Chapter 14 OTHER MATERIAL RELATIONS In this chapter we shall discuss various types of endgames with non-standard material. We will be brief because their consequent theory is not yet fully developed. Often one can find a variety (rich or poor) of endgame studies and examples from practical play that are not sys- tematized nor coordinated well enough. And even when the theory of a certain type of ending is developed, there is no sense in going deeply into it because the analyses are mostly complicated and perplexing, while the probability of their practical use is utterly unlikely. Two Extra Pieces Checkmating with Bishop and Knight I was unsure whether this subject should be included in the book, because thematingtech- nique with a bishop and a knight against a lone king is explained in every tutorial for beginners. However, my experience as a chess trainer finally put and end to these doubts because I have seen how many chessplayers, including very strong ones, either missed learning this technique at an appropriate time or had already forgotten it. Therefore they risk presenting their oppo- nents with a half-point (and this has happened more than once), particularly under modern time controls when checkmating must often be per- formed in severe time trouble. A king can be checkmated only in a cor- ner of the bishop’s color. The plan for the stron- ger side is obvious: first the enemy king is driven to an edge (this stage is simple but the king natu- rally aims to reach a safe corner). Thereafter the king is forced to a “proper” corner where mate is possible. This is the type of position that the stron- ger side aims for. Notice that White’s pieces have built @ barrier that holds the black king in the corner. What remains is only to drive the king into the corner. 1 Hed He8 2 Heb Hd8 3 Hd6O G8 4 GYe7 Yb7 5 Hd7 Hb8 6 Hab! Ha7 7 Sic8 Hb8 8 Hd8 Ya7 9 Yc7 a8 10 He7 a7 11 Ac6+ Yas 12 Ab7+. And this is how the king is driven to the “proper” corner. 14-2 1 DF7+ Hgs 2 Hed HF8 3 Ah7 Hes 4 De5 Gds 4.28 makes White’s task easier: 5 d7+ es8 6 Geb Sd8 7 Sd Ges 8 Ago+ Hd8 9 ADc5 G8 10 se8 Sd8 11 Abs gc8 12 Ad7+ Wb8 13 Bcé ete. 5 Heb Bc7 The king has broken loose from the edge of the board, but only for a while. White, with two accurate moves, creates a barrier, and locks the king in the corner. 6 Dd7! Heb 7 M.d3! Bc7 8 Abs Hb7 (8.878 9 DFS Bc7 10 AdS+) 9 Hb HB 10 AL6 (10 Acs? Bd8 11 Db7+ cB 12 web) 10...@d8 11 4)d5, and we have come to the position of the previous diagram. 279Checkmating with Two Knights Driving the king to an edge of the board is an easy task. Alas, you can only stalemate it there- after, not checkmate, but three knights will win against a single knight. However if the defender has a pawn, and this pawnis nottoo advanced, and itis blocked with one of the knights, an eventual win is quite possible, although the winning process is very difficult; it may require dozens of precise moves. As Russian study composer, Troitsky, proved in the beginning of the 20th century, a knight together with a king can drive the solitary king either to a corner or towards the “spare” knight (the one that is blocking the pawn). There- after, the spare knight joins the hunt, and a check- mate is delivered with its help. Fromthenext diagram play begins: 1 4)f2! Ogs 2 He7 Mh7 (2...Hh8? 3 G7 Bh7 4 He4 £25 Of6+ Bh8 6 Hh4 fl 7 Hg6*) 3 SFT @h8 4 get Hes 5 He7! Troitsky’s standard maneuver that enables A. Troitsky the knight's transfer to e6, where this piece will be more dangerous for the black king. 5...Gf8 6 GF6 Ges 7 Deb! Ph7 8 Hg5! Hgs (8...Gh8 9 Gg6 Sgs 10 Hg4 F211 6+ Sh8 12 Des fy 13 DF7#) 9 Heo Ghs 11 GFT! Wh7 12 Hes! f2 13 HE8+ Ghs 14 Df6 f1 15 Deo* The pawn was very far advanced; therefore, White managed to deliver checkmate because the black monarch was already locked in a comer close to f2-knight. If the king had more freedom it would run to a8, and White’s knight cannot reach that corner in time. Rook and Knight vs. Rook A draw with a rook against a rook and a knight is not a hard procedure. Even when your king is pressed to the edge of the board you can usually slip away from mating threats (sometimes with the help of a stalemate). The following endgame is taken from a practical play; it illustrates various defensive re- sources (alas, not exploited by White) and the dangers that can punish the careless defender. J. Polgar - Kasparov Dos Hermanas 1996 14-4 1 Basi Why does Polgarnotflee from theedgewith her king? 1 @g4! Bf4+ 2 @h3 A 3 Wg2= sug- gests itself. 1...Hgl! 2 Hf8+ Bes 3 Hes8+ Of4 The knight is taboo in view of checkmate. 4 Hfs8+ Bed 5 He8+ HF3 6 PhS She could try playing for a stalemate: 6 HfB+?.4f47 Hig8!. For example, 7...Ah1+ 8 &g5 git 9 @h4! Hg6+ 10 Gh5 SFA! (the only method of holding the white king on the edge) 11 Hg7 Sf5 12 Hf7+, pushing the black king somewhat away and thereby reducing the dan- ger of a mating attack. 6...83+ 7 Phot A better possibility was 7@g6!\e4+ 8 Bho (unfortunately, other squares are not available in view of knight forks). From e4, the knight can- not protect the king from the inevitable 9 Bf8+. 7...4£5+ 8 Gh7 Of4 9 Abs Hg7+ 10 @h8 Hd7 11 He8 The king in the corner is in real danger. A line suggested by Nunn can illustrate it: 11 Bf8 g5 12 Ba8 Hg6 13 Hg8+ Pho 14 Bgl Bds+ 15 Big8 Bd3 (15...2.d2 is less precise in view of, 16 Hg2!) 16 Bg! Hf3 17 Bg4 He7 18 Bh4+ &g6 28019 Bh6+ @f7 20 Bh7+ Sf8 21 Bh1 Hg8 22 wh7 ‘Sf7 23 Bh8 Df6-+. Notice how the final con- struction looks: with the knight on f6, White can- not avoid checkmate while a rook sacrifice for the sake of a stalemate cannot be arranged. 11... Gg5 12 He6 Hd4 13 Hel Of6 14 Adi?! (14 Bfl+ Df5 15 g8) 14...d5! 15 Hair? The decisive error! 15 Hf1+! Sf5 16 Bf2 (16 &g8) 16...2d4 17 Sg8!= was still good enough for a draw. 15...Qe6!—+ 16 Ha6 f7 17 Ba7+ g6 18 Has Hd7 Here and later on, Kasparov fails to find a proper grouping for his pieces (similar to that from the notes to the 11th move): 18...2d6! 19 eg Dgs 20 #8 Heb 21 eB Dh7 22 Abs Be7 followed by 23...2f6+. However his position re- mains winning, as the black king cannot escape from the corner. 19 Bb8 Hc7 20 gs Hc5 21 Ha8 BbS 22 @h8 Hb7 (22...2b6) 23 Hc8 |c7? 23...Ab6I-+ A ...0g5, ...He6, ...Dh7-£6. 24 Hg8+ Wh6 25 Hei? This error makes Black’s task easier. 25 2{8? would have been more tenacious. White sets a trap (25...d5? 26 H1f6+!) and waits as to whether Black finds the winning plan. 25...Ab8+ 26 Hg8 Aes White resigned on account of 27 218 &g6 28 Hgs+ &f7-+. Tragicomedies Yudovich (jr.) — Bebchuk Moscow ch 1964 14-5 Black resigned without reason, for he could easily parry any mating threats: 1... £8! 2 HE7+ (2 Df6 He3+) 2... e8 3 Axh7 Hg6+ 4 Df6+ Hds=. Rook and Bishop vs. Rook Without Pawns An illustration of the dangers fatal to the defender, when his king is pressed to the edge of the board, is the following position that was known as early as the 18th century. Philidor, 1749 1 H£8+! Hes 2 HE7 (a 3 Ba7) 2...He2t 2...c8 loses rapidly: 3 Ha7 Bd8+ 4 Bc6 B85 Bb7+ $a8 6 Abt ba7 7 he7. 3 Hh7!0 Animportant waiting move. The black rook must leave the 2nd rank where it stands best. The following line proves that the 3rd rank is the worst for the rook: 3...He3 4 Hd7+ Ge8 (4...8c8 5 Ha7)5 Ba7 {8 6 Bf7+ He8 7 Bf (8 Ac6+ is threatened) 7... 9d8 (7...2.d3 8 Hg4) 8 Sed! (the point — Black has no check along the d-file) 8...8e8 9 Ac6+. 3...Hel 4 Hb7 These alternate threats from both wings are typical for this sort of position. If 4...8c8, 5 2b2 Edl 6 Bh2 Gb8 7 Ha2 is decisive. 4...c1 5 &.b3! The key move! If the black rook was stand- ing on the 2nd rank, a check from d2 could fol- low, while now Black must place his rook on the unfavorable 3rd rank. 5.Eic3 If 5...%c8 then 6 Bb4 &d8 7 Bh4 Bel (7...88 8 .d5) 8 2.4 (there isno saving check along the d-file again) 8...%c8 9 Sc6 Hd1+ 10 Sid5 Hb8 11 Bad4+-. 281