Study Puzzle of the Day 17/12/2020
D-pawn is unstoppable, but White has an ace up his sleeve, too. White to move and draw (D. Petrov, 1945) (First try to solve the study without moving the pieces!)
Continue ReadingD-pawn is unstoppable, but White has an ace up his sleeve, too. White to move and draw (D. Petrov, 1945) (First try to solve the study without moving the pieces!)
Continue ReadingStopping those pawns is not easy at all. White to move and draw (B. Alexander, 2004) (First try to solve the study without moving the pieces!)
Continue ReadingAt the end of this chapter we will take a look on one bizarre position in which Black loses thanks to extremely badly placed knight (R. Reti 1922).
Continue ReadingSometimes, like in the situations when the king and rook are not ideally placed, the draw is possible due to the checkmating threats. Next study is from D. Petrov, 1945.
Continue ReadingEven in the hardest situations weaker side can save itself with the side defence. Interesting study on this subject was discovered by Jakovenko in 1964.
Continue ReadingThe problems for the side with rook start when his king isn’t in front of doubled pawns. In the next study (N. Minev 1984.) the author made an illustrative mistake, which ended up in Encyclopedia without anyone spotting an error.
Continue Readingc) Doubled pawns In these endings doubled pawns are the weakest. The rook usually draws without real problems, especially if the king is in front of the pawns. In general, the defence from side is a better option because with defending from behind the rook can’t control the promoting square.
Continue ReadingWhen the pawns are separated by more than 3 files, the knight alone can’t protect both pawns at the same time, so the side with rook usually draws easily. But in some circumstances, such as when the pawns are pushed far and the opponents pieces are poorly placed it is possible to prevent rook […]
Continue ReadingWhen the pawns are on the sixth rank divided by 3 files, the knight can hardly give them a needed support, so White can draw easily even with the badly placed rook on the side if his king “holds” one of the pawns. When the king is in the less convenient position between the […]
Continue ReadingThe example of the bad coordination between the pieces we see in the next study (M. Karstedt 1906.).
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