Welcome to this active site. Each week I am going to present to you an 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.

Latvian chessplayer and study composer. He won the first Latvian championship in 1924 and the first FIDE world amateur championship in Paris in the same year. He played first board for the Latvian team at the Prague Olympiad in 1931 and he scored wins against Alekhine and Rubinstein. He composed over 60 studies, many of which are of great artistic value.

The Black Rook has a difficut time defending because the pawns are so strong. Black can try to capture one of the pawns and give up his Rook for the remaining pawn but will he be allowed to do this ?

The pawn promotes and White has a theoretical win. The King is too far from the b-pawn to offer any real drawing chances in the QvRP ending. A difficult ending but worthy of close study.

1. Cumulative 2002 Prizes: 1st £100 or equivalent, 2nd £50, 3rd £30; 4th £20. (Total Prize Money=£200) Entries limited to 20 solvers. This event will run from 6/1/2002 to 22/12/2002 with a recess in July. Present CUMULATIVE COMPETITION rules apply but note the prizes will go to those participants who climb the ladder the greatest number of times during the year. The relative position of the solver's name on the ladder will decide the allocation of prizes.

2. Endgame Solving Tournaments 2002. They will be directed at new or intermediate solvers and will not be too difficult. No money prizes but a book prize for the highest placed newcomer. Events will take place at Easter, Summer and Christmas each consisting of 5 positions to solve. Present strict rules will apply; no computer analysis.