Beautiful Success Possible

Chess Course and Middle game Strategy & Combination Book

“ Chess is easy to Learn, But can take a life#me to Master “

- K. Dhinesh Babu

Miracle School of Chess

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 BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE

© Copyright @ 2019 by K.Dhinesh Babu

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ISBN : "978-81-941190-1-2"
Published 2019 by
Sherlin Publications
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Tamil Nadu, INDIA. +91 - 944 244 9587.

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Author :
K.Dhinesh Babu. M.sc,
Fide International Rating Player & Arbiter
Fide Rating points 1913 (high)
Form III player.
Whats app : +91 99948 - 60910.

Co - Author :
U. Mohamed Ibrahim
Fide International Rating Player & Arbiter
Fide Rating points 1943 (high)
Form II player.
Whats app : +91 62396 39513

Copies can be had from :

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M.R.P. Rs. : Rs. 530/-

 MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS

Principal’s Desk
It gives me immense pleasure to introduce this book on brain game 'Chess'.

Grandmaster and world chess champion Bobby Fischer is famously quoted as saying, “Chess is
life” as it covers all skills that a child is needed to acquire and learn.

Though the game originated 1500 years back and yet in today's #me it makes so much
relevance to the growth and development of a child. This is the reason why the schools are pu$ ng a lot
of emphasis on this game and thereby making it an integral part of their sports curriculum.

This game has many surprising facts and benefits that will encourage our young brigade to
develop an interest in playing chess.

For instance, Chess helps prevent, anxiety and depression. Playing this game raises the IQ level
of children and increases their problem-solving skills. Learning chess is a con#nuous ac#vity and
earlier your kid starts learning the game, earlier you will have an independent, self-confident child. Not
only this, but Chess also improves the memory and concentra#on of the child and also teaches him/her
about how to plan and predict at all the #mes in different life situa#ons besides playing the game.

It goes without saying that a lot of training and teaching is required so as to enable children to
grasp the techniques and strategies involved in this ba' le of the minds. I am confident that this book
will be of immense help and guide to young chess players. Who knows that we will soon have players
bringing laurels to the Na#on or become the Chess Grandmaster and World Chess Champion?

I am grateful to the author of this book Mr. K. Dhinesh babu and his colleague
Mr. U. Mohamed Ibrahim who has done a commendable job and has dedicated his #me in compiling
this chess manual that will certainly help our young players of this game.

With Success,
Nutan Budhiraja
Principal
THE LEARNING PATHS SCHOOL.
 BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE

Greetings From the Master

Hi my dear young chess champs...

I am very happy and proud to present this book to you all. The young aspirants of chess having
fi(een years of experience in the field of chess, it's my life endeavour to bring out the real essence in
formula#ng direct success in chess.

My primary aim is to explain to the player that this book would definitely be useful in their
quest for the demonstra#ng the value of chess in their life.

The tac#cs illustra#ons given in the book have been thoroughly overhauled and made suitable
to the knowledge, purpose and sprit of all #mes.

My experience and conversa#ons with the best player have strengthened and my belief that is
very useful to solve exercise regularly if you want to improve your play . I would like to guarantee you
that along problem solving skills will be enhanced tremendously as you grow.

I thank to Our Indian 61 Grand Master P.Iniyan for Appreciate and promote this book, our The
Learning Paths School, Managing Director Robin Agarwal and the Principal Nutan Budhiraja for ini#ate
the great success step of our school children chess carrier.

Regards with
Chess master K.DHINESH BABU, Msc.,
Chess master U. MOHAMED IBRAHIM.
 MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS

Contents
Topic Page No.
A) Key of Symbols Used

B) Mating Patterns and Basic Strategy

1) Mate in One 1
2) Mate / Plus in Two 13
3) Fundamental Endings 25
5) Safety of the King 31
6) Mate / Plus in Three 35
7) Theoretical Draws 49
8) Mate / Plus in Four 53
9) Mate / Plus in Five 67
C) Tactics & Strategy
10) Attack on the King 81
11) Pawn Strategy 87
12) Transition to Ending 91
13) Double Attack 95
14) Pin 117
15) Knight Fork & Knight Maneuvering 139
16) Skewer 155
17) Blockade 157
18) Trap 171
19) Eliminate the defender 185
20) Surprising tactical ideas 201
21) Outpost and Over Protection 217
22) Zugzwang 223
23) Two Bishop Advantage 225
24) Passed Pawns 237
25)Advanced Level Endgame Studies 239
26) Principal of two Weakness 267
D) A - Z Analysis
27) A - Z Analysis Score Sheet Analysis Method 271
E) Bio-Graphy and Games
28) Nepoleon Bonaparte 286
29) Iniyan. P 287
30) World Champions 289
 BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE

Contents
Topic Page No.
F) General Review Strategical Points
31) Strategy of Basic Principle 314
32) Strategy of Opening 316
33) Strategy of Middle Game 318
34) Strategy of End Game 332
G) Sports Quota 323
H) Situations arising in the Tournament Hall 331
I) Answers
 MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS

Key to Symbols Used

White to Play Player Game playing white
Black to Play Player Game playing Black
! Slight plus for White White has slightly better chances
!
Slight plus for Black Black has slightly better chances
±
± Clear plus for White White has much better chances
Clear plus for Black Black has much better chances
+- Decisive advantage for White White has a winning advantage
-+ Decisive advantage for Black Black has a winning advantage

= Equality
Initiative
White and Black have more or less equal chances
Indicates an advantage in initiative
↑
↑

Attack With an attack

=
∞ Compensation Whoever is down in material has compensation for it.
! Counter play Indicates that the player has counterplay
∞
"
Unclear
Better
It is unclear who (if anyone) has an advantage.
Indicates a better move than the one played
Only The only reasonable move, or the only move available
□ Indicates the future plan this move supports.
Δ Idea
∇ Countering Indicates the opponent's plan this move defends against.
⊙ Zugzwang Zugzwang
↑↑ Development Indicates a lead in development.
+/# Check / Checkmate The King have check / King Arrested Checkmate
1-0 Black Resigns White wins
0-1 White Resigns Black wins
½-½ Draw Agreed The Game is a draw by Gentle Agree
! Good or Best move The Move is good / Best
? Bad move or mistake The Move is Bad / a Mistake
(?) Questionable This Move is the not best move
!? Interesting Risky
?! Dubious Too Risky
!! Excellent or brilliant move The Best Move Leading to a Win
?? Blunder A Huge Mistake Leading to a Loss
R Various Alternatives Many other moves are present
! File A Line of square running from Top to Bottom
!

Rank A Line of square running from Side to Side

« Queen's Side The files on the Queen side ( A,B,C,D)
» King's Side The files on the King side ( E,F,G,H)
Week point Which can be easily grabbed
Mate
in
One
MATE IN ONE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE IN ONE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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MATE IN ONE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE IN ONE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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MATE IN ONE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE IN ONE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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MATE IN ONE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE IN ONE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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MATE IN ONE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE IN ONE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Mate / Plus
in
Two
MATE/PLUS IN TWO BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN TWO MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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MATE/PLUS IN TWO BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN TWO MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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MATE/PLUS IN TWO BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN TWO MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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MATE/PLUS IN TWO BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN TWO MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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MATE/PLUS IN TWO BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN TWO MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Fundamental
Endings
FUNDAMENTAL ENDINGS BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
26

Simple Mates - Rook & King Simple Mates - Rook & King

1. Ra7 1. Ke2
[In this posi"on the power of the Rook is [Since the Black King is in the center of the
demonstrated by the first move, which board, the best way to proceed is to advance
immediately confines the Black King to the last your own King.] ...Kd5
rank, and the mate is quickly accomplished.]
...Kg8 2. Ke3
[As the Rook has not yet come into play, it is
2. Kg2 be& er to advance the King straight into the
[The combined ac"on of King and Rook is center of the board, not in front, but to one side
needed to arrive at a posi"on in which mate of the other King.] ...Kc4
can be forced. The general principle for a [Should now the Black King move 2...Ke5 the
beginner to follow is to keep his King as much Rook drives it back by 3.Rh5+ ]
as possible on the same rank, or, as in this case,
file, as the opposing King. When, in this case, 3. Rh5 Kc3
the King has been brought to the sixth rank, it is [If instead 3...Kb4 there follows 4.Kd3 ]
be& er to place it, not on the same file, but on
the one next to it towards the center.] ...Kf8 4. Rh4
[Keeping the King confined to as few squares as
3. Kf3 Ke8 4. Ke4 Kd8 5. Kd5 Kc8 possible. Now the ending may con"nue as
[On move 5 Black could have played 5...Ke8 follows.] ...Kc2
and, according to principle, White would have
con"nued 6.Kd6 Kf8 (the Black King will 5. Rc4+ Kb3 6. Kd3 Kb2 7. Rb4+ Ka3
ul"mately be forced to move in front of the
8. Kc3 Ka2
White King and be mated by a8) 7.Ke6 Kg8
[It should be no"ced how o#en the White King
8.Kf6 Kh8 9.Kg6 Kg8 10.Ra8# ]
has moved next to the Rook, not only to defend
it, but also to reduce the mobility of the
6. Kd6
opposing King. Now White mates in three
[Not 6.Kc6 because then the Black King will go moves.]
back to Kd8 and it will take much longer to
mate. ] 9. Ra4+ Kb1
6. Kb8 10. Ra5
[If now the King moves back to 6...Kd8 7.Ra8# [Or any square on the a-file, forcing the Black
mates as once. ] King in front of the White.] ...Kc1
7. Rc7 Ka8 8.Kc6 Kb8 9. Kb6 Ka8 10. Rc8# 11. Ra1#
[It has taken exactly ten moves to mate from
the original posi"on.]
FUNDAMENTAL ENDINGS MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
27

Simple Mates - Two Bishops Simple Mates - Queen and King

[Since the Black King is in the corner, White can play 1. Qc6
as follows.] [A good way to begin is to make the first move
with the Queen, trying to limit the Black King's
1. Bd3 Kg7 2. Bg5 Kf7
mobility as much as possible.] ...Kd4
3. Bf5
[Already the Black King is confined to a few 2.Kd2
squares. If the Black King, in the original [Already the Black King has only one available
posi"on, had been in the center of the board, square.] ...Ke5
or away from the last row, White should have
advanced his King, and then, with the aid of his
Bishops, restricted the Black King's movements 3. Ke3 Kf5 4. Qd6 Kg5
to as few squares as possible.] ...Kg7 [Should Black play 4...Kg4 then 5.Qg6+ ]

4. Kf2 5. Qe6 Kh4 6. Qg6 Kh3 7. Kf3 Kh4

[In this ending the Black King must not only be
driven to the edge of the board, but he must [ However the King moves the Queen mates,
also be forced into a corner, and, before a mate e.g. 7...Kh2 8.Qg2# ]
can be given, the White King must be brought
to the sixth rank and, at the same "me, in one 8.Qg4#
of the last two files; in this case either h6, g6, f7,
or f8; and as h6 and g6 are the nearest squares,
it is to either of these squares that the King
ought to go.] ... Kf7

5. Kg3 Kg7 6.Kh4 Kf7 7.Kh5 Kg7 8. Bg6 Kg8

9. Kh6 Kf8
[White must now mark "me and move one of
the Bishops, so as to force the Black King to go
back.]

10. Bh5 Kg8

11. Be7 Kh8

[Now the White Bishop must take up a posi"on
from which it can give check next move along
the White diagonal, when the Black King moves
back to g8.]

12. Bg4 Kg8 13.Be6+ Kh8 14.Bf6#

FUNDAMENTAL ENDINGS BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
28

Pawn Promo"on - Pawns Pawn Promo"on - Pawns

1. e3 Ke5 1. Ke4 Ke6

[The posi"on is drawn, and the way to proceed [Black does not allow the White King to
is for Black to keep the King always directly in advance, therefore White is now compelled to
front of the pawn, and when it cannot be done, advance his pawn so as to force Black to move
as for instance in this posi"on because of the away. He is then able to advance his own King.]
White King, then the Black King must be kept in
front of the White King.] 2. e3 Kf6 3. Kd5 Ke7
[If Black had played 3...Kf5 then White would
be forced to advance the pawn 4.e4+ since he
2. Kd3 Kd5 could not advance his King without leaving
[This is a very important move. Any other move Black the opportunity to play 4... e4, winning
would lose, as will be shown later. As the Black the pawn. Since he has not done so, it is be& er
King cannot be kept close up to the pawn, it for White not to advance the pawn yet, since its
must be brought as far forward as possible and, own safety does not require it, but to try to
at the same "me, in front of the White King.] bring the King s"ll further forward. ]

3. e4+ Ke5 4.Ke3 Ke6 5.Kf4 Kf6 4. Ke5 Kd7 5. Kf6 Ke8
[Again the same case. As the White King comes [Now the White pawn is too far back and it may
up, the Black King must be kept in front of it, be brought up within protec"on of the King.]
since it cannot be brought up to the pawn.]
6. e4 Kd7 7.e5
[Now it would not do to play 7.Kf7 because
6. e5+ Ke6 7.Ke4 Ke7 8.Kd5 Kd7 Black would play Kd6 and White would have to
bring back his King to protect the pawn.
9. e6+ Ke7 10.Ke5 Ke8 Therefore he must con"nue. ]
11. Kd6 Kd8 7...Ke8
[If now White advances the pawn, the Black [Had he moved anywhere else 7...Kd8 White
King gets in front of it.] could have played 8.Kf7 followed by the
advance of the pawn to e6, e7, e8; all these
12. e7+ squares being protected by the King. As Black
[If instead of advancing the pawn White tries to prevent that, White must now force
him to move away, at the same "me always
withdraws his King, Black brings his King up to keeping the King in front of the pawn. ]
the pawn and, when forced to go back, he
moves to e8 in front of the pawn ready to come 8.Ke6
up again or to move in front of the White King, [8.e6 would make it a draw, as Black would
should the la& er advance.] ...Ke8 then play Kf8
and we would have a posi"on similar to the
13. Ke6 one explained in connec"on with Example 5. ]
[White must either give up the pawn or play
this move, and a stalemate results.] 8...Kf8 9.Kd7
[King moves and the White pawn advances to
e8, becomes a Queen, and it is all over.]
FUNDAMENTAL ENDINGS MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
29

Pawn Endings - Pawns Pawn Promo"on - Pawns

1. Kd7 1. Ke4
[ White cannot win by playing In this posi"on. [ In this posi"on White can't win by 1.f5 Black's
White cannot win by playing 1. f6 because best answer would be g6 draws. The student
should work this out ]
Black plays, not 1...gxf6, which would lose, but [ He cannot win by 1.g5 because g6 draws. This,
Kg8 and if then 2.fxg7 ( If 2.f7+ Kf8 and White because of the principle of the "opposi"on"
will never be able to Queen his pawn without which governs this ending as well as all the
losing it; if 2.Ke7 gxf6 3.Kxf6 Kf8 and draws. ) pawn endings alreadys given, and which will be
2...Kxg7 and draws, as shown in a previous explained more fully later on. White can win,
case. White, however, can win in the original however, by playing 1. e4. ]
posi"on by playing 1. d7. ] 1...Kg8 1...Ke6
[If 1...g6 2.Kd4 Ke6 3.Kc5 Kf6 4.Kd6 Kf7 5.g5 Kg7
2. Ke7 Kh8 6.Ke7 Kg8 7.Kf6 Kh7 8.Kf7 and White wins the
pawn. ]
3. f6 gxf6
[If 3...Kg8 4.f7+ Kh8 5.f8Q# ] 2. f5+ Kf6 3.Kf4 g6
[If this pawn is kept back we arrive at the
ending shown in Example 7.]
4. Kf7 f5
4. g5+ Kf7 5.f6 Ke6 6.Ke4 Kf7
5. g7+ Kh7
7. Ke5 Kf8
[White cannot force his f-pawn into a Queen
6. g8Q+ Kh6
(find out why), but by giving his pawn up he can
win the other pawn and the game.]
7. Qg6#
8. f7 Kxf7 9.Kd6 Kf8 10.Ke6 Kg7

11. Ke7 Kg8 12.Kf6 Kh7 13. Kf7 Kh8

14. Kxg6 Kg8

[There is s"ll some resistance in Black's
posi"on. In fact, the only way to win is the one
given here, as will easily be seen by
experiment.]

15. Kh6 Kh8 16. g6 Kg8 17. g7 Kf7

18.Kh7
[And White Queens the pawn and wins.]
FUNDAMENTAL ENDINGS BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
30

Pawn Endings - Pawns Pawn Promo"on - Pawns

1. f5 Ke7 1. g4
[If 1...g6 2.f6 and we have a similar ending to [It is generally advisable to advance the pawn
one of those shown previously ] that is free from opposi"on.] ...a5
[If 1...h6 2.g5 ] [Black makes an advance on the other side, and
now White considers whether or not he should
2. Ke5 Kf7 stop the advance. In this case either way wins,
but generally the advance should be stopped
3. g5 Ke7 when the opposing King is far away.]
[ If 3...g6 4.f6 ]
[and if 3...h6 4.g6+ and in either case we have a 2. a4 Kf6
similar ending to one of those already shown. ]
3. h4 Ke6
4. h5 [If 3...Kg6 then the simple coun"ng will show
[And by following it up with g5-g6 we have the that White goes to the other side with his King,
same ending previously shown. If Black should wins the pawn at a5, and then Queens his
play 4...g6 himself we have the following.] ...g6 single pawn long before Black can do the same.
]
5. hxg6 hxg6 6.f6+
[With the same result.] 4. g5 Kf7 5.Kf5 Kg7

6. h5 Kf7
[If 6...h6 7.g6 and then the two pawns defend
themselves and White can go to the other side
with his King, to win the other pawn. ]

7. Ke5
[Now it is "me to go to the other side with the
King, win the Black pawn and Queen the single
pawn. This is typical of all such endings and
should be worked out by the student in this
case and in similar cases which he can put up.]
 Safety of
THE KING
SAFETY OF THE KING BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
32

Safety of the King

The King is the most valuable piece in chess, therefore you need to think about his safety as early as
possible. The safest place is usually the one the King occupies a#er castling, where he is under the cover of his
pawns and the protec"on of his light pieces. Loca"ng the King in the centre is less reliable because this is where
the main clashes of the game occur most o#en.

So if you don't want your King to be exposed to superfluous danger, take care of him and castle in the
opening. For this purpose the light pieces must enter the game as soon as possible, and the pawns must move as
li& le as possible, especially on that flank where you intend to castle.

You can choose between two possibili"es: castle short or castle long. When you make your choice,
please bear in mind the following:

Firstly, determine whether you want to play with one sided castling (when both partners castle on the
same flank) or opposite castling (when they withdraw the kings on different flanks). If you prefer to a& ack and
sharp play with combina"ons and sacrifices, castle to the side which is opposite of the enemy's castling.

And if you like more posi"onal, strategical play, you should be& er strive for posi"ons with one sided
castling.
SAFETY OF THE KING MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
33

Secondly, it is necessary to men"on that protec"ng the King is more complicated when castling long,
for a#er that the a pawn is not protected by the King and the c-pawn is not protected by the Rook. A#er castling
short, however, the h-pawn turns out to be protected by the King and the f-pawn by King and Rook together.

Thus the line of defense when castling long is a bit extended. To consolidate the posi"on, you o#en have
to waste a tempo for a move by the King (to b8 for Black, to b1 for White). To make the long castling possible, as a
rule the Queen moves to e7,d7,c7,b6 or a5 for Black, and to e2,d2,c2,b3 or a4 for White.

About pawn configura"ons covering a castling posi"on we talk more detail in the sec"on Pawn Cover of
the King.

If your opponent takes his "me about castling and leaves his King in the centre, you should seek ways of
opening up the central lines for a direct a& ack on the King. Even the sacrifice of material can be effec"ve in such
cases.

Also do not forget that in some situa"ons you can prevent the opponent's castling, for example by
checking the King when he cannot cover, or by a& acking one of the squares which he has to pass for castling.
Here are some examples:

.
Mate / Plus
in
Three
MATE/PLUS IN THREE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
36

Chess Master Signature : Incharge Signature : Date :

Parent’s Signature : Principal / Correspondent’s Signature :

MATE/PLUS IN THREE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
37

Diag. 1 Diag. 2 Diag. 3

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

Diag. 4 Diag. 5 Diag. 6

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

Diag. 7 Diag. 8 Diag. 9

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

The Most Important Endgame Principles.

1. Pair of Bishops are stronger than pair of Knights.

2. Bishop is usually stronger than Knight.

3. Rook and Bishop are usually stronger than Rook and Knight.

4. Queen and Knight are usually stronger than Queen and Bishop.

5. Rook belong behind passed pawns, of your own or the opponent.

6. If A Rook is on the Seventh Rank, A King’s ac"va"on is worth a Pawn.

7. The easiest endings to draw are those with opposite coloured Bishops. (in End Game).

8. When your opponent has a Bishop, you usually have to put your pawns on the squares of the same colour
t h a t
squares of this Bishop. At the same "me, when you have a Bishop, you have to put your pawns on the squares
o f
the colour, opposite to the Bishop's squares, no ma& er if your opponent has a Bishop or not.
MATE/PLUS IN THREE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
38

Chess Master Signature : Incharge Signature : Date :

Parent’s Signature : Principal / Correspondent’s Signature :

MATE/PLUS IN THREE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
39

Diag. 10 Diag. 11 Diag. 12

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

Diag. 13 Diag. 14 Diag. 15

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

Diag. 16 Diag. 17 Diag. 18

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

7 Most Important Differences between Chess Master and Beginnier.

1. Chess Master has plans ahead, while you're thinking a move at a "me

One of the most important differences between chess master and a regular chess player is ability to plan the
game. Most chess players think one or two moves ahead. Stronger players make a plan without actually
calcula"ng the moves. They plan a& acks, certain manoeuvres, castling, pawn structure changes, etc.

The plan is generally formulated by taking into account certain posi"onal aspects such as space,
development, pawn structure, safety of the kings, and so on. Only a#er the plan is made, a master player would
start calcula"on how it can be realized. Choosing a correct plan is very important, and a& ributes to a great deal
of success in the game.

2. Chess Master sees pa& erns, while you're seeing pawns and pieces

It is known that to become a chess master you need to spend approximately 10,000 hours on chess. It may
take much less "me if you are a very talented player (like Karjakin or Carlsen). But generally it takes about 3-4
years to reach that level of play with some serious training.

When one reaches Master level, he stops seeing pawns and pieces as separate en""es. Masters see the
board as a whole, paying specific a& en"on to most important elements. That helps tremendously simplify
thinking process, because there is no need to calculate everything, only the so-called “hot-spots”.
MATE/PLUS IN THREE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN THREE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
41

Diag. 19 Diag. 20 Diag. 21

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

Diag. 22 Diag. 23 Diag. 24

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

Diag. 25 Diag. 26 Diag. 27

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

7 Most Important Differences between Chess Master and Beginnier.

You may think of it as the heat map. You only need to calculate the red areas and not the blue ones. For an
ordinary player, it is rather unclear what to pay specific a& en"on to. That's why they are far less efficient over the
board, and need to exert much greater effort to accomplish the same amount of work.

3. Chess Master knows what to calculate, while you a& empt to calculate everything

Con"nuing the previous point, a Master Player knows exactly what varia"ons to calculate. He has a well-
developed intui"on which tells him where to search for the most promising moves. He just needs to deep-
calculate (this will help you to learn how) one or two lines, instead of five like an amateur would a& empt to do.
Needless to say, that approach saves a lot of "me and mental energy, allowing focusing only on the most
important tasks.

4. Chess Master improves his posi"on with every move, while you're trying to equalize

Master level players don't make random moves. All the moves are part of a plan. If there is no clear plan
exists, a master player would try to improve his posi"on as much as possible before a& emp"ng an a& ack or a
break through. The “improvement process” involves reloca"ng pieces to op"mal squares, defending the
weaknesses, insuring safety of the king, and playing possible prophylac"c moves.
MATE/PLUS IN THREE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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43

Diag. 28 Diag. 29 Diag. 30

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

Diag. 31 Diag. 32 Diag. 33

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

Diag. 34 Diag. 35 Diag. 36

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

7 Most Important Differences between Chess Master and Beginnier.

A#er prepara"on is done a master player would end up with a superior posi"on. He is now ready to launch a
devasta"ng a& ack, or to simply squeeze out the life from his opponent's posi"on. The quality of prepara"on and
"ming is something that separates master level player from the rest of the field.

5. Chess Master knows when to take his "me, while you spend "me uniformly or Calcula"ng unnecessary
moves.

Another common characteris"c of a master player is that he knows when and how to use the clock. He knows
exactly when to take a break from making moves and when to start thinking about the con"nua"on.

He can iden"fy the key moments in the posi"on, and realize when making the right decision is especially
crucial. Amateur players do not feel when they need to take their "me. That's why they usually spend "me
uniformly throughout the game. It is not the best approach and o#en"mes it leads to a lost game with plenty
MATE/PLUS IN THREE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN THREE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
45

Diag. 37 Diag. 38 Diag. 39

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

Diag. 40 Diag. 41 Diag. 42

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

Diag. 43 Diag. 44 Diag. 45

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

7 Most Important Differences between Chess Master and Beginnier.

"me le# on the clock. Clock management seems to be a minor thing, but only with enough experience we start
using "me wisely.

6. Chess Master plays the opening with a middlegame in mind, while you play just to develop the pieces

It is well known that chess masters know the opening theory 20-25 moves deep. What most players don't
realize is that masters play certain openings because they want to reach a playable Middlegame. Reaching a
favorable Middlegame is a primary func"on of the opening on high level. However, club players play the opening
only to develop the pieces and to put king into safety (aka castling). If these goals are accomplished in a "mely
manner the opening play is considered successful.

7. Chess Master know when to go into endgame, while you do it randomly

Chess masters know how to accumulate small advantages throughout the game and they know precisely
when it is "me to convert them into a win. Things like doubled pawns, pawn islands, passive pieces, ac"vity of
the king, and passed pawns are strong indicators of advantages and disadvantages in chess. Master level player
MATE/PLUS IN THREE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN THREE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 46 Diag. 47 Diag. 48

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

Diag. 49 Diag. 50 Diag. 51

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

Diag. 52 Diag. 53 Diag. 54

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

PAWN
1. Pawn is the weakest piece on the chess board, it worth one point (1 point = 1 pawn).

2. Pawn is the only chess piece that can promote to any other piece once it reaches the Final rank (or 1st for
black).

3. Once a pawn reaches 6-7 rank (or 2-3 for black) it worth as much as a rook.

4. Doubled pawns are weaker than connected pawns since they cannot protect each other.

5. Pawn which doesn't have any opponent's pawns on its way and also Pawns on adjacent file is called a passed
pawn.

6. Once a pawn becomes passed it gains value.

7. “Passed pawns must be pushed”.

8. Central pawns are considered to be more valuable than pawns on the edge since they occupy/control central
squares: e4-e5- d3-d5 which play significant role in chess strategy. (Middle Game)
Theoretical
Draws
THEORETICAL DRAWS BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
50

Theore"cal Draws - Training Posi"ons Rook Pawn Cannot be Promote, If

Queening in square wrong colour Bishop

1. Kd5 Kb7 2. Kc6 Stalemate / Draw 1. Kf4 Kh7 2. h4 Kh8 3. Kg5 Kh7 4. Be6 Kh8
5. h5 Kg7 6.h6+ Kh8 7.Kf6 [7.Kg6=]7...Kh7
8.Kg5==

1.Ke7 Kg8 2.Ba2+ [2.Ke8 Kh8 3.Kf7=] 1.Kf1! [The rule: white king moves to the square
2...Kh8 3.Bb1= [3.Ke8=] = of the same color as a knight's square.]
1...Nf6 2.Kf2 Ng4+ 3.Kf1 Ne3+ 4.Kf2 Ng2
5.Kf1 Nh4 6.Kf2 Nf5 7.Kf1 Ng3+ 8.Kf2==
THEORETICAL DRAWS MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
51

Theore"cal Draws - Training Posi"ons

Sacrifice and Stalemate

1. Qb6+ 2. Ka8 Qd8+ [2...Ke2=] 1.Qb3+ Ka1 2.Qc3+ [2.Qxc2=]

3. Kb7 Qd7+ 4. Kb8 Qb5+ 5. Ka8 Qa6 2...Kb1 3.Qb3+ Ka1=
[5...Kf2=]

Make a Plan wrong colour

queening square Bishop

Lissitsyn 1952 Rabinovich

1.Bac6 Bc6 2.Bxb7+ Kxb7=]= 1...b5! 2.cxb6 Kb7==
SAFETY OF THE KING BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
52

Types of Draw
How gam es are drawn ?

There are seven ways to draw a game of chess:

1. Perpetual Check

2. Stalemate

3. Insufficient ma"ng material :

when neither side has enough pieces on the board to checkmate the enemy king then the game is
drawn. It is impossible to checkmate with just the two kings on the board. king and bishop against a king and
knight against a king and two knights against a king.

4. Repe""on of moves:

5. Fi#y move rule:

If both sides have made 50 consecu"ve moves without making capture or pawn move then a player
may claim a draw.

6. Draw by agreement.

7. Photographic draw.
Mate / Plus
in
Four
MATE/PLUS IN FOUR BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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Diag. 1 Diag. 2 Diag. 3

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 4 Diag. 5 Diag. 6

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 7 Diag. 8 Diag. 9

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

PAWN
9. Isolated pawns are usually weaker in the endgame than in the middle game.

10. The strongest pawn structure is when all pawns are connected together.

11. A square which is not control by the pawn is called weak square.

12. Pawns cannot go backwards, so when making pawn moves it needs to be taken into considera"on in order to
avoid crea"on of weak squares, which can be used by the opponent's pieces as outposts.
MATE/PLUS IN FOUR BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN FOUR MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 10 Diag. 11 Diag. 12

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 13 Diag. 14 Diag. 15

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 16 Diag. 17 Diag. 18

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

I'M LIKE A PAWN

The bigger your goals are, the bigger challenges are needs to overcome as a leader to unroll your life. Fulfilling
your dreams and goals, for your good and for others.

2nd RANK: (BEGINNING) First I was just a simple pawn it's symbolizes my weakness and immaturity. I decided
to advance to move to the 4th rank.

4th RANK: I have to win ba& le and challenges in life myself. I have my courage and determina"on to stand my
decision and fight for it no ma& er what stands in front of me.

5th RANK: I have to keep moving forward. Unlike other pieces, I cannot move backward or Side ways because
life is ahead, past is past, Looking back will not help me, moving forward is the only thing I have to do (FUTURE).
MATE/PLUS IN FOUR BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN FOUR MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 19 Diag. 20 Diag. 21

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 22 Diag. 23 Diag. 24

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 25 Diag. 26 Diag. 27

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

I'M LIKE A PAWN

6th RANK: I just keep moving forward, I have to face the problem neither run away or take another way. But the
nearer I get to 8th rank, more and bigger challenges comes in my way.

7th RANK: While I am near success (8th RANK), I know that many opponent or pieces will afraid of me, and will
a& ack me, I become their threat. I have to be careful and cau"ous in my decision to advance in life.

8th RANK: (PROMOTION) Now I can promote My self to another piece like QUEEN, KNIGHT, BISHOP or ROOK.
It symbolizes success in life.

Living in the past is a dull and a lonely thing to do, it will just strain our neck muscle ` look forward be& er things is
yet to come, I have no regrets because I don't believe in looking back.

I was just a pawn controlled by God.

MATE/PLUS IN FOUR BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN FOUR MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 28 Diag. 29 Diag. 30

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 31 Diag. 32 Diag. 33

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 34 Diag. 35 Diag. 36

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

“Chess principles & theory to keep in mind."

1. Control the centre.

2. Develop your pieces quickly.

3. Put your pieces on squares that give them maximum space.

4. Try to develop your knights towards the center.

5. A knight on the rim is dim.

6. Play aggressive.

7. Calculate forced moves first.

MATE/PLUS IN FOUR BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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Diag. 37 Diag. 38 Diag. 39

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 40 Diag. 41 Diag. 42

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 43 Diag. 44 Diag. 45

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

“Chess principles & theory to keep in mind."

8. Always ask yourself, "Can he put me in check or win a piece?"

9. Have a plan. Every move should have a purpose.

10. Assume your opponent's move and his best move

12. Ask yourself, "Why did he move there?" a#er each move.

13. Play for the ini"a"ve and control the board.

14. If you must lose a piece, get something for it if you can.

15. When behind, exchange pawns. When ahead, exchange pieces.

MATE/PLUS IN FOUR BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN FOUR MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 46 Diag. 47 Diag. 48

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 49 Diag. 50 Diag. 51

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 52 Diag. 53 Diag. 54

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

“Chess principles & theory to keep in mind."

16. If you are losing, don't give up figh"ng. Look for counter-play.

17. Don't play unsound moves unless you are losing badly.

18. Don't sacrifice without a good reason.

19. If you are in doubt of an opponent's sacrifice, accept it.

20. A& ack with more that just one or two pieces.

21. Do not make careless pawn moves. They cannot move back.

22. Do not block your bishops.

Mate / Plus
in
Five
MATE/PLUS IN FIVE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN FIVE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 1 Diag. 2 Diag. 3

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

Diag. 4 Diag. 5 Diag. 6

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

Diag. 7 Diag. 8 Diag. 9

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

“Chess principles & theory to keep in mind."

23. Bishop’s of opposite colours have the greatest chance of drawing in the ending.

24. Try to not move same pieces twice or more "mes in a row.

25. Exchange pieces if it helps your development.

26. Don't bring your queen out early.

27. Castle soon to protect your king and develop your rook.
MATE/PLUS IN FIVE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN FIVE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 10 Diag. 11 Diag. 12

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

Diag. 13 Diag. 14 Diag. 15

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

Diag. 16 Diag. 17 Diag. 18

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

“Chess principles & theory to keep in mind."

28. Develop rooks to open files, and try to occupy the seventh rank.

29. Put rooks behind passed pawns.

30. Study rook end games. They are the most common end games.

31. Don't let your king get caught in the centre.

32. Don't castle if it brings your king into a great danger.

MATE/PLUS IN FIVE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN FIVE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 19 Diag. 20 Diag. 21

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

Diag. 22 Diag. 23 Diag. 24

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

Diag. 25 Diag. 26 Diag. 27

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

“Chess principles & theory to keep in mind."

33. A#er castling, keep a good pawn forma"on around your king. (shelter pawn)
36. If cramped, free your game by exchanging material.
37. If your opponent is cramped, don't let him get any freeing exchanges.
38. Study openings you are comfortable with.
39. Play over en"re games, not just the opening.
40. Blitz chess is helpful in recognizing chess pa& erns. Play o#en.
MATE/PLUS IN FIVE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN FIVE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 28 Diag. 29 Diag. 30

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

Diag. 31 Diag. 32 Diag. 33

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

Diag. 34 Diag. 35 Diag. 36

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

“Chess principles & theory to keep in mind."

41. Study annotated games and try to guess each move.
42. S"ck with just a few openings with White, and a few openings with Black.
43. Record all games.
44. Show your games to higher rated opponents and get feedback from them.
45. Use chess computers and databases to help you study and play more
46. Everyone blunders. The champions just blunder less o#en.
MATE/PLUS IN FIVE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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MATE/PLUS IN FIVE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 37 Diag. 38 Diag. 39

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

Diag. 40 Diag. 41 Diag. 42

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

Diag. 43 Diag. 44 Diag. 45

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

“Chess principles & theory to keep in mind."

47. When it is not your move, look for tac"cs and combina"ons.
48. Try to double the rook on open file.
49. Always ask yourself, "Does my next move over look something simple?"
50. make your own plans a#er see opponent's threats.
51. Watch out for captures by retreat of an opponent's piece.
52. Do not focus on one side of the board. View the whole board. (K Side, Q Side, Center)
MATE/PLUS IN FIVE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
78

“Chess principles & theory to keep in mind."

53. Write down your move first before making that move if it helps. (during the prac"ces)
54. Try to solve puzzles with diagrams from books, magazines and from internet.
56. Recognize transposi"on of moves from main line play.
57. Budget your "me and avoid "me trouble.
58. Bishops are worth more than knights except when they are pinned in.
59.NN < NB < BB.
60. It is usually a good idea to trade down into a pawn up endgame.
61. When all of your pieces are standing on the ac"ve squares, search for tac"cs.
62. Useful a& acking "p, try to exchange the Key defensive piece. Spot the main defender and eliminate it.
63. Always search for weak squares in the opponent's camp.
64. Include all the pieces into the a& ack and when you are a& acking.
67. When the "d" file is open - castle long.
MATE/PLUS IN FIVE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
79

Diag. 46 Diag. 47 Diag. 48

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

Diag. 49 Diag. 50

W B W B
1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

“Chess principles & theory to keep in mind."

68. Put your King to the other side of the board and then start the pawn storm a& ack opposite side castle.
69. When your opponent starts a pawn storm a& ack in one side, you should close the lines there.
70. keep in mind that "endgame" is the beginning of the game.
71. If he counter’s the flank, break the centre.
72. Equalize and then outplay your opponent by using strategy and tac"cs.
74. Don't forget to focus all your moves on the centre, occupy it, influence it. Control the centre and you control
the game.
75. To gain space or open lines, advance pawns.
76. Long range piece need open lines to func"on well.
77. If checkma"ng your opponent is the strongest move, then queening a pawn successfully is the second
strongest move.
78. Healthy pawns mean a healthy game.
79. If you know your opponent's style take advantage of it.
Attack on
The King
ATTACK ON THE KING BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
82

A ack on the King :

Any a? ack must have a goal. When a chess player a? acks, he strives to achieve one of the following
purposes: to gain a material, to get a posiOonal advantage or to mate the opponent's king.

The most important piece on the chessboard is the king, therefore very oOen the a? ack is conducted
against his majesty's castling fortress or his posiOon in the middle. This is the most dangerous kind of a? ack as
aOer a successful king hunt - the game is simply over.

To be successful, the a? ack on the king must have certain prerequisites which may differ according to
the concrete situaOon. However there are also so-called base prerequisites which, although they may also arise
by chance, in most cases are created by systemaOc play. Here they are:

1. Weaknesses in the opponent's castling posiOon.

If you opponent has some weak squares around his king as a result of pawn moves, this is a welcome
prerequisite for an a? ack. There are different ways to cause such weaknesses. For example one can a? ack the
pawns with pieces forcing them to advance or undermine them with one of your own pawns. undermine them
with one of your own pawns.

Piece a? acks against the pawn cover of the enemy king happen more oOen in posiOons with similar
castling. AOer opposite-side castlings usually the other method is used - a pawn storm resulOng in the
destrucOon of the king's cover and breaking open files and diagonals Here are two examples:

The posiOon on the leO diagram shows an example of piece pressure on the pawn cover of the king,
compelling the opponent to make a weakening move with the g-pawn. The next posiOon illustrates how that
pawn can be undermined giving White some new opportuniOes. By means of exchange he can weaken the pawn
cover of the black king and break open the h-file; or by moving the h-pawn ahead he can take under control the
weak g7 square.
ATTACK ON THE KING MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
83

In the above posiOon, for example, White plays creaOng the maOng threat on g7.

2. Lack of piece protecOon of the opponent's king or opportunity to push the defenders away.

If the king's pawn cover is not proteced by pieces, it canIf the king's pawn cover is not proteced by pieces,
it can be easily weakened or destroyed To this purpose the a? acker someOmes even decides sacrifice piece
or/and pawn(s). In the posiOon below Black sacrifices two bishops to destroy the pawn cover of the white king
and carries out a maOng a? ack.

1.Bxh2+ !!

However, to be successful such a destroying sacrifice must be prepared beforehand. You need to
concentrate your forces on that flank where the a? ack is planned. The more pieces 'look' at the enemy king's
basOon, the more chances for success.

If the opponent's king is guarded by officers, before beginning an a? ack one should think about how to
drive pieces away
ATTACK ON THE KING BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
84

3. Opportunity to include the heavy pieces in the a ack.

If there are no open or semi-open files on the flank where the a? ack is planned, it is very important to
provide safe routes for the transfer of your heavy pieces. In posiOons with castlings on the same side, this usually
happens along the 3rd rank, as shown in the following Diagram:

In posiOons with opposite-side castlings, the rooks join the a? ack usually aOer a pawn storm.

4. Opportunity to launch a pawn offensive.

At the beginning stage of the a? ack pawns are the most effecOve tool. A pawn offensive allows to fulfill
several tasks simultaneously: 1) pushing away the opponent's pieces which are protecOng their king 2)
destroying the pieces which are protecOng their king 2) destroying the king's pawn cover 3) breaking open of
files and diagonals for heavy pieces and bishops. Here are some examples :

In this posiOon White carries out a kingside pawn storm, the main ideas of which are to drive the enemy
pieces away, exchange pawns covering his king and break open one or two files in order to deliver the decisive
blow with the heavy pieces.
ATTACK ON THE KING MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
85

This example demonstrates the role of the h-pawn for breaking open a diagonal for bishop and queen.
As you see, not only the pawn storm (that is an approach with several pawns) can be effecOve, but also an
offensive with one single pawn. Pawn storms are usually undertaken in posiOons aOer opposite-side castling, as
are a? acks with one single pawn. Apart from h-pawn, the f-pawn is also oOen pushed forward backed up by the
rook:

Now let us have a look at some instrucOve games. When studying them, pay special a? enOon to another
very important factor - Ome. An a? ack should be carried out quickly and resolutely. Any delay can cost you
dearly, especially in posiOons with opposite-side castlings, when you a? ack at one side and your opponent at
the other.
 Pawn
Strategy
PAWN STRATEGY BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
88

Pawns and Pawn Structures :

As you already know, any situaOon on the board is characterized by certain features or posiOonal
factors. Among them the arrangement of Pawns plays an especially important part. Why?

Pawns have a very low mobility, and in many cases they can not move at all, for example, when the
squares in front of them are occupied or a? acked by the opponent's pieces. Besides - a piece, occupying a bad
posiOon, can be moved to another square or returned to a previous posiOon. Pawns don't have this possibility.
They can move only in one direcOon - just forward. All this results in the pawns remaining on their places for a
rather long Ome, thus determining a general "skeleton" of a posiOon. According to this Pawn skeleton, the other
pieces are arranged.

The allocaOon of Pawns - or as chess players say, the Pawn structure - can have many different forms. In
some posiOons Pawns are arranged like a "chain", in others they resemble "islands", they may be like "nails" or
"wedges", etc. There are "good" and "bad" Pawns. For instance, connected Pawns, passed Pawns and some
Pawn chains are considered to be "good", whereas a backward Pawn, doubled and isolated Pawns mostly
belong to the "bad" ediOon. However, "bad" Pawns are not always really bad, and "good" Pawns good. There
are some excepOons. In order to understand what Pawns are and which factors determine their weakness or
strength, let's consider the following Pawn structures in more detail :

Pawn Cover of the King (shelter pawns),

Backward Pawn
Example:

1.d4d5 2.c4c6 3.Nc3dxc4 4.e4b5 5.a4b4 6.Na2Nf6 7.e5Nd5 8.Bxc4e6 9.Nf3Be7 10.Bd2a5 11.Nc1Nd7
12.Nb3h6 13.O-OQb6 14.Qe2Ba6 15.Rfc1O-O 16.Bxa6Qxa6 17.Qxa6Rxa6 18.Kf1Rc8 19.Ke2Kf8 20.Rc2Ke8
21.Be3N5b6 22.Ne1h5 23.Nd3Nd5 24.g3f6 25.Rac1Kf7 26.exf6gxf6 27.Nf4Nxf4+ 28.Bxf4Nf8 29.Nc5Bxc5
30.Rxc5f5 31.Bg5Nd7 32.R5c2Kg6 33.h4Kf7 34.f3c5 35.dxc5Rac6 36.Rd1Nb6 37.Be3Nxa4 38.Ra1b3 39.Rd2Nxc5
40.Rxa5Na6 41.Rb5Rb8 42.Rd7+Ke8 43.Rxb8+Nxb8 44.Rb7Rc2+ 45.Kf1Nd7 46.Rxb3Ke7 47.Bg5+Kd6
48.Rd3+Kc6 49.Rd2Rc4 50.Ke2e5 51.Be7e4 52.Rd6+Kc7 53.Rd5Rc2+ 54.Ke3Rxb2 55.Rxf5exf3 56.Kxf3Rb3+
57.Kf4 1-0

Isolated Pawn
Example:
1.c4Nf6 2.Nc3e6 3.e4d5 4.e5Nfd7 5.d4dxc4 6.Nf3Nb6 7.Be3Be7 8.Nd2f5 9.Nxc4Nd5 10.Be2O-O 11.O-
Ob6 12.Nxd5exd5 13.Na3Bb7 14.Nb5Qd7 15.Rc1Nc6 16.Nc3Nd8 17.f4Ne6 18.a3a6 19.b4c6 20.g4g6 21.gxf5gxf5
22.Rf3Kh8 23.Bd3Rf7 24.Rh3Rg8+ 25.Kh1c5 26.Qh5Nd8 27.Ne2c4 28.Bb1Bc8 29.Ng3Bf8 30.Re1h6 31.Qf3Qe6
32.Rh5Qg6 33.Rg1Qh7 34.Qf1Be6 35.Qh3 1-0

Doubled Pawn
Example :
1.d4Nf6 2.c4e6 3.Nc3Bb4 4.Qc2O-O 5.e4d6 6.a3Bxc3+ 7.bxc3e5 8.Bd3Nc6 9.Ne2b6 10.O-OBa6 11.f4Nd7
12.Be3Na5 13.c5Bc4 14.cxd6cxd6 15.Ng3Qc7 16.Nf5Kh8 17.Rf3Rac8 18.Raf1f6 19.Bf2b5 20.Bg3a6 21.h4Bf7
22.Be1Nb6 23.Qf2Nac4 24.Rg3g6 25.Nh6Be6 26.f5gxf5 27.Nxf5Rg8 28.Nxd6Rcf8 29.Rxg8+Kxg8 30.Nf5Qd7
31.Qg3+Kh8 32.d5Bxf5 33.Rxf5Nd6 34.Rf1Nbc4 35.h5Qg7 36.Qh4Rg8 37.Qxf6Ne3 38.Qxg7+Kxg7 39.Rf3Nec4
40.Bh4Kh6 41.Be7Kxh5 42.Rf6Rg6 43.Rf5+Nxf5 44.exf5Rg4 1-0
PAWN STRATEGY MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
89

Passed Pawn
Example:
1.e4c5 2.Nf3Nc6 3.d4cxd4 4.Nxd4e5 5.Nxc6bxc6 6.Bc4Nf6 7.Bg5Be7 8.Qe2d5 9.Bxf6Bxf6 10.Bb3O-O
11.O-Oa5 12.exd5cxd5 13.Rd1d4 14.c4Qb6 15.Bc2Bb7 16.Nd2Rae8 17.Ne4Bd8 18.c5Qc6 19.f3Be7 20.Rac1f5
21.Qc4+Kh8 22.Ba4Qh6 23.Bxe8fxe4 24.c6exf3 25.Rc2Qe3+ 26.Kh1Bc8 27.Bd7f2 28.Rf1d3 29.Rc3Bxd7
30.cxd7e4 31.Qc8Bd8 32.Qc4Qe1 33.Rc1d2 34.Qc5Rg8 35.Rd1e3 36.Qc3Qxd1 37.Rxd1e2 0-1

Pawn Chain
Example:
1.d4g6 2.e4Bg7 3.c4d6 4.Nc3Nc6 5.Be3e5 6.d5Nce7 7.f3f5 8.c5Nf6 9.Bb5+Kf7 10.h3f4 11.Bf2g5
12.Nge2h5 13.cxd6cxd6 14.Qb3g4 15.O-O-Og3 16.Be1Ng6 17.Ng1Nh4 18.Bf1a6 19.Kb1b5 20.Nge2Nd7
21.Nc1Nc5 22.Qc2Bd7 23.b4Na4 24.Nb3Nxc3+ 25.Bxc3Qb6 26.Na5Rhc8 27.Qd2Ra7 28.Bb2Bf6 29.Rc1Rxc1+
30.Bxc1Bd8 31.Kc2Rc7+ 32.Kd1Rc8 33.Nb3Qa7 34.Bd3Bb6 35.Re1Bf2 36.Bf1Bxe1 37.Qxe1Qg1 38.Qe2Bxh3
0-1

Hanging Pawn (How to make Hanging Pawn)

A pair of pawns on adjacent files that are separated from all other pawns are known as "Hanging Pawns"
(a term coined by Steinitz).
Hanging pawns possess strengths and weaknesses.
The elements of strength include the possibility of opening files through their advance and with this comes
an increase in space, and the possibility of controlling key squares that can be used as outposts for Knights
and Bishops.
On the other hand they can also be weak. They can only be defended by pieces. This vulnerability can be
exploited by a? acking them with pieces, forcing the opponent to protect them with pieces. The defending
pieces can then be a? acked and exchanged at a suitable moment and this can oOen result in the win of a
pawn or forcing another pawn weakness elsewhere. They can also be weakened by forcing the advance of
one of them leaving the other one backward and a hole into which a piece can be placed. A third way of
exploiOng their weakness is to a? ack them with a pawn of your own, this can force a pawn exchange that
results in an isolated pawn.
The current view is that hanging pawns are weak if their side is behind in development but strong if their
side is ahead in development.
These games illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of the hanging pawns

Example:
1.d4d5 2.c4e6 3.Nc3Nf6 4.Nf3Be7 5.Bg5O-O 6.e3Nbd7 7.Rc1b6 8.cxd5exd5 9.Qa4Bb7 10.Ba6Bxa6
11.Qxa6c5 12.Bxf6Nxf6 13.dxc5bxc5 14.O-OQb6 15.Qe2c4 16.Rfd1Rfd8 17.Nd4Bb4 18.b3Rac8 19.bxc4dxc4
20.Rc2Bxc3 21.Rxc3Nd5 22.Rc2c3 23.Rdc1Rc5 24.Nb3Rc6 25.Nd4Rc7 26.Nb5Rc5 27.Nxc3Nxc3 28.Rxc3Rxc3
29.Rxc3Qb2 0-1
 Transition
to the ending
TRANSITION TO THE ENDING BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
92

TransiOon to the ending :

The transiOon to the ending is a very important strategical tool which can be used in various situaOons
for both the weaker and the stronger side! We already met this method when studying the secOons A? ack and
Defence, Isolated Pawn in the Centre, Two Bishops Advantage Material advantage , PosiOonal exchange and
some others. Now we shall try to consider this tool more in detail.

A transiOon to the endgame is a forced exchange of the majority of ba? le units. Such exchanges result,
as a rule, in qualitaOve changes of the posiOon as instead of the strategical principles of the middlegame now the
laws of the endgame are applied.

In what cases is it favourable to apply this tool? A transiOon to the endgame can pursue the following
goals:

1. RealizaOon of a material advantage :

You already know that if you have a material plus it is recommendable to strive for simplificaOons, i.e.
exchange pieces and transfer the game to the ending.

2. RealizaOon of a posiOonal advantage

It is obvious that when having a posiOonal advantage it is not always beneficial to go for an ending. In
what ases is it favourable? The most important factors which need to be taken into account when making this
decision are the following:

A. Presence of a passed pawn or the opportunity to create one.

It is most favourable if this pawn is (or will be) protected and remote, for example as in the game Larsen -
Gligoric (Moscow, 1956):

1.Qxf7!+ Qxf7 2.Bxf7+ Kxf7 3.Rxf8+Kxf8 4.Kxf2

TRANSITION TO THE ENDING MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
93

In this posiOon White made the decision to immediately proceed to the ending in which despite the
material equality he can create a remote passed pawn on the queenside (c-pawn). This circumstance decided
the outcome of the struggle.

B. Availability of weak and/or isolated pawns in the opponent's camp.

This factor is important only if you have the opportunity of a? acking these pawns with your pieces. Here
is an example taken from the game Smyslov - Dorfman (Leningrad, 1977) :

1...Qe8 2.Qxe8+ Nxe8

In this posiOon Black decides to exchange queens, thus transferring the game to a winning ending as
White cannot protect his weak pawns on the queenside.

C. Higher acOvity of your pieces :

Having the more acOve piece posiOon increases the chances of intruding into the opponent's camp and
a? acking his pawns. A good example is the posiOon from the game Karpov - Pomar (Nice, 1974):
TRANSITION TO THE ENDING BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
94

1.Qg6 Qxg6 2.hxg6 Rg7 3.Rxf6 Rdg8 4.Ref1

White realizes his posiOonal advantage (advantage in White realizes his posiOonal advantage
(advantage in space and more acOve piece posiOon) by trading queens with transiOon to endgame.

3. NeutralizaOon of a acking opportuniOes of the opponent and construcOon of a fortress :

At this point you will probably noOce a contradicOon concerning the use of the tool we are examining.
On the one hand it is applied with the purpose of realizing a material or posiOonal advantage, and on the other
hand it can be like a 'life buoy' for the weaker side in difficult posiOons.

This contradicOon is connected with the objecOve complexity of the game of chess - it has a set of valid
posiOonal factors, however, the value of each of these factors always depends on the concrete posiOon. To learn
to take into account these factors requires a deep knowledge in the field of endgame theory and endgame
strategy. As far as endgame theory is concerned, I would recommend you to have a look at the chess literature
devoted to this rich topic. course - Endgame strategy.

Going for an ending with the purpose of neutralizing the a? acking potenOal of the opponent includes
first of all the trade of his acOve pieces in order to reach a more or less equalized posiOon aOerwards. If you
cannot get an equal posiOon, try to build a 'fortress'.

One speaks of a "fortress" when the weaker side has deployed its pieces in such a way that it can keep
balance despite the opponent's material or posiOonal advantage. Here is an example of such a fortress with
opposite-squared bishops:

Black has a big material advantage, but he cannot win: the white king prevents the black king from
moving forward, and the bishop blocks the black pawns.
 Double
Attack
When one piece is a? acked by two enemy pieces at the same Ome,
or when one piece a? acks two enemy pieces at the same Ome
DOUBLE ATTACK BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
96

Chess Master Signature : Incharge Signature : Date :

Parent’s Signature : Principal / Correspondent’s Signature :

DOUBLE ATTACK MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
97

Diag. 1 Diag. 2 Diag. 3

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 4 Diag. 5 Diag. 6

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 7 Diag. 8 Diag. 9

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

“Chess principles & theory to keep in mind."

74. Don't forget to focus all your moves on the center, occupy it, influence it. Control the center and you control
the game.

75. To gain space or open lines, advance pawns.

76. Long range pieces need open lines to funcOon well.
77. If checkmaOng your opponent is the strongest move, then queening a pawn successfully is the second
strongest move.
78. Healthy pawns mean a healthy game.
79. If you know your opponent's style take advantage of it.
80. Answer all threats by using a counter threat, keep in mind that the best defence is a good a? ack.
DOUBLE ATTACK BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
98

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DOUBLE ATTACK MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
99

Diag. 10 Diag. 11 Diag. 12

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 13 Diag. 14 Diag. 15

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 16 Diag. 17 Diag. 18

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

“Chess principles & theory to keep in mind."

81. A? ack in number. Don't rely on just one or two pieces.
82. Don't ignore your opponent's move.
83. Before endgame stage whenever possible create a passed pawns during the middle game.
84. Avoid early exchanges of bishop for knights, knights is be? er for the closed game & bishop is be? er for the
open game.
85. If center is blocked don't automaOcally castle.
86. If you don't know what to do, first evaluate the posiOon then ask quesOon about your analysis.
87. If you see a good move, look for a be? er one.
88. In the Philidor endgame posiOon, the defensive technique is to keep the rook on the 6th rank, unOl the Pawn
advances ahead to the 6th rank. Then the defensive side's Rook should go back to the 1st rank and start checking
the King.
DOUBLE ATTACK BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
100

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Parent’s Signature : Principal / Correspondent’s Signature :

DOUBLE ATTACK MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
101

Diag. 19 Diag. 20 Diag. 21

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 22 Diag. 23 Diag. 24

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 25 Diag. 26 Diag. 27

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Pin :
A? ack on a piece that cannot move away without exposing a more valuable piece behind it. Pins take place
on a rank, file or diagonal.
Sacrifice :
When material is deliberately given up for other gains.
Skewer :
When a piece a? acks two enemy pieces that stand on the same rank, file or diagonal, and the piece in front is
forced to move, exposing the one behind it to capture.
DOUBLE ATTACK BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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DOUBLE ATTACK MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
103

Diag. 28 Diag. 29 Diag. 30

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 31 Diag. 32 Diag. 33

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 34 Diag. 35 Diag. 36

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Square :
One of the 64 secOons on the chess board that can be occupied by a pawn, piece or king.
Stalemate :
When a player who is not in check has no legal move and it is his turn. This means that the game ends in a
draw.
A ack :
When a piece is threatened by capture or a king is threatened by checkmate.
Back rank :
The first rank (for White) or the eighth rank (for Black) on the board.
DOUBLE ATTACK BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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DOUBLE ATTACK MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
105

Diag. 37 Diag. 38 Diag. 39

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 40 Diag. 41 Diag. 42

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 43 Diag. 44 Diag. 45

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms

Blitz game :
Quick game in which each player gets five minutes (or less) for all his moves.
Board sight :
The ability to mentally envision where the pieces are, and what they can do, at each step of a calculaOon.
Capture :
When a piece is removed by an enemy piece, which takes the place of the captured piece.
Castling :
A move by king and rook that serves to bring the king into safety and to acOvate the rook. The king is moved
DOUBLE ATTACK BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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DOUBLE ATTACK MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 46 Diag. 47 Diag. 48

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 49 Diag. 50 Diag. 51

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 52 Diag. 53 Diag. 54

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
sideways two squares from its original square. At the same Ome, a rook moves from its original square to the first
square on the other side of the king.
Castling can take place either to the queenside or to the kingside. It is the only way of moving two pieces in
one turn.A player may only castle if both the king and rook have not moved before, his king is not in check, and
his king does not pass a square on which it will be in check. White castles queenside
Check :
When a king is under direct a? ack by an opposing piece. A check can be countered either by moving the king,
or by capturing the piece that gives the check, or by placing a piece between the king and the piece that gives
check.
Checkmate :
DOUBLE ATTACK BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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DOUBLE ATTACK MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
109

Diag. 55 Diag. 56 Diag. 57

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 58 Diag. 59 Diag. 60

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 61 Diag. 62 Diag. 63

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
When a king is under direct a? ack by an opposing piece and there is no way to deal with the threat.

CombinaOon :
A clever and more or less forced sequence of moves which usually results in an advantage for the player who
starts the sequence.
Cover :
When a piece or a square is protected from a? acks; as soon as an enemy piece captures the covered piece or
occupies the covered square, it is (re)captured by the covering piece.
DeflecOon :
DOUBLE ATTACK BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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DOUBLE ATTACK MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 64 Diag. 65 Diag. 66

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 67 Diag. 68 Diag. 69

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 70 Diag. 71 Diag. 72

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
When a piece is lured away from an important square, file, rank or diagonal.

Diagonal :
A line of squares running from top leO to bo? om right or the other way round (e.g. 'the a1-h8 diagonal', 'the
light-squared diagonal.
Direct a ack (or Direct threat) :
A threat to capture an enemy piece or give checkmate next move, if the opponent does not stop it. The first
move of a 'Takes Takes Bang!' or 'Check Moves Bang!' combinaOon always makes at least one direct a? ack, and
oOen two!
DOUBLE ATTACK BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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DOUBLE ATTACK MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
113

Diag. 73 Diag. 74 Diag. 75

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 76 Diag. 77 Diag. 78

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 79 Diag. 80 Diag. 81

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Double a ack :
When one piece is a? acked by two enemy pieces at the same Ome, or when one piece a? acks two enemy
pieces at the same Ome (for the la? er, see also Fork).
Doubled/tripled pawns :
Two/three pawns of one colour on the same file.
Endgame/Ending :
The final phase of the game when few pieces are leOon the board.
En passant :
When a pawn which has just moved forward two squares from its original square, is captured by an enemy
DOUBLE ATTACK BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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DOUBLE ATTACK MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 82 Diag. 83 Diag. 84

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 85 Diag. 86 Diag. 87

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 88 Diag. 89 Diag. 90

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
pawn standing immediately beside it. This capturing pawn then occupies the square behind the captured pawn.
White captures the d5 pawn en passant

Exchange :
1) When both sides capture pieces that are of equal value. Synonyms are 'trading' or 'swapping' pieces.
2) 'Winning the exchange' means winning a rook for a bishop or knight, a two-point advantage.
Exposed king :
A king unprotected by its own pieces and, especially, its own pawns.
Forcing move :
 Pin
A? ack on a piece that cannot move away
without exposing a more valuable piece behind it.
Pins take place on a rank, file or diagonal.
PIN BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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PIN MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
119

Diag. 1 Diag. 2 Diag. 3

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 4 Diag. 5 Diag. 6

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 7 Diag. 8 Diag. 9

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
A move that limits the opponent's opOons by making a concrete threat, such as mate or gain of material.
Major piece :
King, Queen or a Rook.
Mate :
See Checkmate.
MaOng Net :
A situaOon where a king is a? acked by enemy pieces and in the end cannot escape the mate threat.
Middle game :
The phase of the game that follows aOer the opening and comes before the endgame.
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Diag. 10 Diag. 11 Diag. 12

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2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 13 Diag. 14 Diag. 15

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 16 Diag. 17 Diag. 18

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Minor piece :
bishop and knight.

Open file :
A verOcal file that isn't blocked by one's own pawns, usually a great place to post the rooks.
Opening :
The starOng phase of the game.
Piece :
All chessmen apart from the pawns. In this book, mostly queen, rook, bishop and knight are meant, since
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Diag. 19 Diag. 20 Diag. 21

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2 2 2

3 3 3

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Diag. 22 Diag. 23 Diag. 24

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 25 Diag. 26 Diag. 27

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
many tacOcal moOfs (sacrifices, for instance) cannot be carried out by a king.
AcOon Chess :
Each player has 30 minutes to make all of their moves.
Adjust (J'adoube) :
When a player does not intend to move a piece, but the player does wish to slightly move the piece to center
it on a square, the player first says, “I adjust”, and then adjusts that piece. It must be that player's move when this
is done.
Advantage :
When a player is superior to his/her opponent in force (number of pieces), Pawn structure, space and/or
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Diag. 28 Diag. 29 Diag. 30

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 31 Diag. 32 Diag. 33

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 34 Diag. 35 Diag. 36

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Ome.
A ack Power :
This term is used to describe the power of a piece aOer its first move. The A? ack Power of a piece is the total
of the opponent's squares being a? acked aOer the piece completes its first move. The square that has the largest
number of the opponent's squares being a? acked is the best square for that piece on its first move.
Back Rank Mate :
A mate given by a Queen or Rook along the eighth rank.
Backward Pawn :
A Pawn behind the Pawns of the same color (on either side) and therefore cannot support or be supported by
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Diag. 37 Diag. 38 Diag. 39

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1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 40 Diag. 41 Diag. 42

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 43 Diag. 44 Diag. 45

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
other Pawns.
Ba ery :
Having two pieces a? acking the same square, along the same file, rank, or diagonal (Queen and Rook, two
Rooks, or Queen and Bishop).

Bind :
To limit the number of squares to which an opponent can safely move their pieces.
Blitz :
Each player has only five minutes to complete the game.
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Diag. 46 Diag. 47 Diag. 48

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1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 49 Diag. 50 Diag. 51

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 52 Diag. 53 Diag. 54

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Blockade :
Stopping the advance of an opponent's passed Pawn by placing a piece in front of it.
Blunder :
A move by one player which gives the opponent an advantage; it usually means giving away a piece for free.

Bye :
When a player does not play in a round they receive a bye. Whenever there are an odd number of players in a
tournament secOon, a full-point bye is given to the lowest rated player in the lowest score group. A bye which is
requested by a player receives one-half point.
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Diag. 55 Diag. 56 Diag. 57

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 58 Diag. 59 Diag. 60

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 61 Diag. 62 Diag. 63

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Capture :
Your piece will move onto the square on which your opponent's piece was sit ng, and then you take their
piece off of the board.

Castle :
Castling is when the King is moved two squares toward a Rook and then the Rook moved to the other side of
the King. The King and Rook can never have been previously moved and the King may not pass through “check”
and the King may not castle out of “check”.
Center :
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Diag. 64 Diag. 65 Diag. 66

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1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 67 Diag. 68 Diag. 69

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 70 Diag. 71 Diag. 72

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
The Center is composed of the squares C3, C4, C5, C6, D3, D4, D5, D6, E3, E4, E5, E6, F3, F4, F5, and F6. The
Sweet Center consists of the squares D4, D5, E4, and E5.
Centralize :
A central placing of a piece so that it controls the center and can a? ack numerous squares of the opponent.

Clock :
A type of clock which has two faces. Each face shows the amount of Ome one player has leO in the game. A
digital clock (numbers) does have preference over an analog clock (normal clock face).
CombinaOon :
A series of two or more moves, each of which require your opponent to make a specific response.
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Diag. 73 Diag. 74 Diag. 75

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 76 Diag. 77 Diag. 78

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 79 Diag. 80 Diag. 81

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
CompensaOon :
An equal advantage in points when trading pieces. Example: trading three Pawns for a Bishop, or a Bishop and
Knight for a Rook and Pawn.
Connected Passed Pawns
Two or more of one player's passed Pawns that are on adjacent files.
Cramped
Lack of mobility (i.e. no good squares to move your pieces).
CriOcal PosiOon
The one important move in a game which from that move forward in the game should decide the result of the
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Diag. 82 Diag. 83 Diag. 84

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 85 Diag. 86 Diag. 87

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 88 Diag. 89 Diag. 90

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
game.
Decoy
A tacOc that lures an opponent's piece to a square that is bad.
Defense
Placing your pieces in posiOons on the board which will make it hard for your opponent to a? ack your King.
DeflecOon
A tacOc that involves luring the opponent's main defending piece away from what is being defended.
Desperado
A threatened or trapped piece sacrificed for the most it can get or to inflict the most damage on the opponent.
Knight Fork
And
Manuover
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Diag. 1 Diag. 2 Diag. 3

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 4 Diag. 5 Diag. 6

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 7 Diag. 8 Diag. 9

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Desperado :
A threatened or trapped piece sacrificed for the most it can get or to inflict the most damage on the
opponent.
Development :
The process of moving pieces from their starOng posiOons to a posiOon where they can defend and start an
a? ack on the opponent..
Diagonal :
Connected squares which are neither verOcal nor horizontal and are of the same color, such as A1 to H8.
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Diag. 10 Diag. 11 Diag. 12

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 13 Diag. 14 Diag. 15

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 16 Diag. 17 Diag. 18

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms

Discovered A ack :
One piece/Pawn is moved revealing an a? ack on an opponent's piece by a piece behind the piece that was
moved.
En Prise :
A term used to describe a piece that is under a? ack. (pronounced “on pree”)
Exchange :
The trading of pieces.
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Diag. 19 Diag. 20 Diag. 21

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 22 Diag. 23 Diag. 24

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 25 Diag. 26 Diag. 27

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms

Fianche o :
An Italian term to describe a Bishop that is developed within a triangle of Pawns. Example: Pawns on f2, g3,
and h2 with a Bishop on g2.
FIDE :
“FederaOon InternaOonale des Echecs” (i.e. InternaOonal Chess FederaOon)
Flag
The part of the analog clock that is pushed up when the minute hand approaches the hour (i.e. 12). When the
flag falls, that player has run out of Ome. If the game is in the final Ome control, then that player loses the game.
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Diag. 28 Diag. 29 Diag. 30

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 31 Diag. 32 Diag. 33

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 34 Diag. 35 Diag. 36

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms

Shortest Mate
The shortest possible game which is as follows: 1. f3 e5, 2. g4 Qh4++.
Force
An advantage in Force arises when one player has more material (i.e. Pawns and pieces) than his/her opponent.
Forced
A move or series of moves which must be played if “checkmate” is to be avoided.
Forfeit
When one player does not show up for a game in a tournament which that player has been assigned to play, then
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Diag. 37 Diag. 38 Diag. 39

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 40 Diag. 41 Diag. 42

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 43 Diag. 44 Diag. 45

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
the player who does show up for the game receives a forfeit win.
Fork
One piece/Pawn a? acks two enemy pieces/Pawns at the same Ome. (aka double a? ack) The fork of a King and
Queen is a Royal Fork. The fork of a King, Queen, and Rook is a Family Fork.
Gambit
The voluntary sacrifice of a Pawn in the opening moves in order to get a compensaOng advantage in
development.
Ghosts
PotenOal threats against your pieces which exist only in your own mind.
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Diag. 46 Diag. 47 Diag. 48

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 49 Diag. 50 Diag. 51

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 52 Diag. 53 Diag. 54

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Grande Combo
A forced combinaOon of at least five moves.
Grandmaster (GM)
The highest Otle awarded by FIDE to a player.
Half-Open File
A file that contains none of one player's Pawns, but does contain one or more of the opponent's Pawns.
Hanging
Placing a piece/Pawn on a square where it can be captured without compensaOon.
Hanging Pawns
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Diag. 55 Diag. 56 Diag. 57

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 58 Diag. 59 Diag. 60

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 61 Diag. 62 Diag. 63

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Flag :
The part of the analog clock that is pushed up when the minute hand approaches the hour (i.e. 12). When the
flag falls, that player has run out of Ome. If the game is in the final Ome control, then that player loses the game.
Forced
A move or series of moves which must be played if “checkmate” is to be avoided or Loss of materiel.
Forfeit
When one player does not show up for a game in a tournament which that player has been assigned to play, then
the player who does show up for the game receives a forfeit win.
 Skewer
When a piece a? acks two enemy pieces that stand on the same rank,
file or diagonal, and the piece in front is
forced to move, exposing the one behind it to capture.
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Blockade
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Diag. 1 Diag. 2 Diag. 3

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 4 Diag. 5 Diag. 6

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 7 Diag. 8 Diag. 9

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Hold :
A move that was not noOced during the game that would have prevented opponent's winning a? ack.
Hole :
Any square which cannot be defended by a Pawn.
Illegal Move :
Moving a piece to a square to which that piece is not supposed to move.
Imbalance :
Any difference between White and Black: posiOon, material, Pawn structure, space, development.
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Diag. 10 Diag. 11 Diag. 12

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 13 Diag. 14 Diag. 15

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 16 Diag. 17 Diag. 18

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
IniOaOve :
When your pieces make threats which force a reacOon by the opponent.
Interference :
Reducing the power of an enemy piece by forcing the opponent to put a piece of lesser value in the way, oOen
with a Ome-gaining a? ack.
InternaOonal Master (IM) :
A Otle awarded by FIDE to a player. This Otle is before Grandmaster Otle.
Interpose :
To place a piece/Pawn in between an enemy a? acking piece and the a? acked piece.
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Diag. 19 Diag. 20 Diag. 21

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 22 Diag. 23 Diag. 24

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 25 Diag. 26 Diag. 27

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Isolated Pawn :
A Pawn that has no Pawns of the same color on adjacent files.
King Hunt :
A series of moves that chase the enemy King all over the board unOl it is mated.
Legal Move :
Moving a piece in the manner in which it is supposed to move to a square to which it can move when moved
correctly.
LiquidaOon :
Capturing pieces to make it easier to “checkmate” the opponent (Exchange of Pieces).
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Diag. 28 Diag. 29 Diag. 30

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 31 Diag. 32 Diag. 33

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 34 Diag. 35 Diag. 36

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Major Pieces :
Queens and Rooks.
Maneuvering :
A series of “quiet moves” with the aim of placing one or more pieces on be? er or stronger squares.
MaOng A ack :
An a? ack against an opponent's King that leads to “checkmate”.
Middlegame :
The phase of the game between the Opening and Endgame.
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Diag. 37 Diag. 38 Diag. 39

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 40 Diag. 41 Diag. 42

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 43 Diag. 44 Diag. 45

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Minority A ack :
An a? ack of two or more connected Pawns against more of the opponent's connected Pawns.
NotaOon :
The recording of each move by both players in a Chess game.
OccupaOon :
When a Queen or Rook controls a File or Rank.
Open File :
A verOcal column of eight squares that is free of Pawns.
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Diag. 46 Diag. 47 Diag. 48

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 49 Diag. 50 Diag. 51

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 52 Diag. 53 Diag. 54

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Open Game :
A game in which four or more files are free of Pawns.
Opening :
The beginning of a game. The basic goals are to develop pieces quickly and control as much of the center as
possible.
Openings :
An established sequence of moves that lead to the purpose for that opening.
 Trap
Luring an opponent into making a poor move.
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Diag. 1 Diag. 2 Diag. 3

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 4 Diag. 5 Diag. 6

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 7 Diag. 8 Diag. 9

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Opposite-colored Bishops :
When each player has Pawns and has as their only piece a Bishop, and the Bishops are not operaOng on the
same colored squares. This type of endgame usually ends in a draw.
OpposiOon :
An endgame term which relates to the relaOonship of one King to the other.
Outpost :
A square on your opponent's side of the board in which a piece could be placed and protected by your Pawn
and the opponent cannot a? ack that square with a Pawn. (N)
Overextended :
A player begins an a? ack which leaves himself with several weaknesses in his/her own posiOon.
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Diag. 10 Diag. 11 Diag. 12

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 13 Diag. 14 Diag. 15

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 16 Diag. 17 Diag. 18

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Overextension :
When a player pushes his/her Pawns too far forward and is unable to protect the squares behind them.
Overload Piece :
A piece which is required to defend too many other pieces/squares.
Passed Pawn :
A Pawn which has no Pawn in front of it or on an adjacent file.
Pawn Chain :
Three or more Pawns in a diagonal line with each protected by a Pawn behind it on an adjacent file.
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Diag. 19 Diag. 20 Diag. 21

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 22 Diag. 23 Diag. 24

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 25 Diag. 26 Diag. 27

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Pawn Structure :
All aspects of Pawn setup.
PeOte Combo :
A forced combinaOon of two or three moves.
Piling On :
Adding more pieces than are needed to an a? ack.
Poisoned Pawn/Piece :
A Pawn/piece that, if captured, would lead to a serious disadvantage for the player capturing the
Pawn/piece.
TRAP BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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Diag. 28 Diag. 29 Diag. 30

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 31 Diag. 32 Diag. 33

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 34 Diag. 35 Diag. 36

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms

PosiOon :
Moving your pieces onto squares which are helpful to your a? ack and/or defense.
PosiOonal :
A style of play that is based on long-range planning of which are the best squares for placing your pieces. It is
usually a slow build-up of pieces which are a? acking/defending specific porOons of the board.
Post Mortem :
The process of analyzing why a game was lost.
Problem Child :
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Diag. 37 Diag. 38 Diag. 39

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 40 Diag. 41 Diag. 42

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 43 Diag. 44 Diag. 45

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
A Pawn which has made its first move and blocks a piece, usually a Bishop, from developing.
PromoOon :
-----------------------------------------------
Prophylaxis :
A move that stops the opponent from making a move they were planning.(prevents is be? er then cure).
Protected Passed Pawn :
A passed Pawn that is protected by another Pawn.
Resign :
A player who feels the game is hopeless and gives up prior to “checkmate”.
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Diag. 46 Diag. 47 Diag. 48

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 49 Diag. 50 Diag. 51

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 52 Diag. 53 Diag. 54

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms

Rook LiO:
The process of the moving of a Rook from the first Rank to a square in front of his/her line of Pawns. The Rook
can then be transferred (moved leOor right) to any open square along that rank (row).
Shouldering :
Using your King to keep the opponent's King out of the acOon.(in ending)
Simplify :
To trade off pieces equally to try an get fewer pieces on the board. A player who has an advantage (more or
stronger pieces) on the board will usually want to do this.
Eleminate
The
Defender
ELEMINATE THE DEFENDER BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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Diag. 1 Diag. 2 Diag. 3

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 4 Diag. 5 Diag. 6

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 7 Diag. 8 Diag. 9

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms

Simul :
A “simultaneous exhibiOon” is when one player, usually a Master or above, plays mulOple (many) opponents
at the same Ome.
Smothered Mate :
When a King is completely surrounded by his/her own pieces gets a “check” from the enemy (usually a
Knight) and can do nothing about it.
Space :
The number of area controlled by each player.
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Diag. 10 Diag. 11 Diag. 12

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 13 Diag. 14 Diag. 15

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 16 Diag. 17 Diag. 18

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms

Strategy :
The reasoning behind own plan, or idea.
Swindle :
A trick from an inferior or losing posiOon.
TacOcs :
One or two moves which end up giving the player an advantage in pieces or posiOon. such as decoy,
deflecOon, pin, sacrifice, and skewer.
Tempo :
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Diag. 19 Diag. 20 Diag. 21

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 22 Diag. 23 Diag. 24

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 25 Diag. 26 Diag. 27

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
A develop with an a? ack, gain of move.
Tie-breaks :
-----------------------------------------------------------
Time Control :
------------------------------------------------------------
Time Pressure :
-----------------------------------------------------------
Undermining :
Capturing or driving away a piece that is protecOng another (Removing the Defender and Removing the
ELEMINATE THE DEFENDER BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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ELEMINATE THE DEFENDER MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 28 Diag. 29 Diag. 30

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 31 Diag. 32 Diag. 33

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 34 Diag. 35 Diag. 36

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms
Guard).

Unpin :
A countera? ack that breaks a pin, gains Ome to break a pin, or ends a pin by eliminaOng (takes) or diverOng
(forcing to move) a pinning unit.
VariaOon :
One line of analysis (i.e. a different move) for any move of a game.
Weakness :
A Pawn or square that is easily a? acked and hard to defend.
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Diag. 37 Diag. 38 Diag. 39

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 40 Diag. 41 Diag. 42

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 43 Diag. 44 Diag. 45

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Chess Terms

Windmill :
The opponent's King is either trapped in a corner or trapped by his/her own pieces. The a? ack on the King is
by a Rook and Bishop. The Rook will begin by checking the King and the King will then move to a square where
there will be a discovered “check” by the Bishop once the Rook has moved. The posiOon is repeated several
Omes, and with each discovered “check” the Rook takes another piece/Pawn.
Xray :
Two friendly pieces a? acking along the same file, rank, or diagonal which are separated from each other by
an enemy piece.
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ELEMINATE THE DEFENDER MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 46 Diag. 47 Diag. 48

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 49 Diag. 50 Diag. 51

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 52 Diag. 53 Diag. 54

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Proverbs

Proverbs 01: “When you see a good move, look for a be? er one” - (Emanuel Lasker)

Proverbs 02: “Nothing excites jaded Grandmasters more than a theoreOcal novelty” - (Dominic Lawson)

Proverbs 03: “The Pin is mighOer than the sword” - (Fred Reinfeld)

Proverbs 04: “We cannot resist the fascinaOon of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a Chess
player's nature” - (Rudolf Spielman)
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Diag. 55 Diag. 56 Diag. 57

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 58 Diag. 59 Diag. 60

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 61 Diag. 62 Diag. 63

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Proverbs
Proverbs 05: “All I want to do, ever, is just play Chess” - (Bobby Fischer)

Proverbs 06: “A win by an unsound combinaOon, however showy, fills me with arOsOc horror”
- (Wilhelm Steinitz)

Proverbs 07: “The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the Universe, the rules of the
game are what we call the laws of Nature and the player on the other side is hidden from us” -(Thomas
Huxley)

Proverbs 08: “Adequate compensaOon for a sacrifice is having a sound combinaOon leading to a winning
posiOon; adequate compensaOon for a blunder is having your opponent snatch defeat from the jaws of
Surprising
Tactical
Ideas
SURPRISING TACTICAL IDEAS BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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Diag. 1 Diag. 2 Diag. 3

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 4 Diag. 5 Diag. 6

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 7 Diag. 8 Diag. 9

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Proverbs
victory”
(Bruce A. Moon)

Proverbs 09: “Strategy requires thought, tacOcs require observaOon” - (Max Euwe)
Proverbs 10: “I don't believe in psychology. I believe in good moves” - (Bobby Fischer)
Proverbs 11: “Modern Chess is too much concerned with things like Pawn structure. Forget it, Checkmate
ends the game” - (Nigel Short)
Proverbs 12: “Life is a kind of Chess, with struggle, compeOOon, good and ill events” - (Benjamin Franklin)

Proverbs 13: “Even the laziest King flees wildly in the face of a double check!” - (Aaron
SURPRISING TACTICAL IDEAS BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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Diag. 10 Diag. 11 Diag. 12

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 13 Diag. 14 Diag. 15

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 16 Diag. 17 Diag. 18

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Proverbs
Nimzowitsch)

Proverbs 14: “CombinaOons have always been the most intriguing aspect of Chess. The masters look for
them, the public applauds them, the criOcs praise them. It is because combinaOons are possible that Chess is
more than a lifeless mathemaOcal exercise. They are the poetry of the game; they are to Chess what melody
is to music. They represent the triumph of mind over ma? er” - (Reuben Fine)
Proverbs 15: “I give 98 percent of my mental energy to Chess” Others give only 2 percent - (Bobby Fischer)
Proverbs 16: “Chess is a fairy tale of 1001 blunders” - (Savielly Tartakower)
Proverbs 17: “Chess is no whit inferior to the violin, and we have a large number of professional violinists”
- (Mikhail Botvinnik)
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Diag. 19 Diag. 20 Diag. 21

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 22 Diag. 23 Diag. 24

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 25 Diag. 26 Diag. 27

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Proverbs
Proverbs 18: “Only the player with the iniOaOve has the right to a? ack” - (Wilhelm Steinitz)
Proverbs 19: “The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake”
- (Savielly Tartakover)
Proverbs 20: “Your body has to be in top condiOon. Your Chess deteriorates as your body does. You can't
separate body from mind” - (Bobby Fischer)
Proverbs 21: “Of Chess it has been said that life is not long enough for it, but that is the fault of life, not
Chess” - (William Ewart Napier)
Proverbs 22: “I have added these principles to the law: get the Knights into acOon before both Bishops are
developed” - (Emanuel Lasker)
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SURPRISING TACTICAL IDEAS MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Diag. 28 Diag. 29 Diag. 30

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 31 Diag. 32 Diag. 33

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 34 Diag. 35 Diag. 36

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Proverbs
Proverbs 23: “Life is like a game of Chess, changing with each move” - (Chinese proverb)
Proverbs 24: “You cannot play at Chess if you are kind-hearted” - (French Proverb)
Proverbs 25: “Its just you and your opponent at the board and you're trying to prove something”
- (Bobby Fischer)
Proverbs 27: “The Pawns are the soul of the game” - (Francois Andre Danican Philidor)
Proverbs 26: “It is the aim of the modern school, not to treat every posiOon according to one general law,
but according to the principle inherent in the posiOon” - (Richard ReO)
Proverbs 28: “In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else, for
whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be
SURPRISING TACTICAL IDEAS BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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Diag. 37 Diag. 38 Diag. 39

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 40 Diag. 41 Diag. 42

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 43 Diag. 44 Diag. 45

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Proverbs
studied in relaOon to the endgame” - (Jose Raul Capablanca)
Proverbs 29: “Without error there can be no brilliancy” - (Emanuel Lasker)
Proverbs 30: “Chess is like war on a board” - (Bobby Fischer)
Proverbs 31: “Chess is played with the mind and not with the hands!” - (Renaud and Kahn)
Proverbs 32: “Chess is mental torture” - (Garry Kasparov)
Proverbs 33: “Many have become Chess Masters, no one has become the Master of Chess” -
(Siegbert Tarrasch)
Proverbs 34: “The most important feature of the Chess posiOon is the acOvity of the pieces. This is
absolutely fundamental in all phases of the game: Opening, Middlegame and especially Endgame. The
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Diag. 46 Diag. 47 Diag. 48

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 49 Diag. 50 Diag. 51

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 52 Diag. 53 Diag. 54

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Proverbs
primary constraint on a piece's acOvity is the Pawn structure” - (Michael Stean)
Proverbs 35: “You have to have the fighOng spirit. You have to force moves and take chances”.Bobby
Fischer)
Proverbs 36: “Could we look into the head of a Chess player,we should see there a whole world of
feelings,
images, ideas, emoOon and passion” - (Alfred Binet)
Proverbs 37: “Openings teach you openings. Endgames teach you chess!” - (Stephan Gerzadowicz)
Proverbs 38: “My style is somewhere between that of Tal and Petrosian” - (Reshevsky)
Proverbs 39: “Play the opening like a book, the middle game like a magician, and the endgame like a
machine” - (Spielmann)
Proverbs 40: “That's what Chess is all about. One day you give your opponent a lesson, the next day he
gives you one” - (Bobby Fischer)
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SURPRISING TACTICAL IDEAS MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
215

Diag. 55 Diag. 56 Diag. 57

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 58 Diag. 59 Diag. 60

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Diag. 61 Diag. 62 Diag. 63

W B W B W B
1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Proverbs
Proverbs 41: “Some part of a mistake is always correct” - (Savielly Tartakover)
Proverbs 42: “Methodical thinking is of more use in Chess than inspiraOon” - (C. J. S. Purdy)
Proverbs 43: “When in doubt... play Chess!” - (Tevis)
Proverbs 44: “Who is your opponent tonight, tonight I am playing against the Black pieces”
(Akiba Rubinstein)
Proverbs 45: “I like the moment when I break a man's ego” - (Bobby Fischer)
Proverbs 46: “Excellence at Chess is one mark of a scheming mind” - (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Proverbs 47: “A bad day of Chess is be? er than any good day at work” - (Anonymous)
Proverbs 48: “Chess is the art of analysis” - (Mikhail Botvinnik)
Proverbs 49: “The mistakes are there, waiOng to be made” - (Savielly Tartakower)
Proverbs 50: “There are tough players and nice guys, and I'm a tough player” - (Bobby
Fischer)
 Outpost
Over
Protection
OUTPOST OVER PROTECTION BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
218

Outpost :
An outpost is a piece located on the other side of the board, as a rule on 5th or 6th rank for White and
4th or 3rd rank for Black. Usually an outpost is created on a weak square (see Weak Square, Weak Point) and is
protected by a pawn or/and any long-range piece:

Rook c5-outpost Knight g5-outpost Bishop c3-outpost

The most steady outpost is the one supported by a rook(s) on a semi-open file or by a bishop on a
diagonal. As you can see above, the outpost part can be played by various pieces. What piece is be? er? Chess
pracOce has shown that a knight outpost is more suitable in the centre of the board, and a rook outpost is best
on the edge files (here they also help to capture open files). The queen as an outpost is very seldom.

An outpost fulfills the following two important strategical funcOons:

1. It constrains the opponent's posiOon and provokes weakenings.

The outpost causes the opponent a lot of troubles. It is like a splinter in the body; it would be desirable to
get rid of it. But this is possible only at the cost of new weakenings, for example:

In this posiOon Black can get rid of the d5-knight (White's outpost) by means of c6, but then a new
weakness appears - on d6 - which can be easily a? acked and conquered by heavy pieces.
OUTPOST OVER PROTECTION MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
219

2. It is a base for launching an a? ack.

An outpost oOen plays a very important role in the a? ack: it coordinates the forces of the a? acking side
and limits the opponent's manoeuvrability. Besides an outpost square can be used for transferring pieces to
another part of the board.

In the above posiOon White can use the e5-square for transferring his pieces to the queenside - first the
rook, then the knight.

And what to do if your opponent has created an outpost? To get rid of it you need to push the enemy
piece away from this square or exchange it. However it is necessary to take into account the consequences of
such an exchange: which piece or pawn will appear instead? For example the opponent may create a strong
passed pawn or get a new strong point (see the following diagrams).

In the leO diagram aOer exchanging on c5 (1... Nxc5 2.dxc5), White creates a strong passed c5-pawn. In
the right diagram the exchange on f5 leads to the formaOon of a new stronghold on the square e4.
OUTPOST OVER PROTECTION BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
220

The concept 'overprotecOon " is very important for understanding the play for and against weak and
strong points (including outposts), therefore it is discussed in this secOon.

A. Nimzovich was the first to suggest this concept. He described it in detail in his great book 'My System'.
He wrote that the strategically important point should be overprotected, that is the point should have more
defenders than a? ackers. Here is an example in which White has overprotected his e5-outpost (three
defenders against two a? ackers):

What is the strategic sense of the overprotecOon?

Nimzovich wrote that overprotecOng pieces not only strengthen strategically important points - for
instance passed pawns and blocking pieces but at the same Ome occupy good posiOons and hence become
more valuable.

OverprotecOon of the passed d-pawn OverprotecOon of the c5-blocker

OUTPOST OVER PROTECTION MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
221

Weak points should be overprotected only if they help to support strong ones, for example the base of a
pawn chain or an Isolated Pawn in the Centre:

Proverbs
Proverbs 51: “AOer black's reply to 1.e4 with 1..e5, leaves him always trying to get into the game”
(Howard Staunton)
Proverbs 52: “A player surprised is half beaten” - (Proverb)
Proverbs 53: “A passed Pawn increases in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes”
(Capablanca)
Proverbs 54: “The essence of Chess is thinking about what Chess is” - (David Bronstein)
Proverbs 55: “I am the best player in the world and I am here to prove it” - (Bobby Fischer)
Proverbs 56: “Chess is a forcing house where the fruits of character can ripen more fully than in life”
(Edward Morgan Foster)
Proverbs 57: “Half the variaOons which are calculated in a tournament game turn out to be completely
superfluous. Unfortunately, no one knows in advance which half” - (Jan Tinman)
Proverbs 58: “Chess is as much a mystery as women” - (Purdy)
Proverbs 59: “Good posiOons don't win games, good moves do” - (Gerald Abrahams)
Proverbs 60: “If I win a tournament, I win it by myself. I do the playing. Nobody helps me” - (Bobby
Fischer)
Proverbs 61: “What would Chess be without silly mistakes?” - (Kurt Richter)
Proverbs 62: “Before the endgame, the Gods have placed the middle game” - (Siegbert Tarrasch)
Proverbs 63: “Chess was Capablanca's mother tongue” - (ReO)
Proverbs 64: “Alekhine is a poet who creates a work of art out of something that would hardly inspire
another man to send home a picture post card” - (Max Euwe)
Proverbs 65: “Don't even menOon losing to me. I can't stand to think of it” - (Bobby Fischer)
Proverbs 66: “During a Chess compeOOon a Chessmaster should be a combinaOon of a beast of prey and a
monk” - (Alexander Alekhine)
Proverbs 67: “No one ever won a game by resigning” - (Saviely Tartakower)
Proverbs 68: “The defensive power of a pinned piece is only imaginary” - (Aaron Nimzovich)
Proverbs 69: “When the Chess game is over, the Pawn and the King go back to the same box” - (Irish
saying)
Proverbs 70: “A strong memory, concentraOon, imaginaOon, and a strong will is required to become a
Zugzwang
ZUGZWANG BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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 Two
Bishop
Advantage
TWO BISHOP ADVANTAGE BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
226

Two Bishop Advantage :

The two bishops advantage is a type of posiOonal advantage (as a rule, is plainly referred to as 'the two
bishops') pertaining to both mid- and endgame posiOons in which one of the sides possesses two bishops while
the other has a bishop and a knight or two knights.

What are the factors underlying the two bishops advantage?

The differences between the capabiliOes of the bishop and those of the knight we have already
discussed in the secOon Bishop or Knight? Now let us first of all review the general features of two bishops.

Strength of two Bishops :

It is common view that in most cases two bishops are stronger than a different combinaOon of minor
pieces. Yet that concept requires an important specificaOon with regard to the strength and weakness of the
bishop s compared to those of the knight. The two bishops virtually always enjoy the advantage in open
posiOons.

If, however, the posiOon is closed, its assessment depends in the first place on whether or not the
possessor of the bishop pair can open up play, achieving an 'almost open' posiOon or at least open diagonals for
his bishops. Only if he succeeds in this, the posiOon in quesOon is one featuring the two bishops advantage.

Open posiOon Closed posiOon

Through their joint effort the two bishops aim at both dark and light squares, while a single bishop can
affect squares of "its" colour only. This entails yet another principal feature of posiOons with the two bishops
advantage: the squares on which the missing bishop would operate, are potenOally weak for the disadvantaged
side.
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In the first posiOon diagrammed above Black already has weak squares on h6 and g7, and White can
exploit that circumstance while conducOng his a? ack.

In the second posiOon the weakness of the dark squares c5, d6, e7 is merely potenOal yet, but aOer 1.c5
and 2.Bd6 their weakness becomes real.

Bishops are really strong only when they are staOoned on open diagonals of strategic importance. If the
bishops (or one of them) do not occupy such diagonals, then it is advisable to try and place them there. OOen a
bishop transfer operaOon is as simple as can be; someOmes it has to be well prepared.

Bc6-e8. And the bishop is transferred to The transfer Bf3-d1-b3 has to be

the more important diagonal d1-h5. provided for.
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The assessment of a posiOon depends to a significant extent on whether or not there exist any pawn
weaknesses. As a rule, the side possessing the two bishops is able to bring about the weakening of the
opponent's pawn structure, by means of appropriate manoeuvring. Especially efficient in this respect are the
so-called Horwitz Bishops (named aOer the German chess player and composer Bernhard Horwitz, who made a
significant contribuOon to endgame theory); these are two bishops acOng on two adjacent diagonals, as
illustrated by the following diagrams:

The Horwitz Bishops 1.Qe4 g6 2.Bd4

SomeOmes the effect of the Horwitz bishops' is really crushing, as one of them forces the opponent to
advance a pawn thus opening a diagonal for the other bishop.

Plans for the Possessor of the two Bishops :

Well, you have the two bishops advantage. How can that advantage be realized? The main plans for the
that advantage be realized? The main plans for the possessor of the two Bishops are very similar to those
applied in situaOons where a bishop opposes a knight (Bishop or Knight?). Here they are:

1. OrganizaOon of an a ack on the king :

This plan envisages the preparaOon and implementaOon of an a? ack on the opponent's king. Usually
the heavy pieces and pawns of the stronger side take part in the a? ack along with the bishops.
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There is quite a variety of methods and tools for carrying out an a? ack with the parOcipaOon of the two
bishops, that's why we will discuss it in detail in the secOon A? ack on the King.

2. Breaking open play in order to acOvate the bishops :

This plan is usually resorted to when it is obvious that the bishops require more operaOonal space. It is
carried out by means of advancing pawns and exchanging them for their counterparts. The exchanges open up
diagonals for the bishops to operate on.

For example, in the above posiOon (leOdiagram) Black can break open play on the queenside and in the
centre by means of c5-c4 and f6-f5. AOer that (right centre by means of c5-c4 and f6-f5. AOer that (right
diagram) Black gets two important diagonals for his bishops (a2-g8 and a1-h8).

3. RestricOon of the mobility of the opponent's pieces :

This plan is aimed at limiOng the possibiliOes for the opponent to acOvate his pieces, as well as at
depriving them of strongholds on strategically important sectors of the board. In most cases the constraining
campaign is directed against minor pieces, usually by means of a pawn offensive backed up by the bishops.

Pieces can by restricted by the following basic playing tools:

A. Driving a knight or bishop away from strongpoints or prevenOng their creaOon. The essence of this
method is to array pawns in such a way that they deprive the opponent's knight of strongholds, dooming it to
passivity and decreasing its value dramaOcally. Here is an example:

1...c5! driving the knight away from its d4-stronghold.

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B. ConstrucOon of a pawn phalanx against the bishop :

Pawns can serve to restrict the mobility of the bishop as well. In this case, beside the ordinary pawn
offensive reviewed in the above knight-restricOon examples, another tool can be used - the creaOon of a pawn
phalanx.

The phalanx a7-b6-c5 against the white e3-bishop

The phalanx Black has constructed constrains the bishop on the queenside. A similar phalanx can also
be created on the kingside (for example h7-g6-f5). An important virtue of such phalanxes is that their leading
pawn controls one of the central squares, thus making it inaccessible for the opponent's knight.

C. Use of a bishop to impede knight moves :

It's not only pawns that can be used to restrict the mobility of the opponent's pieces; officers can serve
that goal as well. Bishops are best in doing so. The most typical cases are those when a bishop cramps the other
side's knight.

The c4-bishop cramps the c1-knight The e3-bishop cramps the h3-knight

Maximum constraint is achieved when the hunted knight is "trapped" on any of the edge lines. In this
case the bishop makes all of the knight's moves non-playable. All of these tools are applicable both at the mid-
and endgame stages.
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4. TransiOon to the endgame :

A transiOon to the endgame is in most cases to the benefit of the side possessing of the two bishops. But
in order to assess the extent of that benefit and to decide whether it will be sufficient for victory, it is necessary
to take into account the following three most important factors:

A. The character of the posiOon, i.e. whether it is open or closed:

Closed-type posiOon, Open-type posiOon,

where the bishops are powerless. where the bishops are a tremendous force.

In the endgame as in the middlegame, the bishops are stronger in open-type posiOons, for then their
main merit, the long range of their acOons, can manifest itself best.

B. Opposing pawns on the same flank, on the other flank or on both flanks :

(this factor is described in the secOon Bishop or Knight?)

C. Number of pawns remaining on the board :

The rule regarding the number of remaining pawns is simple: the fewer pawns on the board, the higher
the chances for the weaker side to draw the game. The explanaOon rests upon the fact that a piece can well be
sacrificed for the last enemy pawn, usually producing a theoreOcally drawn ending: two minor pieces versus
one. The sole excepOon is the two bishops versus one.
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The sole excepOon is the two bishops versus knight ending, which is regarded as being hopeless for the
knight side. For chess strategy in endgame.

When the two bishops are no advantage :

Here we will discuss the most efficient ways of opposing the two bishops and methods for neutralizing
them.

Taking into account the relaOve strength and weakness of the bishop and the knight (described in
Bishop or Knight?), the following can be concluded: two bishops are no advantage in closed-type posiOons.
In such posiOons the bishops are restricted in their acOons either by their own pawns or by pawns from
the opponent. In contrast, pawn chains are no barrier for the knights. This proceeds from the very nature of
chess rules - the knight can jump over pieces (including pawns) of any color, a thing the bishop is forbidden to
do.

Let us review the following example :

The bishops are restricted, but the knight lacks a stronghold. This is an approximately even posiOon, for
the bishops play a rather passive role. Here they cannot display their main advantage - the long range of their
acOons. If in a similar situaOon the knights do have good strongholds, they can even prove more effecOve than
the opposing bishops.

The bishops are restricted and the knights have good strongholds on c4 and f5.

In such situaOons player in possession of the knights (or knight and bishop) should do his best to avoid
that the play opens up (of course, with the excepOon of special cases when he can achieve material or
posiOonal gains by doing so).
In open-type posiOons the side opposing the two bishops should try to arrange its pawn chains in a way
TWO BISHOP ADVANTAGE MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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A: 1.e5! e6. 2.c4 Rfc8 3.c6! B: 3...bc 4.d6

In this parOcular example White starts with pawn offensive restricOng the other side's dark-squared
bishop (see diagram A). Then he creates a closed structure and immobilizes the other enemy bishop (see
diagram B).

In cases when appropriate pawn chains cannot be erected, the two bishops advantage may be
compensated by such factors as control over an open file, exposed or insufficiently protected enemy king,
pawn weaknesses etc.

Black has the pair of bishops and at the same White has two bishops, but the posiOon of his
Ome a couple of weak pawns - on a6 and c4. king is too exposed.

Finally, a few words on the endgame. At this stage of the game, chances for victory of the side in
possession of the two bishops are diminished significantly if the pawns of both sides are at the same flank. This
reveals another specific feature of play against the two bishops - as the endgame draws near, the side fighOng
the two bishops should try to avoid situaOons in which the opposing armies both have pawns on each flank; if
that cannot be done, it is best to delay transiOon to endgame for a while.
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Plans of play against the two bishops :

The main plans for play against the two bishops include:

1. Exchange of one of the bishops :

This plan calls for the exchange of one of the minor pieces for an enemy bishop - the "physical"
annihilaOon of the two bishops advantage. As a rule, squares within the former operaOonal realm of the no
longer existent bishop are weakened and can be used as strongholds for the knight.

Black is in control of the light squares over most part of the board.

In the reviewed example, the exchange of the light-squared bishops will make most of the light squares
in the centre and on the kingside weak for Black. White can exploit that circumstance for manoeuvring and
improving the posiOon of his pieces. In situaOons like this, the knight-possessing side is well

In situaOons like this, the knight-possessing side is well advised to trade the heavy pieces and leave the
opponent with a bad bishop.

2. ExploitaOon of posiOonal weaknesses :

The implementaOon of this plan is feasible in two cases: when the side in possession of the two Bishops
already has some posiOonal weakness(es), or when such weakness(es) can be created through purposeful play.
These weaknesses include: doubled, isolated and backward Pawns, lagging behind in development, exposed
posiOon of the king , weak squares etc.

The two bishops can be compensated not only by posiOonal weaknesses in the camp of their owner, but
by some pronounced pluses in the other side's posiOon as well, for example, pawn majority on some flank,
control over an open file and/or 7th/2nd rank, spaOal dominance, a strong passed pawn etc. Here are a few
examples:
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White's rook has invaded White possesses a strong passed

the 7th rank. pawn on the c-file.
The plan can be resorted to in both open and closed posiOons.

3. RestricOng the bishops:

This plan is aimed at restricOng the acOviOy of the bishops by means of erecOng pawn or piece-and-
pawn chains. In open-type posiOons such chains deprive the chains. In open-type posiOons such chains deprive
the bishops (or one of them) of the most important acOon lines (diagonals); in closed-type posiOons they
confine them to a certain restricted area of the chessboard.

Piece-and-pawn chain c4-d5-e6-f5-g6 constraining the white bishops.

Passed
Pawn
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Chess Master Signature : Incharge Signature : Date :

Parent’s Signature : Principal / Correspondent’s Signature :

 Advanced Level
Endgame Studies
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EssenOal Strategy
Three Connected Pawns :
It's difficult for the king to fight three connected passed pawns. He has no chance at all, if the enemy has
any moves in reserve. If not, then a situaOon of reciprocal zugzwang could arise.

White to move wins by 1 Kb1! (1...b3 2 Kb2‡;

1...a3 2 Ka2 c3 3 Kb3‡; 1...c3 2 Kc2 a3 3 Kb3‡).
Any other first move by White leads to the opposite result.

Bishop Vs. Pawns

The Elementary Fortresses

There are many endgames in which the only way to defend consists of construcOng a posiOon
impenetrable to the enemy. Such a posiOon is called a fortress, and the method is called construcOng a fortress.

I refer to those theoreOcal posiOons with minimal material and the king, usually placed on the edge or in
the corner of the board, in which the stronger side proves unable to exploit a significant material advantage, as
“the elementary fortresses”. We have already encountered such posiOons in the chapter on “Knight vs. Pawns”.
Here, and also in later chapters, you will learn other elementary fortresses which are important for the pracOcal
player.

Bishop and Rook Pawn (”Safe” Corner)

If the bishop does not control the rook pawn's queening square, then the weaker side has only to get his
king into the corner (we call that the “safe” corner).
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Black to move plays 1...Kg8!, with an obvious draw.

Let's learn the techniques of cut ng the king off from the safe corner. Let's suppose that it's White's
move instead. If the bishop were on f5, he would win aOer 1 Be6! With Black's king on f6, a different standard
cutoff maneuver - 1 Bh5(e8)! - works instead. But in the diagrammed posiOon, there is only one way to play for
the win:

1 Bh7 Kf7 2 Kd3 Kf6 (with the idea 3...Kg5) 3 Bf5 Kf7 (with the idea 4...Kg8) 4 Bh7 (4 Be6+ Kg6) 4...Kf6=.

Relocate the White king to d2, and it can reach the pawn in Ome to help it queen:

1 Bh7! Kf7 2 Ke3 Kf6 3 Kf4+-.

Everything we've said so far is elementary. Yet even strong players forget about these ideas surprisingly
oOen, and make mistakes in the simplest posiOons. I had no difficulty finding examples for my “tragicomedies”
secOon for this chapter.

Bishop vs. Connected Pawns

The following instrucOve ending demonstrates the most important ideas for posiOons involving
connected pawns.
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First, we examine 1 Kc5 Kf6 2 Kd6 (shouldering). White's plan works aOer 2...Kf7? 3 b4 Ke8 4 Kc7 Bd1 5
b5+-.

In response, Black employs a standard technique, which I call “pawns in the crosshairs” - a? acking the
enemy pawns with the bishop. The point to this a? ack is either to force the pawns to advance, which aids in the
task of their subsequent blockade (as in the present example), or else to Oe the king to their defense.

2...Bd1! 3 a5 Be2 4 b4 Bf1 5 Kc6 Ke7 6 b5 Kd8= (or 6...Bxb5+).

In the game, White tried a different plan.

1 Ka5 Kf6 2 b41 Ka5 Kf6 2 b4

How does Black defend now? The a? empt to put the king in front of the pawns (as he did aOer 1 Kc5) no
longer works: 2...Ke7 3 b5 Kd7? (3...Bd1? 4 b6! Kd7 5 Ka6+-; 3...Kd6!) 4 Ka6! (but not 4 Kb6? Bd1! 5 a5 Be2= - once
again, “pawns in the crosshairs”) 4...Kc8 5 Ka7+-.

This scheme of interacOon between king and pawns, securing their passage to the queening square, I
suggest we label “autopilot” (later we shall have further reason to refer to it).

Black is saved by another, also quite widespread technique: “the tail-hook” - tying the king to the
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rearmost pawn from behind. We shall use this defensive method also in the endings of “rook vs. two connected
passed pawns.”
2...Ke5! 3 b5 Kd4 4 Kb6

White can no longer go on autopilot: 4 b6 Bf3 5 Ka6 Kc5 6 a5 Kb4!, or 5 Kb5 Be2+ 6 Kc6 Kc4, followed by

7...Bf3+.by 7...Bf3+.

4...Bf3 (4...Kc4 transposes) 5 a5 Kc4 6 a6 Kb4 7

a7
One last task for Black. Now the waiOng 7...Bg2? fails to 8 Ka6 Kc5 9 b6 Bf1+ 10 Kb7 Bg2+ 11 Kc7+-.
7...Ba8!
Draw, in view of 8 Ka6 Kc5 9 b6 Kc6=.

Pawns at h6 and h7

Even though the bishop controls the queening square, this posiOon is sOll drawn. On 1 Kf6, Black of
course replies 1...Kf8!= (but not 1...Kh8?? 2 Kf7#). The evaluaOon would not be changed, even if you added pawn
pairs at g5/g6 and f4/f5.

Breakthrough :
A Breakthrough occurs when one or more pawns are sacrificed in order to create a passed pawn and
promote it. Let's examine a few of the standard structures in which a pawn breakthrough is possible.
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White to move wins by 1 b6! cb (1...ab 2 c6) 2 a6! ba 3 c6

Black to move has only one way to parry the threatened breakthrough: by 1...b6! (both 1...a6? 2 c6! and
1...c6? 2 a6! are bad). Let's add one more White pawn at c4.

Now the move 1...b6 no longer works, because of 2 cb cb 3 c5.

Now let's move the a-pawn to a4.

In this case, Black can stop the breakthrough for good by playing 1...c6! 2 a5 a6!
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This is the sort of structure we find in the Ruy Lopez Exchange VariaOon. Black to move can create a
passed pawn by 1...c4! 2 Kg3 c5, followed by b5-b4, a5-a4 and b4-b3. (Formally the term “breakthrough” isn't
really appropriate here, since no pawn sacrifice is involved; but the effect is just the same.)
White to move can stabilize the situaOon on the queenside by 1. c4!, which guarantees him a decisive
advantage, thanks to the outside passed pawn he will create on the opposite side of the board.

Two Connected Passed Pawns :

B. Horwitz, J. Kling, 1851

Here we have a typical situaOon with two connected passed pawns. The draw would appear to be
inescapable, since the White king is Oed to the square of the protected passed pawn at c4. But in fact, in such
cases White can someOmes leave the square to help his pawns queen or checkmate his opponent.

White's plan usually consists of the following elements:

The furthest possible advance of the pawns; The opOmum placement of the pawns - “ready
to roll”; Choosing the best Ome for the king's decisive advance.

Let's watch this plan in acOon. In the first stage the king, without leaving the square of the c4-pawn
(whichking, without leaving the square of the c4-pawn (which ends at f4), aids in the advance of his pawns.

1 Kd4 Kg4 2 h4 Kh5 3 Ke3 Kg4 4 Ke4 Kh5 5 Kf4 Kh6 6 g4 Kg6 7 h5+ Kh6 8 Kf3 Kg5 9 Ke4 Kh6 10 Kf4 TriangulaOon is
White's most important weapon in this ending.

10...Kh7 11 g5 Kg7 12 g6!

The ideal pawn array! The erroneous 12 h6+? would throw away the win.

12...Kf6 13 Ke4 Kg7 14 Kf3 Kf6 15 Kf4 Kg7 Now that White has strengthened his posiOon to its utmost, it's
Ome for the decisive advance!

16 Kg5! c3 17 h6+ Kg8 18 Kf6 c2 19 h7+ Kh8 20 g7+ (or 20 Kf7 c1Q 21 g7+) 20...Kxh7 21 Kf7 c1Q 22 g8Q+
Kh6 23 Qg6#.
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Cut ng the King Off :

An important technique in rook-and-pawn endings is cut ng the hosOle king off from strategically
important areas. From his own pawns that need protecOon, or from our pawns that he could a? ack. From our
passed pawn that could otherwise be stopped by him or from his passed pawn that could be assisted by the king.

Janetschek – U. Geller
Skopje ol 1972
1 Rf2!

Cut ng the king off from the passed pawn, White considerably aggravates the threat of its advance.
1...Ra2?

Black wants to devour one of White's queenside pawns but ignores his fundamental problem. Only a
defense by frontal checks could give him chances for salvaOon: 1...Rb8! 2 g4 Rh8+ 3 Kg3 Rg8. To
achievesalvaOon: 1...Rb8! 2 g4 Rh8+ 3 Kg3 Rg8. To achieve progress, White should have played Rh2, but then the
black king comes to the f-file. Only then the rook might go ahead against White's pawns.

2 g4 Ra3 3 Kh4 Rxc3 4 g5 Re3 5 g6 Re1 6 Rf7+ Kd6 7 g7 Rg1 8 Kh5 Black resigned.

King versus Passed Pawns

The Rule of the Square
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Imagine a square having for one of its sides the path from the pawn to its queening square. If the king
stands within the square of the passed pawn, or can reach it on his move, he can stop it; otherwise, the pawn will
queen.

Black to move gets inside the square and draws (1...Kg4 or 1...Kg3). If it's White's move, then aOer 1 b4
the side of the new square becomes the f-file, which Black's king cannot reach in Ome.

If the pawn stood on b2, then because the pawn can move two squares, the square should sOll be
constructed from the b3-square.

Obstacles in the path of the king: It someOmes happens that even though the king is located within the
square, it sOll can't stop the passed pawn, because itssquare, it sOll can't stop the passed pawn, because its own
pawns get in the way.

KNIGHT VS. PAWNS

King in the Corner
Mate :
If the defender's king is trapped in the corner, someOmes even a lone knight is able to mate.
A. Salvio, 1634

White to move wins by 1 Nf6 Kh1 2 Ng4 g5 3 Kf1‡ h2 4 Nf2#. But even with Black to move, the game lasts
only a li? le longer.

1...Kh1
1...g5 2 Nf6 g4 3 Nxg4+ Kh1 4 Kf1‡ h2 5 Nf2#.

2 Nf6 Kh2
2...h2 3 Ng4 g5 4 Ne3! g4 5 Nf1 g3+ 6 Nxg3#;2...h2 3 Ng4 g5 4 Ne3! g4 5 Nf1 g3+ 6 Nxg3#;
2...g5 3 Ng4‡ h2 4 Ne3!

3 Ng4+ Kh1 4 Kf1 g5 5 Kf2‡ h2 6 Ne3 g4 7 Nf1

g3+ 8 Nxg3#
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Drawn PosiOons
Knight and pawn win easily against a lone king (that is, of course, so long as the pawn is not lost). But
there are excepOons.

Black saves himself by squeezing the opposing king in the corner. He must only be careful to choose the
correct square for his king. 1...Kf8? loses aOer 2 Nc7 Kf7 3 Ne6‡.

1...Kf7! 2 Nc7 Kf8 3 Ne6+ Kf7=.

It's useful to note that the knight (as opposed to the rest of the pieces) cannot “lose” a move in order to
giverest of the pieces) cannot “lose” a move in order to give the move to the opponent - the knight can't
triangulate.
We shall learn about other drawing situaOons by analyzing the following example: V. Chekhover 1952.

Knight vs. Rook Pawn

The closer the passed pawn to the edge of the board, the more difficulty the knight has in dealing with it.
The rook pawns are especially dangerous. Here is a simple, yet instrucOve example.

1 Ng7+! Nxg7 2 h6 Kf7 3 h7+-.

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Note, that with White's king at g2, the posiOon would be drawn: the pawn is stopped aOer, for instance,
2...Ne6 3 h7 Nf4+ and 4...Ng6. In many instances, the knight can win the necessary tempo with a check to the
enemy king.

The knight can hold a rook pawn without the king's help, if it “touches” any square in its path, except the
final, corner square.except the final, corner square.

1 Ng3? h2 2 Kb7 Ke1 3 Kc6 Kf2 is hopeless. The knight should aim for h2, not h1.

1 Ne3+! Ke2 2 Ng4 Kf3 3 Nh2+ Kg2 4 Ng4 Kg3 5 Ne3! Kf3 (5...h2 6 Nf1+) 6 Nf1, etc.

I should also point out that even with the knight in the corner, the posiOon is certainly not always
hopeless. True, the knight can no longer deal with the pawn by itself; but someOmes the king can come to its
rescue in Ome.

In the starOng posiOon, let's move the Black king to d3.

Now the knight cannot get to h2 (1 Nh6? h2 2 Ng4 h1Q+ - the pawn queens with check). So White has to
play 1 Ng3 (threatening 2 Nf1) 1...h2 2 Kb7.
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The knight has set up a barrier against the enemy king, who not only can't cross the e2- and e4-squares,
but also e3 and d2 (because of the forking Nf1+). Knightbut also e3 and d2 (because of the forking Nf1+). Knight
forks are a vital technique in knight endgames.

In order to a? ack the knight, the king will have to lose Ome with the ou? lanking Kc2-d1-e1-f2, or Kd4-e5-
f4.
2...Kd4 3 Kc6 Ke5 4 Kc5 Kf4 5 Nh1 Kf3 6 Kd4 Kg2 7 Ke3 Kxh1 8 Kf2=.

2...Kc2 3 Kc6 Kd1 4 Kd5 Ke1 5 Ke4 Kf2 6 Kf4= (or 6 Nh1+ Kg2 6 Ke3=).
IllustraOve Example :

The bishop is a strong piece, someOmes capable of prevenOng a pawn from queening even without the
king's help. 1...Be8! (White threatened interference with 2 Nc6) 2.Nd7 Kg2 3.Kd8 Bg6 4.Ke7 Bf5 5.Nc5 (with
the idea Ne6) Bc8!= Black was saved, first of all, because the pawn had not yet reached the 7th rank, and
second, because the bishop's diagonal was sufficiently long: 5 squares. Knight and king are only capable of
interdicOng two squares apiece, which leaves the fiOh square free. 1-0

Opposite Colored Bishops

The Most Important Rules :
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Endings with opposite-colored bishops are perhaps the most “strategic” of them all. My studies of these
endings have taught me some rules which will help you get your bearings in nearly all such endings.

I. Drawing Tendencies :

Here it is frequently possible to save oneself even two or three pawns down. The consequences of this
rule are obvious: the stronger side must be excepOonally alert, whether going into an opposite-colored bishops
endgame, or playing one out - here it doesn't take long to stumble on a drawing counterchance. And for the
weaker side, going into the opposite-bishop ending is someOmes the key to his salvaOon, sharply increasing the
chances for a favorable outcome.

II. The Fortress :

The main theme of opposite-colored bishop endings is that of the Fortress. The weaker side strives to
create one, the stronger side strives to prevent its formaOon, or (if it already exists) to find a way to break
through it.

An important factor in endgame play is the ability to analyze a posiOon logically, to think through various
plans and schemes. Logical thinking is of special importance in endings with opposite-colored bishops.
Inimportance in endings with opposite-colored bishops. In the majority of cases, such endings are not “played”
as much as they are “constructed” - first it is necessary to determine the configuraOon of pawns and pieces
which will render the posiOon impenetrable; only then can we proceed with the calculaOon of variaOons which
will prove whether or not we can a? ain the desired configuraOon, and whether it is impenetrable in fact.

The following rules show the most important techniques for set ng up and breaking down fortresses.

III. Pawn Placement :

In the preceding chapter, we considered the principle that required us to place our pawns on the
opposite color squares from that controlled by our bishop. In opposite-colored bishop endings, this principle
only holds true for the stronger side - it's especially important with connected passed pawns.

But the weaker side must, contrary to the general rule, keep his pawns on the same color squares as his
own bishop - in that event, he will usually be able to defend them. In fact, a pawn defended by its bishop can only
be a? acked by the enemy king - which renders it invulnerable. In other types of endgames, such a pawn could be
a? acked, not just by the king, but also by other pieces (such as a knight, or a bishop of the same color).

IV. PosiOonal Nuances are Worth More than Material :

When we are playing an opposite-bishop ending, the number of pawns on the board frequently has less
significance than a small alteraOon in the placement of pieces or pawns - even an apparently insignificant
one.pieces or pawns - even an apparently insignificant one. Therefore, in opposite-colored bishop endgames,
we quite frequently encounter posiOonal pawn sacrifices.

V. The One-Diagonal Principle :

We have already met this principle in the “bishop vs. pawns” endgame (Chapter 4). For both the
stronger and the weaker side it is very important that the bishop should both defend its own and stop the enemy
Advanced Level Endgame Studies BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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pawns “without tearing” - that is, along one and the same diagonal.

VI. “Pawns in the Crosshairs” :

A typical means of defense is for the bishop to a? ack the enemy pawns. This will either force their
advance, to the less favorable squares of the color of their own bishop, or Oe the enemy king to the pawns'
defense. This technique, like the previous one, was also studied in Chapter 4. In opposite-bishop endgames,
both techniques are used frequently.
The logical thing would be to illustrate each of these rules by concrete examples. However, that would
be difficult, only because they are rarely employed separately. Consider the following simple endgame, and you
will see all of the rules we have been talking about, appearing simultaneously.

1 c5! Bxc5 2 Bb3 e5 3 Be6 Kc7 4 Ke4

The draw is obvious - White need only run his bishop up and down the h3-c8 diagonal.

Thus, White was able to save himself - three (!) pawns down (drawing tendency) . The final posiOon is a
fortress, in which the weaker side's only pawn is properly placed on the same color square as its own bishop. The
bishop defends its pawn at h3 and holds the enemy pawns at g5 and f6 on the same diagonal. White sacrificed a
pawn, so that by a? acking the enemy's sole well-placed pawn at e6 , he could force it to advance to a dark
square, aOer which the pawns could be easily blockaded.
Analyzing almost any endgame in this secOon, you will see some or all of our just-formulated rules in
acOon.

The Pawn on the 5th Rank

A. Philidor, 1777
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This is the so-called “ Philidor posiOon.” The famous French chessplayer was the first to demonstrate, as
early as the 18th century, the correct method of defense.

1...Rb6! (prevenOng a penetraOon of the white king to the 6th rank) 2 e6 Rb1=

If the pawn stood at e5 the white king would have had a refuge from verOcal checks. But, as soon as the
pawn has stepped forward, the refuge does not exist anymore.

If White is to move in the iniOal posiOon, then, as Philidor thought, 1 Kf6 wins, and his explanaOon was
1...Rf1+ 2 Ke6 Kf8 3 Ra8+ Kg7 4 Ke7 Rb1 5 e6 (we 1...Rf1+ 2 Ke6 Kf8 3 Ra8+ Kg7 4 Ke7 Rb1 5 e6 (we know this
posiOon already: see IllustraOve Example) 5...Rb7+ 6 Kd6 Rb6+ 7 Kd7 Rb7+ 8 Kc6+-.

Later on, the second defensive method in the Philidor posiOon was discovered: an a? ack from the rear
that helps Black to hold as well. If the rook fails to occupy the 6th rank “a la Philidor,” it must be placed in the rear
of the white pawn.

1... Re1! 2 Ke6 Kf8! 3 Ra8+ Kg7

Now we can evaluate the posiOon of the black rook. First, it prevents both 4 Ke7 and 4 Kd7. Secondly,
Black can meet 4 Kd6 with 4...Kf7!, and White must retrace his steps: 5 Ra7+ Ke8 6 Ke6 Kf8! etc. If he tries 4 Re8,
preparing 5 Kd7, the black rook occupies the long side: 4...Ra1!=.
The move 2...Kf8! is undoubtedly correct (the king goes to the short side, leaving the long side for the
rook), but 2...Kd8?! 3 Ra8+ Kc7 does not lose either.

4 Re8 (4 Kf6 Kd7!) 4...Rh1! (rather than 4...Re2? 5 Kf7 Rh2 6 Rg8! Rh7+ 7 Rg7 Rh8 8 Ke7 Kc6 9 e6 Kc7
10Kf7 Rh2 6 Rg8! Rh7+ 7 Rg7 Rh8 8 Ke7 Kc6 9 e6 Kc7 10 Rg1+-) 5 Rg8 Re1! 6 Rg2 Kd8=.
Philidor,A - White to Move ½-½

The Protected Passed Pawn

The protected passed pawn, like the outside passed pawn, is usually a most definite posiOonal
advantage. The enemy king cannot leave its square, and cannot capture it, whereas our king has full freedom of
Advanced Level Endgame Studies BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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movement.

Two Pawns to One

These posiOons are generally won.

1 Kd3 Kd5 2 Ke3 Ke5 3 Kf3 Kd5 4 Kf4 Kd6 5 Ke4 Ke6 6 Kd4 Kd6 7 Kc4 (Black must give up the opposiOon) 7...Kc7 8
Kd5!

8 Kc5?! is inaccurate: 8...Kb7, and White cannot conOnue 9 b6? because of 9...Ka6! 10 Kc6 stalemate.

8...Kb6 9 Kd6 Kb7 10 Kc5‡ Kc7 11 b6+ Kb7 12 Kb5+-Kb5+-

Now let's look at the two most important drawn posiOons. The first is an elementary one, but it comes
up rather regularly. The second is less likely to occur, but it's very instrucOve.

Black plays 1...Kb8 2 Kc6 Kc8=.

Move the whole posiOon one file to the right, and White wins easily by sacrificing the pawn and then
winning the enemy's last pawn.
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Dedrle,F - ½-½

MulO-Pawn Endgames
The next example features a typical plan forThe next example features a typical plan for exploiOng the
advantage: Bo? lik,I - 1-0
Defensive TacOcs :
The main tacOcal tools that can save a difficult queen-and-pawn endgame are stalemate and perpetual
check. Y. Averbakh, 1962

straigh? orward implementaOon of the king-to-king process does not bring any success here.

1 Kf2? Qf7+ 2 Ke1 Qe6+ 3 Kd1 Qb3+ 4 Kd2 Qa2+! 5 Ke3 (the checks seem to be exhausted) 5...Qb3+! 6
Qd3+? Ka1!=
The queen cannot be captured due to stalemate, while a king's retreat loses the pawn: 7 Kd4 Qb4+! 8
Qc4 (8 Kd5 Qb7+; 8 Ke5 Qe7+) 8...Qd2+ 9 Kc5 Qg5+.
Both 1 Qe4+ and 1 Qg4 win, but the simplest winning procedure is moving the king downstairs to g1
(where the black queen cannot reach him) followed by a queen transfer to f8.queen transfer to f8.
1 Qg1+! Ka2 2 Qg2+ Ka1 (2...Ka3 is the same) 3 Kh2! Qb8+ (3...Qh7+ 4 Kg1) 4 Kh1 Qg8 5 Kg1! Kb1 6 Qf1+
Kb2 7 Qf8+-

A Passed Pawn
A passed pawn supported by a queen is a powerful instrument. To stop it, the combined efforts of a king
and a queen are required; a queen alone cannot manage against it.

When the passed pawn is well advanced it can outweigh an opponent's huge material advantage on
another wing.
Averbakh – Zurakhov
Minsk 1952
Advanced Level Endgame Studies BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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1...b5! 2 ab (2 Qxa5? Qe5+) 2...Qxb5

2...Qe5+? 3 Qxe5+ Kxe5 fails because of 4 h4! a4

5 h5 a3 6 h6 Kf6 7 b6+-.

3 Qd6+ Kf7 (3...Kg7!?) 4 h4

If the a-pawn were a li? le bit more advanced, the peaceful outcome would not be in doubt: White
would have had to submit to perpetual check. But, underhave had to submit to perpetual check. But, under
current condiOons, he sOll has winning chances.

The point is that, if the black king stands in the way of the white pawns, their advance (and, eventually, a
king intervenOon) can create maOng threats. On the other hand, if Black holds his king aside then the h-pawn can
balance Black's passed pawn, while their exchange sOll leaves White his two extra pawns.

Only a detailed analysis can tell us who comes first in implemenOng his plans. In Y. Averbakh's opinion,
only 4...Qb4! 5 Qd5+ Kg7 6 Qe5+ Kh7 7 f4 a4 8 h5 a3 9 Qf5+ Kg7 10 Qg6+ Kh8 11 Qf6+ Kg8! was good enough for a
draw, while the natural-looking move from the game was erroneous.

4...a4? 5 Qf4+ Ke6 According to Averbakh, 5...Kg6 also did not help.

Rook or Bishop's Pawn

With a rook or bishop's pawn, the above-described winning algorithm doesn't work - a stalemate
defense appears.

1 Qb4+ Ka2 2 Qc3 Kb1 3 Qb3+ Ka1! 4 Qe3 Kb1 5 Qd3 Kb2 6 Qe2!? Ka1!= (but not 6...Kb1? 7 Kc4! c1Q+ 8
Kb3+-).

The win is possible only if the White king stands so close that it can help the White queen mate the
Advanced Level Endgame Studies MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
257

enemy king.

Let's put the Black king on d2. Now, in order to reach his stalemate haven, he will have to cross the c1
square, giving White the tempo he needs to win:

1 Qd4+ Ke2 2 Qc3 Kd1 3 Qd3+ Kc1 4 Kc4! Kb2 5 Qd2 Kb1 6 Kb3+-

1 Qb3+ Ka1! 2 Qd1+ Kb2 3 Qd2+ Kb1 4 Kb4! a1Q 5 Kb3+-

StarOng with the White king at e4, the mate is delivered in somewhat different fashion: 1 Qb3+ Ka1 2
Qc3+ Kb1 3 Kd3! a1Q 4 Qc2#.

With the king any further from the pawn, there is no win. I shall limit myself to just that general
observaOon - I don't think it makes any sense to reproduce the “winning zone” for each and every posiOon of the
Black pawn that I have seen in other endgame texts. It's not worth memorizing - once you have mastered the
winning and drawing mechanisms, you can easily figure out for yourself at the board what sort of posiOon you're
facing.

Of course, there are excepOons, in which the standard evaluaOons and techniques are no longer
sufficient.

IllustraOve Example :
Advanced Level Endgame Studies BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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1.Qc7+ Kb1 2.Qb6+ Kc2 3.Qc5+ Kb1 4.Qb4+ (or 4 Qd4) Kc2 5.Qc4+ Kb2 6.Qd3 Kc1 7.Qc3+ Kd1 8.Kc7 Ke2
9.Qc2 (or 9 Qe5+) Ke1 10.Qe4+ Kf2 11.Qd3 Ke1 12.Qe3+ Kd1 13.Kc6 etc.

A draw is only very rarely possible - when, for some reason, White is unable to execute this mechanism.
An example would be if the White king in our starOng posiOon were at c7, c6 or c5.

A Safe Corner
E. Lequesne, J. Berger*

Without the h5-pawn, both 1...Kg8 and 1...Bc4 2 Ra8+ Bg8 lead to a draw.

If the pawn stands on h6 and the white king on g5 (C. Cozio, 1766), the draw is also quite elementary. All
that is needed is for the black bishop to keep the b1-h7 diagonal under control.

The diagrammed posiOon is more complicated as some accuracy is required. As Lequesne has shown,
playing for a stalemate with 1...Bc4? can be refuted because the bishop loses control over the important
diagonal b1-h7:

2 Ra8+ Bg8 3 Kg5 Kg7 4 Ra7+ (or 4 h6+ Kh8 5 Rd8 Kh7 6 Rd7+ Kh8 7 Kg6) 4...Kh8 5 Kg6 Bd5 6 Rh7+! Kg8 7 Re7! Kh8
(7...Kf8 8 Kf6 Bc4 9 h6 Kg8 10 h7+ Kh8 11 Kg6) 8 h6 Ba2 9 h7 Bb1+ 10 Kh6i

Berger suggested the correct defense method: theBerger suggested the correct defense method: the
black king should temporarily leave the corner.

1...Kg8! 2 Rg7+ Kf8! 3 Rg4 Bc2 4 Rc4 (4 Kg5 Kg7) 4...Bb1 5 Rf4+ Kg8=

Hence when the black king is placed in the safe corner, a pawn on h6 or h5 does not bring a win. A posiOon is
winning only when the pawn has not crossed the middle line.

ReO,Richard :
Advanced Level Endgame Studies MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
259

Black's king lies within the square of the c6-pawn, while White is short two tempi needed to catch the
h5-pawn.
Nevertheless, he can save himself - the trick is "to chase two birds at once". The king's advance is dual-
purpose: he chases aOer the h-pawn, while simultaneously approaching the queen's wing. 1.Kg7! h4
1...Kb6 2.Kf6 h4 3.Ke5! h3 4.Kd6 h2 5.c7 h1Q 6.c8Q= ]

2.Kf6! Kb6
[ If 2...h3 then 3.Ke7 ( Or 3.Ke6 ) and the pawns queen together.
3...Kb6 4.Kd6 h2 5.c7 h1Q 6.c8Q= ]
3.Ke5 Kxc6
[ 3...h3 4.Kd6 h2 5.c7= ]

4.Kf4= A miracle has come to pass: the king, even though two tempi behind, nevertheless has caught the
pawn!
In 1928, RéOoffered a different version of this study: move the White king to h5, and instead of the pawn
at h5, put three (!) Black pawns at f6, g7 and h6. The soluOon is similar: 1 Kg6!, and aOer any Black reply (1...f5,
2...h5, or 1...Kb6) - 2 Kxg7!, followed by the well-known "chasing two birds at once." ½-½

Vancura Position
Josef Vancura, a Czech composer, his study was published in 1924 aOer three years aOer his death.
Diagram shows the posiOon.

In this posiOon Black depend upon his Rook to defend the game as black's king is out far from the passer.
Advanced Level Endgame Studies BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
260

If white plays
1. a7 Ra6. 2. Kb5 Ra1. 3. Kb6 Rb1+. 4. Kc7 Rc1+ 5. Kd7 Ra1
Now white had no hope of winning.
So be? er move for white is
1. Kb5 Rf5+ (Here white's King must not be allowed to protect his passer and release the a8-Rook.)
2. Kc6 Rf6+ 3. Kd5 Rf5+ 4. Ke6 Rf6+ 5. Ke5 Rb6 (Black has run out of checks) 6. Kd5
Rf6
7. Ra7+ Kg6 8. Ra8 Kg7 (White can't make progress because of repeOOve checks)
Result is a draw.

The above posiOon is the study of the great German player Siegbert Tarrasch (1862-1934). He iniOally believed
that the posiOon was a win for White but later he changed his views. He iniOally consider that
1. White intends to bring his King to the a7-square, release the capOve a8-Rook, and win the game by
promoOng his pawn.
2. Black's King is unable to enter the play because of a skewer threat.
IniOally Tarrasch tried the path
1. Kf2 Kf7 2. Kf3 Kf7
3. a7 White is threatening to play either
4. Rh5 or 4.Re5+, to win. If the play conOnues with 3 Kd7 4.Rh5, white sets up a wining skewer.
Trasssch also envisioned another passive defense, with White making a lengthy route with his King to the a7-
square.
1. Kf2 Kh7 2. Ke2 Kg7 3. Kd3 Ra4 4. Kc3 Kf7 5. Kb3 Ra1 6. Kb4 Rb1+ 7.Kc5 Rc1+
8. Kb6 Rb1+ 9. Ka7 Ke7 10. Rb8 Rc1 11. Kb7 Rb1+ 12. Ka8 Ra1 13. a7 Kd7 14.Kb7 Rb1 +
15. Ka6 Ra1+ 16. Kb6 Rb1+ 17. Kc5, for a win.
However, when Vancura's drawing method published. Tarrasch changed his assessment. Now Black
should play as follows:
1. Kf2 Ra5 2. Ke3 Re5+ 3. Kd4 Re6 4. d5 Rf6 and Vancura's posiOon is achieved and it's a draw.
Advanced Level Endgame Studies MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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Centurini Position
A Centurini PosiOon is one where one of the two diagonals in front of the pawn is less than four squares
in length.
These are almost always won.

1. Bf5 Bd5
2. Bc8 Kb4
3. Bb7 First we clear the a8-h1 diagonal. 3... Bc4
4. Bg2 Ba6
5. Bf1 Then we sacrifice a bishop to clear the a6-f1 diagonal. 5... Bxf1
6. b7 All clear! White's pawn can advance. 6... Ba6
7. b8=Q+ Queen vs Bishop is an easy win. 1-0

1. Bg5 $1 {This craOy move forces the Black bishop to abandon the a1-h8 diagonal so White's king can advance.}
1 Bf8
2 Kf6 Kg4
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Lucena Ending
Silman calls the Lucena Position “The Holy Grail of Rook Endings”. In this position Regardless of who's
turn it is to move, White wins.

1. Rf2+ Forcing Black's King to leave the scene of the battle.

1 Kg7
[1…Kg6 2.Rf4 Kg5 3.Rd4 Kf6 4.Ke8 Re1+ 5.Kf8 Rf1 6.d8Q+ Ke5+ 7.Ke7 ]

2. Rf4 Building a bridge.

2 Kg6

3. Ke7 Only now should White leave the cover of his pawn.
Since promotion is threatened Black must go into checking mode.

3 Re1+

4 Kd6 Rd1+

5 Ke6 Re1+

6 Kd5 Rd1+

7 Rd4 Rxd4+

8 Kxd4 Kf6

9 d8Q+ 1-0
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The Philidor Draw

The Lucena and Philidor positions are the most important positions to know when it comes to
rook and pawn endings.

Here we will be looking at the Philidor position, which allows Black to draw against an opponent
that is up a pawn.

It's important to note that the Philidor position only works if the opponent's pawn has not
reached the 6th rank.

Black to move and draw

1 Rb6 This move keeps that White King off the 6th rank.
[2.Rg7 Ra6 3.Rg6 Rxg6 Heading into a drawn King and pawn endgame.
4.Kxg6 Ke7 ] The Black rook heads to the %irst rank, to begin checking the White King.
With the White pawn having been pushed, White does not have any cover from the upcoming
Black rook checks.

2 e6

2 Rb1

3 Kf6 Rf1+
4 Ke5 Re1+
5 Kd6 Rd1+ =
Advanced Level Endgame Studies BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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Pawn Ending
which contains critical endgame positions. Right now it contains three positions mainly King and pawn
endgames dealing with the opposition, but I plan on adding more every couple of days.

(1) Endgame - K+P vs. K - Opposition

1.Ke2 Kg7 2.Kd3 Kf8 3.Kc4 Ke7 4.Kc5 Kd7 5.Kd5 Ke7 6.Kc6 Kf6 7.d5 Kf7 8.Kc7 1-0

(2) Endgame K+P v K - Opposition - Tempo Move

1...Kf8 2.Kxe6 Ke8 3.Kd6 Kd8 4.e6 This pawn move gives white the extra tempo he needs to regain the
opposition.
4...Ke8 White is forced to move and give up the opposition.
5.e7 1-0
Advanced Level Endgame Studies MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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(3) Endgame K+P vs K - Opposition

4...Ke8 5.Ke4 Ke7 6.Ke5 Ke8 7.Kf6 Kf8 Black draws, because the White King cannot get in front of his
pawn. 1/2-1/2

(4) Endgame - K+2P vs. K - King and Pawn

[Otero,Manny]
White to move wins. Black to move draws.

1.Kf3 Kh5 2.Kf4 Kg6 3.g4 Kf6 4.g5+ Kg6 5.g4 Kh7 6.Kf5 Kg7 7.g6 Kh6 8.g7 Kxg7 9.Kg5 Kh7 10.Kf6 Kg8
11.Kg6 Kh8 12.g5 Kg8 13.Kh6 Kf7 14.g6+ Kf8 15.Kh7 Ke7 16.g7 *
Advanced Level Endgame Studies BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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(5) Endgame - K+P vs K - Opposition

1.Kf2

1...Kc7 [1...Kd7 2.Kg3 Ke6 3.Kg4 Kf6 4.Kf4 Ke6 5.Kg5 Kf7 6.Kf5 Ke8 7.Kf6 Kf8 8.f4 Ke8 9.Kg7 1-0]

2.Kg3 Kd6 3.Kf4 Ke6 4.Kg5 Kf7 5.Kf5 Kg7 6.Ke6 Kf8 7.f4 Kg7 8.f5 Kf8 9.Kf6 Ke8 10.Kg7 Ke7 11.f6+ Ke6
12.f7 Ke5 13.f8Q 1-0

(6) Endgame K+P vs K+P - Opposition

1.f4! White sacri%ices a pawn in order to gain the opposition and draw.

1...Ke4 2.Ke1 Ke3 3.Kf1 Kf3 4.Ke1 Kxf4 5.Kf2= And it's a draw since White gained the opposition. 1/2-1/2
Principle
Of
Two
Weakness
PRINCIPLE OF TWO WEAKNESS BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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Principle of the two weaknesses :

In chess, both sides usually strive to create weaknesses in the opponent's camp. This strategy was
already dealt with in the sec!on Weak square, Weak point.

In this case the stronger side should a" empt to ensure himself of yet another a" acking point. Once this
has been achieved, further play should be based on the 'principle of the two weaknesses'.

Both of Black's weaknesses on d5 and h5 are under a" ack - Zugzwang!

Playing against the two weaknesses calls for an alterna!ng or simultaneous a" ack against them.
Necessary prerequisites for the success of such a campaign are a certain space advantage and the be" er
possibil!es for piece manoeuvring. If these prerequisites exist, sooner or later the defending side will no longer
be able to effec!vely counter the opponent's redeployment resul!ng in the loss of the game.

The 'principle of the two weaknesses' can be applied not only against vulnerable pawns as shown in the
above example. The concept of weakness should be understood more widely. A weakness can be not only a
backward or isolated pawn, but also a whole group of pawns, an inac!ve piece, a badly protected rank or file, a
pawn minority on a flank which might enable the opponent to create the remote passed pawn etc. In other
words, any posi!onal deficiency can be called a weakness. Here is an example:
PRINCIPLE OF TWO WEAKNESS MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
269

In this posi!on White has two weaknesses - he is lacking a pawn on the kingside and his queenside
pawns are vulnerable. Black wins by sacrificing his remote passed pawn in order to penetrate with the king and
capture the white pawns on the queenside.

If we changed this posi!on a li" le by adding a white pawn on f4 and black one on f5, then Black could
not
win (see diagram below).

The presence of only one weakness - the opponent's remote passed pawn - is not enough here. White's
queenside is not weak any more as it is not available for the black king.
 (A to Z)
Score Sheet
Analysis
Method
A-Z SCORE SHEET ANALYSIS METHOD BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
272

A-Z Complete Analysis Method of Score Sheet :

Sample Game - 01
P. Morphy vs. Consultants Paris 1858

The Opera Game Philidor's Defense C41 :

S0 YOU THINK YOU know the most famous chess game of all !me? Let's see how well you really know it
by taking a li" le test. The year is 1858. The se& ng is a box at the Paris Opera, between acts of the Barber Q/
Seville. You and your partner, Paul Morphy, have the White pieces. Your opponents, a team formed by the Duke
of Brunswick and Count Isouard, have Black. You listen to some music, take a break to play a casual game of
chess, and wind up becoming a fundamental part of world history. The tour de force began with 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 Bg4.

WHITE BLACK

4. dxe5 (a) Bxf3 (b)

5. Qxf3 (c) dxe5 (d)
6. Bc4 (e) Nf6 (fJ
7. Qb3 (g) Qe7 (h)
8. Nc3 (Ic C6
9. Bg5 (k) b5
10. Nxb5 (m) cxb5 (n)
11. Bxb5+ (o) Nbd7 (p)
12. 0-0-0 (q) Rd8 (r)
13. Rxd7 (s) Rxd7
14. Rd1 (t) Qe6 (u)
15. Bxd7+ (v) Nxd7 (w)
16. Qb8+ (x) Nxb8 (y)
17. Rd8# (z) (1-0)
(a) Black's last move was ques!onable. The 1 bonus point for realizing that 4 . ... dxe5 loses a pawn to
5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. Nxe5.
(b) A dubious gambit here is 4 . ... Nd7 5. exd6 Bxd6, occasionally played by Blackburne to try to steal the
ini!a!ve.
(c) Only 4 points part credit for 5. gxf3 dxe5 6. Qxd8+ Kxd8 7. f4. (d) Black has maintained a pawn at e5,
A-Z SCORE SHEET ANALYSIS METHOD MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
273

retaining an equal share of the center, but at the cost of development and light-square weaknesses.
(e) Developing with a gain of !me by threatening mate at f7.
(f) A mistake. The queen should have guarded f7 instead (with either Qf6 or Qe7). Now the trouble begins.

(g) 1 bonus point if you considered, when the queen was s!ll on f3, White's main threat here (Bxf7 + and
Qe6 mate).

(h) Add 1 bonus point if you planned to answer 7 . ... Qd7 with 8. Qxb7 Qc6 9. Bb5, pinning her majesty to an
ignominious end.

(i) 5 points part credit for 8. Qxb7 (or for 8. Bxf7+ Qxf7 9. Qxb7). Either varia!on wins at least a pawn, but
allows Black to solve some problems via 8. ... Qb4+, trading queens. As a rule, the defender wants to
reduce the oncoming a" acking force. (j) Deduct 5 points if you missed the point of this move, to defend
b7 with the queen.

(k) Only 4 points part credit if you tried to restrain the advance b7 -b5 by 9. a4. (1) 2 bonus points if you
analyzed 9 .... Qc7 10. 0-0-0 Bc5 11. Bxf7+ Qxf7 12. Rd8+.

(m) Get only 3 points part credit for retrea!ng the c4-bishop. 1 bonus point if you had the sacrifice on b5 in
mind when playing 9. Bg5.

(n) Black should have swallowed his pride with 10. Qb4+, trading queens and snuffing out some of White's
force.

(o) Deduct 3 points for the faulty 11. Bd5?, aiming for the a5-rook. Black wiggles out by 11 . ... Qb4+ (ge& ng
out of the pin on the f6-knight) and Nxd5.

(p) 1 bonus point for answering 11. ... Kd8 by 12. Bxf6, followed by 13. Qd5+.

(q) Connec!ng the rooks and threatening to take on d7.

(r) 1 bonus point for demolishing 12 .... 0-0-0? by 13. Ba6+ Kc7 14. Qb7 mate.

(s) Only 4 points part credit for the slower way to double rooks, 13. Rd3 and 14. Rhdl. It wins, too, but gives
Black a chance to catch his breath.

(t) Deduct 3 points for 14. Bxf6? Qxf6 15. Rd1, when Black escapes with Bd6.

(u) 1 bonus point for seeing 14 ... . Qb4 15. Bxf6 Qxb3 (or 15 . ... gxf6 16. Bxd7+ Kd8 17. Qxf7) 16. Bxd7 mate.

(v) Add only 5 points part credit for 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Bxd7+. It wins the queen, but wouldn't be that historic.
(w) 3 bonus points for working out 15 . ... Qxd7 16. Qb8+ Ke7 17. Qxe5+: A) 17 .... Qe6 18. Qc7, and mate
next move; B) 17 .... Kd8 18. Bxf6+, gaining big material.

(x) Perhaps the most famous queen sacrifice ever. I'm thinking about taking out the word "perhaps."

(y) No choice. The knight must capture, clearing the d-file for the intrusion of major power.

(z) Put the icing on your score with 2 bonus points if you saw this conclusion when playing 15. Bxd7+
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Sample Game - 02
W. Steinitz vs. A. Mongredien

London 1862 Center Counter Defense B01 :

WILHELM STEINITZ ( 1836-1900) was the first official world chess champion (1886-94) and one of the
game's greatest teachers. Indeed, it was Steinitz who put forth the theory of posi!onal chess, which advocates
the steady accumula!on of small advantages and is at the heart of grandmaster play. But in the early days, the
man dubbed the "Austrian Morphy" was an impa!ent young man, and he couldn't wait to put his adversaries
away. An illustra!on of this dynamic style is his contest against Augustus Mongredien (Black), played in London
in 1862. It began 1. e4 d5 2. Exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. d4 e6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bd3 Be7 7. 0-0 0-0 8. Be3 b6 9. Ne5 Bb7.

WHITE BLACK
10. f4 (a) Nbd7 (b)
11. Qe2 (c) Nd5 (d)
12. Nxd5 (e) exd5 (f)
13. Rf3 (g) f5 (h)
14. Rh3 (i) g6 (j)
15. g4 (k) fxg4 m
16. Rxh7 (m) Nxe5 (n)
17. fxe5 Kxh7
18. Qxg4 (o) Rg8 (p)
19. Qh5+ (q) Kg7
20. Qh6+ (r) Kf7
21. Qh7+ (s) Ke6 (t)
22. Qh3+ (u) Kf7
23. Rf1+ (v) Ke8 (w)
24. Qe6 (x) Rg7
25. Bg5 (y) Qd7 (z)
26. Bxg6+ Rxg6
27. Qxg6+ Kd8
28. Rf8+ Qe8
29. Qxe8#
A-Z SCORE SHEET ANALYSIS METHOD MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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(a) Full credit for 10. Qe2.

(b) 1 bonus point if you planned to answer 10 . ... Nd5 11. Nxd5 Qxd5 by 12. Qe2, with the idea to expel
Black's queen by an eventual c2-c4.

(c) Comple!ng development and connec!ng the rooks.

(d) 2 bonus points if you were ready for the line 11. ... c5 12. Rad1 cxd4 13. Bb5 dxe3? 14. Nxd7 Nxd7 15.
Rxd7.

(e) No credit for the crude mate threat 12. Qh5. Black counters easily with 12 ... . N7f6.

(f) 1 bonus point if you understood that Black plans to put a knight on e4. Then 2 bonus points if you
considered the line 12 .... Bxd5 13. Rad1 c5 14. Nxd7 Qxd7 15. dxc5 bxc5 16. c4 Bc6 17. Bxh7+, uncovering
an a" ack on the queen.

(g) Only 3 points part credit for either 13. Ba6 or 13. c4. A(er 13. R£3, there's a perk of 2 bonus points for
seeing the possibility of 14. Bxh7+ Kxh7 15. Rh3+ Kg8 16. Qh5. Full credit if you evaluated 13. Qh5 Nf6 14.
Qh3 Bc8 15. f5 as a" rac!ve for White.

(h) 3 bonus points if you considered 13 . ... Nxe5 14. fxe5 f6 15. Rh3 g6 16. Rxh7! Kxh7 17. Qh5+ Kg7 18.
Qxg6+ Kh8 19. Qh7 mate. 1 bonus point for seeing that 13 . ... Nf6 14. Rh3 threatens 15. Bxh7+ Nxh7 16.
Qh5.

(i) 1 bonus point if you saw ahead that 14 . ... Nf6? drops a pawn to 15. Bxf5. Add 2 bonus points if you also
determined that 14 .... Qe8 runs into 15. Bb5 Bc8 16. Bc6 Rb8 17. Bxd5+.

(j) 3 bonus points if you analyzed 14 .... c5 15. Qh5 Nf6 16. Qxf5 Bc8 17. Qxh7+ Nxh7 18. Bxh7+ Kh8 19. Ng6
mate.

(k) Steinitz plays vigorously, looking to smash open a" acking lines for his pieces. (1) Under pressure, Black
cracks. His last line of defense was 15 . ... Nxe5 16. Fxe5 Bc8.

(m) Only 5 points part credit for 16. Qxg4, though White is s!ll on top. Award 2 bonus points for seeing the
con!nua!on 16. Qxg4 Nf6 17. Qg2 Bc8 18. Rxh7 Kxh7 (18 . ... Nxh7 19. Qxg6+ Kh8 20. Qxh7 mate) 19.
Qxg6+ Kh8 20. Khl!, and there's no defense against the coming 21. Rgl.

(n) Best. There's nothing to be gained by placing the knight at f6. An immediate 16 . ... Nf6 allows the rook to
withdraw, 17. Rh6. 3 bonus points for inves!ng analysis on 16 . ... Kxh7 17. Qxg4 Nf6 18. Qxg6+ Kh8 19.
Kh1 (or 19. Qh6+ Kg8 20. Kh1) 19 . ... Qe8 20. Qh6+ Kg8 21. Rg1 +, and it's soon over.

(o) 1 bonus point for seeing the threat: 19. Qxg6+ Kh8 20. Qh7 mate. 3 bonus points if you saw 18 . ... Rf5 19.
Bxf5 gxf5 20. Qxf5+ Kh8 21. Qh5+ Kg8 22. Khl.
(p) If you considered 18 . ... Qe8 19. Qh5+, take 3 bonus points for seeing 19 . ... Kg8 20. Bxg6 Rf7 21. Kh1 Bf8
22. Rg1 Bg7 23. Bh6 Qd7 24. Bxf7+ Qxf7 25. Rxg7+ Qxg7 26. Bxg7. Add 3 bonus points if you ventured into
19 . ... Kg7 20. Bh6+ Kg8 (20 .... Kf7 21. Qxg6 mate; or 20 . ... Kh7 21. Bxf8+ Kg8 22. Bxg6 Qxf8 23. Qh7
mate) 21. Bxg6 Qd7 22. Kh1 Ba6 23. Rg1 Rf1 24. Bf7+ Kh7 25. Bf8 mate.
A-Z SCORE SHEET ANALYSIS METHOD BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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(q) 1 bonus point if you saw this check coming in advance. Full credit for 19. Rf1, threatening 20. Qh5+ Kg7
21. Qh6 mate. 1 bonus point if you saw 19 . ... Rg7 20. Rf7!. And 3 bonus points if you worked out the
main line 20 . ... Rxf7 21. Bxg6+ Kg8 22. Bxf7+ Kxf7 23. e6+ Kf6 (it's mate a(er 23 . ... Kf8 24. Bh6+ Ke8 25.
Qg6 mate or 23 . ... Ke8 24. Qg6+ Kf8 25. Qf7 mate) 24. Bg5+ Kg6 25. Bxe7+, winning the queen.

(r) Deduct 4 points for the hasty 20. Qxg6+??, losing the queen to a pin a(er 20 . ... Kh8. Also deduct 1 point
for 20. Bh6+, when 20 . ... Kh8 21. Bxg6 Rxg6 22. Qxg6 Qg8 is not likely to appeal to Steinitz.

(s) Only 2 points part credit for 21. Rf1 +. There's a mate if Black plays carelessly, 21. ... Ke6?? 22. Qh3 mate.
But a(er 21. ... Ke8, Black may be able to escape. 2 bonus points if you examined and rejected 21. Rf1+.

(t) 2 bonus points if you analyzed 21. ... Rg7 22. Bxg6+ Kf8 (22 . ... Ke6 23. Qh3 mate) 23. Qh8+ (or 23. Bh6) 23
. ... Rg8 24. Bh6 mate. Black may also just let his rook go by 21. ... Ke8 22. Qxg8+ Kd7. In that case, White
should instead first !ghten the screws by 22. e6! Qd6 (or 22 . ... Rf8 23. Qxg6+ Rf7 24. Qxf7 mate) 23.
Qxg8+ Bf8 24. Bg5, and there is hardly any escape from the three mate-in-one threats. 2 bonus points for
figuring this out.

(u) The king cannot be allowed to reach d7; from there it might be able to escape to cB or c6.

(v) Full credit for 23. e6+. (w) 1 bonus point if you saw 23 . ... Kg7 24. Qh6 mate.

(x) Black's next move is ugly, but pre" y much forced.

(y) 5 points part credit for either 25. Bb5+ or 25. Bh6.

(z) If Black does nothing, White wins with Rf4-h4-h8. But a(er 25 . ... Qd7, you can close the deal with 2
bonus points if you foresaw the final four moves of the game.

Sample Game - 03
P. Morphy vs. J. A. de Riviere

Paris 1863 Evans Gambit Accepted C51 :

WILHELM STEINITZ AND PAUL MORPHY MET only once, and they didn't play chess. To be sure,
Morphy forbade the subject from coming up as a precondi!on to mee!ng at al.l Supposedly, upon hearing of
Steinitz's arrival in New Orleans, Morphy's only words were: "Steinitz, I know him. His gambit's unsound." The
following gambit, on the other hand, seems very sound. It was played in 1863 by Morphy in Paris against Jules
Arnous de Riviere (Black), with the re!cent American using every gained tempo to cra( a finely executed win.
The gambit began 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4.
A-Z SCORE SHEET ANALYSIS METHOD MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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WHITE BLACK

5. c3 (a) Bc5
6. 0-0 (b) d6
7. d4 5 exd4 (c)
8. cxd4 (d) Bb6
9. Nc3 (e) Qf6 (f)
10. Nd5 (g) Qg6
11. Nf4 (h) Qf6 (i)
12. e5 (j) dxe5
13. dxe5 Qf5 (k)
14. e6 (1) f6 (m)
15. Nh4 (n) Qc5 (a)
16. Be3 (p) Qg5 (q)
17. Nf3 (r) Qa5 (s)
18. Bxb6 (t) Qxb6 (u)
19. Nd5 (v) Qa5
20. Nd2 (w) Nd4
21. Nb3 Nxb3
22. axb3 Qc5 (x)
23. Qh5+ Kd8 (y)
24. Rad1 (z)

(a) No credit for other moves. In the Evans, White sacrifices the b-pawn to gain !me, in order to build a
pawn center. By retrea!ng the bishop to c5, Black keeps a5 clear, so that Na5 becomes a possibility
against Qb3.

(b) Full credit for 6. d4, which is the preferred move. In Morphy's day the two moves (6. 0-0 and 6. d4) were
virtually interchangeable.

(c) The move 7 . ... Bb6 had already been played in the 26th game of the 1834 Macdonnell-Labourdonnais
Match. Black lost that game, so everyone forgot about the retreat un!l the world champion, Emanuel
A-Z SCORE SHEET ANALYSIS METHOD BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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Lasker, revived it in 1895.

(d) Only 2 points part credit for the inconsistent 8. Nxd4. A(er Black withdraws his bishop to b6, we reach
the so-called "Normal Posi!on" of the Evans Gambit.
(e) Only 4 points part credit for either 9. Bb2 or 9. D5, both of which were played by Morphy in other games.
Only 2 points part credit for 9. h3, stopping Bg4, but too slow for gambit play.

(f) An experiment with the queen. Either 9 . ... Na5 or 9 . ... Bg4 were less experimental.

(g) No credit for anything else. Black's safest reply is to . ... Qd8, but as Morphy later alluded, only a lab
specimen would play like that.

(h) 2 points part credit for 11. Nh4. Full credit for 11. Rb1, threatening 12. Rxb6, to be followed by a knight
fork at c7. Add 2 bonus points if you further considered 11. ... Ba5 12. Nf4 Qf6 13. D5 Ne5 14. Nxe5 dxe5
15. Qa4+ Bd7 16. Qxa5 exf4 17. Rxb7, when Black's posi!on is being reduced to the elements.

(i) If 11. ... Qxe4, then 12. Ret pins the queen (1 bonus point). If 11. ... Qh6, then the discovery 12. Ne6; and
i:15. Ret nails the queen again (2 bonus points). A(er 11. ... Qh6 12. Ne6 Qg6, there follows 13. Nh4 Qxe4
(13 . ... Qf6 14. Bg5) 14. Ret Qxh4 15. Bg5, and the queen is trapped (2 bonus points). Finally, if tl. ... Qg4,
then 12. h3 Qd7 13. Bb5 a6 14. Ba4, and there are no defenses against 15. D5 (2 bonus points).

(j) With Black's king s!ll uncastled, White plays to open the center.

(k) 1 bonus point for seeing 13 . ... Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Qxe5 15. Re1, once again pinning the queen to the
uncastled king. 2 bonus points for seeing 13 . ... Qd8 14. Qb3 Na5 15. Bxf7+ Kf8 16. Ne6+ Bxe6 17. Qxe6,
with White in he catbird seat. Take 3 bonus points for 13 . ... Qd8 14. Qb3 Nh6 15. Rd1 Nd4 (15 . ... Bd7 16.
e6 is unpleasant) 16. Nxd4 Bxd4 17. Ne2 c5 18. Nxd4 cxd4 19. Bxh6 gxh6 20. Bxf7+. (1) 1 bonus point if you
had this in mind when playing 11. Nf4. Take full credit if you opted for 14. Bd3 Qd7 15. e6 fxe6 16. Nxe6
(on 16 . ... Qxe6, the queen is pinned, 17. Re1).

(m) 3 bonus points if you weighed 14 . ... fxe6 15. Nxe6 Bxe6 16. Bxe6 Qf6 (16 . ... Qxe6 17. Re1, pinning) 17.
Bb2! Qxb2 (17 . ... Qg6 18. Nh4 or 17 . ... Qe7 18. Ba3) 18. Qd7+ Kf8 19. Qf7 mate.

(n) 4 points part credit for either 15. Bd3 or 15. Nd5. They're both good, but ul!mately less funny.

(o) 1 bonus point if you spo" ed 15 . ... Qg5 16. Nfg6, with a discovery to the queen. Yes, 15 . ... Qa5 or 15 . ...
Qe5 were also possible, but neither were deemed humorous enough to be played in this game.

(p) 1 bonus point if you saw this move when playing 15. Nh4.

(q) 4 bonus points for seeing 16 . ... Qxc4 17. Qh5+ Kd8 (17 . ... Kf8 18. Qf7 mate or 17 . ... g6 18. Nhxg6) 18.
Rad1+ Nd4 19. Nhg6 hxg6 20. Qxh8 Bxe6 21. Bxd4 Bxd4 22. Rxd4+! Qxd4 23. Nxe6+ and 24. Nxd4. No
extra credit for being able to read what I just wrote.

(r) 1 bonus point for rejec!ng 17. Nfg6 Bxe3.

(s) 1 bonus point for seeing that 17 . ... Qg4 18. h3 Qf5 19. Nd5 is explosive.
A-Z SCORE SHEET ANALYSIS METHOD MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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(t) Removing a defender of the c7 -pawn.

(u) The queen will not be able to keep her grip on c7. Black had to try 18 . ... axb6 19. Nd5 b5 20. Bxb5 (take 1
bonus point for realizing that 20 . ... Qxb5? fails to the forking 21. Nxc7+). 20 . ... Bxe6 and 20 . ... Nge7 are
worth examining-but not here.
(v) Hi& ng the queen and c7. Black's next is his only move.

(w) The knight threatens to drive the queen from as. In addi!on, the diagonal of the White queen is opened
for her entrance to h5. Black plays to remove the knight when it gets to b3, but then the at-rook appears
on the scene to harass Black's queen.

(x) Again, Black plays an only-move. (y) 1 bonus point for seeing 23 .... Kf8 24. Qf7 mate. 1 bonus point more
for seeing 23 . ... g6 24. Nxf6+.

(z) White threatens to move the knight, unmasking two discoveries: one to the king along the d-fiJ.e, and
one to the queen along the fi(h rank. There is no defense. 2 bonus points for realizing 24. Radl was
terminal.

Sample Game - 04
Em. Lasker vs. J. Bauer Amsterdam

1889 Bird's Opening A03 :

EMANUEL LASKER ( 1868-1941), the second world champion, held the !tle for 27 years (1894-1921),
longer than any other person. Famous for luring his opponents into overconfident play and then punishing them
(with chess moves), Lasker o(en spun deadly a" acks of his own. An example of his poker-face cunning was this
game against Johann Bauer (Black) at Amsterdam in 1889. The en!cement began 1. f4 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. b3 e6 4. Bb2
Be7 5. Bd3 b6 6. Nc3 Bb7 7. Nf3 Nbd7 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Ne2 c5 10. Ng3 Qc7 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Qc6 13. Qe2 a6.

White Black
14. Nh5 (a) Nxh5 (b)
15. Bxh7+ (c) Kxh7 (d)
16. Qxh5+ Kg8
17. Bxg7 (e) Kxg7 (f)
18. Qg4+ (g) Kh7 (h)
19. Rf3 (i) e5 (j)
A-Z SCORE SHEET ANALYSIS METHOD BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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20. Rh3+ Qh6

21. Rxh6+ Kxh6 (k)
22. Qd7 Bf6 (m)
23. Qxb7 Kg7 (n)
24. Rf1 (o) Rab8 (p)
25. Qd7 (q) Rfd8 (r)
26. Qg4+ Kf8 (s)
27. fxe5 (t) Bg7 (u)
28. e6 (v) Rb7 (w)
29. Qg6 (x) f6
30. Rxf6+ Bxf6 (y)
31. Qxf6+ Ke8
32. Qh8+ Ke7
33. Qg7+ (z) (1-0)

(a) 1 bonus point if you saw that 14 . ... NeB fails to 15. Bxg7 Nxg7 16. Qg4.

(b) 3 bonus points for considering 14 . ... d4 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Nxf6+ gxf6, when White shouldn't con!nue 17.
Bxh7+ Kxh7 18. Qh5+ Kg7 19. Qg4+ Kh6! 20. R.f.3 because of 20 . ... Qxf.3! 21. gxf.3 Rg8 (note on 21. Qh4+
Black has 21. ... Qh5, saving his queen). 3 bonus points more if you were pa!ent, realizing that a be" er
way to go is 16. Qg4 Kh8 17. Rf3 Rg8 18. Rh3 Be7 19. Nf6! h6 20. Be4 (to safeguard g2) Qc7 21. Qg5, and
Black is helpless against the coming sacrifice at h6.

(c) Only 2 points part credit for 15. Qxh5, which is countered by 15 . ... f5.

(d) 1 bonus point for seeing that 15 . ... Kh8 16. Qxh5 threatens mate in two moves.

(e) Obtain 1 bonus point if you saw this second bishop sacrifice (Bxg7) when making the first one (Bxh7+).

(f) 3 bonus points if you determined that declining the sacrifice by 17 . ... f6 doesn't help: 18. Rf3 Qe8 19.
Qh8+ Kf7 20. Qh7; add 1 bonus point for finding 17 . ... f5 18. Be5 QeB 19. Qh8+, and mate next; and
finally, add 3 bonus points for analyzing 17 . ... f5 18. Be5 Rf6 19. Rf.s Kf8 20. Rg3, threatening 21. Qh8+
Kf7 22. Rg7 mate.

(g) This forces the Black king to the h-file, so that White can aim for a linear mate.

(h) 1 bonus point for visualizing 18 . ... Kf6 19. Qg5 mate.

(i) Planning to mate at h3. Black has only one defense. (j) This is Black's defense: opening the sixth rank for
the queen to come across.

(k) True, the posi!on is roughly equal in material, but Lasker saw further. (1) 2 bonus points if you saw this
famous fork of both bishops in advance. (m) Saving the dark-square bishop and hoping to get in exf4
with a discovery a" ack on the at-rook.

(n) 1 bonus point if you calculated 23 . ... exf4 24. Qxb6 Kg7 25. Rf1.

(o) Removes the rook from the long diagonal and prepares for play on the f-frle. (p) It's hard to give Black
A-Z SCORE SHEET ANALYSIS METHOD MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
281

good advi_ce; perhaps 24 . ... e4, trying to keep the posi!on bo" led up, might be the right way to go. (q)
2 points part credit for taking one of the loose pawns at a6 or d5. White is angling for another ma!ng
a" ack.
(r) Apparently, chasing the queen where she wants to go, but Black needs to escape at f8.

(s) Bauer has already seen Rfl-! earlier in the game; he doesn't need to see it again.

(t) Opens the f-frle and wins a pawn.

(u) If he takes back, 27 . ... Bxe5, he loses the bishop to 28. Qe6 (28. Qf5, or 28. Qh5 would also do) f6 29.
Qxe5, and the f-pawn is pinned. 1 bonus point for spo& ng any of these.

(v) Targe!ng the Black king's chief defender, the f-pawn.

(w) 1 bonus point for seeing 28 . ... f6 29. e7+ Kxe7 30. Qxg7.

(x) White con!nues to mount pressure against f7.

(y) Or 30 . ... Kg8 31. Rf7 Rxf7 32. Qxf7 +, and 33. e7 wins. Size up 1 bonus point for seeing this.

(z) The b7-rook gets skewered. 1 bonus point if you worked it out when playing 30. Rxf6+.

Sample Game - 05
M. Ta l vs. J. Broderman Havana

1963 Caro-Kann Defense B 15

THE NAME MIKHAIL TAL (1936-91) brings to mind ingeniously ini!ated a" acks and incomprehensible,
prac!cally impossible to analyze sacrifices (well, maybe not in today's computerized world). The eighth world
chess champion seemed to have an almost unearthly ability to produce mate out of nowhere. It was as if he
could see things no one else could, which doesn't quite explain why some people (Pal Benko, for one) took to
wearing dark glasses when facing him. Perhaps his opponent, J. Broderman (Black), in this 1963 game played in
Havana, might have benefited from that very strategy. It all came into focus a(er 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4.
A-Z SCORE SHEET ANALYSIS METHOD BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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WHITE BLACK
4. Nxe4 (a) e5 (b)
5. Nf3 (c) exd4 (d)
6. Bc4 (e) Nf6 (tJ
7. Nxf6+ (g) Qxf6
8. 0-0 (h) Bc5
9. Re1+ (i) Be6
10. Bg5 (k) Qt5
11. Re5 (m) Qg6
12. Nh4 (n) Qxg5 (o)
13. Rxg5 (p) Be7
14. Bxe6 (r) Bxg5
15. Bxt7+ (t) Kxt7
16. Qh5+ Kf6
17. Qf3+ (u) Ke7
18. Nffi+ (v) K:f8 (w)
19. Nd6+ (x) Bf6
20. Ret (y) Nd7
21. Qb3 (z) (1-0)

(a) Only 2 points part credit if you decided on a gambit, 4. f.3 or 4. Bc4. It's much simpler (and be" er) to take
the pawn back.

(b) Usually Black plays 4 . ... Nd7, 4 . ... Bf5, or 4 . ... Nf6. This is something quite different and probably not so
good. S!ll, the mo!va!on is clear. Black intends to fight for the center.

(c) Only 4 points part credit for 5. dxe5. A(er 5 . ... Qxd1+ 6. Kxd1, Black is just a pawn down for nothing, so
he has to play 5 . ... Qa5+ and hope to manufacture enough play.

(d) 1 bonus point if you intended to meet 5 . ... Bg4 with 6. Bc4, threatening 7. Bxf7+.

(e) Only 5 points part credit for 6. Qxd4. Tal makes it a gambit, with three pieces in the field to Black's none.

(f) In the caro-Kann, Black typically goes a(er the e4-knight to gain !me. On 6 . ... Bb4+, add 3 bonus points
for considering 7. c3 bxc3 8. Bxf7+ Kxf7 (somewhat be" er is 8 . ... Ke7) 9. Qxd8 cxb2+ 10. Ke2 bxa1/Q,
with White retaining ma!ng threats for the material deficit.

(g) Only 3 points part credit for 7. Neg5, a" acking the f7-pawn. Black puts a damper on the a" ack by 7 . ...
Qe7+ 8. Qe2 Qxe2+ 9. Kxe2 Nd5 10. Ne5 Be6 (or possibly 10 . ... f6).

(h) 1 bonus point if you had castling here in mind when playing 6. Bc4. The emphasis is on rapid
development, early castling, and ge& ng a rook to the e-nle to oppose Black's uncastled king.

(i) Best. Just 3 points part credit for 9. Bg5 Qd6. As we'll see from the game, it's be" er to have the Black
queen tucked away on the kingside. No credit for 9. Ng5; Black answers with a move he wants to play in
any event, 9 . ... 0-0. (j) Black was coun!ng on this move to shut White down the e-file. The problem is
that his queen runs short of squares.
A-Z SCORE SHEET ANALYSIS METHOD MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
283

(k) 3 points part credit for 10. Ng5, whereby White succeeds in overpowering e6. 2 bonus points if you saw
Black's answer, 10 . ... 0-0 11. Nxe6 fxe6 12. Rxe6 (or 12. Bxe6+ Kh8) 12 . ... Qxf2+ 13. Kh1 Kh8.
181

(I) This is an oversight. He had to play 10 . ... Qg6, which you should have an!cipated. 1 bonus point if you
thought of 11. g4, looking to engulf the queen by 12. Bd3. It seems that Black can defend by 11 . ... 0-0 12.
Bd3 f5. Add 2 bonus points if you thought of 11. Re5, a" acking the c5-bishop and threatening 12. Nh4.

(m) Black is busted. He must lose a piece and could already resign. Very likely he doesn't relish the idea of
seeing his 11-move miniature published all over the world. Perfectly understandable, in order to
con!nue, he has to save his queen. So the game goes on and moves into the realm of the slightly surreal.

(n) Only 5 points part credit if you decided to take the bishop, 12. Rxc5, or 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. Rxc5. Add 1
bonus point for spo& ng 12. Rxc5 Nd7 13. Nh4 Qe4 14. 0, and the queen is trapped.

(o) If he wants to keep playing, he has to make moves. So he makes one. (p) Deduct 4 points for anything
else. Now White is ahead by a queen for a bishop. If 13 . ... Bxc4 then 14. Rxc5 keeps it that way.

(q) Saving his bishop and placing three White pieces under fire: bishop, rook, and indirectly the knight.
Certainly it's his best chance.

(r) 5 points part credit for 14. Re5. On 14 . ... Bxc4, Add 1 bonus point for seeing lS. Nf5 Be6 16. Nxg7+ and 17.
Nxe6. On 14. Re5 Bxh4, add 1 bonus point for seeing 15. Bxe6 fxe6 16. Qh5+ and 17. Qxh4.

(s) On 14. ... fxe6, White just moves his rook some place safe, such as 15. Rxg7, since the h4-knight is
indirectly protected by a queen check at h5.

(t) Tal wrote: "If he's not going to resign, I'll just have to mate him." The bishop sacrifice, giving back some
material, is Tal's take on the posi!on. Naturally, there were other moves. Only 5 points part credit for 15.
Bc8 Bxh4 16. Bxb7 and 17. Bxa8. Receive full credit for 15. Qh5, though you can figure out your own
analysis.

(u) The posi!on Tal had in mind. He's allowed Black to have rook and bishop for the queen, while retaining
further a" acking chances.

(v) Only 5 points part credit for 18. Ret+. Tal gives preference to the short-stepping knight, which has to
come back to civiliza!on.

(w) Walking into discovered check, but of course he's coun!ng on his bishop to cover up the f-file. 1 bonus
point if you saw that 15 . ... Kd5 is met by the intrusive 19. Nd6.

(x) If 19 . ... Ke7, it's best not to get carried away by 20. Qf7+? Kxd6.

(y) Confines the king while threatening 21. Re5 mate (1 bonus point). Black has to bring out his knight so
that the a5-rook can guard the back rank.

(z) Tal gets his mate a(er all. It's unstoppable. Get 1 bonus point for seeing 21. ... Ne5 22. Rxe5 and 23. Qf7
mate; and 1 bonus point for working it out when playing 20. Rel.
Bio-Graphy
& Games
Napoleon Bonaparte
Iniyan.P
World Champions
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
286

Napoleon Bonaparte
Number of games in database: 3
Years covered: 1804 to 1820

(born Aug-15-1769, died May-05-1821, 51 years old),France.

Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on August 15, 1769. In 1799, he staged a coup d'etat
and crowned himself as Emperor of France. In the first decade of the nineteenth century, he turned the armies of
the French Empire against every major European power and dominated con"nental Europe through a series of
military victories.

Napoleon fostered a deep love for chess throughout his life, but lacked the "me and devo"on to become a
player of the first rank. Only three recorded games a# ributed to Napoleon have survived, and some chess
historians cast doubts over the authen"city of some or all of these games.

Napoleon Bonaparte vs Henri Ga"en Bertrand

St. Helena (1820) (probably analysis), St Helena Scotch Game: Napoleon Gambit (C44)

1.e4e5 2.Nf3Nc6 3.d4Nxd4 4.Nxd4exd4 5.Bc4Bc5 6.c3Qe7 7.O-OQe5 8.f4dxc3+ 9.Kh1cxb2 10.Bxf7+Kd8
11.fxe5bxa1=Q 12.Bxg8Be7 13.Qb3a5 14.Rf8+Bxf8 15.Bg5+Be7 16.Bxe7+Kxe7 17.Qf7+Kd8 18.Qf8# 1-0

Napoleon Bonaparte vs The Turk (Automaton) "Napoleon Torn Apart" (game of the day Feb-09-2008).
Schoenbrunn (1809) King Pawn Game: Napoleon A# ack (C20)

1.e4During this game, the Turk was operated by Johann Allgaier.

1 e5 2.Qf3Nc6 3.Bc4Nf6 4.Ne2Bc5 5.a3d6 6.O-OBg4 7.Qd3Nh5 8.h3Bxe2 9.Qxe2Nf4 10.Qe1Nd4 11.Bb3Nxh3+
12.Kh2Qh4 13.g3Nf3+ 14.Kg2Nxe1+ 15.Rxe1Qg4 16.d3Bxf2 17.Rh1Qxg3+ 18.Kf1Bd4 19.Ke2Qg2+ 20.Kd1Qxh1+
21.Kd2Qg2+ 22.Ke1Ng1 23.Nc3Bxc3+ 24.bxc3Qe2# 0-1

Napoleon Bonaparte vs Madame De Remusat Chateau de Malmaison (1804) (probably analysis),

Rueil Malmaison FRA, Mar-20 Van Geet (Dunst) Opening: Reversed Nimzowitsch (A00)

1.Nc3e5 2.Nf3d6 3.e4f5 4.h3fxe4 5.Nxe4Nc6 6.Nfg5d5 7.Qh5+g6 8.Qf3Nh6 9.Nf6+Ke7 10.Nxd5+Kd6
11.Ne4+Kxd5 12.Bc4+Kxc4 13.Qb3+Kd4 14.Qd3# 1-0
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
287

GM P. Iniyan

India started the year 2019 with 58 GMs. On 15th of January we got the next two GMs - Visakh
NR (59th) and D.Gukesh (60th). A$er roughly one and a half month we now have our 61st GM P. Iniyan from
Erode, Tamil Nadu. Born on 13th September 2002, Iniyan is just 16 years and 6 months old. He scored his first GM
norm at the Montcada Open 2017, second one at the Bobligen Open 2018 and the final one at Barbera Del Valles
2018. A$er achieving his final GM norm it took him some "me to reach the 2500 Elo mark, which he managed to
achieve on 5th of March 2019 at the Noisiel Open in France by bea"ng GM Sergey Fedorchuk in round 6. A
detailed report with game analysis by India's 61st GM and interview with the man of the moment.

On 5th of March, India got its 61st GM - P. Iniyan from Erode, Tamil Nadu. Born in 2002, Iniyan is just
16 years old. Iniyan had already achieved his three GM norms (in fact he went on two score two more GM norms
later) and crossed 2500 Elo at Noisiel Open. He beat GM Sergey Fedorchuk in round six to cross 2500 Elo on the
live ra"ng list.

The youngster scored his first GM norm at the Montcada Open, Spain in 2017. The second norm came at
the 34th Bobligen Open in Germany and the final norm was made Barbera Del Valles, Spain in 2018.

Iniyan,P (2346) - Mar!n Perez,Laura (2104) [E32] 39th Open Internacional de Barbera del V

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 b6 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 Bb7 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 d6 9.e3 Nbd7 10.f3
Qe7 11.Bd3 e5 12.d5 c6 13.dxc6 Bxc6 14.e4 Nc5 15.Bc2 Ne6 16.Ne2 Rc8 17.Qb4 g5 18.Bf2 Bd7 19.Rd1
Nc5 20.0–0 Be6 21.Nc3 Kf8 22.b3 Kg7 23.Nd5 Nxd5 24.exd5 Bd7 25.Qd2 Qf6 26.b4 Nb7 27.Bd3 Bf5
28.Be2 Rc7 29.Be3 Qg6 30.Kh1 f6 31.Ra1 Rhc8 32.a4 Qf7 33.Rfc1 Bh7 34.a5 bxa5 35.c5 axb4 36.c6 Nd8
37.Bc4 Qe7 38.Qxb4 Bg8 39.Bb3 f5 40.Ra6 f4 41.Bg1 Bh7 42.Rca1 Ra8 43.Qc3 Bg8 44.Bb6 Kf6 45.Bxc7
Qxc7 46.Rxa7 Rxa7 47.Rxa7

1–0

Mayed,Al-Rashedi (1859) - Iniyan,P (2048) [B91] 21st Abu Dhabi Masters

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 e5 7.Nb3 b5 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.a4 b4 10.Nd5 Nxd5
11.exd5 a5 12.Bf1 Nd7 13.Bb5 g6 14.h4 h5 15.Bg5 Be7 16.Be3 Qc7 17.Qd2 Bf6 18.c3 bxc3 19.bxc3 Ba6
20.c4 0–0 21.Rc1 e4 22.Bf4 Ne5 23.Bxe5 Bxe5 24.0–0 Bc8 25.c5 Bh3 26.Rfe1 dxc5 27.Nxc5 Bxg3 28.Nxe4
Bh2+ 29.Kh1 Qf4 30.Re3 Qxh4 31.Qc3 Bf1 32.Nf6+ Kh8 33.Ng4+ Be5+ 34.Rh3 Bxh3 35.Nxe5 Kh7 36.Nf3
Qe4 37.Kh2 Qf5 38.Rg1 Bg4 39.Nd4 Qxf2+

0–1

Popov,Ivan (2622) - Iniyan,P (2131) [B90] 13th Parsvnath Open

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 d5 8.Nde2 Bb4 9.a3 Bc5 10.exd5
Qb6 11.Be3 Bxe3 12.fxe3 Qxe3 13.Bg2 0–0 14.Qd4 Qxd4 15.Nxd4 Nxd5 16.Bxd5 exd5 17.Nxd5 Nc6
18.Nxc6 bxc6 19.Ne7+ Kh8 20.0–0–0 c5 21.Nxc8 Raxc8 22.Rd6 a5 23.Ra6 Ra8 24.Rxa8 Rxa8 25.Rd1 g6
26.Rd7 Kg7 27.Rc7 Re8 28.Rxc5 Re3 29.Rxa5 Rxh3 30.b4 Re3 31.b5 Re7 32.b6 Rb7 33.Rb5 h5 34.gxh5
gxh5 35.a4 h4 36.a5 Kg6 37.a6 h3 38.axb7 h2 39.b8Q h1Q+ 40.Kb2 1–0
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
288

Iniyan,P (2346) - Mar!n Perez,Laura (2104) [E32] 39th Open Internacional de Barbera del V

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 b6 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 Bb7 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 d6 9.e3 Nbd7 10.f3
Qe7 11.Bd3 e5 12.d5 c6 13.dxc6 Bxc6 14.e4 Nc5 15.Bc2 Ne6 16.Ne2 Rc8 17.Qb4 g5 18.Bf2 Bd7 19.Rd1
Nc5 20.0–0 Be6 21.Nc3 Kf8 22.b3 Kg7 23.Nd5 Nxd5 24.exd5 Bd7 25.Qd2 Qf6 26.b4 Nb7 27.Bd3 Bf5
28.Be2 Rc7 29.Be3 Qg6 30.Kh1 f6 31.Ra1 Rhc8 32.a4 Qf7 33.Rfc1 Bh7 34.a5 bxa5 35.c5 axb4 36.c6 Nd8
37.Bc4 Qe7 38.Qxb4 Bg8 39.Bb3 f5 40.Ra6 f4 41.Bg1 Bh7 42.Rca1 Ra8 43.Qc3 Bg8 44.Bb6 Kf6 45.Bxc7
Qxc7 46.Rxa7 Rxa7 47.Rxa7

1–0

Kjartansson,Gudmundur (2442) - Iniyan,P (2368) [B90] 23rd Abu Dhabi Masters

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 d5 8.Nde2 Bb4 9.a3 Bxc3+ 10.Nxc3
d4 11.e5 Qa5 12.Qxd4 Nc6 13.Qd6 Ne4 14.Qd3 Nxc3 15.Qxc3 Qxc3+ 16.bxc3 Nxe5 17.f4 Nc6 18.Be3 Ne7
19.Bg2 Nd5 20.Bxd5 exd5 21.0–0–0 0–0 22.Rxd5 Be6 23.Rd6 Rfe8 24.Bd4 Rad8 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.f5 Bd7
27.Bb6 Bc6 28.Rg1 Re8 29.Kd2 Bb5 30.Be3 Rd8+ 31.Bd4 Re8 32.Rg2 Bc4 33.h4 h6 34.g5 h5 35.a4 Re4
36.Rh2 Re8 37.Kc1 Re1+ 38.Kd2 Re8 39.Kd1 Re4 40.f6 g6 41.Bc5 Re5 42.Bb4 Bd5 43.Rd2 Bc6 44.a5 Rd5
45.Rd4 Kh7 46.Kc1 Re5 47.Kd2 Re4 48.Kd3 Rg4 49.Bf8 Bb5+ 50.Kd2 Bc6 51.Rxg4 hxg4 52.Bd6 Be4 53.c4
Kg8 54.c3 Kh7 55.Ke3 Bc6 56.Kd4 Kg8 57.Kc5 Be4 58.Kb6 Bf3 59.Kc7 Be4 60.Kc8 Bf3 61.Kc7 Be4 62.Kd7
Bd3 63.Kc8 Be4 64.Kc7 Bf3 65.Kb6 Be4 66.Kc5 Bf3 67.Kd4 Be2 68.c5 Bf3 69.Ke3 Bc6 70.Kf4 Bf3 71.Kg3
Kh7 72.c6 Bxc6 73.Kxg4 Kg8 74.Kf4 Bd5 75.Ke5 Bc6 76.Be7 Bf3 77.Kd6 Be4 78.Kc7 Bf3 79.Bd6 Be4
80.Kd8 Bf3 81.Ke8 Bc6+ 82.Ke7 Bf3 83.Ba3 Be4 84.Bc1 Bf3 85.Bf4 Be4 86.c4 Bd3 87.c5 Be4 88.Bc1 Bf3
89.Bf4 Be4 90.Bc1 Bf3 91.Bf4

½–½

Iniyan,P (2466) - Kravtsiv,Martyn (2680) [D31] 2nd Sharjah Masters

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 0–0 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Rc1 c5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Bxe7
Nxe7 11.Be2 b6 12.0–0 Bb7 13.Qa4 cxd4 14.Qxd4 Nf5 15.Qf4 g5 16.Qa4 Nc5 17.Qg4 Nd7 18.Rfd1 Qe7
19.Ne4 Rad8 20.Rc7 Bxe4 21.Qxe4 Nc5 22.Rxe7 Nxe4 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 24.Rxa7 Rc8 25.Ra4 Nfd6 26.Rd4
Rc2 27.Bd3 Rxb2 28.h4 f5 29.hxg5 hxg5 30.Nxg5 Nxg5 31.Rxd6 Rd2 32.Rd4 Rxa2 33.f4 Nh7 34.Bc4 Ra1+
35.Kf2 Nf8 36.Rd6 Kf7 37.Rxb6 Rc1 38.Bd3 Nd7 39.Rb7 Ke7 40.Bb5 Rd1 41.e4 Kd8 42.Rxd7+ Rxd7
43.Bxd7 Kxd7 44.exf5 exf5 45.Ke3 Ke6 46.Kd4 Kd6 47.g3

1–0
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
289

WORLD CHAMPIONS .....!

1. Wilhelm Steinitz (1886-1894)

2. Emanuel Lasker (1894-1921)
3. Jose Raul Capablanca (1921-1927)
4. Alexander Alekhine (1927-1935, 1937-1946)
5. Max Euwe (1935-1937)
6. Mikhail Botvinnik (1948-1957, 1958-1960, 1961-1963)
7. Vasily Smyslov (1957-1958)
8. Mikhail Tal (1960-1961)
9. Tigran Petrosian (1963-1969)
10. Boris Spassky (1969-1972)
11. Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (1972-1975)
12. Anatoly Karpov (1975-1985)
13. Garry Kasparov (1985-2000)
14. Vladimir Kramnik (2000-2007)
15. Viswanathan Anand (2007-2013)
16. Magnus Carlsen (2013-current)
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
290

1. Wilhelm Steinitz (1886-1894)

180 years ago, on 17th May 1836, Wilhelm Steinitz was born in Prague. In 1886 Steinitz won the first
official match for the World Championship in chess against Hermann Zukertort to become the first World
Champion in chess history. Steinitz is also considered to be the founder of the scien"fic approach to chess. A
short biography and three games.
"Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player
is capable of having an evil thought during the game.”
---- Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz: A short biography :

Wilhelm Steinitz was born on 17th May in Prague into a poor Jewish family as the ninth of 13 children. In
his recently published Big Book of World Chess Championships ChessBase editor André Schulz details Steinitz's
family background.
"His father was a tailor and a teacher of the Talmud, his mother Anna Steinitz, née Torschowa. teinitz'
four younger siblings died in childhood, as did two older siblings. Steinitz himself was born with a club foot and
all is life required the aid of a crutch. Steinitz was small in stature, no taller than 1.50 metres. Steinitz learned
chess at the age of 12 from a friend of his father, or according to other sources from a school friend. He is
supposed to have carved his first chess pieces himself and used a piece of chequered cloth as a chess board.

According to many sources Steinitz is said to have gone in the Jewish school in the ghe# o and there have
received instruc"on in Hebrew grammar and in biblical studies. Amongst his ancestors there were some
scholars of the Talmud and Steinitz too, according to the wishes of his parents, was to become such a scholar, and
a# end the 'Yeshiva', the high school for the study of the Talmud. A$er he refused to give in to these desires, a
break with his parents is supposed to have occurred.

In 1853 Steinitz got to know Josef Popper, who later became known under the pseudonym Lynkeus as a
writer and social reformer, but also as the author of technical trea"ses. With his help, Steinitz caught up in his
studies in the 'Lesehalle der deutschen Studenten' (or 'reading room for German students'). In 1858 Steinitz
went to Vienna to study Mathema"cs and worked as a journalist to finance his studies. But "since he could not
meet the fees for his studies in this way and was having health problems with his lungs and eyes, Steinitz
stopped his studies ut from "me to "me con"nued to a# end lectures with his friend Popper Influenced by
these, Steinitz later began to apply scien"fic principles to chess." (The Big Book of World Chess Championships).

In 1860 Steinitz became a chess professional, and in 1862 he moved to London, at that "me the centre of
the chess world. Steinitz soon established himself as one of the leading players of the "me and in 1866 he played
a match against Adolf Anderssen, who a$er Paul Morphy's withdrawal from chess was considered to be the
number one in the chess world. Steinitz won he match with a score of 8-6 (no draws).

However, at the big tournament in Baden-Baden 1870 Steinitz came second behind Anderssen. For
Steinitz this was a disappoin"ng result that led him to reassess his own play cri"cally and to change his style.
Three years later, in 1873, Steinitz convincingly won the tournament in Vienna and established himself as the
world's best player.
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
291

A$er this success Steinitz withdrew from tournament chess for nine years and worked as a chess
journalist and theore"cian. But in 1876 he played a match against Blackburne which he won 7-0 and between
1873 and 1874 Steinitz took part in a two-game correspondence match between London and Vienna. An
important match as Craig Pritche# observed in his book Steinitz: Move by Move (Everyman 2015): "In his
Interna"onal Chess Magazine (January 1890) Steinitz wrote that 'the systema"c analy"cal development of
modern ideas dates from the match between London and Vienna'. Aided by William Po# er, his main partner in
the London team, Steinitz devoted countless hours of analysis to these two pres"gious correspondence games,
which the partners ably summed up in many hundreds of words and high quality varia"ons, in their exhaus"ve
game annota"ons, presented in The Field. Steinitz's use of the words 'systema"c' and 'analy"cal' reflect his new-
found ... zeal for the applica"on of the most rigorous scien"fic standards to probe the game's truths, which ruled
out all appeal to general rules or unsubstan"ated principles."

But in 1882 Steinitz played again and took part in the tournament in Vienna, sharing first place with
Szymon Winawer. However, one year later, in London 1883 Steinitz finished second, three points behind Johan
Hermann Zukertort. This success led Zukertort to claim that he was the best player in the world and a$er some
heated public debates Steinitz and Zukertort finally agreed to the terms of a match that took place in 1886 and
was played in three American ci"es: New York, St. Louis, and New Orleans.

According to the Oxford Companion to Chess by Kenneth Whyld and David Hooper "they agreed that the
first to win ten games should be declared world champion, but that if each won nine the "tle would not be
awarded". Steinitz won 12.5-7.5 (+10, =5, -5) to become the first official World Chess Champion.

Steinitz later defended his "tle against Mikhail Chigorin (1889 and 1892) and against Isidor Gunsberg
(1890-1891). But in 1894 he lost the "tle to Emanuel Lasker - a$er 24 match victories en suite Steinitz's first lost
match since 1862. Steinitz also lost the rematch against Lasker that was played in 1896-1897.

During his rematch with Lasker Steinitz was already quite ill and three years later "on the 12th of August
he died of heart failure totally impoverished in New York State Asylum on Ward's Island ... . In September he was
buried in a pauper's grave. The German Press Club paid for the re-internment in the Evergreen Cemetery in
Brooklyn (Bethel Slope, Grave No. 5892). The inscrip"on on his gravestone is in German: 'Hier ruhet in Frieden'."
(The Big Book of World Chess Championships).

Wilhelm Steinitz vs Eduard Jenay. Vienna m1 (1860) English Opening: Agincourt Defense (A13)
1.c4e6 2.Nc3c5 3.e3d5 4.cxd5exd5 5.d4Nf6 6.dxc5Bxc5 7.Nf3Nc6 8.Be2O-O 9.O-OBf5 10.Qb3Nb4
11.a3Bc2 12.axb4Bxb3 13.bxc5a6 14.Nd4Qc71 5.Nxb3Rfd8 16.Rd1h5 17.Bf3Qe5 18.Ra4g5 19.Rad4Kg7
20.Bxd5Ng4 21.f4gxf4 22.exf4Qc7 23.Ne4a5 24.h3Nh62 5.Be3Nf5 26.R4d3Rxd5 27.Rxd5Nxe3 28.Rg5+Kf8
29.Rd6Rd8 30.Kf2Nc4 31.Rf6Qe7 32.Re5Nxe5 0-1

Wilhelm Steinitz vs Valen"ne Green. London (1862) King's Gambit: Accepted. Kieseritsky Gambit Anderssen
Defense (C39)
1.e4e5 2.f4exf4 3.Nf3g5 4.h4g4 5.Ne5Nf6 6.Bc4d5 7.exd5Bd6 8.d4Qe7 9.O-ONh5 10.Re1O-O 11.Ng6Qf6
12.Nxf8Kxf8 13.c3Qxh4 14.Nd2f3 15.Nxf3gxf3 16.Bh6+Ng7 17.Bxg7+Kxg7 18.Qxf3Bg4 19.Qe3Bg3 20.Be2Qh2+
21.Kf1Qh1+ 22.Qg1Qxg1+ 23.Kxg1Bxe1 24.Bxg4Bg3 25.Bc8Na6 26.Bxb7Rb8 27.Bxa6Rxb2 28.Bc4 1/2-1/2
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
292

2. Emanuel Lasker (1894-1921)

Lasker was a universal genius described by Albert Einstein as one of the most interes"ng people he
knew. As well as holding the World Championship "tle for 27 years he earned a doctorate in mathema"cs, wrote
books on philosophy and what later developed into game theory, and even penned a play. He first took up chess
at the age of 11 when his parents sent him to study mathema"cs in Berlin along with his brother Berthold, eight
years his senior and himself one of the strongest players of the day. Emanuel's progress was so rapid that within
a couple of years of star"ng to play professionally he was arguably further ahead of his contemporaries than any
player since in chess history.
Lasker's early successes include scoring a perfect 13/13 in a strong tournament in New York in 1893, and
a year later he played Wilhelm Steinitz for the World Championship "tle. Although his ageing rival ini"ally
managed to trade blows a streak of five wins from games 7 to 11 set Lasker on the way to a comfortable victory.
During his long reign he convincingly defeated Steinitz again in 1896/7, then Frank Marshall (1907), Siegbert
Tarrasch (1908) and David Janowski (1910). His one struggle in those years was a match against Carl Schlechter in
1910, when he needed to win the final game to "e the scores at 5:5. He eventually lost the "tle to Capablanca in
1921, in a long-awaited match where he failed to win a game. Turbulent later years saw Lasker, who was Jewish,
renounce his German ci"zenship and move to Russia. That was the scene of one of his greatest feats, when at the
age of 67 he finished third at the 1935 Moscow Tournament, above Capablanca and only half a point behind
Botvinnik and Flohr. At the "me of his death in 1941 he was living in America.
A legend has grown up about Lasker being the first player to master chess psychology, varying his play to
surprise and cause discomfort to each par"cular opponent. Lasker himself, however, and many later observers,
have stated that he simply had a deeper understanding of chess. What's certain is that he was an excep"onal
prac"cal player, with none of his predecessors' trust in dogma"c theories and prescrip"ve rules.

(39) Capablanca,Jose Raul - Lasker,Emanuel [D02] - 2rd World Championship, 03.1921

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 Be7 6.Nc3 0–0 7.Rc1 b6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Qa4 c5 10.Qc6 Rb8
11.Nxd5 Bb7 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7 13.Qa4 Rbc8 14.Qa3 Qe6 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Ba6 Bxf3 17.Bxc8 Rxc8 18.gxf3 Qxf3
19.Rg1 Re8 20.Qd3 g6 21.Kf1 Re4 22.Qd1 Qh3+ 23.Rg2 Nf6 24.Kg1 cxd4 25.Rc4 dxe3 26.Rxe4 Nxe4 27.Qd8+ Kg7
28.Qd4+ Nf6 29.fxe3 Qe6 30.Rf2 g5 31.h4 gxh4 32.Qxh4 Ng4 33.Qg5+ Kf8 34.Rf5 h5 35.Qd8+ Kg7 36.Qg5+ Kf8
37.Qd8+ Kg7 38.Qg5+ Kf8 39.b3 Qd6 40.Qf4 Qd1+ 41.Qf1 Qd7 42.Rxh5 Nxe3 43.Qf3 Qd4 44.Qa8+ Ke7 45.Qb7+
Kf8 46.Qb8+ 1–0

(41) Capablanca,Jose Raul - Lasker,Emanuel [C48] - 2rd World Championship, 03.1921

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 d6 5.d4 Bd7 6.0–0 Be7 7.Re1 exd4 8.Nxd4 0–0 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.Bg5 h6
11.Bh4 Re8 12.Qd3 Nh7 13.Bxe7 Rxe7 14.Re3 Qb8 15.b3 Qb6 16.Rae1 Rae8 17.Nf3 Qa5 18.Qd2 Ng5 19.Nxg5
hxg5 20.h3 Re5 21.Rd1 Bc8 22.Rd3 Qb6 23.Kh2 R8e6 24.Rg3 Rf6 25.Kg1 Kf8 26.Na4 Qa5 27.Qxa5 Rxa5 28.Rc3 Bb7
29.f3 Re6 30.Rcd3 Ba6 31.Rd4 f6 32.Rc1 c5 33.Rd2 Bb5 34.Nc3 Bc6 35.a4 Ra6 36.Kf2 Rb6 37.Nd1 Kf7 38.Ne3 Rb8
39.Rh1 Ree8 40.Rdd1 Rh8 41.g4 Bd7 42.Nd5 Rb7 43.Kg3 Rh4 44.Rd3 Be6 45.c4 Rh8 46.Rc1 Ke8 47.Ne3 Kd7
48.Ng2 Rbb8 49.Re1 Kc6 50.Ne3 Rbe8 51.Rb1 Rh7 52.Rd2 Rb8 53.Rd3 Rbh8 54.Rh1 Kb6 55.Rh2 Kc6 56.Rh1 Rb8
57.Rh2 Rf8 58.Rh1 Kd7 59.Rh2 Bf7 60.Nf5 R( 8 61.Ne3 Ke6 62.Nd5 Rc8 63.Ne3 ½–½
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
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3. Jose Raul Capablanca (1921-1927)

∙Born: Nov 19, 1888 Havana, Cuba Died: Mar 8, 1942 (Aged 53) New York, U.S.
∙Federa!on: Cuba

Capablanca was perhaps the greatest natural talent chess has ever known. He grew up in Havana, Cuba
and learned the rules at the age of four by watching his father play. At 13 he won a match against the reigning
Cuban Champion Juan Corzo. When he moved to New York to study a few years later he quickly became the
Manha# an Chess Club's strongest player, and in 1909 he crushed US Champion Frank Marshall in an exhibi"on
match, claiming eight wins to his opponent's one. His posi"on towards the top of world chess was cemented in
1911, when he won the San Sebas"án tournament ahead of all the world's top players other than Lasker. In the
same year he challenged the World Champion to a match, but arguments over the condi"ons and then the
interven"on of World War I meant that he only finally took on and beat Lasker in 1921.

That match came in the middle of an 8-year period when Capablanca didn't lose a single game, and his
intui"on, speed of thought and unsurpassed ability to play apparently simple posi"ons made him almost
invincible over the course of his whole career. His only real weakness was an unwillingness to work on chess
away from the board, but it took a heroic effort to exploit that Achilles' heel. Alexander Alekhine was the man
who ul"mately managed, winning a marathon 34-game ba# le in Buenos Aires in 1927.

Capablanca followed that match with a string of tournament victories, but his hopes of a quick rematch
were dashed and he all but gave up chess in 1931. When he later returned he proved he was s"ll a match for
anyone, with his late achievements including winning the 1936 tournament in Moscow by a full point ahead of
Mikhail Botvinnik, a$er remaining undefeated in 18 games. Capablanca's poor 7th place out of 8 in the AVRO
tournament of 1938, which was intended to find the next challenger to Alekhine, has been a# ributed to his
problems with high blood pressure. The Cuban genius died of a stroke in Manha# an Chess Club at the age of
only 52.

(195) Capablanca,Jose Raul - Alekhine,Alexander Alexandrov [D37] - 3rd World Championship, 1927

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Qa5 7.Nd2 Bb4 8.Qc2 0–0 9.Bh4 c5 10.Nb3 Qa4
11.Bxf6 Nxf6 12.dxc5 Ne4 13.cxd5 Bxc3+ 14.bxc3 Nxc5 15.Rd1 exd5 16.Rxd5 Nxb3 17.axb3 Qc6 18.Rd4 Re8
19.Bd3 Qxg2 20.Bxh7+ Kf8 21.Be4 Qh3 22.Qd2 Be6 23.c4 a5 24.Rg1 Qxh2 25.Rh1 Qc7 26.Qb2 Qc5 27.Bd5 Ra6
28.Re4 Rd6 29.Rh7 Ke7 30.Qxg7 Kd8 31.Bxe6 fxe6 32.Qxb7 Qb4+ 33.Qxb4 axb4 34.c5 Rc6 35.Rxb4 Rxc5 36.Ra7
1–0

(193) Capablanca,Jose Raul - Alekhine,Alexander Alexandrov [A47] - 3rd World Championship, 1927

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 c5 5.0–0 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Bxg2 7.Kxg2 d5 8.c4 e6 9.Qa4+ Qd7 10.Nb5 Nc6
11.cxd5 exd5 12.Bf4 Rc8 13.Rc1 Bc5 14.b4 Bxb4 15.Rxc6 Rxc6 16.Qxb4 Ne4 17.Nd2 Nxd2 18.Qxd2 0–0 19.Rd1 Rc5
20.Nd4 Re8 21.Nb3 Rcc8 22.e3 Qa4 23.Qxd5 Rc2 24.Rd2 Rxa2 25.Rxa2 Qxa2 26.Qc6 Rf8 27.Nd4 Kh8 28.Be5 f6
29.Ne6 Rg8 30.Bd4 h6 31.h4 Qb1 32.Nxg7 Qg6 33.h5 Qf7 34.Nf5 Kh7 35.Qe4 Re8 36.Qf4 Qf8 37.Nd6 Re7 38.Bxf6
Qa8+ 39.e4 Rg7 40.Bxg7 Kxg7 41.Nf5+ Kf7 42.Qc7+ 1–0
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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4. Alexander Alekhine (1927-1935, 1937-1946)

Born: Oct 31, 1892 Moscow, Russia Died: Mar 24, 1946 (Aged 53) Estoril, Portugal
Federa!on: Russia

The fourth World Champion Alexander Alekhine was one of the game's greatest a# acking players,
known for his ability to find original tac"cal ideas in highly complex posi"ons. He grew up in a wealthy and
influen"al Russian family and developed steadily as a chess player un"l he emerged as a world star aged 21 on
the eve of World War I. He "ed for first place with Nimzowitsch at the 1914 Russian Championship and then took
third place at the same year's St. Petersburg tournament, behind Lasker and Capablanca but ahead of such
players as Tarrasch, Marshall and Rubinstein.
He was leading a strong tournament in Mannheim, Germany when war broke out, and was interned for
a "me along with the other Russian par"cipants. Chess ac"vi"es were curtailed during the war, and the post-
war period was a turbulent "me for the future champion. In 1919 he was briefly arrested as a spy by what would
become the KGB. In 1920-1 he married and separated from two women in the space of li# le over a year and le$
Russia for good. He later became a French ci"zen and married for a third "me in 1927 and a fourth in 1934.
At the chessboard Alekhine was at his peak and he rarely failed to finish in either first or second place at
the tournaments he played from 1921 un"l the end of his career. At "mes, as for instance in San Remo in 1930 or
Bled in 1931, he u# erly dominated a world-class field, but his focus soon switched to the World Championship.
His main struggle during the 1920s was to find the prize fund Capablanca demanded for a "tle match, with
Alekhine turning to playing simultaneous exhibi"ons. He set a record by playing blindfold against 28 people in
Paris in 1925.
The long-awaited match against Capablanca finally took place in Buenos Aires in 1927. Capablanca was
the favourite as his previous record against Alekhine was five wins and no losses, but Alekhine ul"mately
emerged the 18.5/15.5 victor a$er an epic 34-game ba# le. Sadly the chess world never got to see a rematch as
Alekhine insisted on the same harsh terms Capablanca had himself demanded. Instead he won two
straigh+orward matches against Efim Boguljubov in 1929 and 1934, before a shock loss to Max Euwe in 1935.
Some put that down to Alekhine's drinking, although it's also been suggested that drinking was merely a
consequence of the purely chess difficul"es Alekhine encountered a$er clearly underes"ma"ng his opponent.
Two years later Alekhine didn't make the same mistake, regaining the "tle with six more wins than his
opponent.
The end of Alekhine's life was just as drama"c as the start of his career. He was playing in Argen"na at
the Olympiad when World War II began in 1939, but unlike many of his colleagues he returned, taking part in
tournaments in German-occupied Europe and being named as the author of an"-Semi"c ar"cles (it's s"ll a
subject of debate whether he actually wrote them). Nego"a"ons were well underway for a match against
Botvinnik when Alekhine was found dead in his Portuguese hotel room in 1946. The cause of death has variously
been a# ributed to a heart a# ack, choking on his food and murder by the French or Soviet authori"es.
Alekhine is buried at Montparnasse Cemetery, in Paris.

30) Alekhine,Alexander Alexandrov - Blackburne,Joseph Henry [C61] St Petersburg Prel, 1914

BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
295

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.0–0 g6 6.d3 Bg7 7.f4 c6 8.Bc4 d5 9.exd5 cxd5 10.Bb5+ Kf8
11.Nd2 Qa5 12.a4 a6 13.Nb3 Qd8 14.Bd2 axb5 15.axb5 Rxa1 16.Bb4+ Ne7 17.Qxa1 Bf6 18.Qa7 b6 19.Re1 Be6
20.Kh1 h5 21.Bxe7+ Qxe7 22.Qxb6 Qb4 23.Qc5+ Qxc5 24.Nxc5 Bd8 25.Nxe6+ fxe6 26.Rxe6 Kf7 27.Rd6 Be7
28.Rxd5 Rc8 29.c4 dxc3 30.bxc3 Rxc3 31.Kg1 Ke6 32.Re5+ Kd6 33.Re3 Rb3 34.Kf1 Rb4 35.Re4 Rb2 36.Re3 h4
37.Re4 Bf6 38.b6 Kd5 39.Re8 Rxb6 40.Kf2 Rb3 41.Rg8 Rxd3 42.Rxg6 Ke6 43.g4 hxg3+ 44.hxg3 Kf5 45.Rg8 ½–½
5. Max Euwe (1935-1937)
Born: May 20,1901 Amsterdam, Netherlands Died: Nov 26,1981 (Aged 80) Amsterdam
FIDE Title: Grandmaster Federa!on: Netherlands

Max Euwe is o$en, perhaps unfairly, considered the one world chess champion not to have been a great,
or at least dominant, player of his "me. That's largely down to the fact that the Dutchman was a semi-
professional player, who had to fit his tournament appearances around the demands of his career as a school
mathema"cs teacher.

Euwe nevertheless dominated Dutch chess, winning every Dutch Championship he took part in
between 1921 and 1952.

His interna"onal successes included the Zurich 1934 tournament, where he finished joint second with
Flohr and inflicted the only defeat on the tournament winner, Alexander Alekhine. The same players were
matched against each other in a World Championship match a year later, and despite star"ng badly Euwe's
excellent opening prepara"on helped him sensa"onally defeat the reigning champion 15.5:14.5. A$er that
success Euwe also performed well in tournaments, for instance finishing in third place half a point behind
Botvinnik and Capablanca but above Alekhine in the No, ngham 1936 tournament.

His reign was nevertheless short-lived, as he lost a rematch to Alekhine in 1937. Although the final score
was crushing that was largely due to Euwe losing four of the last five games.

Max Euwe went on to become a popular FIDE President from 1970 un"l 1978, presiding over Bobby
Fischer claiming and then abdica"ng from the chess throne. He was also a prolific author, publishing over 70
books on chess.

(1) Max Euwe - George Salto Fontein [E34]

DD-ASC The Hague NED, 23.11.1924

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.Bg5 Bd7 7.Qd1 h6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.e3 0–0 10.cxd5 exd5
11.Bd3 Rfe8 12.Nge2 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 Na5 14.0–0 Bf5 15.Ng3 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 Qc6 17.f3 Qc4 18.Qd2 c5 19.e4 Rac8
20.Nf5 Qa4 21.Qf2 Rc6 22.dxc5 dxe4 23.fxe4 Rf6 24.Rae1 Rxe4 25.Qg3 Rg6 26.Ne7+ Rxe7 27.Qb8+ Kh7 28.Rxe7
Qc6 29.Rf2 Qxc5 30.Qe5 Qxe5 31.Rxe5 Nc4 32.Re7 Nd6 33.Rd2 Rf6 34.Rd7 Ne4 35.Rc2 Rb6 36.Rxf7 Rb1+ 37.Rf1
Rb5 38.h3 Rc5 39.Rf7 Rxc3 40.Re2 1–0

(1) Max Euwe - Hendrik van Har!ngsvelt [E32]

Amsterdam Amsterdam NED, 1921

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c6 5.e4 d5 6.e5 Ne4 7.Bd3 Nxc3 8.bxc3 dxc4 9.cxb4 Qxd4 10.Bxc4 Qxa1 11.Nf3
b5 12.Bb3 a5 13.bxa5 b4 14.0–0 Qc3 15.Qe4 Ba6 16.Rd1 Nd7 17.Be3 Be2 18.Rc1 Qd3 19.Qxc6 Bxf3 20.gxf3 0–0
21.Bc2 Qd5 22.Be4 Qxc6 23.Bxc6 Nxe5 24.Bxa8 Rxa8 25.a6 f5 26.a7 h6 27.Rc7 Nxf3+ 28.Kg2 Ne5 29.Bd4 Nf7
30.Rb7 1–0
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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6. Mikhail Botvinnik
Born: Aug 17, 1911 Kuokkala, Finland Died: May 5, 1995 (Aged 83) Moscow, Russia
FIDE Title: Grandmaster Federa!on: Russia

Botvinnik spent thirty years at the very top of world chess, played seven World Championship matches
and held onto the "tle for almost 15 years. He was also the first top chess player to develop in the Soviet Union,
with his methodical approach to prepara"on – both in terms of chess openings and such prac"cal ma# ers as
fitness and diet – becoming the model for genera"ons of Soviet players.

Botvinnik was taught to play chess by his older brother at the age of 12, and two years later defeated
World Champion José Raúl Capablanca in a simultaneous display during the Moscow 1925 tournament. At age
20 in 1931 he won the first of six USSR Championships, while his shared first place with Capablanca at the 1936
tournament in No, ngham was the first tournament success for a Soviet player outside of the USSR.

By the start of World War II Botvinnik was one of the most likely challengers for Alekhine's World
Championship "tle, and a match was on the verge of taking place before Alekhine's death in 1946. In the same
year Botvinnik won the first major post-war tournament in Groningen, and two years later he claimed the vacant
"tle by winning the 1948 five-player World Championship tournament with a full three-point advantage over
Vasily Smyslov.

The remainder of Botvinnik's chess career was marked by his fight to hold onto and reclaim the World
Championship "tle. He defended it in 1951 and then 1954 by drawing matches against David Bronstein and
Smyslov. The la# er finally beat him in 1957, but Botvinnik reclaimed the "tle in their rematch a year later. The
same story was repeated with Mikhail Tal, who won their match in 1960 but then lost the "tle in the 1961
rematch. Botvinnik lost the "tle for the final "me in 1963, to Tigran Petrosian, and this "me was denied an
automa"c rematch by a change in FIDE's rules.

Botvinnik also worked as a scien"st and had a doctorate in Electronic Engineering. A$er re"ring from
chess he devoted himself to ar"ficial intelligence and a# empted to develop a chess computer that would use a
selec"ve search based on chess knowledge. Ul"mately that proved to be a dead end, as “brute force” searches
running on powerful hardware eventually matched and surpassed human achievement. Botvinnik had more
success with his chess schools, and played a crucial role in the development of such talents as Anatoly Karpov,
Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. He came to be known as “the patriarch of Soviet chess”.

(34) Bronstein,David I - Botvinnik,Mikhail [D10] -9th World Championship, 1951

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 g6 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Bf4 Bg7 7.e3 0–0 8.Be2 Nc6 9.h3 Ne4 10.Rc1 Be6 11.0–0 Rc8
12.Nd2 Nxd2 13.Qxd2 Qa5 14.a3 a6 15.Ra1 Bf5 16.Rfd1 Rcd8 17.b4 Qb6 18.Na4 Qa7 19.Bc7 Rd7 20.Bb6 Qb8
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
297

21.f4 Na7 22.g4 Be6 23.Bxa7 Qxa7 24.Nc5 Rd6 25.Nxe6 Rxe6 26.Rac1 Qb8 27.Kg2 Rc8 28.Bf3 Rd6 29.Rc5 e6
30.Rdc1 Rxc5 31.Rxc5 Bf8 32.Qc2 Rd8 33.Rc3 Bd6 34.h4 Kg7 35.Qc1 h6 36.Rc2 g5 37.fxg5 hxg5 38.h5 Kh6 39.Qe1
Rf8 40.e4 dxe4 41.Qxe4 Rc8 42.Bd1 Rxc2+ 43.Bxc2 Qh8 44.Bd3 Qg7 45.Kf3 a5 46.bxa5 Bxa3 47.Kg2 Bd6 ½–½

7. Vasily Smyslov (1957-1958)

Born: Mar 24, 1921 Moscow, Russia Died: Mar 27, 2010 (Aged 89) Moscow,
Russia
FIDE Title: Grandmaster Federa!on: Russia

Although Smyslov only held onto the World Championship "tle for a year he outscored Mikhail
Botvinnik over the course of their three matches and demonstrated a precise posi"onal style that was later
developed by Anatoly Karpov. Vladimir Kramnik has described Smyslov as “truth in chess” and recommended
his games to children because “he plays the game how it should be played”.

Smyslov was introduced to chess at the age of six by his father, who himself studied under the legendary
Russian player Mikhail Chigorin. Smyslov saw Lasker and Capablanca play in the 1935 Moscow tournament and
soon became a formidable player himself, winning the 1938 USSR Junior Championship as a 17-year-old. Two
years later he finished third in the adult Championship, ahead of Botvinnik.

Smyslov had mixed results during the war and its a$ermath, but he finished clear second to Botvinnik in
the five-player World Championship of 1948. He was third in the 1950 Candidates tournament behind
Boleslavsky and Bronstein, but finished a full two points clear of the field at the famous Zurich 1953 Candidates
to earn the right to play Botvinnik. Their 1954 match was one of the most topsy-turvy in World Championship
history, with Botvinnik winning three of the first four games, Smyslov taking the lead by game 11, and Botvinnik
winning four of the next five games. Ul"mately they "ed and Botvinnik retained his "tle, but Smyslov had the
appe"te to challenge again by winning the 1956 Candidates in Amsterdam. This "me he won the "tle in 1957 by
defea"ng Botvinnik 12.5:9.5. His reign at the top was cut short as he lost the 1958 rematch 12.5:10.5 a$er
Botvinnik started with three wins and never looked in danger.

Although Smyslov never again played a World Championship match he remained a formidable player
even in his 60s, playing in the Candidates Final against the young Garry Kasparov in 1984. He was also a talented
baritone singer who only finally decided on a career in chess when he failed an audi"on for the Bolshoi Theatre
in 1950.

(160) Smyslov,Vassily - Botvinnik,Mikhail [C15] - 20st World Championship, 1954

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 dxe4 6.Qg4 Nf6 7.Qxg7 Rg8 8.Qh6 c5 9.Ne2 Rg6 10.Qe3 Nc6
11.dxc5 Ng4 12.Qxe4 Qd1+ 13.Kxd1 Nxf2+ 14.Ke1 Nxe4 15.Nf4 Rg8 16.Bd3 Nxc5 17.Bxh7 Rh8 18.Bd3 Nxd3+
19.cxd3 Bd7 20.Be3 0–0–0 21.Kf2 e5 22.Ne2 Bg4 23.h3 Bh5 24.d4 Bxe2 25.Kxe2 exd4 26.cxd4 Nxd4+ 27.Kf2 b6
28.Rhd1 Ne6 29.Rac1+ Kb7 30.Rxd8 Rxd8 31.h4 Rh8 32.g3 b5 33.Kf3 a5 34.Ke4 Re8 35.Kf3 Rh8 36.Rc3 f5 37.Rd3
Kc6 38.Bd2 Ra8 39.Bc3 Kc5 40.Bf6 b4 41.h5 Ra7 42.Re3 Kd6 43.Be5+ Kd5 44.Bb2 Kd6 45.Rd3+ Kc5 46.Rd2 Rh7
47.Rh2 Kd6 48.a4 Ke7 49.g4 f4 50.Rd2 1–0
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
298

(2408) Smyslov,Vassily - Botvinnik,Mikhail Moiseyevich [D98] 2nd World Championship, 1958

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0–0 7.e4 Bg4 8.Be3 Nfd7 9.Rd1 Nb6 10.Qb3 Nc6 11.d5
Ne5 12.Be2 Nxf3+ 13.gxf3 Bh5 14.h4 Qd7 15.a4 a5 16.Nb5 Nc8 17.Bd4 Nd6 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.Nd4 Kg8 20.Rg1 Qh3
21.Qe3 c5 22.dxc6 bxc6 23.Qg5 c5 24.Nc6 1–0

8. Mikhail Tal (1960-1961)

Born: Nov 9, 1936 Riga, Latvia Died: Jun 27, 1992 (Aged 55) Moscow, Russia
FIDE Title: Grandmaster Federa!on: Latvia

Tal, nicknamed the “Magician from Riga,” was a genius who overwhelmed his opponents with dazzling
a# acking chess. Subsequently many of his a# acks could be shown to be “inaccurate”, but un"l ill-health took its
toll few were able to demonstrate that at the board.

Tal's rise was meteoric. He qualified for the USSR Championship aged 19, became the youngest ever
player to win it the following year and held onto the "tle again a year later — he would eventually win that
formidable event six "mes. His path to the World Championship was remarkably smooth, winning the 1958
Interzonal and the 1959 Candidates Tournament, where he scored a 4/4 clean sweep against the young Bobby
Fischer. The 1960 match against Mikhail Botvinnik was one of the most an"cipated in chess history and saw the
young star bamboozle his experienced opponent with daring sacrificial chess. Tal raced to a 5:2 lead a$er seven
games and eventually emerged the 12.5:8.5 winner, to become the 8th World Champion.

Tal was unable to maintain such phenomenal form and success. In the rematch a year later Botvinnik
was prepared to counter his opponent's aggressive style, and Tal's poor health contributed to his losing the "tle
a$er a 13:8 loss. He never again qualified for a World Championship match, although he spent almost three
more decades close to the top of world chess. In later years he transformed his style to become one of the
hardest players to beat, pos"ng record 86 and then 95-game unbeaten streaks in the early 1970s, when he was
working with the young Anatoly Karpov.

Tal was a fine blitz player, winning the official World Blitz Championship in 1988 at the age of 51, and
defea"ng Garry Kasparov in the Moscow blitz tournament of 1992, just a month before his death. Tal's universal
talent was clear in the fact that he started studying literature at the University of Riga at the age of only 15, and
he would later develop into one of the most entertaining chess writers. A heavy drinker and chain smoker, Tal
had a kidney removed in 1969 and eventually died of kidney failure at the age of only 55.

(428) Lein,Anatoly - Tal,Mikhail [B23] - Championship, 1969

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.d3 d4 5.Nce2 Nc6 6.Bg2 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Nf3 Nge7 0–1

(1391) Tal,Mihail (2620) - Smyslov,Vassily (2620) [C67] - Moscow, 1971

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0 Nxe4 5.d4 Be7 6.Qe2 Nd6 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.dxe5 Nb7 9.c4 0–0 10.Nc3 Nc5
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
299

11.b3 f6 12.Bb2 fxe5 13.Nxe5 Qe8 14.Rae1 Ne6 15.Nd3 Qg6 16.f4 d6 17.Kh1 Bh4 18.g3 Nd4 19.Qe4 Bf6 20.Qxg6
hxg6 21.Ne4 c5 22.Nxf6+ gxf6 ½–½

9. Tigran Petrosian (1963-1969)

Born: Jun 17, 1929 Tbilisi, Georgia Died: Aug 13, 1984 (Aged 55) Moscow,
Russia
FIDE Title: Grandmaster Federa!on: Russia

Petrosian was famous for being perhaps the hardest man to beat in world chess. Although he was a
brilliant tac"cian, he largely used that talent to foresee and prevent his opponent's poten"al a# acks. That
meant he conceded more draws than similarly gi$ed players and struggled to win the top tournaments, but it
was a style perfectly suited to match play and helped him to win and hold onto the World Championship "tle for
six years. Tigran's difficult childhood coincided with World War II, during which he was le$ an orphan and
survived by sweeping the streets. He learned chess at age eight and moved from Armenia to Moscow when he
turned twenty. Although he soon finished second at the 1951 USSR Championship, it took another decade
before he really began to stand out from the crowd. He won his first USSR Championship in 1959 and repeated
that success in 1961.

His qualifica"on for a World Championship match against Botvinnik was accomplished in typically
Petrosian style, without losing in 49 games at the 1962 Interzonal and Candidates tournaments, where he
ul"mately finished half a point clear of Paul Keres and Efim Geller with Bobby Fischer 3.5 points back (the
American champion alleged collusion among the Soviet players). Although Petrosian lost the first game against
Botvinnik he eventually ended the Russian's reign with a convincing 12.5:9.5 victory. Petrosian narrowly
defended his "tle against Boris Spassky in 1966, the first successful "tle defence since 1934, but eventually lost
the "tle 12.5:10.5 to the same opponent in 1969. Although mostly known for pure defence Petrosian also
championed the “posi"onal exchange sacrifice”, where a player gives up a rook for a bishop or knight for
strategic purposes. He also established and edited the best-known Soviet and Russian chess magazine, “64”. He
died at the age of only 55 and remains an Armenian na"onal hero.

(12) Petrosyan,Tigran - Spassky,Boris V [E12] - 6th World Championship, 1966

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.a3 Bxf3 6.gxf3 Be7 7.f4 d5 8.f5 exf5 9.Bg2 0–0 10.cxd5 Bd6 11.Qd3
g6 12.Bg5 Re8 13.h4 Nbd7 14.h5 Rb8 15.hxg6 fxg6 16.0–0–0 b5 17.Nxb5 Qc8 18.Rd2 Qb7 19.Nc3 Qb3 20.Qc2 Kg7
21.Bf3 h5 22.Qxb3 Rxb3 23.Rc2 Reb8 24.e3 Kf7 25.Rd1 Nb6 26.Bxf6 Kxf6 27.Be2 h4 28.f4 Re8 29.Kd2 Rxc3
30.Rxc3 Nxd5 31.Bb5 Nxc3 32.Bxe8 Nxd1 33.Kxd1 ½–½

(49) Petrosyan,Tigran - Botvinnik,Mikhail Moiseyevich [D81] - 5th World Championship, 1963

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qb3 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bg7 6.e4 0–0 7.Be2 Nc6 8.Nf3 Nd7 9.Be3 Nb6 10.Qc5 Bg4
11.d5 Nd7 12.Qa3 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Nd4 14.0–0–0 Nxf3 15.gxf3 Nb6 16.Qb3 Qd7 17.h4 h5 18.f4 e6 19.dxe6 Qxe6
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
300

20.Qxe6 fxe6 21.Rhg1 Kh7 22.Nb5 Rf7 23.Nd4 Re8 24.Nf3 Bh6 25.Ng5+ Bxg5 26.Rxg5 Nc4 27.Rdg1 Rg8 28.Kc2 b6
29.b3 Nd6 30.f3 Rd7 31.R5g2 Rdd8 32.a4 Nf7 33.Bc1 e5 34.Be3 exf4 35.Bxf4 Rd7 36.Rd2 Rxd2+ 37.Kxd2 Rd8+
38.Ke2 c5 39.a5 Rd7 40.axb6 axb6 41.Ra1 Kg7 42.Ra6 Rb7 43.Ra8 Kf6 44.Rc8 Ne5 45.Ke3 Nd7 46.Rc6+ Kf7 47.e5
Nf8 48.Rf6+ Kg7 49.Ke4 b5 50.Rc6 Kf7 51.Rxc5 Ne6 52.Rd5 Ke7 53.Be3 Rb8 54.Rd6 b4 55.Ra6 Rb5 56.Ra7+ Ke8
57.f4 Kf8 58.f5 1–0

10. Boris Spassky (1969-1972)

Born: Jan 30, 1937 (Age 82) Leningrad, Russia FIDE Title: Grandmaster
FIDE ID: 600024 Federa!on: Russia
Peak Ra!ng:2690 (January 1971) Ra!ng: 2548 (May 2019)
Rank: 529 (May 2019)

The tenth World Champion Boris Spassky has been described as one of the first truly universal players,
combining a correct classical style with dynamic a# acks and deep strategy. His laid-back a, tude to life was
reflected in a narrow opening repertoire, but he would outplay his opponents in the middlegame and only
finally met his match in Bobby Fischer. Their 1972 match was perhaps the most significant in chess history.

Spassky was a prodigy who picked up the game while staying in a provincial orphanage a$er being
evacuated from war-torn Leningrad. In 1947, at the age of only ten, he was strong enough to defeat Mikhail
Botvinnik in a simultaneous display. As a teenager in 1955 he finished third in the USSR Championship, won the
World Junior Championship and then a year later "ed for third place at the Amsterdam Candidates Tournament,
losing only two games and inflic"ng the only defeat on the winner, Vasily Smyslov. He also "ed for first place in
the 1956 USSR Championship, although he lost the play-off to Mark Taimanov.

Spassky was considered a future champion, but in the years that followed he struggled in qualifying
events, o$en losing cri"cal encounters. He partly put his failures down to an unhappy first marriage (“we were
like opposite-coloured bishops…”) and saw his results improve when he divorced and changed coaches in 1961,
the year he won his first USSR Championship. In the 1964-66 cycle Spassky won matches against Keres, Geller
and Tal before narrowly losing his first World Championship match to Tigran Petrosian 12.5-11.5. In the next
cycle he beat Geller, Larsen and Korchnoi before finally claiming the "tle in 1969 by winning another closely-
fought match against Petrosian 12.5:10.5.

Spassky later complained of the burden of being champion, but his reign didn't last long. In 1972 he met
Bobby Fischer in a showdown in Reykjavik that took place against the backdrop of the Cold War. Fischer had
whitewashed Taimanov and Larsen and crushed Petrosian, but his record against Spassky was poor. The
American also started badly, losing the first game a$er a strange blunder and forfei"ng the second a$er refusing
to play in front of cameras. The turning point proved to be game three – Spassky agreed to Fischer's request to
play in a small room with no audience, and then regre# ed not refusing to play when his opponent s"ll
complained. Fischer went on to win that game and the next four decisive encounters, leaving the match
outcome in li# le doubt. Although Spassky later acknowledged Fischer was the be# er player by that stage, the
lopsided 12.5-8.5 scoreline didn't reflect the balance of play.

Spassky never again qualified for a World Championship match. In 1976 he moved to France to live with
his third wife, and despite a number of strong results the most drama"c moment in his subsequent career was
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
301

perhaps the lucra"ve rematch he played against Fischer in 1992, which he lost 17.5-12.5. In 2010 Spassky
suffered a stroke and needed to be hospitalised, while in 2012 he le$ his wife and France to move back to Russia.
He is currently the oldest World Champion.

(716) Huebner,Robert (2595) - Spassky,Boris V (2565) [C92] World Cup, 1988

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.a4 h6
12.Nbd2 Bf8 13.Bc2 exd4 14.cxd4 Nb4 15.Bb1 c5 16.d5 Nd7 17.Ra3 g6 18.Nf1 ½–½
11. Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (1972-1975)
Born: Mar 9, 1943 Chicago, U.S. Died: Jan 17, 2008 (Aged 64) Reykjavík, Iceland
FIDE Title: Grandmaster Federa!on: United States of America
Peak Ra!ng: 2785 (July 1972) Ra!ng: 2785 (July 1972)

Bobby Fischer was a lone genius who took on and defeated the might of the Soviet chess machine. He
won the World Championship "tle in 1972 at the age of 29 a$er defea"ng Boris Spassky in the most-publicised
match in chess history. Sadly that was effec"vely the end of his career, as the American became a recluse who
didn't play another serious game for the next two decades.

Fischer first stunned the chess world as a 13-year-old prodigy when he defeated IM Donald Byrne in
what was dubbed the “Game of the Century”. A year later he won the first of his eight US Championships,
qualifying him for the 1958 Interzonal Tournament in Yugoslavia. Li# le was expected of the young star, but his
top 6 finish earned him a place in the final World Championship qualifier and the grandmaster "tle. He remained
the youngest ever grandmaster un"l Judit Polgar broke his record thirty years later.

The 1959 Candidates Tournament was a step too far for the 16-year-old Fischer, who lost all four games
to the eventual winner, Mikhail Tal, but three years later he was one of the favourites a$er winning the 1962
Interzonal by a clear 2.5 points. Instead he finished a long way behind the winner, Tigran Petrosian, and
complained of collusion among the Soviet players in an ar"cle published in Sports Illustrated. During the 1960s
Fischer o$en withdrew from events and went long periods in which he barely played, but the level of his chess
con"nued to rise. His ferocious will to win, deep prepara"on and crystalline play made him arguably the
strongest player in chess history, and a$er turning 23 in 1966 Fischer finished first in every tournament or match
he played.

His final ascent to the chess throne was the stuff of legend. He dominated the 1970 Interzonal in Palma
de Mallorca, then whitewashed both Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen 6-0 in an unprecedented run of twenty
consecu"ve victories against top opposi"on. Petrosian could only restrict the score to 6.5-2.5 as Fischer
qualified for a World Championship match against Boris Spassky. What became known as the “Match of the
Century” took place in Reykjavik and played out against the backdrop of the Cold War. It could have ended in a
damp squib when Fischer forfeited the second game and might well have forfeited the match if his opponent
hadn't been willing to make concessions. Instead it was a long-awaited corona"on for Fischer, who won 12.5-
8.5.

Fischer inspired a chess boom in the US and seemed to have the world at his feet, but instead he slipped
into obscurity. His terms for a match against Anatoly Karpov were rejected by the World Chess Federa"on and he
conceded the "tle in 1975 without playing another game. Although he briefly returned to the limelight to play a
rematch against Spassky in 1992 his comfortable win was overshadowed by becoming a US fugi"ve due to the
sanc"on-defying decision to play in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. In the years that followed Fischer made headlines for
rants against the US and Israel, displaying an"-Semi"sm that perhaps dated back to a troubled childhood when
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
302

he was raised by his o$en absent Jewish mother. The champion was arrested in Japan in 2004 on a US warrant,
but was granted asylum in Iceland, where he spent the last three years of his life.

(662) Blau,Max - Fischer,Robert James [B53] Varna olm, 1962

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.c4 Nf6 8.Nc3 g6 9.Bg5 Bg7 10.Nd5 0–0
11.Qd3 Bxd5 12.exd5 Nd7 13.Qd2 Rc8 14.Rc1 b5 15.b3 bxc4 16.bxc4 Nc5 17.0–0 Ne4 18.Qe3 Nxg5 19.Qxg5 Rc5
20.Qe3 Qc7 21.Nd4 Bxd4 22.Qxd4 Rc8 23.Rc2 Rxc4 24.Rxc4 Qxc4 25.Qxa7 Qe4 26.h3 Rc4 27.Rd1 Kg7 28.Qb7 Qe2
29.Rf1 Ra4 30.Qb3 Rxa2 31.Qc3+ f6 32.Qe1 Qe5 33.f4 Qxd5 34.Qxe7+ Kh6 35.Qf8+ Kh5 36.g4+ Kh4 37.Qxf6+
Kxh3 38.Qc3+ Kxg4 39.Qc8+ Kh4 40.Qd8+ Kh5 0–1
12. Anatoly Karpov (1975-1985)
Born : May 23, 1951 (Age 67) Zlatoust, Russia
FIDE Title: Grandmaster
FIDE ID: 4100026
Federa!on: Russia
Peak Ra!ng: 2780 (July 1994)Ra!ng: 2616 (May 2019)
Rank: 200 (May 2019)

Anatoly Karpov filled the vacuum le$ by Bobby Fischer's re"rement and was the undisputed World
Champion from 1975-1985. His quiet but relentless posi"onal style saw him dominate his contemporaries un"l
the emergence of his great rival Garry Kasparov.

Karpov was a model Soviet child, born in the difficult post-war years in Zlatoust in the Ural Mountains,
where his father worked as an engineer in the armaments industry. He learned to play chess at four and by the
age of 12 was accepted into Mikhail Botvinnik's chess school.

Although the “patriarch of Soviet chess” was apparently scep"cal of the youth's unsystema"c talent
Karpov made rapid progress, especially when he teamed up with opening expert GM Semyon Furman.

He became the first Soviet player since Spassky to win the World Junior Championship and truly
announced his arrival at age 20 at the 1971 Alekhine Memorial. Although seeded only 14th he finished unbeaten
in first place along with Leonid Stein, above a field that included reigning World Champion Boris Spassky and
former champions Smyslov, Tal and Petrosian.

Karpov famously stated he wasn't ready to challenge for the World Championship in the coming cycle,
but proved himself wrong, defea"ng Lev Polugaevsky (5.5-2.5), Spassky (7-4) and finally Viktor Korchnoi (12.5-
11.5) to qualify for a match against Bobby Fischer.

The full chess resources of the Soviet Union were thrown into preparing the frail Russian to take back the
chess crown, but the 23-year-old Karpov won the "tle without pushing another pawn a$er Fischer rejected the
match condi"ons.

Karpov dispelled cri"cism over the legi"macy of his "tle by taking part in all the top tournaments that
followed and domina"ng his rivals. He also defended his "tle in two more matches against Korchnoi. In 1978 he
survived his opponent's late fight back to win 16.5-15.5, while in 1981 Karpov started with three wins in the first
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
303

four games before cruising to an 11-7 victory.

The mid-to-late 80s were dominated by Karpov's clashes with Garry Kasparov. In 1984 it seemed as
though the reigning champion was going to deliver a harsh lesson to the young challenger, as Karpov raced to
four wins in the first nine games.

Kasparov then dug in, but a$er a record series of 17 draws it was Karpov who claimed the next win, to
move to within a single win of the six required for overall victory.

In the remaining 21 games, however, he failed to cross the finish line while Kasparov scored three wins
before the then FIDE President Florencio Campomanes aborted the match, to the protests of both players.

Kasparov won the rematch a year later and held on to the "tle in further matches in 1986, 1987 and
1990. All of them were extremely close, with Karpov losing when he only needed to draw in the final game of the
1987 match. In 1992 the saga was ended when Karpov lost the final Candidates Match to Nigel Short, though
a$er Short and Kasparov split from FIDE he was able to claim the less pres"gious FIDE World Championship "tle
by defea"ng Jan Timman in 1993.

He later retained that "tle against Gata Kamsky in 1996 and Viswanathan Anand in 1998, but gave it up
when the format was changed to a knockout in 1999.

Karpov remained at the very top of world chess in the early 90s, and scored one of the most impressive
tournament victories ever when he won the 1994 Linares tournament with an incredible 11/13, finishing a full
2.5 points ahead of Kasparov and Alexei Shirov in second place.

His play has subsequently deteriorated, although he con"nues to make rare appearances in team and
rapid events. As well as playing chess Karpov has always been an extremely compe""ve card player and a
fana"cal stamp collector, with a collec"on valued somewhere in the region of $15 million.

When he turned 60 in 2011 Karpov embarked on a new career path, and is currently a Deputy in the
Russian Parliament.

(3415) Kornasiewicz,Stanislaw - Karpov,Anatoly [C63] Trinec 6667, 1966

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.d4 fxe4 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.dxe5 c6 7.Bc4 Qa5+ 8.Bd2 Qxe5 9.Bxg8 Rxg8 10.Nc3
d5 11.Qe2 Bd6 12.0–0–0 Bd7 13.f3 0–0–0 14.fxe4 Rde8 15.Rde1 d4 16.Nd1 Be6 17.Kb1 c5 18.b3 c4 19.bxc4 Ba3
20.Qd3 Qc5 21.Nb2 Bxb2 22.Kxb2 Kb8 23.Qb3 Bxc4 24.Qb4 Qc6 25.e5 Re6 26.a4 Rc8 27.Rhg1 Qd5 28.a5 Rc5
29.Qa3 b6 30.Ra1 d3 31.axb6 Qd4+ 32.Qc3 Rxb6+ 0–1

(3331) Karpov,Anatoly - Vaganian,Rafael A [D00] Moscow 5, 1972

1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Nf3 Nbc6 8.Be2 Qa5 9.0–0 Qxc3 10.Bd2 Qb2
11.Rb1 Qxa3 12.Rb3 Qa2 13.Qc1 Nf5 14.Ra3 Nfxd4 15.Bd3 Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Qxa3 17.Qxa3 0–0 18.Qxc5 Nxe5 19.Be2
Ng6 20.Qc7 f6 21.Bb4 Rf7 22.Qd8+ Nf8 23.Bb5 1–0
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
304

13. Garry Kasparov (1985-2000)

Born: Apr 13, 1963 (Age 56) Baku, Azerbaijan FIDE Title: Grandmaster
FIDE ID: 4100018 Federa!on: Russia
Peak Ra!ng: 2851 (July 1999) Ra!ng: 2812 (May 2019)
Rank: 3 (May 2019)

Many people's choice as the strongest chess player of all "me, Garry Kasparov was number one on the
ra"ng list for over twenty years and held the World Championship "tle for fi$een. As well as using a dynamic
tac"cal style and deep prepara"on to dominate on the board he also dominated the public percep"on of chess,
with his victories against Anatoly Karpov seeming to symbolise the new era of glasnost and perestroika in the
Soviet Union. A$er re"ring from chess in 2005 he became one of the leaders of the opposi"on to the Pu"n
regime in Russia.

Kasparov was born Garik Kimovich Weinstein but adopted a Russified version of his Armenian mother's
surname Gasparyan a$er his father died when he was seven. From the age of ten he trained at Mikhail
Botvinnik's school and the scale of his talent soon became evident. He won the Soviet Junior Championship in
1976 and 1977 and as a 15-year-old was the youngest ever qualifier for the adult championship a year later.
Kasparov's triumph in the 1979 Banja Luka tournament in Yugoslavia saw him shoot up to number 15 on the
January 1980 ra"ng list, and he won the World Junior Championship later that year.

When Kasparov qualified for the Candidates Matches the 19-year-old was already rated no. 2 in the
world, and a$er convincingly winning matches against Alexander Beliavsky (6-3), Viktor Korchnoi (7-4) and
Vasily Smyslov (8.5-4.5) he topped the ra"ng list. His 1984 World Championship match against Anatoly Karpov
represented an altogether different challenge, however, and nine games in he was facing a humilia"ng defeat
a$er four losses. Kasparov then dug in with a sequence of 17 draws, but when he lost the next game it seemed
inevitable Karpov would score the sixth win he required to win the match. Instead when the match was
controversially abandoned 21 games later Kasparov had scored three wins.

Kasparov won the rematch a year later to become the youngest ever World Champion at 22, and held on
to the "tle in another three closely fought matches against Karpov in 1986 (12.5-11.5), 1987 (12-12) and 1990
(12.5-11.5). England's Nigel Short surprisingly beat Karpov in the next cycle, which was to have fateful
consequences for world chess. Short and Kasparov were unhappy with decisions taken by the World Chess
Federa"on and set up a rival Professional Chess Associa"on for their match. Although Kasparov eventually
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
305

scored an easy 12.5-7.5 victory he later regre# ed their decision, as it ushered in 13 years of split "tles.

Kasparov defended his "tle once more against Viswanathan Anand in 1995, winning 10.5-7.5 a$er his
opponent collapsed to lose four out of five games despite being the first to score a win a$er eight draws.
Vladimir Kramnik had worked as Kasparov's second for that match, which Kasparov may have regre# ed when he
ul"mately lost the "tle to his fellow Russian in 2000. Kramnik managed to s"fle his opponent's aggressive
inten"ons to the extent that Kasparov failed to win a game, the first "me that had happened to a reigning
champion since Emanuel Lasker's match against Capablanca in 1921.

A$er that setback Kasparov con"nued to win tournaments and regained his no. 1 posi"on on the ra"ng
list, but he refused to take part in qualifying events for a new World Champion match, insis"ng he should be
granted an automa"c rematch. Other poten"al routes to the "tle through matches against the FIDE champions
also fell through, and Kasparov's announcement of his re"rement in 2005 was partly mo"vated by frustra"on.
During his career Kasparov played five high-profile matches against computers, although those are now above
all remembered for the World Champion first losing a single game in 1996 and then a whole match in 1997
against IBM's custom-built Deep Blue. He has also been a prolific author or co-author of books on chess and
other topics, and worked as a coach, both at the Botvinnik-Kasparov chess school and individually for the young
stars Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. In recent years Kasparov has been most prominent as a figurehead
for the opposi"on to Vladimir Pu"n in Russia, a dangerous role that has seen him arrested on more than one
occasion. He remains the world's best-known chess player.

(1) Kasparov,Garry (2831) - Carlsen,Magnus (2484) [A16]

Reykjavik Blitz, 17.03.2004

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.0–0 Bg7 9.Nxc6 Bxc6 10.e4 0–0 11.Be3 a6
12.Rc1 Nd7 13.Qe2 b5 14.b4 Ne5 15.cxb5 axb5 16.Nxb5 Bxb5 17.Qxb5 Qb8 18.a4 Qxb5 19.axb5 R1 8 20.b6 Ng4
21.b7

1–0

(1053) Ljubojevic,Ljubomir (2590) - Kasparov,Garry (2800) [B23]

Linares, 1991

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 Nc6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.0–0 Bg7 7.d3 a6 8.Bxc6 Bxc6 9.Qe1 Qd7 10.a4 b6 11.b3 Nf6 12.h3
Nh5 13.Bd2 f5 14.exf5 gxf5 15.Qh4 Nf6 16.Rae1 0–0–0 17.a5 b5 18.b4 cxb4 19.Na2 Nd5 20.Nxb4 Bf6 21.Qf2 Nxb4
22.Bxb4 Rhg8 23.Re2 Rg6 24.Qe1 Rdg8 25.Kh2 e5 26.fxe5 Bxe5+ 27.Kh1 Qb7 28.d4 Rxg2 29.Rxg2 Rxg2 30.Kxg2
Qg7+ 31.Kh1 Bf4 32.Qe6+ Bd7 33.Qd5 Qg3 34.Qa8+ Kc7 35.Re1 Qxh3+ 36.Kg1 Qg3+ 37.Kf1 Qh3+ 38.Ke2 Bc6
39.Qa7+ Kc8 40.Rf1 Qg2+ 41.Ke1 Bg3+ 42.Kd1 Qxf1+ 43.Ne1 Bxe1

0–1

(1137) Short,Nigel D (2655) - Kasparov,Garry (2805) [B97]

PCA-World Championship, 1993
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
306

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Nb3 Qa3 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Be2
Nc6 12.0–0 Bd7 13.Kh1 h5 14.Nd1 Rc8 15.Ne3 Qb4 16.c3 Qxe4 17.Bd3 Qa4 18.Nc4 Rc7 19.Nb6 Qa3 20.Rae1 Ne7
21.Nc4 Rxc4 22.Bxc4 h4 23.Bd3 f5 24.Be2 Bg7 25.c4 h3 26.g3 d5 27.Bf3 dxc4 28.Re3 c3 29.Rxc3 Bxc3 30.Qxc3 0–0
31.Rg1 Rc8 32.Qf6 Bc6 33.Bxc6 Rxc6 34.g4 Ng6 35.gxf5 exf5 36.Qxf5 Qxa2 37.Qxh3 Qc2 38.f5 Rc3 39.Qg4 Rxb3
40.fxg6 Qc6+

0–1

14. Vladimir Kramnik (2000-2007)

Born: Jun 25, 1975 (Age 43) Tuapse, Russia
FIDE Title: Grandmaster
FIDE ID: 4101588
Federa!on: Russia
Peak Ra!ng: 2817 (October 2016)
Ra!ng: 2753 (May 2019)
Rank: 16 (May 2019)

Whatever else Kramnik does in his career he'll go down in chess history as the man who managed to
wrest the crown from Garry Kasparov. Following that World Championship match in 2000 Kramnik held onto the
"tle for seven more years before losing out to Viswanathan Anand. Far from signalling the end of Kramnik's
career that sparked a renaissance, as he managed to reinvent himself and return to something approaching the
swashbuckling chess of his youth.

Kramnik's rise was meteoric. The provincial Russian boy's talent was spo# ed by the famous Botvinnik
School and when Garry Kasparov personally vouched for the 16-year-old's inclusion in the Russian team for the
1992 Olympiad he didn't disappoint – scoring 8.5/9 and the event's best ra"ng performance. Three years later
Kramnik set a record for the youngest player to reach no. 1 on the ra"ng list that was only recently beaten by
Magnus Carlsen.

Although the “early” Kramnik was a bold and fearless a# acking player, by the "me his moment of
des"ny arrived against Kasparov he'd transformed himself into the hardest player to beat in world chess. His
deep opening prepara"on and subtle posi"onal feel le$the legendary champion bamboozled and unable to win
a game.

The period of Kramnik's reign was troubled – the chess world was split with compe"ng "tles, Kasparov
held onto the no. 1 posi"on on the ra"ng list and demanded an automa"c rematch and Kramnik suffered from a
painful form of arthri"s – but he nevertheless managed to compose himself at the vital moments.

He won on demand in the final game of his 2004 match against Peter Leko and survived a nerve-wracking
play-off against Veselin Topalov in 2006, a$er a match that almost collapsed in scandalous circumstances. When
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
307

Kramnik lost the "tle to Anand in 2007 the silver lining was that it finally freed him of any responsibility for chess
poli"cs – he could simply play chess, and set about winning tournaments in spectacular style, proving he was s"ll
a match for the best players of the new genera"on.

The London Candidates tournament in 2013 saw Kramnik come within a whisker of crowning his career
by se, ng up a rematch against Anand. He finished level on points with Magnus Carlsen, but lost out on the
"ebreak of most wins (he had 4 wins and 1 loss, while Carlsen had 5 wins and 2 losses). Later in 2013 he added
winning the World Cup to his list of achievements, sailing through the knockout event without suffering a single
loss.

Kramnik's chances of forcing a World Championship match against Carlsen seemed good, but some
calamitous errors saw him lose three games in the 2014 Candidates Tournament in Khanty-Mansiysk. He
showed flashes of his best form to also win three games and finish in third place, but it was a big blow to the
Russian's chances of regaining the World Championship "tle before he re"res.

He missed the 2016 Candidates in Moscow, with the wild card going to Levon Aronian since there was an
Armenian sponsor, but he was then given the wild card in 2018, a$er narrowly missing out on automa"c
qualifica"on by ra"ng.

(1) Kramnik,Vladimir (2784) - Bwalya,Gillan [A04] World Cup, 11.08.2013

1.Nf3 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.0–0 Be7 5.b3 0–0 6.Bb2 d6 7.d4 d5 8.Nbd2 c6 9.Ne5 Nbd7 10.Nd3 Ne4 11.f3
Nxd2 12.Qxd2 Nf6 13.c4 Qe8 14.a4 Bd7 15.a5 Rd8 16.Rfe1 Qh5 17.Ne5 a6 18.Ba3 Bxa3 19.Rxa3 Bc8 20.b4 dxc4
21.Nxc4 Qe8 22.Rd3 Qe7 23.e4 fxe4 24.fxe4 Bd7 25.d5 Rde8 26.d6 Qd8 27.Ne5 Qc8 28.Bh3 Kh8 29.Qe3 Rd8
30.Red1 Qb8 31.Rf1

1–0

(9) Kramnik,Vladimir (2784) - Areshchenko,Alexander (2709) [D85] World Cup Tie-Breaks, 19.08.2013

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 c5 8.Rc1 Qa5 9.Qd2 cxd4 10.cxd4
Qxd2+ 11.Bxd2 0–0 12.Nf3 e6 13.Bb5 Nc6 14.Be3 Rd8 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Ne5 Bb7 17.f3 Bxe5 18.dxe5 Rd3 19.Kf2
Rad8 20.Bg5 R8d7 21.h4 h5 22.Kg3 Kh7 23.Rc2 c5 24.Rxc5 Bxe4 25.Rc8 Bb7 26.Rf8 f5 27.exf6 e5 28.Re8 e4 29.Rb1
exf3 30.Rxb7 fxg2+ 31.Kxg2

1–0

(509) Kramnik,Vladimir (2785) - Bacrot,E!enne (2695) [A20] World Blitz, 22.11.2007

1.c4 e5 2.g3 f5 3.d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qe3+ Be7 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.Nc3 0–0 8.Nh3 Re8 9.0–0 Bf8 10.Qd2 Ne5
11.b3 d6 12.Nf4 c6 13.Rd1 Qc7 14.Ba3 Nf7 15.Rac1 Bd7 16.e3 Rad8 17.b4 Ne5 18.Qe2 g5 19.Nh5 Nxh5 20.Qxh5
Be6 21.Qxg5+ Qg7 22.Qxg7+ Bxg7 23.b5 Nxc4 24.bxc6 Nxa3 25.cxb7 Bxc3 26.Rxc3 Nc4 27.Bd5 Bxd5 28.Rxd5 Nb6
29.Ra5 Rb8 30.Rc7 Rf8 31.Rxa7 Rf7 32.Rxf7 Kxf7 33.a4 Ke6 34.a5 Nd7 35.Kg2 Kd5 36.Kf3 Kc6 37.a6 Nc5 38.Ra8
Kc7 39.a7 Rxb7 40.Rc8+
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
308

1–0

15. Viswanathan Anand (2007-2013)

∙Born : Dec 11, 1969 (Age 49) Mayuram, India FIDE Title : Grandmaster
∙FIDE ID : 5000017 Federa!on : India
∙Peak Ra!ng : 2817 (March 2011) Ra!ng : 2774 (May 2019)
∙Rank : 8 (May 2019)

Viswanathan Anand was the undisputed World Champion from 2007-2013 and is one of the greatest
talents the game has ever known.

The “Tiger of Madras” grew up in a chess backwater, but could hardly go unno"ced.

He would win classical six-hour chess games using only minutes on his clock, and became India's first
grandmaster as an 18-year-old. He soon went on to take his righ+ul place among the world chess elite, winning
countless tournaments and rivaled only by Kasparov as the best blitz and rapid player on the planet.

His road to the World Championship proved longer and more winding.

The first great chance came in 1995, when he played a match against Garry Kasparov at the top of the
World Trade Centre in New York. A$er eight draws in a row Anand won Game 9, but then collapsed to lose four of
the next five, a psychological blow that he admi# ed weighed on him in his future encounters with Kasparov.

Anand won the FIDE Knockout World Championship in 2000 but was first considered the undisputed
World Champion by most chess fans in 2007/8, when he proved his dominance first in a tournament and then in
a match against Vladimir Kramnik. His old Achilles' heel of slightly superficial opening prepara"on was a thing of
the past.

Anand receives a laurel wreath a$er winning his match against Boris Gelfand in Moscow | photo:
moscow2012.fide.com

He went on to defend the "tle against Veselin Topalov in 2010 (winning the final game) and Boris
Gelfand in 2012 (winning a rapid play-off).

Despite retaining the "tle Anand went on to suffer something of a crisis, struggling to win games in many
tournaments un"l an upswing in early 2013 that culminated in victory at the Grenke CheClassic in Baden-Baden.
Later that year he finally played a World Championship match in his home city of Chennai (formerly Madras),
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
309

India, but his 22-year-old opponent Magnus Carlsen was the clear favourite a$er domina"ng the chess world for
the previous three years. Indian hopes were boosted by a posi"ve start, but losses in Games 5 and 6 saw Anand
slip to a 6.5:3.5 defeat.

Was that the end of the World Championship story for a great champion? No! Just when most pundits
had wri# en him off Vishy was back to his imperious best at the 2014 Candidates Tournament in Khanty-
Mansiysk. He dominated from start to finish and won the event with a round to spare. That meant he got to take
on Magnus Carlsen in a new match in November 2014.

It was no repeat of Chennai, as a$er winning an early game Anand kept within touching distance of
Carlsen un"l the penul"mate game.

Alas, just when he seemed to have chances of pulling off a victory that would level the score before the
final game he overpressed and lost. The final score was Carlsen 6.5:4.5 Anand. At the post-game press
conference the former World Champion immediately replied "no" to a ques"on about whether he would now
re"re, drawing a loud round of applause from the audience.

(23) Carlsen,Magnus (2775) - Anand,Viswanathan (2798) [E06] Mainz Classic rap fin, 03.08.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0–0 6.0–0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bf4 Nc6 11.Nc3
Nb4 12.Qc1 Rc8 13.Rd1 Nbd5 14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15.Be3 Ng4 16.Ne1 Bxg2 17.Nxg2 Qd5 18.h3 Nxe3 19.Qxe3 c5 20.Nf4
Qf5 21.dxc5 Bxc5 22.Qd3 Qf6 23.Qd2 Rfd8 24.Qa5 e5 25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.Nd3 Bb6 27.Qc3 Bd4 28.Qe1 e4 29.Nf4
Bxb2 30.Rd1 Be5 31.Nd5 Qe6 32.Qa5 Rd6 33.Ne3 Rxd1+ 34.Nxd1 h6 35.Kg2 Qc6 36.Ne3 g6 37.Qb4 Kg7 38.Kh2
Bc3 39.Qe7 Bd4 40.Qb4 Qc5 41.Qd2 Bxe3 42.fxe3 b4 43.Kg2 a5 44.Kf2 a4 45.Qb2+ Kg8 46.Qd2 b3 47.axb3 axb3
48.Qd8+ Kg7 49.Qd2 Qb6 50.Qb2+ Qf6+

0–1

(29) Anand,Viswanathan (2791) - Carlsen,Magnus (2776) [D70] 6th Linares, 07.03.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 Nc6 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 e5 8.Bb5 Bd7 9.Ne2 Bg7 10.Be3 0–0
11.d5 Na5 12.Bd3 b6 13.0–0 Nb7 14.c4 c5 15.dxc6 Bxc6 16.Nc3 Bd7 17.Nd5 Be6 18.Qd2 Rc8 19.Rfc1 f6 20.Kh1 Kh8
21.Rab1 Rf7 22.Qe2 Bf8 23.Bd2 Bd6 24.Bc3 Kg8 25.Qd2 Qf8 26.Be2 Rd8 27.Rd1 Rc8 28.Rdc1 Rd8 29.Rd1

½–½

(44) Anand,Viswanathan (2804) - Carlsen,Magnus (2802) [C95] 2nd London Chess Classic, 10.12.2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7
11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.a4 Bf8 14.Bd3 c6 15.b4 Rc8 16.axb5 cxb5 17.Bb2 d5 18.exd5 exd4 19.Rxe8 Qxe8 20.c4
bxc4 21.Nxc4 Nxd5 22.Nxd4 Nxb4 23.Nf5 Nxd3 24.Qxd3 Be4 25.Qd4 Bxf5 26.Nd6 Qd8 27.Nxf5 f6 28.Rd1 Rc2
29.Nh6+ gxh6 30.Qg4+ Bg7 31.Qe6+ Kh8 32.Rxd7 Qf8 33.Ba3 Qg8 34.Qxa6 Qe8 35.Qa7 Qg8 36.Be7 Rc8 37.Qa6
Qe8 38.Ra7 Kg8 39.Qe6+ Kh8 40.Qa6 Kg8 41.Qe6+ Kh8 42.Kh2 Rc6 43.Qb3 Rc8 44.Bd6 Qg6 45.Qb7 Rd8 46.Bg3
Rg8 47.h4 Qf5 48.Qc7 Qd5 49.Ra5 Qe4 50.Qd7 Qc4 51.Qf5 Qc8 52.Qf3 Qd7 53.Bf4 Qf7 54.g3 Re8 55.Be3 Rg8
56.Ra6 Re8 57.Ra7 Re7 58.Qa8+ Qf8 59.Ra6 Re8 60.Qc6 Rc8 61.Qf3 Qf7 62.Ra7 Qe6 63.Qb7 Qg8 64.Bf4 Rd8
65.Qa6 Re8 66.Rc7 Ra8 67.Qc6 Re8 68.Be3 Rb8 69.Bd4 Qf8 70.Qc3 Re8 71.Rc6 Qf7 72.Bxf6 Rf8 73.Bxg7+ Qxg7
74.Qe3 Qb2 75.Kg2 Qb7 76.Qxh6 Qf7 77.Rc2
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
310

1–0

16.Magnus Carlsen (2013-current)

Born: Nov 30, 1990 (Age 28) Tønsberg, Norway FIDE Title : Grandmaster
FIDE ID: 1503014 Federa!on : Norway
Peak Ra!ng: 2882 (May 2014) Ra!ng : 2861 (May 2019)
Rank: 1 (May 2019)

Carlsen is the reigning World Champion and arguably the strongest player who ever lived. In 2013, at the
age of 22, he defeated Viswanathan Anand to become the second youngest undisputed World Champion in
history (Garry Kasparov beat him by a few months), though he'd already been the man to beat for the previous
three years. He followed that up by claiming both the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in June 2014 before
defending the big "tle against Anand in November 2014 and Sergey Karjakin in November 2016.

Child's play :

A child prodigy who memorised the names and popula"ons of Norway's 430 municipali"es as a five-
year-old, Magnus claimed the grandmaster "tle at 13 and was christened “the Mozart of Chess” by the
Washington Post.

His progress never stopped, and on the 1st January 2010, aged 19, he became the youngest player in
history to rank as world no. 1. Although he disappointed many chess fans later that year by announcing his
withdrawal from the World Championship cycle he went on to open up a huge ra"ngs gap over his rivals and
eventually surpassed Garry Kasparov's record 2851 ra"ng.

Coaching from a legend :

Kasparov presents the London Chess Classic 2011 trophy to Carlsen. Kasparov actually coached Carlsen
for a year in 2009/10, but stylis"cally they could hardly be more different. Claiming to work li# le outside of
tournaments, Carlsen o$en chooses what seem to be harmless opening moves, but then "me and again
outplays his opponents from equal or worse posi"ons.

Many already consider him the greatest endgame player of all "me, and his technical skill and Nordic
cool conceal a ferocious will to win.

TV appearances :

Away from the board Carlsen could easily be mistaken for an absolutely average guy, but despite a
BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
311

slightly withdrawn character he's perhaps the one chess player since Kasparov to achieve global recogni"on –
tournament winnings and a modelling contract for the fashion label G-Star have made him a mul"-millionaire,
while he's also made American TV appearances on 60 Minutes and The Colbert Report.

First among equals :

Carlsen's tournament successes in the years running up to his World Championship match cemented his
posi"on as the de facto leader. A$er winning the Biel Tournament in 2007 he consistently came out on top in the
very best events, including Wijk aan Zee (2008, 2010 and 2013), Nanjing (2009, 2010), the Bilbao Masters (2011,
2012), the London Chess Classic (2009, 2010 and 2012) and the Tal Memorial (2011, 2012).
He also won the World Blitz Championship in 2009 and each chess Oscar from that year onwards. The
World Championship was all that remained.

Ascent to the throne :

Despite showing more vulnerability than we've grown accustomed to Carlsen squeezed to victory in the
London Candidates to qualify for a showdown in Chennai, India against Viswanathan Anand. His start was
hesitant, but a$er wins in Games 5 and 6 he eased to a 6.5:3.5 victory.

Speed king :

Carlsen with his Rapid and Blitz World Championship trophies and medals. The classical World
Championship "tle simply wasn't enough for Magnus. In June 2014 he asserted his dominance in speed chess by
losing only twice in 5 days and 36 games to finish in clear first place in both the Rapid and Blitz World
Championships. That made him the first player ever to hold the three "tles simultaneously - when Carlsen was
asked what he can do next he replied simply, "I can do it again!"

Carlsen defends his !tle :

Magnus Carlsen li$s the trophy as Russian President Vladimir Pu"n, Viswanathan Anand and FIDE
President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov look on | photo: Anastasia Karlovich, FIDE

Carlsen had to defend his World Championship "tle against the same opponent, Anand, in November
2014. The match in Sochi, Russia recalled how Mikhail Tal and Vasily Smyslov faced rematches only a year a$er
bea"ng Mikhail Botvinnik. In the end it did prove much tougher, with the encounter looking all set to go to the
final game before Anand overpressed and lost in Game 11, but the champion nevertheless retained his crown:
Carlsen 6.5-4.5 Anand.

Carlsen tweeted his goal of matching Garry Kasparov:

Magnus said "2 down, 5 to go," referring to my 7 successful world championship matches. (6.5 really.) I
wish him the best of luck!

Carlsen finally had the tradi"onal two-year break to the next match, and he carried on as before -
winning the majority of events in which he played and maintaining his place at the top of the ra"ng list. Then in
November 2016 he finally faced a player other than Vishy Anand in a World Championship match.

3rd !me World Champion a#er toughest challenge yet :

BIO-GRAPHY & GAMES BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
312

Few chess fans or pundits gave Sergey Karjakin much chance of winning the match in New York, but the
Russian once again demonstrated the strong nerves and tenacity that had seen him win the 2015 World Cup and
the 2016 Candidates Tournament to qualify for the match.

A$er seven draws, including some very near misses for Magnus, it was Sergey who landed a devasta"ng
blow in Game 8.

Magnus was behind in a World Championship match for the first "me and had just four games to rescue
the situa"on. He later admi# ed he'd been in a dark place, storming out of the post-game press conference
before it began.
The next game saw Sergey almost land a knockout blow, but when he missed a forced draw in Game 10
Magnus seized his chance to level the scores. The match went to "ebreaks on Carlsen's 26th birthday, and he
dominated the four rapid games to win 3:1. He finished with perhaps the most beau"ful move ever to end a
World Championship contest: Magnus retains his "tle in New York | photo: Anastasia Karlovich, FIDE Carlsen
makes it 4!

Magnus failed to exert his usual dominance in the following two years and came into the next World
Championship match, in London in November 2018, with only a 3-point lead on the ra"ng list over world no. 2
Fabiano Caruana. It was the US star who stood in his way, and a$er Carlsen missed a big chance in the first game
the match ended up being too close to call - for the first "me in the history of such matches all the classical games
were drawn.

As in New York, though, Magnus took over in rapid chess, this "me demolishing Fabiano 3:0 in the
"ebreaks to mean that he'll now have held onto the "tle for 7 years before he next needs to defend it in 2020.

Magnus ended 2018 as the world no. 1 in classical, rapid and blitz chess, having surpassed Anatoly
Karpov's 102 months as world no. 1 on the main ra"ng list. What next? Well, there's s"ll Garry Kasparov to beat,
though that may be tough! Garry was no. 1 for an extraordinary 255 months and the World Champion for 15
years.

(253) Carlsen,Magnus (2450) - Ljubisavljevic,Zivojin Z (2316) [B52] Claude Pecaut Memorial, 19.11.2003

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 e5 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.d3 g6 8.a3 h5 9.0–0 Bh6 10.Be3 Kf8 11.b4
b6 12.Nd5 Kg7 13.Ng5 Bxg5 14.Bxg5 f6 15.Be3 Nge7 16.bxc5 dxc5 17.f4 exf4 18.Bxf4 Nxd5 19.cxd5 Ne5 20.Ra2
Rae8 21.h3 Rhf8 22.Raf2 Qe7 23.Qd2 g5 24.Bh2 c4 25.d4 Nd3 26.Re2 Kg6 27.Qe3 Qd7 28.d6 b5 29.h4 Qg4
30.hxg5 fxg5 31.Rxf8 Rxf8 32.e5 Qe6 33.Qe4+ Kh6 34.d5 Qf7 35.Qf3 Qg7 36.Qh3 h4 37.d7 Kh5 38.Bg3 Qf7 39.Kh2
Qf1 40.Re4 Nf4 41.Rxf4 gxf4 42.Qxh4+ Kg6 43.Qg4+ Kh7 44.Qh5+ Kg7 45.Bh4 1–0

(336) Carlsen,Magnus (2552) - Dannevig,Oystein (2372) [C65] NOR-ch, 03.07.2004

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 d6 5.0–0 g6 6.d4 exd4 7.e5 dxe5 8.Nxe5 Bd7 9.Re1 Nxe5 10.Rxe5+ Be7
11.Bg5 Ng8 12.Qxd4 f6 13.Nc3 c5 14.Bxd7+ Qxd7 15.Qxd7+ Kxd7 16.Rd1+ Kc7 17.Nd5+ Kc6 18.Nxe7+ Nxe7
19.Re6+ Kb5 20.Bxf6 Rhd8 21.Rxd8 Rxd8 22.Re1 1–0

(345) Andersen,Daniel (2044) - Carlsen,Magnus (2567) [A10] 6th Poli!ken Cup, 24.07.2004

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 0–0 5.e4 c5 6.Nge2 Nc6 7.0–0 d6 8.d3 Rb8 9.Rb1 a6 10.a3 b5 11.cxb5
 General Review
Strategical Points
Basic
Opening
Middle Game
End Game
GENERAL REVIEW STRATEGICAL POINTS BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
314

Strategy of Basic Principle

How to engage the pieces…!

Pieces point value.

Q :9
R :5
B :3
N :3
K :No Value
P :1

How to engage the pawn?

Ÿ Pawns are the soul of chess

Ÿ Keep chain pawns
Ÿ opening corner pawn come to centre
Ÿ middle game maintain pawn structure
Ÿ In endgame wing pawns are powerful.
Ÿ Think twice before making pawn moves.
Ÿ If you have to move piece or pawn , move piece because pawn will never get back
Ÿ Pawn is very powerful
Ÿ Posted knight or bishop should be supported by pawn
Ÿ Pawns on 6th rank pawn is very strong
Ÿ push the pawn to the 7th rank, the opponent is forced to post a piece or king un!l the pawn is
exchanged.
Ÿ don't shelter pawns.
Ÿ don't make isolated pawn
Ÿ don't make doubled pawn
Ÿ don't push the pawn unnecessary ( in middle game)

How to engage the Bishop ?

Ÿ Bishop and Knight are same point, But Bishops are higher.
Ÿ Place the Bishops always open diagonal.
Ÿ Bishops are very useful in pinning
Ÿ Pawn structure can be demolished with bishop
Ÿ first develop King side bishop
Ÿ Queen side bishop can be released later
Ÿ Two bishops are be# er than two knights
Ÿ Don't lock your bishop with closed own pawn
GENERAL REVIEW STRATEGICAL POINTS MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
315

How to engage the Knight ?

Ÿ Knight is a minor piece.

Ÿ Keep the knight always in centre
Ÿ If you want to divert opponent, use the knights
Ÿ Knights are useful for Fork.
Ÿ Pos!ng of knight in the 5th rank is very strong

How to engage the Rook?

Ÿ Rook is a major piece

Ÿ Rook mostly acts a$er 15th move
Ÿ Use the rook to follow the Types:
Connect the rook > catch the open file > double the rook > catch the 7th rank > double the 7th rank.
Ÿ One rook should always be in the base to avoid back rank mate and also to avoid checks

How to engage the queen?

Ÿ Queen is also major and powerful piece.

Ÿ Avoid premature moves of queen
Ÿ Poisson pawns: don't capturing the corner pawns with Queen.
Ÿ Avoid ge% ng pinning and skewer.
Ÿ Always keep the queen where the ac!on is all.

How to engage the king

Ÿ Castle early
Ÿ King always kept safe
Ÿ Avoid ge% ng pinning and skewer.
Ÿ In the endgame king is powerful weapon

Poison of chess

Ÿ There is an ageless axiom in chess which states that one should avoid playing weaker players.
Ÿ Over confident
Ÿ Underes!ma!ng or overes!ma!ng the opponent
Ÿ Pre matured a# ack.
Ÿ Touch move
Ÿ Miscalcula!on
Ÿ Impulsiveness
Ÿ Pawn snatching
Ÿ Argue the opponent into his move
Ÿ Asking opponent if the game is finished before the dame are filled
Ÿ A# ack while dozens of points ahead
Ÿ Con!nue while dozens of points behind
GENERAL REVIEW STRATEGICAL POINTS BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
316

Ÿ Get emo!onal
Ÿ Hasty move
Ÿ Nego!a!ng a$er a loss
Ÿ Point out opponent's mistakes a$er a lucky win
Ÿ Relying on Trick Plays
Ÿ Resign right before the dame are filled
Ÿ Specula!ve invasion
Ÿ Stubborn play
Ÿ Taking a friendly game too seriously
Ÿ Take back a move in friendly game.
Ÿ Too much thinking
Ÿ Watch the game on the table next to yours

General Review Strategy of Opening Points

OPENING RULES:

Ÿ Open center pawn (e4 or d4)

Ÿ Develop with threats.
Ÿ Play knights before bishops.
Ÿ Castle as soon as possible.
Ÿ Avoid developing the queen early.
Ÿ Do not move the same piece twice without a good reason.
Ÿ Use your minor pieces to fight in the centre.
Ÿ Maintain at least one pawn in the centre. (e4 or d4)
Ÿ Make a few pawn moves as far as possible.
Ÿ Avoid sacrificing without a clear and good reason.

Gentle reminder the opening points:

Ÿ Different types of capture.

Ÿ Different types of support.
Ÿ Different types of a# ack.
Ÿ Different ways of run away.
Ÿ Different way of blockade.
Ÿ Different ways of ride.
Ÿ Different ways of blocking.

When to exchange the bishop??

Ÿ Bishop can be given for N to damage opponent.

Ÿ Pawn chain.
Ÿ When B is bad.
Ÿ High Chameleon.
GENERAL REVIEW STRATEGICAL POINTS MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
317

Ÿ For domina!on.
Ÿ High N outpost.
Ÿ In closed posi!on, B can be given for N.

Golden Rule for Castling:

Ÿ When king posi!on is not standard, think about castling. E.g., Tarraasch open, Tarrasch black cat,
dragon, Indian.
Ÿ When opponent pawns are near the castled posi!on, think about castling.
Ÿ Think about piece balance and castling.

Don't in the opening:

Ÿ Don't move the same pieces in the same direc!on.

Ÿ Don't develop the pieces neglec!ng pawns. Mix both.
Ÿ Don't develop queen in opening just to grab pawns.
Ÿ Once the centre is fixed, again don't tamper with it esp. before middle game.
Ÿ Don't take the centre pawn without any reason.
Ÿ Don't violate the quota system and sign boards.

How to Analyze:

Ÿ Try to force and trace a hole by your opponent and make con!nuous a# ack a square and develop
your pieces there in move by a move.

How to Support Centre Pawn?

Ÿ The great player Horowitsch classified opening based on support given on the centre pawns and how
to work with sub-centre pawns.
Ÿ Linking or chaining: e4 is supported by d3 and then supported by c2. This is coming closed Sicilian.
Ÿ . Sheet anchor= pawns e4 & d4 form a sheet anchor. They are helping each other. When more a# acks
on d file, d5 will be played and e4 will be supported. Similarly when more a# acks on e file e5 will be
played and d4 will be supported. As an echo e6, d6 in Paulsen system are sheet anchored. The first one
e4.d4 is big centre. 2nd one e6.d6 is called li# le centre. The sheet anchoring is used in front of king for
defence.
Ÿ In many cases, f2, g2, h2, or f7, g7, h7 are used for defence of king. This is called triple sheet anchor.
It is the beauty of a# acker to disturb the sheet anchor by a# acking with pieces or undermining with
pawns.
Ÿ Maroczy bind- W: a2, b2, d4, Ne5, f4,g2,h2.
Ÿ d4, f4 pawns are said to be under Maroczy bind. The bind of c4, e4 is also known in Sicilian Maroczy bind
system. In the 1st e.g. Ne5 will give trouble to king. If you chase N by f6, your str. Becomes weak.
Ÿ The N a# acking is called Pillsbury a# ack. It is common in stone wall. Ne5 is blackmailing the opponent, by
saying if it sits on e5. I will give trouble to you if f6 is played e6 becomes weak.
GENERAL REVIEW STRATEGICAL POINTS BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
318

Ÿ When the black puts a Maroczy bind on W pawn at f6, d6, it is the style of W player to give sacrifice of e4
pawn for a# ack.
Ÿ Support by a light piece behind pawn. E.g. in Paulsen and Bol's.
Ÿ Heavy piece behind. e4 pawn is supported by Re1 in Ruy-Lopez [ 1556 in Spain.]
Ÿ Worrall a# ack. Q at e2 supports e4 pawns and K rook come to d1.

General Review Strategy of Middle game Points

MIDDLE GAME RULES:

Ÿ All of your moves must fit into a plan suggested by a weakness in the posi!on.
Ÿ Combina!ons are based on double a# ack.
Ÿ When ahead of material, exchange pieces (especially queens) but not pawns.
Ÿ Avoid serious pawn structure weaknesses.
Ÿ In cramped posi!ons, free yourself by exchanging pieces.
Ÿ Do not bring your king out when your opponent's queen on the board.
Ÿ If your opponent has one or more exposed pieces, look for a combina!on.
Ÿ In superior posi!ons, a# ack the enemy king by opening lines with your pieces.
Ÿ In even posi!ons, coordinate the ac!on of all of your pieces.
Ÿ In inferior posi!ons, the best defence is a counter-a# ack (if possible)
Ÿ If you have nothing idea confused opponent.
Ÿ Crea!ve any holes.

General Ques"ons of Middle game:

While your opponent is thinking:

1. If he does nothing, do i have any threats?

2. What are my weaknesses? Opponent's weaknesses?
3. What is my opponent's plan?

Right a#er your opponent makes a move:

4. Did my opponent make a threat?

5. Who has the ini!a!ve? Who is a# acking / defending?
6. Do I have a forced response?

While calcula"ng your next move:

7. What is my plan?
8. What is my biggest weakness? Can I defend it or should I ignore it?
9. What is my opponent's biggest weakness? How can I a# ack it?
10. Can I somehow get the ini!a!ve?
GENERAL REVIEW STRATEGICAL POINTS MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
319

11. What is the most obvious response for your opponent? Is there a second choice?
12. Who is be# er a$er a series of moves?
If you don't know what move to play:

13. What are my candidate moves?

14. What minor pieces are good and which ones are bad?
15. Which pieces, if any, do you want to trade?
16. What is my worst piece? Can I find a be# er square for it?
17. Can I change the pawn structure to make my pieces be# er?
18. Have I finished developing?

A#er you write down your move but before you play it:

19. Am I hanging anything?

20. What can my opponent play in reply to my move?

General Middle game Plans:

The Middle game Plans are o$en misunderstood. You should always have a plan in mind. A plan can
be either a short range plan or a long range plan. You may have only two or three long term plans during a
game, but have several short term goals for each main plan. A plan might change quickly if you opponent
blunders, but you should never base your plan upon the idea of wai!ng for a mistake by your opponent!
Here is some good general advice on playing a strong game of Chess. Do not worry if it seems like a lot read
it several !mes and remember as much as you can as you play your games. You might highlight the ones that
seem the best to you.

1. Be Aggressive, but do not take unnecessary risks.

2. Make sure that every move has a purpose. Each should be part of a plan.
3. If you know how your opponent plays, take advantage of it, but in the end, play the board, not the
man
4. Do not ignore your opponent's moves. He may also have a plan. Try to make moves that stop him.
5. Do not give needless checks. Make your check mean something.
6. Answer all threats first. If possible, you should improve your posi!on and make a counter threat too.
7. Play for the ini!a!ve. If you have it, try to keep it. If not, try to get it.
8. In Chess exchanges, it is normally be# er to receive than to give. Try to get as much as you give up, or
be# er yet, get more! Remember that material is not the only form of advantage you might get.
9. Unless there is a definite reason to do otherwise, capture with the least valuable man possible.
10. Always cut your losses. If you must loose material, give up the smallest possible amount.
11. If you blunder, do not give up! Your opponent may relax his concentra!on and return the favour. Also
you might be able to find a plan that uses your remaining forces to recover the loss. I once saw a young
player resign a$er losing his queen. The strange thing was, if he had been a li# le more mentally tough, he
might have seen that he had a mate in two anyway!
12. Do not play a risky move in hopes that your opponent will not see the threat unless you are already
loosing. In that case, desperate !mes call for desperate measures.
13. Rely on your own mental powers and knowledge. If you do not see the purpose behind your
GENERAL REVIEW STRATEGICAL POINTS BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
320

opponents move, assume that there is none. If you're wrong, you'll learn something.
14. Do not play a sacrifice unless you can visualize the results and like what you see.
15. If your opponent has played a sacrificial move and you do not know if you should take or decline it,
take it. If it's a good one, you'll learn something. If it's a bad one, you'll have extra material.
16. A# ack like a wolf pack... with as many pieces as you can bring into the assault. One or two pieces
normally cannot win against your opponent's whole army.
17. Be on the lookout for double a# acks. They are a very promising and common tac!cs
18. Play to control the centre. Guard it and influence it as much as possible with pieces.
19. Use pawns to occupy the centre.
20. Do not make careless pawn moves, especially in the opening when tempo is very important.
21. In the opening, normally, you should move only the two central pawns unless your system of play or
the posi!on of your opponent's men requires more.
22. If possible, try to maintain pawns on e4 and d4 if you are white, and e5 and d5 if you are black. With
black, this may be more difficult.
23. Try to posi!on your bishops on useful squares before you block their diagonals with pawns.
24. Develop as rapidly as possible, moving your pieces toward the centre, especially the knights. If you
are unsure, knights are normally be# er on c3 and f3 as white and c6 or d7 and f6 as black.
25. Develop with a purpose. have a plan!
26. Do not waste !me in open games. Try to develop a new piece each move un!l all of your men are
ac!ve. Then, try to improve your worst piece on each move from then on, always remembering to answer
your opponent's threats and to play with a plan.
27. Avoid pointless threats, especially if you see that your opponent might answer with a stronger
threat.
28. Try to develop during exchanges. It can lead to a gain of tempo and give you, in effect, extra moves.
29. Develop your Knights before Bishops and King side before queen side unless your system requires a
different order.
30. If you have a large lead in development, it is !me to look for an a# ack. Try to keep an undeveloped
opponent from untangling his forces.
31. In the opening, you should not normally remove the queens just to win a pawn. Several? Probably.
To win a piece almost definitely, but not just a lone pawn.
32. Do not bring your queen out early unless the natural flow of the game requires you to.
33. Work to give your pieces as much space and mobility as possible.
34. Take control of open files with rooks and open diagonals with bishops and develop a plan to use any
open lines that you control.
35. Doubled rooks on black's 7th rank if you're white, or on white's 2nd rank if you have black, are a
potent force. We call them the "pigs of the 7th" because they tend to eat and eat and eat...
36. Castle early in the game on the side that seems safest, if possible, on the side opposite to where you
are planning to a# ack.
37. Try to prevent your opponent from castling. If he's stuck in the centre, try to keep him there.
38. Try to pin your opponent's men and avoid pins against you.
39. Do not capture a pinned man un!l it is to your advantage to do so or you are forced to. Try to a# ack
a pinned man again, especially with a pawn. You may win material.
40. A$er castling, do not move the pawns near your king without good reasons.
41. To a# ack the enemy king, focus on a weak square near the king as a target.
42. If you have a bishop that is unopposed (your opponent has no bishop of that colour) try to a# ack a
square on your bishop's colour. It may be almost like having an extra piece.
43. Look tac!cs, especially on the colours of an unopposed bishop.
GENERAL REVIEW STRATEGICAL POINTS MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
321

44. Try to avoid the early exchange of your bishop for your opponent's knight. Later, if you're in a closed
game, you might consider the trade.
45. Build "ba# eries" two or more men a# acking the same square.
46. The most effec!ve ba# eries generally have the less valuable man in front.
47. Strive to make efficient, flexible moves that accomplish the most in the shortest !me and moves that
could be a part of several different plans.
48. Doubled rooks on an open file can strengthen your control of the file.
49. Always be aware of the type of game -- open or closed -- and play accordingly. But, remember this,
although an open game almost never closes up again, a closed game may rapidly become open. A closed
game is one where the centre is blocked by immobile pawns. Open games are games where a pair or more of
central pawns have been exchanged.
50. Knights may be be# er than bishops in closed games, but Bishops are much be# er in wide open
games
51. You can maximize the mobility of your bishops by placing them outside of pawn chains or by playing
pawns to the opposite colour of your best bishop.
52. Try to keep your own weakness on the colour of your opponent's worst or least mobile bishop -- or
be# er yet, on the colour of a bishop you have already captured!
53. If you have a material advantage, look for good ways to trade down. If you have less material, try to
avoid exchanges that do not improve your chances significantly. If you are defending, trades can be a good
way to lessen the a# ack. If you're on the a# ack, try to avoid trades that do not fit into the flow of the a# ack.
54. Play with a plan. A bad plan is o$en be# er than none at all.
55. Tempo is a flee!ng advantage. It is much harder to keep than material. If you need space, you may
need to advance a pawn or two and this will cost you tempo. Unless you see a reason not to, go ahead and
make the space gaining move. You can o$en recover lost !me.
56. If you are in a cramped posi!on, you free your pieces by making trades.
57. Try to trade your worst men for be# er placed enemy men of similar value.
58. If the posi!on is unstable or if you cannot find a plan, make a move that improves the posi!on of
your worst placed piece.
59. Answer a# acks of the sides with a counter a# ack in the centre, and a# acks in the centre with
counter-a# acks on the sides.
60. If the centre is blocked, you might not need to castle so quickly. Do not let the centre open up if your
king might be caught there.
61. If you are behind in development, keep the game closed.
62. Try to create numerous small advantages.
63. Use the analy!c method of reasoning. If you do not know what to do, first evaluate the posi!on well
and as honestly as you can. Ask yourself ques!ons about how you might weaken your opponent or
strengthen your own posi!on. .Decide what move you'd least like to see if you were in his posi!on. Analyze
it. If it is sound, play it.
64. If your opponent has a bad minor piece, play to keep it limited and on the board unless you can win
it for free.
65. If your opponent has blocked pieces, try to prevent him from unblocking them.
66. If your opponent has a cramped game, avoid exchanges that help him unwind.
67. If your opponent has exchanged his rook for your minor piece, work for an endgame with passed
pawns. The best way to use the extra material is o$en to give it back in exchange for a minor piece and a
passed pawn or two.
68. If your opponent has an exposed king, look for double a# acks that give check.
69. If your opponent has fallen behind in development, look for tac!cs and a# acks against the king.
GENERAL REVIEW STRATEGICAL POINTS BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
322

70. If your opponent has loose or unprotected pieces, look for tac!cs, especially forks and double
a# acks.
71. If your opponent has a material disadvantage, trade pieces, not pawns.
72. If your opponent has a material advantage and you must trade, trade pawns, not pieces.
73. If your opponent has moved the pawns around his king, occupy weak squares and look to a# ack.
74. If your opponent has overextended pawns, undermine them with pawns and a# ack them with
pieces.
75. If your opponent has gone pawn grabbing, try to trap the greedy piece.
76. If your opponent is in !me trouble, try to find good, sound, but surprising moves. Create complex
threats and tac!cs if you can...
77. Try to blockade advancing passed pawns with a minor piece... the knights are the best for the job.

At the "me of exchange don't forget following points…

Ÿ Forced move
Ÿ Pawn chain connec!ng
Ÿ Pawn chain demolishing
Ÿ What is advantage?
Ÿ What is disadvantage?
Ÿ Who's file or diagonal open or close?
Ÿ Count how many pieces a# acking
Ÿ Count how many pieces defences
Ÿ Pieces value
Ÿ Don't give early Bishop for knight
Ÿ Don't give a# acking piece for defence piece
Ÿ Last but not least every exchange is not equal.

General Review Strategy of Endgame Points

General Endgames Plans

Ÿ The king must be ac!ve in the endgame.

Ÿ Avoid passive pieces that merely defend.
Ÿ Passed pawns must be pushed.
Ÿ The easiest endgames to win are pure pawn endings
Ÿ When ahead material, exchange pieces, not pawns.
Ÿ Do not place your pawns on the same colour squares as your bishop.
Ÿ Bishops are superior to knights when there are pawns on both sides of the board.
Ÿ Rooks belong behind passed pawns.
Ÿ Blockade passed pawns using the king or knight.
Ÿ Zugzwang means whenever you move, you get into trouble.

How to create passer?

Sports Quota
What is sports quota?
How can we use it for our Career ?
Which type of cer!ficate is valuable ?
Who has the authority to sign in the cer!ficate?
How can we calculate the cer!ficate mark?
What is FORM I,II,III,IV.?
And Etc ...

For Example :
GOVERNMENT OF TAMILNADU
PROSPECTUS FOR ADMISSION TO MBBS / BDS COURSES 2017-2018 SESSION
(As per G.O (D) No.1327, Health and Family Welfare Department,
Dated 23.06.2017 and as amended from !me to !me).
SPORTS QUOTA BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
324
SPORTS QUOTA MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
325
SPORTS QUOTA BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
326
SPORTS QUOTA MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
327
SPORTS QUOTA BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
328
SPORTS QUOTA MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
329
Situations Araising
in the
Tournment Hall
Real Life Situa!ons in the Tournament Hall
Situations Araising in the Tournment Hall BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
332

Ques!on 1:

Player A was paired with player B in the 3rd round, player B didn't show up so player A won by forfeit.

Choose the right answer:

1- Player A can't be paired with player B in the remaining rounds
2- Player A can be paired with player B again
3- They can be paired together if the colors match
4- Player A can play with B subject to changing colors in the next round

Ques!on 2:
st
In a classical Swiss tournament, !me format of 2 hours for the 1 40 moves and then 1 hour for the
remaining moves, the black player came 3 minutes late a"er the game started, there are nothing wri# en in the
tournament's regula!ons about players arriving late. White on the other hand was there on !me. What will the
arbiter's decision be? Explain your answer

Ques!on 3:

In this posi!on, white touched his king, but then his flag fell before making the move, what should the
score be ?

Ques!on 4 :

In this posi!on, white played Rd1, black touched white's rook but his flag fell before capturing it, what
would the score be?
Situations Araising in the Tournment Hall MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
333

Ques!on 5:

In this posi!on, white played Ra8, but his flag fell before pressing the clock, what would the score be?

Ques!on 6:

In this posi!on, white touched black's rook on f8, but his flag fell before playing his move, what would
the score be?

Ques!on 7:

In this posi!on, white played Be4, black replied with Nc4, and claimed a draw since a"er both queens
are captured, it will be a draw because of insufficient ma!ng material, what would the arbiter's verdict be?
Situations Araising in the Tournment Hall BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
334

Ques!on 8:

In a classical 90 min + 30 sec, and the arbiter is present, white played here h6, to white black played gxh,
white played Bxh, then black resigned, what would the arbiter's verdict be?

Ques!on 9:

In this posi!on, white played Nf3 and offered black a draw, black accepted the draw and wrote down the
result and both played signed the score sheet, what would the arbiter's verdict be? Explain.

Ques!on 10:

In this posi!on, black moved his pawn from a2 to a1 and pressed the clock, here white's flag fell, black
claimed a win because white's flag fell, but white complained that his opponent did an illegal move, what would
the arbiter's verdict be? Explain.
Situations Araising in the Tournment Hall MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
335

Ques!on 11:

In a classical game, 2 hours for each player with no increment, and in this posi!on, white's flag fell, black
claimed a win, white claimed a draw because of insufficient ma!ng material, what would the arbiter's verdict
be?

Ques!on 12:

In a rapid tournament, 15 min + 5 sec per game, white played Rf7 and pressed the clock, black's flag fell
before responding, what would the arbiter's verdict be?

Ques!on 13:

In a classical tournament, 90 min + 30 sec, in this posi!on black moved his a2 pawn to a2 and pressed the
clock, then white's flag fell, what would the arbiter's verdict be?
Situations Araising in the Tournment Hall BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
336

Ques!on 14:

In a 60 min + 30 sec tournament, in this posi!on black played Qf7 and pressed the clock, then white's flag
fell, what should the score be?

Ques!on 15 :

In this posi!on, black's flag fell, what should the score be?

Ques!on 16 :

In a 15 min + 5 sec game, in this posi!on white played Rc8 and le" the piece, but his flag fell before
pressing the clock, what would the arbiter's verdict be? Explain.
Situations Araising in the Tournment Hall MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
337

Ques!on 17:

In a 3 min + 2 sec game, in this posi!on black played Nd6, to which white resigned, what would the
arbiter's verdict be? Explain.

Ques!on 18 :

In a 15 min + 5 sec game, in this posi!on white played Bf6, black replied and captured white's king, here
white stopped the clock and claimed a win, what would the arbiter's verdict be? Explain.

Ques!on 19 :

In a 90 min + 30 sec game, here white played Bb7, but his flag fell before removing his hand from the
piece, what would the result be?
Situations Araising in the Tournment Hall BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
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Ques!on 20 :

In a 90 min + 30 sec game, in this posi!on, white's phone rang, what would the result be?

Ques!on 21:

In a 15 min + 5 sec game, in this posi!on, white touched his rook but his flag fell before moving it, what
would the arbiter's verdict be?

Ques!on 22:

In a 90 min + 30 sec game, in this posi!on, black played Nf5, white took his king and castled, black
stopped the clock and claimed a win because of illegal move, what would the arbiter's verdict be? Explain.
Situations Araising in the Tournment Hall MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
339

Ques!on 23:

In a 3 min + 2 sec game from move 1, in this posi!on, the arbiter discovered that white is wearing a smart
watch, what would the arbiter's verdict be? How will the result be wri# en?

Ques!on 24:

In this posi!on, white touched the pawn on f6, but his flag fell before moving, what would the arbiter's
verdict be?

Ques!on 25:

In a 20 min +5 sec game, the below posi!on was reached a"er

Situations Araising in the Tournment Hall BEAUTIFUL SUCCESS POSSIBLE
340

1- d4 g6 2- e4 Bg7 3- c3 d6 4- Bd3 Nf6 5- Nbd2 b6 6- Ngf3 O-O

Here, black took the queen and castled with the rook and le" his hand, not no!cing that it was a queen,
when he no!ced that it was a queen, he switched places with the king then did the castling again, then pressed
the clock, here, white called the arbiter claiming a win. What's the decision?

Ques!on 26 :

In an Armageddon match.. 6 min for white and 5 min for black with no increment, in this posi!on it was
white to move.. Black has few seconds le".. Here black stopped the clock and claimed a draw because of
insufficient ma!ng material.. What's the verdict?

Ques!on 27:

In a rapid game, and in this posi!on, white moved his g7 pawn to g8 and pressed the clock, then black's
flag fell, what would the arbiter's verdict be?

Ques!on 28:

In a classical tournament, player A and player B are to play against each other, they were both late for
their game 30 min, as per the tournament's regula!on the threshold was maximum 30 min to arriving late, What
will the arbiter decide?

1- White will lose because his flag fell first

2- Both will lose
3- Both players will be given an extra 15 minutes and the game con!nues
4- They can play the game, but white would have lost 30 minutes
Situations Araising in the Tournment Hall MIRACLE SCHOOL OF CHESS
341

Ques!on 29 :

In a blitz game, white moved his rook from f7 to e7 and pressing the clock, black stopped the clock and
claimed a win, what would the arbiter's verdict be?