FIDE Surveys – Andrew Martin

1

Andrew Martin:

A tough session

Group coaching can be great fun for both
students and instructor if the level is pitched
correctly. I'm going to lay out a tough day
session in this article, which I would
typically challenge a strong group with. I
always begin with studies and puzzles, not
only to warm up the brains of the players,
but to show the diversity of chess. I vary the
difficulty and nature of the positions to
emphasize that every situation on the
chessboard is different. I am looking for
seperate, concrete solutions.The following
set is tough and you should set aside 3hrs for
the task. You might present the material as
an exam, although that is rather formal, or
invite solutions one by one., with suitable
discussion. The students may be split into
smaller groups or , if they are very strong,
tackle the puzzles on their own. I always
take breaks, roughly every hour, for 10 mins.
There will be a longer break between each
seperate session.You might like to try the
coming set without checking the answers. I
assure you that you will be stretched.

KUBBEL 1926

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White to play and win.A long line needed,
but relatively straightforward once you get
the idea.

The Black King is confined and this forms
the notion that mate is on the agenda. Thus:
1.Le7 c5 2.Lf8 Lb6 3.Ld6
3.Lh6 Ld8 4.Lg7 g4 5.Lh6 Lf6 6.Lc1 Lb2=.
3...La7
3...h5 4.Le7 g4 5.Lg5.
4.Lc7 h5 5.Ld6 h4 6.Le7 h3 7.Lg5 h2
8.Lc1 h1D 9.b3#.

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Very nice indeed ,with good timing
throughout. 1:0.

STUDY POSITION

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White to play and win. Here's a nice study
composed by an unknown from Nebraska,
USA. White must play with great care:
1.Ka3 Kb6 2.Kb2!
The first subtlety. White must triangulate
and put Black on move.
2...Ka5 3.Kb3
Job half-done.
3...Kb6 4.Kc3 Ka5 5.Kd2!

FIDE Surveys – Andrew Martin

2

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Subtlety number two. White is aiming for
the position Kd3 vs Kb4 with Black to
move. He must triangulate a second time to
get what he wants.
5...Ka4
5...Kb4 6.Kd3 Ka3 7.Ke4+-.
6.Ke3! Ka5 7.Ke4 Kb4 8.Kd5
I rate this as difficult to solve, despite the
apparent simplicity of the starting position.
1:0.

PUZZLE

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Black moves first. Helpmate in Four. A
classic puzzle of its kind, with minimal
material on the board. How long will it take
YOU?

1...Kf6 2.f8T Kg5 3.Kg7 Kh5 4.Kf6 Kh6
5.Th8#
Trying to solve these positions is a really
good way to train oneself, but how many put
in the effort?

ROSSOLIMO

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Maybe you will find this easier. It's a study
with zugzwang as the theme, which could
easily have come from a game.White to play
and win.
This problem will reward those who put in
the effort. It's a classic, game-like situation,
where White ties Black up with some
excellent play.
1.Dd7! Tg8
The only move. Note the helplessness of
Black's Queen.
2.Df5 Kh8 3.Dg6
With Dh6 as a threat. Black's Queen must
defend.
3...Df4 4.Kf2!
Forcing Zugzwang in a few moves.
4...Dc1 5.Ld4
Prevents ...Dc5.
5...Dh1
5...Df4 6.Lb2! is zugzwang.
6.Lb2 Dh3 7.Kg1
I find this solution elegant and convincing.
1:0.

FIDE Surveys – Andrew Martin

3

Bauer – Golner, Berlin 1956

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White to play and win.

Checkmate is forced:
1.Th6 gh6
1...Kh6 2.Dg5 Kh7 3.Dh4 Kg6 (3...Sh5
4.Dh5#) 4.f5#.
2.Dg8 Sg8 3.Lf5#.

Perenyi – Barczay, 1977

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Black to play and draw.
First, the game, where Black failed the task.
1...Kf3?
1...La6!! is the surprising drawing resource:
2.Ta6 h3 an unusual positional draw, where
White's King and Rook cannot cope with the
pawns. 3.Tf6 (3.Ta2 Kg3 4.Tb2 Kf3 5.Tb8
h2 6.Kh2 e2) 3...Kg3 4.Tg6 (4.Kf1 h2 5.Th6
e2 6.Ke2 Kg2 7.Tg6 Kh1) 4...Kf3 5.Tg8 h2
6.Kh2 e2.
2.Tf6 Ke2

2...Kg3 3.a7 Le4 4.Te6+-.
3.a7 Le4 4.Tf4 Lb7 5.Th4 Ke1
5...Kd2 6.Td4 Ke1 7.Td8 e2 8.a8D.
6.Th8 e2 7.a8D La8 8.Ta8
Perhaps the coach should advise the student
that this one might take time. 1:0.

Otto Wurzburg, 1898

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White to play and mate in three.
1.Tb4!! cb4
1...c4 2.Sb7 Kb4 3.Db1#; 1...Tb6 2.Da6!!
Ka6 (2...Ta6 3.Tb5#; 2...Kb4 3.Db6#)
3.Ta4#.
2.Db5 Tb5 3.Sc4#.

Moravec, 1941

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White to play and draw: a tough ask in view
of the dominanting black.
1.Kb3!

FIDE Surveys – Andrew Martin

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But not 1.Ka5? f5 2.b4 f4 3.b5 Kc5! 4.b6
Kc6 5.Ka6 f3 6.b7 f2 7.b8D f1D 8.Ka5 Da1.
1...Kd3
1...f5 2.Kc2=.
2.Ka2!! f5 3.b4 Kc4 4.b5! Kb5 5.Kb3=

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Would you find this over the board?

Eisenstadt, 2011

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White has a large material advanatge, but it
is not easy to convert. How does White win?

1.e7 Th8 2.Se6
With the idea of Sf8.
2...Te8 3.Sc7!
But not 3.Sc4 Kb5 4.Sd6 Kc6 5.Se8 Kd7
when the Black King does the job himself.
3...Te7 4.Sc4#.
Surprising! 1:0.

Lyell M. : Emms J.
Hastings 1995

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Black to play and find the best way to wipe
out the White King.

1...Sf4!
Simple as that. If 2...gf4 Df4 mates. 0:1.

Spassky B. : Larsen B.
Palma de Mallorca 1969

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White to play and win.
1.Dc8! Kh7 2.De6
Occasionally chess can be a simple game. If
2....fe6 3 f7 wins outright. 1:0.

FIDE Surveys – Andrew Martin

5

EBERT, 1975

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Black to play. White mates, but in how many
moves at the earliest?
1...a5
But not 1...a6 after which White mates more
quickly: 2.Th5 Ka7 3.Kc7 Ka8 4.Kb6 a5
5.Th8#.
2.Kc7
Note that 2.Th4 takes longer: 2...Ka7 3.Kc7
Ka6 4.Kc6 Ka7 5.Ta4 Ka6 6.Ta3 Ka7 7.Ta5
Kb8 8.Ta4 Kc8 9.Ta8#.
2...Ka7 3.Kc6!! a4 4.Th4 a3 5.Ta4 Kb8
6.Ta3 Kc8 7.Ta8#.
So the correct answer is six moves.

MID-SESSION INTERVAL

A long lunch break is called for at this point,
during which the heads of students might
stop hurting. Then comes a tournament of
some kind, to break up the day and finally,
another tough exercise.

Karjakin S. : Giri A.
Wijk aan Zee 2012
In this final part of the day the students are
presented with a bare game score. I have
chosen a recent GM game to illustrate the
point. The students are again split into small
groups or they may operate as individuals in
the case of very strong players and asked to
conduct a post-mortem on the game.Why did
Black lose? Point out critical moments and
give analysis to support your conclusions.

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Sd2 c5 4.ed5 Dd5 5.dc5
Dc5 6.Se4 Db4 7.Sc3 Sf6 8.a3 Da5 9.Ld3
a6 10.Lf4 Sbd7 11.Sf3 Sh5 12.b4 Dd8
13.Le3 Le7 14.0–0 0–0 15.Se4 a5 16.Tb1
ab4 17.ab4 Dc7 18.Sd4 g6 19.Sb5 Db8
20.c4 f5 21.Sec3 b6 22.Le2 Sdf6 23.Sd4
Ld7 24.Lf3 Dc7 25.La8 Ta8 26.Sf3 Dc4
27.Dd4 Dd4 28.Ld4 Tc8 29.g3 b5 30.Se5
Le8 31.Tfc1 g5 32.Kg2 Kf8 33.Se2 Ta8
34.Lc5 Sd7 35.Le7 Ke7 36.Sc6 Kd6
37.Sed4
At the end of an alotted time period you then
present them with your own notes for
comparison and discussion. The students
may take away the notes with them after the
session. 1:0.

Karjakin S. : Giri A.
Wijk aan Zee 2012

This coming game features a very odd
opening variation. Black moves his queen
provocatively around, enticing the white
pieces to unfavourable squares, or so he
hopes.
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Sd2 c5 4.ed5 Dd5 5.dc5!?
White has become tired of the long
theoretical lines after 5 Sgf3 cd4 and plays
something a little different.
5...Dc5
I personally don't see what's too bad about
Black's position after 5...Lc5 6.Sgf3 Sf6
7.Lc4 Dh5 8.0–0 Sc6 but 5...Dc5 is what
they do.
6.Se4 Db4 7.Sc3 Sf6 8.a3
White tried something a little different in the
following recent game, but could not acheive
anything tangible: 8.Ld3 Sbd7 9.a3 Dd6
10.Sf3 Sc5 11.Lb5 Ld7 12.De2 a6 13.Lc4
Dc7. The engines show a slight plus to
White, but again I feel that Black has
acheived a playable position. 14.0–0 Ld6
15.b4 Tc8! Invention from Morozevitch
(although 15...Sa4 was OK too: 16.Sa4 La4
17.Lb2 Lc6=) 16.Lb2? (Of course White
should capture: 16.bc5 Dc5 17.Sd2 De5

FIDE Surveys – Andrew Martin

6

18.De5 Le5 19.Lb2 b5 20.Sb5! Lb2 (20...ab5
21.Le5 bc4 22.Tfb1) 21.Sd6 Ke7 22.Sc8 Tc8
23.La6 Tc2 24.Tad1 La3 25.Ld3) 16...Sa4
17.Le6 (17.Sa4 Dc4 18.Dc4 Tc4 19.Sc3
Lc6) 17...Sc3 18.Ld7 Kd7 19.Dd3 The8
20.Sg5 Dc4 21.Df5 Kc7 22.Lc3 Dc3 23.Sf7
Dc4 24.Sd6 Kd6 25.Dg5 Dg4 26.Da5 Ke7
27.Tad1 Kf7 28.Db6 Te7 29.b5 ab5 30.Db5
Dc4 31.Db3 Db3 32.cb3 Tc3 33.Tb1 b5
34.a4 b4 35.Tb2 Se4 36.Td1 Tec7 37.Kf1
Tc1 38.Ke1 Td1 39.Kd1 Tc3 40.a5 Tc5
41.Ke2 Ke6 42.Ke3 Sc3 43.Kd4 Ta5 44.Kc4
Sd5 45.Te2 Kd6 46.Te8 Tc5 47.Kd4 Tc2
48.Td8 Ke6, 0:1, Timofeev A. : Morozevich
A., Taganrog 2011.
8...Da5 9.Ld3 a6 10.Lf4 Sbd7 11.Sf3 Sh5!?
Modern chess is very specific and computers
have taught us that ugly moves win, but this
is as ugly as it gets and I cannot belive it is
superior to the normal 11...Le7 and 12...0–0.
Of course Giri wants to push the Bishop off
the h2-b8 diagonal so that he can reserve the
c7 square for his Queen. Grandmasters of
this calibre do not play without a clear idea.
11...Le7 12.0–0 0–0 13.b4 Dd8 14.De2 a5.
12.b4
Does this gain time or is it simply
weakening? Don't forget that in the
Morozevitch game White got into trouble by
loosening his control of the c file.
12...Dd8 13.Le3 Le7 14.0–0 0–0 15.Se4 a5
Black prods at the structure, hoping that
White will advance and let him into c5.
16.Tb1
16.c3 must also have been a candidate move.
16...ab4 17.ab4 Dc7 18.Sd4 g6
Black is getting ready to advance his
kingside majority, with ...e6-e5 and ...f7-f5
very much in the offing. White must make
his centralization count and quickly!
19.Sb5 Db8 20.c4 f5 21.Sec3 b6 22.Le2
Sdf6 23.Sd4 Ld7 24.Lf3!±
Excellent play by White over the last five
moves or so has pushed Black off balence
and denied him the time he needs to
complete his development successfully. He

has interrupted his opponent's plan and this
is what players at all levels should be
thinking about in their own games.
24...Dc7
There is no good square for the Rook:
24...Ta7 25.c5!! White pushes forward
energetically 25...bc5 26.bc5 De5 27.c6 Lc8
28.Sdb5; 24...Ta3 25.Dc1 Ta7 26.c5; 24...e5
25.La8 ed4 26.Ld5 Sd5 27.Sd5 Ld6
28.Dd4±.
25.La8 Ta8 26.Sf3 Dc4 27.Dd4 Dd4
28.Ld4 Tc8 29.g3!±
Freezing the kingside pawns and keeping the
Black Knight out of f4. Karjakin's technique
is excellent.
29...b5 30.Se5 Le8 31.Tfc1 g5 32.Kg2 Kf8
33.Se2 Ta8 34.Lc5
Taking full control over the dark squares.
Black needs to be able to play ..e6-e5 in such
a position and this has proved impossible.
34...Sd7 35.Le7 Ke7 36.Sc6 Kd6
36...Kf6 37.Sc3! Sc5 38.Sd4!+-.
37.Sed4
The truth is that Black never quite equalized,
despite all best attempts. It is at the very
pinnacle of chess technique that we find
players who are able to keep the position
under control, as Karjakin did in this game.
1:0.