مسئله آخر بازی     Endgame Study

Endgame Studies

Combining beauty and practicality, the Endgame Study is one of the unique and subtle wonders of the Royal Game. The Chess Cafe is pleased to present, on a weekly basis, a selected endgame study for your enjoyment.

The Complete Studies of Genrikh Kasparyan
A.J. Roycroft, editor

This 300+ page softcover edition contains all known 545 studies by the one of the greatest endgame study composers of all time. Biographical information, photographs and additional material by John Roycroft supplement the studies. The result is one of the outstanding collection of endgame studies ever published. Suggested retail price is $39.95, but it is offered directly from the publisher at the special price of $24.95 ($19.95 for USCF Members!)

Order

Unless specifically designated otherwise, it is always White to move. Unlike problems, studies usually do not require a solution in a pre-determined number of moves. Simply look for the best moves and replies to work out the win or draw. And don't be discouraged if at first you don't succeed - working out the solution will be satisfying - even instructive!

The current study is presented immediately following. Items in our Archives, including this week's selection, are available for you to download.

 

The solution to this week's Endgame Study
may be found farther down the page

جواب مسئله آخر بازی این هفته در پایین صفحه آمده است. 

Endgame Study #498

White to move and draw.

F. Prokop

Casopis Ceskoslovensky Sach

1995

Draw

سیاه مساوی می کند

If you are interested in endgame studies, look into the premier international endgame study magazine EG. To subscribe, 25 euros or the equivalent in USD may be sent to Marcel van Herck, Brialmontlei 66 B 2018 Antwerpen, Belgium arves@skynet.be Payment is also possible via Paypal to this e-mail address.

Solution to This Week's Endgame Study

جواب مسئله آخر بازی این هفته 

1 Ra5 Qxa5/i 2 Qf5+ Qxf5/ii stalemate.

i) 1...Q2b3+ 2 Kf8 Qxa5 3 Qe5+ Qxe5 (3...Kg6 4 Qe6+ Qxe6.
ii) 2...Kh6 3 Qf6+ Qxf6.

فرازهايی از کلاسهای استاد بزرگ ماگراموف

فرازهايی از کلاسهای استاد بزرگ ماگراموف

استاد بزرگ المار ماگراموف در مدت اقامت در تهران علاوه بر کار انفرادی با بزرگان شطرنج کشور چند جلسه کلاس عمومی نيز برگزار کرد و همچنين در فرصتهايی موجود در مورد راهکارهای آموزش شطرنج سؤالات را پاسخ داد که فرازهايی از آنها تقديم می گردد:

- بازيکن بايد شروع بازيهای خود را از فرمهای وسط بازی انتخاب کند، بدين معنی که بازيکن بايد ببيند از کدام فرمهای پياده ای در وسط بازی خوشش می آيد سپس بگردد شروع بازيهايی انتخاب کند که بازی را به آن فرمهای وسط بازی می رساند، مثلاً بازيکنی که فرمهای پياده ايزوله وزير را دوست دارد به راحتی می تواند در شاخه های مختلف انتخابش را تعيين نمايد و قس علی هذا

- هر چند امروزه کامپيوتر دسترسی به اطلاعات را در بسياری رشته ها از جمله شطرنج تسهيل نموده است، ولی هنوز مطالعه آثار کلاسيک شطرنج برای پيشرفت شطرنج باز امری اجتناب ناپذير است، يکی از دلايل آن اين است که بازيکن وقتی آثار کلاسيک را مطالعه می کند ناخواسته دانشی فراگير از شطرنج و وضعيتها پيدا می کند، امروزه می بينيم که بسياری از بازيکنان که من باب مثال هيچگاه e4 نمی کنند و هيچگاه e4 را با e5 جواب نمی دهند، هيچ اطلاعی از گامبی شاه نداشته و خود را نيز از يادگيری آن بی نياز می بينند، در حاليکه يادگيری بسياری از فرمهای وسط بازی حاصل از دفاع هندی شاه امری ضروری برای تکميل درک يک شطرنج باز است ولی در گذشته بازيکن وقتی آثار کلاسيک شطرنج را مطالعه می کرد، خود به خود با اين وضعيتها آشنا می شد.

- يادگيری شطرنج از روی کتبی که حرکات را توضيح کامل داده اند، برای پيشرفت بازيکن بسيار ضروری است و تفاوت چشمگيری با يادگيری از روی بازيهای تفسير شده از روی کتبی نظير اينفورماتور، مجلات شطرنج امروزی، بازيهای موجود در اينترنت و يا بانکهای اطلاعاتی دارد، به عنوان مثال وقتی شما کتاب بازيهای تفسير شده باتوينيک را به قلم خود وی می خوانيد وی از علاماتی نظير" ± " استفاده صرف نکره است بلکه نوشته است در اين وضعيت سفيد به دلايلی که بيان می کند برتر است و راه تحقق بخشيدن به اين برتری را نيز در ادامه بازی نشان می دهد، بدين ترتيب درک و تکنيک بازيکن رشد می کند و شطرنج آموز پس از مطالعه کامل کتب باتوينيک می آموزد که باتوينيک چگونه در شطرنج قضاوت و عمل می کرده است و درک شطرنج باز عميقتر می شود.

- تربيت و آموزش مربی را بايست به دو گروه متفاوت تقسيم کرد، بازيکنان قدرتمندی که می خواهند مربيان خوبی شوند و مربيان با تجربه ای که می خواهند به سطوح بالای مربيگری دست يابند دسته اول طبعاً دانش شطرنجی خوبی دارند ولی روش آموختن را نمی دانند، بنابراين به اين دسته بايد شيوه آموزش شطرنج را بيشتر آموخت ولی دسته دوم مربيگری را می دانند و از مسائل روانی مربوطه به دليل اينکه سالها به اين کار پرداخته اند اطلاع دارند لذا بايد اموزش به اين گروه بيشتر متمرکز بر آموزش علم شطرنج باشد.

- مطالعه آخر بازی بايد همواره جزء مهمترين بخشهای کاری شطرنج آموز باشد زيرا در اثر مطالعه آخر بازی سطح عمومی قدرت شطرنج باز افزايش خواهد يافت و  مشخصاً درک پوزيسيونی وی نيز مستقيماً بهتر می شود.

دورتموند راند هفتم:ولادمیر کرامنیک برنده  تورنمنت سوپر استاد بزرگ ها شد

Dortmund R7: Vladimir Kramnik wins Super-GM
07.08.2006 Who would have thought so a few days ago. With two dramatic victories in the last two rounds classical chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik snatched victory from the colleagues who had been looming ahead of him during the earlier part of the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting. Equal first was Peter Svidler. Full updated report.

SPARKASSEN
CHESS MEETING
2006
July 28 to August 6, 2006

The Dortmunder Sparkassen Chess Meeting is taking place in the State Theatre (Schauspielhaus) in Dortmund, Germany, from July 29th to August 6, 2006. It is a single round robin tournament with eight players, averaging 2720 Elo and making for a category 19 event.

Round seven report

Round 7: Sunday, August 6, 13:00h
Boris Gelfand
1-0
Levon Aronian
Vladimir Kramnik
1-0 
Peter Leko
Arkadij Naiditsch
1-0
Baadur Jobava
Peter Svidler
½-½
Michael Adams

Vladimir Kramnik vs Peter Leko was the game to watch. Naturally everyone remembered their world championship match in Brissago in 2004, in which the challenger Leko came within a hair's breadth of taking Kramnik's title (the latter won the last game to draw the match and retain his title). This was Peter's chance to win the last-round game in Dortmund, or at least to rock-solidly draw it to stay ahead of his Russian rival. The two followed a game played by Kramnik's second Evgeny Bareev against Leko's compatriot Zoltan Almasi at the Amber blindfold tournament in Monacco 2003. At move 22 Peter Leko deviated and soon found himself two pawns down. One was a dangerous passer that advanced to b7 and had to be traded for a bishop. In the endgame with an an extra piece Kramnik had little trouble and ended up taking game, set and match.


The key game: Kramnik vs Leko in the final round

Peter Svidler vs Michael Adams ended long before all of this happened. In a Closed Ruy Lopez the draw agreement came on move 17, ensuring Svidler equal first and Adams equal third.


A solid third place: Michael Adams, England

Arkadij Naiditsch vs Baadur Jobava, a classical Caro-Kann, went sour on the Georgian on move 27:

Naiditsch,A (2664) - Jobava,Ba (2651) [B19]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (7), 06.08.2006
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bd2 Ngf6 12.0-0-0 Be7 13.Qe2 0-0 14.Rhe1 Qb6 15.Ne5 Rfe8 16.Nc4 Qa6 17.Na5 b5 18.Kb1 c5 19.dxc5 Nxc5 20.Nb3 Nxb3 21.axb3 Qb6 22.Bc3 a5 23.Ne4 Nxe4 24.Qxe4 a4 25.Rd7 Qa6 26.Qg4 Bg5

Black has defended against the mate threat on g7 by playing his bishop to g5. He is fearless of 27.f4 because he has 27...axb3 with deadly mate threats of his own. However, after White plays 27.bxa4 the black threat has disappeared and Jobava must worry about the bishop. 27...Qc6 28.f4 b4! was an option, but not what came in the game: 27...bxa4? Now White can play 28.f4 and after 28...Qb5 29.Rd3 a3 simply pick up the bishop: 30.fxg5. Unlike in his previous game Jobava played on for ten more moves before conceding that he could not survive the game a piece down. 30...axb2 31.Bxb2 Ra4 32.Qe2 Qxg5 33.Qe5 Ra5 34.Qxg5 Rxg5 35.Red1 Rxg2 36.Rd8 Rxd8 37.Rxd8+ Kh7 38.c4 Rg5 39.Bd4 e5 40.Bf2 1-0.

Boris Gelfand vs Levon Aronian was a sharp, exciting battle, a beautiful game to analyse with a chess engine.

Gelfand,B (2729) - Aronian,L (2761) [E15]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (7), 06.08.2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5 exd5 8.cxd5 Bxd5 9.Nc3 Bc6 10.e4 Be7 11.Bf4 0-0 12.0-0-0 Na6 13.Qe2 Nb4 14.a3

14...Qc8. Aronian wants to turn this into a sharp tactical fight, where he believes he has an edge on the older, more positionally oriented Boris Gelfand. 15.Kb1. 15.axb4 cxb4 leaves the black queen x-raying the white king with very dangerous consequences. 15...a5 16.Ne5 Re8 17.Rhe1 Bf8 18.g4 g6 19.Bg3 Re6 20.f4 d6 21.Nxc6 Nxc6. The knight has been dangling on b4 for six moves. Gelfand has taken up the tactical challenge and is doing very well in this sharp position. 22.Nb5 Ne8.

Now watch Gelfand finish off his young colleague from Armenia: 23.e5 dxe5 24.Bd5 a4 25.fxe5 Ng7 26.Qf3 Rb8 27.Nd6 Bxd6 28.exd6 Nd4 29.Rxd4 Rxe1+ 30.Bxe1 cxd4 31.Qxf7+ Kh8 32.d7 Qc5 33.Bb4 1-0.


Five of the participants: Kramnik, Adams, Aronian, Leko and Naiditsch

Final standings

Kramnik's performance in this event was 2818, exactly the same as Peter Svidler, Adams, Leko, Gelfand and even Arkadij Naiditsch scored above their expectation and can expect to win rating points in the next FIDE list. They take the points from the two big losers of the event, Levon Aronian and Baadur Jobava, who performed at levels of 2555 and 2505 repectively. Quite traumatic for these bright young talents.

The women's match between the best female players in the US and Germany, Irina Krush and Elisabeth Pähtz, ended in a narrow victory for the US lady, who won her fifth round game. All others were drawn.

Photos: Dagobert Kohlmeyer


Full Schedule and Results

Round 1: Saturday, July 29, 15:00h
Michael Adams
½-½
Levon Aronian
Baadur Jobava
0-1
Peter Svidler
Peter Leko
1-0
Arkadij Naiditsch
Boris Gelfand
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Round 2: Sunday, July 30, 15:00h
Levon Aronian
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Arkadij Naiditsch
½-½
Boris Gelfand
Peter Svidler
½-½
Peter Leko
Michael Adams
½-½ 
Baadur Jobava
Round 3: Tuesday, August 1, 15:00h
Baadur Jobava
½-½
Levon Aronian
Peter Leko
½-½
Michael Adams
Boris Gelfand
½-½
Peter Svidler
Vladimir Kramnik
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch
Round 4: Wednesday, August 2, 15:00h
Levon Aronian
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch
Peter Svidler
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Michael Adams
1-0
Boris Gelfand
Baadur Jobava
½-½
Peter Leko
Round 5: Friday, August 4, 15:00h
Peter Leko
1-0
Levon Aronian
Boris Gelfand
1-0
Baadur Jobava
Vladimir Kramnik
½-½
Michael Adams
Arkadij Naiditsch
½-½
Peter Svidler
Round 6: Saturday, August 5, 15:00h
Levon Aronian
0-1
Peter Svidler
Michael Adams
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch
Baadur Jobava
0-1
Vladimir Kramnik
Peter Leko
½-½
Boris Gelfand
Round 7: Sunday, August 6, 13:00h
Boris Gelfand
1-0
Levon Aronian
Vladimir Kramnik
1-0 
Peter Leko
Arkadij Naiditsch
1-0
Baadur Jobava
Peter Svidler
½-½
Michael Adams

Links

 

دورتموند راند ششم:کرامنیک جوباوا را در 15 حرکت با مهره سیاه نابود کرد

Dortmund R6: Kramnik zaps Jobava in 15 moves with black
06.08.2006 Stunned by a combination he had overseen Georgian Baadur Jobava resigned to Vladimir Kramnik on move 15. Peter Svidler outplayed Levon Aronian with black to score a second win and join Peter Leko in the lead. The final round starts on Sunday at 13:00 h CEST, with Kramnik vs Leko as its star attraction to follow on Playchess.com. Round six report.

SPARKASSEN
CHESS MEETING
2006
July 28 to August 6, 2006

The Dortmunder Sparkassen Chess Meeting is taking place in the State Theatre (Schauspielhaus) in Dortmund, Germany, from July 29th to August 6, 2006. It is a single round robin tournament with eight players, averaging 2720 Elo and making for a category 19 event.

Round six report

Round 6: Saturday, August 5, 15:00h
Levon Aronian
0-1
Peter Svidler
Michael Adams
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch
Baadur Jobava
0-1
Vladimir Kramnik
Peter Leko
½-½
Boris Gelfand

Peter Leko vs Boris Gelfand was a Sicilian Scheveningen, which ended after multiple exchanges in a 24-move draw. Michael Adams vs Arkadij Naiditsch saw the British GM on the attack, but his German counterpart defending well and finally liquidating to a 32-move draw.

Levon Aronian vs Peter Svidler was a Grünfeld, in which the experienced St Petersburg GM wrapped everything up to an endgame with an extra pawn and same-colored bishops, enough to force the resignation of his Armenian opponent on move 47.

Baadur Jobava vs Vladimir Kramnik was the talk of the day. On move 14 the classical chess world champion, playing with the black pieces, sprung a little trap, and one move later his young Georgian opponent resigned. Stunning!

Jobava,Baadur (2651) - Kramnik,Vladimir (2743)
Sparkassen Chess-Meeting Dortmund (6), 05.08.2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.a3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Bd2 Nf6 8.Qc2 c5 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.b4 Be7 11.e4 Nc6 12.Bf4 0-0 13.Rd1 Qc8 14.e5.

White's last move allows Kramnik to spring a little trap: 14...Nxb4! 15.axb4 Ne4 and now, to the amazement of the kibitzers on Playchess.com (and, we assume, Dortmund, Paris, New York and the rest of the world) Jobava resigned. Black is clearly better after this piece sacrifice, though we cannot quickly explain why it justifies White's resignation. Much more lopsided positions have been played out by GMs of this calibre. Here, for what it is worth, is part of the discussion that took place on Playchess.com, with the spectators all equipped with the latest and fastest chess engines.

15...Ne4 Deep Junior 10: 1) 16.Rd3 (Deep Junior 10: 2) 16.Bd2 Bxb4 17.Rc1 Nxd2 18.Qxd2 Qc5 19.Ng1 Rfd8 20.Qe3 Qxe3+ 21.fxe3 Rac8 22.Nge2 Rc4 -1.55/16 ; Deep Junior 10: 3) 16.Rc1 Bxb4 -1.48/6 ; Deep Shredder 10: 1) 16.Rd3 Bxb4 17.Bd2 Qc5 18.Re3 Rfd8 19.Bd3 Nxc3 20.Bxh7+ Kf8 21.0-0 Rac8 -2.09/15 ; Deep Shredder 10: 2) 16.Rd4 Qxc3+ 17.Qxc3 Nxc3 18.Bd2 Ne4 19.Bd3 Nxd2 20.Kxd2 Rfd8 21.Rxd8+ -2.26/15 ; Deep Shredder 10: 3) 16.Bd2 Bxb4 17.Rc1 Nxd2 18.Nxd2 Qc5 19.Be2 Rac8 20.Ndb1 Qd5 21.Bf3 Qxe5+ 22.Qe2 Rxc3 23.Nxc3 Bxc3+ 24.Kf1 Bxf3 25.Qxf3 Rc8 -2.24/14 ) 16...Bxb4 17.Bd2 Qc5 18.Re3 Nxd2 19.Nxd2 Rac8 20.Ndb1 Rfd8 21.h4 Bd5 22.Rhh3 -1.24/16. [Click to replay].

In the women's match Irina Krush of the US drew first blood by defeating Elisabeth Pähtz with the black peces.

Standings after six rounds


Full Schedule and Results

Round 1: Saturday, July 29, 15:00h
Michael Adams
½-½
Levon Aronian
Baadur Jobava
0-1
Peter Svidler
Peter Leko
1-0
Arkadij Naiditsch
Boris Gelfand
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Round 2: Sunday, July 30, 15:00h
Levon Aronian
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Arkadij Naiditsch
½-½
Boris Gelfand
Peter Svidler
½-½
Peter Leko
Michael Adams
½-½ 
Baadur Jobava
Round 3: Tuesday, August 1, 15:00h
Baadur Jobava
½-½
Levon Aronian
Peter Leko
½-½
Michael Adams
Boris Gelfand
½-½
Peter Svidler
Vladimir Kramnik
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch
Round 4: Wednesday, August 2, 15:00h
Levon Aronian
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch
Peter Svidler
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Michael Adams
1-0
Boris Gelfand
Baadur Jobava
½-½
Peter Leko
Round 5: Friday, August 4, 15:00h
Peter Leko
1-0
Levon Aronian
Boris Gelfand
1-0
Baadur Jobava
Vladimir Kramnik
½-½
Michael Adams
Arkadij Naiditsch
½-½
Peter Svidler
Round 6: Saturday, August 5, 15:00h
Levon Aronian
0-1
Peter Svidler
Michael Adams
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch
Baadur Jobava
0-1
Vladimir Kramnik
Peter Leko
½-½
Boris Gelfand
Round 7: Sunday, August 6, 13:00h
Boris Gelfand
 
Levon Aronian
Vladimir Kramnik
 
Peter Leko
Arkadij Naiditsch
 
Baadur Jobava
Peter Svidler
 
Michael Adams
Games – Report

Links

دورتموند راند پنجم:لکو و گلفاند برنده شدند,لکو در صدر جدول

Dortmund R5: Leko, Gelfand win, Leko leads
05.08.2006 Peter Leko beat Levon Aronian for his second win and the sole lead in this event. After a 7½ hour marathon loss to Michael Adams in round four, Boris Gelfand, 38, was faced with another seven-hour game, but this time on the winning end. He ground down Baadur Jobova in an interesting and instructive endgame queen and pawn vs queen.

SPARKASSEN
CHESS MEETING
2006
July 28 to August 6, 2006

The Dortmunder Sparkassen Chess Meeting is taking place in the State Theatre (Schauspielhaus) in Dortmund, Germany, from July 29th to August 6, 2006. It is a single round robin tournament with eight players, averaging 2720 Elo and making for a category 19 event.

Round five report

Round 5: Friday, August 4, 15:00h
Peter Leko
1-0
Levon Aronian
Boris Gelfand
1-0
Baadur Jobava
Vladimir Kramnik
½-½
Michael Adams
Arkadij Naiditsch
½-½
Peter Svidler
Games – Report

Vladimir Kramnik vs Michael Adams was a Petroff which at some stage looked like it would be very long and very tense, with Kramnik grinding out a win. However the game ended after 41 moves with a draw.

Arkadij Naiditsch vs Peter Svidler, a closed Ruy Lopez, was hard fought, lasting almost six hours and ending in a queen and three pawns vs queen and two which White could not win. Naiditsch is playing what most spectators consider the most enterprising chess in Dortmund.

Peter Leko vs Levon Aronian was an Exchange Ruy with an eighth move novelty by Leko. The result was a blocked position in which both sides shuffled their pieces during a protracted middlegame phase. Aronian was intent on holding on to a draw, Leko was casting around for more. On move 55 he exchanged knights and simplified to a rook and pawns ending which Aronian could not hold. The game ended on move 63 with the second victory in this tournament for Hungary's top GM, giving him the sole leadership in the cross tables.

Boris Gelfand vs Baadur Jobava was a marathon encounter lasting six hours and forty-five minutes, coming immediately after his 7½ hour loss (to Michael Adams) which Gelfand had to endure yesterday. But he proved that a 38-year-old world class grandmaster can have world class stamina.

Gelfand,B (2729) - Jobava,Ba (2651) [B39]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (5), 04.08.2006
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Ng4 8.Qxg4 Nxd4 9.Qd1 Ne6 10.Rc1 Qa5 11.Be2 b6 12.Qd5 Rb8 13.Qxa5 bxa5 14.b3 Bd4 15.Bd2 d6 16.0-0 Bc5 17.Na4 Ba3 18.Rb1 Bb7 19.f3 Bc6 20.Bxa5 Bxa4 21.bxa4 Kd7 22.Rfd1 Nc5 23.Bc3 Rhc8 24.a5 Na4 25.Be1 Nb2 26.Rdc1 Bb4 27.Bf2 Bxa5 28.c5 dxc5 29.Rxc5 Rxc5 30.Bxc5 Bc3 31.a4 Ke6 32.Bb5 Kf6 33.Rc1 a6 34.Rxc3 axb5 35.a5 Ke6 36.Rb3 Na4 37.Be3 Kd7 38.a6 Ra8 39.Rxb5 Rxa6 40.Bd4 Rd6 41.Rb7+ Kd8 42.Rb4 Ra6 43.Kf2 Kc7 44.Ke3 Nb6 45.Bxb6+ Rxb6 46.Rxb6 Kxb6

Gelfand has liquidated to a pure pawn ending he believes he can win. 47.Kd4 Kc6 48.Ke5 Kd7 49.f4 Ke8 50.h4 h5 51.f5 f6+ 52.Ke6 gxf5.

This is where computers, equipped with the ruthless perfection of their endgame databases, jump into action. After a second or two of thought and five hundred consultations of the tablebases Fritz announces that 53.e5! is mate in 69 moves. Terrifying. 53.e5! Boris found it in a couple of minutes and without access to the preprocessed analysis of hundreds of millions of positions. 53...fxe5 54.Kxe5 Kd7 55.Kxf5 Kd6 56.Kg5 Ke5 57.Kxh5 Kf4 58.Kg6 e5 59.h5 e4 60.h6 e3 61.h7 e2 62.h8Q e1Q.

Perfectly played, says Fritz, wondering how on earth human beings can do it. The above position is mate in 59, and belongs to the most difficult five-piece endings. Against the perfect defence of a computer probably no human being (except of course John Nunn) would be able to win the full point, but of course Gelfand is facing another human being, whose defence is as weak or strong as Gelfand's attack. We put in some notes by the silicon oracle not to disparage the performance of the players, but to show how complex and incomprehensible these endgames are. Exclamation points indicate that the move played is the only one that wins in the given position.

63.Qb8+! Kg4 64.Qc8+! Kg3 65.Qh3+! Kf4 66.Qf5+ Kg3 67.Qh3+ Kf4 68.Qf3+! Ke5 69.g4! Kd4 70.g5! Qe8+ 71.Kg7 Qe7+ 72.Kh6 Kc4 73.Qf4+ Kb5? Bad defence, says Fritz. After 73...Kb3 White needs 47 moves to mate, now it is just 32 moves. 74.g6 Qe6 75.Kg5 Qe7+ 76.Kg4 Qg7 77.Qd6? More criticism from the database: 77.Qf5+ mates in 30, Gelfand's move increases it to 47.

77...Ka4 78.Kf5 Qc3 79.Qe5. The last moves have brought no improvement, and 79.Qe5 moves the win to 58 moves. 79...Qh3+ 80.Kg5 Qg2+ 81.Kf5 Qh3+ 82.Kf6 Qf3+ 83.Qf5 Qc3+.

This is quite typical of the endgame. At move 62 it was 59 moves to win, now it is 58. And White must find 84.Qe5 to achieve even this. The only other move that wins is 84.Kf7, which would require 68 more moves. In the game White plays neither: 84.Kg5? Now the position is a theoretical draw. 84...Ka3 85.Qf8+ Ka4? Now it is mate in 59 again. Black should have played 85...Kb3 or 85...Ka2 to keep the draw. 86.Qa8+? The position is drawn again, White needed to find 86.Kg4! (only move to win). 86...Kb4 87.Qb7+ Ka5? Mate in 36. If Black had played 87...Ka3! the position would still be a draw. 88.g7 Qe5+ 89.Kg6 Qe6+ 90.Kh7 Qf5+ 91.Kg8 Ka4.

What would you play in this position? Hint: there are only two moves that win for White. We would like to once again stress that we are not criticizing the play of the two GMs, but merely demonstrating the complexity of this endgame. Some day, maybe, computers will annotate games as follows: 1.e4 e6?? Allows mate in 23 million moves. 1...e5, 1...d5 or 1...a6 was required to hold the draw.

92.Qh1? Draw again. 92.Qa7+ wins in 35, 92.Qe7 wins in 39 moves. 92...Qc8+? Black needed to find 92...Kb3 or 92...Ka3 to hold on. Now it is mate in 32 moves. 93.Kh7 Qf5+ 94.Kh8 Qe5 95.Qh3 Qd4 96.Qe6 Qh4+ 97.Kg8 Qf4 98.Qd5 Ka3 99.Kh7 Qh4+ 100.Kg6 Qg3+ 101.Kf7 Qf4+ 102.Ke8. White has not allowed his opponent to escape into a theoretical draw, but it is still 32 moves to mate. 102...Qb8+ 103.Qd8. Now it is 45 moves. 103...Qb5+ 104.Qd7 Qh5+ (31 moves left) 105.Kf8 Qf3+ 106.Ke7 Qe4+ 107.Qe6 Qb7+ (22 moves) 108.Kf6 Qf3+ 109.Kg5 Qg3+ 110.Qg4 Qe5+ 111.Kh4 Qf6+ 112.Qg5 Qd4+ 113.Kh3 and Black resigned, 14 moves before mate. For those of you who are still awake, here is an "optimum" continuation: 113...114.Kh2 Qe6 115.g8Q Qe2+ 116.Qg2 Qh5+ 117.Qh3+ Qxh3+ 118.Kxh3 Kb4 119.Qd5 Kc3 120.Kg3 Kb2 121.Qc4 Ka1 122.Qb5 Ka2 123.Kf2 Ka1 124.Ke3 Ka2 125.Kd2 Ka1 126.Kc1 Ka2 127.Qa4 mate. [Click to replay]

The above endgame is particularly interesting because there has been a fair amount of human analysis done on the endgame queen and g-pawn vs queen. This resulted from an endgame that appeared in practical play and was deeply analysed by the great endgame expert André Chéron.

Botvinnik,Mikhail - Minev,Nikolay N [D47]
Amsterdam ol (Men) fin-A Amsterdam (5), 17.09.1954

Here the tablebases tell us that White must play 77.Kg4 for a mate in 60 moves (or 77.Kg5/Kh4/Kh6 or 77.Qf3/Qf2/Qd3 for slightly longer mates). But Botvinnik played 77.Qf4+? which allows Black to escape with a draw. Chéron showed that the best defensive strategy for Black is, somewhat incredibly, to move his king to the square a1. So Minev's reply in the game, 77...Ka5?, is a deadly mistake and allows White to win again, now in 35 moves. Botvinnik did it with 78.Qd2+ Ka4 79.Qd4+ Ka5 80.Kg5 Qe7+ 81.Kf5 Qf8+ 82.Ke4 Qh6 83.Qe5+ Ka4 84.g7 Qh1+ 85.Kd4 Qd1+ 86.Kc5 Qc1+ 87.Kd6 Qd2+ 88.Ke6 Qa2+ 89.Qd5 Qe2+ 90.Kd6 Qh2+ 91.Kc5 1-0. [Click to replay]

If you replay the Gelfand-Jobava game you will see that the errors seem to arise when Black fails to move his king in the right direction, towards the square a1 – and when White almost forces him to do so. Moving the black king to a1, or preventing it from getting there, is one of the few strategies that are comprehensible to human beings. Unfortunately the endgame database just provide us with the best moves in any given position, but are unable to give reasons for the choice. Fritz may play the endgame with absolute perfection, but if you ask it why a certain move must be played its only answer is "because that's what it says in the list" (of hundreds of millions of positions).

Additional information

Standings after five rounds


Full Schedule and Results

Round 1: Saturday, July 29, 15:00h
Michael Adams
½-½
Levon Aronian
Baadur Jobava
0-1
Peter Svidler
Peter Leko
1-0
Arkadij Naiditsch
Boris Gelfand
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Round 2: Sunday, July 30, 15:00h
Levon Aronian
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Arkadij Naiditsch
½-½
Boris Gelfand
Peter Svidler
½-½
Peter Leko
Michael Adams
½-½ 
Baadur Jobava
Round 3: Tuesday, August 1, 15:00h
Baadur Jobava
½-½
Levon Aronian
Peter Leko
½-½
Michael Adams
Boris Gelfand
½-½
Peter Svidler
Vladimir Kramnik
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch
Round 4: Wednesday, August 2, 15:00h
Levon Aronian
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch
Peter Svidler
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Michael Adams
1-0
Boris Gelfand
Baadur Jobava
½-½
Peter Leko
Round 5: Friday, August 4, 15:00h
Peter Leko
1-0
Levon Aronian
Boris Gelfand
1-0
Baadur Jobava
Vladimir Kramnik
½-½
Michael Adams
Arkadij Naiditsch
½-½
Peter Svidler
Games – Report
Round 6: Saturday, August 5, 15:00h
Levon Aronian
 
Peter Svidler
Michael Adams
 
Arkadij Naiditsch
Baadur Jobava
 
Vladimir Kramnik
Peter Leko
 
Boris Gelfand
Games – Report
Round 7: Sunday, August 6, 13:00h
Boris Gelfand
 
Levon Aronian
Vladimir Kramnik
 
Peter Leko
Arkadij Naiditsch
 
Baadur Jobava
Peter Svidler
 
Michael Adams
Games – Report

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