Welcome to this acti:ve site. Each week I am going to present to you a endgame position for you to solve or to workout the best continuation. Computer analysis will also be considered. Some of these positions will come from actual historical games. Others will be composed endgame studies, but all the solutions will be relevant to the practical game. 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.

 

Czech/Soviet Grandmaster. In 1933, Flohr was at the peak of his career and was looked upon as a possible world championship challenger. At this time the Soviets were looking to stage a top chess event and they hit on the idea of a Botvinnik vs Flohr match. The first half took place in Moscow and was a triumph for the Czech grandmaster (4-2) but in the Leningrad half, Botvinnik came back strongly to equalize the score (6-6). Position 166 is from the last game played in the Moscow half and was a great win for the Czech player who in 1942 was to become a Soviet citizen.

The advantage of having two Bishops in the ending is often decisive. Because of their long range they are excellent for supporting pawn advances and creating weaknesses in the enemy camp. The defence is very difficult and onerous.

Many years later Botvinnik was to remember the important lesson that Flohr had taught him in this game. In the 23rd match game for the World Championship against Bronstein, Botvinnik had the two Bishops and was able to win the ending, to keep his title.

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