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    Averbakh Cheeckover - Comprehensive Chess Endings - V 4

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    Averbakh Cheeckover - Comprehensive Chess Endings - V 4

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    Averbakh; Cheeckover - Comprehensive Chess Endings - V 4

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    Averbakh Cheeckover - Comprehensive Chess Endings - V 4

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    Contents Preface vi 1, Basie Theory and Terminology ) 2. King and Pawn against King " 3. King and To Pawns against King 6 4. Pawn against Pawn 2» 41. Pawns onthe came fle x 42 Pans on seheent ee 5 41 Bothpnene penis B 5, Two Pawns against One 40 Connected pawes » S11 Al nae posed 2 512 One passed pase, pane Hlocket a S13. One passed pan, pane mobile & SIM No putes pate poms blocked 2 51S. No passed pen pawns male 7 52 oled paws 8 S22 One pused pawn 7 531. No pased nen 3 $3. Do SAD Allpawns abled ps > 7 » 532 Pawnenadhucent fe 10: S38 Pawns onthe same Ale tes 6. Two Pawns against Two Mm 61 Endings with passed pawns m 612 One pased pawn Hs 182 Endings witht passed pans rs 631 "Connected pawns against connected Bs (622 Connected pains aginst outed 53 6625 Ipolated pawns agains Solated 7. Three Pawns against Two or Three Pawns 1 Endings with passed pans 2 Ending without passed pans T3Allpawens none wing 732 Sepdeata prem on both wings 72) Seatered pawns & 9, 10. Contents Endings with Several Pawns (material advantage) Endings with Several Pasins (positional advantage) 9.4 Outside passcd pawn 52. More éangesos passed pawns 35. Protected passed pawn 54 Breskibroush 5 Defects nthe pawn formation 56 Reserve erat 57 fiter king postion ‘The Theory of Corresponding Square Systems ot Eight square sem 102 Quadrave ester 13. Quadratic system with nonsunombiguoes rear a Triangular system fos. Two stems TO. Sipseuate (etanaulee oyster to) Taysiem LOR Multesgoure systems 10.9. Irvezuler systers {tuto Second-order sssters LM Certain complicated 5 Index of Players and Analysts 198 216 26 zm 2» 236 En 23 263 263 Pa 0 m 2 re x te Es a 293 1. Jefore beginning a study of pawn endings, it will be useful for the reader to make the ‘acquaintance of its basic theory, and also of its basic concepts and definitions. But we ‘must straight away point out that the termin: logy of pawn endings is as yet insufficiently developed; among the authors of works on these endings there is no unity, and consider ‘able confusion exists over concepts and defin- Some theorists use only the concept of critical squares, while others talk of key squares, when by this they frequently mean fone and the same thing, Some try to manage altogether without these terms, There arc some old-fashioned authors who regard teaching about the opposition to be the main thing, while others regard corresponding squares a6 the most important. Without ‘especially wishing to criticize, we have tried to generalize the concepts and definitions used by theorists, and, using the study of key squares asa basis, present the modern state of pawn endgame theory. To the informed reader, certain of the conclusions drawn by us may seem trivial, ‘but one should not be surprised by this. First, they are, as it were, finks in the chain of our reasoning, and, second, without them the understanding of more complex examples may prove difficult. It is well known that the aim in the end= game, and in a pawn endgame in particular, is to promote a pawn to a queen. To start with, using elementary examples, we will try t0 disclose the conditions under which this aim can be achieved, The first condition is the presence of a passed pawn. But this is not ‘enough. There is also a second condition —it Basic Theory and Terminology fs necessary that the opponent's king should not be able to stop the pawn, el 1. Heres a typical elementary position, in ‘which the pawn inexorably becomes a queen Irrespective of where the opponent's king is placed, itis powerless to prevent this, Note the position of the white king—from ¢7 i simultaneously both defends the pawn and controls its promotion square. Incidentally. the e7 and d7 squares have the same prop: erty, although the latter is an intermediate fone: in order to make way for the pawn, all the same the king will have to move cither 10 7, or to-c?, ‘As we see, the seizure by the king of one of these squares is very important: by this the aim of the endgame is automatically achieved—the pawn promotes to a queen. Tnendgame theory the three squares infront ‘of @ pawn on the 6th rank are colled the key squares of this paren. First conclusion: in order that a passn should Basle Theory and Terminology promote to a queen, itis sufficient 1o occupy fone of its Key squares with the king. Tis natural that the defending side should ty to prevent their seizure. Consider another simple pos 2. Here everything depends on whe itis to move. Ifitis White, he plays 147 and puts his ‘opponent in zugzwang, and after the forced 1 Ke? 2 Ke7, seizing one of the key squares, ‘White wins. tis a quite different matter if it is Black’s move. He, of course, plays 1... Ke8, main- taining control over c7. Now 2 d7+ no longer wins: after 2... Ka& White himself is jn zugewang, and the forced 3 Kd6 leads to stalemate ‘Second conclusion: in such situations the struggle for the achievement of the ultimate tim-the queening of the paxn—reduces 10 a struggle for the key squares. The player with the pawn will ry to invade with his king on one of these squares: the defender, by manoewsring with his king elose 10 the key squares, will aim not to allow the opponent's king onto them. In the next chapter we will make a detailed acquaintance of the entire system of key squares of a passed pawn, but now we will examine a schematic position, where a king attacks the opponent's passed pawn, 3 dots indicate the critical squares 4, So thatthe attack should be successful, the hing must attack the pawn from the front or From the side. If thee is no obstacle in the pawn’s path, the attack ftom the rear is Senseless, since the pan wil simply run awey from its attacker Thus the king ean attack the pawn from three surrounding squares—in this case from 6, a5 and e6, If the black king is some distance away, the penetcation of the white king onto any one ofthese squares may place Black ina ential position since it wil ead to the loss of the paw. Such squares around a pawn, from which the opponent’ king can tack itis logical to eal erica ‘ie abtain a third conclusion: a passed a definite system of squares sur Some of thee are key squares: if {can each any one ofthese, the twsen. Others are critical squares "of the opponents king onto lead to the toss of the pawn, "an elementary example, ved pans vasists of fo stages. Sponent’s pawn, and pas pawn wis the penetr. these squares Let us nowt. where there are & 4, White's plan First he must win the then try to queen his 0: +. It is obvious that after winning the pawn his “isk wall reduce to one considered carlier—to che struggle for the key squares. ‘White's king has already pes ‘rated onto Basic Theory and Terminology cone of the critical squares ofthe enemy pawn, tis not difficult co see that here this factor is decisive: if it is Black's turn to move, be immediately loses his pawn, While if it is White's move, he maintains the zogeweng situation by 1 Ke7. It is easy to show that, compared with a passed pawn, the system of Critical squares for a blocked pawn is expanded. In the given case the critical squares of the d& pawn will be e6 and e7, the symmetric squares c6 and c7, and the inter ‘mediate square ¢7. [ [ a obede toh ‘As we have established, the occupation by the king of one of these critical squares must lead to the achieving of the intermediate goal~to the winning of the pawn, but this means, in tur, that (from White's point of view) the critical squares of the black pawn here can also be called the key squares. Fourtk conclusion: @ pawn, be tt passed or Blocked, has @ definite system of key squares, the seizure of which by the king plays an Important role, since it normally leads to the achieving of a definite goal—the queening of the pan, oF 10 its 10s. ‘We have considered an instance where one side attacked a pawn, and the other side was forced to defend it. But it is quite possible to hhave a situation where a king not only defends, but is also able in turn to attack the ‘opponent's pawn. s +142 ‘5, White's king is threatening to attack the ‘opponent’s pawn, but its opposite number is intending to do exactly the same. What then should happen here? It turns out that the diect invasion of the critical &6 square is a terrible mistake, After | Ke6? Kc5 we reach a position of mutual zugawang, in which the side to play first (White) loses, It is correct first to step onto the other critical square~ e7. After 1 Ke?! KeS 2 Ke6 it is Black who ends up in zugzwang, Butifit is Black to move, he wins in similar fashion: I... Kea! 2 Ke6 KeS, and itis White who is in zugzwang. Fifth conclusion: critical squares do not always become key squares for the other side. This depends on the relative placing of the kings, and on the turn to move. In other words, to determine whether a critical square is a key square, in certain cases a preliminary caleula- tion is needed, in order to ascertain the result- ing positions of mutual zugzang. 6. If White begins, he can immediately attack the opponent's pawn, but such activity is incorrect and leads to defeat. On 1 KbS? there follows 1... Ka7, when White ends up in augewang and loses bis pawn. Therefore ‘White plays 1 Kb4, Now itis Black who must not attack the pawa: after 1 ...Ka7?2KbS be himself ends up in zugnwang. The correct continvation is 1... Kb8 2 Ked Ka8! with a draw. Basie Theory and Terminology 7 I= Pawns such as those we have just been examining are picturesquely termed ‘untouchable’ pawns! whoever is the frst to attack such a pavin—he loses, As we will see later, in positions with ‘untouchable’ pawns an exact calculation of the reserve moves is ‘ery important since inthe resulting position of mutual zugzwang every tempo counts, Our conclusions regarding Key squares have been deduced from positions with a rainimal number of pawns, but in principle these conclusions are also applicable to posi- tions with @ greater number. In each case, however the pawns are deployed, both the critical and the key squares can ‘be estab- lished. At this point I should ike to empha- size that these squares are _not_ simply theoretical concepts. With their help it is easier to analyze many complex endings. ‘They enable the correct plan of play to be quickly and faultlessly found And another important conclusion. The basic device in the struggle for key or critical squares is the ereation ofa ug-wang postion, in which one of the sides is forced 0 take unfavourable action. In double-edged situa- tions the zugzwang may’ be mutual, and then everything will depend on whose turn itis 10 Let us now examine in more detail how the struggle forthe key squares proceeds. 7. We know that g6 is 2 key square, and therefore Black must not allow the oppo- nent’s king onto it. But it turns out that hé will also be a key square: by reaching it, the white king aso penetrates by force 10 86. This ‘means that Black has two moves which main= fain the balance—T ... Kg7 and 1... Kh, defending both key squares. Now let us move the position two files to the let 8, Here, apart from the familiar squares e6 and f, the g6 square also turns out to be a key one. In fact, if Black plays 1... Ke7, there follows 2 Kg6 Ke8 3 KI6 Kd7 4 KI7 Ka8 § Ke6 Ke? 6 Ke?, and White wins. ‘The correct method of defenceis 1... KE7!, Basie Theory and Terminology ‘sianding opposite the opponent's king, so as hot to let onto any of the three squares €6, fo and g6. Such 2 placing of the kings is galled the opposition. In the given instance it is vertieal opposition. The following example harizontal opposition. demonstrates 9 oh | 9, Black maintains the balance by J ..- KT, placing his king in horizontal opposition and then retaining it. E.g. 2 Kh6 KY6! The ‘opposition is a well known term in the theory ‘of pawn endings. Here we should mention that the opposition Is the only means of surugele for three adjoining Key squares, situe ‘ated on a rank or on 0 file OF course the kings can also be deployed ‘opposite each other along a diagonal, but itis important to emphasize that such an oppos- ition is a transitional one, and it can always ‘be transformed into horizontal or vertical opposition Jn our example White can continue 3 KhS, soason 3... Kg to have the decisive reply 4 K@5. In this case Black is saved by 3... KIT, standing in opposition along the diagonal ‘Then if 4 KeS Ke, transposing into vertical opposition, while if 4 Kh6 Kf6, reverting to horizontal opposition. So that for the moment we don’t have to g0 carefully into the subsleties associated with specific pawn arrangement, we will exarnine & schematic position, in which the struggle for three key squares along a file takes place on an empty board. 10 Crosses indicate the key: squares 10, In defending the key squares, Black's king must cach time stand in opposition to the opponent's king: 1 KE7 Kd7 2 Kf6 Kd6 3 KIS KAS, This is clear. Iris important to note, however, that the main opposition will nevertheless be Kl6/K.d6, Why? Because only inthis case, when the opponent concedes the ‘opposition, can White's king. break im- ‘mediately onto one of the key squares by a by-pass manoeuvre. Eg. ifitis Black to move in the position Kf7/Ka7: 1... Kd6 2 KE6! (out not-2 Ke8, since then Black maintains the balance by transposing into vertical op- position by 2... Ke6t) 2... KdS (or 2. Ka? 3 Ke5) 3 Ke7, and the aim is achieved Conclusion: the’ main, decisive opposition will be that om the middle line. Let us now move the kings to h8 and b& respectively, and see how they approach each, other in the struggle for the key squares. 11, Suppose that itis Black to move: 1 KeT 2 Kg! Ko6 3 Kg6! Ke5 4 KIT! Kas 5 K6, and the white king inevitably reaches one of the key squares. Ifon 3g6 Black had replied 3... Ke7, there would have followed 4 KfS Kd6 5 KF6. This distinctive king manoeuvre, Basie Theory and Terminology u o be de tok Crosses indicate the key squares making a ‘herring-bone pattern’ in creating the threat of a by-pass, is typical of the struggle for three key squares, and will be Frequently encountered. But if it is White to move, then, by main- taining a symmetric king position with res- pect to the efile, Black succeeds in not allow~ ing the penetration of the opponent's king ‘onto the key squares. E.g. 1 Kh7 Kb7 2 Kg6 Ke6 3 KpS Ke54 KES K4S, or 1 Kg? Ke7 2KE7 Ka? ete, Such a placing is also essentially an ‘opposition, only itis called distant opposition {but distant opposition can always be trans- Formed into close opposition) ‘A broader concept than opposition is that of corresponding squares. Grigoriew, 1921 a 12, Let us begin by determining the key squares, The frst of these is easily found—it is b3, the critical square of the black pawn. But here there are also two other key squares-—e2 and f2. On reaching there, White easily drives back the opponent's king, ad- vances his ¢-pawn, and wins the opponent's pawn. Black saves the game, only if he does not allow the white king onto any of these squares. TCs very tempting to stand in opposition by playing 1 ... Ke3, but itis precisely this move that is @ mistake. After 2 Kdl Kf (alas, control must be maintained over the ¢2 square) 3 Kel Ke3 4 KbI Kd 5 Ka? KeS 6 Kb3 White achieves his aim. The correct continuation is 1... K(3! 2 Kdl Ke3 3 Ket Kad 4 Kbl Ke5 5 Ka2 Kb4, and the black king arrives in time. 2 KfT Ke3 3 Kg2 also achieves nothing due to 3... Ka2 4 d4 Kxe2, when the queeas appear sinmultancously. Let us investigate what is happening. As the white king moves from e1 to a2, by a series of specific moves the black king sue- ceeds in passing from £3 to bé and in not allowing the seizure of the key squares. The routes of the kings are as though linked. To each move of the white king there is a single corresponding move of the black king, It can be said the square corresponding to el is £3, that to dl is €3, el-d4, bI-c5, and a2-b4. Jn the theory of pawn endings, such a mutual ‘connection of squares is called correspondence, ‘and the squares themselves have received the name of corresponding squares. $0 as not to allow White to seize any of the key squares, the black king must move precis- ly along the corresponding squares. ‘Conclusion: correspondence is the most ‘general means of struggle for key squares. Tn the above example the black king ‘managed to maintain the correspondence, fand the ending was a draw. This is by no means always the result. The following ex- ample shows that, if the correspondence can- not be maintained, defeat is unavoidable. Basie Theory and Terminology 13, White has an extra pawn, and for it to bye promoted to a queen, his king must break through to d7—the key square of this pawn, There is also another way—to win the 26 pawn, for which he must take his king to b6— the critical square of this pawn. At fist sight it appears impossible to win: ow 1 Kes, with the threat of penetrating to b6, Black has a single but adequate reply in I... Ke7, while if 1 Kd6 Kas, Te is not difficult to guess that we again have here a case of corresponding squares: -c7, 46-8 and dS-<8. We come to the conclusion that, on the approaches to the key squares. Black suc ceeds in maintaining the correspondence. Let us now try stepping back with the king, say, to 44, exploiting the fact that the black king is restricted in its movements by the edge of the board, Tt is clear that he cannot play |... KeT due to 2 KeS. This means that he must play 1... KaB or 1... Kb8, i, corresponding to d4 there are two squares—b8 and d8. But what if a further waiting move, 2 Ke4, made? Corresponding to this square, which i adjacent to 5 and dS, ate the same two squares—b8 and d8. But here’s the trouble— ‘the king cannot jump from one of these to the other. That means that in this ease Black can no longer maintain the correspondence: 2.. KeB is decisively met by 3 Kas! Kas 4 Ka6, and 2... Ke7 by 3 Kes. ‘You have made the acquaintance of onc of the simplest cases of corresponding squares, so-called triangulation (45, of, 44). By manoeuvring with his king in this triangle, White breaks the correspondence to his ad- vantage. In order to make two steps forward, the white king first takes one step back. Grigoriev, 1920 uu 14, In its time this study was the first ‘example in literature employing the method of corresponding squares to such endings. Tis easy to see that | 4 leads immediately toa draw: Black replies 1... Ked 2. Ke3 KIS! 3Ka3 Kf 4!, and White has no way of streng thening his position. Since itis unfavourable to advance the pawn straight away, White must manoeuvre with his king. Let us try ‘approaching this position from the viewpoint of the theory of key squares and correspond- ing squares. Suppose that the black king is at f4, Then White can play 1 Ke2 KeS 2 Ke3 Kd5 3 dd Ket 4 Ket Kxb4 5.d5 Ke5 (5. Ka3 6 a5 b4 7 d7 b3 8 d8= 0,015... KaS6d6 K}6 7 KeS 54 8 Ke6 b3 9 d?, winning) 6 Ke5 ba 7 d6 Ke6 8 Ke6 b3 9 d7 b2 10 d3=Q bL=Q, The queens have appeared simulta- neously, but now comes 11 Qe8+ Kb6 12 Qb8-+, and the black queen is lost. ‘This means that e2 will be the first key Basic Theory and Terminology square. It isnot hard to guess that the second key square is d; if his king reaches there, White wins very simply. Now let us try to find the corresponding squares. If the white king moves to ¢3, Black has only one reply—I ... Ke3. This’ means that the square corresponding to c3 is ¢3. If the king goes to €2, Black again has only one reply which enables him to maintain the balance~I ... Kf, so that the square corres ponding to €2 is F4, Let us now consider the next adjacent squates—suppose that from c2. the king moves to B2. This squares adjacent to c2 and 3, hence the squate corresponding to it will bef. But what square corresponds to 63? It, like the previous one, borders upon ¢2 and c3, but Black has no such second square like (3. This means that, if the white king manoeuvres between b2 and b3, Black will inevitably lose the correspondence. Now White's plan is clear: 1 Ke2! Kf4 2 Kb2 (or 2 Kb3) 2... KE3 3 Kb3! Kfd 4 Ke2! Ke5 (totally bad is 4... K3 SKA2K(46 Ke2 ete.) § Kal! The play still requires accuracy. 5 Kd2 would be pointless because of 5... Kd, when the king does best to retrace its steps, since after 6 Ke2? Ke3 Black breaks through to the eritical squares of the bd pawn, and the game ends in a draw. 5... Kd5 6 Ke2 Ka 7 Kd2! KeS 8 Ke3, and White wins. Doesn't it seem to you that the winning method employed in this study isin some way similar to that which we saw in example 13? Yes, itis that same ‘triangulation’ Only, itis turned through 90%, and the squares which come into it are c2, b2 and b3, Forall the lack of similarity between positions 13 and 14, the winning methods in them turn out to be identical. We will meet more complex systems of costesponding squares in chapter 10, but now let us consider certain peculiarities of the geometry of the chess board, i 7 15, The squares ef and aS are situated on the same diagonal, and from el the king can reach a5 in 4 moves. It is easy to see that the diagonal path will be the shortest ofall those possible, ‘The squares el and e8 are situated on the same straight line—the e-file. Moving along. this file, the king reaches e8 in 7 moves. Tis clear that other routes ate also possible, but the reader will undoubtedly be surprised to Jearn that, apart from the path indicated, there are a further 392() routes which enable the king to reach e8 in the same 7 moves. The king can move there, tracing out the most fantastic figures, provided only that they are within the area depicted in the diagram (which encloses the shortest distances along diagonals), and that each time the king moves, from one rank onto the next, Thus the moverment of the king in a straight ine (along a file or rank) can in case of necessity be replaced by movement in a broken Tine. ‘A practical illustration of this rule is pro- vided by the following example. 16. If White begins, he can win the a7 pawn. In order to save the game, Black must reach e7 with his king at the moment when White captures the pawn. ‘White can approach the opponemt’s pawn in one and the same number of moves by various paths. Eg. Kf7-e7-d7-c7-b7, or Basic Theory and Terminology Maizeis, 1921 + 7 es elt 4 - j al el S| sf | 2 a E 1 oa | ° BS coe ts h Ki7-6-d6-6-67, of KF7-<6-45-<6-67. ‘The following is also possible: Kf7-c8-d7 BOT ‘Alegitimate question arises: can’t the king, in heading for the pawn, simultancously hinder the black king's movements towards the 7 square? It turns out that such a combi- nation of tasks can be carried out, After 1 Ke6 Ke3 2 Kd5! White’s king as though ‘pushes away the black king. The latter is forced to move aside, and can no longer reach cTintime, eg, 2... Kb43 Ke6 KaS 4 Kb7 KbS 5K2xa7 Ke6 6 Kb8, and the pawn queens ‘This king manoeuvre, which has received the name of ‘shoulder-charging’, is frequently employed in pawn endings. Its useful to make the acquaintance of another typical manoeuvre 17. The first impression is that things are ad for Black: he cannot get to the white ‘pawn, and the fate of his own pawn is settled. But nevertheless: 1... Kb2! Black is appar- ently intending to support the advance of his pawn, and threatens 2... a3. Therefore ‘White replies 2 Ka, but then comes 2 Wed 314 Ka, and Black succeeds in stopping the pawn. By this ‘feint—a deceptive move- ment of the king to the left, in order then to dart to the right—Black managed to gain the pecessary tempo, ‘And, in conclusion, a rule which enables Yates-Marshall Carlsbad, 1929 cone quickly and without calculation to deter- ‘mine whether or nota king can catch a pawn: “the rule of the square’ és 6 a TE nowseore _ 18, The result depends on who it is to move. Jf White begins, he queens his pawn: 1 bS KES 2.b6 Ke5 37 Kd64b8=Q +. Burifit is Black to move, he succeeds in stopping it: 1 ses Kfd 2 BS KeS 3 b6 Kd6 4 67 Ke7. The

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