New ChessVideos Show
My latest ChessVideos presentation is ready for viewing. It's a pawn ending I composed 22 years ago, and it makes for an instructive and surprising exercise. I hope you enjoy it, and look forward to your feedback.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
A Simple Gurgenidze Study
It's not too difficult, but it is attractive:
D. Gurgenidze 1985
White to move and draw. (The solution will be given in a day or two; please don't comment the answer.)
D. Gurgenidze 1985
White to move and draw. (The solution will be given in a day or two; please don't comment the answer.)
Related Posts (on one page):
- A Simple Gurgenidze Study: Solution Time
- A Simple Gurgenidze Study
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Alterman-Karpov: Pick the nicest win
The parade of opposite-colored bishop endings crossing my path seems unending. While solving some puzzles a couple of days ago, I came across this position, from the game Alterman-Karpov, Tyniste 1995:
White has just played 50.Kd3, and now it's Black to move and win. After a little thought, I found Karpov's solution, but sadly persuaded myself that things were not completely clear there. While I'm disappointed by the misassessment (though I wouldn't go so far as to say that I believed the position was drawn, and would probably have returned to Karpov's approach if I couldn't find anything else), rejecting his line provided the chance to produce something new and creative, and I'm happy with the alternative I discovered. (One which Fritz 11, plugging away to depth 32, still hasn't worked out.) Perhaps a decent study composer can make something out of my idea (or more likely, it has already been done).
Try to solve it, and when you're ready, have a look at the game continuation and my alternative winning line. And who knows - perhaps you can find a third path to victory!
White has just played 50.Kd3, and now it's Black to move and win. After a little thought, I found Karpov's solution, but sadly persuaded myself that things were not completely clear there. While I'm disappointed by the misassessment (though I wouldn't go so far as to say that I believed the position was drawn, and would probably have returned to Karpov's approach if I couldn't find anything else), rejecting his line provided the chance to produce something new and creative, and I'm happy with the alternative I discovered. (One which Fritz 11, plugging away to depth 32, still hasn't worked out.) Perhaps a decent study composer can make something out of my idea (or more likely, it has already been done).
Try to solve it, and when you're ready, have a look at the game continuation and my alternative winning line. And who knows - perhaps you can find a third path to victory!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
An Interesting Correspondence Chess Ending
My friend Alex Herrera offers this endgame as his Correspondence Chess Position of the Month for March of 2008:
Van Perlo-Sanakoev, Serbia-30 Jubilee 8185, Corr. 1981
It's Black to move; what should he do? Try to work out not just the next move, but a plan as well. You can find the instructive answer here.
Van Perlo-Sanakoev, Serbia-30 Jubilee 8185, Corr. 1981
It's Black to move; what should he do? Try to work out not just the next move, but a plan as well. You can find the instructive answer here.