The second duck
Overall, there are three directions that I can follow during a chess game
r1b1r1k1/pp2pp1p/2n3pB/2P1b3/8/6P1/PP1RNPBP/R5K1 w - - 0 18
(To be continued. . .)
- Going for the throat of the King (à la Vukovic, PoPLoAFun, the first duck)
- Going for the weak pawns (provoke pawn moves, pawn trading, invasion, encircling, undermining, the second duck)
- Going for the endgame (get a better pawn structure, get a passer, trade off the pieces, promotion square is the third duck)
I have little knowledge of the second option. So let's investigate!
I plan a series of middlegame chess positions which have no clear path to victory yet. Stockfish will be of little help, since there are 8 or 10 moves that score well between a range of 0.25 pawnpoints. And we must find a scheme of reasoning that gives our thoughts direction.
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| White to move. Smyslov vs Szabo |
r1b1r1k1/pp2pp1p/2n3pB/2P1b3/8/6P1/PP1RNPBP/R5K1 w - - 0 18
White has a mobile pawn majority on the queenside. Black has a majority in the center. What are the plans? What is going on in the position?
As said, Stockfish is of little help (45 ply):
The move Nc3 Bxc3 that is proposed by Stockfish looks like a reason to accuse your opponent of cheating. Ruining your pawn position doesn't look like a move a human would make.
ReplyDeleteThis position doesn't shed more light on the matter. Back to the drawing board.
ReplyDeleteFWIW:
ReplyDeleteI’ve had a copy of Müller’s and Pajeken’s excellent book How to Play Chess Endgames for some time, but have never studied it in depth. I’ve dipped back into it, along with Dvoretsky’s highly touted Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual in light of the current direction you have taken. Müller and Pajeken aver that Dvoretsky proposes 88 endgame positions (illustrating endgame principles) that are must know for successful endgame play.
Standard disclaimer: no financial interest, blah, blah, blah.
Chapter 18 of their book summarizes the entire book in a series of Rules.
— A) 20 Golden Rules of the Endgame
— B) Rules of Thumb [There are 64 given]
I’ll not include the Rules of Thumb due to length. The 20 Golden Rules of the Endgame are similar to Fine’s and Benko’s 20 rules (given in a comment on 31 MAY 2024).
1) An endgame is not a middlegame.
2) Activate your king.
3) Fight to the death.
4) Do not rush (unless you are in a race).
5) Normally, each exchange benefits just one of the players.
6) If you are material up you should exchange pieces; if you are material down exchange pawns.
7) If you have the advantage, you should retain pawns on both wings.
8) Passed pawns must be pushed.
9) Passed pawns should be blockaded by the king or a knight.
10) The rook is very strong on the counterattack. However, it is not a good blockader of enemy passed pawns.
11) Rooks belong behind passed pawns, your own or the enemy’s.
12) Pure opposite-coloured bishop endings have an extremely strong drawing tendency.
13) Rook endings also have a considerable drawing tendency. If you are in a worse position therefore think very carefully before you exchange the last rook.
14) Isolated and doubled pawns are weak and should generally be avoided.
15) The bishop-pair is a powerful weapon.
16) In the endgame each mistake an be the last, therefore the value of each move is very high.
17) If you have no pawns left, you generally need to be at least a rook up to be bale to win.
18) Wing pawns are often more valuable than centre pawns, since they can divert the opponent more. Rook’s pawns are often especially dangerous against a knight; in other endgames they are usually less valuable.
19) Memorize the draw with bishop and wrong rook’s pawn.
20) Study your opponent’s moves carefully. Ask yourself what he is threatening or planning, and think prophylactically.
I don’t know if that’s any help at all with the current dilemma.
I'm familiar with all these golden rules. Probably as most people are. Without context these rules have a tendency to become trivialities. What is activating your King? With no clear goal your king walks towards the center. But sometimes your King must walk towards a passer. Be it yours or your opponents. A lot of fiddling around is needed to unearth the context of these rules. And then again: with which rule should you start?
DeleteI found where to start fiddling: with the position of the previous post. Knowing how to play pawn endings is the start. I theorized that long ago in 2005-2007 (search for Lamprecht or SOPE). And now I conclude that again.
PART I:
ReplyDeleteI was curious as to what GM Komodo might “SEE” in the game. I ran it for 1.5 days(!). I’ve included the FEN again, directly from the game score, to make it easy to reference.
IMHO, the “best move” is a natural line of play (which I settled upon prior to running GM Komodo): try to take control of the d-file with the White Rooks. The drawback is that (apparently) this will force the (eventual) trade of both pairs of Rooks. In the given position, both sides have both Bishops. White has a slight lead in development and the pawn majority [3:2] on the queenside, whereas Black has the pawn majority [3:4] on the kingside.
GM Stockfish’s primary recommendation of 18. Nc3 allows Black to “exchange” his black-squared Bishop for the Knight, thereby doubling White’s c-pawns. That is an interesting clash of imbalances. There are several tantalizing possibilities for exchanging various other pieces, which most likely could change the evaluation significantly.
I’m sure my valuation function is insufficiently nuanced to properly evaluate such subtleties.
I look forward to seeing the new direction of your thoughts!
It is somewhat surprising that GM Smyslov’s actual game move (18.Nf4) is 7th on the recommended list. Then again, IMHO, there is an insignificant difference in these evaluations. I don’t think any difference less than 0.3 is significant to a 2700+ HUMAN grandmaster. On the other hand, a 2800+ HUMAN GM might be in a totally different realm of expertise. . . and we won’t consider 3400+ COMPUTER GMs at all!
Vasily Smyslov (?) vs Laszlo Szabo (?)
Date: 1955-001-001
Event: Hastings 1954/55, Hastings ENG
Round: 4
Result: 1-0
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. O-O c5 8. e4 Nf6 9. e5 Nd5 10. dxc5 Nb4 11. Nc3 N8c6 12. Qe2 Qd3 13. Rd1 Qxe2 14. Nxe2 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Bxe5 16. Bh6 Re8 17. Rd2 Nc6 18. Nf4 Bf5 19. Re1 Bg7 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. a3 g5 22. Nd5 Red8 23. Red1 Bg4 24. f3 Be6 25. b4 h6 26. Kf2 Rd7 27. Nc3 Rxd2+ 28. Rxd2 Rd8 29. Rxd8 Nxd8 30. f4 gxf4 31. gxf4 Bb3 32. Ke3 Kf6 33. b5 e5 34. Ne4+ Ke6 35. c6 exf4+ 36. Kxf4 bxc6 37. Nc5+ Kd6 38. Nxb3 cxb5 39. h4 Nc6 40. Bxc6 Kxc6 41. Kg4 b4 42. axb4 Kb5 43. Nd4+
PART II:
ReplyDeleteGM Komodo [1.5 days]:
FEN: r1b1r1k1/pp2pp1p/2n3pB/2P1b3/8/6P1/PP1RNPBP/R5K1 w - - 4 18
D30 +0.59 18.Rad1 Bf5 19.b4 a6 20.Be3 Red8 21.Bd4 Bc7 22.a3 Kf8 23.Bb2 Bc2 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Rxd8+ Bxd8 26.Nc3 e6 27.Ne4 Bxe4 28.Bxe4 f5 29.Bxc6 bxc6 30.f4 Kf7 31.Be5 Bf6 32.Kf2 Bxe5 33.fxe5 g5 34.Ke3 Ke8 35.h3 Kd7 36.Kd4
D30 +0.50 18.Nc3 Bg7 19.Bf4 Bf5 20.h3 Rac8 21.g4 Be6 22.Nd5 Red8 23.Rad1 Kf8 24.Be3 Bxd5 25.Bxd5 e6 26.Bxc6 Rxd2 27.Rxd2 bxc6 28.Rd7 a5 29.b3 a4 30.bxa4 Ra8 31.Bg5 Ke8 32.Re7+ Kf8 33.Rc7 Ke8 34.Rxc6 h6 35.Be3 Rxa4 36.Rc8+ Kd7
D30 +0.44 18.a3 Bf5 19.Rad1 Red8 20.Be3 Rxd2 21.Rxd2 a5 22.h3 h5 23.Nf4 Rd8 24.Nd5 Rd7 25.b4 axb4 26.axb4 Kf8 27.b5 Na7 28.Bf1 e6 29.Nb4 Rxd2 30.Bxd2 Bd4 31.c6 Be4 32.cxb7 Bxb7 33.Nc2
D30 +0.42 18.Bg5 Bf5 19.Rad1 Rac8 20.Be3 Be6 21.b3 Red8 22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 23.Rxd8+ Nxd8 24.f4 Bb2 25.Nd4 Bd7 26.Kf2 Kf8 27.Ke2 a6 28.Kd3 f6 29.Be4 Bg4 30.a4 Ke8 31.b4 Bd7 32.a5 Bg4 33.Kc4 Bxd4 34.Kxd4 Nc6+ 35.Kc3
D30 +0.41 18.Be3 Rd8 19.Rxd8+ Nxd8 20.Rd1 Be6 21.b3 Nc6 22.Nf4 Bg4 23.f3 Bf5 24.g4 Bxf4 25.Bxf4 Be6 26.Bf1 f6 27.Be3 Rd8 28.Rd2 Kf7 29.Kf2 Rxd2+ 30.Bxd2 Bd5 31.Ke3 e5 32.Bc3 Ke7 33.Be2 Nd8 34.g5 Ne6 35.gxf6+ Kxf6
D30 +0.40 18.Rb1 Bf5 19.Rbd1 Rad8 20.Be3 Bg4 21.Rxd8 Rxd8 22.Rxd8+ Nxd8 23.Bd4 Bxd4 24.Nxd4 Bd7 25.f4 Kg7 26.Kf2 Kf6 27.Ke3 e5 28.fxe5+ Kxe5 29.b4 a6 30.Nf3+ Kf6 31.Nd2 Ke6 32.a3 Bc6 33.Bxc6 Nxc6 34.Nc4 Kd5 35.Nd6 Ne5 36.Nxb7 Nc4+ 37.Kf3 f6 38.a4
D30 +0.40 18.Nf4 [Move played by GM Smyslov] Bg7 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Rad1 Bf5 21.Nd5 Rac8 22.h3 e5 23.Nc3 Re7 24.Rd6 Nd4 25.b4 Be6 26.Rd2 a5 27.a3 axb4 28.axb4 Nc6 29.Rb2 Rd7 30.Nb5 Re7 31.Kh2 f6 32.Nc3 Nd4 33.Rd2 Rf7 34.Nd5
D30 +0.36 18.Rc1 Bf5 19.Rcd1 Rad8 20.Be3 Bg4 21.f3 Rxd2 22.Rxd2 Be6 23.b3 Bg7 24.Kf2 h5 25.h3 Bc8 26.Nd4 Rd8 27.Nxc6 Rxd2+ 28.Bxd2 bxc6 29.f4 Bd7 30.Ke3 Kf8 31.a3 Ke8 32.a4 e5 33.b4 exf4+
D30 +0.36 18.h3 a5 19.Nc3 a4 20.Rc1 Ra5 21.Be3 Be6 22.a3 Rd8 23.Rxd8+ Nxd8 24.f4 Bf6 25.Rd1 Nc6 26.Bf1 h5 27.Kh2 Bf5 28.Be2 e5 29.fxe5 Bxe5 30.Kg2 Be6 31.g4 hxg4 32.Bxg4 Bxg4 33.hxg4 f5 34.gxf5
D30 +0.36 18.Rf1 Bf5 19.Rfd1 Rad8 20.Be3 Bg4 21.Rxd8 Rxd8 22.Rxd8+ Nxd8 23.Bd4 Bc7 24.Kf1 Be6 25.b3 Bd7 26.f4 f6 27.Bc3 Kf7 28.b4 Bc6 29.Nd4 e5 30.Nxc6 bxc6 31.Bd2 exf4 32.gxf4 Ne6 33.Bxc6
Let me first talk about the endgame. It is certainly an area where I can gain a lot of points from. And a clear picture has emerged how to do that. If you look at the position of the previous post, you see diagram with a Trébuchet in it. While fiddling around with it, adding pawns or removing pawns, I realized how essential this position is. A lot of pawn endings can one way or another change into a Trébuchet like battle.
ReplyDeleteThe methods on the defending side are:
-Keep white out of the queenside
-Give up the pawn but take the opposition on the right moment
-Counter attack on the Kingside
The art of fiddling around is to translate Stockfish variations into general concepts.
"I look forward to seeing the new direction of your thoughts!"
ReplyDeleteMe too. Endgames must certainly be studied, especially now I have an entrance point. This post showed a more important hole in my bucket though. Between the opening and the pursuing of the ducks there is a whole area where the direction is not so clear. When the opponent's King is save and there are no pawn weaknesses there are no sitting ducks to aim for.
The position of this post is like trying to bench press which you can lift not even once. Ok, you train your muscles, but it is not efficient.
So I started to browse through courses that I purchased some time ago but which I have only skimmed through very lightly. And I found a course that might provide the right direction
Interesting idea in that video. I noticed that in the game, GM Smyslov attempted to control the d-file (at least until Black was forced to contest it, resulting in all of the rooks being exchanged). He moved his minor pieces into the center and also exchanged off the black-squared bishops. The queenside majority was pushed, creating tactical shots there. Another thing I noticed is that the better placement of White's minor pieces in the center caused Black to initiate exchanges (perhaps an in-context example of the maxim: "To take is a mistake."). GM Smyslov also seemed to be in no big rush to overwhelm Black.
DeleteI think a "feel" for what should be done can be obtained from the way the game progressed over several moves, but there is no clear-cut general "plan" (heuristics) that provides guidelines for how to handle similar positions.
Maybe it's just a matter of continually improving the piece positions a little at a time (while limiting the opponent's opportunities) until the disparity between the two sides becomes overwhelming.
"The position of this post is like trying to bench press which you can lift not even once." should read "The position in the diagram of this post is like trying to bench press with a weight which you can't lift even once."
ReplyDelete