Table Of ContentEndgame Magic
John Beasley and Timothy Whitworth
With a Foreword by Murray Chandler
B. T. Batsford Ltd, London
First published 1996
© John Beasley and Timothy Whitworth 1996
ISBN 0 7134 7971 X
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced, by any means, without prior pennission
of the publisher.
Typeset by John Beasley
and printed in Great Britain by
Redwood Books, Trowbridge, Wilts
for the publishers,
B. T. Batsford Ltd,
4 Fitzhardinge Street,
London WIHOAH
A BATSFORD CHESS BOOK
Editorial Panel: Mark Dvoretsky, John Nunn, Jon Speelman
General Adviser: Raymond Keene OBE
Commissioning Editor: Graham Burgess
Contents
Acknowledgements 5
Foreword by Murray Chandler 7
Part One: Strategic objectives
1 The study and the game 9
2 Winning material 14
3 Giving mate 25
4 Creating stalemate 35
5 Racing to promote 47
6 Fighting to promote 57
7 Perpetual harassment 67
Part Two: Tactical manoeuvres
8 Losing the move 79
9 U nderpromotion 88
10 Decoys and diversions 95
11 Shielding and obstruction 103
12 Fortress and blockade 111
13 Corresponding squares 119
Part Three: The study as a whole
14 Echoes and repetitions 127
15 Cut and thrust 138
16 Frolics and fantasies 150
17 The grand manner 159
Appendix A: A summary of endgame theory 178
Appendix B: Sources and technical notes 182
Index of composers 191
Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to Haerie Grondijs, John Roycroft, Ken Stewart, and
Ken Whyld for material used in the preparation of this book, and to
Jonathan Levitt for perceptive comments on our original draft. The
resources of the Dutch Royal Library, the Library of the British Chess
Problem Society, and Cambridge University Library have enabled us to
check the original sources of many of our chosen studies. Of the
secondary sources we have used, the international endgame study
magazine EG has been particularly informative.
We have used Richard Lang's chess program Genius to examine all the
studies in the book. He does not claim it to be an infallible detector of
faults in studies and our computer is less powerful than that on which it
defeated Mr Kasparov, but its analysis has allowed us to replace several
studies whose deficiencies had escaped our notice. If any faulty study or
analytical error has remained in spite of this, the blame rests with
ourselves, and we shall be very grateful if the matter is brought to our
attention.
John Beasley and Timothy Whitworth, Harpenden and Cambridge 1996
Foreword
Endgame Magic is the first major book on studies in English since John
Roycroft's Test Tube Chess in 1972. It is the product of a collaboration
between two highly skilled and dedicated gentlemen, whose passion for
the genre I know well, as they are the past and present study columnists of
the British Chess Magazine. Such a carefully compiled and attractively
presented book will, I hope, encourage many newcomers to develop an
appreciation of this gentle and aesthetic side of the game. The pure world
of the chess study is a marvellous and calming escape from a busy world.
What is more, as Levitt and Friedgood have pointed out, it is an art form
that any over-the-board enthusiast already possesses the basic knowledge
and skills to appreciate. The numerous diagrams, clear explanations, and
choice of examples mean that players of almost any level will be able to
appreciate the concepts, intentions and difficulties involved in the original
composition of such a study.
A word of advice: do, always, try to work out the solutions for yourself
before reading the text. Even if you fail - in fact especially if you fail! -
your enjoyment will be greatly enhanced. The longer you spend, the more
pleasure to be proportionately gained when the solution to the study is
ultimately revealed.
Like other works on studies and problems, the authors in this book start
out by discussing the difference between a composed position and one that
might occur in real play. However, I am coming to the conclusion that
one major difference is that, in over-the-board competition, the solution is
very rarely found! Just how many study-like positions arise by chance in
competitive play, with nobody realising, has never been quantified.
Perhaps this could be an interesting project for a computer boffin in the
future. The number of missed opportunities is surely greater than
generally thought, based on my experience at tournaments with
Grandmaster colleagues who also happen to be knowledgeable study
experts. On a number of occasions these colleagues have spotted
remarkable resources in endgame positions which others have missed,
directly attributable to concepts learned from studies.
Congratulations to the two expert authors, and publishers Batsford, on
the production of this magical work.
Murray Chandler, London 1996
