Endgame Lab /Instruction
Rookin’ the Books The book on rook draws
By GM PAL BENKO
OUR FAITHFUL READERS HAVE SENT us some noteworthy and frequently-aris- ing rook endings. They are useful to study.
New Method!? Irving Bizar Erik D. Osbun
10th U.S. Corr. Chess Ch. Prelim., 1990
pawns). The cautious 41. Ra4 Rg6 41. Rb4 e5 42. Rb5 Re6 43. Kg2 would hold.
41. ... Rg6 42. f3(?) White makes his situation even worse.
Either 42. h3 or 42. Rb3 are better defenses.
42. ... Kh4 43. Rb2 Rf6 43. ... Kh3!?
44. Rb7(?) g5 45. fxg5 Kxg5 46. Rb4 A bit better is 46. Kg2.
46. ... e5 47. Kg2 Rd6 48. Rb5(?)
White, not feeling the danger, actually helps the enemy. 48. ... Kf4 49. Rb4+ e4 50. fxe4 fxe4
has come up. The one to move next faces a less optimal result.
56. ... Kf3 57. Re8? e3? 58. Re7 Re4 59. Rg7 Ra4 60. Rf7+! Ke4 61. Re7+?
The final mistake; 61. h3! still draws.
61. ... Kd3! 62. Rd7+ Rd4 63. Ra7 Rf4+ 64. Ke1 Rb4 65. Rd7+ Ke4 66. h3 Rb1+! 67. Ke2 Rb2+! 68. Ke1 Kf3 69. Rf7+ Kg2, White resigned.
Good technique Erik D. Osbun Louis B. Owen
7th U.S. Corr. Chess Ch. Prelim., 2012
“Some authors think this is a draw. Black shows a new way.” (Osbun). Let’s see it. In rook endings, three pawns
against four on the same side of the board is, theoretically, a draw. I’ve written before that “the double f-pawns make the defense easier because any pawn-break will be less meaningful.” This is similar to the diagrammed position. Of course, one may always choose to defend via an inferior method and lose as happens here.
35. ... Rb5 36. Kg2
The accurate alternative is 36. h3! Rg5+ 37. Kh2. 36. ... Rg5+ 37. Kf1(?) The proper setup is 37. Kh1 and 38. h3!.
37. ... Kh7
Black’s intention is to play ... e6-e5 and f7-f5-f4 with the king heading toward the h-pawn.
38. Rb4 Kg6 39. Ra4 Kh5 40. Rb4 f5 41. f4? A strategic mistake, assuring Black the
opportunity to create a passed pawn after playing ... g5 (without trading the h-
44 August 2012 | Chess Life
Black’s position, since it is spread out, is difficult to hold.
The position would be a draw if there
were no h-pawns. At this point, the Bourzutschky-Konoval program shows a loss for White in 16 moves. It is true, how- ever, that theory and practice are different.
51. Rb2 Rg6+?
Black’s winning move is 51. ... h5!. 52. Kf1! h5 53. Rf2+?
Cutting off the black king with 53. Rb3 is better. 53. ... Ke3! 54. Rf5 h4! 55. Rh5 Rg4?
The winning line is 55. ... Rf6+ 56. Kg2 Ke2 57. Rxh4 Rg6+ 58. Kh3 e3 wins. 56. Rh8! 56. Rh7? A surprising mutual Zugzwang
40. Rb7+ Kf6 41. Kh2 e5? This just makes the defense of the iso-
lated pawn much more difficult. Either 41. ... g5 or 41. ... h5 were better, trading as many pawns as possible as White’s pawns advance.
42. Rb6+ Kf7 43. g4 Ra1 44. h4 Rc1
Black is unable to stop White’s skillful scheme. A break is in the works. In case of 44. ... g6 45. Rb7+ Kf6 (45. ... Kg8 46. Rb5) 46. Rh7 followed either by h4-h5 or by Rxh6 wins.
45. h5 Ra1 46. Rg6 Rb1 47. g5 hxg5 48. Rxg5 Kf6 49. Rg6+ Kf7 50. Kh3
Now the Whie king’s route into Black’s position has been paved.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76