Lessons From Bad Bertrich III

THERE is a fairly well-established hierarchy when it comes to the drawishness of endings.

At the top, and by a considerable distance, are endings with opposite-colour bishops.

Next come rook-and-pawn endings, their drawing tendencies illustrated by the aphorism, usually attributed to Tarrasch or Tartakower, that "all rook endgames are drawn."

Third in the drawishness stakes are queen endings, thanks to the danger of the weaker side escaping defeat with perpetual check.

After that the hierarchy becomes somewhat murky, but I would suggest the list continues with same-colour bishop endings, followed by knight endings, and finally pawn endings (note I am only listing endings where both sides have the same pieces, ie leaving out, for example, rook versus bishop and knight).

All of this is a preamble to the strange finish in my round-three game, where I was Black against Børge Svanholm (1871).

The following rook-and-pawn ending was reached after White's 27th move.

White has just captured on d8, leaving a commonly occurring rook-and-pawn ending in which material is level, but one player has a farside passed pawn

Such positions are normally quickly agreed drawn at high levels, and often at club level too.

However, if the game continues, the normal procedure is that the player with the passed pawn - in this case White - protects it from the front, and advances the pawn to the seventh rank, while the black rook keeps an eye on the pawn from behind.

There are two dangers for Black to avoid, once the pawn has reached White's seventh.

One is to carelessly put the black king in such a position on Black's third rank, or higher, that it can be checked by the white rook, allowing the a pawn to be advanced on the next move.

The other is to let the white king get over to the queenside to safely help promote the pawn, although this is a risky business if it means Black mops up White's kingside pawns.

But if White tries nothing, and Black does not get careless, the game is inevitably drawn.

Here is the position seven moves after the previous diagram

Material is still level, and the ending is still completely drawn. Indeed, the ending would be a tablebase draw even if the h pawn were removed from the board.

Six moves later, the h pawn was removed from the board after Black in this position played 40...Rxh5

The Syzygy endgame tablebase confirms that the position is still drawn, and would remain so after any move by the white rook along the back rank.

Instead, my opponent committed the cardinal sin of leaving a drawn rook-and-pawn ending for a lost pawn ending by playing 41.Rxh5+, resigning 10 moves later.

LESSON: unless you have no other option, never swop off into a pawn ending unless you are certain of the outcome.

Chess Tip Of The Day 530

In endings with bishops of opposite colour, material means NOTHING, position EVERYTHING.

Cecil Purdy, On The Endgame

Lessons From Bad Bertrich II

MY round-two game, in which I was White against Wolf Ebert (1725), was a French Defence that began 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3.

A position familiar to every tournament player, even if it has not appeared in one of their games

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The position occurs 239,392 times in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, with the most popular continuations being 3...dxe4 (27,031 games), 3...Nf6 (94,362) and 3...Bb4 (106,481).

Geoffrey Stern (1931, Luxembourg) told me later that, although he had played the French for many years, my opponent's continuation was one that GS had never even considered playing.

The move my opponent played was 3...Ne7!?, which frankly looks rather silly at first, but appears 251 times in Mega26.

One of my first thoughts was to reply 4.Be3, to make it difficult for Black to get in ...c5. But then one of the points of my opponent's move becomes apparent, as he can play 4...dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nf5, with ...Nxe3 to come, when Black at least has the bishop-pair for his trouble.

I finally settled on 4.Bd3, which is reasonable enough, but the commonest continuation in Mega26, and the top choice of Stockfish18 and Dragon1, is 4.Nf3.

(Note that a move such as 3...Ne7!?, no matter how awful it may look, cannot be refuted out of hand - there is no tactical blow to punish Black.)

After 4.Nf3, the engines for quite some time completely disagree as to how Black should continue, but eventually agree that best is 4...Nbc6!?

This may look odd, but a knight on c6 is well-placed to harass a white bishop on d3 (by continuing ...Nb4) and may support a later ...e5.

After 4...Nbc6!?, the continuation 5.Bd3 scores a disappointing 47% in Mega26, but 5.e5, ensuring Black cannot play ...e5 in the foreseeable future, rings up a much more satisfactory 61%.

Black can attack the head of the pawn chain with 5...f6 - Nimzowitsch might have disapproved - when the relatively high-level game, Yunguo Wan (2471) - Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (2579), PGMA Cup (Manilia, Philippines) 2008, continued 6.exf6 gxf6 7.Nh4!? Ng6?! (the engines reckon 7...Bg7 improves) 8.Qh5 Ne7 9.Nxg6 Nxg6 10.Bd3 f5 11.Bg5 Be7 12.h4 Qd6 13.0-0-0 Bd714.Bxe7 Kxe7! (14...Qxe7 15.Nxd5!) 15.g3 Rag8, when the engines agree White has at least the upper hand, but the game was drawn after 41 moves.

A later game, but also at quite a high level, Axel Delorme (2495) - Aleks Sahakyan (2243), Chess.com Blitz 2023, varied with 7.Bd3. There followed 7...a6!? 8.Bf4 Ng6 9.Bg3 Bd6 10.Qe2 Nb4!? 11.0-0-0 Nxd3 12.Rxd3 Nf4!? 13.Bxf4 Bxf4+14.Kb1, with a slight edge for White, according to the engines (but 0-1, 49 moves).

LESSON: following established theory is often be safe and reliable, if a little predictable, but striking out on one's own, even with a move that may cause 'superior' players to smile or wince, can be invigorating, and may bring surprising success if the move is played with specific worked-out ideas in mind.

Chess Tip Of The Day 529

It's better not to change entire lines or systems, but to tinker a bit so as to make one less predictable, while retaining the knowledge of the ideas behind the lines.

Junior Tay, Chess magazine

Lessons From Bad Bertrich

I CAN recall reading an article by Cecil Purdy, the first chess world correspondence champion, in which he stated that, though it is hard to believe, novices can struggle with mate-in-one problems.

It is easy to laugh at such difficulties, but I suppose the equivalent among experienced players would be to miss a mate-in-two.

Unfortunately, that happened to me in the 50+ at Bad Bertrich in game one, in which I was Black against Jürgen Dieter (1769).

The critical position arose after White's 40th move

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Knowing something is on, it is not difficult to find 40...Rb3+! 41.axb3 Rxb3#.

The situation of the white king, and specifically its inability to retreat, is a little unusual, but hardly unprecedented.

I have preached in previous blogs about how I try to follow a mantra, Captures-Checks-Hangers-Threats, at every move.

This entails firstly looking at every possible capture, not matter how apparently absurd, followed by looking at every possible check, again no matter how foolish-looking.

I am then supposed to look at hangers, ie pieces and pawns that are not protected, and so are 'hanging' or 'loose'. If a player has two or more, a forking combination may be in the air.

And finally I look at threats, eg a minor piece that can 'hit' the opponent's queen, or a pawn advancing against a piece short of squares, or a move lining up a checkmate.

The mantra takes longer to explain that it usually takes to carry out - most possible captures, for example, can be dismissed at once as of poor value, and lots of possible checks are either pointless or downright harmful to the checking side.

But if, in the diagrammed position, I had seriously considered, just for a moment, ...Rb3+, I would surely have seen that it was by no means as ridiculous as it might appear at first sight.

LESSON: there is no point in having a mantra if you do not use it.

Chess Tip Of The Day 528

A growing trend in modern chess is to know as many different openings as possible, making it harder for opponents to prepare.

Simon Williams, Chess magazine

Summing Up Bad Bertrich 50+

Carving - Falkenlay

My score of +5=3-1 gained 35.4 Fide elo. I finished equal 3rd-4th, but was placed third on tiebreak (average rating of opponents), winning 150 euros (fourth won 120 euros).

Chess Tip Of The Day 527

Knights and bishops are normally the most important pieces in the middlegame. The reason is simple: rooks and queens are more susceptible to incoming fire than minor pieces.

Jacob Aagaard, Excelling At Positional Chess

Bad Bertrich 50+ Game Nine

Heron (or similar)

I was upfloated two points to top board against the No1 seed, an international master who had won his first eight games.

Spanton (1997) - Dieter Pirrot (2321)

French Burn

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4!?

This lags behind 4...Be7 in popularity in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, but is fashionable, and is preferred by Stockfish18 and Dragon1.

5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Nxf6+!?

The main move in Mega26 is 6.Bxf6, after which Black chooses between 6...Bxf6, which can transpose to the game, and 6...gxf6, when Black keeps the bishop-pair, at the expense of a damaged kingside pawn-structure.

6...Bxf6

6...gxf6!? seems to make less sense now, as Black no longer gains the bishop-pair, but it has been played by grandmasters

7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nf3 0-0 9.Qd3!?

The engines prefer this, marginally, over the much more common 9.Bd3.

9...c5 10.0-0-0!?

This is the point behind 9.Qd3!?

Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position?

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White has a slight lead in development, which may be enough for an edge, although the engines' evaluations fluctuate, with Stockfish18 starting off by giving White a slight edge, whereas at the same moment Dragon1 calls the game completely equal. But slowly the two engines' evaluations converge, and briefly Dragon1 is more fond of White's position than is Stockfish18.

10...Rd8 11.Qe3?!

White has problems after this. Probably best is 11.Qe4, and if, as in the game, 11...Nc6, White has time for 12.Bd3, when Kramnik has tried 12...Nxd4!? 13.Qxh7+ Kf8, but the engines give White at least a slight edge. They prefer 12...Qh6+ 13.Kb1, and either 12...cxd4 or 12...Nxd4, winning a pawn, but with White having good compensation, eg 12...Nxd4 (Stockfish18's top choice) 13.Rhe1!? Rb8!? (apparently a novelty) 14.Nxd4 cxd4 (14...Rxd4? 15.Qe5) 15.Qe5 Bd7 16.Be4 Qf6!? 17.Qxf6 gxf6 18.Rxd4, when White has regained the pawn, and has the better structure.

11...Nc6 12.d5!?

Maksim Chigaev (2632) - Vladimir Kramnik (2753), Chess.com Blitz 2023, went 12.Bd3?! cxd4 13.Qe4 g6 14.Rhe1 Bd7, with the upper hand for Black, according to the engines (0-1, 42 moves).

12...exd5

How should White proceed?

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13.Qxc5

Possibly better is 13.Rxd5!? Be6 (13...Rxd5?? 14.Qe8#) 14.Rxd8+ Rxd8, and now either 15.a3 or 15.Bd3, but in each case the engines reckon Black has at least the better part of equality.

13...Bf5!?

This apparent-novelty, targeting c3, is the top choice of Dragon1, for a while, but it comes to concur with Stockfish18 in preferring the known 13...Bg4, when 14.Be2 Rac8 gave Black an initiative in Aspasia Giaidzi (2360) - Susan Lalić (2320), Athens Scheveningen (Women) 1992 (0-1, 47 moves), and Gyula Mészáros (2419) - Kornél Szalai (2315), Hungarian Team Championship 2006 (1-0, 44 moves).

14.Nd4!

If 14.Bd3, Black has 14...Bg4!?, when White has nothing better than 15.Be2, transferring to the previous note.

14...Nxd4 15.Qxd4 Rac8 16.c3 Qh6+

The engines suggest 16...Qg5+!? 17.f4, and now 17...Qh6, claiming Black is at least slightly better, one point being 18.Bd3 (this is best, according to the engines) can be met by 18...Be4!?, when f4 is hanging, along with g2.

17.Qd2?

White has no problems after 17.Rd2, according to the engines.

Black to play and gain what the engines reckon is a positionally won game

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17...d4?
White does not have a satisfactory answer to 17...Qg6!, according to the engines, the threat being 18...d4. White can stop this with 18.Qd4, but 18...Bb1 threatens both mate and the a2 pawn. White can stop both of these with 19.Bd3, but 19...Bxd3 20.Qxd3 allows 20...Qxg2, when the half-open g file is not of much use to White, with only heavy pieces on the board. Other queen moves by Black are also better than the text.

18.Qxh6 gxh6 19.Bd3 Be6 20.Bb1

Not 20.Kb1 dxc3 21.bxc3, as Stockfish18 points out the possibility of 21...Rxd3!! 22.Rxd3 Bf5 23.Kc2 Rd8 24.Rhd1 b5, when it is only now Dragon1 sees the danger. The point is that the black rook and bishop are holding all three white pieces in place, meaning Black has a free piece in the shape of the king. A sample line runs 25.Rd1 Kg7 26.Rd2 h5 27.Rd2 h4 28.Rd1 Kh6 29.Rd2 Kg5 30.h3 Be4 31.Rd1 Kf4 f5 32.Rd1 Ke5 33.Rd2 f4 34.f3 Bxd3+ 35.Rxd3 Rxd3 36.Kxd3 Kd5, when Black's reserve tempi make this an easily won pawn ending, eg 37.a3 a5 38.Kd2 Kc4 39.Kc2 a4 etc.

20...b5 21.Rd3 dxc3

If 21...b4, then 22.Rhd1 bxc3 23.bxc3, when both black further captures on c3 lose.

22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 23.bxc3

Who, if anyone, has the advantage in this rook-and-bishop ending?

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Neither side, it seems - the engines call the game completely equal.

23...Bc4

The engines suggest 23...Rc8 or 23...Rb8!?

24.Re1

Both engines are at first are quite enthusiastic about 24.Rd1, but Stockfish18 soon changes its assessment to equal, although Dragon1 persists in awarding White a slight edge.

24...Rd6 25.Re3 Rf6 26.f3 Ra6 27.Kb2 Rd6 28.Kc1 Kg7 29.a3 Ra6 30.Kb2 Rd6 31.Kc1 Ra6 ½–½

Chess Tip Of The Day 526

A pawn advantage in a pawn ending is much easier to realise than one in a bishop or knight ending.

John Emms, Starting Out: Minor Piece Endings