Grandmaster, World Championship Challenger, Editor, Problemist. Viennese player who at the start of the 20th century was ranked among the top six players in the world. In the first decade he had a string of tournament successes which led him in 1910 to challenge Emanuel Lasker for the World Championship. After nine games he led +1=8 but unfortunately he lost an exciting last game. So Lasker retained his title. Schlechter was the editor of Deutsche Schachzeitung and edited the last edition of Von Bilguer's Handbuch des Schachspiels. He was a popular player who died in tragic circumstances following the end of the 1st World War.

Burn had just played ...Bc4 thinking that the straight Bishop swop would lead to him winning the exchange for a pawn: 1.Bxc4? bxc4 25.Rxc4 and then the Knight fork ...Nd2 attacking the two Rooks.

21...Ke6 22.f4 Nb6 23.g3 h6 24.h4 Kd7 25.Nb2 Na8 26.Kc5 Nc7 27.Kb6 Ne6 28.Kxa5 Kc6 29.Kb4 g5 30.fxg5 hxg5 31.Kc4 f4 32.gxf4 g4 33.Nd3 g3 34.Ne1 Nxf4 35.a4 g2 36.Nf3 Nh3 37.a5+-; 

29...Nxe8 30.Nxe8 Kb4 31.Nd6 Kxa4 32.Nc4 Kb4 33.Nxa5 Kxa5 34.Kf6 Kb5 35.Kg7 g5 36.Kxh7 g4 37.Kg6 gxf3 38.gxf3 wins.

Gens Una Sumus

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8X8 Basic Endings for Success

White to play and WIN

The White King wants to invade on b6 to win the a6 pawn and the game. Playing 1.Kd6 followed by 2.c7+ will only lead to a draw. If the White King goes directly to c5 then Black plays Kc7 and White cannot make progress. In order to win White has to "triangulate" with his King in order to lose a move: 1.Kd4 Kd8 2.Kc4 Kc8 3.Kd5 now if 3...Kc7 4.Kc5 wins. If the Black King plays to 3...Kd8 or Kb8 then White takes the opposition with 4.Kd6 and soon wins.

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I would like to briefly summarise the type of endings found on the site. These are; (a) Basic endings. (b) Practical chess endings. (c) The Endgame study.

(a) Basic Endings. These are theoretical positions in which we know the correct result with optimum play by both sides. They may consist of three pawns or less and also include all the non-pawn and five piece endings which have now been extensively analysed by computer and of which we have tablebases. In the days when we had adjournments some of these endings could be looked up in text books to give us some idea how to play the position. As we no longer can do this, knowledge and memory of these endings has become important in practical play. Fundamental Chess Endings (2001) by Muller and Lamprecht and Basic Endings (1992) by Balashov and Prandstetter and the earlier A Pocket Guide to Chess Endgames (1970) by David Hooper are good introductions to these endings.

(b) Practical Endings. These occur in over-the-board play where usually more pawns are present. The above ending is an example of this type. Some of these endings are in the process of being transformed to basic endings but often they finish before this stage is reached. Endgame strategy is very different from the middlegame and has its own set of rules and exceptions. Fine's book Basic Chess Endings (1941,2003) recently revised by Pal Benko and Batsford Chess Endings (1993) by Speelman, Tisdall and Wade are about basic and practical endings and both can be recommended.

(c) Endgame Studies. These are positions which have been composed and will contain elements of one or both of the above types of endings. But there are important differences between these types and the study, such as artistic form and economy of construction. An endgame study has to follow strict rules of composition, especially if it is entered into a composing competition. One of these rules states there should only be one solution. If there is an unintended second solution then the study is unsound and said to be "cooked".