The Difference of One Tempo

Yesterday, I reached a clearly winning pawn ending and blew it. My opponent then returned the favor and gave me the victory. Our errors have some instructive value. There is a difference of one tempo between the position reached in the game and the position that it might have reached.

White to move

After 58...Kxh4

White is winning.

White to move

Possible position after 57...Kxh4

Black can hold the draw.

Let's examine the ending and the errors.

White to move

After 47...Ke6

48.Ke4??

Correct was 48.Kc4, when after 48...Kxf6 49.Kb5 Ke7 50.Kxa5 Kd7 51.Kb5 Kc7 52.Kc5 Kb7 53.Kd5 Kb6 54.Ke5 Ka5 55.Kf5 Kxa4

White to move

Analysis diagram

Black's king is too far from the h-file to prevent White's pawn from promoting. Had I played the correct 48.Kc4, this would have been the result. After my move, the game was equal until Black missed a critical move.

48...Kxf6 49.Kf4 Kg6 50.Ke5 Kg7 51.Kf5 Kh6 52.Kf6 Kh7 53.Kg5 Kg7 54.Kxh5

Black to move

It is clear that White will abandon the h-pawn and attempt to promote the a-pawn. What matters most is whether Black's king will be close enough to either trap White's king in front of its pawn or occupy a8.

54...Kh7??

54...Kf6 was the drawing move. After 55.Kg4 Kg6 56.Kf4 Kh5 57.Ke5 Kxh4, the second position at the top of the post is reached. Black's king will be able to occupy a8 or trap the White king on the a-file if it prevents this.

Instead, in the game continuation, White's king was one square further towards the queenside when Black played Kxh4. This square, a one tempo difference, was the difference in the game.

55.Kg5 Kg7 56.Kf5 Kh6 57.Ke5 Kh5 58.Kd5 Kxh4

We reach the position at the top of the post.

Black resigned after the subsequent moves: 59.Kc5 Kg5 60.Kb5 Kf5 61.Kxa5 Ke6 62.Kb6 Kd6 63.Kb7 Kc5 64.a5 Kb5 65.a6

White's king assures the pawn's safety.

Decisive Advantage

My students this week are seeing a series of positions in which White has a decisive advantage. Before suggesting moves, or seeing those that were played, I ask them to assess the position. What features account for White's substantial advantage?

The intent is for them to grow in their understanding that a player must use all their pieces in coordination. They should notice that in each position, White's pieces are more mobile, offer concrete threats, and work together. Students are also asked to understand the difference between the pieces on the board and the pieces in the battle. This dynamic imbalance is temporary unless the player wit the advantage acts with vigor.

I spent about an hour gathering 16 positions for these lessons, but no student so far has seen more than eight. The first two are from famous games that many of the students have seen before.

The first is from Paul Morphy's Opera Game.

White to move

The second is from Gioachino Greco's best known use of the Greco Attack (see "Cultivating Error"). I have had this position myself in at least 17 games, winning 16. The one loss was a bullet game where I inexplicably put a horse on a square earmarked for an elephant.

White to move

The third position highlights the relationship between space and mobility. It comes from a game that I played on Chess.com a few days ago.

White to move

Number four was presented at "Desperation". It highlights concrete checkmate threats. Number five is a textbook endgame exercise.

White to move

The sixth proves difficult for students to assess. It comes from a cyborg game played in a match organized by the International Correspondence Chess Association (ICCF). In this game, White used his intuition and a great deal of time on moves 13-15 to acquire mobile center pawns that confer a dynamic advantage.

White to move

Thomas Engqvist's analysis of Morphy,P. -- Morphy,A., New Orleans 1849 in 300 Most Important Chess Positions (2018) guided my selection of the seventh position (14-15).

White to move

Chess Club Lessons

The after school chess club that I run in an elementary school began the second week of October after a week's delay because I had COVID. We meet twice per week with some students coming both days and some coming once each week. Each session is devoted to children playing chess with other and sometimes with me. There is always a short lesson. As the year goes along, sometimes these lessons will be built around a worksheet. For example, the students will see as many worksheets from my Essential Tactics* as time allows.

Chess Skills has a record of a great many of my lessons in years past. The tag, "Problem of the Week" links to these.

Here is a synopsis of the lessons so far this fall for further review by students and parents, as well as for anyone interested.

11 October

We began with an endgame position that occurred in a game that I played online and that I believe highlights the importance of calculation and a single tempo in a pawn race. "Time and Speed" shows this position with analysis of the game's conclusion and how White should have played.

13 October

Young students often express frustration when their opponent "copies" their moves. The lesson featured a game played by Jose R. Capablanca a few years before he became World Champion. In symmetrical positions, the first player often has an advantage. Check puts an end to the copying. 

Capablanca,Jose Raul -- NN [C49]
New York casual New York, 1918

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4

The copying begins.

5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 d6 7.Bg5 Bg4 8.Nd5 Nd4

White to move

9.Nxb4 Nxb5 10.Nd5 Nd4 11.Qd2

Black to move

11...Qd7??

Now, Black is lost. After 11...Nxf3+, White is only slightly better.

12.Bxf6 Bxf3 13.Ne7+

Black to move

13...Kh8

13...Qxe7 is best. Black loses the queen. The move played gives White a forced checkmate in three. Students were asked to find the conclusion.

14.Bxg7+ Kxg7 15.Qg5+ Kh8 16.Qf6# 1-0

18 October

Students were presented with a difficult endgame position that was part of Hikaru Nakamura's analysis of Niemann,H. -- Lenderman,A., Saint Louis 2022, a game played the previous day in the US Championship.

White to move

I had no expectation that young players would find the correct move. However, the wrong answers are quite instructive for showing the difficulties a bishop has stopping three connected passed pawns. It is an impossible task in this case.

45.Bb5!! is the only winning move.

If Black captures the bishop, then White queens first and the queen controls Black's promotion square. 45...axb5 46.a6 h3 47.a7 h2 48.a8Q.

If Black opts to leave the bishop alone and advance pawns, play might continue 45...h3 46.Bxa6 g5 47.Bf1 g4 48.a6 h2 49.Bg2 f4 50.a7 f3 51.a8Q fxg2 52.Qxg2 and White wins.

Following this lesson, I showed the students the game's continuation beginning with White's move 30.

White to move

30.Kb4!

Nakamura praised this move.

30...Nf4 31.Rh2 Kc7 32.a5 cxb5 33.Bxb5 a6 34.Ba4

Nakamura stated that 34.Bc4 seems more natural, but also pointed out how Niemann's move keeps Black from occupying the open e-file with his rook.

34...Ne6 35.d5 Nxg5 36.d6+

Black to move

It was here that Alex Lenderman made the error that cost him the game. This position was where we began Thursday's lesson.

20 October

The lesson was to understand the threats that Lenderman overlooked.

36...Kd8?

Students suggested 36...Kb8, which is better than 36...Kd8. According to Nakamura and Stockfish, 36...Kc8 would have given Black excellent chances to hold a draw.

37.c6

Niemann played the only winning move.

37...bxc6 38.Kc5

Again, the only winning move.

38...f4

Nakamura analyzed 38...Ne4+ and some of this analysis was shared with my students. One of these lines leads to the endgame position that was Tuesday's focus.

39.Rb2 Ne6+ 40.Kxc6

Black to move

If Black's king were on c8, White would not have a checkmate threat. This threat forces concessions that lead to a position where Black must give up the rook for White's queen.

40...Nd6+ 41.Kd5 Nb5 42.Bxb5 axb5 43.Kc6 Ke8 44.Kc7

Black to move

I pointed out to the students that if we removed all the pieces except the two kings and White's d-pawn, we would have an elementary pawn ending position that they all need to know.

44...Kf7 45.d7 1-0

Lenderman resigned here. Young students, however, benefit from seeing the reason on the board.

45.d7 Ke7 46.Re2+ Kf7 47.d8Q Rxd8 48.Kxd8 and White's rook will be able to stop Black's two passed pawns. A student needed to see even this demonstrated, so I showed him a couple more moves until he said, "Okay, now I get it."

Next week, the demo board and/or worksheets will be used to teach some checkmate patterns or techniques.

*The worksheets are available in reproducible format (no solutions) as Essential Tactics: The Worksheets (2017). The same exercises with solutions and instructional content is available only in Kindle format as Essential Tactics: Building a Foundation for Chess Skill (2017). These worksheets were created after an inspiring experience using Bruce Pandolfini, Beginning Chess (1993).

Zugzwang

This position appears in Paata Gaprindashvili, Imagination in Chess, which I was using with a student this afternoon. We failed.

Black to move

Blunders in the Ending

These positions are from my game last night in the Spokane Contenders. Robert Fisette won the event with a score of 4-1 and will play Michael Cambareri in the City Championship August 17-18. I finished 3-2 in a tie for second place with one or two others. One game remains to be played, and it will determine who wins the second place prize (free entry to a tournament).

In each of the positions below, the player to move failed to find the correct move. In every case, the error shifted the evaluation towards his opponent's hopes for a win or draw. I had White.

1. White to move

2. Black to move

3. Black to move

4. White to move

5. Black to move

6. White to move

7. Black to move

Gaining a Tempo

White intends to win back a sacrificed pawn and swap queens. But there is more. Choosing the correct move order gains a tempo by imposing upon Black an additional move. This tempo helps White maintain the initiative.

The game was Popovic -- Bogut, Hrvatska 2011 and was published as Chess Informant 113/103.

White to move

10.Bxf7+ Ke7 11.Qxd8+ Kd8 12.f4 Ke7 13.Bb3

White went on to win the game.