Monster Planning: Your Endgame
Monster Planning: Your Endgame
Monster Planning: Your Endgame
MONSTER
YOUR ENDGAME
PLANNING
VOLUME 1
Chess
Evolution
Cover designer
Piotr Pielach
Monster drawing by Ingram Image
Typesetting
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ISBN 978-615-5793-15-8
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Printed in Hungary
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key to symbols ...............................................................................................................5
Foreword .........................................................................................................................7
The Endgame.................................................................................................................11
The Golden Rules of the Endgame ...........................................................................15
Evaluation — Plan — Execution ............................................................................... 17
N novelty
! a good move
!! an excellent move
? a weak move
?? a blunder
!? an interesing move
?! a dubious move
+ check
# mate
The ‘Rule of the Three Weaknesses’
can be helpful to evaluate nearly any endgame:
The endgame is the phase of the game Knowledge is the key word. And
that it has been extensively analysed knowledge is absorbed sub-con-
and formed to concrete conclusions, sciously; it is impossible to remember
although in nearly all the books I do everything you study. So, it is highly
know, very little space is dedicated to important to work with good material
forming plans. and good trainers in order to improve
and get higher in the Chess Olympus
I think this is because of space limita- Mountain.
tions and because it’s a difficult theme
that doesn’t looks too interesting for Nowadays the help of the Silicon
the readers. But a modern chess play- Monster (chess analysis engines) is
er cannot really choose what he likes quite valuable, as it can save an author
or prefers — this has nothing to do countless hours of analysis and check-
with openings! ing. But still the role of the qualified
8 MONSTER YOUR ENDGAME PLANNING. VOLUME 1
able plan was overlooked, but these As one might notice from the
are exceptions and the games are nev- score-table, expectations are a little
ertheless quite interesting. higher than usual for the categories
listed, as in this book the evaluation
By this point, you will have received of the position is given by the author
some very good training. But then, beforehand, and this is a great help for
it will do no harm to measure your the reader. A correct evaluation of any
‘strength’ on this subject. The max- position is one of the most significant
imum score is 3.900 points and you factors in chess, but that could be the
should divide your total score by 1.5: subject for another book.
Total Points Planning Strength It is now time for you to work and
train on that important chess con-
2400–2500 Grandmaster
cept, the plan. Have fun and train
2300–2399 International Master well!
2200–2299 FIDE Master
2000–2199 Candidate Master Sharjah, 2019
1800–1999 National Master Efstratios Grivas
1600–1799 National A’ Category
1400–1699 National B’ Category
1200–1399 National C’ Category
0–1199 Should try harder!
ACKNOWLEDGMENT DEDICATION
150 years ago the quality of played end ay (a division of Random House) in
games was quite low, as chess-players hardback. The book used the now ob-
were reaching it quite rarely! solete descriptive chess notation and
used the old system of using the ab-
As strategy and manoeuvres were breviation ‘Kt’ to stand for knight in-
starting to overcome tactics, more stead of the more modern ‘N’.
and more endgames were suddenly
seen. So, a need for endgame materi- In a 1984 interview, Fine said that it
al was essential. took him three months to write the
book. He said that organising the ma-
‘Basic Chess Endings’ (abbreviated terial gave him no trouble, but it was
BCE) is a book on endgames which hard work coming up with example
was written by Grandmaster Reuben positions. He created many of the ex-
Fine and originally published on Oc- amples.
tober 27, 1941.
There was a Hardback Limited Edi-
It is considered the fi rst systemat- tion of 500 signed by Ruben Fine sold
ic book in English on the endgame by USCF in the 1940s. The hardback
phase of the game of chess. It is the edition was reprinted at least as late
best-known endgame book in English as 1960. The copyright was renewed
and is a classic piece of chess endgame in 1969 as the book went through
literature. many paperback impressions. It went
through ten printings in paperback
The book is dedicated to World by 1981.
Champion Emanuel Lasker, who died
in 1941 (the year the book was pub- The original book contains 573 pages
lished). It was revised in 2003 by Pal and 607 diagrams of positions. Many
Benko. other positions were given by listing
the location of the pieces rather than
‘Basic Chess Endings’ was written showing a diagram. The 2003 revi-
by Reuben Fine in only four months sion contains 587 pages with 1330 po-
and was published in 1941 by McK- sitions, most with diagrams.
12 MONSTER YOUR ENDGAME PLANNING. VOLUME 1
Different kinds of endgames have It is known from the time of Jose Raul
specific characteristics and rules. Ev- Capablanca that in strategical, posi-
ery serious player must know many tional endgames we have to think by
typical positions and main principles plans, schemes. Variations and calcu-
of all types of endings. lation plays a secondary role.
SOS Tip 2 — Endgame Thinking Every player has to spend a few min-
utes, if the clock allows, just to relax,
1. Piece placement. and to calm down your emotions in
2. Plan forming. order to look differently at the posi-
tion. This investment of time will pay
3. Do not rush! back later in the game.
So, how to approach ‘endgame think- I am well aware that this advice was
ing’, how to switch the right button in given before World War II, when they
our brain. The Russian master Sergei had very different time controls.
Belavenets, great chess thinker, gives
the following great advice: So do not waste your time, just switch
on the button in your brains, just re-
‘After tactical complications, when member that positional endgames re-
our brains have been busy with cal- quire ‘endgame thinking’ by schemes,
culation of beautiful variations, the by plans.
exchange of pieces might follow, and
some kind of prosaic endgame aris- And do not forget to respect your op-
es... ponent’s ideas. The art of endgame
play is how to achieve your plan and
subdue the opponent at the same
time. And this series is here to help
understand it!
THE GOLDEN RULES
OF THE ENDGAME
The most important element in mod- In every position you must know
ern chess practice is probably correct where you are (evaluation), where you
planning. The plan is associated with want to go (plan) and how you will go
evaluation and execution, three valu- there (execution). So simple, but we
able concepts that cannot be separat- tend to forget this procedure in the
ed and which most of the time deter- heat of the battle.
mine the fate of our positions.
Nowadays, chess games between de-
During my training sessions I do ask cent players are full of small plans of
from my trainees the famous EPE different types and ideas, based on
procedure, as below: purely strategic and tactical motives.
The one who will eva-luate, plan and
SOS Tip 1 — EPE execute better than the oppo-nent
earns the first option to win the game.
1. Evaluation (strategical & tactical)
2. Plan (ours and our opponent’s) A closer examination of games played
between strong players will prove that
3. Execution (calculation & move) there is some harmony among their
moves, some central idea that guides
That’s the right order, although many the movements of their forces. This
trainers/authors do not really follow is what we call a plan. A good chess
it — they prefer to teach first to move player refuses to act without any plan,
and then to think. With this way they even if this plan sometimes turns out
have some success but they will nev- to be mistaken in the long run.
er have a GM or a player near such
strength. First of all, it is important to identify
the most important strategic and tac-
Chess is a mind game — it asks you to tical elements of each particular po-
think to find solutions, even if these sition. According to the needs of that
solutions are more or less obvious. certain position, we should create our
18 MONSTER YOUR ENDGAME PLANNING. VOLUME 1
plan and stick to it. Games where only the rule. Nowadays, with the open-
one plan is used are rarely seen these ing theory having gone very far, the
days. We are usually obliged to create choice of a certain opening very much
several small plans, which of course depends on a plan we would like to
are just parts of our main goal: win- use!
ning!
Some general advice could be present-
Many weak players are not able to ed to the reader as follows:
construct an acceptable plan. This has
nothing to do with intelligence, but SOS Tip 2 — Planning
just with basic chess education. Now-
adays, with so many books, electronic 1. Notice and understand the main
help and trainers available, anything merits and disadvantages of each
can be learned and, by constant prac- side.
tice, it can be understood and assim- 2. Notice the immediate threats of
ilated. Without basic chess education both sides, but especially of your
and knowledge we can’t go very far. opponent!
So, the first step is to understand the
basic strategic and tactical elements 3. Determine what is (are) the main,
that govern our game. most significant target(s) and how
the plan should be executed.
Plans are necessary and can be found 4. Examine what will be the oppo-
in every phase of a chess game. From nent’s reaction to your plan.
the early opening till the late end-
game, chess players create the neces- 5. Examine what your opponent’s
sary plans, derived from such varied possible main plan is (can be) and
factors as the occupation of an im- how you should react to it.
portant square to an aggressive at- 6. If you can choose among two or
tack. more good plans, opt for the one that
you think can bring most benefits.
More common are the plans we
draw right after the end of the open- 7. Follow your plan. Do not change it
ing phase, but this is of course not without a really good reason.
CHAPTER 1.
PAWN ENDINGS
PAWN POWER
Pawn endings are fundamental to the game, in the sense of selecting or re-
education of an aspiring chess player. jecting certain continuations.
This endgame looks like a draw to me, With the use of the g-pawn I will cre-
as there is hardly any entrance for my ate the desired breakthrough and
king on the kingside, so there is lit- potential entrance for my king. So,
tle hope to benefit from the protected I should start with 36.g4 f6 (36...
passed c-pawn... As in similar cases d7, loses to 37.g5 c6 38.e5 d7
the protected passed pawn is ‘operat- 39.h4 e7 40.h5 d7 41.f3) and now
ing’ as a decoy (it hardly queens!) and I should go directly for 37.g5, when
I am obliged to find the desired and I should be on the right track.
accurate breakthrough on the king-
side.
Choose Your Plan
A B C
PLAN — EXECUTION
PLAN A
A B C