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Starting Out: Rook Endgames Reviewed by Michael Jeffreys
An Excellent Start If you were to ask me what the biggest “ah-ha” I’ve had in the past year concerning chess improvement was, I would tell you that it was figuring out that I needed to study, and really get to know, the power of the individual pieces. In other words, I thought I knew what a bishop could do, but I had only scratched the surface of their many facets. I thought I understood the magical powers of a knight, but their true strength had eluded me. And rooks, well, they were pretty straight forward creatures weren’t they? Hardly. Clearly, it was time to get back to basics and really learn about the special talents of each of “my employees.” Of course, the great Capablanca knew all this back in the day when, in his chess primer, he started the reader off with endgame positions. However, therein lies the rub. When you are just starting out, you can’t really appreciate the significance of what you are being shown simply because you have not yet seen enough positions, nor played enough, to truly grasp why learning these principles are crucial! However, if you’ve been playing for a while, yet seem to have hit a road block in your chess growth, my suggestion is that you go back and re-evaluate your understanding of the individual pieces; take a fresh look at what they are capable of—I think you’ll be surprised. Indeed, if you carefully play through GM games and observe how they utilize their pieces, you’ll see that they tend to “get more out of ‘em” than class players. They are maestros at getting the maximum amount of energy, as well as coordination, out of each piece. And of all the chess pieces, probably the one that is most mishandled by class players is the rook. I mean, we all know that rooks like open files, but supposing there are no open files available, then what!? Well, thankfully, we now have an excellent introductory level text to show us: Starting Out: Rook Endgames by GM Chris Ward. The reason this book is so good is because Ward, unlike a lot of chess writers, chooses clear, relevant examples, and then explains them in an easy to understand way. It is obvious that his years as a chess coach have enabled him to figure out exactly what it is class players need to learn in order to improve. And most importantly, he doesn’t confuse the issue by throwing in a lot of examples that are superfluous. Too many chess writers fall into the trap of thinking that if one example is good, four is better. Remember, one of the goals of any writer should be to make the material as easily digestible as possible for the reader. Thus K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Silly) is almost always the way to go. Keep in mind that this book is NOT for higher rated players (say those over 2000 Elo), as they already (presumably) know this stuff. And thus they would pick up a book like this and quickly put it down thinking, “Too basic, nothing special.” However, for the target audience (1100-1900 Elo), this is exactly what the doctor ordered. Okay, let’s take a brief look at each of the seven chapters: Chapter One: The Basics
At first blush it looks as if White is in big trouble. Not only does Black have connected passed pawns, but the a-pawn is two squares from queening. Because White’s king is so far away, it appears as if White will have to sac his rook for the a-pawn, whereupon the g- and h-pawns will bring home the win. But not so fast! White has another way to prevent giving up the full point—by perpetually attacking the black king/a-pawn! 1. Ra8 Kb3 2. Kh2 (just waiting) 2…a2 3. Kg2 Kb2 4. Rb8+ Kc2 5. Ra8 Kb1 6. Rb8+ Kc2 7. Ra8 Kb2 and here Black should go ahead and concede the draw, otherwise the following could happen: 8…Ka1?? 9. Kf2 h5 10. Ke2 h4 11. Kd2 h3 12. Kc2 h2 13. Rh8 and White wins! Obviously Black should have taken the draw, but it just goes to show you what can happen when you try to push too hard for a win and you overlook something, especially in time trouble. Chapter Two: Rook versus Pawns
Here again Black looks like he is on his way to victory as White’s king is miles away from the action. But once again the mighty rook saves the day and allows White to draw. By continuously attacking the pawns or giving check, Black has no time to make progress: 1. Rb7+! Ka2 2. Rc7! Kb3 3. Kb7+ Kc4 4. Rc7+ Kb4 5. Rb7+ Kc5 6. Rc7+ and there is no rest for the weary, as Black simply can’t avoid being checked or having to guard one of his pawns (if he does let one go, White will simply sac the rook for the second one). I think this was one of my first big “ah-ha’s” about the rook—that it was a much stronger and more versatile piece than I had first realized, and thus was capable of doing much more than I had first imagined. This brings up a good question that we should always ask ourselves throughout a game: “Am I getting the most I possibly can out of my pieces?” Chapter Three: Rook and Pawn versus Rook
Here is position that is quite useful to know how to win: 1.Rc2 Ke7 2.Rc8 Kd6! The best defense [2...Kd7? 3.Rb8 Ra1 4.Kb7 Rb1+ 5.Ka6 Ra1+ 6.Kb6 Rb1+ 7.Kc5 +- 9u-iAs Black will soon run out of checks.] 3.Rb8 Rh1 4.Kb7 Rb1+ 5.Kc8! [5.Ka6?! Ra1+ 6.Kb6 Rb1+ 7.Ka5 Ra1+=] 5...Rc1+ 6.Kd8 Rh1 7.Rb6+! [7.Ke8? Rh8+ 8.Kf7 Rh7+ And the pawn drops off.] 7...Kc5 8.Rc6+! A clever idea. Black cannot capture the rook due to 9. a8=Q+ and the black rook is skewered. [Also, 8.Ra6? is no good: 8...Rh8+ 9.Kd7 Rh7+ 10.Ke8 Rh8+ 11.Kf7 Ra8 12.Ke7 Kb5 13.Ra1 Kb6=] 8...Kd5 [8...Kb5 9.Rc8 Rh8+ 10.Kc7 Rh7+ 11.Kb8+-] 9.Ra6 Rh8+ 10.Kc7 Rh7+ 11.Kb6 Rh6+ 12.Kb5 1–0 (While I have just given the main ideas here, Ward goes into more detail explaining them with words and multiple diagrams). Chapter Four: Introducing More Pawns
And here again is another important position to know how to win. Notice how White really doesn’t care if it’s his passed a-pawn that secures the win, or whether it’s his kingside pawns. He simply brings up his king and waits for Black to give way. 1.Kf3 Kf5 2.Ke3 Ke5 3.Kd3 Kd5 4.Kc3 Kc5 5.Ra1! A nice waiting move. Now Black must decide to let the White King penetrate to the queenside or the kingside. 5...Kb5 [5...Kd5 6.Kb4 Kc6 7.Kc4 Zugzwang!] 6.Kd4 Rd6+ 7.Ke5 Re6+ 8.Kf4 Ra6 [And if the king tries to blockade the pawn: 8...Ka6 9.Kg5 Re5+ 10.Kh6 Rf5 11.Ra2 Rf3 12.Kg7 Rf5 13.f4+-; And 8...Rf6+ doesn't work, as the a-pawn is just too dangerous: 9.Kg5 Rxf2 10.a6+-] 9.Kg5 Kc5 10.Kh6 Kd5 11.Kg7 Ra7 Black appears to have everything just covered, but now White pushes his trump card! 12.a6 Ke6 13.Ra4 Ke7 14.Rf4! And just when Black thought he might grovel out with a draw, White does the old switcherroo and gives up the precious a-pawn for the kingside pawns. 14...Rxa6 15.Rxf7+ Ke8 16.Rf6 1–0 Chapter Five: Tricky Situations and Advanced Techniques
In this amazing example, Ward reminds us that you should consider every legal move on the board. Says Chris: “Black is threatening to promote his most advanced a-pawn, after which he would enter an easily winning king and pawn ending.” 1.Ra1!! A real shocker. 1...Kb3 [Amazingly, taking the rook lands the Black monarch in jail and leads to death by Zugzwang: 1...Kxa1 2.Kc2 a5 3.Kc1 a4 4.Kc2 a3 5.Kc1 when Black has run out of moves and is forced to push the g-pawn and White will win as in the text.] 2.Kc1 a5 3.Kd2 Kb2 4.Kd1 a4 [Giving up the a-pawn without a fight also loses: 4...Kc3 5.Rxa2 Kxd4 6.Rxa5 Ke4 7.Ra7+-] 5.Kd2 Kb3 6.Kc1 a3 7.Kd2 Kb2 8.Kd1 Kxa1 [8...Kb3 9.Kc1 forces the win of the a-pawn] 9.Kc2 The king is imprisoned and Black has only one move which quickly brings the end-0p090o: 9...g5 10.hxg6 h5 11.g7 h4 12.g8Q h3 13.Qg1# 1–0 Chapter Six: Applying Principles to Practical Play In this chapter, Ward provides examples from real games (I should mention that this came as a surprise to me, as I had assumed all the examples were from real games, but Ward says he created all the previous examples specifically for the book!) The first example is from one of his own games: Pein-Ward, British Championship, 1997
1...Re2! Says Ward: "Easily the most accurate continuation and this 'cutting off' procedure should be very familiar by now. Casual play such as 1...c3 2. Ke3 Rh2 3. Kd3 c2 will prove no problem whatsoever for White, who with a simple Ra1–c1 can pick up the pawn by force." 2.Kf3 Re7 "Remaining on the e-file so as to keep the white king cut off." 3.Kf2 Kc6 4.Kf3 "White is reluctant to move his own rook away from the fifth rank as that would allow the black king to wander up to support the pawn." 4...Kb6 5.Rd5 c3 6.Rh5 "After 6. Rd3 Black should place his rook behind his pawn and indeed 6...Rc7! (rather than 6...c2 7. Rb3+! Ka5 8. Rc3) 7. Ke2 c2 is game over!" 6...c2 7.Rh1 Rc7 8.Rc1 Kb5 9.Ke2 Kb4 10.Kd2 Kb3 11.Rh1 Kb2 0–1 "As Black is also eager to control the queening square, this is obviously the most natural move. Incidentally, 11...Rd7+? 12. Kc1 blows the win as Black is vulnerable to checks along the third rank. After 11...Kb2 White resigned as there is no defence to 12...c1Q+ or 12...Rd7+ followed by c1Q. " 0–1 A nice example of Ward "practicing what he preaches!" Chapter Seven: Twenty Questions This final section contains 20 diagrams underneath which lie four possible solutions. Your job is to pick the correct one. At the end of the chapter Ward provides detailed solutions. The Bottom Line Chris Ward has done an excellent job in selecting just the right amount of material to get the average class player up to speed on rook endings, without overloading them. He picks clear examples, and then gives you concise explanations that are easy to understand. Although endgame books can often be dry, Ward’s breezy writing style makes it seem as if you are just having a casual chat with a chess coach about the position. While it seems that lately I have reviewed several books that promise one thing and give you something else, this book fully delivers and thus restores my faith that chess publishers/authors can still put out worthwhile books. Highly recommended for those rated between 1100-1900 Elo. P.S. I just took a break from writing this review to play a few games of blitz on ICC (I often do this just to clear my head), and wouldn’t you know it a rook ending came up where I had an extra pawn.
Thanks to Ward’s book I knew exactly what I
needed to do: walk my king up as quickly as possible to help escort the pawn
home. Unfortunately, my opponent misplayed it and allowed my king in
and I was able to win the game quite easily. Each time he tried a
defense, thanks to having played through several of Chris’ examples, I knew
the counter move. Honestly, I can’t remember too many other chess
books that have paid this kind of dividend so quickly!
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