Chess Teacher Lessons » Intermediate

The third rank defense

Chess Teacher — Thu, 13 May 2010 13:49:08 +0000

The third rank defense is the most important defense in the king and rook versus king, rook and pawn endgame. A lot of people refer to it as the Philidor position, but this name is also used for some other endgame positions.
There is already a lot of information about this position available on the internet, for example in the Philidor position on Wikipedia and I will limit this post to some additional information which probably helps to really understand this position.

First of all it is important to understand that the weaker side strives to capture the pawn or to exchange the rooks while being in a position that the pawn can be stopped. Therefor it is needed to be familiar with the single pawn endgame and the key squares. However the most important part of this endgame is creating a possibility to start a never ending king hunt by the defending rook which also results in a draw.

The third (or sixth) rank defense can be summarized as:

The black rook is keeping the white king away from the sixth rank.
As soon as the pawn moves to the sixth rank the defending rook has to be moved back
starting a kind of king hunt with distant checks

An illustrative example

Philidor

1… Ke8 It’s always a good idea to put the king on the queening square, but not necesary as long as it’s adjacent to this square 2.Ra2

( 2.Ra8+ Ke7 3.e6 Rxe6 is a draw )

2… Rg6 just waiting on this third, or actually sixth, rank 3.Ra7 Rh6 Still waiting 4.e6 White gives it a try 4... Rh1 Black immediately retreats his rook. This is the key move. 5.Kd6 Rd1+ 6.Kc7

( The black rook is able to drive away the king of the sixth rank 6.Kc6 Rc1+ 7.Kb6 Rb1+

( It will be clear that 7... Re1 8.Kc6 Rxe6+ is also a draw )

8.Kc6 )

( 6.Ke5 will not help either. The black rook can continue with his king hunt. )

6… Ke7 7.Ra6 Re1 8.Rd6 Rxe6 9.Rxe6+ Kxe6 1/2-1/2

Bowdler – Conway (1788)

Chess Teacher — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:34:17 +0000

The game below is a classical game between Dr. Thomas Bowdler and Henry Seymour Conway that can be found in the IJ105 database. The reason it became famous was because of Bowdler’s two rook sacrifice, but I’ll show it here for another reason: if you have a material advantage you have to use this material.

Start

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 The Classical Variation of the Bishop’s Opening 3.d3 c6

Nowadays most players would prefer 3...d6 , 3...Nc6 or 3...Nf6

4.Qe2 d6 5.f4 A little bit to aggressive 5...exf4 6.Bxf4?! Qb6 7.Qf3? This can be considered as a blunder, but this game has become famous because of the two rook sacrifice, probably the first recorded one 7...Qxb2 8.Bxf7+ Kd7 9.Ne2 Qxa1 capturing the first rook 10.Kd2 Bb4+

( 10… Qf6! looks more promising )

11.Nbc3 sacrificing the second rook 11...Bxc3+ 12.Nxc3 Qxh1 13.Qg4+ Kc7 14.Qxg7 Nd7 15.Qg3 b6 16.Nb5+ -+ cxb5 =

( If you are captured your opponent’s rooks you have to use your own rooks, for example by 16...Kb8 17.Bxg8 Qf1 18.Bxd6+ Kb7 19.Be7 Rxg8 )

17.Bxd6+ Kb7 18.Bd5+ Ka6 19.d4 b4? +-

( 19… Nc5 )

20.Bxb4 Kb5? resulting in a mate in three 21.c4+ Kxb4 22.Qb3+ Ka5 23.Qb5# 1-0

The Halosar Trap

Admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 10:59:10 +0000

Halosar_Trap

1.d4 d5 2.e4

The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit (BDG)

2… dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Qxf3

( The main line of the BDG continues with 5.Nxf3 Bg4 6.h3 but this time we are going for the Halosar Trap )

5… Qxd4

( 5… c6 is played almost as often )

6.Be3 Qb4

( 6… Qg4 7.Qf2 e5 8.a3 is played more often )

7.O-O-O Bg4?! Black falls into the trap. Most people do as it looks such a nice combination. 8.Nb5 Na6

( 8… Nbd7?! doesn’t look good, but may still be playable 9.Qxb7 Qe4 10.Nxc7+ Kd8 11.Qxa8+ Qxa8 12.Nxa8 Bxd1 13.Kxd1 Kc8 )

( Black can’t capture the knight because this loses the queen. 8...Qxb5 9.Bxb5+ c6 10.Qg3 )

9.Qxb7 Qe4 10.Qxa6 Qxe3+ 11.Kb1 Qc5 12.Nf3 Rb8 13.Qxa7 Qxa7 14.Nxa7

Morphy – Isouard (1858)

Chess Teacher — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:08:25 +0000

The game of this lesson between Paul Morphy and Carl Isouard that has been played in Paris 1858 is one of the most famous chess games.
It’s a very interesting short game and it contains at least five important chess lessons:
1. Develop you chess pieces quickly
2. Castling into safety
3. The strategic outpost at d5
4. Attacking a pinned piece
5. The use of an open file

Morphy_Isouard

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 The Philidor Defence 3.d4 Bg4 pins the knight, but also enables White to create an open file as we will see in the next moves

( Nowadays 3... exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 is played more often. )

4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 threatens mate 6...Nf6 7.Qb3! threatens a mate in two as illustrated by the next three variations 7...Qe7

( 7... Nxe4?? 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Qe6# like in the 1994 game of Shaun Press vs Tony Salvage )

( 7... b6?? 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Qe6# like in the 1994 game of Marek Smilowski vs Daniel Martins )

( 7... Nbd7?? 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Qe6# as played in 2003 in the game Karjakin Sergey [2576] — Sola Lluch Miguel Angel [2125] )

8.Nc3 White threatens eventually to use d5 a a strategic outpost 8... c6 prevents that White can position his knight on this important square. 9.Bg5 pins the knight 9...b5

( 9… Qc7 is better, but White still has a strong attack )

10.Nxb5! White gives up a knight in exchange for the two pawns and a strong attack. 10...cxb5 11.Bxb5+ Nbd7 resulting in another pinned piece. Black is almost unable to move a piece and can only try to defend.

( 11… Kd8 doesn’t help either. 12.O-O-O+ )

12.O-O-O!! Castling into safety and even more important attacking a pinned piece. All White’s pieces are developed, while Black’s pieces are hardly developed and unable to move. 12... Rd8 13.Rxd7!! Please note that the knight at f6 is pinned, but the most interesting part of this move is that White sacrifices the exchange to win a rook 13... Rxd7 14.Rd1 attacking a pinned piece again 14...Qe6

( 14… Kd8 is better, but not enough to hold the position 15.Bxd7 Kc7 +- )

15.Bxd7+ Nxd7? a mate in two. Do you see it?

( 15… Qxd7 is a better move, but look at what happens after this better move 16.Qb8+ Ke7 17.Qxe5+ Kd8 18.Bxf6+ gxf6 19.Qxf6+ Kc8 20.Rxd7 Kxd7 21.Qxh8 +- )

16.Qb8+ Nxb8 17.Rd8# 1-0

Liked this game? You will probably also like Bird – Steinitz (1866) or you can have a look at the complete overview of chess lessons.

Bird – Steinitz (1866)

Chess Teacher — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:45:32 +0000

This position occurred in the game Bird -Steinitz (1866) and Steinitz played the winning move 66…b5+.
Bird reacted with 67.Kc3 and now we get an even more interesting position.

Should you also have played 66…b5+ or would you have tried something like 66…a3?
Are you able to win this won game? What are Black’s next moves?

Be careful. Some moves will result in a draw.

Black to move and wins.

More chess lessons? The next lesson in this series is about the King’s Gambit.

Mortimer Trap

Chess Teacher — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:40:52 +0000

In this lesson I will show you the Mortimer trap, also known as the Mortimer Variation of the Berlin Defense.

Mortimer_Trap

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3

( Today 4.O-O is played far more frequently )

4… Ne7?!

This is the Mortimer Variation of the Berlin Defense. It’s not a good move, but it sets a trap and the capture of the black pawn on e5 may be very tempting for White.

( 4… d6 5.c3 is a more normal continuation )

5.Nxe5?

( Even after 5.O-O Ng6 6.d4 c6 7.dxe5 Nxe4 Black is not without chances. )

5… c6! 6.Nc4

( 6.Ba4 Qa5+ 7.Nc3 Qxe5 )

( 6.Nxc6 dxc6 7.Bc4 Ng6 )

( 6.Nxf7 Probably White’s best move 6...Kxf7 7.Ba4 )

( 6.Bc4 Qa5+ 7.Nc3 Qxe5 )

6… d6! 7.Ba4 b5 This move forks the white bishop and knight and wins a piece

The next lesson is about the Immortal Game, but you may also be interested in the previous lesson about the Kieninger Trap.

Noah’s Ark Trap

Chess Teacher — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:32:42 +0000

Noah’s Ark Trap is not just an opening trap. The name is used for a lot of openings in which the white bishop is trapped on b3 by black pawns. Most of the games that contain this trap can be found in the Ruy Lopez.

Noahs_Trap

1.e4 e5

( I start with this trap in the Sicilian defence since this variation very clearly demonstrates the trap 1...c5 2.Bb5 Not a very good move. 2...a6 3.Ba4 ( 3.Bc4 is better, but also makes it very clear that White should not have played Bb5 in the first place. ) 3… b5 4.Bb3 c4 and Black wins the bishop like in Widmer – Moheni, 1982. )

( and even in The Pirc and other openings the trap can be found 1...d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be3 c6 6.Qd2 Nbd7 7.O-O-O Qc7 8.Bc4 b5 9.Bb3 h6 10.h4 a6 11.Nh2 Bb7 12.f4 e6 13.Nf3 O-O-O 14.d5 exd5 15.exd5 c5 16.Rhg1 c4 like in Riezu – Rodrigo, 2003. )

2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 as mentioned before Noah’s Ark Trap is mostly found in the Ruy Lopez.

4.Ba4 d6 5.d4?! b5 6.Bb3 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4 8.Qxd4?? c5 9.Qc3 ( 9.Qd5 doesn’t help either 9...Be6 10.Qc6+ Bd7 11.Qd5 c4 and the white Bishop is trapped. ) 9… c4 like in Bruned Segura Mario ( 2255 ) — Duran Albareda Xavier ( 2290 ) , 1999. 0-1

More chess lessons? The next lesson in this series is about the game Morphy – Isouard (1958).

The Lasker Trap

Chess Teacher — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 11:50:17 +0000

As a kind of followup on the lesson about the minor promotion I have added this lesson on the Lasker Trap in the Albin Countergambit. The underpromotion plays an important role in this trap and probably contributes to the success of it.
The Albin Countergambit starts with the moves 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 after which we can find the following position on the board.

The best option is to accept the gambit 3.dxe5 after which black probably continues with 3…d4. If White continues with 4.e3? he’ll find himself in deep trouble.

Lasker_Trap

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.e3?

( 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.g3 Be6 6.Nbd2 Qd7 7.Bg2 is the main continuation )

4… Bb4+ 5.Bd2 dxe3 in this Albin, Lasker Trap of the QGD White has three options. 6.Bxb4? is a blunder. This is called the Lasker Trap.

The best option for White is 6.fxe3 with a bad pawn structure, but White may still have some chances after 6... Nc6 7.Nf3 Bg4 for example by playing 8.Nc3 instead of the more frequently played 8.Be2

Another alternative is 6.Qa4+ but this is also something that White should avoid, because of 6... Nc6 7.Bxb4 ( 7.fxe3 Qh4+ 8.Kd1 Bg4+ 9.Nf3 O-O-O ) 7… exf2+ 8.Kxf2 Qh4+ 9.g3 Qd4+ 10.Kg2 Qxb2+

6… exf2+ 7.Ke2

( After 7.Kxf2? Black can capture the queen 7... Qxd1 )

7… fxg1=N+ a nice example of a situation in which promotion to a minor piece is indeed the better move 8.Ke1

( After 8.Rxg1 Black also wins the queen 8... Bg4+ )

8… Qh4+ 9.Kd2 Nc6 10.Bc3 Bg4 11.Qe1 O-O-O+ 12.Kc2 Nd4+ 13.Kc1 Qxe1+ 14.Bxe1 as played in 1965 by Boris Bereschnoj against David Lees. White resigns. 0-1

You may also want to read the lesson about the underpromotion or about the Elephant Trap or continue with the lesson about Noah’s Ark Trap.
A complete overview of the chess lessons at this site can be found in the chess lessons index.

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Some crazy stalemates

Chess Teacher — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 12:32:42 +0000

In most chess databases you can also find some very strange games. As an example I have searched for some early stalemates in the the ICOfY database and I have found some stalemates at the 12th move in which all pieces are still on the board.
I think that all these games are prearranged draws, but they clearly demonstrate that stalemates are not limited to the endgame.

Stalemate

1.d4 e5 The Englund Gambit 2.Qd2

( In most games the pawn is taken 2.dxe5 and the game continues with 2...Nc6 3.Nf3 Qe7 )

2… e4 3.Qf4 f5 4.h3 Bb4+ 5.Nd2 d6 6.Qh2

( 6.a4 Ba5

( 6… a5 7.Qh2 Qh4 8.Ra3 Be6 9.Rg3 Bb3 10.c4 c5 11.d5 f4 12.f3?? e3

This crazy stalemate can been found in both the games Roland Smalts – Rolf Schlindwein (1991) as Ahmad Siar Wahedi – Enrico Marchio (2001).

( Note that 12... fxg3! is winning ) )

7.Ra3 Be6 is another, even stranger, sequence of moves that can be found in the game Rolf Schlindwein – Jochen Kountz from 1991 that can lead to the same kind of stalemate 8.Qh2 Qh4 9.Rg3? Bb3? 10.c4? c5? 11.d5? f4 12.f3 e3? stalemate. The fact that the name of the same player pops up, but this time playing the white pieces is another indication that these games are prearranged. )

6… Be6 7.a4 Qh4 These as well as the following moves can be found in the mentioned database in at least four different games. 8.Ra3? c5? 9.Rg3? f4 10.f3? Bb3? 11.d5? Ba5? 12.c4? e3? ( 12… fxg3 is winning. ) 1/2-1/2

You may have missed some of the previous chess lessons. The previous chess lesson was about Weak pawns, the next lesson gives an overview of the Elements in chess strategy. The index of all chess lessons can be found when pressing the lessons navigation link at the top of this site.

Minor promotion

Chess Teacher — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:10:26 +0000

Minor promotion or underpromotion is the promotion of a pawn to a knight, bishop or rook. The player that has moved the pawn to the promotion square has to decide which piece to select: a queen, a rook, a bishop or a knight. It can not remain a pawn and according to the FIDE rules of chess the choice becomes final as soon as the selected piece touches the promotion square.
In almost all games a pawn is promoted to a queen. Sometimes another piece is used, but most of the time this is done without a real need. The player just likes to win with a rook instead of a queen.
But in some cases a minor promotion is needed in order to win the game, most of the time to avoid a stalemate.

The following tow diagrams show two examples. In the diagram on the left promotion of the pawn to a queen will result in a stalemate, but White can win the game by promoting to a rook (or by playing Kd6). In the diagram on the right promotion to a queen or a rook will result in a draw (stalemate), but promoting to a bishop will result in an easy win. In this case White may also win by playing Ke7.

Another interesting example is shown in the next diagram. Now White is forced to promote. He has to capture the rook. Promoting to a queen or a rook will result in stalemate, so the pawn has to be promoted to a bishop or a knight.

I should go for the bishop, but promotion to a knight will be ok. 49. bxc8=B will probably be followed by something like 49… Kb8 50. Bh3 Kc7 51. Kb5 Kd6 52. a7 Ke5 53. a8=Q Kf6 54. Qf8+ Kg5 55. Be6 Kg6 56. Qe7 Kh6 57. Qf6+ Kh5 58. Qg7 Kh4 59. Qg4#

A rather complicated example can be found in the next diagram taken from the game Sokolsky – Ravinsky. This example has been discussed by Tim Krabbé in his article about Practical Underpromotion.

In this article he describes 47 examples of underpromotion in actual games. In the diagram on the left 66.a8=B is winning and it is White’s only winning move. The alternative moves are discussed in Tim Krabbé’s article.

Another interesting position that can be found in a number of actual games is the position given in the following diagram.

49.Rc8+ Rxc8 50.b7+ Ka7 will result in a position that should be familiar by now.

In this case 49.a7 is also winning
49…Kb7 50.Rc7+ Ka8 51.Ka6 1-0

The Lasker Trap is the next lesson in this series of chess lessons.