Rook Endings 101

John B. Henderson • January 26, 2023

The great Viktor Korchnoi - as is Viktor’s wont - used to say words to the effect “the youngsters need to understand Rook and pawn endings.” And with those sage words from the maestro in mind, in today’s diagram we reached what could well be the critical moment of the 85th Tata Steel Masters, coming from the round nine clash between teenagers Vincent Keymer and Norbriek Abdusattorov, the tournament leader. 


White (Keymer) is easily winning (+5, according to the engines); but to win requires a little technique that sadly the German teenager lacked by bizarrely playing 80.Rb6?? - a shocking move that would have had Korchnoi turning in his grave as if on the spin cycle. In an instance, it allowed a somewhat relieved Abdusattorov to dodge a bullet with 80…Rh1+ 81.Kg4 Rg1+ 82.Kh5 Rg3 and a draw, allowing the Uzbek teen to  retain his lead at the top.

Lacking such basic endgame knowledge is, as some would argue, the price we pay for the acceleration of time-controls over the past decade or so, as the younger generation grandmasters are not so well versed in endgames technique as they once were. The correct way to win was with 80.Rf8! keeping the king cut off and targeting the f-pawn, and where the rook can nudge the enemy king even further away from the action after 80…Rf1 81.Kg4 Rg1+ 82.Kh5 Rf1 83.Kg6! Rxf3 84.Re8+! Kd4 (If 84...Kd6 85.Re4! Rf1 86.Kf6 Kd5 87.Kf5 f3 88.Rf4 winning.) 85.Kf5 Kd5 86.Re4 Kd6 87.g6 Rg3 88.Kf6 f3 89.g7 f2 90.Rf4 and the rook provides the perfect shield from any checks while still keeping tabs on the f-pawn, leaving the White king to safely usher home the g-pawn.


Remarkably for Keymer, just 24 hours later against Jordan Van Foreest (the surprise 2021 Tata Masters local Dutch winner) there was more than just a touch of déjà vu as he found himself in a similarly winning R+P ending...only to once again lack in the endgame technique department to convert for the full point. You live and learn. Well, in Keymer’s case, you live anyway!


But Magnus Carlsen needs no lessons when it comes to R+P endings, as invariable he would get a gold star from Korchnoi for his technique. And he showed this against Parham Maghsoodloo, who let slip an equal/drawing position into a winning R+P endgame win for Carlsen, to allow “Mr Wijk” to rack up a hat-trick of wins in four rounds - Richard Rapport, Fabiano Caruana, and now Maghsoodloo - and remarkably back in contention for a ninth Tata Steel title. 


And after earlier in the competition beating World No1 Carlsen, Anish Giri showed his brilliance once again to also beat the World No2, Ding Liren, with the Dutchman also on a roll - all of which is making for what could be one of the most exciting finishes in recent years to the first major of the year.


The third and final rest day is on Thursday, and play resumes with Abdusattorov still leading by a half point over Giri, but the chasing pack grows with Carlsen now ominously tied for 3rd place with Wesley So. And things couldn't be better set up for Friday’s Round 11, as it sees a double big clash of the leaders, with Carlsen-So and Giri-Abdusattorov!


Standings:

1. N. Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) 7/10; 2. A. Giri (Netherlands) 6½; 3-4. M. Carlsen (Norway), W. So (USA) 6; 5-6. L. Aronian (USA), F. Caruana (USA) 5½; 7-8. R. Rapport (Romania), R. Praggnanandhaa (India) 5; 9. Ding Liren (China) 4½; 10-12. D. Gukesh (India), P. Maghsoodloo (Iran), J. Van Foreest (Netherlands) 4; 13-14. A. Erigaisi (India), V. Keymer (Germany) 3½

GM Fabiano Caruana - GM Magnus Carlsen

Tata Steel Masters, (8)

Ruy Lopez, Anti-Marshall

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 The Anti-Marshall, aimed at taking all the fun out of Frank J. Marshall's eponymous attack after 8.c3 d5!? - and the antidote recommended by Soviet opening guru Efim Geller, to Garry Kasparov, ahead of his 1993 World Championship Match with Marshall Attack-loving Nigel Short. 8...b4 9.a5 d6 10.c3 Rb8 11.h3 h6 12.d4 bxc3 13.bxc3 exd4 14.Nxd4 Bd7 15.Bf4 Ne5 16.Na3 Re8 17.Bg3 Bf8 18.f4 Nc6 19.e5 dxe5 20.fxe5 Nxd4 21.cxd4 Bc6! With one very accurate move from Carlsen, suddenly all the tactics are working in his favour with Caruana's position now being on a knife-edge. 22.Bc2? Caruana cheerfully ignores a semaphore alphabet's worth of red flags here as the whole game swings on this blunder - a blunder that Carlsen wastes no time in disposing of his former title challenger. The dangers were all evident when you see that 22.exf6? Rxe1+ 23.Bxe1 Rxb3! 24.Rc1 (If 24.Qxb3? Qxd4+ 25.Kh2 Qxa1 26.Nc2 Qxf6 with two extra pawns and a big mating threat on g2.) 24...Ba4 and White's position is on the verge of collapse. The only sensible move Caruana could play was 22.Rc1 but after 22...Bd5 23.Bxd5 Nxd5 Black has slightly the better of an equal position. 22...Qd5 23.Re2 Rb4! And with that, Caruana's position is set to implode with the hanging pawns being a hindrance and the double attack of the mate on g2 allowing the unstoppable threat of ...Rxd4. It's just one of those moments in chess for Caruana where you simply regret having got out of bed! 24.Kh2 Rxd4 25.Qb1 Caruana is just grudgingly playing out a few extra moves for a more respectable 30 moves or so on the scoresheet and in the future databases. 25...Ne4 Carlsen now very effectively turns the screw with a series of forced exchanges. 26.Bxe4 Rxe4 27.Rxe4 Qxe4 28.Qxe4 Bxe4 29.Nc4 Rb8 All roads lead to Rome here anyway, but the clinical route was 29...Bd3! 30.Ne3 c5 31.Ra4 f6 32.Nc4 Bxc4 33.Rxc4 fxe5 etc. 30.Rc1 Rb5 31.e6 fxe6 32.Bxc7 Rc5 33.Bf4 Bd5 0-1 And Caruana throws the towel in early, not wanting to play out 34.Nb6 Rxc1 35.Bxc1 Bb4 and the a-pawn also falls.

The 42 Paradox

By John B. Henderson • October 2, 2023
Well, well, well. After rampaging his way through many of the finals and opponents throughout the 2023 Champions Chess Tour, Magnus Carlsen’s “final boss” reign came to a screeching halt in what proved to be an enthralling AI Cup Grand Final on Friday, as the favourite was beaten not once but in three games, and over two matches, by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who sensationally grabbed the last remaining spot in the Champions Tour Final in December. Earlier, Carlsen had defeated MVL in the final of the winners’ bracket, before the Frenchman gained the right to a rematch in the double-elimination contest by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final of the losers’ bracket. In the Grand Final, buoyed up and firing on all cylinders, MVL beat Carlsen by a 2½-1½ score.

We'll Meet Again

By John B. Henderson • September 29, 2023
The self-proclaimed “final boss of chess” does what the final boss of chess does best of all: Magnus Carlsen beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final of the AI Cup winners’ bracket, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season, to reach yet another Grand Final in the novel double-elimination contest. But it wasn’t without an epic bare-knuckle street fight from both players, as MVL proved to be a worthy opponent for what looked to be an unstoppable Carlsen, who narrowly prevailed in the Armageddon to take the match 3-2. "This is the sort of thing that happens when you play Sicilians in every game," said a magnanimous Carlsen in victory after four fighting Sicilians left the match tied at 2-2.

Tiers For Fears

By John B. Henderson • September 27, 2023
Fans were treated to arguably the greatest online rivalry in chess history recently, with the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship Grand Final showdown between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura seeing the Norwegian narrowly snatch victory by a solitary win to end the American speed maven’s hopes of a sixth successive victory. But Carlsen’s narrow win left the salivating fans feeling they’d been denied seeing this epic gladiatorial speed contest going into overtime - but they didn’t have to wait long for the rivalry redux, as a couple of days later, both Carlsen and Nakamura went head-to-head yet again in the opening day of the AI Cup, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season.

Bossing It

By John B. Henderson • September 25, 2023
Magnus Carlsen more than lived up to his self-proclamation of being “The Final Boss of Chess” with a revenge-is-sweet narrow victory over fellow chess influencer Hikaru Nakamura, as he denied his long-time arch-rival a sixth successive Chess.com Speed Chess Championship title last Friday. Last year, it was Nakamura who narrowly squeaked home by one point - this time, in yet another thrilling match consisting of three different speed limits - 5+1, 3+1 and 1+1 (more commonly known as ‘bullet’) - between the two speed titans, it again ended with the same scoreline, though this time seeing Carlsen triumph by a solitary win after two pulsating hours of thrilling play, as he took the $150,000 2023 Speed Chess Championship presented by Coinbase, 13.5-12.5.

Death, Taxes, Magnus & Hikaru

By John B. Henderson • September 22, 2023
With a smorgasbord of online chess events out there now, the granddaddy of them all is surely the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship , with a $150,000 prize fund that determines just who is the best blitz and bullet players. It has become the perennial fan-favourite with arguably the best viewing experience - and the fans are set for yet another spectacular finale later today, as the two rivals who dominate the roll of honour, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, get set for another explosive showdown in the 2023 final. Friday’s final and commentary, free to view, starts at 14:00 ET (11:00 PT; 20:00 CEST; 23:30 IST) on Chess.com. Carlsen and Nakamura have won each edition since the inaugural Speed Chess Championship event in 2016 - Carlsen won the first two speed titles before taking a hiatus, only for Nakamura to rule the roost, winning four more times.

A Messi Kid

By John B. Henderson • September 19, 2023
India today is a land of amazing young talents and prospects in chess, with the country seemingly having a never-ending production line of prodigies rolling off the factory conveyor belt. But for some countries, such as Argentina, prodigies only seem to come around with all the regularity of Halley’s Comet . One of the first notable post-war chess prodigies was Oscar Panno from Buenos Aires, who became the first world-class player born in South America. In 1953, at the age of 17, he became only the second World Junior Champion , having won the coveted youth title ahead of a strong cadre of future elite-level Grandmasters such as Boris Ivkov (who in 1951 was crowned the first World Junior Ch), Bent Larsen, and Fredrik Olafsson.

The Great Rook 'n' Roll Swindle

By John B. Henderson • September 14, 2023
“Chess is a cruel game. We all know that feeling when your position has gone awry and everything seems hopeless. You feel like resigning. But don’t give up! This is precisely the moment to switch to swindle mode. Master the art of provoking errors and you will be able to turn the tables and escape with a draw or sometimes even steal the full point!” So wrote David Smerdon, an Australian chess grandmaster and one of his country’s leading behavioural economists, on the back cover of his witty and wickedly entertaining, not to mention the much-lauded and deserving 2020 ECF Book of the Year winner, The Complete Chess Swindler (New in Chess).

No Country For Young Men

By John B. Henderson • September 11, 2023
With the top teenage talents being overshadowed in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid in Kolkata by a dominant performance from seasoned veteran Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, there were hopes of a homeland comeback in the follow-on Blitz tournament - and one looked to be on the cards, only for another “old guy”, this time Alexander Grischuk, crashing the teenage party by capturing the second, even faster speed title. Early doors, all eyes were firmly on Rameshbabu “Pragg” Praggnanandhaa, with his flying start of a perfect 5/5 on the opening day of the two-day double-round contest. But that was as good as it got for the 18-year-old Candidate-qualifier, who could only finish the day on 6.5/9, and despite being the sole leader, he held what looked a very slender half-point lead over nearest rivals Santosh Vidit and Grischuk, ominously the only unbeaten player.

My Indian Summer

By John B. Henderson • September 8, 2023
The past couple of years have proved to be a major one for India - not only a global player with world leaders descending this week in New Delhi for the G20 Summit and recently successfully landing a spacecraft on the moon but now also a fully-fledged chess superpower, with many exciting young talents set to make the country a dominant force for the foreseeable future. Many would even speculate that Indian Chess could well turn into a hegemony, in much the same way as the Soviets dominated the chess scene in the 1945 post-war period until its collapse and ultimate dissolution in 1991. The latest big chess tournament to be held in India coincides with the G20, with the fifth Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz - a spinoff from the larger Dutch super-tournament, the Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk aan Zee - taking place 5-9 September in Kolkata.

Me & The Kids

By John B. Henderson • September 4, 2023
The fifth and latest leg of the Champions Chess Tour , the Julius Baer Generations Cup more than lived up to its name with the world No.1, Magnus Carlsen, after overpowering Alireza Firouzja in the winners’ final, to effortlessly cruise his way into the Grand Final, declaring: “It’s just me against the kids now!” After three clean kills that included a brace of back-to-back 2½-½ victories over Iranian Amin Tabatabaei and his old title foe Caruana, Carlsen proceeded to sweep Firouzja 3-0 to reach the Grand Final of the contest - but it wasn’t lost on the “old man” that non of his old rivals were left in the competition, and that meant that Denis Lazavik (16), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (18), and Firouzja (20) were the only three left standing to see who would go forward to meet him in the Grand Final.
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