Trial by Tactics is our member-only Daily Chess Puzzle. Members enjoy access to all archived content, including thousands of PDFs and hundreds of Ebooks - all free! To join: make a $25 (or more) tax deductible donation to ChessEdu.org and we will send your log in details for one-year access. (It may take up to 72 hours to receive your log in.) In Trial by Tactics you are shown the position just before the tactic occurs and then asked to visualize the winning sequence. Thereby emulating a real game scenario. These puzzles can also be used as test questions in conjunction with the ChessEdu.org curriculum. A new puzzle is posted daily. Your daily chess quiz! [FEN … [Read more...]
Tarrasch’s Tempo
Endgame Corner #161 by Karsten Müller Tarrasch's Tempo Ronald Wieck wrote in to say, "I believe you will be interested in a discovery by IM Bernard Zuckerman." Of course I was very interested, as an old and famous rook ending was concerned. He had talked to Bernard Zuckerman on the phone: "Bernard and I were talking about rook endings and right before we hung up, he asked me if I was familiar with Rubinstein's draw with Tarrasch at San Sebastian, 1911. Proudly, I announced that I was. He pressed on with, "but did you ever wonder what happens if Tarrasch gains a tempo?" And indeed Zuckerman, who did not use a computer, seems to be right. Tarrasch could have won: 161.01 … [Read more...]
More Deep Duels
Endgame Corner #160 by Karsten Müller More Deep Duels It is a coincidence that not only FM Dr Heinrich Rolletschek has sent me a deep analysis of a same-colored bishop ending, which was published in Endgame Corner #159, but also GM Efstratios Grivas and Harald Fietz. I want to thank them that they have given permission to publish it in my column. I want to start with another example: 160.01 Onischuk,Alexander (2668) - Naroditsky,Daniel (2543) ch-USA 2014 Saint Louis USA (10.4), 18.05.2014 White's extra pawn can be converted, but care is required as White's king can not invade easily: 51.Bf5!? The direct 51.f5? violates the endgame principle do not rush because of51...Bc8 … [Read more...]
Deep Domination Duel
by Karsten Müller Heinrich Rolletschek has made an amazing discovery regarding the famous bishop ending Pinter-Alterman, Beersheba 1991, and he has kindly allowed me to publish his findings. I also want to thank Harald Grafenhofer for his help. Now to hand over the microphone to Heinrich Rolletschek. 159.01 Diagram 1 Diagram 1 shows a position from the game Pinter-Alterman, Beersheba 1991, which had previously been analyzed by the winner, Pinter, in Encyclopedia of Chess Endings, in Nunn’s Chess Endings, and in Fundamental Chess Endings by Müller and Lamprecht. All these authors conclude that Black could have drawn with correct defense. The goal of this article is to show that … [Read more...]