Technique for the Tournament Player (Batsford Chess Library)

Batsford Chess Library

Technique for the Tournament Player Mark Dvoretsky and Artur Yusupov

With a contribution from Vladimir Vulfson

Translated by Steven Lovell

An Owl Book Henry Holt and Company New York

Henry Holt and Company, Inc. Publishers since 1866 115 West 18th Street New York. New York 10011 Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, Inc.

Copyright © 1995 by Mark Dvoretsky and Artur Yusupov All rights reserved. First published in the United States in 1995 by Henry Ho1t and Company. Inc. Originally published in Great Britain in 1995 by B. T. Batsford Ltd. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number; 94-72757 ISBN 0-8050-3900-7 (An Owl Book: pbk.) First American Edition-l 995 Printed in the United Kingdom All first editions arc printed on acid-free paper.oo 10

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Editorial Panel: Mark Dvoretsky, john Nunn, Jon Speelman General Adviser: Raymond Keene aBE Managing Editor: Graham Burgess

Contents Symbols Preface (Mark Dvoretsky)

4 5

Part 1: Theory of the Endgame 1

2 3 4

How to Study the Endgame (Mark Dvoretsky) Improving your Tcchnique (Mark Dvoretsky) Theory and Practice of Rook Endgames (Mark Dvoretsky, Artur Yusupov) From the Simple to the Complex: the theory of endgames with opposite-coloured bishops (Mark Dvoretsky)

7

27 44

79

Part 2: Endgame Analysis 5 6 7

Typical positions with Rooks and connected passed pawns (Vladimir Vulfson) Adventures on Resumption Day (Mark Dvoretsky) Knight Solo (or what pure horsepower is capable of) (Artur Yusupov)

102 114 120

Part 3: Technique 8 9 10 11

Exploiting an Advantage (Mark Dvoretsky) Techniques of Grandmaster Play (ArLur Yusupov) The Lessons of one Endgame (Mark Dvoretsky) Analysis of a Game (Artur Yusupov, Mark Dvoretsky)

128 178 185 195

Examples from Games by Pupils of the School (Artur Yusupov)

214

Part 4 12

Index of Analysts and Commentators Index of Games Index of Studies

235 237 240

Symbols !!

Excellent move Good move !? Interesting move Dubious move ?! Bad move ? ?? Blunder Check + ++ Double check Win White to play and win Draw White to play and draw =/- White to play draws; Black to play loses -/= White to play loses; Black to play draws +/= White to play wins; Black to play draws W White to play B Black to play Ch Championship Wch World Championship (D) Diagram follows

Preface Mark Dvoretsky You may already be acquainted with the first two books based on material from the Dvoretsky-Yusupov school for gifted young chess players (Training for the Tournament Player and Opening Preparation). In that case you will already know our guiding principles. We held in the school several sessions devoted to various areas of chess development. The aim of the sessions was not at all to impart concrete knowledge - we had too little time for that. It was much more important to point out weaknesses in our pupils' play and help them to get rid of them, to demonstrate the most effective ways of studying chess, to acquaint them with the general laws, ideas and methods which underpin the game. You are now looking at our third book (there will be five in all). It is based on our work at the third session of the school, which was devoted to the problem of improving mastery of the endgame. In the last few years the rules governing many tournaments and matches have been fundamentally

changed - these days games are hardly ever adjourned. Before, when you entered an ending, it was possible to work out its complexities at home. but now you have to do this at the board. If you arc not equipped with excellent knowledge and. even more importantly, an understanding of the principles of the endgame. it is far from easy to cope with this task, especially when you consider the fatigue that builds up during a game. But of course mistakes in the endgame arc the last that occur in a game - there is no way of putting them right! Clearly. the importance of technical mastery of the endgame has sharply increased in our time. r have on my bookshelves quite a few solid tomes on endgame theory. Is it realistic to take in and remember all the information contained in them? As it turns out, there is no need to do this. When you read the first part of the book. you will see that your own system of endgame knowledge can and should be extremely compact and simple to master and remember.

6 Preface

You will discover how to develop it, and you will come across some important sections of the theory of rook and minor-piece endgames. The second part of the book is spent analysing complex endgames that have occurred in practice. This sort of analysis helps to deepen and strengthen knowledge of the endgame, and assists the development of aspects of character and thought which are essential to every chess player. The technical conversion of an advantage is a stumbling-block for many chess players. To improve technical command, it is necessary to develop several important skills involving move selection and decision-taking; these skills are not purely to do with chess~ but rather

involve a combination of chess and psychology. The problem of improving technique is treated in the third part of the book. Here you will find both the theory of this question and its practical appJication - both in critical analysis of a game between young chess players and on the highest grandmaster level. The concluding part of the book is, as is customary in this series, spent analysing the games of pupils of the school. Practically all the chess players J have trained have had a high leveJ of technique and an excellent grasp of the endgame. In other words. the methods described in this book have survived the test of time. I hope you too will find them useful.

1 How to Study the Endgame Mark Dvoretsky Many young chess players are all at sea in the endgame. They would like to improve their endgame play, but have no idea how to do so. Chess books have very little to say about methods of independent study of endgame theory. We will now try to fill in this gap. Two basic areas of endgame study can be identified: 1. Theoretical study (Le. booklearning, increase in knowledge of the endgame). 2. Improvement of general endgame technique. Of course. thesc two areas are closely inter-related: progress in one area will inevitably lead to progress in the other. However, we will still look at them separately. 1. Theoretical Study

To expand your range of knowledge it is essential to study systematically many different types of endgame. Here the traditional division of the material is fully appropriate. If we take a thorough look at, for example. pawn, knight or

queen endings we will master the specific problems of these varieties of endgame. All endgame positions can provisionally be divided into 'exact' and •problematic ' ones. Positions that we know and can already evaluate, where we can find the correct plan of action, we shall call 'exact'. Notc that these positions are known to us, and not to endgame theory in general. Different chess players have different reserves of exact positions. An other positions belong to the problematic. In these cases we do not demonstrate our knowledge we struggle, we search for the best moves, we calculate variations - in short. we play chess. Many people naively believe that knowledge of the endgame consists of a knowledge of dozens of exact positions. But is a large store of concrete knowledge really so necessary? Exact positions (except the most basic ones) occur quite rarely in practice. More often than not, the chess player is obliged to struggle in

8 How to Study the Endgame

problematic situations. He must apply in them the relevant general endgame laws along with the more specific rules, methods of play and typical evaluations. All this, together, of course, with the most important exact positions, will comprise an integrated system of endgame knowledge. I must emphasize again: the number of positions which need to be known exactly is relatively small. It is only in rook endgames that it is essential to memorize thirty or forty concrete positions; in other types of endgame there are even fewer. When you study them, it is often unnecessary to enter into complicated analysis - it is sufficient just to remember the general conclusion. Let us take for example rook endings with f- and h-pawns. They occur quite rarely, but nevertheless they do occur, so it would be useful to gain some understanding of them. However, it is hardly worthwhile to study all the theory of this type of ending - it is just too complicated. What aspect of this theory should the practical chess player include in his arsenal? Above all, he should remember that these endgames are, as a rule, drawn. It is useful to look at a practical ending which illustrates the basic defensive ideas.

The black rook is excellently placed on the fifth rank, where it prevents the white king moving forward. 1 f5 is met by l ....:hl, threatening a series of checks from the rear.

I ':g6+

~f7!

1. ..Wh7 does not lose either. but it makes the defence much harder.

2 ':gS

%tbl!

A typical retreat of the black rook in such situations - here it keeps the option of checking the enemy king along both ranks and files. 3 l:tcS If 3 h6, then Black must avoid 3...:g1 +? 4 Ciftf5 :hl 5 :g7+ since hi s king is forced onto the back rank and so White wins. The waiting move 3 ...:a1! saves the day, for example 4 :h5 (4 Ciftf5 :a5+; 4

How to Study the Endgame 9 h711g1+ S ~fS nhl)4 ... ~g8 S fS ~h7.

3 •.. 4 :'c6+

Wf6 ~g7!

The main danger for Black is that his king might be forced onto his back rank. This would happen after 4 ... ~f7'! S 'it>g5 :gl + 6 Ciftf5

':h1711c7+. 5 dS

3 ~d7! and Black is in zugzwang: on 3...Wc4, 4 ~e6 is decisive, and if 3 ...~e4, then4Wc6. Wrong is 1 l1dl? d4 2 ~d7 (2

rtJf7 'iStc4 3 ~e6 d3) 2...rtJd5 ! (Black prevents White taking the side route) 3 ~c7 rtJc5! (3 ... ~c4? 4 ~d6! d3 5 ~e5), and now White is in zugzwang.

1 ~f5

rtJh4

~4 3 ~f3

Wh2

2

~h3

Mating threats to the opponent's king

4 We3! ~g2 After 4 ... ~g3 5 1+ ~h4 6 rtJf4 Wh3 7 ~f3. bad is 7 ... ~h2?? 8 l:.bl, and Black loses because of the zugzwang. S ~d3 ~f3 6 ~c3 82 7 ~xb2 (or 7 l:t.fl +) with a draw.

If the pawns are far advanced (two black pawns on the sixth rank, or

Zwischenschach before capture of a pawn

Let us now move on to positions where a rook is opposed by two connected passed pawns.

:g

How to Study the Endgame J5

W In this position Fridshtcin resigned against Lutikov (Riga 1954). He examined the variation 11:.xb3 c2 2 l:tb4+ ~d5 3 1:.b5+ ~d6 4 l:tb6+ Wc7, but failed to spot the saving zwischenschach 1l:tb4+!. I should note at this point that different players can focus on different motifs and rules, depending on their experience and knowledge. In the example above you should take note of the manoeuvre by which the black king escapes the checks (after I I1xb3?), but you can pass over this if you already know the motif.

The best position for the rook is behind the most advanced pawn

W White wins. due to the fact that the black king is cut off along the fifth rank. Maizelis' book gives a position by Sozin. which differs only in that the white king is on a7. In this case after l :lg6! ~d7 there is a second solution: 2 ~b6 ~e7 3 ~c5 ~f7 4 11g4 ~f6 5 ~d4! (5 nxf4+'! Wg5 6 ~g4 7 'It>d4 g2) 5 ... ~f5 6 1:.g8 winning. However, with the king on a8 the analogous variation no longer works: I 1:.g6! ~d7 2 ~b7? ~e7 3 ~c6 ~f7 4 .:1g4 ~f6 5 ~d5 ~f5 6 ng8 f3! 7 ~d4 (7 :xg3 ~f4 81:.g8 f2; 7 nf8+ ~g4 8 ~e4 f2 9 ~e3 'it'h3 with a draw) 7 ... f2 8 ~e3 f1 ttJ+!.

:£8

Which pawn to move?

1 2 3 4

:g6! 1:.g4! :xg2 l:tg5!

Wd7

g2! ~e6

See diagram on following page. There is an easy win with:

1 :xh2

~xh2

16 How to Study the Endgame

The game in fact continued:

1 ~c6?

':cl+

2 ~b6

l:t.c4! Threatening 3 ... l:t.h4. covering the h-file and forcing the promotion of the h-pawn. nxb4+ 3 l:.xh2 l:t.a4 4 Ciftc5 5 ~b5 ltxa5+ with a draw.

W Maroczy - Tarrasch San Sebastian J911 2 ~a6!

The immediate 1 ~a6! is also possible. ~g3 2 rJilf4 3 b5 We5 4 b6 l:t.bl 5 b7 6 rJ;a7 ~d6 7 b8'iV+ Note the move 2 ~a6!' Firstly, White moves the pawn which the rook is not standing behind. Secondly, the remaining pawn is far away from the opponent's king, which does not have time to attack it. 2 a6? is wrong due to 2 ...xh4), then 50 ~gl :tbl+ 51 h2 ~f2 52 llxh5 f3 53 l:t.a5 ~f1 54 Wg3 f2 55 l1a2 l:.b3+ 56 'i.t>g4, and White gives up his rook for the f-pawn.

47 •.•

~xh4!

48 l1d7 Also hopeless is 48 :f5 l:t.b7 49 ~f1 (49 ~f2 Wg4 50 :f6 h4) 49... ~g450:tf2:bl+! 51 ~g2f5. To prevent the king being forced back onto the first rank, the white rook must stand guard over the second rank, where it is placed too passively. Black wins easily by pushing his pawns. 48 ••• f6!!

The only way to win! If 48 .. .f5? 49 'fJ.g7 a draw results: 49...