The new position will occur each SUNDAY and I will always be pleased to receive POSITIVE feedback about the positions and the analysis and I will try to acknowledge these where relevant.
In 1897 Alexi Troitzky(1866-1942) was on the verge of abandoning chess and then a chance meeting with a colleague's son who had with him some chess books changed his mind. He rekindled his former interest in composition and the work of composers. This meeting changed his destiny, for now he is regarded as the greatest exponent of the art of modern endgame study composition. He was one of the first to adapt older themes to modern settings and many of his studies embrace modern strategical concepts. He has over a 1000 studies to his credit.
On the surface this position may appear equal because both sides have passers but White has the advantage because his Rook is able to support his pawn. Black also has to waste valuable time defending against a rear attack which is a feature of these type of endings.
This is an important sacrifice because it allows the White Rook to operate along the 6th rank.
3... Rd7+ 4.Ke4 Re7 5.exf6 Kxf6+ 6.Kd5 Rf7 7. Kc5 Kg7 8.Rg8+ Kxg8 9.a8=Q+ Kg7 10.Qd8 Kg6 11.Kd6 h3 12.Ke6 Rf3 13.Qg8+ Kh6 14.Qh8+ Kg6 15.Qh5+ Kg7 16.Qxg5+ Kf8 17.Qd5 Rf1 (the Rook falls inevitably) 18.Qd3 Re1+ (else White mates in 10 or less) 19.Kf6 Ke8 20.Qb5+Kd8 21.Qa5+Kd7 22.Qxe1 and wins. Crafty 12.9 UNIX (Valentin Albillo)
A beautiful ending by Troitzky which is of great practical value. He builds on earlier work of his own and other composers such as Berger, Cheron, Tarrash, Puder, Clausen and V Platov which students of the endgame should know and can be found in most endgame texts. The White Rook at a8 and the pawn at a7 and its mirror positions is a feature which often occurs in Rook endings and knowledge of the analysis will bring positive results. If you are new to the theory of Rook and Pawn endings then this is a good class to start with:(RPa7 v R).The ideas associated with the Rook's pawn are easy to understand and quickly assimilated. Such knowledge will increase your confidence in playing these positions.
Congratulations to Michael Fitch who solved this ending without
the aid of his chess program. Hopefully he and others might be
encouraged to enter the Easter competition in a few weeks time !!
SPECIAL MILLENNIUM ENDGAME
SOLVING COMPETITION PRIZE WORTH £100
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Patrick Peschlow of Germany wins the Endgame Solving Tournament scoring grade A and leads the race for the millennium prize. David Rowe of England is second with grade B+ |
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