6 75 h6 Jitf7+ 76 �g8 Jita7 77
h7.
But let's return to the game.
67 hg
68 Ji[d 7+ �fB
69 :n+ ca gs
10 cag6
Here's where Black's own pawn
(on g5) is a burde n !
70 g4
71 h6!
(see diagram 63)
The final finesse. White does
not need the h-pawn , and i t is
49
important to secure his control of
f6. Now the mate is unavoidable.
71 gh
Or 7 1 . . . :as 72 hg g3 73 e7
lla6+ 74 lU6 .
72 e7 :as
73 ll f6
(see diagram 64)
fJ.I
8
Black resig ned, since there is no
defense to the ma neuver lld6-d 8 .
This endga me was interesting
for the way in which tactical
nuances were combined with
technical positions well known to
the theory of rook endgames. In
his day, Tarrasch once joked that
rook endgames cannot be won.
Sometimes, they a re !
 16 Queen and Knight Work
Miracles
And now the second of my end­
games from the Alekhine Memorial
Tournament, Moscow 1 956.
Botvinnik
Sliwa
Why is it difficult for Black to
win this position ? The answer is
that White has pawn compensation
enough for the missing piece and
that additionally Blac k's attacking
options are limited by the i nsecure
position of his own king.
Nevertheless, an extended search
allowed me to find a very fine
method , and the only way to win . I
was immeasurably aided in my
work on this endgame by my friend
G. Goldberg, a highly skilled ana­
lyst.
The solution we worked out is
yet another proof of the variety of
chess. It would seem that Bl'a ck
must see k to eliminate the enemy
passed pawns. But he cannot do
this, as the threat of mate o n g2
would thereby be lifted, freeing
the White queen to attack Black's
king. The actual winning method
is parado xical - Black seeks the
exchange of his last pawns, in
order to lay open the position of
the enemy king. Naturally, t his
approach works only so long as
the queens stay on the board , since
the one ( Black) queen is so much
stronger than the other.
41 'tl'c6
I sealed this move, which meant
that even during the first session I
had to decide not to take pawns:
41 . . . 'tl'xc2 42 g4+ hg (42 . . . 'ltig6
43 'ird6+) 43 'frxc2 lll x c2 44 d 5 !
'ltih4 4 5 d 6 cotixh 3 46 d7 g2+ 4 7 wg 1
lll e l 48 d 8'ir lll f3 + 49 c;tif2 g l 'if+
50 'ltixf3 and Black has only the
draw.
42 1Wg l
Now the greater part of the
analytical work is consigned to
footnotes; the reader, however,
 Queen and Knigh t Work Miracles 51

can see i t here. Th e most unpleasant 67

continuation for Black would
have been 42 a4. Black would like
to eliminate the outside passed
pawn i mmediately, since after 42
. . . 9xc3 43 a5 't!fxa5 44 g4+ hg 45
'ife2+ 'it>h4 46 'ifxe3 'tlfd5+ 47 'it>g l
'it>xh3 48 'it>fl we have a queen
ending - even though it's a good
one.
So that means 42 . . . 't!rxa4 43
'it'g l ! . Not, however, 43 g4+ hg,
which loses here (see diagram 66):
A nalysis
B
Analysis
For example, 42 . . . 'tlfxc3 is bad
in l ight of 43 't!re5 'tlfe I+ 44 'it>h2
�fl+ 45 'it>g l . But Black wins
after 42 . . . 'it>g6 43 g4 (or 43 a4 g4
44 hg 'it'f6 45 'it>h l "Llxg4 46 'lt'g l
1!Vf4) 43 . . . hg 44 @xg3 Wxc3 45 h4
g4 46 'i!Vd6+ 'it>h5 47 'tlfe5+ 'it>xh4
48 1t'f6+ 'it>h3 49 "ti'h6+ 'it>g3 50
't!fd6+ 'it>f3 51 't!rf6+ <&>e2 5 2 't!rf2+
'it>d I 53 d5 11¥e5 54 d6 g3 55 11t'f3+
'it>d2.
But now let's return to the ga me
continuation (see diagram 68).

44 1i'e2+ 'it>h4 45 1'xe3 'ti'xc2 46

'ilg l 'it>xh3 or 44 @x g3 1!Va l + 45
't!rg l 1Wa8+ 46 'it>h2 'ti'f3 .
But even after 43 @g 1 ! �f5 44
1!Vd I + 'it>g6 Black must win ,
although h e will fi rst have to
surmount considerable technica l
difficulties.
Finding the win after 42 'it>gl
would also not have been so easy 42 11fxc3
(see diagram 6 7). 43 a4 g4!
52 Queen and Knight Work Miracles

On 43 . . . Wxd4 44 a5 l0xc2 45 a6
the outside passed pawn becomes 11 11
an important tru mp card in White's w

struggle for the draw.

44 hg+
But here the further advance of
the pawn to a5 would lead to
catastrophe for White: 44 . .. gh
45 gh 'trc6+ 46 �h2 'trxc2+ 47
�h 1 'ire4+ 48 �h2 'trf4+ 49 �h l
1'f3+ 50 �h2 eon +.
44 �g5! An o riginal final position. The
After 44 . . . l0xg4 45 'im the queen and the knight together
queen escapes from her imprison­ work miracles here . Capablanca
men t . was the fi rst to point out the
45 a5 strength of these two pieces
White could also have extended working together. After both 46
the game a little by 45 We 1 �xg4 gh 'il'c6+ 4 7 �h2 'ftf3 and 46 g3
46 as Wxd4 47 a6 h3 48 gh+ �xh 3. •c6+ 47 �h2 'it'xc2+ 48 �h i
45 h3! l0xg4 mate soon follows. White
(see diagram 69) resigned.
17 The Birth of a Plan
Specialists affirm that the master
differs from the common run of
chessplayers i n his ability to for­
mulate a plan. One may approach
this conclusion with some degree
of skepticism. Generally, a master
strives only for the correct evalu­
ation of a position, fo r which
purpose he examines various
possibilities (variations). More
than likely, the plan which is so
thoroughly explai ned in the com­
mentaries to the game is only
formulated after the game is ove r,
after detailed analysis of the
adjourned position.
Smyslov
Botvinnik
The above i s supported by the
conclusion of the rook endga me
of the 1 4th game of the World
Championship Return Match ,
Moscow 1 95 8 .
When I sealed my move I knew
that White stood better, inasmuch
as Black's king is tied to the defense
of the weak pawn at h4, and thus is
more passive than White's king.
White can set up a passed pawn in
the center, using his pawn majority,
while Black has a difficult time
doing this o n the queen's wing.
As a result of exhaus tive analysis,
a subtle positional plan was for­
mulated, and it was with this that I
came to the adjou rned session. In
fact, this plan was so subtle that
Smyslov hi mself overlooked it -
and he is the supreme specialist in
the realm of endgames and of
positional play in general (or
could it have been that he just
didn't bother analyzing?!).
41 lih8
First, the king must be tied
down to the pawn's defense.
41 �gS
42 �d4
The break . . . b5 must also be
avoided - which would have been
less accurately met by 42 �b4 on
account of 42 . . . lid6, when
Black's rook may cause problems.
But now 42 ... lld6+ is unfavorable
54 The Birth of a Plan
to Black because of 43 'it>eS, when
White's king is too active .
42 llc5
(see diagram 71)
And now for that plan. Si nce
White must always consider the
threat of . . . bS, his chief task must
be to bring about t he adva nce . . .
a S . I f this were already played , for
example , White could win by
con tinuing 43 f4+ 'it>g6 44 l bh4.
At the moment, howeve r, that
would fail, due to the reply 44 . . .
:as 4S lil h 8 lba4 4 6 lil c 8 c S + ! 4 7
'it>dS :a3.
How does White force Black to
play ... a S ? Not with 43 lila8, si nce
Black replies 43 . . . llaS . So Wh ite
m ust first take over the d-file, to
prevent Black's counterpla y along
that file; and d4 is the best square
to occupy on that file, so as to
keep a n eye on Stack's h 4 pawn.
43 li h7 'it>g 6
The right response was 43 . . .
Jk6 ! , and after 4 4 lld7 'it>f6 4S
lildS 'it>e6 46 'it>c3 lld6 Black
forces the trade of rooks, with a
drawn pawn e ndgame. But Black,
it would appear, has not yet guess­
ed the enemy plan. As for the
pawn sac rifice , White naturally
refuses it (44 lixh4 llaS etc).
44 lid7 'it>f6
45 lld5 ll c 6
Black hurries to correct his
error, and get in .. . 'it>t:6 a nd . . .
lld6; however, it is too late.
46 'it>c3
The king gives its place to the
rook, so the move 46 . . . c;t>e6 is
now prevented, on acco u n t of 47
lld4. And the exchange of rooks -
46 . . . lld6 47 llxd 6+ cd - in this
situation leads to a loss : 48 'it>d4
'it>e6 49 f3 'it>e7 SO 'it>dS 'it>d7 S l f4
aS S2 e4, with an easy wi n .
46 ll e 6
47 lid4 'it>g 5
48 lld7 lic6
49 'it>b4
Now this is possible , since Black
can no longer play 49 . . lild6..
Now White n eeds only to bring his
rook to a 8 , which will fi nally fo rce
the advance . . . a s .
49 c;t>f6
so lld4
Drawing the king to the wing.
On the im mediate SO lild8 Black
could play . . . 'it>eS-e4 etc.
50 c;t>gS
Sl lld8
(see diagram 72)
 The Birth of a Plan 55

59 a5 h3 60 llg6+ �xf2 6 1 I[h6

c;tfg2 62 a6 lite 1 63 c5 lita 1 was
a nalyzed by A verbakh to a win for
White: 64 �b5 litb l+ 65 �c6 h2
66 a7 lila l 67 �b7 lilb l + 6 8 �a8
llc l 69 c6 h I 'tlr (69 . . . lil xc6 70
!!xh2+ and 7 1 'ittb 7) 70 lilxh l
'itt x h l 7 1 'ittb 7 lilb 1 + 72 �a6 lita l +
73 �b6 lilb l + 74 �c5 lilc l + 75
'itt b4 litb l + 76 �c3 lita l 77 c7.
S6 bS
SI lle6 57 ab
Now S myslov too could see One would think that after the
what was going on, so naturally he second time control, at move 56,
tried to co mplicate . one would have more time to
52 llc8 f4 think , and consequently more ,
If Blac k 's roo k were not on the opportunity to avoid making
e-file, White could meet this with errors. But i n fact, this is precisely
53 e4; now, however, a pawn when the reaction sets in to the
exchange is forced . pressures of ti me-shortage, a nd
53 er+ 'ittxf4 exhaustion makes its presence felt.
S4 l hc7 'ittf3 Here's where the error came from:
SS llh7! lile4 instead of 5 7 llxa6 be 58 llc6 c3+
S6 Jilh6 59 'ittb 3 �xf2 60 llxc3, follo wed
(see diagram 73) by bringing the roo k to a3 and
advancing the a-pawn , White
decides to keep the c-pawn.
S7 ab
SS llf6+ c;t>g2
59 �xbS
(see diagram 74)
When I played 5 7 ab, I had
e xpected that h ere Black would
continue 59 . . . 'Otlxh 3 60 c5 �g2 6 1
c 6 h 3 6 2 c7 ll e 8 6 3 llh6 h2 6 4 'ittc 6
h l 'tlr 65 llxh l 'ittx h l 66 �d7 , with
Here, the continuation 56 . . . resignation to follow. But here I
*g2 5 7 li[ xb6 *xh 3 5 8 l::t x a6 'ittg 2 saw something else : how does
56 The Birth of a Plan

(ala s ! ) - but he moved i t only to

e2. Now it could no longer reach
h 1 (as in the preceding variation),
and everything would now be over
wit h soon. Not infrequently it
happens that one side's mistake
almost seems to induce a responsive
error - a peculiar e xchange of
courtesies.
59 lle2
60 c5 lilb2+
White win after 59 . . . lile 1 ? If 60 c5 6 1 'it>a6 Ita2+
lilb l + 61 c;!;>a6 c;!;>xh 3 , then White Or 61 . c;!;>xh 3 62 Jitf4.
. .

gets nothing either fro m 62 lilf4 62 c;!;>b7 lib2+

lila l + 63 c;!;>b7 lilb l + 64 c;!;>c7 63 lilb6 1Ic2
lilh l ! ! (a fantastic move) 65 c6 If 63 . . . Itxf2, then 64 Ilb3 fi rst .
c;!;>g2, or from 62 c6 lila l + 63 c;!;>b7 64 c6 c;!;>xh3
lilb l + 64 c;!;>c8 c;!;>g2 65 f4 (or 65 c7 65 c7 'it> g2
h3 66 �7 lild l + 67 lild6 lilxd6+ 66 lilc6 I:[b2+
and 68 . . . c;!;>xf2) 65 . . . h 3 66 lilg6+ 67 Jitb6 litc2
c;t>f3 67 lilh6 c;t>g3 68 f5 h2 69 f6 68 f4 Black
lilfl 70 lilg6+ '<t>h4 7 1 c7 '<t>h5 72 resigned
lilg8 lil xf6. One of the deepest positional
My opponent thought, a nd plans I have ever found in adjourn­
thought, and reached for the rook ment analysis.
18 Stalemate - the Seed of Salvation
The World Championship Return
Match of 1 96 1 was d rawing to a
close, and to the surpri se of every­
one, the yo u thful World Champion,
whom all were calling a ge ni us,
was losing. By the 20th ga m e the
score stood at I I Yi-1 Vi . White had
the upper hand for most of the
game, but after t he first adjourn­
ment I succeeded in analyzing the
game better, and could have
equalized. However, I erred in
turn, and Tai once again achieved
a winning position. Then White
played the roo k endgame with
insufficient energy, and once
again the game was adjourned,
and once a gain I had to analyze .
Bot vinnik
I was looking at my second
sleepless night i n a row For a few
.
hours, the position appeared to be
hopeless. The pa wns at f5 and c6
are weak , while the passed pa wn
at a6 is a serious threat. The most
terrible threat of all, however, is
the advance of White's king
towards the square b6.
But towards morning I found
an unexpected tactical chance: if
White goes in for the natural
continuation, Black saves himself
with a stale mat e ! And then the
tortuous search i ng began again:
what if White sees the stalemate?
At long last, I found drawing
chances here a s w e ll .
I had no doubts whatever that
my opponent slept s o u ndly that
night; but Tai i s Tai , and he might
easily see this tactical t rick a nd
ch oose the co rrect and stronge r
continuation. So, in orde r to lull
my partner's suspicions, I did not
even take my usual thermos of
coffee to the adjournment clearly
-
I would resign the game in a fe w
moves.
And now, the adjourned session
begins.
89 �a2 libS
90 a7
My a nalysis (taking the stalemate
58 Stalemate - the Seed of Salvation

combination into account) showed Here it was important to fo rce

that the strongest continuation
was to get Black's rook to a6, as
follows: 90 llf8 lla5+ 9 1 'itt b 3
lilxa6 92 lil xf5 'ittd 7 93 lilf6 lila I 94
f5 lid 1 95 'ctc3 lk I+ 96 'itt d 2 llfl
97 lilf7+ 'ittd 8 98 'ittc 3 lil b l (see
diagram 76).
76
w
White to decide which way his
king would go, since this would
determine Blac k 's fu rther course
of action. For e xample, on 93 <&>c 3
Black would play 93 . . . lla5, to
check the king from the side.
However, White chose the more
.. natura l " continuation.
93 'itta4 ct>xa 7
94 Il:xfS li! b l
O n l y n o w d i d Tai notice t h a t on
95 llf7+ 'i!?a6 96 Ik7, which he
had intended , there follows 96 . . .
l:tb4+ ! ! 9 7 'itt x b4 - stalemate (see
diagram 78).

A nalysis
But even here Black appears to
draw; for example , after 99 f6 i:m
1 00 'ittb4 'itte 8 , or 99 'ittc 2 llb4 1 00
'ittd 3 litb3 + 1 0 1 <&>e2 lil h 3 1 02 f6
llh4 1 03 'itte 3 lle4+ 1 04 'ittd 3 ll f4.
90 :as+
91 <&>b3 <&>b7
92 :lilf8 :EtbS+
A nalysis
(see diagram 77)
There is no other way to try to
win - but one can always hope for
a blunder from one's exhausted
opponent.
95 l:Cf6 'ittb 7
96 rs ICal +
First, t he king is driven away
from the queenside, so that t here
can be no t hought of getting i nto
b6.
 Stalemate - the Seed of Salvation 59

97 ct>b4 It b l + Evidently, the World Champion

98 ct>c3 lic l + had not yet recovered from the
99 �2 11n unexpected turn of events, which
1 00 'it>e3 explains why he continued to play
(see diagram 79) on in a position where the result
was already clear.
105 'it1e2 llf4
106 ct>e3 :n
1 0 7 lifB+ �7
1 08 llf6 ct>c7
1 09 Iif7+ �8
1 1 0 �2 Iif4
1 1 1 �3 :o+
1 12 'it1c2 ct>c8
113 f6 ct>d8
1 14 Ii fB + ct>c7
Now the king is safely cut off on 1 1 5 ct>d2 ct>b7
the f-file , and Black can sit and 1 16 ct>e2 llf4
wait. 1 1 7 ct>e3 :n
100 �c7 1 1 8 llf7+ ct>c8
101 lU7+ ct>d8 1 1 9 �2 lif3
102 'it>e2 lU4 1 20 'ittc 2 ct>d8
1 03 'it>d3 li f3+ 121 llfB+ ct>c7
104 �2 ct>c8 Draw
19 The Encircled King
In the first round of the European
Tea ms Championship at Ober­
hausen, 1 96 1 , I lost rather badly to
Unzicker, as the reader will already
k now from t he endgame entitled
" Caissa Rewards Effort". And
here we were, meeting for the
second time.
The diagram med position arose
during the adjournment.
U n zicker
Botvinnik
Here White has a minimal
material advantage; but the ex­
change of the f- and h-pawns is
unavoidable , and when the fight is
on one wing only, all the authorities
tell us that " knights are stronger
than bishops" . Also, it can hardly
be difficult to exchange off knight
and pawn for both White pawns.
That leads to the endgame of
bishop and rook versus rook,
which certai nly doesn't always
end up in Ph ilidor's position . But
Jet's see how events developed .
49 .i.fl
Clearing the c-file for the rook,
while relieving it of the task of
guarding the g2 squa re, wh ere
Black's k night might go late r.
49 �h6
50 lk5!
Forestalling the advance . . . a5-
a4, and tempting Black into a
quick exchange of kingside pawns.
50 @h5
Unfo rtu nately for Black, he has
nothing better.
51 lhf5+ @xh4
52 lla5 litd7
Black has achieved his aim of
exchangin g pawns, but that's only
appearances. The tragedy is that
his king is not just cut off fro m the
kingside, but also in some danger
itself.
53 @f2 I!e7
Trying in turn to cut White's
king off from the queenside - but
he wasn ' t going there anyway!
54 @f3 tt:lg6
A fter 54 . . . I:tf7 55 .i.c4 Black's
rook would be unable to defend

both knight and pawn.
SS .i.c4
(see diagram 8 1)
Now one can guess what White
was after: the encirclement of the
enemy king. For this pu rpose it is
i mportant to have control of f7 ,
which will make it i mpossible to
drive the White king from the f-file.
SS ©eS+
S6 'i&f4 ©g4
The rook endgame after 56 . . .
©xc4 57 be would have been hope­
less for Black, while 56 . . . ©g6+
would leave the Black k night shut
out of the game.
S7 lia6
The E11circlecl King 6I
With the deadly threat of 58 lilg6.
S7 �hS
S8 .idS lLleS
59 .te4
(see diagram 82)
Now 60 lia5 is the threat . Black
has many moves here, but they all
do nothing except m a ke his
position worse . For example: 59 . . .
�h4 6 0 lilh6 mate, or 5 9 . . tll f7
.
60 .tf3+ �h4 6 1 :as, or 59 . . .
©g4 6 0 .i f3 l1f7+ 6 1 �g3 . The
rook must defend both the knight
and the pawn. So mate o r heavy
loss of material is unavoidable,
and the refore Black resigned.
20 Riddles in the Game and
Analysis
I had only one opportunity to
meet Robert Fischer over the
board. This was at the XV Chess
Olympiad in Varna 1 962. The re
was an effort by the Leyden Chess
Society of the Nethe rlands to
organize a training match between
us some seven years later, but these
efforts were unsuccessful.
Fischer
Botvinnik
Although the game had now
gone 42 moves, play continued.
I was i n no hurry to adjou rn , since
I considered over-the-board play
i n such a position would give me
more chances than I would get
after adjournment analysis. And
Fischer's whole being radiated
amazement that White would
continue to resist in such a
"hopeless" position . Clearly, he
was out to show both the Olympiad
partic ipants and the spectators
that such a position requires no
analysis. But let's see how the
game went.
43 Jita3
Fro m the continuation - and
with a glance at the following
diagram - it is clea r that the
immediate 43 lk7 wa s correct ,
without fea r of the reply 43 . . .
Jita4. The reader will soon see,
however, t hat fi nding such a dif­
ficult decision ove r the board was
practically impossible. But now
Fischer is the first to suffer from
his decision not to adj ourn and
analyze the position: he passes up
the winning line 43 . . . a5, and on
44 l:b3, Ilb4. The whole problem
lies i n the fact that the pawn
ending a fter 45 1I xb4 ab 46 f4+
*CS 4 7 *f3 �e6 48 �e4 �6 49
*d4 b5 is lost ; and if White
declines the exchange of rooks,
Black also wins the rook endgame.
43 Ile7
44 Ilf3 lik7
 Riddles in the Game and
On 44 ... ct'h6 fo llowed by 45 . . .
ct'g7 White would have t o find
some other way to save himself;
perhaps he could not.
4S a4
Now the session was a t a n end,
and Fischer had to seal a move .
After dinner the night's analysis
began, o ne of the longest of my
experience. I was not worried by
the continuation 45 ... Ilc4 because
of the i m mediate 46 a5 ba (or 46 . . .
b 5 47 litf7 ) 4 7 :n a 6 48 h4+ ct>h6
49 Ild7 with a draw. Nor is 45 . . .
ct'h6 4 6 Jid3 ll c 5 4 7 h4 ll a 5 48
lld4 dangerous for White .
B u t w h a t is White t o do after
45 . . . Ilc5? The future looked gri m
indeed, until Geller found a unique
counterplan for White. When he
left , late at night, I had only to
work out the fine points of his
discovery .
4S Il e s
So our work on just this move
would not be wasted a fter all .
46 llf7 lhS
(see diagram 84)
A 11u/ysi.� fJ 3
43 llc7 Ila4 would lead to
basically the same sort of position.
But what was the point of our
a nalysis?
47 Ilxb 7 ! !
"I overlooked this defense" ,
Fischer w a s to write later. There is
nothing surprising in this , since
the decision to give my opponent
two connected passed pawns seems
paradoxical, to say the least. That
it is possible springs from the fact
that the advance of these pawns
will weaken the square b6. Then
the Black king can be chased away
from the g6 pawn, the pawn can be
taken, and W h ite will have two
passed pawns on the kingside .
47 llxa4
48 h4+ ctirs
The thematic va riation , which
serves as the concrete expression
of the preceding commentary,
would look like this: 48 . . . ct>f6 49
llb7 lla5 50 �g4 b5 5 1 f4 a6 52
llb6+ �n 53 llb7+, and Black
draws.
49 nn+ <ties
so l:l g7 llal
SI �f3
(see diagram 85)
What can Black do here ? We
have already seen that nothing
useful can be gotten from 5 1 . . .
ct>f6 5 2 Ilb7. Had Fischer examined
the adjourned position carefully,
he would undoubtedly have reached
this position and selected 5 1 . . .
64 Riddles in the Game and Analysis

Fischer had at that moment fil ed a

protest with the Deputy A rbiter,
L. Bonevoy, th at " Botvinnik was
taking advice during the ga me" !
S2 lla3+
S3 �g2 gh
S4 llgS+ c;td6
SS llxbS h4
56 r4 ct>c6
The reader should n o t be
su r p ri s ed that play drags on s o in
ct>d4, which is the most unple as a n t a theoretically drawn endgame.
con tinuation for White. Sure o f There are players who fi nd it hard
vict ory, however, he slept soundly to readj ust their thinking after an
that night - as his American unexpected tum of events.
tea m m a tes informed me after the 57 llb8 h3+
adj ournment . O ne can perhaps 58 c;th2 as
affo rd to sleep with ot h er e ndga me s , S9 rs ct>c7
but not with rooks ! 60 llbS ct>d6
Sl bS 61 r6 ct>e6
F o r t h i s continuatio n , I fou n d a 62 llb6+ c;tf7
suffici ent a n s we r near m orni n g . 63 lla6
S2 hS! Here is where Black ou gh t to
T h e surprising thing about this have offered the d raw. For I ,
move is t h a t , instead of tak i n g the being a pawn down, could not,
undefe nded g-pawn, White tem­ according to the unwritten rules
porarily s a cr ific e s one of his own . of che ss be the one to ma ke the
,

Fischer acknowledges that he offer.

overlooked this reply when h e 63 c;t>g6
played 5 1 . . b5 - a rare occurrence
. 64 llc6 a4
i n the career o f the future World 6S lla6 �f7
Cha m pi o n . 66 lk6 lild3
By the way : at this point I was 67 lita6 a3
no lo nger able to contain mys elf - 68 'it>gl
I went to our team capta i n , Lev O n l y now did Fisc her, his face
Abramov, and said one wo rd to whi te as a sheet, shake my hand
him : " Dra w". I m ag i ne our amaze­ a nd quit t he playing hall, with
ment when we found out later that t ea rs in his e yes .
 Riddles in the <ium 1· mu/ A nu/yJi.\ fl 5

O u r battle ove r this ga me did

not end here, h o wever, The main 87
theme was whether or not Black w

could have won after 5 1 . . . ct>d4

(see diagram 86).

Analysis

in by his king". Fischer continued

this analysis: 64 . . 't!fb3+ 65 'it>e2
.

't!Vd l + 66 'it>e3 lib 1 (see diagram

88) and afte r the additional moves
Analysis

After 52 l hg6 Black starts push­

ing pawns : 52 . . . b5 5 3 h 5 b4 54 h6
b3 (a theoretical draw results fro m
54 . . . lii: h 1 55 'it>g2 It h 5 56 lla6 b3
5 7 n xa7 ll x h 6 5 8 l:tb7 'it>c4 59
'it>f3 ).
Now White will check the
opposing k i ng. Si nce he does not
wish to allow Blac k's rook on the
Analysis
b-file, he will have to take u p a n
i nferior positi o n : 55 Jilg4+ 'it> c 5 56 67 't!Vf8+ <it?a2 concluded that
a'.g5+ �c6 (56 ... �b4 57 lig7 b2 " W h i te ' s king will be u n able to
58 h7 ll h l 59 n xa7) 57 Itg6+ 'it>b7 shelter from the fatal avalanche of
5 8 l:tg7+ 'it>a6 59 Itg6+ 'it>a5 60 checks" .
lilg5+ 'it>a4 61 l:tg4+ �a3 (see There are two errors i n this.
diagram 8 7). Fi rst of a l l , a s I discovered , after
Now 62 lilh4 b 2 63 h7 b l 'ti' 64 68 't!rc 5 White has a sufficient
h81!r is fo rced. My evaluation o f defense. This was later worked out
t h e position was as follows: " Black in detail by Mas ter A . Kremenetsky
cannot win, since his rook is shut in Shakhmaty v SSSR No 2 , 1 97 7 .
66 Riddles in the Game and A nalysis
And from diag ram 88, G ar y
Kasparov, then only 1 3 , but now
known to all as an I n ternational
Gra nd master, fou nd an elega nt
drawing line : 67 lil.c4! lilb3+ 68
lk3 'ire 1 + 69 c;&d3 'irfl + 70 'lt>d 2
(70 c;&e3? 'irh 3 + ! ) 70 . . . 'irxf2+ 7 1
q,,d 3.
Th is ap pea rs to be the final
word in the lengt hy dispu tes
con nected wi t h this game. It gave
rise to some head-turning ridd les,
during play and e s peci al l y in
analysis.
21 The Subtleties of a Simple
Endgame

The Third USSR Peoples' Spart a­ use of his last re maining t rump,
k iade of 1 963 was my fi rst tourna­ t h e o pposing king's absence from
ment after the match with Petrosian, the main battlefield. B u t how is he
at which time I had finally become to accom plish this?
an e x-World's Champio n . Appar­ 56 llh7 ct>b6
ently, I had n o t yet had the t i me to 57 llh6+ ct>b5
u nlearn the game completely, as 58 llh7 �a6
shown by t h is endga m e . 59 llh6+ b6
(see diagram 90)
Botvinnik .----...---
90 �
w m. • •
• •..•. •.
.
m m8
�

. .. . , ..
�

Kholmov
What can be said of this position?
White will force his opponent's
king to defend his queenside pawns;
after this, the excha nge o f d-pawn
for g-pawn is inevitable, resulting
in an endgame of two pawns vs two,
all on the same fl a n k .
Does this mean a draw? Certain­
ly it does - if Black fails to m a ke
a �� . .ii!.!
. •
� •
� � �
D. •� • .
. � �
At this poin t , it is only White
who h a s ach ieved anything, by
putting the e n e m y king as fa r as
possible fro m the passed d-paw n .
The logical w a y to continue t h e
struggle h e re would have been
with 60 d 6 . Then W h i te would
probably h ave been able t o ex­
change the d-pawn for one of
Black's quee nside pawns, o r for
the g-p a w n , but the Black king
would have e nded u p on t h e 7 t h
68 The Subtleties of a Simple Endgame

ran k , further away fro m the W h ite finesse: now White's rook is t ied
pawns. to the a-pawn's defense , while t h e
60 llh7 third ra n k is closed to White's
And this move i s a m ista k e , for ki ng as a path to the q ueen�ide.
the reasons outlined above. The Black's king, meanwhile, may
i m mediate e xcha nge of d- and g­ assist unhindered in the attack
pawns does not complicate Black's on White's pawns.
task ; as the game's fu rther cou rse 64 <&>f4 <&>bS
will show, it simpl i fies matters . 6S ..tie4 �a4
60 Ii xdS 66 llh7
61 <&>xg4 lld2 White enters an endgame which
62 b4 is theore tically los t , since he has
(see diagram 9 1) nothing else at his disposa l .
66 llxa3
67 llxa 7+ <&>xb4
68 lih7 bS
69 �d4
(see diagram 92)

Now it looks as though Black

s h o u l d a t t a c k the pawn a t once ,
but after 62 . . . lla2? 63 b5+ <&>xb5
64 llxa7 the draw is unavoidable .
So the traj ectory of t h e assault
must be more circuitous . 69 lia8
62 llb2! White resigned h ere since the
,

The first finesse: White can no simplest reply t o 70 <&> d 3 is 70 .. .

l o nger play 63 b 5+ , and the t h reat 'it?b3 . B u t Black could also win b y
of 63 . . . llb3 forces the White roo k "Grego riev's Method " , cutting off
to leave its a cti ve positio n . Wh ite the king on the ra nk by 69 . . llg3
.

undoubtedly overlooked this quiet 70 :l h l ..t> a 3 .

move in playing 60 ll h 7 . The si m ples t rook endga mes
63 llh3 lia l ! co ntain a lot of surprising little
Immedi ately there comes another secrets!
22 The Trapped Queen

The tournament that was h e l d in But if we dig a little deeper into

1 965 in the D u tc h town of the position , we might draw some
Noordwij k was a happy occasion different conclusions. For example:
i n my life . I e njoyed s o me magnifi­ White may choose to give up his
cent wal ks along the deserted h-pawn for the opposing a-pawn.
sandy beaches of the N ort h Sea; This will give him the opportunity
and with good playing conditions to create a n o u tside passed paw n ,
at hand, this grandmaster's calcu­ after whic h all p a w n endgames
lating/decision-making apparatus would tend t o be in his favo r . As
(read: b rai n ) was work i ng beauti­ far as the blockaded pawns at f2,
fully. This event was held to f3 and f4 a re concerned, these
celebrate the 70th anniversary of shield the White king ra ther wel l ,
the Leyden Chess Club. while re stricti ng t h e activity o f
Black's queen. A n d t h a t means
Donner the passed h-pawn will not be so
dangerous, after all. In a word :
play on . . .
40 1t'd 7+ �8
41 1!Vc8+ �h7
42 't!rxa6 't!t'gS+
43 lt;O 'trxhS
44 1i'd3+
(see diagram 94)

Botvinnik

As for the diagra m med position,

i t was probabl y a good time to
offe r a d ra w . I ndee d , from general
principles, Black's pawn structure
might even be consid ered m o re
comfortable here.
70 The Trapped Queen
Now Black cannot play 44 . . .
'ilfg6 beca use of 4 5 We4 ! 1!rxe4 46
fe , when W h i te already has one
passed pawn (the e-), and will
soon crea te another ( t he a-), which
will decide the ga me.
44 'itig8
The king t ries to get nearer the
queenside, to stop the W hite pawns
there if necessary.
4S a4 'irh l +
46 c;!;ie 2 hS
47 'ti'dS+ 'itih 7
Now Black m us t step back fro m
t h e queenside aga i n , since after
47 ... 'itif8 W h i te wo uld use the
Black k i ng's exposed position to
assist in the promotion o f the
a-pawn .
48 "t!rdl !
Exploiting the fac t t h a t Black
cannot exchange queens (the k i ng
is too far away to stop the a-pawn),
White drives his q ueen to a passive
positio n .
48 'irh 2
A positional error, s i n c e here
t he queen stands poorl y. A n y other
retreat would have left Black with
more chances . My opponent still
was not aware of the dangers of
his position. He simply made a
move which defends t h e f4 pawn
and assures the h-pawn's adva nce.
49 b4 h4
At the decisive m o m e n t , Black
still does not see the hidden t rap .
so 1'fl !
(see diagram 95)
N o w t h e outcome i s clear, si nce
50 . . h 3 5 1 a5 ba 52 ba Wg2 5 3 a 6
.
l e a d s to the loss of Blac k ' s last
trump ca rd . his h -pa wn. Ho wever,
t h e re is o n other way to get t h e
B l a c k queen o u t o f i t s i m prison­
m e n t . My oppo n e n t t h e refore
decides o n t he desperate s tep of
t h rowing his g-pawn into the fray.
SO gS
51 as ba
52 ba g4
S3 a6
Black resigned, since after 53 . . .
g 3 5 4 a 7 g 2 5 5 ti'b l + a n d 5 6 a 8\lk
even t h ough he also get s two
quee n s , he is mated a t once.
This will show the reader what
adven t ures are possible i n what
wo uld see m to be a drawn queen
endgame. This secured fi rst prize
- along w i t h a certifica te of
honorary me mbership in the
Leyden Chess C l u b .
23 Paul Keres' Study
In 1 969 the t raditional Beverwij k
Festival w a s held i n t h e small
Dutch town o f Wij k aan Zee . A t
fi r s t , t h i ngs we n t wel l fo r Keres,
Geller and me . Then, o n e by one,
we fell bac k . At that point Lajos
Po rtisch made a s t rong bid for
first place, beating Keres a nd
obtaining a w i n n i n g position
against me . When the game was
adj ourned I didn't even feel like
analyzing it, so hopeless did it
see m . The games were played off
i n sessi o n s of only t wo hours eac h ,
a n d s o it seemed that my sufferings
in this ga me would never e n d .
A fte r the third adj o urnment, it
looked as though I was getting
some drawing chances, but there
was no t i me to look at the position
- we had to eat quic k l y , and then
sit down for the next round's game.
And then came Geller, to tel l me
that a zugzwang would soon finish
me off.
Portisch took a quick dra w i n
his n e x t game a n d disappeare d . Of
course, he wou ld be analyzing our
endga me, so I hurried to follow
his example, since the next adjourn­
ment would begin in only five
h o u rs . Here Keres ca me to my
assistance. I lay a bed - I was
stricken with a terrific weakness,
as a resu lt of an illness - and studied
the sit uation on my pocket set,
while Pa u l Petrovich sat a t my
bedside table, using the fullsize
set.
Botvinnik
Portisch
At first , the e ndga m e rea l l y
d o e s loo k hopeless for B l a c k .
Wh ite's long-ranging b i s h o p w i l l
e a s i l y h o ld B l a c k ' s a-pa w n , w h i l e
a l s o ta king a n active pa rt i n t h e
struggle o n the opposite wing.
With Black's king a fa r off, the fall
of the Black g-pawn is inevitable,
after wh ich o n e o f White's pawns
will que e n . But let us follow the
ana lysi s.
73 i.a2
This is the most l i kely sealed
72 Paul Keres' Study

move; now, let us force White to

push h i s e-pawn .
73 lll c 6
74 �4 lll e 7
75 e6
Otherwise , Whi te ca n ' t break
through with his king. Now he can
go after the g5 paw n , but Black
has also achieved something: the
pawn stands a t e6, where it
restricts the bishop, while also
giving Blac k ' s king the square d6.
75 c;ticS via g6.
76 �s as " Paul Petrovich", I said, weakly,
77 c;tif6 c;tid6 " Th e re is o ne d rawing posit i o n .
78 c;t>x gS c;tieS W h e n the W h i te king comes to f7,
So now the the pa wn is lost, but with the pawn o n g5 , we only need
Blac k 's king has gotten i n to the to play . . . 't>f5 , and after g6 we
ga me, resticting the White ki ng's check with the knight at e5; that
maneuverability; and the k n ight is dra ws , but how do we get there?"
a sec ure blockader for the e-p a w n . An e xperienced study composer,
N o w t h e roles appear to b e reversed: Keres i m mediately put the i dea
White's k i ng works alone against together: 8 1 . . . l0c6! 82 c;t>g6 ltle7+!
Black's king and knig h t , while it is 83 lj;; f7 lll c 6 84 g5 (or 84 e 7 lll x e7
now the bishop that is shut out of 85 ct>xe7 c;tif4 8 6 .te6 a2) 84 . . . ct>f5
the game! 85 g6 lll e s+ ! .
79 .tb3 W e la ughed fo r te n m inutes,
Now W h i te starts setting u p the so si mple a n d elegant did o u r new­
zugzwang posi t i o n . found solution appear. A nd at
79 a4 the adj o u rn e d session, practically
80 .tal a3 not h i ng new happened . The first
81 .tb3 ! ten moves went exactly according
(see diagram 9 7) to our analysis.
Here K eres and I fell into silent 81 lll c 6!
though t . I ndee d , what is t o be 82 c;t>g6 l0e7+ !
done ? I f Black's king moves, (see diagram 98)
White seizes the square f6; if the Only here did White change
k n ight moves, White's king e nters thi ngs at a l l :
 Paul Ker<'.\" S11u�1· 73

85 'it>h6 lL:ie7
86 .tal 'it>eS!
87 'it>g7
Or 8 7 g6 'it>f6 88 g7 lL:if5 + .
87 'it>fS
88 'it>f7 lL:ig6
The knight c o u ld also have
returned to its accustomed pe rch ,
c 6 . Here a draw was agreed , i n
light of the continuation 89 .tb I +
'it>xg5 90 .txg6 a 2 9 1 e 7 a l 't!f 92
e8't!f t!rf6+.
83 'it>g7 As a result of this game, Portisch
But this caused no p roble ms. l ost a l l h ope of winning the
83 ltic6 tourna ment, while Geller and I
84 gS 'it>fS went on to share first place.
24 A Resourceful King
This was the posi tion at the start
of my adjournment with the Yugo­
slav grand master Matanovic from
the 1 969 Belgrade tourna men t .
Botvinnik
M atanovic
White has an e xtra k night , but
Black is goi ng to win it bac k ; both
sides have the option of seek i ng
either a rook or a pa wn endgam e .
T h e first choice is White's: h e c a n
play either 4 3 1I d 6 + o r 43 1I d 5 ,
b o t h o f which I t herefore h a d t o
analyze inside o u t . So fi rst I turned
to 43 lild5.
With the rooks o n , Black has n o
winning chances. F o r example,
43 ... ed 44 Il: xa5 'i!>e6 45 Il:e5+
c&>d6 46 c&>f2 d 2 (if 46 . . . I!g l t h e n
47 lile3) 47 c&> e 2 Il:g l 48 c&>xd2
llxg3 49 lle3. That means Black
has to take the pawn ending: 43 . . .
lii d 2+ 4 4 'ii' f l lii:x d 3 45 1Ixd3 e d .
I t m ight s e e m that Black h a s
enough t o win h ere: 46 @f2 g5 !
(but not 46 .. . we6 47 @e3 c&>d6 48
c&>xd 3 c&>d5 49 g4 ! fg 50 hg h 5 5 1 f5 )
47 fg+ (here 47 'i!>e3 is bad on
accou n t of 47 . . . gf+ 48 gf c&> e6 49
c&>xd3 'i!>d 5) 47 . . . 'i!>xg5 48 c&>e3 h5
49 �xd3 h4 50 gh+ lt>xh4 (see
diagram 1 00).
Analysis
And i n fact, afte r 5 1 lt>e2 c&>g3
52 h4 (or 52 q;,e3 f4+) 52 . . . c&>xh4
53 @£3 'i!>g5 Black picks up the
a4 pawn , while s imultaneously
keeping t h e enemy king off the
c-fi l e . But Geller found a d rawing
line for W h i t e : 5 1 c&>e3 ! ! 'it>g3 5 2
c&>e2 f4 53 c&> f l ! @xh 3 5 4 c&> f2 'it>g4,
and since Black has had to push
the pawn to f4, White has time,
 A Resourceful King 75

afte r the a-pawn falls, to get back Played to gain time, since 46 . . .
to the c I square ! �c5 was possible a t once.
White however selected the 47 lilaS <tfc6
other continuat i o n , bel ieving i t to 48 lia8 <ties
be a dra w . 49 <t;f2 llal
43 lld6+ An excellent p o s t for the roo k .
The shortcomi ng of this move is From here it controls t h e queening
that Blac k ' s king will now cut off square fo r the d-pawn while a lso
the e-file , which will be q uite restraining the advance o f the
significant. enemy passed pawn. Not s u r­
43 <tfe7 prisi ngly , W h i te now undertakes
44 lla6 ed drastic action in o rder to get the
The alternative 44 . . lld2+ 45
- . enemy rook to quit its post . Note
ll:if2 e3 46 llxaS l hf2+ 47 �g l - that it isn't possible to achieve
brings Black no blessings. this by 50 <tfe3 on account of 50 . . .
45 ll xa5 �d 6 llg l .
(see diagram 101) SO lild8 <tlc4
Sl <tfe3
Now this m ove can be played ,
si nce 5 1 . . . llg l is met by 52 lld4+ .
Therefore Black must drive White's
king to a less favorable square .
Sl llel+
S2 � Ile2+
S3 <tff3 lite6
This roo k placement is also
quite usefu l , since it cuts the
enemy king off.
S4 as �c3
Now the na t u ral conti nuation S5 lk8+ �2
46 �f2 leads to i m m ediate loss After 5 5 . . . <tlb3 Black's pride,
afte r 46 ... ll g l ! (47 I!a8 �c7 48 the d-pa w n , perishes: 5 6 a 6 ! lha6
lia7+ <tfc6 49 lla6+ <ties 50 llaS+ ( 5 6 . . . d2 5 7 ll d 8 <tfc2 58 a 7) 5 7
�c4). S o the roo k must put a n �e3 lii d 6 58 �d2.
i m mediate h a l t to the advance of S6 h4
the d-pawn , w h i c h m e a n s White (see diagram 102)
will have t o let the Black k i ng i n . The other possibilities of counter­
46 lla8 �c 7 play will be examined belo w .
76 A Resourceful King

is s i m i l a r: 5 8 . . . �e 1 59 a 7 d 2 60
lle8+ 'iit f l 61 lld8 ll a 3+ . a n d
mate next m o ve . I n t he ga me,
W h i te ch ose to win the h-pawn as
co mpensat i o n , but never h ad time
to exploit his kingside maj o rity.
58 ll c 7 �e l
59 �g2
Otherwise i t ' s the sa me m a t e
again .
59 llxa6
60 lie7+ 'iitd l
56 l:iel ! 61 llxh7 .lii'. a 2+
The elegant and quick way to 62 'iit fi
wi n . The reader a l ready knows that
57 a6 llal 62 'iit f3 'iit e l ! loses for White, due
What is White to do? After 58 to the mate th rea t .
lik6 cbe l 59 lite6+ cbf l 60 lid6 (60 62 d2
c.t>e3? lie I +) 60 . . . d 2 61 lixd2 63 Ik7 llal
lia3+ (see diagram 1 03) we have 64 'iitfl llcI
Here Mata novic resigned, ex­
pressing the opinion that after
move 5 5 (see diagram 104) the

104 � :s. � � �
w m. .. .. .. ,
.. .. . .. , ..
... , .
" •
rg7. .. ..
.
.. .. . � �� . ..
.. • • • @ � 8
A n alysis .
.. �
- .
.. .
-
� � � �
that rare situation, in which the
A nalysis
rook delivers mate along the r a n k ,
with t h e B l a c k k i n g loca ted to the con t i n u a t i o n 56 lik7 would have
rear of the White king. led to a d ra w . I n deed, the rook can
The winning idea after 5 8 lla8 no lo nger be brought to a l (56 . . .

lle l 57 a6 lila l 58 a7 is a d raw),
b u t the re is another way to win:
56 . . . h 5 51 <&>f2 <&id 1 58 q;f3 d2 59
<&>£2 l::t e 2+ ! 60 <&>fl lie3 . Now 6 1
<&>f2 is met by the maneuver . . .
lila3-a l -c l , w h i le on 6 1 a 6 t h e re
follows 6 1 . . . l::t xg3 62 a7 l::t a 3 63
<&>f2 h4 64 <&>fl lila4 65 �g2 <&>e2
A Resourccji1/ 11: 1111( 11
66 l::t e 7+ <&>d3 67 lld7+ <&>e3 etc .
The reso urceful actions of the
king have t h u s brough t about a
situation perhaps unique in the
history o f rook endgames, in
which Black's king is on the first
ra n k , while White's king is mated
on the third !
25 Final Victory

With my appearance a t the Leyden h-pa w n .

Tournament of 1 970, I concluded 45 i.e l �g6
my participation in tournaments. 46 lia7 i.d8
The best that I was able to achieve 47 i.c3 hJ
at this tournament was the fo llow ­ 48 �d3 h3
ing endgame victory over the Larsen probably feared the
Danish grand master. transfe r of the White king to a4,
followed by b5. Wishing to have
Larsen counterplay i n that eve n t , he
sacrifices a pawn, i n the belief that
the dou bled h-pawns would prove
i nconsequential Black's calcula­
.

tions, however, were not borne

out by events .

Botvinnik
White's positional advan tage is
obvious: he controls m o re space ,
which assu res him freedom of
maneuver; Black's c- and h pawns
- former Wo rld Champion had an
are vulnerable; and the t h reat of
b5 fo llowed by the creation of a
passed White c-pawn is quite
seri ous
. sures , preferring a wai ting ga me.
44 �2! 'it>g7
Oth erwise 45 li h 3 . Now Black's
king must stew on t h e wing in .
order to be able to p rotect the
.a9 gh i.h 4
SO �e2
Now White decides against
bri nging his king to the queenside,
i n fa vor of a n at tempt to make use
of t h e passed h-pa wns.
In 1 93 6 , during the 3rd Moscow
International Tou rnament, I wit­
nessed the playoff of the adjourned
ga me Capa blanca-Ragozin . The
extra pawn , and soon a won
endgame. To my surprise, however,
Capablanca took no active m ea­
There fi nally came an inaccu racy
from his opponent, whereupon
the Cuban won a second pawn
and quickly brought home the
 F11111/ I ., , 1111 r 'V

wi n . c;!;>g7 would have been sa fc L

" W h y did you not t r y to exploit 55 J.el f6
you r material advantage right Black strives to activate his
away?'', I dared to ask the great bishop or else obtain one more
chess virtuoso . Whe reupon he passed pawn, while sim ultaneously
replied indulgently, "I found it ri dding himself of the doubled
more practical to wait" . pawns . More important, however,
I played this endgame b y the is the fact that now he will h ave
Capablanca method. one more weak pawn on the sixth
50 J.d8 ran k - at e6.
51 'i!'f3 .th 4 56 <i!;>f3 fe
52 @g2 l:td8 57 fe llc7
Larsen seeks a double-edged In additi o n , it appears that after
situati o n , provoking White to the opening of the seventh rank
play 53 1I c7. B u t then there wou l d Black's king is less secure. Black
fo l l o w 5 3 . . . lia8 or 5 3 . . d4 5 4
. shelters it, b u t one roo k cannot
J. d 2 ll a 8 . cove r both ranks .
53 c;!;>f3 1Ic8 58 1Ia8 J.g5
54 c.t>e2 59 lig8+ <i!;>h5
(see diagram 106) 60 h4+ !
A n d n o w the h-pawn finally
advance s . It's tabo o : 60 . . . J.xh4?
6 1 llh8+.
60 J.h6
61 1Ih8 'it;g6
62 J.d 2 was the t h rea t .
62 h5+ !
A n d again t h e pawn cannot be
taken - 6 2 . . . 'it'xh5 63 i.. d 2 , which
leads to a catastrophic worsening
of the Black position .
54 J.d8 62 <i!;>g 7
Black was a l most i n zugzwang. 63 1Ia8
54 . . . f6 could have been followed To keep the opposing rook
by 5 5 lie7 fe 56 I he6+. A fter the penned in.
bishop's retreat this bre a k i s also 63 J.g5
possible , but the White h-pawn is 64 lla6
now very mobile indeed . So 54 . . . A i m i ng e ve n tually a t the pawn
80 Final Victory

on e6. 70 :d7+ <tig 8

64 Jilc8 After 70 . c;!;>h6 7 1 i.d2+ �xh5
. .

(see diagram 1 0 7) 72 :d6 11h8 73 c6 this pawn soon

becomes a queen, since Black's
rook is tied down defending the
king agai nst mate. Here too,
h owever, the White pawns cannot
be stopped.
71 e6 i.c3
72 e7 lile8
73 Jild8 �f7
74 lilxe8 �xe8
75 c6
(see diagram 108)
Finally, the time for decisive
action is at hand .
65 bS!
The winning move . Both sides
will have three passed pawns now
- a rarity in itself - but W hite's are
farther advanced, and hence more
dangerous. And the Black pieces
are also in inferior positions.
65 cb
66 :xe6 .tct
67 :g6+ was threatened.
67 .tb4 d4 And here Black resigned - the
68 :g6+ �h7 last tournament ga me I would win
69 :d6 .tb2 in my lifetime.
 Index of Opponents

Alekhine 19
Bronstein 24
Donner 69
Fischer 62
Grigoriev 10
Keres 27
Kholmov 67
Kotov 44
Larsen 78
Matanovic 74
Minev 37
Moiseyev 29
Naj dorf 47
Portisch 71
Ragozin 13
Shevarshin 7
Sliwa 50
Smyslov 53
Suetin 32
Taimanov 35
Tai 57
Tartakower 22
Thomas 15
Unzicker 40, 6 0