CHESS ACTIVE LEARNING

THE PRINCIPLES
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Chessactivelearning.com

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Contents
INTRODUCTION

1. OUR VISION UNDERSTANDING AND GOAL SETTING

2. IMPROVING YOUR TACTICAL SKILLS

M ATING PATTERNS
M ATERIAL ADVANTAGE
ANSWERS
3. IMPROVING YOUR STRATEGY

ANSWERS

4. ENDGAMES: WHAT TO KNOW AND WHAT TO FIGURE OUT

PAWN ENDGAMES
ROOK ENDGAMES
FINAL IDEAS ABOUT ENDGAMES
ANSWERS

5. MODEL WORLD CHAMPIONS: LEARN FROM THE BEST PLAYERS

ANSWERS

CONCLUSION
 Introduction
To whom is this book directed?

This book is an introduction to our new chess learning method. We believe that to improve your chess
skills you need to be the one working and solving the problems that naturally arise while playing a
game.

That is why we encourage any chess player who is eager to seriously improve his/her chess skills to
read this book. Our goal is to make the reader think for himself and try to become more independent
as a chess player.

What about the difficulty of this book?

The difficulty of each question will increase after you solve each exercise, and some of them might be
related to the previous ones with an additional difficulty.

It is important to remark that the point is not to perfectly solve every problem or question you are
asked, but to develop the good habit of having your own vision before listening to others. Afterwards,
you will be shown the answers and you will be able to spot your mistakes, weak points and how to
correct them.
 1. Our vision Understanding and Goal Setting
"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." - Confucius

Have you ever read a chess book believing that you understood it perfectly, but realizing a few
months later that you forgot almost everything about it?

In the end, if you have read 1 or 100 books, what will mainly remain is what you considered or
analysed yourself from every idea you were shown. If you were not pushed to do it, you will
probably forget the book and its content quickly.

Therefore, you will develop your own understanding after every chapter while being explained what
you need to know. You might forget some of the ideas in the book, but you will definitely improve
your analytical skills.

Another very important thing we believe in is that you must set concrete goals in order to improve
your chess skills.

What goals should you set?

Fortunately, in chess your progress can be measured quite objectively. For that every chess player has
an ELO rating. The ELO rating system is nowadays used by almost every organization, including the
FIDE (international chess federation) or any other online chess community.

We believe that an achievable and realistic goal is to increase your ELO at least 50 points per year
once you feel you have reached a stable point (a point where you feel progression is particularly
harder than before).

This may sound as a moderate goal, but even strong professional players are more than happy when
they gain only 50 points per year. And the point is to keep this progress steadily year after year.
Remember that first of all goals must be realistic!

In case you dont have any ELO your progress will be harder to evaluate. If your play is just limited
to friendly matches with few people, you will naturally see an improvement if you start beating an
opponent you did not before.
In any case, with small chess communities sometimes it can just be a matter of knowing the
weaknesses of your opponent rather than improving your own skills. If this is your case, we
encourage you to get into a bigger chess community and start testing your strength.
 2. Improving your tactical skills
Many chess players say chess is 99% tactics. Whether that is true or not, is not the subject of this
book. But the truth is games are normally decided by tactical mistakes, at amateur or master level.

What amount of your training time should be devoted to tactics?

This question is far from being simple and of course there is not just one answer to it.
But we suggest devoting as much as 50 % of your time to tactics until a clear progress is made and
you gain confidence when playing sharp positions.

How many times did you get a winning advantage against a higher rated opponent to just lose the
game in one or very few moves?
What happened is that your opponent tried to create complications at any cost and tricked you. In this
case something is clear: your chess tactic needs to be improved.

The first thing to work on are basic combinations that will allow you to see patterns.

We will divide them into mating patterns and combinations that give material advantage
 Mating patterns

The most important thing here is to develop your vision to spot matting patterns as this is in fact the
goal of the game of chess!

We will start with an old one, the Philidors mate:

Diagram 1: White to play

2.1) How many mating positions do you visualize, for white and black?

2.2) How should white proceed? Is there only one winning move?
If we add some pieces to the board:

Diagram 2: White to play

2.3) Blacks material advantage has increased. Is it possible to reach the same mating pattern?

Let us analyse a defensive resource for black in a similar position:

 Diagram 3: White to play

2.4) Black has just tried 1Re6. Can we still reach the Philidors mate?
Is there a new possible mate if blacks king goes to h8 after 2. Qxe6+?

Diagram 4: black to play

2.5) In diagram 4, black is a pawn down and whites bishops look quite menacing.
Therefore, an attack against the king seems to be blacks only chance. How can he achieve that?
 Diagram 5: White to play

2.6) In this wild position, both kings seem to be under fire but white is a whole rook down, so he
must act quickly. Can white force mate?

2.7) If white decides to try the obvious mate with a pawn on f6 supporting the queen on g7 after 1. f6
reaching the below position:

Diagram 6: Black to play

Is mate or a clear win unstoppable?

 Diagram 7: white to play

In the above position white is an exchange down (in this case a rook for a strong bishop) and black
threatens mate on h1 or to consolidate with moves like Rc7 and Nc5.
2.8) What shall white do? (hint: you need to visualize 2 key positions)

Let us have a look at the below position with opposite coloured bishops:

Diagram 8: white to play

Endgames with just pawns and opposite coloured bishops tend to be drawish, as the bishop can
normally neutralize the advance of the opponents pawns.
However, with heavy pieces (queens and/or rooks) the attack is normally more important than the
material advantage.
2.9) In diagram 8, Black is a pawn up and about to take another one on a2. On the other hand, whites
bishop is taking control of the dark squares around the opponents king (g7 and f8)
The mating patterns for white are rather obvious. But how can white achieve his goal?
In the below position black is 3 pawns down with his pieces a bit uncoordinated:

Diagram 9: black to play

Blacks rooks arent connected but his minor pieces are extremely active.

2.10) What are the 2 main alternatives for black and are they winning (hint: remember f2 is pinned)?
 Material advantage

Even though the goal of chess is to checkmate, this doesnt occur very often at standard level.
A big material advantage is usually enough to persuade your opponent that his king will be mated.

As a rule of thumb, a material advantage of a pawn (without any change in a previously balanced
position) should give the stronger side clear winning chances. So, if mate isnt possible winning
material is the second option.

We will start by winning a pawn with a classic example, combining mating ideas with material gain:

Diagram 10: White to move

2.11) How can white win at least a pawn?

We saw the below position where black could force mate due to whites weak back rank
 Diagram 11: White to play

2.12) Blacks king looks safe but how white can force things to win material?

Diagram 12: Black to play

In the above position white has only a slight space disadvantage, and he might play d4 soon.
2.13) What is the main tactical resource black has and how can he force material advantage?
 Diagram 13: Black to play

2.14) In diagram 13 After 1Bxc3 2. bxc3 we reach a symmetrical pawn structure and a fairly
balanced position. Can black do better? (Hint: Whites king would be better on b1)?

In the below position we will see how important it is to hit first when both kings are exposed

Diagram 14: White to play

Black is a piece up and threatening whites king with moves like Rh1+, Nxf3+ or Qxg3+.
2.15) How can white counterattack and what is the main tactical point?

Let us have a look at a position involving a pawn promotion:

 Diagram 15: White to play

Material is somewhat balanced but the d7 pawn is about to bring a new queen to the board.

2.16) Is the natural looking 1. d8(Q) a good continuation for white?

2.17) Does white have anything better? (Hint: try looking for forcing moves)

In chess, a double attack is by far the strongest tactical resource. By attacking two pieces at the same
time the opponent is sometimes left with no choice but to give one of them. Like the following
position:

Diagram 16: White to play

Black is threatening 1Qf3! winning on the spot as the back rank is weak. For example: 2. Qxf3
Ra1+ with mate or 2. Qf1 Ra1! 3. Qxa1 (Ne1 Rxe1!) Qg2#
2.18) How can white save the day?

In the diagram below white is a pawn up, but blacks bishops are very active:
 Diagram 17: White to play

2.19) On the other hand blacks kingside is undefended. What should white continue (hint: just one
strong move is required)?

Finally, well see the importance of having all pieces taking action in the game:

Diagram 18: white to play

2.20) Whites main advantage are his centralized rooks and a better kingside (the h6-square is weak).
Black is ready to consolidate with moves like Rac8, Rfd8, Bf8 so white must take advantage of his
situation as soon as possible. What shall he do?
 Answers

2.1) Blacks threat is Re1#, so if white doesnt have anything in return his material disadvantage will
be decisive.
The key mating positions for white are the below 3:
 Diagram 19: first mating position

Diagram 20: second mating position

 Diagram 21: third and key mating position

The first 2 are almost identical and fairly easy but the third one is by far less obvious. Not knowing it
doesnt mean you wont find it over the board, but if you only have seconds on your clock, this might
not be easy at all.

2.2) Therefore, 1.Qd5+ Kh8 (1...Kf8 2.Qf7#) 2.Nf7+ Kg8 3.Nh6+ Kh8 (3...Kf8 4.Qf7#) 4.Qg8+ Rxg8
5.Nf7#

The last question was a bit tricky. In fact, once you see the winning manoeuvre you will realize that
the queen needs to be placed on the a2 g8 diagonal, so 1. Qc4+ is equally possible.

Important

Try to find the pattern first, and then look for the move.

2.3) Yes, it is! You just need to imagine the original position by removing a pair of rooks after
1.Rxe8+!Rxe8 2.Qc4+ Kh8 3.Nf7+ Kg8 4.Nh6+ Kh8 5.Qg8+ Rxg8 6.Nf7#

If white played 1. Qc4+ assuming that after 1Kh8 it could transpose into the line mentioned before
after 2. Rxe8+ (or even mate after 2. Nf7+) black would win after 1Rd5!
 Diagram 22:Black parries the mating attack
and keeps material advantage

Important

In chess move order does matter

2.4) No, it isnt possible since after 1.Qc4+ Re6 2.Qxe6+ Kh8 3.Nf7+ Kg8 4.Nh6+ Kh8 (4...Kf8
5.Qf7#) 5.Qg8+ Qxg8, blacks queen is controlling f7!

Instead a new pattern appears! The knight curtains blacks queen making the back rank weak. 1.Qc4+
Re6 2.Qxe6+ Kh8 3.Nf7+ Kg8 4.Nd8+! (other moves might lead to advantage but this is definitely the
shortest win) Kh8 5.Qe8#

Diagram 23: Queen and knight combine very well to attack

2.5) The back rank is weak due to the knight on e1, so Black can checkmate after

1...Qg1+ 2.Kxg1 Bd4+ (double check!) 3.Kh1 (3.Kf1 Rg1#) 3...Rg1#

2.6) Yes After 1.Rh6+!! mate is unavoidable as 1...gxh6 2.Bf6! the threat of mate on both g7 and h8 is
too much to deal with for black. For example: 2...Rh1+ 3.Kxh1 Qb1+ 4.Kh2 Qxf5 5. Qg7 mate
If black tries 1...Kxh6 white mates with 2.Qh8#

Note the importance of the double threat on g7 and h8 after 2. Bf6!

2.7) No. Indeed, black has a pretty defensive resource after 1.f6 gxf6! 2. exf6 (2.Bxf6 Rh1+!! 3.Kxh1
Qc1+ 4.Kh2 Qh6+ 5.Qxh6+ Kxh6 and white is just a pawn up) 2...Kg6 3.g4 Rh1+ 4.Kxh1 Qc1+
5.Kh2 Qf4+ 6.Bg3 Qh6+ 7.Qxh6+ Kxh6 black manages to exchange queens and hope to survive the
endgame being a pawn down.

Important

After spotting a mating position, always recheck whether your opponent has a defence or not

2.8) White mates after the pretty 1.Qb7+! Kxb7 2.Nc5+ Kb8 (2...Kc7 3.Na6#) 3.Na6#
Remember this pattern as it can appear in your games!

2.9) After 1. Re4!! White hits the queen on f6 and the rook on e8 and black is defenceless. For
example: 1.Re4 Qxc3 2.Rxe8# or 1.Re4 Rxe4 2.Qxf6 with mate to follow on g7

Important

Always keep an eye on double attacks as they force things and give your opponent less options

2.10) The first main move is 1Nxg3 but white can try the 2. h3!? (if 2.Nxd4 Ne2+!3.Nxe2 (3.Kf1
Nxc1 and black is better) 3...Qxh2+ 4.Kf1 Qxg2+ 5.Ke1 Rh1+ 6.Ng1 Rxg1+ 7.Ke2 Qf3#) and the
position is better for black but still not winning after 2 Ne2+! 3.Qxe2 Qg3! 4.Kf1 Bxg2+ 5.Ke1
Bc3+ 6.Rxc3 Qxc3+ 7.Qd2 Rxh3.
Still, this long line is far from being obvious and not easy to find over the board

Instead, Black can force mate with the spectacular 1Qxg3!! 2. hxg3 Nxg3:
 Diagram 24
Mate on h1 is unstoppable!

2.11) After 1. Nxe5! the best black can do is to lose a pawn without any compensation after

1Nxe5 2.Qxh5 Nxc4 3.Qb5+ c6 4.Qxc4

Since after the suicidal 1Bxd1 White mates with 1.Nxe5 Bxd1 2.Bxf7+ Ke7 3.Nd5#

Diagram 25: position after 3.Nd5#

2.12) After 1.Rxh6+! Bxh6 2.Be5+ wins the queen and white has a decisive material advantage

2.13) A fork on d4 (white hasnt played d4 yet!) makes 1Rxe3! possible. After 2. Rxe3 d4! 3. Re2
(or other rook move) white captures the knight with 3dxc3 or after 3Bb4 forcing a favourable
exchange (2 pieces vs. rook and pawn)

If white tries 2. Qxe3 black can still play 2d4! as 3. Qxd4 loses the queen to the pin 3Bc5!
2.14) After 1Be7!! White is simply lost. The rook on h4 is attacked and tied defending the queen
while 2. Qxg5 loses the rook to the double attack 2Bxg5+ and 2. Rdh1 loses an exchange after 2
Qxf4+ 3. Rxf4 Bg5 or even a whole rook after 2Rh8!! 3.Qxg5 (3. Rxh8 Qxf4+) Bxg5+

Important

When a piece is under attack, captures shouldnt be automatic. Retreating moves (even though they
might look passive) can sometimes be stronger

2.15) Blacks king is skewered by the white queen after 1. Rxg5+! Kxg5 (1fxg5 2. Qd7 and 3.
Qxh3) 2. Qg7+ white wins the queen after 2Kf5 3. Qd7+ or 2..Kh5 3.Qh7+

2.16) Amazingly, it is not only a bad but a losing move.

After 1. d8(Q) Ra6+! 2. Qa5 (forced) Rxd8! (of course not 2Rxa5 3. Qxa5 with material advantage
for white) White will lose both queens!

2.17) White forces a win with 1. Qg3+! Kf1 (1Kh1 2. Qh4+ and Qxf6 with decisive advantage) 2.
Qg1+! Kxe2 3. Qxd1+ Kxd1 4. d8 (Q)+ and Qxf6 with a winning advantage

2.18) After the simple 1.Rxb8+ Kxb8 2.Qb3+ Kc8 3.Qxa2 white is a piece up and 3Qf3
(threatening mate on g2) fails to 4. Qa8+! Kb7 Nxe5+ winning blacks queen

2.19) White can throw the pretty 1. Bc7! and win an exchange as after 1Rc7 2. Qe5! both c7 and g7
(with a mate threat) are under attack so the c7 rook is lost.

2.20) After 1.Rxd7! black doesnt have any good way to recapture the bishop 1Bxd7 (1Qxd7 2.
Ne5 Q moves 3. Nxc6 / 1Nxd7 2. Qxe7) 2.Ng5!! Qb8 (if 2...Qc8 3.Nce4 Q moves 4. Nxf6+ and 5.
Qxh7 mate) 3.Bxa8 Qxa8 and now white has reestablished material balance and win a pawn with 4.
Nxh7! Nxh7 5.Qxe7 with clear advantage

But even better is 4.Qh6!! Rd8 (with the idea of 5Bf8) 5.Nce4! Qxe4 (otherwise Nxf6+ and Qxh7)
6.Nxe4 Nxe4 winning the queen for 2 pieces

Important

Whenever you spot a good move quickly, keep on looking for a better one
 3. Improving your strategy
How can we define strategy?

The following quote is from Savielly Tartakower, a leading Polish/French grandmaster in the 1920s
and 30s:

"Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do. Strategy is knowing what to do
when there is nothing to do."

This means that whenever the position is not fresh enough for a tactical combination (i.e. we cannot
spot any forced line which gives a material advantage or forces mate) the position needs to be
improved in a more abstract way.

What are the things we need to evaluate to have a good position, strategically speaking?

The first and main thing is the pawn structure. Whenever the material is balanced, a better pawn
structure will definitely provide a long term advantage.

The following position will help us visualize this idea:

Diagram 1: white to play

First of all, if we only analyse the pawn structure from a purely static point of view
 Diagram 2: pawn structure

3.1) What can be said about each pawn structure? Who has the better one?

3.2) In diagram 1, how can white react dynamically and destroy blacks pawn structure?

Let us see another position that can arise from openings such as the french or tarrasch defence:

Diagram 3: white to play

3.3) Material is equal, so is the position?

3.4) Whites bishop is under attack, so there are not many choices. Shall white exchange pieces or
not?

A good pawn structure is the basis to have a solid position.

However, the pawn structure is not the only way to measure whether our position is strategically
good or not. Another very important factor is the piece activity and how many squares they can
control.
 Diagram 4: White to play

3.5) How would you evaluate the position considering the pawn structure and piece activity?

3.6) Black is threatening to win a piece with 1Nxd5 2 Bxe7 Nxe7. If white plays, shall he take on
e7 or f6 (with knight or bishop)?

Exchanging pieces is another key to acquire a positional advantage. A very typical case is the fight
between knight and bishop after a favourable piece exchange. Materially speaking, both pieces are
worth approximately the same in the beginning of the game. But when the game develops their value
can change drastically until the endgame, where the advantage can sometimes be decisive.
 Diagram 5: Black to play

3.7) In diagram 5, the pawn structure is a bit better for black, as h2 might be weaker than f5. To
neutralize this, white has 2 bishops that might get active if black allows moves like Bd4, c5 and Bc4.
How can back force some exchanges to reach a better endgame? (Hint: never forget about tactics!)

3.8) In a position with king and bishop vs. king and knight with the same number of pawns. Does it
make a difference if there are pawns on one flank or both flanks of the board (Hint: think about the
piece activity)?

Another positional idea that appears frequently in games is the exchange sacrifice. Normally a rook is
worth a minor piece (bishop or knight) plus 2 pawns but other factors (such as king safety, pawn
structure, piece activity or strong passed pawns) can break this rule.

Diagram 6: white to play

White has a clear positional advantage in diagram 6, with black having an isolated and weak pawn on
d6 and each of whites pieces being very active.
3.9) The natural 1. Nf5 (improving whites position and threatening 2. Nxh6+ gxh6 3 Rxf6 winning a
pawn) is good and easy to spot but there is still a better and more elegant move. Which one is it?

Let us see another classical but instructive example:

 Diagram 7: white to play

3.10) Whites c5 pawn is under attack and black plans to continue with 1Rc8. How can white save
the pawn?

Answers

3.1) Whites structure consists of 2 pawn islands, as well as blacks. As a general rule, it is better to
have as few pawn islands as possible so pawns can defend each other.

Another detail here is that white has two islands of 2 pawns each whereas black has an island of 3
pawns and another of 1 pawn (f7 pawn). This means that the f7 pawn might be a target as no pawn
can defend it whenever it advances.

So white has a slightly better pawn structure

3.2) After the forcing line 1.Nxc6! bxc6 2.Bxc5 dxc5 3.Qxd8+ Kxd8 we can see how blacks
structure is destroyed!
 Diagram 8: blacks pawn structure is ruined

Blacks tripled pawn on the queenside might be helpful to control squares in the middle game with
more pieces on the board, but definitely not here! White can create a free pawn on the kingside and
black cant, so this endgame is winning for white.

3.3) No, whites position is better as the isolated d5 pawn will be a target. Isolated central pawns are
normally useful in the opening or middlegame as they can support pieces in the centre, but they tend to
be weak in endings.

3.4) Yes since after 1.Bg3 black can get rid of the weakness on d5 with 1d4! And if 2.Rd1 (2.
cxd4 Rxd4 is perfectly fine for black) Bf6 3.f3 Rd8! White will have to exchange pawns as the d4 can
become dangerous with bishops over the board.

Important

A strategic evaluation shouldnt be done alone. Always keep an eye on tactics and the dynamic
factors. Strategy and tactics are not completely independent from each other.

3.5) The pawn structure is fairly equal (in fact if white played d3 and black h6 it would be
symmetrical).

However, white pieces are more active with a strong knight on d5 and a bishop on g5.
Whites knight controls important squares and keeps blacks queen tied to the defence of the b6 pawn.
Whites bishop is not hindered by his own pawns (as blacks bishop on e7 by the d6, e5, c5 and b6
pawns) so black would like to exchange bishops.

3.6) After 1. Bxf6! Bxf6 (gxf6 ruins black pawn structure) white keeps a long term advantage as the
knight is more active than the bishop.
1.Nxe7 Qxe7 is not so clear as the knight keeps the pressure on the centre and if white tries 2. Qf3
(with the idea of 3. Bf6 doubling blacks pawn) black activates the rook with 2Ra8!

If 1. Nxf6 Bxf6 2. Be3 Bg5! Black exchanges pieces with an equal position

3.7) After 1...Qxe2+! 2.Kxe2 Nc3+ 3.Kd3 Nxb5 4.cxb5 Kd5:

Diagram 9: white to play

White has serious problems in this position. The b5 pawn is a target, so that means the bishop will
have to stay on the g1-a7 diagonal (5. Kc3 with the idea of Kb4 is bad as after 5Ke4 the king goes
after the h2 pawn).
Furthermore, Blacks king is centralized (kings activity is a key factor in endgames!) and the knight
is better than the bishop as it can attack whites pawns. The endgame should be winning for black

3.8) Yes, it does make a difference.

As a general rule, a bishop can normally outplay the knight whenever there are pawns on both sides
of the board as it can attack on both flanks at the same time whereas the knight can normally cover
squares on a more restricted area.

Another general rule is that pawns should be placed on squares of colour opposite to that of the
bishop to complement its activity. In the below example, whites kingside pawns are better placed on
g3 and h2 than g4 and h3.
 Diagram 10: the bishop is slightly
better than the knight

With pawns on one side of the board normally the knight has an advantage as it can attack any of the
pawns, whereas the bishop can only threaten the pawns of its colour.

Diagram 11: the knight is slightly

better than the bishop

In this position, though drawish, white should avoid getting his pawns blocked on the light squares as
they could become a target for the knight.
Important

General rules in chess must only be used as a guideline. Each position has its own rules, so always
recheck the moves over the board!

3.9) After 1. Rxf6!! gxf6 2. Nf5!

Diagram 12: black to play

Black is an exchange up but much worse. His pawn structure is destroyed and his king is under attack
(white threatens 3. Qg4+ and 4 Qg7 mate).
The best defence is 2h5! (2Kh7 3. Qh4 with the idea of Qxh6+) 3. Qh4 Qe5 4. Qxh5
Rb8 5.Qg4+ Kf8 6.Qg7+ Ke8 7.Qg8+ Kd7 8.Qxb8 Qxf5 and white gets the exchange back being a
pawn up.

3.10) After 1. Rxa6 bxa6 2. c6! Whites pawns on the sixth rank cannot be stopped, for example 2
Ke6 3.c7 Rg8+ 4.Kh2! and 5. b7!
 4. Endgames: What to know and what to figure out
Third world champion Jos Ral Capablanca:

In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else, for
whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the
opening must be studied in relation to the endgame

Given the high amount of theory that exists about endgames and the fact that this is just a chapter of
our book we will focus on the main aspects of this stage of the game and the positions that arise more
often: pawn endgames and pawn and rook endgames. We have already seen the general ideas
regarding minor pieces (knights and bishops) endgames in chapter 3.

Pawn endings arise after a general simplification and rook and pawn endgames occur often since
rooks are pieces that normally take action lately in the game.

What shall be studied about endgames?

Nowadays, endgame table bases can provide us with definite answers where a position is a draw, a
win or a loss. However, learning by heart hundreds of positions is not at all our method of learning as
we believe this isnt the best practical way. Furthermore, in chess one model position can easily
change from winning to losing by simply changing any piece from its square. That might be quite
misleading, considering the fact that one could not recognize that difference over the board and play
blindly.

Therefore, we must only memorize the essential points and always try to keep ideas rather than
moves.
 Pawn endgames

Is a pawn enough for a win with only kings on the board?

Well, the answer is yes if the pawn is promoted to a rook or a queen (bishop and king vs. king or
knight and king vs. king is a draw).

How can the weaker side try to avoid this?

Diagram 1: king and pawn vs. king endgame

4.1) The above position is well known and easy to remember. It arises very often after white pushes
his free pawn and blacks king tries to stop it.

Does white win in any case (even if its black to play)?

4.2) Does it make any difference to move all the pieces 1, 2 or 3 files to the left or right while
keeping the pieces on the same ranks?

4.3) After 1Kd8, white tried 2.Ke5 Ke7 3.Kd5 reaching the below position:
 Diagram 2: Black to play

Which is blacks only move?

So we can see that having to move can sometimes be a problem (this is called zugzwang in chess
jargon). This can be solved if we can make a move that doesnt change the position so we can pass
the ball to our opponent.

Diagram 3: white to play

This is a key position in king versus pawns endgames. If you understand it you will avoid spoiling a
winning position and get a better sleep at night!

4.4) In diagram 3, Black has managed to oppose whites king, avoiding further progress. For
example, 1. Kf4 Kf6. What shall white do?

Let us use this principle with more pawns on the board:

 Diagram 4: black to play

4.5) Material is equal, but who is better and why?

4.6) Black plays 1g5. Which is the easiest and clearest reply?
 Rook endgames

In chess, it is quite normal that after the middle game and exchanging some pieces one or two pairs of
rooks remain on the board together with some pawns. As rooks normally dont take action in the
opening, minor pieces are exchanged first.

Rooks normally make the position more drawish than pure pawn endgames. The reason is that the
weaker side has an additional resource here: perpetual checks.

Diagram 5: Black to play

4.7) How do you assess the position?

4.8) Black played 1Kc7. Does it change anything?

So as we could see, in rook endgames the activity of the rook is essential. It is better to support a
pawn behind it as the rook can keep its activity and doesnt block the pawn.

What happens if we place the king in front of the pawn?

 Diagram 6: White to play

4.9) We can easily see that it is better to place the king in front of the pawn as whites rook is now
alive. How should white win (hint: blacks checks must be stopped)?

Another position which often arises is the Philidor position, named after Franois Andr Danican
Philidor (born 1726-died 1795), a leading chess player from France:

Diagram 7: black to play

4.10) The best move for black here is 1Ra6! Why and what is your evaluation of the position?

An advantage of 2 pawns is normally enough to ensure the stronger side a victory. The exceptions to
this rule are some positions with the f and h pawns (or a and c) and h and b (or a and g). We will not
study them in this book as our goal is not to provide dozens of positions to memorize but rather
stimulate our reader to think on his own.

With more pawns over the board, it is advantageous to have a free pawn to diverge the weaker side
pieces (king or rook) from the defence of its pawns.
If all the pawns are on the same side like below:

Diagram 8: rook and pawn endgame

This position is theoretically drawn. Of course, that means with perfect play from both sides, which
is usually not the case! In practice, white has winning chances, so this position must be played if you
have white.
Black will try to achieve theoretically drawn positions like the Philidor position after exchanging
pawns and leaving white with one pawn.
 Final ideas about endgames

Is a pawn advantage enough to win a game?

As we could see sometimes it is not enough.

How is this balance affected by adding pieces over the board?

We could say that queens and rooks always give the weaker side more chances to draw as they have
the additional resource of perpetual check. As we saw in rooks endgames, a pawn advantage doesnt
necessarily mean a win.

Knights and bishops dont tend to change the balance that much whenever there are many pawns over
the board.
Of course, if there is only one pawn and a knight (or bishop) on each side, the weaker side has the
additional resource to sacrifice the knight (or bishop) for the pawn and get a draw as knight (or
bishop) and king vs. king do not check mate.

Furthermore, if the bishops are of opposite colour, the drawing chances are very high for the weak
side even with a material deficit of 2 pawns.

As we said in the beginning of the chapter, we encourage you to only memorize the positions we saw
in this chapter and to fight as much as you can whenever you have an advantage in an endgame. And
always recheck what you know over the board!
 Answers

4.1) No. If white plays, he wins with 1.e7 Kf7 2.Kd7 Kf6 3.e8(Q).

After blacks 1...Kd8! 2.e7+ Ke8 3.Ke6 it is a stalemate

Blacks manoeuvre is called opposition, as he opposes his enemy and doesnt allow him to
penetrate into the seventh and eight ranks.

4.2) Yes, it does only if pieces are moved 3 files to the right:

Diagram 9: drawn pawn endgame

This is a draw, no matter who plays first. After 1. h7 the position is a stalemate

The same applies if whites pawn is on a6, with the white king on b6 and the black king on a8.

4.3) After 3Ke8! 4. Kd6 Kd8! We reached the same position and black holds. 3Kd8?? would
lose after 4. Kd6 (white has the opposition here!) and 5. e7
Important

As a rule of the thumb, the pawn should advance to the seventh rank WITHOUT checking the
opponents king, as this allows stalemate (see 4.1)

4.4) After 1. f3!! White loses a tempo and gains the opposition. For example 1.f3 Kf6 2.Kf4
(opposition!) Kg6 3.Ke5 (penetration) Kf7 4.Kf5 (opposition!) Ke7 5.Kg6 (penetration) Kf8 6.f4 Ke8
(6...Kg8 7.f5 Kf8 8.Kf6 Kg8 9.Ke7) 7.Kg7 and the f pawn advances.

1. f4 is a very bad move as after 1Kf6! White doesnt have the f4 square for the king and black will
use the defensive manoeuvre seen on the example 4.3

4.5) White is better (winning in fact). His king is centralized and the threat of Kc5 and Kb6 is a
constant headache for black. Furthermore, he has the opposition if black runs out of pawns moves.

4.6) 1g5 2. g4! white just imitates black and after 2h6 3.h3! black will have to move his king and
the game will be over soon. For instance 3...Kf6 4. Kd5 or 3Kd6 4. Kf5 and white will start
picking up pawns.

4.7) Black draws. His plan is fairly simple: Keep the king on a7 or b7 (you will see later why) and
the rook on the first or second rank to start checking white after the king tries to support the pawn.
After 1...Rh2 2.Kg6 (threatening to free the rook) Rg2+! 3.Kf5 (3 Kh6 Rh2+!) Rh2 4.Kg4 Rh1 5.Kg3
Rh6! White hasnt made any progress.

4.8) Black loses after 1Kc7?? 2. Ra8!

Diagram 10: black to play

Keep this position in mind as your opponent can go for it. After 1Rxh7 (what else?) 2.Ra7+ and 3.
Rxh7 the game is over.

4.9) This position is called the Lucena position and it doesnt work with the a and h pawns (you
will know why after checking the answer)

After 1.Rd1+! Ke7 2.Rd4!! (if 2.Rd5 Ke6 and 2.Kc7 Rc2+ 3.Kb6 Rb2+ 4.Ka7 Ra2+ goes nowhere)
2...Ra1 3.Kc7! Rc1+ 4.Kb6 Rb1+ 5.Kc6 Rc1+ (5...Ke6 6.Rd6+ Ke7 7.Rd5 and Rb5) 6.Kb5 Rb1+
7.Rb4 black runs out of checks.

Important

This is a position to keep in mind: the rook must be placed on the 4th rank!

4.10) The idea of 1Ra6! is to stop the kings penetration into the 6th rank.

The position is a draw as after 1...Ra6!! (1...Ra5? 2.Ke6 Ra1 3.Rh8+ Kc7 4.d6+ Kc6 5.Rc8+ Kb6
6.d7 winning) 2.Rb7 Rh6 3.d6 Rh1! (once the pawn advances black is ready to start with the checks)
4.Ke6 Re1+ 5.Kd5 Rd1+ and white cant make any progress

Important

After the pawn advances to the 6th rank, the weaker side starts checking.
 5. Model world champions: learn from the best players
In this chapter we will analyse positions from the best chess players of all time: the world
champions.

Why study world champions games?

If you wanted to improve, lets say at soccer, what kind of games would inspire you to watch and
learn from?
The same applies to chess. Furthermore, world champions have changed the game by introducing new
ideas and defining trends in the opening.
You might think that games from world champions are too hard to understand as they require a lot of
opening, middlegame and endgame knowledge.

True, thats why we will focus on their main ideas or critical positions. And you will realize that
quite often simple moves and basic ideas are played by world champions as long as they are strong
moves!

The goal of this chapter is to provide you with an overview of some of the players that changed the
game of chess. We will only focus on some of the world champions given the extent of the book.
Needless to say, a whole book could be written about each one.

We hope that what you have learnt so far will help you to better understand some of the masterpieces
of all time.

We will start with from Robert James Fischer.

Robert James Fischer was born in Chicago, United States, in 1943 and became the eleventh world
chess champion. His victory over the tenth world champion Boris Spassky in Reykjavk, Iceland
(played between July-August 1972) was a worldwide event as it was seen as a fight between the
American and Soviet system (Boris Spassky was representing the Soviet Union).

His style was normally quiet with the white pieces, trying to exploit small advantages in endings.

However, when he was given the chance to attack he would not hesitate. Like in the following game
against the strong American GM Reuben Fine:
Fischer, Robert James - Fine, Reuben
New York New York, 1963

Diagram 1: white to play

5.1) There is no need to point out that whites position is absolutely dominating despite being 2
pawns down. Still, chess requires precision till the end. How can white force a quick win (hint: you
just need to find 2 strong moves)?

Let us see a few ideas played in the 05th game from his match against Boris Spassky:

Spassky, Boris V (2660) - Fischer, Robert James (2785)

World Championship 28th Reykjavik (5th game), 20.07.1972

Diagram 2: White to play

The position is somewhat balanced. Both sides have some weaknesses in their pawn structures and
white cannot make very good use of his bishops as the centre is closed.

5.2) Spassky played the interesting move 1. a4!? and Fischer replied 1a5!?. Can you explain what
the positional idea of 1. a4 is and the pros and cons of 1a5?
After 10 moves the following position appeared:

Diagram 3: White to play

5.3) After 1. Qf3 Kg8 blacks position is more active but not yet winning.
Spassky erred with 1. Qc2. Why is this bad (hint: overprotection can sometimes be bad)?

The final game we will see from Fischer is probably his most famous one, a masterpiece he played
against Donald Byrne when he was only 13 years old!

On move 17 Fischer moved his bishop from g4 to e6, leaving his queen en prise:

Byrne, Donald - Fischer, Robert James

New York, 1956
 Diagram 4: white to play after 17Be6!!

5.4) As we can see, combinations played by world champions are not always easy or obvious to see.
The best way to understand this position is to visualize the reasonable moves white has (also called
candidate moves).
a) Does white win a piece after the safe looking 18. Qxc3?
b) After 18. Bxe6 black can force mate. How?
c) After the safe looking 18. Bd3 both pieces on b6 and c3 are under attack. How can black solve this
problem?
d) Byrne took the queen with 18. Bxb6. How did Fischer continue after 18Bxc4+ 19. Kg1?

Fischer said that his play was inspired by Capablanca, a Cuban player born in 1888 who was the
third world champion between 1921 and 1927. His style was solid, straightforward and he had an
excellent endgame technique. He was possibly the toughest player to beat in chess (he only lost 34
games in his adult career!)

He won comfortably against his predecessor Emanuel Lasker by winning 4 games and remaining
undefeated.

Capablanca, Jos Ral - Lasker, Emanuel

World Championship 12th Havana (5th game), 29.03.1921
 Diagram 5: Black to play

In the above position Emanuel Lasker (second world champion) should have played 1Kf6 and
although he is an exchange down for a pawn, he could hope to get some drawing chances as the white
king is exposed.
5.5) Instead he played the safe looking 1Kf8?? Why is this bad?

Lasker, Emanuel - Capablanca, Jose Raul

World Championship 12th Havana (10th game), 08.04.1921

Diagram 6: Black to play

In this balanced position, white has more active pieces but an isolated pawn on d4 that might become
weak in the long term. Blacks bishop is under attack and b7 might fall after it moves, so the
reasonable moves here are 1Ba6 or 1Bc6. Capablanca did not like 1Ba6, possibly because
the bishop does not seem to do much on the a6-f1 diagonal.
5.6) Instead he played the move 1Bc6!?. How do you evaluate the position after it?

Later on Capablanca made use of his technique, exchanging some pieces and reaching the following
position:
 Diagram 7: Black to play

5.7) Why is black winning and how should he play Laskers move, 1. Ke2?

Capablanca lost his second world championship match against the Russian player Alexander
Alekhine (1892-1946), a fearsome attacking player, in Buenos Aires 1927. It is said that the
invincible Capablanca underestimated his opponent and did not prepare seriously for the match.
Learn from the world champions, even from their mistakes!

He still managed to win some pretty games in the match, amongst them this very instructive knight vs.
bishop endgame:

Capablanca, Jos Ral - Alekhine, Alexander

World Championship 13th Buenos Aires (29th game), 14.11.1927
 Diagram 8: black to play

5.8) As we have studied in chapter 4, white is a pawn up but far away from a victory. Had Alekhine
played waiting moves like 1Bd6 the result would have been unclear. Instead why does 1Kg5
lose (hint: knight forks can be deadly in this kind of positions)?

Apart from Robert Fischers success, chess was dominated by the Soviet chess school in the second
half of the 20th century. Amongst them, there was a young champion called Anatoly Karpov (born in
Zlatoust, Russia 1951) who became the twelfth world champion in 1975 (at the age of 24 years old)
until 1985.
His solid, positional style reminds us of Jos Ral Capablanca.

However, when given the chance to attack, he would not hesitate. Like every strong player, he strived
to play what the position required!

Let us take a look at his pretty win against world championship contender Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi:

Karpov, Anatoly (2700) - Kortschnoj, Viktor (2670)

Candidates final Moscow (2nd game), 1974
 Diagram 9: white to play

In this position black is 2 pawns up but white has a strong attack.

Black has just played Bc6. White has many tempting moves.

5.9) Why is 1. Nxf6+ exf6 2. Qxh7+ not so strong?

Karpov played the fantastic 1. e5!!

Diagram 10: position after 1. e5!!

The game continued 1Bxd5 2. exf6 (threatening mate on g7) exf6 3. Qxh7+ Kf8 4. Qh8+
 Diagram 11: position after 4. Qh8+

And now we can see one the points of 1. e5. The e-file is open and after 4Ke7 5. Nxd5+ Qxd5 6.
Re1+ white will win a rook, so Korchnoi resigned.

5.10) What is the problem with the natural looking 1 dxe5 (hint: remember that taking on h7 leads
nowhere as the king goes to e7)?

Karpov played a series of world championship matches against his successor, Garry Kimovich
Kasparov (born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1963). Their first match in 1984 was cancelled due to its
length (it lasted 5 months, and 48 games were played). The final result was 5 wins to 3 in favour of
Karpov (40 games were drawn)

Karpov started dominating until Kasparov stroke back. The 9th game was quite instructive.

Karpov, Anatoly (2705) - Kasparov, Garry (2715)

World Championship 31st - Moscow (9th game), 05.10.1984
 Diagram 12: black to play

5.11) This endgame (bishop vs. knight) was reached after 46 moves. Who is better and why?

After 46gxh4 Karpov played the unexpected 47. Ng2!?

Diagram 13: position after 47. Ng2!?

5.12) What is the positional idea of this move (hint: note than 47h3 is bad as after 48. Nf4 white
will end up winning both the h5 and h3 pawns)? Why is this better than the natural 47. gxh4?
We will finish this chapter with 2 of the greatest tactical and attacking players of all time: Garry
Kimovich Kasparov and Mikhail Tal.

Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1963) was the thirteenth world champion
(1985-1993) and is considered by many to be the greatest player of all time, together with Robert
James Fischer.

His rivalry with Anatoly Karpov (they played 5 matches for the world title) is considered to be the
greatest ever.
Garry was a very dynamic player, always looking for active positions. His feeling for the initiative
was second to none.

Before playing against Karpov in 1984 he had to beat the seventh world champion Vasily Smyslov in
a match. Let us take a look at the critical point of their ninth game:

Kasparov, Garry (2710) - Smyslov, Vassily (2600)

Candidates final Vilnius (9th game), 1984

Diagram 14: White to play

Kasparov played the surprising 14. Qxc3!?

5.13) What were the 2 other alternatives and why is 14. Qxc3 the better move?

In the 1987 match Kasparov chose a more positional opening, the English. However, his tactical
vision was as strong as usual:

Kasparov, Garry (2740) - Karpov, Anatoly (2700)

World Championship 34th-Seville (8th game), 02.11.1987
 Diagram 15: white to play

5.14) In this position, black is materially better (2 pieces for a rook), but with uncoordinated pieces
and a weak king. How did Kasparov finish the game in 1 move?

Kasparov continued to be a top player until his retirement in 2005. Particularly impressive were his
wins with black, counterattacking at any possible time:

Adams, Michael (2741) - Kasparov, Garry (2804)

Linares 22nd Linares 08.03.2005

Diagram 16: white to play

5.15) In diagram 16, we have a typical Sicilian defence with opposite side castling. How do you
assess the position?

5.16) Adams tried the defensive 22. Nb3. Why is this losing?

Mikhail Tal (born 1936 Riga, Latvia died 1992 Moscow, Russia) was the eight world champion for
only 1 year (1960-1961).
However, he became one of the most popular world champions thanks to his extremely creative and
tactical play.
In many of his games he would not mind having his king in the centre while trying to mate his
opponent!

Tal, Mihail - Kolarov, Atanas S

WchT U26 Reykjavik, 1957

Diagram 17: white to play

White is a piece down and with a king in the centre. Nevertheless, his king is safer than it looks like
(the d-file and the a5 square are covered by the queen) and his pieces are all active.

5.17) Tal played the fantastic 23. Ng6+! What is the main tactical point of it?

The below simultaneous game shows us his sharp style:

Tal, Mihail - NN
Stuttgart simul Stuttgart, 1958
 Diagram 18: White to play

5.18) Black has just played 15Rxh1 waiting for the natural 16. Rxh1, but Tal played something
else. How did he quickly win?

Tal became world champion when he was only 23 by beating the sixth world champion Mikhail
Moiseyevich Botvinnik (born 1911 in Kuokkala, Russian Empire - died 1995 in Moscow, Russia).
He managed to break Botvinniks solid style by creating complications at all cost.

Tal, Mihail - Botvinnik, Mikhail

World Championship 23rd Moscow (17th game), 26.04.1960

Diagram 19: Black to play

Black is 2 pawns up and he should be able to consolidate and defend his position after 39Ka8
(note 39Qxe2 leads to mate after 40. Rxb7+ Ka8 41. Rb8+ Ka7 42. Qb6#.

5.19) But as we know, defending is always harder than attacking. How did Botvinnik lose after
39...Qd5?

Tal, Mihail - Botvinnik, Mikhail

World Championship 23rd Moscow (7th game), 29.03.1960
 Diagram 20: White to play

5.20) In the above position, how did Tal simplify the position to reach a better endgame (hint: the h5
knight isnt so badly placed after all)?

Answers

5.1) Fischer played 1. Rfe1+! (1. Rae1 is also winning) Kd8 (1Bxe1 2. Rxe1+) and then 2. Qg3!!
(2. Qb2 was also possible but less straightforward). The point is that the queen is deviated from the
e7-h4 diagonal and after 2Qxg3 white checkmates with 3. Bf6. 2Qe7 3. Rxe7 is hopeless for
black.

5.2) After 1. a4 Spassky wanted to play 2. a5 and after 3. axb6 axb6 the b6 pawn becomes weak.
Fischers 1a5 stops 2. a5 but leaves black with a weak pawn on b6 (ironically: what he wanted to
avoid). However, whites a4 pawn remains on the board and became under attack after 2. Rb1 Bd7!
so its an eye for an eye! The position remains dynamically balanced.

5.3) After 1. Qc2?? Bxa4!! 2. Qxa4 (2. Qc1 Qxe4 is also hopeless) Qxe4 black threatens mate on e1
and g2 (remember how strong double attacks are). Mate is unavoidable.
As you can see, even world champions like Spassky can blunder!

5.4) a) No, since after 18. Qxc3 Qxc5! 19 dxc5 Bxc3 20. Bxe6 Rxe6 black is a pawn up and his
pieces are better developed.
b) 18Qb5+ 19 Kg1 Ne2+! 20. Kf1 Ng3+ 21. Kg1 (otherwise mate on e2) Qf1+! 22. Rxf1 Ne2#

Diagram 21: position after 22 Ne2#

We can see a famous mating pattern we studied in chapter 1

c) 18Nb5! attacks whites queen on a3 and after 19. Bxb6 Nxa3 whites position is hopeless

d) After 19Ne2+! 20.Kf1 Nxd4+! 21.Kg1 Ne2+ 22.Kf1 Nc3+! 23.Kg1 axb6 24.Qb4 Ra4! 25.Qxb6
Nxd1 black has a rook and 2 bishops for the queen plus the initiative so Byrne could have resigned
there.

Here is the whole game:

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.d4 00 5.Bf4 d5 6.Qb3 dxc4 7.Qxc4 c6 8.e4 Nbd79.Rd1 Nb6
10.Qc5 Bg4 11.Bg5 Na4!! 12.Qa3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Nxe4 14.Bxe7 Qb6 15.Bc4 Nxc3! 16.Bc5 Rfe8+
17.Kf1 Be6!! 18.Bxb6 Bxc4+ 19.Kg1 Ne2+ 20.Kf1 Nxd4+ 21.Kg1 Ne2+ 22.Kf1 Nc3+ 23.Kg1
axb6 24.Qb4 Ra4 25.Qxb6 Nxd1 26.h3 Rxa2 27.Kh2 Nxf2 28.Re1 Rxe1 29.Qd8+ Bf8 30.Nxe1
Bd5 31.Nf3 Ne4 32.Qb8 b5 33.h4 h5 34.Ne5 Kg7 35.Kg1 Bc5+ 36.Kf1 Ng3+ 37.Ke1 Bb4+ 38.Kd1
Bb3+ 39.Kc1 Ne2+ 40.Kb1 Nc3+ 41.Kc1 Rc2# mate 01

5.5) After 2. Qb8+! Ke7 (2Kg7 3. Qh8+ Kg6 4. Qh6#) 3. Qe5+! Qxe5 4. Rxe5+ white wins the
knight and the game.
5.6) After 1Bc6 2. Nxc6 bxc6 black is doing fine since white exchanged his most active piece.
True, the c6 pawn becomes a bit weak but so is whites d4 pawn.

5.7) Whites three pawn islands mean he has weak pawns, particularly b3 and d4. In fact, black will
continue with Na5 attacking the b3 pawn. After 1. Ke2 black has 1Rxb3! as 2. Rxb3 Nxd4+ and
3Nxb3 wins 2 pawns for black

5.8) After 2. Ne5!! White wins more material.

White has the double threat of 3. Nxf7+ and 3. d6 Bxd6 4. Nxf7+ winning the bishop. 2Kf6 fails to
Nd7+ (another knight fork!). After 2f5 3. d6! fxg4+ 4. Kg2 Bb6 (4Bxd6 Nf7+) 5. d7 Kf5 6. Nc6
white will win the bishop for the pawn.

Alekhine played 1Bd4 and after 2. Nxf7+ Kf6 3. Nd8! black cannot play 3Ke5 as after 4. Nc6+
Kxd5 5. Nxd4 Kxd4 6. Kf4 white wins the pawn endgame.

Instructive technique from Capablanca!

5.9) The point is that after 1. Nxf6+ exf6 2. Qxh7+ Kf8 blacks king will find a shelter on e7 and the
position will become unclear

5.10) After 2. Nxf6+ exf6 white can play 3. Nh5!!:

Diagram 22: black to play

Now we see the other idea of 1. e5 The fifth rank is closed to black queen. Had blacks pawn been
on d6, he could have played Qg5+ exchanging queens.
Black has no defence against 4. Qg7# (if 3gxh5 4. Rg1+ Kh8 5. Qg7#). Inspired attack by Karpov.

5.11) White has a clear advantage and serious winning chances. In this structure the knight is better
than the bishop because the centre is closed and the pawns on d5, a6 and b5 limit blacks bishop
activity.

5.12) The main point of this deep idea from Karpov is that he wants to have the h4 square for his
pieces (knight or king). After 57. gxh4, white only has the f4 square.
The pawn sacrifice is temporary and white will get the h5 pawn soon. Finally, the king and knight
will penetrate into blacks camp.

The game continued 47 hxg3+ 48.Kxg3 Ke6 49.Nf4+ Kf5 50.Nxh5 Ke6 51.Nf4+ Kd6 52.Kg4 Bc2
53.Kh5 Bd1 54.Kg6 Ke7 55.Nxd5+ Ke6 56.Nc7+ Kd7 57.Nxa6 Bxf3 58.Kxf6 Kd6 59.Kf5 Kd5
60.Kf4 Bh1 61.Ke3 Kc4 62.Nc5 Bc6 63.Nd3 Bg2 64.Ne5+ Kc3 65.Ng6 Kc4 66.Ne7 Bb7 67.Nf5
Bg2 68.Nd6+ Kb3 69.Nxb5 Ka4 70.Nd6 and Kasparov resigned

5.13) After 14. Rxc3 Qb6 15. Rc1 the position is about equal. White has 2 bishops but his pieces are
less coordinated.
14. bxa5 Bxd2 15. Kxd2 is similar to 14. Qxc3 but black gets more tempi here (see below)

After 14. Qxc3! Nxc3 (forced: if 14Qb6 15. Qxg7) 15. bxa5 white gets a slightly better position.
He has the bishop pair and the b7 pawn can become a target. Kasparov won the endgame.

5.14) After 1. Rd6! white threatens 2. Qf6+ with the idea of 3. Qxh6 and 3. Rd8. Karpov resigned as
after 1Qf7 2. Qxf7+ Kxf7 3. Rxh6 white is easily winning.

5.15) Surprisingly, the position can be evaluated as preferable for black. Even though whites rooks
are well placed to attack, the h5-pawn is blocking their activity. For example, if 22. h6 g6! and now
black is ready to start a counterattack on the b-file.

5.16) 22. Nb3? loses on the spot after 22Nxc2 The point is that now whites queenside collapses.
The game finished 23.Nxc5 (if 23.Qxc2 Rxb3) 23...Na3+ 24.Ka2 Qxc5! 25.Na4 (25. bxa3 Bxc3)
Nc2!! 26.Kb1 (if 26.Nxc5 Rxb2#) 26...Qa3 and Adams resigned (if 27.Qxc2 Rfc8 28.Qd2 Qxa4
black gets a winning attack)

5.17) After 23. Ng6+ black cannot play 23hxg6 as 24. Rh3+ Kg7 25. Qxa2 loses the queen.
After the game continuation 23.Ng6+ Kg7 24.Nxf8 Kxf8 25.e5! material is about equal (2 pawns and
rook vs. knight and bishop) but whites position is totally dominant.

5.18) After Rxh1 16.gxf6! Rxd1+ 17.Nxd1!! (attacking both a5 and g7) Qxd2 18.fxg7! white will get
his queen back

5.19) After Qd5?? Tal won with 40.Rxa6+!! Kb8 (40...bxa6 41.Qb6+ Ka8 42.Qxa6+ Ra7 43.Qxc8#;
40...Kxa6 41.Qb6#) 41.Qa4! with the threat of 42.Ra8+ Kc7 43.Qa5+ Kc6 44.Qb6#. Botvinnik
resigned as he had no defence.

5.20) Tal played 26.Rxd7+! and after 26Nxd7 27.Rxd7+ Kxd7 28.Nf6+ Kd6 29.Nxg8 white has 2
knights for a rook and won the game.
 Conclusion
So as we reach the end of this book, we can make a summary of what we have learned:

The importance of tactics

How to improve your strategy
What you should know and memorize about endgames
Why you should have model players to improve

Tactics are the basics of chess, something you will need to master whenever you play or analyse a
game. That is why we believe you should focus most of your time on it (around 50 % of your time).

To improve your strategy, we advise you to become familiar with few positions and play them often.
If you do not have an opening repertoire, then try to slowly build one.
We have not spoken about openings in this book as we do not believe this is the critical point to start
with to become a better player.
Try to play as few positions as possible (for example, only the Sicilian defence with 1c5 against 1.
e4) and you will realize how often you will get similar positions and how your experience and study
will start telling you how to better place your pieces.

As for endgames, try to only memorize the positions you find hard to understand during a game. In any
case, you must ALWAYS check that your knowledge is suitable for the particular position you have
over the board.
We encourage our reader to solve endgames studies to keep on progressing on this stage of the game.
Endgame studies are quiet useful as they help you develop your endgame and tactical skills at the
same time.

Regarding the world champions, try to get 1 or 2 model players to study his games deeply and use
as a reference.
First of all, you need to find a playing style that suits you. Try to find whether you like quiet and slow
games or whether you are always looking for the sharp, aggressive or best move. It will be very
helpful to know whether you have a preference for positional or tactical play. After that, you should
pick up a model player between the world champions based on the similarity between your style and
his.
As for the openings, we suggest to focus on few openings. So here it will be quite useful to get a
second model player based on your opening preference. It could be the same one you chose for his
playing style, but select the model players separately.

Finally, remember your goal is not to imitate anybody, just be inspired by them and work hard to be
the best player you can!