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.

International Grandmaster and chess author. In the world's top ten for many years. Perhaps he would have achieved even better results if not for a weakness of experimenting with bizarre openings. Although born in Russia, he lived most of his later life in Paris. He played for Poland in the 30's and was champion of that country in 1935 and 1937. He was a fine writer and annotator; with du Mont he compiled the best collection of games for the first half of the 20th century: 500 Master Games of Chess (1952). He enjoyed paradoxes and witty epigrams, many of which later became famous.

The Bled Olympiad has just finished and I wonder how many minds went back to a very famous tournament played there over 70 years ago. This position is taken from one of the most spectacular games of that tournament. Kashdan, America's new hope, was rocked by an early piece sacrifice and he never recovered. Black has a number of important advantages in the ending: a) a powerful Bishop which can fight on two fronts in an open position b) a dangerous outside passed pawn and c) the more active King.

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.