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.
Smart Chess Training – How to improve your Chess by working smarter not harder.
Smart Chess Training – Hacks for efficient training in Chess. I have been asked many times by aspiring players and their parents about how to improve at chess, usually after they stagnated and came to me for help.
Then there are beginners who know the basics but are clueless about what options are there or even what type of study material to start training with.
Very few players know about the Smart Chess Training techniques.
Let me explain.
Most of the beginners and parents start doing something merely by looking at others like learning endings or openings and then wonder why they do not win games.
I decided to write this article to help players who are aspiring to improve their chess playing ability and who do not have access to a professional coach or the time for a rigorous disciplined study.
Smart Chess Training
Success in chess is proportional to hard work and study, but it is more about smart chess training – according to me.
Keeping targets short and reachable: It is important to have a focus while training, decide what you are trying to achieve, and then choose that training relevant to your area of study.
For e.g., if you are aiming to become a Grandmaster, you must work really hard and long at your game.
But if you are aspiring to first become a strong player and remove your weaknesses then you are going to reach there without fail.
That is my assurance.
So what is ‘Smart Chess Training’?
Before we talk about the smart way to learn or train in chess we will discuss in this first part of the article the traditional approach to the syllabus of chess knowledge that every player must learn.
Only then will we understand the smart way to chess training from a proper perspective.
Classical Chess training has four main areas of study.
Each of these areas provides the requisite knowledge and skill to become a decent chess player.
Let us know them first.
1. Tactics
THE most important skill of a chess player is to be able to visualize a certain number of moves without touching the pieces.
This is called visualization or calculation in chess.
The more we train our calculation the further ahead we can see, with greater accuracy and speed.
Tactics are common motifs in chess that can generally win the game. Some examples of tactics are “forks”, “skewers” and “pins”.
The more a player studies these types of patterns and puzzles the easier it is for them to pick-up on these “quick winning” techniques during a real game and also set some traps for an opponent.
Solving tactics puzzles is the fastest way to improve as an aspiring chess player and is a core skill to master.
You need to know them cold when they occur. And for that, you must be familiar with many tactical devices like the back of your hand.
Tactical visualization requires two elements:
Present moment= focus
Past learning = pattern recognition.
Advanced Tactics require reverse-thinking abilities too. In fact, the sooner you get to grips with reverse-thinking the better.
Simply put – reverse thinking is the ability to decipher why a certain tactic is not working and then setting about making it work by removing that cause.
Strategy is what is known as the real meat of chess strength. It is that knowledge that is used when there arises a need to choose, between what you want to do and what the position wants.
Strategy is the understanding of positional aspects present in any position that guides a player in formulating a future plan of action.
For example one of the simplest strategies a beginner learns is that “we must never put our knights on the edges of the board”.
Strategy requires patient analysis and studious planning. It is more about conversions to a win.
Studying endgames teaches the potential power of the pieces in isolation and with other pieces. The study of endgames aids brute force calculations as with fewer pieces on the board it is easier to visualize.
I believe endgame study is important to an aspiring chess player. Players who study the endgame tend to blow players away who do not study the endgame, even in positions that should be lost or drawn just because of a little understanding.
But remember that the syllabus for the endgame training is not the same for every strength category.
Endgames require an understanding of the concept and memory of certain important thumb rules.
Studying of individual openings and move orders is more of a tool only if a player is already extremely strong. It is of no use for a beginner. My simplest advice is – forget opening study if you are rated below 1800.
However the study of opening principles, and the different generic plans and structures relevant to any opening is beneficial. Make sure you have access to a coach who can guide you properly in this regard or quality training material if you do not have access to such a coach.
Openings require memory and general understanding abilities. Also the art of transpositions is a must.
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 🙂
Chess Informant – the esoteric art of learning chess – hacking your chess brain. Why esoteric? Because it was not known publicly till now. And why hacking? Because we are using action instead of passive knowledge. And why are using this book to hack our chess training? Read more…
For whom is this article useful: For aspiring chess players with a penchant to learn new techniques. Not for the beginners and children below 7 years. Also for coaches who believe in trying new techniques.
Why only Chess Informant books: Any good book will do but my experience with the Informant was first-hand so I can speak with confidence and honesty. Also I believe that they have an edge as they have only the fresh and latest games for every quarter publication.
What will you gain: You will save a lot of time. You will hack your learning technique to climb faster in the ELO ladder. These may not have been mentioned in any book, atleast none that I know of.
So let’s get started with the esoteric art of learning chess
If you are here reading my blog post, you are a chess player on the path of improvement (atleast not a non-chess player, since all chess, players like to learn to improve their game). In addition, if you have been in the chess field for some time, you must have come to know or heard about the word ‘Informant’ or ‘Informator’ in the Chess book scene. Chances are you might have even glanced at the book in a tournament stall and either took a few minutes to go through it by flipping a few pages, or looked at the pictures and thought that it was a niche book for a thoroughbred professional – who was up there in the 2500 rating range which you were/are not. You might have even thought of quitting chess, if this was what you were going to be taught when you became stronger.
How wrong and misinformed you could be, (or I was…) !?
However, I won’t blame you for this. That is the initial impression that I had too, when I saw it, some 18 years ago. So I must start with a revelation here.
My actual chess improvement started only after I had included the informant in my regular chess discussions and coaching classes, some 15 years ago – when I was aspiring to come to terms with not just the opening stages of the game, but almost everything that was problematic: my repertoire, my Strategy, my tactical skills and my endgames.
On hindsight, I am wondering why I did not look at this book when I started seriously researching about innovative chess training!
Here are my suggestions – Chess Informant – the esoteric art of learning chess :
1. People learn from mistakes and smart people learn from others’ mistakes.
Don’t make the same mistake as I did. Therefore, if you are a 1200 – 1500 player, I suggest you to look at these informant books with your trainer, in a way that suits your playing strength as outlined below.
I will be detailing my experiences with these informants and if you follow me you may be able to save some time and remove some misconceptions in the way.
2. Myth – Too many variations and diagrams that look like a PhD thesis submission.
First, take a deep breath. And do as I say.
Look at the diagrams one by one. Now look at the move printed below it. Usually this move would be given a symbol of either a ‘!!’ or a ‘!’ or in rare cases a ‘!?’. That is where the fun starts. Go to a real chessboard and stick up the position as you see it in the diagram. DO NOT worry about the game or annotations for now. Fire your brain’s neurons and understand why that move was considered GM class. This is where a good coach comes in.
Warning: When I first did so, I made the mistake of looking at the diagrams and then blindly looked at the continuation given in the book. And I thought that was enough. I was partially right – since I was initially learning at a rapid pace. Then when I hit a wall I came back and chewed the positions again, this time slowly.
3. The secret on how to really juice up the esoteric chess knowledge from such diagrams:
They will measure your understanding over a period of time. I found that these diagrams were there for a purpose, but not all the explanations given in the book will help you.
It depends on your chess understanding or rating range.
In fact, there are no verbal explanations; only moves and these moves only skimmed the surface of the chess ocean. They were/are like a guidepost for the reader – to help him when he re-visited the book, after a period of time. In my case, I remember I found one strange fact EVERY single time I revisited the diagram:
I was able to see NEW layers of Chess wisdom each time I saw these diagrams.
The secret was that I got to see a new facet of chess knowledge every time I saw these diagrams. It was as though, whenever I added knowledge to my brain my eyes were endowed with special vision lenses. I could see a new layer of hitherto hidden information portrayed in these diagrams, whenever my brain absorbed stuff and my knowledge increased.
Words will not be able to describe this phenomenon, but you will understand where I am coming from, when you sit down and do as I did. In your case, I suggest a revisit after 2-4 months. You will notice that the diagrams speak a new language after such hiatus.
4. Listen to the book and the positions, at first. Each position is a story by itself.
Now when you do read the moves succeeding the diagram you will notice that they do not always mention what you discovered on your second sitting or third sitting. At best, they will tell you what is obvious initially, atleast for an approximately 1900 + rated player to see. And that, is because if they catered to all rating ranges then they would miss the quality of analysis.
5. One size cannot fit all. It is up to us to choose what we want from the ocean of chess treasure.
In other words if you are a 2000 ELO player reading these Informants you will not see the diagrams similar to the way a 1500 rated player sees. To explain it further – If you are rated say 1500, just ask a 1200 player what he sees in any diagram. Almost invariably, he will say something that is elementary for you.
If you are interested in shoring up some hidden techniques, practice the Chess Informant – the esoteric art of learning chess method.
And dig deep.
Any informant will do; for that matter, the more recent ones are better for many other purposes that will be outlined in the later articles. It depends on your chess understanding or rating range. Whatever be your strength or class you will get something of value.
The trick is to innovate your learning. So – hack your learning process with the Informant.
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or any experience to share, I am always willing to hear them. My email is ‘chessgolden’ at the rate of Gmail dot com.
*****Empire Chess is offering a huge discount on digital and hard copies! Make sure you get the deals while they last.
Note: the links in this article are affiliate links.
Congratulations to her for a stupendous performance.
In the last game of the match, Natalia Pogonina needed a win at all costs, and she needed a miracle once again in the tournament.
Unfortunately, she had Black, and Mariya Muzychuk only needed a draw!
Muzychuk pretty much clamped down Natalia in the deciding game.
And a new champion was crowned on this date (see her smiling pic on the left).
The grueling Women’s World Chess Championship took place from March 17 – April 7 in Sochi, Russia.
The knock-out tournament was attended by 64 players, including the former World Champions Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia), Anna Ushenina (Ukraine), and Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria), the three-time Russian champion Valentina Gunina, the World Vice-Champion our own Humpy Koneru (India), our other strong contender Dronavalli Harika, as well as other leading grandmasters.
Unfortunately, the reigning champion Hou Yifan was could not make it for personal reasons, but as the winner of the FIDE Grand Prix, she will still be able to challenge the new champion to a match duel.
Mariya Muzychuk comes from a distinguished chess family in Ukraine.
Her parents are both professional chess trainers and introduced the kids to the game at an early age.
Her older sister, Anna Muzychuk, is also a chess professional and is ranked among the top 8 female players in the world.
Mariya, the 15th World Women’s Champion had a wonderful year in 2015, winning the Women’s World Championship against top players,
This title was claimed by Yifan Hou the subsequent year, but Mariya has been a prime player in women’s chess for a very long time, having the #3 on the rating list at one time.
In a tournament that spanned approximately two weeks, it was getting crazier and crazier each passing day.
The Indian challenge was well carried by Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika but in the end, a bit of luck was also needed.
What is commendable is the dream run that Harika had.
What poise and stamina! I wish her many more years of top-notch success as she is one who deserves it fully.
The World Women’s Championship was indeed a revelation for her!
The level of tension and fight can be understood by the fact that of the four matches left, three were to be decided in the tiebreaks!
Harika Dronavalli was the only player to avoid that fate, as she defeated Meri Arabidze.
Both Humpy Koneru and Natalia Pogonina were able to win in the tie-breaks, with the Russian winning her game with her trademark entertaining Benko Gambit.
Did Harika Dronavalli find her energy using the Ancient Indian Yogic pose called Vajrasana?
I remember seeing her here in Chennai during the WinTV Chess tournament where she was accompanied by her parents.
She has not changed much! Anyways, now that the secret is out of the bag I think many female players in India will follow her, and we may get to see a lot more Vajrasan in Chess!
I was gung-ho when I saw her leading along with Humpy, and when she faltered I was sure destiny had planned better things for her.
One thing is for sure – anything that helps is welcome in these pressure-cooker situations (see Nakamura’s pic below)!
The World Women’s Championship tournament was indeed nerve-wracking for the followers and the players!
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.
