Practical Endgame Play - Beyond the Basics: The definitive guide to the endgames that really matter (Everyman Chess)

544 Pages·2007·16.57 MB·English

by  Glenn Flear

Glenn Flear

eva aren)
Endgame Play -
beyond the basics

EVERYMAN CHESS
Glenn Flear

Practical
Endgame Play -
beyond the basics

the definitive guide to the endgames that really matter

EVERYMAN CHESS

Gloucester Publishers ple weemeverymanchess.com
First published in 2007 by Gloucester Publishers plc (formerly Everyman Publishers ple),
Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London ECLV OAT

Copyright © 2007 Glenn Flear
First published 2007 by Gloucester Publishers ple

The right of Glenn Flear to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in ac-
cordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988,

Allrights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 185744 5558

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EVERYMAN CHESS SERIES (formerly Cadogan Chess)
Chief advisor: Byron Jacobs

Commissioning editor: John Emms

Assistant editor: Richard Palliser

‘Typesetting and editing by First Rank Publishing, Brighton,
Cover design by Horatio Monteverde,
Printed and bound ir-America by Versa Press,
wPwne

10
a

Bibliography
Introduction
Statistics

Section 1: Clear Material Advantage

Two Extra Pieces

‘One Extra Piece

Two Rooks versus Rook and Minor Piece

Queen and Rook versus Queen and Minor Piece
Rook and Minor Piece versus Two Minor Pieces

Section 2: Only Minor Pieces

Two Bishops versus Two Minor Pieces
Other Double Minor Piece Combinations

Section 3: Asymmetric Struggles

Rook versus Two Minor Pieces
Queen versus Rook and Knight
‘Queen versus Rook and Bishop
‘Queen versus Two Rooks

162

194
223
240
262
12
13
14
15

16
v7
18
19
20

Section 4; Rook and Minor Pieces

Rook and Bishop versus Rook and Knight

Rook and Bishop versus Rook and opposite-coloured Bishop
Rook and Bishop versus Rook and same-coloured Bishop
Rook and Knight versus Rook and Knight

Section 5: Heavyweight Struggles

‘Two Rooks versus Two Rooks

Queen and Bishop versus Queen and Knight
Queen and Knight versus Queen and Knight
Queen and Bishop versus Queen and Bishop
Queen and Rook versus Queen and Rook

index of Players
Glossary of Special Terms

285
326
345
370

396
422
455
474
500

535
544
Bibliography

Books

A Pocket Guide to Chess Endgames, Hooper (Bell 1970 & Batsford 1986)
Basie Chess Endgames, Fine (Tartan/Bell, 1974 edition)

Batsford Chess Endings, Spelman, Tisdall & Wade (Batsford 1993)
Botvinnik’s Best Games, Botvinnik (Batsford 1972)

Duoretsky’s Chess Endings, Dvoretsky (Russell Enterprises 2003)
Encyclopaedia of Chess Endings (Sahavski Informator 1982-93)
Fundamental Chess Endings, Miller & Lamprecht (Gambit 2001)
Informators 1-97 (Gahovski informator 1966-2007)

Practical Rook Endings, Mednis (Chess Enterprises 1982}

Seerets af Chess Endgame Strategy, Lars Bo Hansen (Gambit 2006)
Secrets of Pawonless Endings, Nunn (Batsford 1994)

Secrets of Minor-Piece Endings, Nunn (Batsford 1995)

The Unknown Capablanca, Hooper & Brandreth (Batsford 1975)

‘The Games of Robert James Fischer, Wade & O'Connell Batsford 1972)
Think Like a Grandmaster, Katov (Batsford 1971)

Winning Chess Endgames, Kosten (Crowood 1987)

Software and Databases
ChessBase 9

Fritz 8

Mega Database 2005
The Week in Chess
Introduction

In this book | aim to highlight the lessons to be Ieamt from master play in positions with lim-
ited material,

Why did I write this book?

For over thirty years | have been actively involved in playing tournaments and league
games, my own pleasure from chess coming mainly from the practical or, if you prefer,
competitive — angle. So, although T have the greatest respect for those authors who empha-
size the beautiful or artistic side of the game, I tend to write with other tournament competi-
tors in mind.

Tve always enjoyed positions with simplified material. We tend to label these ‘end-
games’, although this commonly used term doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone, as
you'll see below! I'm not alone in advising students that studying your own games is impor-
‘tant for all phases of the game. But for simplified positions, just as with openings, it’s instruc
tive to compare how we have performed with analogous positions from master games.

Now if we've had a rook ending or perhaps bishop ns knight, it's not such a difficult task to
find similar positions in a decent endgame book. Positions with one piece each or less are
very well covered in chess literature, But those with a little more material are not. In fact it
cam be very frustrating trying to find any sort of book that covers rack and minor piece vs rook
and minor piece, Do you have any in your cullection?

According to some statistics that I've outlined below, more than 15% of all games (almost
20% in mine!) reach this type of position, and yet there is minimal information available for
the enthusiastic student, So 'm aiming to fill a gap by writing about those pseudo-endgames
which other books neglect,

What is an ‘endgame’ anyway? And what on earth is a ‘nuckie’?

The word ‘endgame’ is widely used and generally implies the final phase of the game (how-
ever long?), assuming that there already has been significant simplification, if we had to de-
fine the word more rigorously in terms of material then opinions vary. Some specialists con-
sider all queenless positions to be endgames, others those where both sides have limited ma-
terial, for instance less than queen and rook.
Practical Endgame Play

Thave found it convenient to consider positions with only one piece or less per player as
endgames and those with a couple of pieces each by an alternative name. As | don’t know of
a term for these pseudo-endgames I've decided to invent one myself! So here are my defini-
tions:

In this book the term an ‘endgame’ is a position with a maximum of one
piece each.

A ‘NQE’ (for ‘Not Quite an Endgame’, pronounced ‘nuckie’) is a posi-
tion with more material than in an endgame bul with a maximum of few
pieces each.

So rook vs queen would be considered as an endgante, whereas rv0k and bishop vs rook and
night would be a ‘nuckio’; rook and bishop vs rook also comes into the latter category.

Tve decided to concentrate my efforts on these so-called NQEs, So I'll be covering a var-
ied selection such as double rook endings, and two bishops us knight and bishop, and even queen
and rook each, and many other combinations of material in the following twenty chapters.

Although endgame principles (such as pushing passed pawns) and positional ones (such
as weak squares or a space advantage) obviously come into consideration, they are often
complicated by the presence of supplementary pieces. So play is often sharper and more
messy than in pure endgames.

Dynamic factors are frequently the important ones. If there are heavy pieces on the board,
they can be used to target vulnerable kings, as in the middlegame. So any problems with
either king are often fundamental to the outoome of the struggle. The side that is objectively
weaker has more opportunity to exploit king insccurity to threaten counterplay and thus
frustrate the stronger side's plans.

The piece power on the board can give rise to some rich possibilities. NQEs are more than
just basic endgames in the making, they can also be thought of as late-middlegames,

Theory or Practice?

Many endgame books cansist mainly of studies or established theory and only a modest
number of so-called practical examples. Studies are aimed at being aesthetic and surprising,
and can help develop #ewy, which is an attempt to prove best play and the ultimate result.
Virtually all of this book consists of examples taken from actual games. There is much less
theory anyway in the NQE phase of the game than in aciual endgames, and on many occa-
sions we can’t be sure of best play or even the logical result, We can, however, see what
techniques have been employed in practice by players who are striving to maximize the po-
tential of their position.

What are the key factors in such simplified positions?
Tve made a list from my own experience of those factors that really have to be taken into
account in general in NQEs. Naturally each chapter will highlight the specifics.
Introduction

1, Are there chances for a mating attack? Or failing that, a perpetual?

2. Is any material advantage compensated for by positional or tactical factors?
Or if not, is it just a trivial win?

3. Are the kings liabilities or assets?
4. Is simplification into an endgame desirable or likely’

5, What are the main characteristics of the pawn structure? Is it in the interests
of either player to change this structure? How significant are any passed
pawns?

6. Are any of the pivces of either side particularly well placed or badly placed?

7. Whatever the plan decided upon, is there any rush? Is stopping the oppo-
nent’s potential counter-chances the main priority?

8 Should the defender stay passive or aim to activate?
9. How does the clock situation affect matters?
30. How will the players want to make their game more harmonious?

The ninth and penultimate point is becoming more and more relevant in the modem,
practical world of chess. Time limits have accelerated and games are much shorter these
days, Many players are now finding themselves in permanent time trouble from about move
30 until the end of the game. There is often no respite at move 40, so practical decisions need
to be made quickly and without panicking. So there is certainly truth in the assertion that the
need to study NQEs is more important than ever.

The tenth general principle also requires some thought.

What is harmony?

Itis possible that your immediate thought, when secing the word ‘harmony’, is of a piece of
classical music played by an orchestra, where each musician plays his part in creating the
overall effect - which is hopefully an aesthetically pleasing sound! If just one musician gets it
wrong then the resulting sound quality is degraded.

The word harmony is used in chess as well. If all your pieces, including the king (of
course!), and pawns are occupying ideal squares then your position is said to be harmonious.
If there is one badly-placed fighting unit or something awry with the pawn structure then
problems arise. In the middlegame we can sometimes get away with one underperformer,
but after simplification a misplaced piece sticks out like a sore thumb.

Aiming for harmony ~ or to put it another way, avoiding disharmony — is the tenth and
perhaps most underestimated of the factors.
Practical Endgame Play

Tm certainly not the first author to emphasize this point. Here’s some advice offered by
Alexander Kotov in his ground-breaking classic Think Like A Grandmaster (Batsford 1971):

“Remember that in seeking the solution of concrete tasks by analysing variations you should never
allow yourself to be carried away and lose sight of the need for a harmonious link between all your
pieces. Take it as a rule once or twice to look at the position from a different point of view during the
game. Ask yourself, are my pieces cooperating, or is there some disharmony in their ranks?"

Understanding chess harmony is an important skill that really needs emphasizing in
NOEs.

A question of technique?
The old cliché! But what does it mean?

Endgame technique can be thought of as lagical play using endgame experience and theory. In
this book, with more material on the board, technique also takes into account middlegame
thinking and therefore has a wider scope, eg, ‘attacking technique’ ete.

How can the reader benefit from this book?

As it’s rather a long book you may prefer to tead it over time; for instance one chapter per
week or perhaps revising an appropriate section when a particular NQE has cropped up in
one of your own games. It can in addition be considered as a reference book.

Whichever method applies best to you, 1 hope that by studying this book you will gain
insight into the latter stages of a game of chess. You will then. hopefully, be able to apply
your newly acquired erudition to practical NQEs and endgames of all sorts.

From a personal point of view I'm convinced that I’ve learnt a great deal about the latter
phases of the game. I also discovered that many analyses of even very strong players are of-
ten flawed, | found many improvements myself and others with the help of a computer. I'm
also sure that a close study of my variations by the reader will reveal further mistakes. I
make no apology for being human, just think of these lapses as opportunities! Hunting for
mistakes is another way in which we can develop our chess ability!

Acknowledgements

John Entms for his patience and inspiration.

Jonathan Tait for his constructive criticism and diligent editorial work.
Christine Flear for her moral support,

Olivier Letreguilly for his enthusiasm.

Glenn Flear
Baillargues, France
May 2007

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