Spyridon Skembris - Defending Inferior Endgames

 

Spyridon Skembris: Defending Inferior Endgames For most players this is not a very popular topic: Defending a worse endgame is  psychologically a lot harder then playing a  better one, and after a long suffering defeat most of us tend to go over the analysis quickly, trying to forget it as soon as  possible…  possib le…  Nevertheless I believe that it’s a very important topic, and tackling it can save a lot of half (and sometimes even full)  points. Moreover it helps to get a good good fighting spirit for the whole tournament and develops the general chess strength. So how is it possible to improve the necessary skills? Playing and analyzing (on the board) is definitely the most important, solving exercises can also help a lot. So here are some guidelines how an inferior endgame  position (in a practical game or in analysis) can be approached: - Make a rough evaluation of the position, and try to identify possible goals which would help the defense (like exchanging a certain piece or pawn, forcing a change in the pawn structure, putting up a blockade etc.) - Try to obstruct the opponent’s plans as much as possible. - Be patient –  patient –  if you can’t solve all the  problems at once just try to play the toughest move every time. - Believe in your chances, the opponent might also make a mistake. - Keep an open eye for possible saving motives (like stalemate, perpetual, fortresses, theoretical drawn endgames, etc.) - Have a look for radical switches in the  position (like sacrifices or going into a different kind of endgame). The more difficult it seems the more imagination is needed. - If still everything ever ything seems hopeless, watch out for possible tricks or traps. - If nothing of the above is possible –  possible  –   resign. FIDE Surveys – Spyridon Skembris

Let’s have a look at some practical endgames. When I work with my students, I like to show some of my own games,  because it’s easier easier to explain the circumstances, thoughts and emotions during the game, so the same I’d like to do here. Suba M. : Skembris S. Balkaniad (Men), Plovdiv 1982

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + + + 0 9 + k m + +0 9+ + +K+p0 9 + + z P l0 l v0 9+Lz p P z + 0 9P+ + + +0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy 52...Bd8 This was my sealed move in the adjourned game in our match against Romania. 53.e4 And, of course, this was the move we expected. With our trainer Dr. Minev we analysed the position, but as hard as we looked, we couldn't find a salvation here. White has quite an easy way to advance his

 pawns, and even if the opposite coloured  bishops often secure some drawing chances and Black has two passed pawns himself, we couldn't find a way to use them. All the variations seemed lost. Finally Dr. Minev told me better to get some sleep, to be fresh tomorrow, as there was also another game waiting ... But as I continued to look at the position alone, it finally dawned on me: Why did I have to wait passively with my king? 53...Kc5!! A surprising and beautiful idea: The black king goes for a walk into the white camp to hinder their natural advance and to force a  blockade! I remember the surprise on Dr. 1

 

Minev's face when he saw this move and how his eyes lit up when he understood the idea. 53...h4? 54.e5 Ke7 55.Kg4 Ke8 56.a4 Kf8 57.a5 Ba5 58.Kh4 Bb6 59.Kg4 Bd4! (or 59...Ke7 60.f5) 60.Kf3 Kg7 61.Ke4 Bf2 62.f5 Bh4 63.Kd5! Kf7 64.Kd6 Kg7 65.Ke6 Kf8 66.f6 Bf2 67.Kf5 Bb6 68.e6 Bd8 69.Kg6 is a sample line how Black loses with the "normal" defence. 54.a4

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + l v + +0 9+ + + + 0 9 + + + +0 9+ k m +K+p0 9P+ +Pz P +0 9+Lz 0 9 +p+++++0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy 54.e5 Kd4! reaches the same position as White has nothing better than 55.a4 here. 54...Kd4! 55.e5 Ke3! So here is the king. Now that the pawn f4 is under attack Black threatens to play pla y ...h4 and ...h3. 56.e6!?

56...Kd4! But that's it: The black king has done his  job and returns, as the white pawns can now be blocked!  Now 56...h4 doesn't work, because because of 57.Kg4 h3 58.Kh3 Kf4 59.a5 and White wins. 57.Bc2 After 57.a5 Kc5 58.a6 Kb6 59.Kg6 h4 60.f5 h3 61.f6 Bf6 62.Kf6 h2 63.e7 (or 63.Bd5 c2 64.e7 c1Q 65.e8Q Qf4) 63...h1Q 64.e8Q Qf3 Black secures the draw. 57...Kd5 58.Be4 After 58.a5!? Kc5 59.Ke5 h4 60.f5 h3 61.f6 Bf6 62.Kf6 h2 63.e7 h1Q 64.e8Q Black can play 64...Qc6! 65.Qc6 Kc6 66.Bd3 and now 66...c2 67.Bc2 Kb5=. 58...Kd6 Here Suba looked at me and proposed a draw which I accepted of course. Those

were the days ... of adjourned games and thorough endgame analysis. I must say that I learned a lot from analyzing adjourned games, especially from ones like the above. Nowadays we often have to play the endgame in a hurry, which makes the analysis after the game even more important. ½.  Skembris S. : Friedrich N. Bad Woerishofen 2013

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + l v + +0 9+ + + + 0 9 + +P+ +0 9+ + +K+p0 9P+ + z P +0 9+Lz p k m + 0 9 + + + +0 9+ + + + 0

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + +k+p0 9 + + + +0 9+ n s PP+ P zP+ 0 9 + + + +0 9+ + +Kz P 0 9 + + + z P0 P0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy

xiiiiiiiiy The best chance.

Here it's a knight against three pawns marching down the board. It's clear that Black is fighting for a draw, but what are

FIDE Surveys – Spyridon Skembris

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his chances? The main idea again is a  blockade, so the pawns can't move forward easily. Of course, still then a lot of breaks have to be taken into account, but the knight is a tricky piece. I must say sa y that I thought I was easily winning here and forgot about the necessary caution. 49.g4?! But as we will see Black catsed his chances forsing the White pawns to be  block. Still he has to fight on but he is in the correct way. I guess that 49.Ke3!?, which doesn't allow the idea in the game, is still winning - it might be an interesting task for a chess student to analyze this position. 49...Nd3! Forcing the e-pawn forward which makes it easier to block them. 50.e6  Now 50.Ke4 Nf2 51.Kf4 (or 51.Kf3 Nd3) 51...Nd3 leads nowhere. 50...Kf6!? 51.g5 Ke7 Entering this position I thought that White has an easy win (like my computer  believes as well) but as we will see that's not true. Of course not not 51...Kg5 52.e7 – +. +. 52.Ke4 Nb4! The correct way to go. 53.h4

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + m k +p0 9 + +P+ +0 9+ + +Pz P 0 9 n s +K+ z P0 P0 9+ + + + 0 9 + + + +0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy 53...Kd6! Of course Black has to defend the enemy king from entering the position - never make concessions which are not forced. 54.h5 Nd5! 55.h6

FIDE Surveys – Spyridon Skembris

The alternative 55.g6 gives Black the chance to get a blockade on the dark squares with 55...Nf6 56.Kd4 56.Kd4 h6 57.g7  Ng8 58.Ke4 Nf6 59.Kd3 Ke7 60.Kd4 Ng8 61.Kc5 Nf6 and everything is under control. 55...Nc3 56.Kd3 56.Kd4 Nd5 is just a repitition. 56...Nd5 57.Kd4 Ne7 Of course the knight has to stay close to  protect possible breaks. 58.Ke4 Nd5 59.g6 The only way to improve. 59.Kf3 Ke7 60.Kg4 Kd6! doesn't lead anywhere (but not 60...Ne3? 61.Kf4 Nd5 62.Ke5+ – ). ). 59...Nf6 Black is still walking on a narrow path: not 59...hg6? 60.fg6 Ke6 61.h7+ – . 60.Kd4

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + + +p0 9 + kPs k mPs nPz nPz P0 P0 9+ + +P+ 0 9 + K m + +0 9+ + + + 0 9 + + + +0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy 60...Ke7!  Now after the black knight has reached f6 the black king returns where he belongs! 60...hg6 61.fg6+ –  is  is winning for White. 61.Kc5 Ne4 62.Kc6 Nf6 63.Kc7 Ne8 64.Kb6 Nf6 65.Kc6 It seems that White has put his opponent into zugzwang, but Black still has a single defense. 65...hg6!  Now this move is possible for tactical reasons. 65...Kd8 66.Kd6+ –  is  is just lost. 66.fg6 Ng4! This is the point! The tricky knight controls everything in time. 3

 

67.h7 Ne5 68.Kc5 Ng6 69.Kd5 Nf4 70.Ke5 Ng6 71.Kf5 Nh8 72.Ke5 Ng6 73.Kf5 Nh8 ½.  Skembris S. : Mueller Wer. Augsburg 2012

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + m k q0 q w0 9+ + + + 0 9 + + + +0 9+ pP+ p zP+ + 0 9 + +Qz p +0 9+ + + + 0 9 + + z PK+0 PK+0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy Here Black seems to be in trouble, as his  pawn on f4 is about to fall and the white  pawn d5 is quite dangerous. The The defensive ideas here are either to make the pawn c5 move forward quickly, or to exchange ex change into a pawn ending. Of course, this needs careful calculation. 41...Qd4! A move with many purposes: for the moment the pawn f4 is defended, the white d-pawn is stopped, and the black c-pawn gets support. 42.Qe6 Of course not not 42.Qd4?? cd4 43.Kf3 d3! d3! and Black is the one who wins. Also after 42.Kf3 Qc3 (but not 42...Qe4? 43.Ke4+ – ) 43.Kf4 c4 Black has serious counter game, as his c-pawn is quite fast - a very important defensive weapen in queens endgames. 42...c4! 43.d6  Now this pawn is a real threat and Black has to find something else. 43...Qg7 44.Kf3 Qb7!  Now Black can offer the exchange of queens even at the cost of a pawn. 45.Qe4 After 45.Kf4 Qf7! 46.Qf7 Kf7 47.Ke4 Ke6 48.Kd4 Kd6 49.Kc4 Ke5 Black gets an   FIDE Surveys – Spyridon Skembris

easily draw ending. 45...Qe4 46.Ke4 Kf7 47.Kd4 Or 47.Kf4 Ke6 48.Ke4 Kd6=. 47...Ke6 48.Kc4 Kd6 49.Kd4 f3! The last finesse. Black makes it clear that he knows how to draw this position. 50.Ke4 Ke6 51.Kf3 Kf5= ½.  Dervishi E. : Skembris S. Ano Liosia 1996

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + + + +0 9+ + + + 0 9 + + m kp+0 kp+0 9+pt r + +p0 9 + +Rm K P0 P z0 9+ + + + 0 9 + + +P+0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy In the next game some general endgame knowledge and understanding is very helpful to find the right way. Erald Dervishi, at that time a promising young FM from Albania (nowadays a strong GM), is fully up to this task. Here Rc4 is in the air. If Black gets his rook to g4 and  plays b4, the position will be just lost, as White will have no counter game. But is there any way to stop this? 45.g4!! A move which shows a very ver y good understanding of the position. 45...hg4  Now Blacks is threatening ...Rc4. The point is that after 45...Rc4 46.Rc4 bc4 47.gh5 gh5 48.Ke4 c3 49.Kd3 Kf5 50.Kc3 Kg4 51.Kd2 Kh4 52.Ke1 Kg3 53.Kf1 the white king reaches f1 just in time. 46.Re8 Of course not 46.Kg4 Rc4 – +. +. 46...Rc4 47.Kg3 Kf5 Even though White two pawns now the active rook is offers a very down realistic 4

 

counter game.  48.Rf8 Ke5 49.Rg8 Kf6 50.Rf8 Kg7 51.Rb8 Rb4 The best try, as 51...b4 52.Rb6 Re4 53.Rb7 Kf6 54.Rb6 Kf5 55.Rb5 makes the white task easier. 52.Rc8 Kh7 52...Rb1 53.Rc7! Kh6 (53...Kf6 54.Rc6 Kf5 55.Rc5 Ke6 56.Rc6) 54.Rb7 b4 55.Kg4 b3 56.Kf3 b2 57.Kg2 Kh5 58.Rb4= reaches a similar position like in the game. 53.Rc5 Kg7 54.Rd5 Kf6 55.Rc5 Ke6 56.Rg5 Kf6 57.Rc5 Kg7 58.Rd5 Kh6  59.Rc5 Rb1 The only try. 60.Kg4  Now it's the correct time for this! 60...b4 61.Rb5 b3

XIIIIIIIIY 9 9++++++++0 0 9 + + +pm k0 k0 9+R+ + + 0 9 + + +Kz P0 P0 9+p+ + + 0 9 + + + +0 9+r+ + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy 62.Kg3 The white king quickly moves backwards: If the black pawn goes to b2 it will have to  be on g2 or h2. 62...Kg7 63.Rb6 Kf7 64.Kg2 Rb2 After 64...b2 65.Rb4 Kf6 66.Rb5= it's just a draw. 65.Kg3 Kg7 66.Kh3 Rb1 67.Kg2 Kf7 68.Kh2 b2 The last try but of course White defends easily. 69.Kg2 Ke7 70.Rb8 Ke6 71.Rb3 Kd6 72.Rb6 Kc5 73.Rb8 Kd4 74.Rd8 Ke3 75.Rb8 ½. 

FIDE Surveys – Spyridon Skembris

Mastrovasilis A. : Skembris S. Mastrovasilis Eretria 2011

XIIIIIIIIY 9 + r t + +0 9+ + m k +P0 9 K0 9++++++Lm z PK0 9 + + + +0 9+ + z P + 0 9 p z + P z +0 9+ + + + 0 xiiiiiiiiy This was my position in the Greek Teams Cup Final, when my team was leading 2 – 1 1:: A draw was enough for us to win the Cup. At the first sight it looks hopeless for Black, but I can still transform to t o a queens endgame. Even though I'll be three pawns down the activity of the queen makes it worthwhile to calculate a bit further. 80...Rd6!! 81.h8Q Rg6 82.Kh5 Or 82.Kg6 b1Q 83.Kh6 (83.e4 Qe4 84.Kg7 Qe5 85.Kh7 Qh2= doesn't change anything) 83...Qh1 84.Kg7 Qa1 85.Kg8 Qa8 86.Kh7 Qh1= with perpetual. 82...b1Q 83.Qh7 White has to take the rook back. 83...Kf8! In the coming queen ending the White  pieces will be awkwardly placed. 84.Qg6 Qh1 85.Kg4 Qg2 86.Kf5 Qf2 87.Ke5 Of course not 87.Ke4?? Qc2 – +. +. 87...Qe3 With the second pawn the winning chances are gone. 88.Kd5 Qb3 89.Kd4 Qd1 90.Ke3 Qe1 91.Kf3 Qf1 92.Ke3 Qe1 93.Kd4 Qb4 94.Ke3 Qe1 95.Kd4 Qb4 ½. 

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