Soviet International Grandmaster. World Champion 1957-8. Recently Smyslov celebrated his 85th birthday. His was the first new face on the world chess scene after the Second World War and he was to be a World Championship candidate for over four decades ! In the 1950s he had three matches with Botvinnik for the World Championship. He drew the first match (1954), won the second (1957) and lost the third (1958) thus holding the title for just one year. In his endgame play, Smyslov comes close to Capablanca and Rubinstein. To Smyslov both music and chess follow the intangible rules of beauty and harmony. Chess to him was more than a sport or a science but supremely an expression of art.

This game is of great historical interest. It was played in Moscow as part of the match-tournament to decide who would succeed the deceased Alekhine to the World Championship title. The contestants were the Soviets, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Keres, the American, Reshevsky and the former Dutch World Champion, Euwe. In the final phase of the game 2000 spectators were present to see the American champion lose to the new rising star.

In this ending White has an obvious positional plus with the White Rook controlling the semi-open d-file and bearing down on the weakened d-pawn. White seeks to exchange Queens and thus remove the only defender to the d-pawn. The following are the actual moves played in the game

Kashdan vs Flohr Hamburg, 1930 White to play and WIN

Simple endings are full of surprises. White has to calculate the resulting Queen ending very carefully to come up with the only winning move for this position.1.Kf5!! h4 2.e6 h3 3.e7 h2 4.e8Q Black is aware of the check on the long white diagonal so plays 4... Kg2! instead of queening the pawn. 5.Kg4! Black would usually have the draw in a QvP ending with the h-pawn on the 7th but the White King is too close. Black Resigned. He is in a mating net. If 5... h1Q 6.Qe2+ Kg1 7.Kg3! and Black cannot escape mate.

---

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".