Lessons From Bad Bertrich VII

THE progress of players is in some ways mirrored by their relationship with the chessboard's back rank, and in particular with the danger of falling victim to a back-rank mate.

Novices often succumb to such a mate, until in time they learn it can be worthwhile playing h3/...h6, or similar, to give the castled king an escape square.

But as players get stronger, they realise playing h3/...h6 - a "bookend move," as it has been called - can be a serious waste of time, and even make the king's position less safe.

Eventually players develop a feel for when a back-rank mate is on, or, more precisely, for when it is useful to take precautions against the possibility of such a mate.

My round-seven game at the Bad Bertrich 50+ tournament, in which I was Black against Michael Hillenbrand (2113), featured an interesting back-rank scenario, arising after I played 22...Rfd8.

All four black pieces (five if you include the king) are either on the back rank or are defending it - even the bishop covers f8

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In the game, White saved his queen by playing 23.Qf3?, but after  23...Rxd1 24.Qxd1 Qe4+ 25.Kg1 h6 White was lost, thanks to the pin on the c file.

The move 25...h6 was necessary because, although the peril is not immediately obvious, Black's back-rank is weak.

So much so, that in the diagram position White has three moves that maintain at least equality, Qe5, Ba1 and Be1, and it is worth looking at each in turn.

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23.Qe5 threatens mate on g7, so Black's best is 23...Qxe5, and after 24.Bxe5 Black cannot capture either white rook, eg 24...Rxc2?? loses to 25.Rxd8+ Bf8 26.Bd6.

Black should probably play 24...f6, when Dragon1 gives White a slight edge, but Stockfish18 calls the position equal.

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23.Ba1!? gives an even stranger impression at first sight, but 23...Rxd5?? loses to 24.Rxc8 Qf8 25.Rxf8+ and 26.Rxd5.

Not so bad is 23...Rxc2?!, although 24.Qxd8+ Qf8 25.Rd7!? is promising for White, eg 25...Rxa2 26.Be5 Rc2 (preventing Qc7) 27.Qg5 h6! (only move) 28.Qxf5 Rc5 29.Qe4, after which White's greater activity gives the upper hand, according to the engines.

The engines reckon Black's best is 23...Bc5!?, after which White should play 24.Qe5 or 24.Qf3, both with equality.

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23.Be1?! also looks odd, but the engines agree it leaves the game completely equal.

However, unlike Qe5 and Ba1, it sets Black no problems, and several moves maintain the balance, including 23...Bc5, 23...g6 and 23...Rb8.

LESSON: the threat of back-rank mate creates possibilities that otherwise would not exist, and this is especially so when most minor pieces (bishops and knights) have been exchanged, but heavy pieces (queens and rooks) remain.