Author: Sune Larsson
Date: 09:13:41 02/13/06
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "2001.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 01"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "GM Nunn"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/1ppr2p1/p1p4p/8/8/5P2/PPP1RKPP/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{{A position which might have arisen from the Exchange Variation of the
Spanish. White's better pawn structure gives him some advantage, since he can
create a passed pawn on the kingside while Black, owing to his doubled pawns,
cannot do the same on the queenside. It is not clear if this advantage is
sufficient to win. In practical play I would expect wins and draws to be
about equally divided.} } 1... Kf7 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1952.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 02"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "GM Nunn"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1k6/1p4pp/p7/3p1p2/8/3K2P1/PP2PP1P/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{{Barcza-Golombek, Budapest 1952. This endgame certainly favours White.
Black's pawn structure is inferior because of the isolated d-pawn, while
White's king is the first to occupy the fourth rank. White has the obvious
plan of putting his king on d4 followed by using zugzwang to penetrate with
his king to c5 or e5. This was in fact the plan adopted by Barcza in the game,
but accurate defence by Golombek enabled him to hold the draw. Later (in 1966)
Bondarevsky analysed the ending and concluded that White could win with a
different and far from obvious plan: playing Ke3, threatening Kf4 and inducing
Black to weaken his kingside pawn structure further by playing ...g5. It is
hard to say whether this is correct, but at any rate it is clear that this
position is finely poised between a draw and a win.}} 1... Kc7 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1896.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 03"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "GM Nunn"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/5k2/r4pp1/pR6/P4KP1/5P2/8/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{{St Petersburg-London, tele 1896. A classic ending. The game was halted at
this point with London conceding the game. Chigorin then published some
analysis claiming that White could win. For decades this was the accepted
opinion, but theory advances and it gradually became recognised that defending
such position often requires the sacrifice of the weak pawn (on a5 here). Fine,
in his book Basic Chess Endings, suggested that this plan should lead to a
draw. His analysis contained some errors, and was refined by Levenfish and
Smyslov in their classic book Rook Endings. They supported Fine's conclusion,
although some of the detailed variations differed from Fine's. That is the
state of play today. Can computers unravel a position which took human
analysts over half a century to unravel?.} } 1... Ke7 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1936.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 04"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "GM Nunn"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3k4/p1p5/1p1p2p1/3Pq2p/2P1P3/1P3QPK/P7/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{{Keres-Alekhine, Dresden 1936. In this game between two of the leading
players of the pre-war period, Black has the advantage because he can create a
kingside passed pawn while White, thanks to his backward e-pawn, cannot create
a passed pawn. However, in a queen ending matters are never so easy, due to
the ever-present danger of perpetual check. In the game Black did succeed in
winning after a hard fight, although Konstantinopolsky later suggested an
improvement for White which might have placed Black's win in doubt.}
} 1... Ke7 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1972.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 05"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "GM Nunn"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/p3ppk1/1p3npp/4N3/6PP/1P3P2/P3PK2/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{{Kholmov-Moiseev, Uzhgorod 1972. A tricky knight ending. White won the game,
but the winner's very detailed analysis (covering several pages) suggested
that the correct result should be a draw.} } 1... Nd5 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1992.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 06"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "GM Nunn"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "7k/pp4pp/2n5/8/8/8/PP4PP/2K1B3 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{{Ilincic-Cabrilo, Cetinje 1992. Although this position appears fairly drawish
White won the game, and in his notes indicated no real improvement for Black.
However, I analysed this ending in my book Secrets of Practical Chess, and
came to the conclusion that it should probably be a draw. What do the
machines think?} } 1. a3 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1970.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 07"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "GM Nunn"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/p4Bp1/1pPb1kP1/1P3p2/P7/5K2/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{{Bellon-Minic, Siegen 1970. A fantastic position. An opposite-coloured bishop
position with equal pawns looks as if it should be a draw, and indeed the
players agreed to a draw at this point. However, White has serious problems
because of his weak a3-pawn, which cannot be permanently defended by his
bishop. Once this pawn has been captured, Black has the chance to make a
second passed pawn by playing ...a5, which will stretch White's defence to the
utmost. Dvoretsky and Yusupov subjected this ending to detailed analysis, and
came to the astonishing conclusion that it is a draw, but only if White starts
with the incredible 2 c6!!. It is hard to imagine that any machine would find
such a move, but who knows what might happen in the future...}
} 1... Ke4 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1937.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 08"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "GM Nunn"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/4k3/p1B4p/8/1PK3bP/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{{Eliskases-Capablanca, Semmering 1937. Another classic ending. White has
little trouble winning the a-pawn, but will this be enough to win the game?
White is handicapped by the fact that his bishop is the wrong colour for the
h-pawn, so even winning Black's bishop may not be sufficient. In the game
White won, but various analysts who have examined this ending in detail have
come to the conclusion that Black should draw with accurate play. But if even
the great Capablanca could not find the draw, can a machine?} }
1. Kc5 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1926.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 09"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "GM Nunn"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3R4/1p6/2b5/2P1k2p/p3p2P/P3K2r/1P3B2/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{{Von Gottschall-Nimzowitsch, Hannover 1926. Once again we have
opposite-coloured bishops and equal material, but here the defender's task is
complicated by the presence of rooks. Indeed, the practical difficulties
proved too much for White in the game, and he lost. However, later analysts
indicated possible improvements for White - my own view is that the ending
should be a draw, but it would certainly be unpleasant to defend against a
strong endgame player.} } 1. Ke2 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1931.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 10"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Sune L"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/2k2b2/4p1p1/2NpP1P1/1K1P4/8/8/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{This position is from Grigoriev 1931. Here white's knight is far superior to
black's bishop. This is very old knowledge and white is winning this one.
People that play French as black might have nightmares of positions like this.
The black bishop can only defend the two weak pawns on e6,g6 or wander around
like a ghost on the white squares. The funny thing is that exactly this
position happened in the game Dolmatov-Drasko, Sochi 1988. And yup - it was
French.} 1... Kb6 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1927.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 11"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Sune L"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/5pk1/4r1pp/P7/3R3P/6P1/5PK1/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{1927 Alekhine won the 34th game in the battle vs Capablanca to become World
Champion. He did it by playing 2.Ra4! in the above position. Black's rook has
to block the pawn and white has at his disposal an endless reserve of rook
moves along the a-file. Again, the future for black spells "Zugzwang". The
general rule is that a passed pawn should be supported by a rook from the rear.
That's why ideas of 2.Rd5? are wrong. This is a knowledge that have to be
implemented in many chessprograms. I have seen numerous examples of trying to
support such a pawn sideways.} 1... Ra6 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1911.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 12"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Sune L"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4b3/6k1/4p1p1/3pP2p/2pP1P1P/2P5/6N1/2K5 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{Amos Burn's only victory over Alekhine, happened 1911, in a good knight
versus bad bishop ending, is virtually a walk-over. Test1: The above position.
This is won for white and your program should give white a big +score. Though
we may dream about the day when +9.99 pops up...;) Test2: Exchange the bad
bishop on e8 for a better one on e7. This position is a draw and your program
should evaluate it close to 0.00.} 1... Kf7 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1947.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 13"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Sune L"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "7k/1p1b4/p1p1p1p1/2P1P2p/1P3P1P/P2B4/5K2/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{This position is from Baslavsky-Kondratiev 1947 - slightly modified. The
white bishop can aim at 5 of the opponents pawns. The white king threatens to
sneak in at the upper North-West corner - a5,b6,c7. The black bishop looks
just like another pawn. Test1: The above position. It's won for white and your
program should show a high +score for white. Test2: Exchange the good white
Bd3 to the more ugly Bc3. This position is now a draw and your program should
show close to 0.00.} 1... Kg7 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1985.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 14"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Sune L"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "7k/2p3np/1p1p2p1/3P4/1PPK1R2/6PB/7P/4r3 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{This is Gelfer-Manievich, Jerusalem 1985. The theme is about central
supremacy and active king in the endgame. The penetration of the king into the
enemy camp is many times decisive and often worth a pawn. Gelfer bought a
ticket for his king to the holy land, in a very instructive way. Test: The
move 2.Be6+! should give a high +score for white. If a program plays this move
it recognizes the value of entering into the enemy camp with the king. [Don't
do that in the middlegame]} 1... Kg8 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1895.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 15"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Sune L"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1n3k2/7p/p3ppp1/1pPp4/3P1PP1/3NP3/P3K2P/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{This position is from Pillsbury-Gunsberg 1895. Take off your hats folks,
cause this is a real piece of art! A stunning performance by a great player.
We have a knight ending with 7 pawns each. If black's knight was on c6, his
queenside majority would be a menace. As things stand, white can engineer a
dramatic central breakthrough: White is winning in a forced, sparking way.}
1... Ke7 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1911.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 16"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Sune L"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r4/R6p/1p4k1/5p2/4p3/2P5/PP3P1P/5K2 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{This is Tarrasch-Rubinstein, San Sebastian 1911. Black is a pawn down and the
b6 pawn is under attack. Passive defence with 1...Rd6? or 1...Rb8? is doomed
to failure. Rubinstein grasps his only chance: To mobilize his rook and king.
Activity is vital in rook endings. Test: Big + for your program if it
chooses 1.-Rd2! combined with activating the king. Thumbs down if it chooses
passive defence with 1...Rd6? or 1...Rb8?} 1. Ra6 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1940.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 17"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Sune L"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/5kb1/7p/p1p1p1p1/2P1K1P1/PP3N1P/8/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{Knight vs bishop and 5 pawns each. The black pawns are tied to squares of the
same color as the bishop. This is the classic "bad bishop" and the position is
won for white. But how to do it? Putting the knight on f5 and then create
Zugzwang for black with a4, doesn't seem enough for a win...This position is
from Cortlever 1940.} 1... Ke6 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "2001.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 18"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Sune L"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r3k1/4pp1p/3p2p1/p7/1r6/1P4P1/P3PP1P/R2R2K1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{A nice example of GM Andersson's technique and skill in endgames. Black is
better here and Andersson gives Giardelli no mercy.} 1. Rd5 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1928.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 19"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Sune L"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/p2b1ppp/8/8/8/1P3N1P/5PP1/6K1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{This position is from Stoltz-Kashdan 1928. A celebrated ending where the
existence of pawns on both wings on an open board emphasizes the bishop's
superiority over the knight.} 1. Nd4 *
[Event "Larsson"]
[Site "Endgame Test Ready"]
[Date "1931.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Larsson 20"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Sune L"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4bk2/pp3p1p/5bp1/8/8/4P3/PP2NPPP/3N2K1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]
{This is a discussion between the pair of bishops and the pair of knights + an
extra pawn. Although Capablanca lost this in a simul/consult. game 1931, [Fine
was part of the black team!], I think we can consider the position as about
levelled or "unclear".} 1... Ke7 *
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