Domination in 2,545 Endgame Studies by Genrikh Kasparyan is a power-packed tome of chess positions in the endgame that show us what real chess ability is all about. A statutory word of caution to readers – this book is for serious chess players only – not for beginners or those who have a cursory interest in chess. That aside, welcome to the land of mysticism in the chess planet.
Domination in 2,545 Endgame Studies by Ghenrikh Kasparyan
is a true treasure trove of many of the greatest chess compositions by various authors, including Kasparyan himself. – well organized and presented.
No other book even comes close to its level of organization by topics such as ‘two minor pieces trap a Rook’ or ‘two Rooks trapping a Queen’ so that you can look up specific scenarios according to which gameplay is involved.
I remember as a kid I was forced by my coach to go through some fancy endgame positions (later I came to know that they were called ‘studies‘).
He would ask me to look at the positions for 3-5 minutes and eventually (impatient as he was to ignite my interest) he showed the answers to me.
It did a lot to boost my imagination, and I was hooked thereafter to Chess studies.
Each one of the 2545 positions is packed with chess wisdom and offers valuable tips on how to force your opponent to lose material.
Many positions that would be considered a draw in tournament play by average players are shown as winning, with stunning calculated moves leading to a win (or a draw in hopeless positions) with the dramatic sequence of moves to capture one or more of the opponent’s pieces.
Some hopelessly lost positions will be shown as drawn or winning!
Armed with this knowledge you will gain many new insights.
You will realize that chess is not all about rules or mathematics. It is also an art of the highest order.
This book will throw your self-limiting beliefs out of your mind.
The geometry of the chessboard
If one analyses deeply the best works of outstanding ‘studies’ composers such as Troitsky, Reti, Averbakh, Platov, Kubbel, Rinck and others, one will deepen the knowledge of the geometry of the chessboard.
This is what is also known as ‘board vision.
The greater the familiarity of each square’s correlation with other squares (and the effect of a piece on that square) the better will your strategy be.
If you have never seen a chess study you will be dazzled by one. Get ready to see Chess positions in a new light! So let’s start with one of my favorites:
Interference, in anything but chess, is considered impolite.
White to play.
I know that the above position may appear to be simple for most of you, but that was for the starters!
I remember being entranced as a kid by a few Reti studies in this book, especially a few of those where a Knight dominated a Bishop on a somewhat empty board – funnily the bishop could not find a good square to move!
Take a good look at the Reti studies if you choose to buy the book.
You might wonder – why are endgame studies important for calculation training?
Can we not learn the art of calculation by solving Mate in 2 or 3 movers?
The answer lies here: In my personal experience – I myself have never got to like many problems as mate in two or mate in three – what difference does it make whether you mate your opponent in two moves or three?
But endgame studies are another matter.
Not only do they create a sense of curiosity, but they are also useful in training you to think along different lines that might come up in your games and honing your calculating abilities by making you think about your opponent’s resources and more importantly making you think out of the box.
An IM who is a good friend of mine told me that he rose in the Elo ladder after finishing the Domination book not once but twice! And most of his opponents fell into his traps that he learned from this very same book!
My mileage was different.
Domination will not make you a better player overnight.
I was able to implement a few lessons only after a few months of looking up the Domination book.
It takes some time as this is not your run-of-the-mill stuff.
This one will embed in your chess psyche slowly but surely.
No wonder many books refer to Kasparian as the greatest Russian composer!
The next article in this regard will be my review of Dvoretsky’s Studies for Practical Players – a hidden gem that needs to be brought to the limelight and which will be a worthy companion to the Domination book.
Power of the common Pawn – Chennai (Tiger) Express
This was one brilliant game of technique played by Vishy Anand, that shows how positional understanding is the foundation of all tactics. Its not often you get to see a game that literally keeps you mesmerized. There was some inefficiency by Wesley So but that does not take the credit away from Anand. A champion has to be brave and this is what Anand demonstrated – he showed the Power of the common Pawn today in Shamkir 2015.
The 2nd Vugar Gashimov Memorial took place in the Heydar Aliyev Center in Shamkir from 17th to 26th April 2015. The participating players were: Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Viswanathan Anand, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Vladimir Kramnik, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Adams Michael and Mamedov Rauf.
Magnus Carlsen won the 2nd Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir, Azerhaijan with 7/9 a point clear of Viswanathan Anand. However Vishy produced some of his best games here and notable is this one as told earlier.
Carlsen finished a point ahead of Viswanathan Anand who had an interesting event. Anand was also impressive as he remained undefeated, though he also had ample chances to win against his arch nemesis Carlsen in the first round.
We can learn how chess is played from up-there. The perspectives are sure to raise your understanding and your elo too. A game that I liked a lot is shown below.
A brutal technical win over Wesley So by the Chennai Tiger Vishy Anand. It was all about endgame finesse and understanding. And the Power of the common man, er… the common pawn.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. Nc3
d6 9. a3 Nb8 10. Ng5 $5 Nc6 {[%csl Gd4,Rg5][%cal Rc6d4,Gf3g5,Yd4f3] Taking
advantage of teh fact that the Knight on f3 is missing in action albiet
temporarily.} 11. Ba2 Nd4 12. Ne2 {Exchanging the Opponent’s active piece.}
Nxe2+ 13. Qxe2 h6 {The courage of a chess player. A very intuitional sacrifice
(that happens only when you look at the position from a bird’s eye view) and
one that is purely positional rather than tactical. Wonder what the engines
must be thinking about this move. It is what I call a human-like move!} 14. f4
$5 hxg5 (14… exf4 {seems to be an idea for another day. However I think
Anand must have simply moved back the Knight to f3.} 15. Nxf7 (15. Bxf4 hxg5
16. Bxg5 $19 {Seems to be bad for White.}) (15. Nh3 $13 Bxh3 16. gxh3) 15…
Rxf7 16. Bxf7+ Kxf7 17. Bxf4 {Nothing tangible for White again. So there seems
to be a lot of ways where Black could have kept White subdued}) 15. fxg5 {
Pawns on the 5th rank and beyond, are powerful and work almost like a piece in
terms of strength. That is what makes a player stand out when he can
understand the fluid nature of how the power-balance can shift subtly.} Ng4 $6
{What is that Knight doing?} 16. g6 {There goes the battering Ram! This pawn
is on steroids and seems unstoppable! That is the ‘Power of the common pawn’.}
Bg5 $5 (16… Nh6 $5) 17. h3 $1 {At first sight this looks like a move that is
kicking the Knight. Look deeply and you will see that the h-pawn is raring to
join its friend on g6! This li’l fella is planning for the future!} (17. Bxf7+
Rxf7 18. gxf7+ Kf8 {gets nothing for White!}) 17… Bxc1 18. Raxc1 Nh6 19. Qh5
$1 {The Queen comes in for the kill. A menacing move that takes adv of the
power of White’s active pieces.} Be6 20. Bxe6 fxe6 21. g4 {There is that pawn
rush to attck and soften Black’s fortress. Poor Black is helpless even though
he is a piece up.} c6 $6 {Anand thought this was a mistake during the press
conference as I guess it is not doing anything about the impending aftermath.}
22. Rxf8+ Qxf8 23. Rf1 Qe7 24. g5 Rf8 25. gxh6 Rxf1+ 26. Kxf1 Qf8+ 27. Ke2 $1 {
No more checks!} gxh6 {Subtle pawn play by White. Conversion from this
position is an entire game altogether. It is here that Anand had to shift
gears and play delicate strokes. No mad rushing here.} 28. Qg4 Qf6 29. h4 d5
30. h5 d4 31. b4 $1 {Bringing the point home. This requires finesse on the
part of the White player.} Kg7 32. Qf3 Qe7 33. Kd1 Kg8 34. Qf2 Kg7 35. c3 dxc3
36. Kc2 Qc7 37. Qc5 Kg8 38. Qe3 a5 39. Qh3 axb4 40. Qxe6+ Kf8 41. axb4 Qa7 42.
Kxc3 Qa3+ 43. Kc2 Qa4+ 44. Qb3 Qa7 45. d4 1-0
Never under-estimate the Power of the common Pawn !
Further Reading –
Kish Kumar is a passionate Chess player and coach at Golden Chess Centre and loves teaching the various aspects of Chess. When not involved with Chess he is busy life-coaching! Connect with him here 🙂
Hi friends, lets look at some Tactics from the 41st Chess Olympiad.
Tactics from the 41st Chess Olympiad
This position comes from the game WGM Melanie Ohme of Germany (2301) vs WGM Olga Girya of Russia (2484), Round 4 of the 41st Chess Olympiad, played in Norway.
White to move.
The tactics puzzle is at move 37. White to move.
Black has just played 36. …Rh2. It appears as though Blacks pieces are all swarming over the white monarch and the attack by black might just come through. Right?
Look again. The Black King is also not a sleeping beauty rather looks like a sitting duck. The question is – how can White use that to his advantage?
The first thing to do is to lay the position on a real chess board.
Do not try solving it on the PC as you will be missing on the spatial aspects of chess training.
Moreover if the position is not solvable in the first two minutes then stop staring at the screen.
Sit down and start solving on a chess board.
But don’t feel any necessity to do it that way; just try to “see” as far as you can with the diagram, and if you can’t keep the position or visualize deep enough, then its time to set up a board.
This wayit will improve your vision on a real board also since real chess games are OTB.
If you can mate him, it will be good. If you cannot, try tactical methods to snare some free stuff!
Oops – looks like I just blurted out the answer.
Don’t scroll down any further as the answer will be posted in the following lines.
Let us see what the answer is: Bb6+ followed by RxN. (The Knight is defending the Rook on d2. So you get the picture now?). Black loses a lot of material and resigned.
One of the best games by Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk on Attack and Counter-Attack – Model Chess Game for all budding chess players.
I think it needs to given a closer second look to understand many concepts related to attack and defense. I really enjoyed this game and hope you would too.
Tactics, audacity, and speed are the hallmarks of chess matches called “miniatures,” games played in 25 moves or less. Learn from 100 fascinating games played by Soviet chess masters, taken from the records of the Soviet Chess Bulletin. Selected and annotated by noted chess authority P. H. Clarke. 99 chess diagrams.
Golden Chess Centre conducts regular training sessions for upcoming chess players in Nanganallur, Madipakkam, Adambakkam, Moovarasampet, Kilkattalai, Kovilambakkam, Puzhuthivakkam, Ullagaram and Pazhavanthangal – Chennai, as well as online sessions for those players who live out of Chennai.
Let us look at a position that shows an excellent positional sacrifice. Such examples help us understand the concept of a positional sacrifice – which means giving away a higher value piece for the enemy’s lower value piece to attain a good advantage for a win or at times a draw (in case the game seems lost).
Excellent Positional Sacrifice
At first sight, White’s chances are preferable. He has two bishops, and although the one at b2 is passive, it is free to come into play via c1. Black’s pawn majority on the queen-side is ephemeral (the move b4 doesn’t give anything in particular), whereas White is ready for activity in the centre.
He can first strengthen his position by the advance of the h-pawn, but White’s main aim is the e5-e6 breakthrough. This threat is highly unpleasant and it is not altogether clear how to combat it.
But on a close examination of the placing of the black pieces and the features of the position, it will be noticed that its evaluation could change if the black knight were able to occupy the d5 – square.
Here the knight not only blocks the d4 – pawn, but also takes away some good squares from the white pieces (for example, f4 from the queen).
However, it is not so easy for the knight to reach d5: for this the rook has to move from e7.
For example, 25…Ra7!? – after 26. e6 f6 27. Bf3 Ne7 everything is still far from clear; in any event, there is no apparent way of forcibly exploiting the powerful passed pawn.
Black retains control of the light squares, and even if the pawn should advance to e7, the g6 – bishop can come to the rescue. But this would have been falling in with White’s plans!
And Black makes a move which many players, unfamiliar with this games, would consider a blunder and at which the computer would ‘laugh its heart out’ if it had one!.
In this position, Black played 25… Re6!!.
The move is indeed incredible: the rook simply place itself en-prise. For the sake of what? In order to block the advance of the pawn and also to open the way for the knight to d5.
Let us ponder over the position and ask us ourselves:
Why should a rook be stronger than a minor piece here?
After all, a rook requires open lines, it needs to have something to attack, whereas minor pieces require strong points and pawn support.
In the given instance there is a shortage of open lines, and it is no longer possible to prevent the knight from reaching d5, where it will be impregnable. In addition, from d5 the knight will be attacking the c3 – pawn, and if the white bishop does not manage to switch to d2, it will remain ‘vegetating’ at b2.
It is practically impossible to break Black’s light square defenses; white simply does not have sufficient resources to do so.
Thus, when this staggering move is made on the board, we can understand perfectly well the reasons that induced Black to give up the exchange, and we can grasp the deep strategic meaning of what has occurred.
After 25… Re6, White played 26. a4. An attempt, by creating tension on the queen-side, to open lines and exploit the exchange advantage. The game was agreed to a draw after 41 moves.
This game featuring an excellent Positional Sacrifice was played between S. Reshevsky and T. Petrosian, Candidates Tournament, Zurich 1953.
Domination in 2,545 Endgame Studies by Genrikh Kasparyan is a power-packed tome of chess positions in the endgame that show us what real chess ability is all about. A statutory word of caution to readers – this book is for serious chess players only – not for beginners or those who have a cursory interest in chess. That aside, welcome to the land of mysticism in the chess planet.
