The French Connection: Volume 4

Hello and welcome to the fourth edition of The French Connection. This one will be the first to feature a miniature, and like the first one, this is another gem played in 1951 by a GM that played the French Defense religiously, Wolfgang Uhlmann (1935-). The main theme here is the Greek Gift Sacrifice. The French Defense, along with the Colle System, are the two most common openings for the Greek Gift Sacrifice to occur, but what makes this game very unique is that normally it is Black that has to be careful not to allow White to execute the sacrifice, but in this game, it's Black that pulls the trigger, and while Black's attack may not be the cleanest one available to him, White's errors make Black's mate visually pleasing.


W: Wolfram Bialas
B: Wolfgang Uhlmann
Leipzig, 1951

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6

It was actually pretty rare for Uhlmann to play the Closed Tarrasch, and was more traditionally known for playing the "old" main line of the Open Tarrasch via 3...c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Ngf3 Nc6.

4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ne2 Qb6

The normal move order for this line is 7...cxd4 8.cxd4 f6 9.exf6 Nxf6 10.Nf3 Bd6 11.O-O where Black has the choice between 11...O-O, 11...Qc7, or 11...Qb6, the last of which this can transpose to and is normally followed by 12.b3 or 12.Nc3, which Black will usually answer with 12...O-O. Those that intend to play the 11...Qb6 line are often recommended to play 7...Qb6 or 8...Qb6 because it avoids one sideline by White, but allows another. After 7...cxd4 8.cxd4 f6, White can play 9.Nf4 instead of taking on f6, which Black should answer with 9...Nxd4 and there is some additional theory in this line. With 7...Qb6, Black avoids that line, but there's another one that is very rarely played that Black has to watch out for on move 10. After 7...Qb6 8.Nf3 cxd4 9.cxd4 f6, White can play 10.Nc3, sacrificing a pawn via 10...fxe5 11.dxe5 Ndxe5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Qh5+ Nf7 14.Bb5+ which is very dangerous and possibly losing for Black. A move that was never seen in books that I actually came up with myself and consider to be the only novelty that I ever truly came up with myself is 10...a6 intending 11.O-O and only now 11...fxe5 12.dxe5 Ndxe5 13.Nxe5 Nxe5 14.Qh5+ Nf7 when 15.Bb5 is not possible here. The line is still very dangerous for Black, but in the two times I have ever played the Black side of this line, I have a win and a draw.

8.Nf3 cxd4 9.cxd4 Bb4+

Keep in mind that this game was played in the early 50's, and theory was not as well established. These days, the move played in the game, while not refuted, is considered to be slightly inferior compared to the main line, 9...f6, leading to the lines mentioned in the note to Black's 7th move.

10.Bd2 f6 11.exf6 Nxf6 12.O-O O-O 13.a3 Bd6

So now let's compare the main line given in the notes to Black's 7th move with the position we have now. Black's position is exactly the same as it would be after move 12 in the main line. White, on the other hand, has played Bd2 and a3 instead of either b3 or Nc3. So White has gotten an extra move out of all of this because of Black's Bf8-b4-d6, but it does alter White's options.

14.b4

This move is not White's best option due to Black's next move, which he threatened after making his previous move. White needs to increase the coverage of e5, or else put pressure on d5, making it impossible to advance the e-pawn for Black as the d-pawn would then hang. This is what 12.Nc3 would do in the main line.

That said, 14.Nc3 here would be a mistake because of the Bishop on d2. Here, Black can grab the pawn with 14...Nxd4 15.Nxd4 Qxd4 because there is no discovery for White. Without the Bishop on d2, blocking the Queen, White would have 16.Bxh7+, winning the Queen on d4, but with the Bishop in the way on d2, this is not possible. Therefore, the best move here is 14.Bc3, adding another guard of e5 and preventing Black's next move in the game.

14...e5!

With no pressure on d5 and insufficient coverage of e5, Black is immediately able to achieve this freeing move, opening up what is normally the "bad bishop" on c8. It is no longer bad at this point!

15.dxe5 Nxe5 16.Nxe5 Bxe5

17.Bc3?

Too late! The situation is not the same as it was on move 14. White had to find a very difficult idea just to minimize Black's advantage. It involved sacrificing the exchange via 17.Be3 Qd8 18.f3 (to avoid the Greek Gift Sacrifice) 18...Bxa1 19.Qxa1 Re8 20.Bd4 a5 21.bxa5 Rxa5 22.Qc3 Bf5 23.Bxf5 Rxe2 24.Bd3 Re8 25.Rc1, keeping Black's advantage to a minimum. In return for the minimal material investment, White has an unopposed pair of Bishops.

17...Bxh2+ 18.Kxh2 Ng4+ 19.Kg3

White is forced to come out as 19.Kg1? Qh6! is curtains for White.

There is only one move here for Black, but it's a very strong one!

19...Rxf2!! 20.Bd2?

White cannot take the Rook as 20.Rxf2 leads to mate in four for Black starting with 20...Qxf2+. That said, all this Bishop move does is block White's own king escape. White must play either 20.Qc1 or 20.Bxh7+.

20...Ne3

This move is cute, but stronger and more direct is 20...h5

21.Rxf2 Qd6+ 22.Kf3??

This allows mate in 3. White had to try 22.Nf4, but after 22...Nxd1 23.Rxd1 g5, Black should be able to score the full point anyway.

22...Bg4+ 23.Kxe3 Qe5+ 0-1

The final position deserves a diagram!

The White pieces are there to accompany their master, but all they are able to do is betray him by blocking his escape! After 24.Be4 Qxe4, it's mate.

What should be gotten out of this game is two things.

First, the slightest of changes in the opening can make a significant difference, as we saw that because Black flicked in the ...Bb4+ move before retreating back to d6, the relocation of the White dark-squared Bishop from c1 to d2 completely altered what White needed to do, where in this case 14.Bc3 was correct and not 14.Nc3, nor was the move played in the game correct, namely 14.b4. So don't just think that by memorizing moves that you have an opening nailed. You need to understand when and why certain moves are possible, and that for White, it was all about needing to prevent e5 by pressuring either the e5 or d5 square, but at the same time, not allowing d4 to hang.

Second, always be on the lookout for tactical shots. The move 19...Rxf2 is ultimately what made 17...Bxh2+ playable, and while White may have still had the opportunity at that time to maintain the balance, the position was far more difficult for White to handle than Black as the ball was in White's court to find either 20.Qc1 or 20.Bxh7+, both of which would still require White to play at a very high level of accuracy just to survive.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this miniature. Until next time, good luck in all your French games, whether that be with Black or White.

Simple Chess: Return of the chessnerdbird

My break from chess seems to have helped make chess fun again. Since November of 2017 I have been spending all of my time learning web development. Now that my schedule is freeing up I think it is time for a new blog post. 

What do I mean by chess is fun again? Well, chess was always fun for me. However, on my road to expert chess was becoming a thing of results and improvements, or lack of improvement. I wasn't allowing myself to see the beauty of chess anymore. 

If you did not watch my death match against another chess streamer, you did not witness an embarrassing defeat of 24-6 in my opponent's favor. Mainly this came about because my opponent came better prepared. I also helped my opponent by being unsure in the openings on plans and ideas. I played passive moves allowing him positions he thrives in. I did not make complications where I could out calculate him. I was afraid of losing so I couldn't play to win. 

Well I had vowed to never again have a performance like that. I took a deep dive into tactics and attacking play. I watched some GingerGM for inspiration. I looked back at some of my more exciting games to feel the rush of being on edge not knowing who is going to win because the position is so double-edged.

With all of that my games since then have been fun and exciting for me. My return to the Charlotte Chess Center and Scholastic Academy has led to 3 wins and 1 loss since I suffered that 24-6 defeat in front of hundreds of people. I have included these games and hope they bring you lessons and excitement.

Very first game back:

Second game back:

Third Game Back:

Fourth Game Back:

Aside from the first game back, my play has shown signs of rust. My calculations and my evaluations are not up to par. However, it also shows that if you create enough complications even against stronger opponents then you might have a chance to come out ahead.

This isn't always a good strategy to improve your rating points, but it does lead to fun and exciting chess. When you aren't as worried about results this is exactly what one needs. I hope to see you over a chessboard soon.

CCCSA: Tuesday Night Action Crosstable

See Chessstream's website for the CCCSA's Prohibition Series crosstable.


See our schedule of online events

SwissSys Report: Tuesday Night Action 60

SwissSys Standings. Tuesday Night Action 60: TOP

#	Place	Name	Rating	Perf.	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Total	Prize
1	1	Sulia Mason	1968	2012	D6	W2	W7	W4	L3	3.5	Free Entry
2	2-3	Patrick McCartney	2045	1973	L5	L1	W12	W7	W4	3.0
3		Chase Bellamy	1716	1906	L7	D11	D6	W13	W1	3.0
4	4	Pulak Agarwalla	1807	1839	W13	D7	W11	L1	L2	2.5
5	5	Dominique Myers	2176	2379	W2	---	W9	---	---	2.0
6	6-7	Luke Harris	1981	1865	D1	D9	D3	---	---	1.5
7		David Cogswell	1712	1754	W3	D4	L1	L2	L8	1.5
8	8-9	Advaith Karthik	2038	2112	U---	U---	U---	U---	W7	1.0
9		Michael Kliber	1913	1964	U---	D6	L5	D10	---	1.0
10	10-11	Vishnu Vanapalli	2137	1913	U---	U---	U---	D9	---	0.5
11		Robert Moore	1700	1561	U---	D3	L4	---	---	0.5
12	12-13	Julio Echevarria	1806	1645	U---	U---	L2	---	---	0.0
13		Garrett Browning	1771	1361	L4	---	---	L3	---	0.0

SwissSys Standings. Tuesday Night Action 60: Under 1700

#	Place	Name	Rating	Perf.	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Total	Prize
1	1	Todd Lambert	1402	1787	W27	W19	W10	W4	D2	4.5	Free Entry
2	2-3	Henry Chen	1613	1569	W7	L8	W3	D23	D1	3.0
3		Krishna Somesula	1444	1539	W22	L6	L2	W14	W8	3.0
4	4-6	Arjun Rawal	1487	1488	D5	W14	W6	L1	---	2.5
5		Julian Parker	1468	1517	D4	---	L14	W13	W11	2.5
6		Chalpati Gundumalla	1330	1507	D14	W3	L4	W27	---	2.5
7	7-11	Smayan Ammasani	1614	1549	L2	W12	W18	L8	---	2.0
8		Enzo Restelli	1534	1690	U---	W2	---	W7	L3	2.0
9		Ivan Manchev	1464	1840	U---	U---	W13	W26	---	2.0
10		Sasmita Mohanty	1442	1439	B---	W18	L1	---	---	2.0
11		Debs Pedigo	1340	1561	U---	U---	W22	W20	L5	2.0
12	12-14	Rishi Nair	1572	1578	D21	L7	---	W22	---	1.5
13		Mike Day	1489	1302	L18	D22	L9	L5	W25	1.5
14		Vishvin Ramesh	1353	1332	D6	L4	W5	L3	---	1.5
15	15-20	Lalith Challari	1531	1745	U---	W27	---	---	---	1.0
16		Scott LaPorte	1509	1867	U---	U---	U---	U---	W22	1.0
17		Jeff Prainito	1500	1886	U---	U---	W24	---	---	1.0
18		Anish Gudi	1477	1381	W13	L10	L7	---	---	1.0
19		Dan Boisvert	1451	1419	W25	L1	---	---	---	1.0
20		Joshua Holcombe	1350	1342	U---	U---	W27	L11	---	1.0
21	21-23	Spencer Singleton	1654	1572	D12	---	---	---	---	0.5
22		William Dale Wolfe	1467	1150	L3	D13	L11	L12	L16	0.5
23		Raam Puttagunta	1451	1613	U---	U---	U---	D2	---	0.5
24	24-27	David Magee	1486	1100	U---	U---	L17	---	---	0.0
25		Dayln Shelton	1436	1070	L19	---	---	---	L13	0.0
26		Bradley Juopperi	1392	1064	U---	U---	U---	L9	---	0.0
27		Parijat Majumdar	1345	1003	L1	L15	L20	L6	---	0.0

SwissSys Standings. Tuesday Night Action 60: Under 1300

#	Place	Name	Rating	Perf.	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Total	Prize
1	1-4	Utsav Arora	1266	1410	W12	L2	W13	W16	W23	4.0
2		Lokruth Patil	1186	1371	W10	W1	W19	W9	L5	4.0
3		Arri Restelli	373	523	L4	W32	W42	W40	W40	4.0
4		Sejal Pandey	226	570	W3	W40	W41	L22	W42	4.0	Free Entry
5	5	Harshil Jagga	1067	1253	W15	L13	D23	W19	W2	3.5
6	6-8	Nathan Conklin	1077	1223	W38	---	---	W43	W45	3.0
7		Taran Bellam	922	1183	W21	W17	---	W8	---	3.0
8		Pulla Reddy Gudi	660	927	W33	W30	W29	L7	---	3.0
9	9-22	Alan Cai	1246	1218	L24	W10	W12	L2	---	2.0
10		Otto Restelli	1234	1109	L2	L9	L15	W35	W16	2.0
11		Errol Restelli	1231	1196	U---	L12	---	W26	W34	2.0
12		Calvin Mitchell	1229	1077	L1	W11	L9	L14	W31	2.0
13		Virginia Caldari	1185	1284	W23	W5	L1	---	---	2.0
14		Ramachandra Kapilavayi	1166	1201	L16	L25	W35	W12	---	2.0
15		Prashvin Ramesh	1134	1242	L5	W37	W10	---	---	2.0
16		Chandrashekar Patil	1133	1104	W14	L23	W36	L1	L10	2.0
17		Braden Miller	1048	1075	U---	L7	W18	---	W28	2.0
18		Richard Trela	1011	857	L30	W28	L17	W21	---	2.0
19		Ketan Awasthi	843	999	W28	W29	L2	L5	---	2.0
20		Raghav Keskar	710	660	L29	W39	L28	L31	W22	2.0
21		Nehal-Om Shatagopam	642	722	L7	W33	W31	L18	---	2.0
22		William Millikan	514	625	U---	W31	L27	W4	L20	2.0
23	23	Shravan Dash	1121	1062	L13	W16	D5	---	L1	1.5
24	24-34	Sasmita Mohanty	1223	1646	W9	---	---	---	---	1.0
25		Luke Johnson	1197	1566	U---	W14	---	---	---	1.0
26		Amir Farahany	1078	979	U---	U---	U---	L11	W44	1.0
27		Anish Thota	899	949	U---	U---	W22	---	---	1.0
28		Sepanta Poozesh	892	703	L19	L18	W20	---	L17	1.0
29		Vachan Divakar	851	604	W20	L19	L8	---	---	1.0
30		Raj Ganatra	828	766	W18	L8	---	L34	---	1.0
31		Sriram Ramineni	666	462	L32	L22	L21	W20	L12	1.0
32		Srivatsa Gundumalla	418	359	W31	L3	L33	---	---	1.0
33		Divakara Kotresha	unr.	440	L8	L21	W32	---	---	1.0
34		Kalon Foss	unr.	1029	U---	U---	U---	W30	L11	1.0
35	35-45	Jonathan Wei	1247	800	U---	U---	L14	L10	---	0.0
36		Abirami Govindarajan	1133	733	U---	U---	L16	---	---	0.0
37		Ramya Puttagunta	1026	734	U---	L15	---	---	---	0.0
38		David Petrie	1015	677	L6	---	---	---	---	0.0
39		Arnav Meshram	780	310	U---	L20	---	---	---	0.0
40		Wesley Blakely	284	unr.	U---	L4	---	L3	L3	0.0
41		Adheesh Thota	276	unr.	U---	U---	L4	---	---	0.0
42		Aniruddha Muppana	206	unr.	U---	U---	L3	---	L4	0.0
43		Neal Acharya	unr.	677	U---	U---	U---	L6	---	0.0
44		Daniel Dieringer	unr.	678	U---	U---	U---	U---	L26	0.0
45		Mason Cossette	unr.	677	U---	U---	U---	U---	L6	0.0

SwissSys Standings. Tuesday Night Action 60: EXTRA 60

#	Place	Name	Rating	Perf.	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Total	Prize
1	1-2	Prashvin Ramesh	1134	1184	W4					1.0
2		Braden Miller	1048	1753	W3					1.0
3	3-4	Vishvin Ramesh	1353	648	L2					0.0
4		Sriram Ramineni	666	734	L1					0.0

CCCSA Tournament Statistics

Over 2000 players, representing at least 33 states and 23 countries, have played at least one CCCSA event.


The following eleven players have played at least 100 CCCSA tournaments:
Adharsh Rajagopal - 143
Vishnu Vanapalli - 133
Daniel Cremisi, Sulia Mason - 124
Pradhyumna Kothapalli - 122
Aditya Shivapooja - 120
Hassan Hashemloo - 114
Richard Trela - 106
Andrew Chen - 104
Dominique Myers, Austin Chuang - 100


The following titled players have played in a rated CCCSA tournament:
16 Grandmasters
33 International Masters
33 FIDE Masters and USCF Senior Masters (2400+)
12 FIDE title norms, plus 2 GM titles, 2 IM titles, and 3 FM titles achieved at CCCSA invitationals



In addition to our rated events, the CCCSA also holds lectures, camps, and other activities with famous players such as GM Eric Hansen, GM Alex Shabalov, and IM John Bartholomew.


Our regular tournaments also have very high attendance:

• The last Tuesday Night Action event had 65 unique players
• Fifty players competed in Saturday's Reverse Angle 83, topped by NMs Klaus Pohl (2214), Mark Bierncki (2203), and Daniel Cremisi (2399)

Coming up this summer:

• Camps and lectures with GM Boris Avrukh, GM Jacob Aagaard, GM Aman Hambleton, and IM John Bartholomew
• U.S. G/10, G/30, G/60 Championships - the first national tournaments in Charlotte since 2001
• 3rd Carolinas Classic - the largest annual open tournament in North Carolina
• Summer GM/IM Norm Invitational Tournament - featuring 40 players rated over 2300, including 6 GMs, 20 IMs, and 14 FMs/NMs from over 14 countries - held at the same location as the Carolinas Classic, spectators welcome!

See our events schedule here!  CCCSA members receive discounts on all tournaments, camps, and activities.

Reverse Angle 83 Results - Pohl, Macnair, Prakki, Paimagam, Swarna winners

A palatial turnout of fifty players competed in the 83rd edition of CCCSA's Reverse Angle chess tournament on Saturday, April 21.

$850 in guaranteed cash prizes ensured a strong turnout in each of the three sections: Top, Under 1800, and Under 1400.



Top Section
In the top section, Daniel "well technically" Cremisi (2386), Klaus "I won the SC bughouse championship" Pohl (2203), and Mark "still the state champ" Biernacki (2183) were the National Masters in the field.  They were joined by many experts and class A players in a strong section of eighteen players.

At the end of the day, the National Masters rose to the top.  Klaus Pohl scored 3-0, earning $175, while Mark Biernacki received $75 for his clear second place finish (2.5).  Early withdrawal Daniel Cremisi (2-0) achieved his peak rating of 2399!

The under 2000 prize was split by CCCSA's most active player, Adharsh "143 CCCSA tournaments" Rajagopal (1981) and Donald "check!" Johnson (1749).

Reverse Angle 83: TOP

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Tot	Prize
1	Klaus Pohl	2203	W14	W12	W4	3.0	175.00
2	Mark Biernacki	2183	D10	W13	W6	2.5	75.00
3	Daniel Cremisi	2386	W13	W5	---	2.0
4	Neo Zhu	2151	W15	W9	L1	2.0
5	Sulia Mason	2052	W7	L3	W15	2.0
6	Adharsh Rajagopal	1981	W18	W8	L2	2.0	25.00
7	Donald Johnson	1749	L5	W18	W12	2.0	25.00
8	Alain Morais	2120	W17	L6	D9	1.5
9	James Dill	1977	W11	L4	D8	1.5
10	Xiaodong Jin	1816	D2	D14	H---	1.5
11	Robert Moore	1700	L9	B---	D14	1.5
12	Aditya Shivapooja	1981	W16	L1	L7	1.0
13	Austin Chuang	1896	L3	L2	W17	1.0
14	Garret Allen	1878	L1	D10	D11	1.0
15	Luke Harris	1812	L4	W16	L5	1.0
16	Andrew Jiang	1723	L12	L15	W18	1.0
17	Andrew Chen	1768	L8	H---	L13	0.5
18	Advaith Karthik	1712	L6	L7	L16	0.0

Under 1800
The U1800 section was the largest of the day, with twenty players, including top seeds Arav "silver and" Goldstein (1653), Ian "big mac" Macnair (1646), and Danny "crop man" Cropper (1599).

Ian Macnair, Rithvik "football" Prakki (1587) and Grisham "grischuk" Paimagam (1523) tied for first place with 2.5/3, each receiving $92.

Reverse Angle 83: Under 1800

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Tot	Prize
1	Ian Macnair	1646	W11	D3	W4	2.5	91.67
2	Rithvik Prakki	1587	D5	W19	W7	2.5	91.67
3	Grisham Paimagam	1523	W20	D1	W10	2.5	91.67
4	Danny Cropper	1599	W12	W17	L1	2.0
5	Eric Shi	1375	D2	D16	W15	2.0
6	Nikhil Kamisetty	1357	D8	W9	D12	2.0
7	Arav Goldstein	1653	W14	D10	L2	1.5
8	Bruce Roth	1565	D6	D15	D13	1.5
9	Kiru Mendez	1537	H---	L6	W17	1.5
10	Aditya Dias	1533	W13	D7	L3	1.5
11	Andrew Lord	1462	L1	W20	H---	1.5
12	Gautam Kapur	1407	L4	W18	D6	1.5
13	Dan Boisvert	1343	L10	W14	D8	1.5
14	Aarush Chugh	1516	L7	L13	W20	1.0
15	Sanjit Pilli	1346	H---	D8	L5	1.0
16	Brian Miller	1306	H---	D5	---	1.0
17	Nishanth Gaddam	1301	W18	L4	L9	1.0
18	Debs Pedigo	1521	L17	L12	H---	0.5
19	Hassan Hashemloo	1365	H---	L2	---	0.5
20	Smayan Ammasani	1337	L3	L11	L14	0.0

Under 1400
The U1400 section was also a hotly contested competition with twelve players.  Pranav "too tall" Swarna (1346), Mary "no nickname available" Tracy (1242), and Ethan "elon park's finest" Liu (1168) were the top seeds.

Pranav Swarna earned $150 for his clear first place finish.  Mary Tracy, Ethan Liu, Akshay "!!!" Rajagopal (1102) and Raamcharan "raam" Puttagunta (897) scored 2-0, good for $31.25 each.

Reverse Angle 83: Under 1400

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Tot	Prize
1	Pranav Swarna	1346	W7	W4	W3	3.0	150.00
2	Mary Tracy	1242	W9	L3	W8	2.0	31.25
3	Ethan Liu	1168	W5	W2	L1	2.0	31.25
4	Akshay !!! Rajagopal	1102	W10	L1	W9	2.0	31.25
5	Raamcharan Puttagunta	897	L3	W10	W11	2.0	31.25
6	Sahith Tanuboddi	1098	W12	L8	D7	1.5
7	Henry Nguyen	949	L1	W11	D6	1.5
8	Rishi Jasti	928	H---	W6	L2	1.5
9	Meet Doshi	943	L2	W12	L4	1.0
10	Kevin Wang	736	L4	L5	W12	1.0
11	Olga McLeod	892	H---	L7	L5	0.5
12	Sergio Zepeda	733	L6	L9	L10	0.0

Upsets - 150 points or more
Top Section, Round 3 - Donald Johnson (1749) def. Aditya Shivapooja (1981) - 232 points
Under 1800, Round 1 - Nishanth Gaddam (1301) def. Debs Pedigo (1521) - 220 points
Under 1800, Round 2 - Nikhil Kamisetty (1357) def. Kiru Mendez (1537) - 180 points
Under 1800, Round 2 - Dan Boisvert (1343) def. Aarush Chugh (1516) - 173 points
Under 1400, Round 2 - Rishi Jasti (925) def. Sahith Tanuboddi (1098) - 170 points




USCF Rating Report

Until next time,
G Money

Endgame Analysis: Rook Endgames With an Extra Pawn

Hello again everyone, and welcome to my latest article on the endgame. It's probably been well over three months since the last time I published an endgame article.

Just to give perspective on how this article has come about, has anybody ever told you that chess is a lot like the news? Take The Rachel Maddow Show (Weeknights, 9pm Eastern on MSNBC). Many times, she has started her show with a statement that she had many topics planned for her show that night, but one or two breaking news items in the last 30 minutes has just completely wiped all that out, and the next hour is spent covering those breaking news items.

Well, in many ways, that's what happened here. Originally, I was going to publish the fourth edition of The French Connection, but that is going to have to wait until the next publication. Instead, we are going to be looking at a rook endgame that happened this past Tuesday night. The tricky thing about rook endgames is that even the slightest of errors can completely change the assessment of the position. We are going to look at one here where a couple of wrong moves were made by both sides, but in the end it was White, who was probably "better but not winning" going into the endgame being up the pawn, won.

With that said, let's see what happened.


Tuesday Night Action 41, Round 5
W: Patrick McCartney (2049)
B: Adityz Shivapooja (1887)

We are going to start at the position where the Rook endgame virtually began.

Position after 32...Ra4

First let's make a few assessments about the position:

• Black will grab a pawn. There is no way for White to save both the a-pawn and the c-pawn as 33.Rb2 will be answered by 33...Rc4!, winning the c-pawn.
• The only way for White to get a pawn while Black is getting his is to go for the c-pawn. This is going to result in a case of White having his Rook in front of the passed Pawn. Before White will ever be able to get behind it, Black will reach that point first by going to the c-file. With his own passed a-pawn to boot, these pawns are eventually going to get traded.
• Rook and 4 Pawns versus Rook and 3 Pawns, namely e-, f-, g-, and h- versus f-, g-, and h-, is often viewed as a theoretical draw. However, here we have Rook and 3 Pawns versus Rook and 2 Pawns with Black's pawns being split on the kingside.

So let's absorb what we have here. White doesn't want to outright lose the extra pawn and give only Black a passed pawn. Therefore, he will have to go for the c-pawn. This is follow up with a trade of queenside pawns, and so therefore, White has to focus his attention on the kingside majority if he wants any chance at winning. This pretty much drives the idea of what happened the next 10 moves or so.

33.Rc7 Rxa2 34.Rxc6+ f6

Often times, if you are the side defending in a pawn down Rook endgame, you want to keep your most centralized pawn on the 7th rank if possible. It can act as a shield to your King on the seventh rank (second if you are White), and with the King on the seventh, the opposing Rook cannot check you from behind as you will just capture it. With this advancement of the f-pawn, Black always has to look out for the White Rook invading via the back rank, and in some ways, this is the root cause of what ultimately forces the Black King himself to get stuck on the back rank. I personally would play 34...Kg7, but the move played may not lose because it sets up a fortress that White will have a hard time breaking if Black uses the Rook purely to guard the seventh rank and simply toggles until White tries to do something as we will see a few moves down the road.

35.Kg2 Ra3 36.g4

Advancing the central pawn first, avoiding situations like 36.h4 h5 or 36.f4 f5.

36...Rc3 37.h4 a5 38.f4 Kg7

There was no immediate mate threat, but Black did have to watch out as White was about to play 39.Rc7, at which point, Black would be forced to further advance one of his pawns to avoid checkmate. or loss of the Rook. That said, 38...Kf7 might be a slight improvement, getting out of there and centralizing the King, intending to answer 39.Rc7+ with 39...Ke6. If White goes quickly running after the h-pawn, Black grabs the c-pawn and still has his own passed a-pawn on the side of the board away from the Kings.

39.Rc7+

Now instead, Black is forced to the back rank.

39...Kg8 40.c6

White wants to keep his advantage as mobile as possible. Advancing the h-pawn leads to difficulties making progress. For example, 40.h5 Kf8 41.c6 a4 42.Kf2 a3 43.Ra7 Ke8 44.Ra8+ Kf7 45.c7 Rxc7 46.Rxa3 Rb7 47.Kf3 Re7 48.Ra1 Ke6 49.Ra6+ Kf7 50.Kf2 Rb7 51.Kg2 Rb3 52.Ra7+ Kg8 53.Ra8+ Kf7 54.Ra7+ Kg8 55.Ra8+ Kf7 and it's very hard to see how White makes progress.

40...a4 41.Kf2 a3 42.Ra7

Note the timing of White going to the a-file. This is very important. With White's pawns advanced, we saw in the note to 40.h5 that one of White's main problems was the cutting off of the King by Black on the third rank. If White played Ra7 a move earlier, then Black could grab the c-pawn, and once White grabs the a-pawn, go back to the third rank to cut off the White King. Here, Black can try to check the White King and then push a2, guarding laterally, but eventually will have to take the White c-pawn anyway, or he can trade immediately like he does in the game, but the specific location of the White Rook following the trade allows White to lift the King past the second rank.

42...Rxc6 43.Rxa3 Rc4 44.Ke3

In many ways, White is trying to make something out of nothing, but when you are a pawn up and have nothing to lose, being a pest is sometimes the best way to go. Test Black on his defense and make him prove that he sees that there is nothing that White can do.

44...Kf7 45.Ra7+ Kg8 46.Rd7 Ra4 47.Rd4 Ra7 48.Ke4 Kf7 49.Rd5

So White has been able to bully his way to the fifth rank, but with correct defense, he should get no further.

49...Rb7

Black correctly continues to toggle on the seventh rank, daring White to try to prove he has something.

50.Rc5

White's ultimate goal is to get the King to d6, which he cannot do with the Rook on d5, so he shifts the Rook over a square to stay in close proximity with the King. 50.Kf5 leads to nothing. Black can toggle on the seventh and White can toggle on the fifth all they want. The game goes nowhere.

50...Rb4+

This move in and of itself doesn't lose, but why mess with it? Better is 50...Ke6, immediately asking White what he's going to do. After 51.Rc6+ Kf7, White has nothing better than to go back with 52.Rc5. If White tries to charge forward with 52.Kd5, then 52...Rb5+ and if 53.Kd6, then 53...h5! puts an end to all hopes of White winning. The White h-pawn falls. If 54.g5, then 54...fxg5 55.fxg5 Rb4 wins the h-pawn, and any trade on h5 leads to an easy winning of the h-pawn and a drawn position.

51.Kf5 Rb7

Correctly returning to where it needs to go as long as the White King stays in proximity with the pawns.

52.Rc6

Playing 52.h5 first does White no favors. Sure, it gives the King the h4 square as a hiding point without dropping any pawns if Black goes on continuously checking White once he moves the Rook to c6, but what is the King going to do on h4 anyway?

A word of note to those that use computers. Many computers have been thinking that White has a winning advantage the whole time, and some see this move as the blunder that allows Black to equalize. You can't trust computers in openings and endgames, and in reality, Black has always had the draw with correct play, it's just that now computers realize it.

52... Rb5+ 53.Ke4 Rb4+ 54.Ke3 Rb3+ 55.Kd4 Rg3 56.Rc7+ Kg8 57.Rc8+ Kg7 58.Rc7+ Kg8

59.Ke4

White makes one last ditch effort to win the game. Remember what I said about being a pest when you've got nothing to lose? Well, guess what, this one worked! Black finally buckled!

59...Rxg4 60.h5

The trick is that this pawn is forever tactically defended and hence poisonous at all times unless White retreats the King back to the fourth rank.

60...Rh4 61.Kf5

Black to Move and Draw

61...Rxh5??

This move loses now and will always lose! Black must play 61...Kf8! and White can't make progress. For example, if he waits and plays something like 62.Ra7, Black just continues to toggle between f8 and g8 with his King. Any check by White? Black simply toggles between the seventh and eighth rank, specifically on the f- or g-file, so as not to allow the Rook to ever capture the h-pawn. The moment that the White King tries to charge, Black either checks or captures the f-pawn based on the following circumstances:

• If the Black King is on g8 and the White King goes to g6, Black checks from g4.
• If the Black King is on f8 and the White King goes to g6, Black takes on f4.
• If the White King takes on f6, then no matter which square the Black King is on, Black will take the f-pawn with check.

Following this script, White can achieve nothing better than Rook and h-pawn versus Rook, which is a draw. Note that Black can NEVER take the h-pawn, even with the King on f8. For example, after 61...Kf8 62.Ra7 Rxh5+?? 63.Kxf6 Ke8 (63...Kg8 leads back to the same problem as what happens in the game after 64.Kg6) 64.Ke6 and now both 64...Kd8 f5 and 64...Kf8 65.Ra8+ Kg7 66.f5 Rh1 67.f6+ Kg6 68.Rg8+ Kh5 69.f7 Rf1 70.f8=Q Rxf8 71.Rxf8 Kg4 72.Ke5 h5 73.Ke4 are winning for White. In the latter case, no matter what Black does, 74.Rg8+ is coming next.

Instead, the move played in the game loses instantly.

62.Kg6 1-0

So as we saw in this game, Rook endgames are the one endgame where being a pawn up is frequently insufficient to win, but the side down the pawn must always make accurate moves, and so the player up the pawn usually has nothing to lose by playing on.