WHY STUDIES?
My fascination for studies proved highly beneficial, it assisted
the development of my aesthetic understanding of chess, and
improved my endgame play. - Vasily Smyslov.
Compared to his great contemporary Smyslov, Paul
Keres composed very few endgame studies.
However, his compositions have survived the
ravages of time. Consider the following gem:
Paul Keres, 1936
In this position Black threatens 1...b2+. The
plausible try 1.Qb8 does not help. So what can
White do?
1.Nc2+!!
Now 1...Bxc2 is met by 2.Qb8. After 2...b2+ White
wins the bishop. Or 2...Bb1 3.Qxb3 Ba2 4.Qxc3+
Black is mated.
1...Ka2 2.Nb4+
2...Ka3 leads to a spectacular display by White.
3.Nd3! Bxd3 4.Qd6+ Ka2 (hoping for 5.Qxd3??
b2+) 5.Qd5!! pinning the pawn on b3 and
threatening 6.Qa5 mate wins.
2...Ka1 3.Qa2+!! bxa2 4.Nc6! 1-0
Black is helpless against the threat of Nd4 and mate
with Nb3 or Nc2 next move.
36 | P a g e
Solutions:
Are you a problem Solver?
Joseph G. Campbell
1.Qh8! (waiting) 1...Kf4 Qd4#; 1.K h-file 2.Bf5#.
A. Petroff
1.Qd7 (threatening both Rh7 and Re8.) 1...Rxd7
2.Re8#; 1...Bxd7 Rh7#.
W. Shinkman
1.f6xe7 with the following lines: 1...Kf6 2.e8=B Ke6
3.Rh6#; 1...Kd7 2.e8=Q+ Kxe8 (or 2...Kxd6 3.Qg6#)
3.Ra8#; 1...Kxd6 2.e8=R Kc6 3.Re6#.
CHESS MAGIC
Agapov-Nepomniashy, USSR, 1983
1.Qxg6! Rg7 2.Rxf7!! 1-0
Coffey – Serpi, Le Harve 1980
1. Bxc5 Qxc5 2.Qxd3 1-0
Peresypkin – Chekhov, USSR, 1976
1.Nd6! 1-0
Torre – Schmid, Nice Olympiad, 1974
1.Bxa6! Rxa6 2.Qb5! Rca8 3.Rxc6 Qa7? 4.Rc8+! 1-0
4...Rxc8 5.Rxc8+ Nxc8 6.Qe8 is mate.
Olafsson – Quinteros, Las Palmas, 1974
1.Rxd7! Kxd7 2.Bxc6+! Kxc6 3.Qa4+ 1-0
The end would be 3...Kd5 4.Rd1+ Bd4 5.Rxd4+ Kc5
6.Bd6+ Kb6 7.Rb4 mate.
Spassky – Chandler, New Zealand, 1988
White thought for 20 minutes, played 1.Nxc5? and
only dre w. But 1.Bc3! wins a piece: 1...Nxa4
2.Bxb4+; 1...Bxc3 2.Nc5 attacking two pieces, or
1...Nd3 2.Bxd3 Bxc3 3.Rxc3.
Puzzled?
L van Vliet (1888)
1.Qb4 !!
This is Zugzwang, believe it or not !
1…Qh1
(Black has to prevent 2.b8=N mate. 1…Qd5 2.Qa4+
Kb6 3.Qb3+! Qxb3 4.b8=Q+ ;1…Qf3 2.Qa4+ Kb6
3.Qb3+ Qxb3 4.b8=Q+ ;1…Qg2 2.Qa3+ Kb6 3.Qb2+
Qxb2 4.b8=Q+ ;1…Qa3+ Kb6 3.Qb2+ Kc7 4.Qh2+! A
very attractive point, echoed in the other lines.)
4…Qxh2 5.b8=Q+ 1-0
T. SiersKieler
1.Kc3 e1Q+ 2.Kd3 Qg3+ 3.Qxg3 Kc1 4.Qb8 ! Kd1
5.Qb1 mate. 1-0
PR Chess
Problem 1. 5. Nf3, Ng5, Nxh7 (or Ne6), Be2, Bxh5
mate.
Problem 2. 4. d3, dxc2, cxb1=R, Bb4 mate.
Problem 3. 4. Ne5, Qd6 (showy; more natural
Qxd5), Qe6, Nd3 mate.
Problem 4. My solution was 5. Nxf3, Bf4, Ng5, Qh5,
Qxf7 mate. Leoncini played 5. gxf3, Bb5, Bxd7, Be3,
Bc5 mate.
Irish Chess Journal