A Chess Odyssey

By Efstratios Grivas
Journey 01 ® 01.01.2013
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A Curious Queen Ending

Concept
Queen endings are one of the most
XABCDEFGHY
difficult and at the same time interesting 8-+-+-+-+(
types of endings.
The difficulty lies in the usually immense
7+-+-+pmkp'
number of variations and moves that occur 6-+qzp-+p+&
due to the corresponding mobility of the
most powerful chess piece, the queen. 5+-+-zp-+-%
The rules that govern queen endings are
many and significant. The side with the
4-+-+P+-+$
advantage, either a material or a positional 3+-+-+-zPP#
one, has several ways in which to seek
victory, such as a direct attack aiming at
2Q+-+-zPK+"
checkmate, the exploitation of a passed 1+-+-+-+-!
pawn, the constant pressure on a weak pawn
structure or, finally, the conversion of a xabcdefghy
material plus. Black has an extra pawn. In any other type
The defending side mainly has one single of ending (e.g. a rook ending) his win would
aim, perpetual check, although it is not be in serious doubt. In a queen ending,
necessarily unique. In this specific type of however, a material advantage of one pawn
ending we encounter certain special can prove decisive.
characteristics, brought to the fore by the 43.f3 h5 44.h4
great power of the queen. White cannot really do without this move. If
Thus, the problem of the defending side instead follows a waiting policy, after
delivering perpetual check is not the only 44.Qb2 g5 45.g4 h4 46.Qb1 Qc5 Black will
one facing the attacker. penetrate to the important f4- and g3-
In this journey we will examine a not- squares, while his king will assist as well.
often-met queen ending; 5:4 on the same 44...Qc5 45.Qd2 Kf6
side with a backward extra pawn! At first The black king must assist the ...d5 advance.
glance this should look like an easy draw, 46.Qg5+ Ke6 47.g4
but problems do exist. And over the board A logical push. White seeks pawn
are difficult to be met and solved… exchanges, hoping to eventually reach a
drawn queen & pawn vs queen ending.
□ Rajkovic Dusan Although it gives Black a future king-path to
■ Skembris Spyridon the kingside, if White refrains from this
Sofia 1986 ○ advance, then Black will organise a future
FIDE Surveys * Efstratios Grivas * A Chess Odyssey 01 1
...f5 central break. 68.Qc2+ Kg5 69.Qg2+ Kf6 70.Qb2 Qf5
47...Qc2+ 48.Kf1 hxg4 49.Qxg4+ Ke7 71.Qb6+ Kg7 72.Qc7 Qf4+ 73.Ke2 Kg6
50.Qg5+ Ke8 51.h5 Black is on the right path. The black d-pawn
Otherwise the white h-pawn will remain has been exchanged, the queen's placement
weak. has been improved and the black king now
51...gxh5 52.Qg8+ Ke7 53.Qg5+ Kd7 sets off on its journey to g3/g2 squares.
54.Qf5+ Ke8 55.Qxh5 (D) 74.Qd6+ Kg5 75.Qf8 Kh4 76.Qg8
XABCDEFGHY 76.Qh8+ Kg3 77.Qg7+ Kh3 78.Kf2 f5
79.Qg6 Qd4+ is possible as well.
8-+-+k+-+( 76...f6 77.Qh7+ Kg3 78.Qg7+ Kh3 79.Qg6!
No help is provided by 79.Qh7+? Kg2
7+-+-+p+-' 80.Qg6+ Qg3! 81.Qxf6 Qf2+!, as Black
6-+-zp-+-+& would win the resulting pawn ending.
79...Qc4+
5+-+-zp-+Q% 79...f5 80.Kf2 Qd4+ is fine also.
4-+-+P+-+$ 80.Ke3 Qc1+ 81.Ke2 Qf4 82.Qg7!
It is important for White to keep the white
3+-+-+P+-# king away from the vital g2-square.
82...f5 (D)
2-+q+-+-+"
XABCDEFGHY
1+-+-+K+-!
8-+-+-+-+(
xabcdefghy
White has managed to keep the game close
7+-+-+-wQ-'
to a draw, but there is still a long way ahead 6-+-+-+-+&
in order to achieve this result. It is of great
importance that Black's remaining pawns are 5+-+-zpp+-%
central. If we move all the pawns two files 4-+-+-wq-+$
on the right, then a draw would be most
natural, as the black has entrance squares 3+-+-+P+k#
only from one side.
55...Qd1+ 56.Kf2 Qd2+ 57.Kf1 Ke7
2-+-+K+-+"
Black will try to infiltrate White's lines with 1+-+-+-+-!
the king, initially via the kingside. Then he
will exchange one more pawn (his d-pawn xabcdefghy
for the white e-pawn). Finally, the decisive 83.Kf2?
invasion will be accomplished via the White could defend with 83.Qg6! Qc4+
queenside. This whole plan appears simple (83...Qg3 84.Qxf5+ Kg2 85.Qg4 =) 84.Kf2
in its conception and fully realizable. Qd4+ 85.Ke2 Qf4 86.Kf2 Qd2+ 87.Kf1,
Besides, Black is risking nothing, as it is when is seems that there is no way for Black
impossible to lose. In contrast, White must to improve...
be constantly vigilant. 83...Qd2+! 84.Kf1 Qc1+?
58.Qh4+ Kd7 59.Qg4+ Kc7 60.Qg8 Black wrongly tries to repeat the position in
If 60.Qf5 then 60...Qa2!, but not 60...Qf4? order to win some time. He should directly
61.Qxf4 exf4 62.Ke2 Kc6 63.Kd3 Kc5 go for 84...Qe3!.
64.Kc3 f5 65.exf5 Kd5 66.f6 Ke6 67.Kd4 85.Kf2?
Kxf6 68.Kd5 =. 85.Ke2! was correct.
60...Qf4 61.Ke2 d5! 85...Qd2+ 86.Kf1 Qe3! (D)
The backward d-pawn is finally exchanged. Now Black 'found' the correct way and
62.exd5 Qc4+ 63.Ke3 Qxd5 64.Qe8 Kd6 slowly but steady, improves the placement
65.Qd8+ Ke6 66.Qe8+ Kf5 67.Qc8+ Qe6 of every of his pieces.
FIDE Surveys * Efstratios Grivas * A Chess Odyssey 01 2
 XABCDEFGHY XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+( 8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-wQ-' 7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+& 6-+Q+-+-+&
5+-+-zpp+-% 5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$ 4-+-+-zp-+$
3+-+-wqP+k# 3+-+q+P+-#
2-+-+-+-+" 2-+-+k+K+"
1+-+-+K+-! 1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy xabcdefghy
87.Qg2+ Kh4 88.Qh2+ Kg5 89.Qg3+ Kf6 111...e4!
As now the white queen is very passive, And White had to resign, due to 112.fxe4
protecting her last pawn, Black commences f3+ 113.Kh2 f2. An excellently conducted
the last stage of his plan: the infiltration of ending by one of the pioneer GMs of Greek
his king via the queenside. Chess, Spyridon Skembris.
90.Qh4+ Ke6 91.Qh5 0–1
91.Qc4+ Kd6 92.Qb4+ Qc5 93.Qd2+ Qd4
94.Qg5 Qd3+ 95.Kf2 Kc5. □ Negi Parimarjan
91...Qd3+ 92.Ke1 Kd6 93.Kf2 Qd2+ ■ Beliavsky Alexander
94.Kf1 Qc1+ 95.Kf2 Qc2+ 96.Kf1 f4! Amsterdam 2007 ●
White's queen must now keep an eye on the XABCDEFGHY
f-pawn to prevent its loss. But how can a
queen simultaneously protect a pawn, preve- 8-+-+-+-+(
nt mating threats and try to give perpetual
check? Even for a queen this is too much to
7+-+Q+pmk-'
bear. 6-+-zp-+p+&
97.Qg4 Qh7 98.Ke2 Qb1 99.Qh5 Qc2+
100.Kf1 Qd3+ 101.Kf2 Qe3+ 102.Kf1 Kc5 5+-+-zp-+p%
103.Qh3 Kb4
103...Qd3+ 104.Kf2 Qd2+ 105.Kf1 Kd4 is
4-+-+P+-+$
an easier line. 3+-+-+P+P#
104.Qg4 Kc3 105.Qc8+ Kd2 106.Qa8
Qd3+ 107.Kf2 Qd4+ 108.Kg2 Ke3
2-+-wq-+PmK"
Or 108...Ke1 109.Kh3 Kf2. 1+-+-+-+-!
109.Qa3+ Ke2 110.Qa6+
White is left without any saving resources. xabcdefghy
His pieces are passive, while their An about similar example as the previous
counterparts have become too ‘aggressive’ one. But here Black has some extra
and are ready to deliver the lethal blow. The possibilities...
standard discovered check could occur after 53...Qf4+! 54.Kh1 Qf6
110.Qa2+ Qd2 111.Qa8 Qc2! 112.Qa6+ Black is preparing the plan ...g5-g4 with two
(112.Qe8 e4) 112...Ke3+. ideas in mind: first is to isolate the e4-pawn
110...Qd3 111.Qc6 (D) (in the case of exchanging pawns on g4) and
111.Qa2+ Ke1 112.Qf2+ Kd1 113.Qg1+ the second one is to move his g-pawn to g3,
Kd2 and White has no useful move left. in order to strangle the white king (if White
FIDE Surveys * Efstratios Grivas * A Chess Odyssey 01 3
does not capture this pawn on g4). 68.Kxg3 d5 69.Kf2 d4 70.Ke2 [70.h4 Kg6
55.Qc7 g5 56.Qd7 Qe6 57.Qd8? 71.Ke2 Kh5 -+] 70...Kg5 71.Kd3 Kh4
57.Qc6! was the best option: 57...g4 58.hxg4 72.Ke4 Kxh3 73.f4 d3! 74.Kxd3 exf4 -+)
hxg4 59.fxg4 (59.Kg1? g3 and the white and I feel that there is no way that Black can
king gets into mating nets) 59...Qxg4 improve.
60.Qxd6 Qxe4 61.Qc7 Qe1+ (61...Kg6!? 63...Qg3! 64.fxg4
might be a better try...) 62.Kh2 Qe3 63.g4! The pawn ending after 64.Qxg4+ Qxg4
(to stop the advance of the f-pawn) 65.fxg4 Kf6 66.Kf3 Kg5 67.Kg3 f6 68.Kf3
63...Qf2+ (63...Kg6 64.Qc8) 64.Kh3 Qf4 Kh4 is easily won for Black.
65.Qb8 and it is very difficult for Black to 64...Qxg2+ 65.Ke3 Qg3+ 66.Ke2 Qf4!
make progress. 67.Qxd6 Qxg4+ 68.Kf2 Qf4+ 69.Kg1 (D)
57...g4 58.hxg4 hxg4 (D) XABCDEFGHY
XABCDEFGHY 8-+-+-+-+(
8-+-wQ-+-+( 7+-+-+pmk-'
7+-+-+pmk-' 6-+-wQ-+-+&
6-+-zpq+-+& 5+-+-zp-+-%
5+-+-zp-+-% 4-+-+Pwq-+$
4-+-+P+p+$ 3+-+-+-+-#
3+-+-+P+-# 2-+-+-+-+"
2-+-+-+P+" 1+-+-+-mK-!
1+-+-+-+K! xabcdefghy
xabcdefghy 69...Qg5+!
59.Kh2 And the queen exchange is inevitable,
59.fxg4 Qxg4 60.Qxd6 Qxe4 seems a better leading to a won pawn ending...
option for White. However, Black has a 70.Kf2 Qf6+ 71.Qxf6+ Kxf6 72.Kf3 Kg5
better move instead of 59...Qxg4: 59...Qh6+! 73.Kg3 f6
60.Kg1 Qe3+ 61.Kh2 (61.Kh1 Qe1+ 62.Kh2 0–1
Qxe4) 61...Qxe4 62.Qxd6 Qf4+ and White
cannot avoid the queen exchange: 63.Kg1 Conclusion
(63.g3 Qh6+ -+ ; 63.Kh3 Qh6+ 64.Qxh6+ Such endings offer multiple chances to
Kxh6 65.Kh4 f6 -+) 63...Qd4+ 64.Qxd4 prevail and are more difficult than we think.
exd4 65.Kf2 Kf6 66.Ke2 Ke5 67.Kd3 f6 The use of the king is the secret ace!
68.Kd2 Ke4 69.Ke2 d3+ 70.Kd2 Kd4
71.Kd1 Ke3 72.Ke1 d2+ 73.Kd1 Kd3 -+. ‘A Chess Odyssey’ is not copyright by
Also note that 59.Kg1 loses to 59...gxf3 Efstratios Grivas and not protected
60.gxf3 Qf6 -+. intellectual property under the International
59...Qh6+? Copyright convention. Subscribers are
59...gxf3 60.gxf3 Qf6! seems to instantly allowed to non-commercially distribute
win. copies of ‘A Chess Odyssey’ at their chess
60.Kg3 Qf4+ 61.Kf2 Qf6 62.Qd7 Qh4+ club, chess tournaments and via e-mail (on
63.Ke2? an occasional basis). Any other use and
63.Kf1 was the correct defence, although distribution (reproduction, via print, electro-
after 63...g3 (63...Qg3 64.Qf5) White would nic format, or in any form whatsoever), as
have to find the accurate 64.Ke2! (64.Qh3? well as posting on the Web, is strictly
Qxh3 65.gxh3 f5 66.exf5 Kf6 67.Kg2 Kxf5 allowed without written permission.
FIDE Surveys * Efstratios Grivas * A Chess Odyssey 01 4