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. 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 making up witty epigrams, many of which became famous.

  

This ending is from one of the most famous chess tournaments ever held. The 1924 New York tournament attracted three players who held the World Championship: Lasker, Capablanca and Alekhine.

Tartakower had a sense of adventure and he loved to experiment at chess. It was in the very next round he produced his hypermodern "Orangutang Opening" which had been inspired by his visit to the Bronx Zoo where he met Susan their prize orangutan.

So hours before this wonderful creative achievement Tartakower is faced with an ending where he has the advantage. He is a pawn up, but the position looks very blocked. However, he finds a brilliant way through. We follow the moves as played in the game: