different way: 4.d6! cxd6 (otherwise 5 c6 and 6 Rd7 decides) 5.exd6 d7 6.e5 and one of the pawns promotes. ]
3.xc6 e7
[ After 3...xg2 4.xe6 the white pawns are much faster. ]
4.xe6! A decisive sacrifice that leaves the black rook helpless against the army of white pawns. xe6 5.d5 At this point Black
resigned. Let's see a possible conclusion of the game: e8
[ After 5...a6 6.e6 a4+ 7.e5 a3 8.e4!
, the backward e-pawn serves as a shield. ] 6.d6 cxd6 7.cxd6 g4
[ Or 7...d8 8.d5 with a rapid promotion. ] 8.d7 d8 9.e6 . White wins.
1-0
example 73
Levenfish, Smyslov [Johan Hellsten]
(Diagramme)
When possessing separated passed pawns, a
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
key idea is to abandon one of them in order to secure the advance of the other one, as in the present example.
1.f3! White heads at once for the opposite flank.
[ 1.b8? xg4+ 2.f3 b4 would let Black escape to a draw; e.g. 3.b6 f6 4.b7 ( or 4.e3 e6 5.b7 d7 ) 4...g7!
with a draw. ] 1...f4+
[ Now 1...xg4? fails to 2.g6+! xg6 3.xg4 ]
[ while 1...b3+ doesn't work either due to 2.e4 xg4 3.d5 f5 4.c6 e6 5.b8 and White wins with ease. Note that in endings with rook and pawn vs. rook, if the defending king can't reach its preferred location in front of the pawn, then the knight's pawn is particularly powerful, since there is no "shorter side" available for the defending king (more on this subject in Chapter Three). ]
2.e3 xg4 3.d3 f5 4.c3 e5 5.c6!
Cutting the enemy king off from the c-file. d5 6.c8 White wins quickly;
[ e.g. 6.c8 g6 7.b4 followed by Ka5, b5-b6 etc. ]
Sunye Neto,J Velimirovic,D
Rio de Janeiro Interzonal 1979
[Johan Hellsten]
(Diagramme)
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The further apart, the more powerful are separated passed pawns. Here White doesn't just possess two rook's pawns, he has also managed to advance them quite far, yet the win is not trivial.
1.f4! Zugzwang.
[ Other moves won't work; e.g. 1.a6? xa6 2.e6+ g8! 3.e7 b5 ]
[ or 1.e6+? xe6 2.a6 f7! 3.a7 e4 4.h7 g7 and Black has again managed to assign the defensive tasks in a correct way. ] 1...c4
[ Nothing helps; e.g. 1...e6 2.a6 ] [ or 1...g6 2.e6 xh6 3.e7 b5 4.a6 g7 5.a7 . ]
2.e4!
[ Not 2.h7? g7 . ]
After 2 Ke4 Black's bishop proves overloaded, so he resigned. Let's make a few more moves:
2...a6 3.e6+ g6 4.e7 b5 5.a6 . White wins.
1-0
Hellsten,J Stojanovic,D
Belgrade 2002
[Johan Hellsten]
(Diagramme)
Of course White is easily winning, and it probably won't take you many seconds to find 1 f7+. However, in time trouble I decided to carry out the combination "the other way around".
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1.xd7?? xd7 2.g6
[ At this point I was just waiting for 2.g6
e8 3.g7 e5 4.b8+ , but Black wisely assigned his defensive tasks in a different way. ]
2...d6! . Draw agreed in view of 3...Kc7 next.
½-½
example 76 [Johan Hellsten]
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1.f5 Creating a square on c5-c8-f8-f5.
[ White wins immediately; e.g. 1.f5 e7 ( or 1...c6 2.f6 ) 2.c6 d6 3.f6 . ]
[ On the other hand, 1.b2? would be a gross error due to c6 and Black draws. ]
example 77 [Johan Hellsten]
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
You have probably seen the present, curious example before. The white passed pawns form a square, but they can't move while the black king remains on g8; thus White should use his king in a way that makes Black run out of pawn moves.
1.b1! a3
[ Similar play arises after 1...b3 2.b2 ] [ or 1...c3 2.c2 . ]
2.a2 c3 3.b3 We have reached a case of mutual zugzwang – the one who moves, loses. a2 4.xa2 c2 5.b2 b3 6.c1 . White wins. Incidentally, note that separated passed pawns often increase their value when pawn endings are reached, due to the king's limited defensive power.
Short,N
Hillarp Persson,T
Malmo 2009
[Johan Hellsten]
(Diagramme)
In exchange for the pawn deficit Black has the more active rook, though he should evidently be on his guard against a possible rook exchange. Hillarp found a clever idea.
1...g5! This passed pawn will soon prove useful.
[ In contrast, approaching the king with 1...f6?! permits 2.b5 and the b-pawn
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
becomes very dangerous. ] 2.e3 A tempting choice;
[ but with hindsight White should probably try 2.f3 ]
[ or 2.b3 instead. ] 2...e5!
[ Of course not 2...xe3? 3.xe3
, when the protected passed pawn on b4 decides the game. ]
3.xe5+
[ After 3.f3 d7 , Black should also be able to draw. ]
3...dxe5 Black's idea becomes clear: his separated passed pawns will keep the enemy king busy. 4.b5 d6 5.b6 d7! The only move;
[ since both 5...e4? 6.e3 ]
[ and 5...g4? 6.g3 would lose on the spot. ]
6.f3 d6 7.f2 d7 8.f3 d6 9.e3 [ Or 9.g3 e4! with similar play. ]
9...g4! Now the separated passed pawns mutually protect themselves, just like their white counterparts, by the way. 10.e4 d7 11.e3 d6 12.e4 d7 13.e3
½-½
Velikhanli,F Nadir,S
Abu Dhabi 2003
[Johan Hellsten]
(Diagramme)
1...d4? A tempting, but fatal choice. By
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
means of the threat 2...Rd2+ Black manages to "fix" his pawn structure, but he has
overlooked his opponent's active possibilities in the pawn ending that now arises.
[ Something like 1...f4+ 2.g3 ( or 2.e3 h4 ) 2...f7! , followed by ...e5-e4, ...Ke5
etc, was preferable. ]
2.xd4 exd4 3.b4! The key move, by which White prepares the creation of a second passed pawn by b4-b5. a6
[ Or 3...f5 4.h4 with similar play. ] 4.h4 f5 5.a4! e4
[ Equally useless is 5...e5 6.h5 g5 7.b5 etc. ]
6.h5 f5
[ After 6...d3 7.h6 c2 8.h7 d3 9.h8
d2 10.h7+ c1 , White can win both by 11.h6 , approaching with the queen in staircase fashion, ( and 11.xe7 d1
12.e1! , followed by b4-b5 after exchanging queens – Hecht. )]
7.h6 g6 8.b5 1-0
example 80 Alburt,L [Johan Hellsten]
(Diagramme)
Thanks to his protected passed pawn on f5, and its restricting effect on the enemy king, White is much better. With his next move he initiates an attack on the black queenside pawns.
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1.a4!
[ Also possible is 1.c4!? in the same spirit; e.
g. e5 2.c3 d6 ( or 2...f6 3.cxb5 cxb5 4.d4 and the king soon liquidates the enemy pawns ) 3.cxb5 cxb5 4.d4 c6 5.e5! b4 ( equally hopeless is 5...a4 6.d4 d6 7.c3 c5 8.f6 d6 9.b4
etc ) 6.axb4 axb4 7.d4! and wins. ] 1...e5 2.axb5
[ But not 2.c4? b4 and Black has created his own protected passed pawn with a draw – Alburt. ]
2...cxb5 3.c4 a4+
[ Now if 3...b4 , then 4.c5 with a decisive square of separated passed pawns. ]
4.c3 bxc4 5.xc4 . Next White eliminates the a-pawn and brings his king to the
opposite flank with a trivial win.
Tal,M Fuchs,R
Kislovodsk 1964
[Johan Hellsten]
(Diagramme)
Black has just played ...g6-g5 to avoid 1 g5 fixing a weakness on g6. Tal found a simple way of realizing his material advantage.
1.exf6+! This and the next two moves produce a strong protected passed pawn on the h-file. xf6 2.fxg5+ hxg5 3.h5!
From now on this pawn will severely limit Black’s king. g7 4.d5! The most attractive follow-up, which leaves the knight helpless
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
against the invasion of the white king. exd5 5.d4 c4 6.b5!
[ More technical than 6.a4 f6 , followed by ...Ne5 - Tal. ]
6...d6
[ Or 6...xa3 7.d3! , applying the magic distance, with an easy win after c4 8.xc4 dxc4 9.xc4 etc. ]
7.d3 e8 8.f5 f6 9.e5 [ In view of 9.e5 f7 10.h6
, Black resigned. ] 1-0
Danielsson,R Larsson,Joh
Swedish Team Championship 2007
[Johan Hellsten]
(Diagramme)
A protected passed pawn can also play the role of securing a draw. Here Black has just played ...g5-g4, making a last attempt at squeezing a point out of a drawish pawn ending. How would you react?
1.fxg4!
[ The game went 1.hxg4? h3! 2.gxh3 xf3!
(obstruction) 3.e1 g3 4.e2 xh3 5.f3 h4 6.g5 fxg5! and White
resigned. ]
1...f4 2.f2 xe4 Now Black enjoys a protected passed pawn on e5, but White is just in time to create his own one on the h-file.
3.g3! hxg3+ 4.xg3 d3 5.f2!
[ Not 5.h4? e4 and Black queens with
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
check. ]
5...e4 6.e1 e3 7.h4! f4 8.h5 g5 9.e2 f5 . Draw.
Khalifman,A Shaposhnikov,E
St Petersburg 1998
[Johan Hellsten]
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Here White is trying to survive by means of a fortress, but Black’s clever manoeuvre puts an end to any such illusions.
1...c7+ 2.b2 c4! Forcing a pawn ending where the protected passed pawn secures an easy win. 3.xc4 bxc4 4.f4
[ Or 4.a2 b5 5.a3 c3! with similar play to the game. ]
4...b5 5.a3
[ Or 5.c3 a4 and White soon runs out of moves – Hecht. ]
5...f6 6.f5 c3! By trading the b- and c-pawns, Black makes the d4-pawn an easy target.
7.b3 c2
[ In view of 7...c2 8.xc2 xb4 9.d3 b3 etc, White resigned. ]
0-1
Dearing,E Erenburg,S
Budapest 2004
[Johan Hellsten]
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
At this point Black was probably hoping to activate his position with ...c6-c5, but after the next, strong opposing move he never gets time for that.
1.d6! xd6
[ After 1...a5 2.c5 ]
[ or 1...e1+ 2.f1 b8 ( if 2...a6 , then 3.f8+ b7 4.c5+ b6 5.d7+ a5 6.a3# – Erenburg ) 3.c5 , Black is also suffering. ]
2.exd6 b5 3.e5 The protected passed pawn is a fact, while Black has a really bad bishop on b7. d4
[ Unfortunately for Black, the desirable 3...f6 fails tactically to 4.xb5 cxb5 5.exf6 . ] 4.c4 c5
[ In the event of passive defence with 4...d8 5.c5 c8 , one attractive plan is
6.h2 , followed by Kh3-g4. ] 5.xc5 a8
[ 5...d5 was slightly more promising, although after 6.xd5 exd5 7.h2 c6
8.d3 d7 9.g3 e6 ( both here and later, 9...f6 fails to 10.c5+ ) 10.f4!
, White is winning – Erenburg. ]
6.f3 c6 7.d3 a5 8.f2 With a healthy extra pawn and more active pieces, the rest is easy for White. d7 9.b5+ c6 10.c5+
e8 11.b4! xb5 12.bxa5 c6 13.g3 b5 14.g4 f1 15.g3 e2 16.e4 d7
17.xg5 f6 18.exf6 xd6 19.h7!
1-0
example 85 Averbakh,Y [Johan Hellsten]
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Despite his space disadvantage White is easily winning, since he can use his outside passed pawn on a2 as bait in order to get his king across to the other flank first, once the queenside pawns have been exchanged.
1.c2 a3
[ After 1...c5 2.c3 b5 3.a3 ( 3.a4+
works as well ) 3...c5 4.a4 d5 5.a5 c5 6.a6! b6 7.xc4 xa6 8.d5
, White wins comfortably. ]
2.c3 xa2 3.xc4 b2 4.d4
The white king is first to reach the opposite flank. c2 5.e4 d2 6.f5 e2 7.xg5 f2 8.xf4 xg2 9.g4 . White wins.
Schlechter,C Tartakower,S
Carlsbad 1907
[Johan Hellsten]
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In this pawn ending Black should be able to hold the balance with 1...Kf8, bringing the king to the opposite flank. Instead, he came up with a most unfortunate idea.
1...g5? Such a space-gaining advance would have been excellent with more pieces on the board – here it just helps White create an outside passed pawn on the h-file. 2.fxg5 hxg5 3.f3 g6 4.g4! Preventing ...Kf5.
[ Evidently, 4.g4? would be wrong – as we will see next, the g-pawn is needed for a different purpose. ]
4...f5+
[ Or 4...h6 5.g3! , preparing h2-h4 as in the game. ]
5.exf6 xf6 6.g3! A key move. Now h2-h4, creating an outside passed pawn, is inevitable.
a5
[ Or 6...e5 7.xg5 ( of course 7.h4 also works ) 7...d4 8.h4 and White queens with check. ]
7.a4 e5 8.h4 gxh4 9.gxh4 g6 10.b3 b6 11.h5+ f6 12.h6 g6 13.h7 xh7
14.f5 1-0
Fischer,RJ Larsen,B
Candidates semi-final, Denver (5) 1971 [Johan Hellsten]
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1.c3! Fischer has seen that, after the exchange of bishops, his outside passed pawn on a4 will decide.
[ Less convincing was 1.b4+ e8 2.a5 d7 3.a6 c6 4.a7 b7 since Black
could try to reach a theoretical draw by eliminating the kingside pawns; e.g. 5.c5 e5! 6.e4 c7 followed by ...h5-h4 and a
bishop sacrifice for the remaining pawn. ] 1...xc3
[ Or 1...a3 2.a5 c5 3.d4! , insisting on the plan – Speelman. ]
2.xc3 e7 3.d4! The white king immediately starts an attack on the enemy pawns. d6 4.a5 f6 5.a6! c6 6.a7 b7 7.d5 h4 8.e6
[ Black resigned, since 8.e6 f5 9.f6 is hopeless for him. ]
1-0
Schmidt,Wl Kasparov,G
Dubai Olympiad 1986
[Johan Hellsten]
(Diagramme)
1...d7! Swapping the active enemy rook, which also tends to be the best piece at controlling outside passed pawns such as the
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
one on a5. 2.xd7 xd7 3.d6 e7 4.c4 a4 5.f1 e6 6.e2 d5
Without knights on the board this would be a trivial win, similar to the one arising in the previous example. Here White can still put up some resistance, counting on the tactical potential of the knight. 7.e3+
[ Or 7.a3 e5! , heading for c4. ] 7...d4 8.d2
[ After 8.c2+ c3 9.a3 f6 10.f4 e4!
11.g4 d6 , threatening ...Kb2, Black wins – Kasparov. ]
8...e5 9.c2 d3 10.d1 e1+ 11.b2 f3! After deflecting the enemy pieces to the
queenside, Black proceeds with an attack on the opposite flank. 12.h4 e5 13.a3
[ Before the king enters on e4-f3, Black arranges to meet 13.e3 with c4+! . ] 13...e4 14.h5
[ Seeing that 14.xa4 f3 followed by ...
Ng4xf2 is hopeless for him, Schmidt opts for active defence. ]
14...gxh5 15.c3+
[ Or 15.xa4 f3 16.b3 d3 17.c2 xf2 18.c3 h1! and wins – Kasparov;
( but not 18...e4?? 19.xe4 xe4 20.d2 with a draw. )]
15...f3 16.d5 g4! Preventing any attempts at counterplay with 17 Nf6. 17.e7
[ Or 17.f4 f6 18.d3 e2 etc – Kasparov. ]
17...xf2 18.f5 e4 The rest is easy.
19.xa4 xg3 20.h4+ e4 21.b4 f5!
0-1
Chernin,A Chuchelov,V
Cappelle la Grande 1994
[Johan Hellsten]
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Here is a similar example. Black’s a-pawn will again become stronger once the rooks leave the board, so his next move is not difficult to find.
1...b7! 2.xb7
[ The game actually went 2.c8 e7! 3.f5 xe5+ 4.e4 e6 and Black won without
much difficulty after 5.c7 a3 6.a7 b4 7.d4 d6+! (releasing the obstruction of his king) 8.e5 d7 9.a6 a4! 10.b6+
a5 11.b1 d1 . ]
2...xb7 3.f4 d5! Another favourable exchange.
[ Also possible was 3...a3 4.d3 d5 5.xd5 xd5 , followed by ...g7-g5, in similar spirit to the main line. ]
4.xd5 xd5 5.d3 g5! Thus Black creates a pair of separated passed pawns with decisive effect. 6.c3
[ After 6.fxg5 xe5 the black king reaches g2 much earlier than his counterpart gets to f1. ]
6...gxf4 7.gxf4 h5 . Black wins – Chuchelov.
Alekhine,A Andersen,E
Folkestone Olympiad 1933
[Johan Hellsten]
(Diagramme)
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Despite the material balance, White is clearly better thanks to his potential outside passed pawn on the queenside.
1.a4 c7 This and Black’s next move might not have been optimal, yet on most other moves White had a ready-made plan with g2-g3 followed by Kd3-c4. 2.c3 g5 3.b4 d5 4.f3 f6 5.d4 d6? But this is suicide due to White’s reply.
[ After 5...e7 6.a5 bxa5+ 7.xa5 d7 8.b4 c8 9.b6! , followed by Kc6 and b4-b5, White is also winning ]
[ but by 5...c8 , heading for b7, Black could have prolonged resistance. ]
6.b5+! One particular feature of knight endings is that the exchange of these pieces is more easily achieved than that of their counterparts in, for example, rook or bishop endings. Now the outside passed pawn will decide the battle. xb5 7.xb5 e5!?
[ Since 7...c7 8.b4 is hopeless for him, Black makes a last practical try, offering the b-pawn, but in vain. ]
8.b4! d4 9.c4 1-0
Lisitsin,G Capablanca,JR
Moscow (analysis variation) 1935 [Johan Hellsten]
(Diagramme)
This position could have occurred in the game, which we will come back to in Chapter Five
a b c d e f g h
(see Example 316). Black is a pawn up, but to which square should his king go?
1...d7! A clever pawn sacrifice.
[ Less convincing is 1...e7 2.c7+ ] [ or 1...d5 2.f5+ c4 3.xf6 d5+
4.e3 . ] 2.xf6?
[ 2.e4 is objectively better, when Black could try f1+ ( not 2...c6?! 3.d5 ) 3.g3
c4 4.f5+ e6 5.xh5 e3+
, followed by 6...Qxd4, keeping chances for a win. ]
2...c6+! The point – now Black reaches a pawn ending where his outside passed pawn will prove to be a huge asset. 3.xc6+ xc6 4.e4 d6!
[ Some accuracy is still required: after 4...b5?
5.e5! b4 6.e6 White draws. ]
Here is a more complex example. By a precise sequence of moves, White manages
a b c d e f g h
to reach a queen ending where the current theme will be perfectly displayed.
1.xc7! xc7 2.xc7 xc7 3.xe4 dxe4 4.d5! Without this key move the previous exchanges would not have made sense. Now the white queen is centralized and the black b4-pawn becomes more exposed. exd5 Otherwise the d-pawn keeps on advancing;
[ while on 4...d6 White replies as in the counterplay for Black than in the game. ] 5...f6 6.xb4! The right capture, creating a
potential outside passed pawn, while the d5-pawn remains as a burden for Black.
[ 6.xd5?! e5 is less clear. ] 6...f7 7.b5
[ 7.d4 , followed by b2-b4, was interesting too, but from b5 the queen has an enticing destiny on e8. ]
7...e6 8.b4 d6 9.e8!
[ Instead of entering complications after 9.a5?! c6! , Bareev improves his queen. ] 9...f5 10.h4! Creating some kind of zugzwang,
since Black is now short of a solid move. c4 [ Or 10...c6 11.d8+ e6 12.a5! etc. ] 11.b8+ c6 12.b5+ d7
[ Unfortunately for Black, 12...c5 fails to 13.f8# . ]
13.xb6 xa4 14.c6+ e7 15.xd5 With a strong passed pawn and a perfectly centralized queen, the rest is easy. b4 16.e5+ f7 17.c7+! An ideal square in the assistance of the passed pawn. f6
. Black resigned at the same time, in view of the imminent march of the b-pawn.
1-0
Predojevic,B Oleksienko,M
Moscow 2011
[Johan Hellsten]
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Several factors speak in White’s favour:
superior minor piece, better pawn structure and a faster activation route for his king.
Probably there was nothing wrong with the simple 1 Kd2, heading for the opposing queenside pawns, but Predojevic found a more clear-cut path to victory.
1.xe6! Transposing to a pawn ending where a potential outside passed pawn on the
kingside will soon decide matters. fxe6 2.d2 f7
[ Or 2...f5 3.d3 f7 4.c4 , winning – Predojevic. ]
3.d3 e7 4.g4! The key move that speeds up the creation of the outside passed pawn.
[ 4.c4 d6 5.b5 was less promising due to e5! with counterplay. ]
4...d6
[ 4...f5 5.g5 doesn’t change matters. ] 5.d4 b5 6.h4 h6 7.a3! Ruling out any attempts to leave White with a rook’s pawn once the kingside pawns are exchanged. e5+
8.fxe5+ fxe5+ 9.e4 e6 10.g5 1-0
Zambrana,O Soppe,G
Havana 2005
[Johan Hellsten]
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In this turbulent position White found a clear-cut path to victory, relying on his potential outside passed pawn on the queenside.
1.h5+! Before recovering the piece, it makes sense to push the enemy king back.
[ Another idea was 1.dxe6+ xe6 2.h7+
( but not 2.xe6+? xe6 3.h2 d5 ) 2...e8 3.xb7 e1+ 4.h2 e5+ 5.g3 xc5 6.g2 with a technical win, but the
text is more forcing. ]
1...e7 2.xe8+ xe8 3.dxe6 e7 4.b4!
Diverting Black’s king to the queenside
without leaving any pawns there. xe6 5.b5!
d5 6.c6 bxc6 7.bxc6 xc6 8.h2 This position was well assessed by Zambrana when opting for 1 Qh5+. Despite the material balance Black is lost due to his remotely placed king; furthermore, the fact that White’s pawns are still on the second rank means that he will have several waiting moves at his disposal. d5 9.g3 e6 10.g4 f7 11.f5 h5
[ Or 11...g7 12.g4 f7 13.f3! g7 14.e6 g6 15.f4 g7 16.f5 and wins. ] 12.g3! g7 13.e6 g6 14.f4!
[ In view of 14.f4 f5 ( or 14...g7 15.f5 ) 15.e5 , Black resigned. ]
1-0
Sasikiran,K Nisipeanu,LD
Spanish Team Championship 2006
[Johan Hellsten]
Thanks to his more active rook White is better, but after the solid 1...Re7 it would not have been easy for him to make progress -Deviatkin. In the game Black permitted the transposition to a pawn ending, where our main theme – the outside passed pawn – will soon play a key role.
1...e4? 2.c8+ f7 3.c7+! e7
[ Objectively speaking, shedding a pawn but keeping the rooks with 3...e6 4.xa7 f4 was Black’s lesser evil, but of course that wasn’t what Nisipeanu had in mind. ] 4.xe7+ xe7 5.f3 In Deviatkin’s words:
“We are now in a pawn ending – the form of ending which looks so simple, but which is one of the most complicated! Material is equal and Black’s position looks okay, but in fact Black is already lost. The spoiled structure on the kingside ruins him, because there is no way for Black to prevent the creation of an outside passed pawn. And if Black’s king goes to the queenside, White will be faster.” In Chapter Seven we will see further proof of the fact that transpositions to pawn endings usually imply dangers for the defender. d6
[ Or 5...e6 6.f4 g5+ 7.f3 e5 8.h3!
d5 9.g3 e5 10.h4 with similar play. ] 6.f4 d5
[ As Deviatkin already mentioned, White wins the passed pawn race: 6...c5 7.h4 b4 8.e4 fxe4 9.xe4 f5+ ( or 9...xa4 10.g4 ) 10.e5 xa4 11.f6 xb5
12.xg6 a5 13.h5 and queens, controlling the a1-square. ]
7.h4 e6 8.g3 e7 9.e4!
[ Sasikiran continues with the plan of creating an outside passed pawn, without getting tricked into 9.h5?! f7! 10.hxg6+ xg6 . ] 9...fxe4 10.xe4 d6
[ Or 10...f5+ 11.e5 f7 12.d6! g5!?
13.hxg5 g6 14.c7 xg5 15.b7 g4 16.xa7 xg3 17.a5! and White queens
with check – Deviatkin. ] 11.g4 e6 12.h5 f7
[ After 12...gxh5 13.gxh5 ]
[ or 12...f5+ 13.gxf5+ gxf5+ 14.f4 , White’s win would be even more trivial. ] 13.d5 g7 14.e6!
[ Sidestepping the last trick: 14.c6?? f5!
15.gxf5 gxh5 . ]
Varna Olympiad 1962
[Johan Hellsten]
Thanks to his more active pieces Black is minimally better, but he was suddenly helped by a bad decision from his opponent.
1.axb6?! As Botvinnik himself stated, this capture yields Black the possibility of creating an outside passed pawn later on.
[ 1.f2 seems simpler, followed by Re1, swapping the active enemy rook. ] 1...cxb6 2.f2 f7
[ After 2...e2+?! 3.g1 the rook would have to return to e6. ]
3.e1 xe1 4.xe1
[ Now after 4.xe1 b5?! 5.f2 a win is unlikely, but Botvinnik has other intentions. ] 4...a5! Creating the outside passed pawn.
5.bxa5
[ Unfortunately for White, after 5.xb6 a4 6.d2 f4 , followed by ...Bf1, Black would soon be able to create a second passed pawn on the kingside. ]
5...bxa5 6.g3 a4 7.d2?!
[ 7.c5 was preferable, controlling the
passed pawn as soon as possible – and with the bishop, so that the king can be used for the defence of the opposite flank. ]
7...a3 8.c2 h5 9.h4? A tactical oversight which costs the game.
[ After 9.f4? h4! 10.gxh4 ( or 10.f2 g4 ) 10...gxf4 , Black is also winning – Botvinnik.
His next step would be a king transfer to assist the advance of the f-pawn. ]
[ But 9.g4! yielded good drawing chances – Benko, who explains that White’s idea is to swap two pair of pawns on the kingside and then sacrifice the bishop for the remaining one, so that a theoretical draw arises on the opposite flank. There can follow fxg4 ( or 9...hxg4 10.fxg4! f4 11.f2 , followed by
h3-h4 ) 10.hxg4! h4 11.f2 d5 12.f4 h3 13.g3 and White holds – Benko.
Nevertheless, such ideas are much easier to spot after, rather than during, the game.
Thus from a practical point of view, 1 axb6?
was White’s main mistake. ]
9...f4! A typical breakthrough to create a passed pawn. 10.e5
[ After 10.gxf4 gxh4 11.f5 h3 12.e5 a2 13.b2 h4 , Black should also be winning, using the c4-square as a junction in the king’s route to the h-pawns. ]
[ As for 10.f2 , Botvinnik suggests gxh4 11.gxh4 e6 followed by ...Kf5 and ...
Bd5xf3, in order to create a new passed pawn on the f-file. There can follow 12.c5 a2 13.b2 d5 14.f2 f5! 15.e1 xf3
16.xa2 e4 and the king reaches e2 with decisive effect. ]
10...e6! The king wins a tempo on his way to the defence of the f4-pawn. 11.c7 gxh4 12.xf4
[ Or 12.gxh4 f5 followed by ...Bd5, with similar play as after 10 Bf2. ]
12...h3 13.g4 h4!
[ Avoiding 13...hxg4? 14.fxg4 and White
escapes to a theoretical draw (cf. 9 g4 above). ]
14.h2 e2
[ There could have followed 14...e2 15.b3 xf3 16.g5 f5 17.xa3 xg5 18.b4 f5 19.c5 e4 , with ...Be2 and ...Kf3-g2 next – Benko. ]
0-1
example 97 [Johan Hellsten]
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1.g4! A breakthrough that creates a second passed pawn.
[ Just relying on the outside passed pawn with 1.b6 d6 2.e4? ( 2.g4! still works ) would have failed to 2...gxh4! (ruling out the breakthrough) 3.gxh4 c6 4.f5 xb6 5.xf6 c7 6.g6 d8 7.xh5 e7 8.g6 f8 etc. ]
1...gxh4
[ Or 1...hxg4 2.h5 f5 3.h6 f6 4.b6 etc. ] 2.gxh5 h3 3.f3 f5 4.b6 d6 5.h6
. White wins.
example 98 Seirawan,Y [Johan Hellsten]
(Diagramme)
At first sight White seems to be in trouble, but in fact he wins the game by launching a breakthrough.
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1.f5 b4 2.g5! exf5
[ 2...hxg5 is met by 3.f6 gxf6 4.h6 ] [ or 2...c5 3.f6 gxf6 4.gxh6 . ] 3.g6! fxg6 4.e6 . White wins.
Note that with the kingside pawns placed one rank below (i.e. e4, f3, g3 and h4 vs. e5, f6, g6 and h5) the whole operation would have failed since Black would have queened as well;
e.g. after 4...f3 at this very moment. Usually in the endgame it is favourable to have pushed one’s pawns as far as possible – more about this in the Space section of Chapter Six.
example 99 Mullen,I [Johan Hellsten]
a b c d e f g h
a b c d e f g h
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Black has just played ...c6-c5 preventing the
creation of an outside passed pawn with b2-b4.
Thus White directs his attention to the opposite flank.
1.g4! Preparing a breakthrough.
[ Another move order is 1.c4 c6 2.g4 . ] 1...c6 2.c4 b6
[ After 2...g6 3.g5! hxg5 4.h6 ] [ or 2...f6 3.exf6 gxf6 4.g5!
, the breakthrough succeeds. ] 3.f5
[ The move order matters: after 3.g5? c6 4.b3 b6 5.f5 exf5 6.g6 fxg6 7.e6 c6 , the black king arrives in time. ]
3...c6
[ Or 3...exf5 4.gxf5 c6 5.b3! b6 6.d5 – Mullen. ]
4.f6! gxf6 5.exf6 d6 6.g5! White wins.
Evidently, such dynamics would not have been available had Black managed a pawn structure with pawns on h5 and g6, yet that
Evidently, such dynamics would not have been available had Black managed a pawn structure with pawns on h5 and g6, yet that