Blindfold Endgame Visualisation 24/50

#24, Birnov 1930

OBSERVATION ONE: Chess improvement as an adult is hard and few people achieve significant sustained progress.

CONCLUSION ONE: To improve as an adult you’re going to have to do things most people don't do.

 

OBSERVATION TWO: Few amateur and club players have a firm grasp of elementary endgame theory.

CONCLUSION TWO: The acquisition of basic endgame knowledge is one way to gain a long-term competitive advantage over our opponents.

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains more than the usual amount of information directly related to solving this week’s study.

 

Although it starts as a king and pawn position and ends with queen versus queen - more of that later - this week’s study is really all about queen versus pawn on the 7th.

Knowing the theory here - specifically, the difference when the pawn is on a bishop’s file or rook’s file compared to a centre on knight’s file - is neither necessary nor sufficient to become a good player, but it will definitely help you on your way. The information is relatively easily acquired and ,with a brush up every now and then, not difficult to remember. Most important, unlike opening theory, what you learn WILL NEVER CHANGE. It will quite literally last you a last time.

Here’s how I used four small pieces of endgame knowledge - not at all perfectly remembered at first - to solve this week’s study.

STEP ONE: Whenever I see a position like this I always start with just running the pawn up the board to see what happens. It’s not going to be the correct solution - it wouldn’t be a study if something that simple worked - but finding out why it fails will give a strong clue as to what the right idea actually is.

In this case you end up with a position with:

WHITE: Qa3, K-nowhere relevant

BLACK: Kb1, Pa2.

ENDGAME KNOWLEDGE A: This is just a theoretical draw. If you didn’t know that, or don’t know why White can’t win you should look it up.

STEP TWO: So White has to try something else. 1 Ke2 is the obvious try. What if Black then just try to run the a-pawn? White easily has enough time to catch it and will then win.

STEP THREE: So Black has to Block the White king.

So, 1 Ke2 Kc2

What difference does that make? Will it means White now wins just pushing the pawn. However, since the book solution ends with +- at the point the f-pawn queens I’m going to go into detail as to what happens next.

White queens, Black goes a3-a2. White plays Qa3 and Black defends the pawn with the king.

Isn’t this just the draw as ENDGAME KNOWLEDGE A? No, because White has got his king one square nearer to the action. Which turns out to be the critical difference.

ENDGAME KNOWLEDGE B: If the attacking king is near enough, the winning method is to let the pawn queen.

This is counter intuitive, and practically impossible to work out at the board if you didn’t already know it.

OK. So from Martin’s position after 5. f8=Q +- we now have

5 … a2

6 Qa3 Kb1

7 Kd2!

allowing

7 … a1=Q

STEP THREE: 

Now it’s just a question of how this wins. My first thought was that 8 Qb3+ reaches the winning pattern. But then I realised that  this is nonsense because 8 … Qb2+ is an immediate draw.

It was at this point that I realised that I had the correct winning pattern in mind, but I’d transposed the positions of White’s King and Queen.

ENDGAME KNOWLEDGE C: 

Queen v Queen is a win for White in this position

even with Black to move because whatever the they do, either the queen is lost or they get mated.

STEP FOUR:
So now it’s just  a question of how I bring this position about.

8 Qc1+ is a sensible try if Qb3+ doesn’t work because 8 … Ka2 is forced.

9 Qc4 is the only check and Black can’t go back to b1 with the king because the queen mates on c2.

So 9 … Ka3 is forced.

It was at this point, only now a couple of moves after realising what position I was aiming for, did I start to recall a the sidestep check technique that’s about to come up. Having remembered it was there, it became a question of trying to apply it.

ENDGAME KNOWLEDGE D: I’m not sure exactly how to describe this other than the  somewhat inelegant: Queen check, diagonal one check, sidestep check, diagonal one check and wins.

10 Qa6+ (queen check) forces … Kb2 otherwise Black loses the queen on a1.

11 Qb5+ (diagonal check) forces … Ka3 because 11 … Ka2 loses to 12 Kc2. Do you recognise this position?  It’s the winning pattern rated 90 degrees!

12 Qa5+ (sidestep check) forces … Kb2 again.

13 Qb4+ (diagonal check) and wins. Why? Because the king can’t go to a3 any more. So 13 … Ka2 is forced and now 

14 Kc2

brings about our winning pattern.

It’s Black’s move but there’s nothing at all to be done.

OUTCOME: Solved

RUNNING TOTAL: 20/24