Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy. ~ Siegbert Tarrasch

I learned to play chess in 1973 when I was twelve years old. I loved the game but no one in my family played nor any of my neighbors. I had limited opportunities to play.

I joined the US Navy in 1979. While in the Navy I began playing chess regularly. I also played in a few tournaments. At that time my chess rating was about 1300.

In 1984, after leaving the Navy, I moved to Nashville, Tennessee. I frequented the local chess clubs and played in tournaments. By 1995 my chess rating was in the upper 1800s.

In 1995 my family moved to Columbia, Tennessee. There was no organized chess in Columbia at that time and I stopped playing for several years.

In 1999 I started the Columbia Chess club. I affiliated the club with the US Chess Federation and started sponsoring and directing chess tournaments. During this period my rating dropped into the low 1700s.

In 2005 I went back to school. I was working full time and attending classes at night. I no longer had time for chess, so I left the chess club and quit playing.

Now I’m returning to chess after a 15-year hiatus.

I am a life member of the US Chess Federation.

I started an account with chess.com Thursday March 4th. I played five games. I lost the first two then won three in a row. I now have a ten-minute Rapid rating of 1520. That seems fairly low; however, looking on the bright side, that at the least means I have plenty of room for improvement.

I think of myself as a spontaneous free spirit, but I’m really just undisciplined and sloppy. I never kept a chess log in the past. I never even considered such an activity. I started a training blog for my running four years ago and I now appreciate that a log can help me stay motivated. So, I thought I’d try something similar here for my chess training.

I do not at this time have plans to play in OTB tournaments. There is a chess club in my town, but it meets on Friday afternoons. I’m usually working then.

I am planning to reread chess books that I already have. So, in that sense I am going back to square one. I am about to start working my way through How to Play Chess Endings by Eugene Znoski-Borovsky, copyright 1974. The back cover says the book was originally published in 1940 and then translated by J. du Mont. On page one, in my hand written notes I see where I wrote October 20, 1982, so I’ve had this book for over thirty-eight years. I do not remember much about this book. It appears I bought the book in a bookstore for four dollars. The only real draw back to the book is that it is in descriptive notation. I am going to start rereading the book beginning today.

I’ve also started watching a video series called How to Play Chess: Lessons from an International Master by Jeremy Silman. At first, I thought this might be at a too elementary level. After all, I do remember how to play chess. I certainly remember how to move the pieces. I borrowed this video series from the public library, so I didn’t have to pay anything. And since my plan is to go back to square one, I determined this series should be a good review. So, I went ahead and gave it a shot. And yes, the first two lectures tell how to move the pieces, but Silman includes interesting stories of famous chess players and chess history. In the third lesson Silman goes into elementary tactical patterns. By lesson five he’s already into some fairly complex tactical combinations. I believe I chose wisely. I imagine I’ll review these lectures multiple times.

I’ve also been watching #agadmator videos. I began with his videos based on games from the Queen’s Gambit television series. From there I watched all the games from the 1960 Tal vs. Botvinnik World Championship Match. I’ve also watched several that were from Fischer’s games, and some from Carlson’s games. I really enjoy watching #agadmator videos.

I consider tactics the most important aspect of chess. I didn’t always realize the importance of tactics. I know every chess player has been there. You’re playing your game. All seems hunky dory, and then Bang! Boom! Pow! Your opponent springs some big combination on you and now your game is diced, sliced, torn asunder, and laying in shambles. It seems to happen to me more than it should. I have several books on tactics, and my original plan was that I would start reviewing one of those books. But then I saw on chess.com that they have over 150,000 tactical positions that I can study.

Wow, I thought 150,000 should be plenty, but once I finished three puzzles it would not allow me to continue. It seems there’s a three per day limit. If I work my way through three exercises a day, I can finish their entire collection in just under 137 years. I think that’s just too long. I kinda doubt I’ll live another 137 years. Anyway, I did three puzzles Thursday, three Friday, three Saturday, three yesterday, and three this morning. That’s fifteen down and only 149,985 to go! And my puzzle rating is now a whopping 1126. It seems I’m going to have to put a little extra effort into tackling tactics mastery. I’ll stick with my original plan of going back to square one and rereading my old chess books. I am going to begin reviewing The Art of the Checkmate by Georges Renaud and Victor Kahn, copyright 1953. This is another descriptive notation chess book I bought years ago for four dollars. It contains only eighty exercises, so I should be able to finish in a relatively short amount of time.

”When a player, after examining a position carefully, has selected and played what seems to him the best move, it is very annoying to hear one of the onlookers remark: ‘Everyone to his own taste. Personally, I should have announced mate in two.’” ~ The Art of the Checkmate, page 1

Training log

Books

How to Play Chess Endings: I read through the translator’s preface, the introduction, and I suppose I could say I read the first chapter, but the book is not actually divided into chapters. It’s more like the book is divided into short sections, and the sections aren’t numbered. So, what I actually read is the section entitled “THE CHESSBOARD.” Znoski-Borovsky’s key point in this section is that movement on the chessboard does not “submit to the laws of geometry.” In other words, on a chessboard a “straight line is not the shortest way between two points.” A king on square a1 can reach any square on the eighth rank, or any square on the h file in seven moves. There are multiple paths the king can travel from a1 to a8, and still take seven moves. Znoski-Borovsky illustrates the significance of this point with several examples from king and pawn endgames where at first glance one side appears hopelessly lost, but is able to draw the game by moving the king along a diagonal so that it is making threats on both sides of the chessboard.

The Art of the Checkmate: I only read through the introduction; however, the introduction actually contains quite a bit of instructional material. There are three checkmate diagrams: in the first an unnamed amateur missed a mate in two; in the second Tchigorin missed a mate in five; and the third Reshevsky missed a mate in seven. In the introduction the authors also provide two complete game scores: a Paul Morphy game and an Edward Lasker game. Both games end with a spectacular mating combination. The authors state the aim of the book is to classify all typical mating positions and provide practical examples to illustrate each so that the readers should not miss such opportunities in their own games.

Videos

How to Play Chess: Lessons from an International Master by Jeremy Silman
Lecture 1: The World of Chess
Lecture 2: Secrets of the Pawns and Knights
Lecture 3: Castling, Checkmate, Chess Engines, Draws
Lecture 4: Must-Know Tactical Patterns in Chess
Lecture 5: Chess Combinations and Kings in Check
Lecture 6: Checkmate, Back-Rank, Smothered and More
Lecture 7: Checkmate Against a Castled King
Lecture 8: Legendary Attacking Greats of Chess
Lecture 9: A Cascade of Short Brutal Chess Games
Lecture 10: Chess Heroes of the Romantic Age
Lecture 11: Open Files and the Positional Rook
Lecture 12: Pawns: The Positional Soul of Chess
Lecture 13: Positional Weaknesses and Targets in Chess
Lecture 14: Closed and Open Positions on the Chessboard
Lecture 15: Chess Statics vs. Dynamics: An Eternal Battle
Lecture 16: Using Chessboard Imbalances to Create Plans
Lecture 17: Legendary Teachers Who Transformed Chess
Lecture 18: Chess Endgames and the King’s Magical Powers
Lecture 19: Kings and Pawns in Next-Level Endgames
Lecture 20: Triangulation and Two Critical Rook Endgames
Lecture 21: Chess Openings: The Right and Wrong Way
Lecture 22: Chess Psychology and the Known Unknown
Lecture 23: The Chess Amateur’s Mind
Lecture 24: Picking a Chess Hero

I enjoyed watching this video series, and I believe the videos are of a very high quality. As I had anticipated, this was mostly material with which I was already familiar. However, I did learn a few new concepts. For example Silman provided some guidance regarding opposition that I was previously unaware. I think the most useful thing I learned from the series was a systematic approach to playing against an isolated pawn. As I watched that lecture I wished I had known this system years ago. I played the Caro-Kahn defense for many years. In my postal chess games the majority of my opponents played the Panov-Botvinnik attack. Silman’s system would have been very useful to me at that time.

Practice

Played 7 chess.com Rapid games: 4 wins; 3 losses; 0 draws; current Rapid rating 1516

Completed 31 chess.com puzzles; current puzzles rating 1250

”Remember that if the pawn reaches the 7th rank with check, there is a stalemate and the game is drawn. In order to win, the pawn must reach the 7th without check.“ How to Play Chess Endings, page 56

I was reading some of the posts in this forum and noticed where a fellow wrote he had “bungled” Lucena’s position. Whoa, did that bring back a memory. Many years ago, one of my friends and I traveled to the big city to play in one of the big city chess tournaments. As I recall it was the penultimate round of the tournament. I was paired against some guy in the upper 1900s. We had reached a rook and pawn endgame where I was down a pawn. Our game was the only one still in progress and about twenty people were standing around watching our game.

Okay, I know just what I need to do. I have to achieve Philidor’s position. Once I’ve done that, the game is drawn. Slowly but surely one by one the pawns were traded off until finally it was his king, rook and lone pawn, against my king and rook. My king was in position, my rook was in position, and my opponent was steadily advancing his last pawn up the d-file. This tournament had a sudden death time control and by this point I had less than five minutes remaining on my clock so I had stopped recording moves, and I had to make every move quickly.

Anyway, he finally advanced his pawn to the sixth rank. I moved my rook to the first rank and began checking the feces out of his king from its rear. My opponent ultimately played his king to c6, I played Rc1 check, and he blocked with Rc5. We exchanged rooks and I played Kd7 placing my king directly in front of that dastardly d-pawn. He followed with Kd5, and now we have arrived at what must be one of the simplest positions in all of chess: white king on d5, white pawn on d6, and black king on d7.

I have only three possible moves. One move holds the draw, the other two lose. I played Kc8??? He moved his king to c6 taking the opposition, I played Kd8, he pushed the pawn to d7 “without check.” I resigned. I realized too late, as Znoski-Borovsky states it, I “must willy nilly play” … Ke7 and after Kc7 “the pawn queens.”

I slapped my forehead and proclaimed, “I can’t believe I did that. I’ve played that position a thousand times.” It was unbelievable. I had remembered the intricacies and nuances of Philidor’s position, but somehow, I forgot how to play the resulting king and pawn endgame.

Then some guy said it looked like I had miscalculated that rook exchange.

I said, “There’s no calculation. It’s Philidor’s position. You don’t calculate. You just do it.”

Then some other guy exclaimed, “But you were short on time.”

I pointed at my clock and said, “I’ve got three minutes. That’s plenty of time. That’s no excuse. I can play a whole game in three minutes.”

I saw the guy with whom I had traveled to the tournament. I stood up, turned my back to him and said, “Kick me.” Everyone laughed and I said, “No, I really mean it. Kick me hard.”

At this point I noticed my opponent was looking somewhat bewildered. I apologized for my outburst, I shook his hand and congratulated him on his victory.

A friend of mine who happens to be a chess master told me he had been watching the game. He actually complimented me. He told me that I had played the rook and pawn endgame very well.

I said, “Thanks, but once those rooks came off the board, I thought it’s almost over. The pressure’s off. I can relax.”

He said, “Oh no, you can never relax. The pressure is never off until the game is over.” He showed me that there’s a simple rule for playing this pawn position. Always put your king on the square directly in front of the pawn whenever you can, and when you leave that square, you always go straight back.

Now, my claim that I had played the position a “thousand times” is an obvious exaggeration. I suppose I had played it numerous times in practice. I definitely should have taken my time, and I shouldn’t have screwed up like that. I checked to see if How to Play Chess Endings by Eugene Znoski-Borovsky has anything to say about that pawn position. A similar position is depicted on page nine in the section on stalemate, and again on page 56 in the section on “the single pawn.” Znoski-Borovsky provides the rule “In order to win, the pawn must reach the 7th without check.“ So, he does provide a rule, but he is stating the rule from the stronger side’s perspective rather than from the weaker side.

In Jeremy Silman’s video series, How to Play Chess: Lessons from an International Master he also covers this pawn position and teaches the same simple rule that my chess master friend taught me. I think it makes it easier to remember when stated from the defender’s perspective. Anyway, I know I’ll never make that mistake again.

”There is nothing to equal end game play for developing powers of analysis and intricate calculation.” ~ How to Play Chess Endings, page 9

Training log (past week)

Books

How to Play Chess Endings: I read through three sections: “MOVES,” “STALEMATE,” and “ZUGZWANG.” In the these sections Znoski-Borovsky stresses the necessity of accurate “analysis and intricate calculation.” His key point in these sections is that endgames must “be handled with the utmost precision; in that they are akin to combinations.” Generally speaking, in chess from the beginning the ‘move’ is considered an advantage, but in chess endings to have the move frequently is to lose the game. “In end games the compulsion to move often turns an even position into a loss, or a win into a draw, nor are such cases exceptions; on the contrary they illustrate an essential element of end game technique.” Stalemate and zugzwang are rare in the early phases of a chess game; however, in the endgame they become important weapons.

The Art of the Checkmate: Read “CHAPTER 1: Legal’s Pseudo-Sacrifice.” I read the chapter and reviewed the sixteen game scores with analysis illustrating the four aspects of this mating pattern theme. This chapter is based on a mating pattern that occurred in a game played by Kermur de Legal in Paris, France about 1750:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Bg4 4. Nc3 g6 5. Nxe5 Bxd1 6. Bxf7+ Ke7 7. Nd5# 1-0

The authors classify this pattern as a picturesque mate. Speaking from my personal experience, I cannot recall this pattern ever coming up in one of my tournament or correspondence games; however, when I was in the Navy I played almost exclusively against unstudied coffeehouse players, and this pattern would come up from time to time. And every time it occurred, the pseudo-queen sacrifice leading to a forced checkmate would have a shock and awe effect on my opponent.

Videos

#agadmator videos
2021 Nepo vs. Carlson & Dubov vs. Carlson MCI
1971 Fischer vs. Larsen Candidates Match, game 1

Practice

Played 1 chess.com Rapid game: 1 win; 0 losses; 0 draws; current Rapid rating 1566

Completed 22 chess.com puzzles; current puzzles rating 1385

Just so you know, there are people reading this.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the feedback. It is appreciated. I’m happy to hear that people are reading my posts, and I hope they find the posts useful. I plan to post here at least once every week.

”If we place the white King at K 6 and the black King at his K 1, whoever has moved last has the opposition. This is a matter of the utmost importance, because the onus of moving implies that the King in question cannot reach his objective, but must, on the contrary, give free passage to the adverse King.” ~ How to Play Chess Endings, page 14

Training log (past week)

Books

How to Play Chess Endings: I read through four sections: “THE OPPOSITION,” “THE RULE OF THE TRIANGLE,” “RELATED SQUARES,” and “THE MEN.” In the first three of these sections Znoski-Borovsky introduces the concepts of opposition, triangulation, and related squares. He stresses “that it is essential to think of these things in good time and before they happen, and not after we have missed our way, when a mistake is beyond repair.” The object of triangulation “is to obtain the identical position, but passing on ‘the move’ to the other side.” The principle of related squares comes about only in blocked positions. In the section entitled “THE MEN” Znoski-Borovsky introduces the forces and explains how in the endgame the relative value of the forces change: the king “becomes an active and powerful force;” the pawns increase in importance, while the pieces decrease. In the endgame the queening of a pawn usually becomes the ultimate goal, while pieces play a secondary role in assisting the pawns’ forward advancement. There is little fear of checkmate; however, two dangers rarely seen in the middle game, perpetual check and stalemate abound.

The Art of the Checkmate: I read “CHAPTER 2: The Power of the Double Check.“ This is another mating pattern that the authors classify as picturesque. I read the chapter and played through the twelve illustrative games. The most famous game score in this chapter is from a game played in 1910 by Richard Reti and Xavier Tartakower. This game made a cameo appearance in the Queen’s Gambit television series:

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Qd3 e5 6. dxe5 Qa5+ 7. Bd2 Qxe5 8. O-O-O Nxe4 9. Qd8+ Kxd8 10. Bg5+ Kc7 11. Bd8# 1-0

I also read “CHAPTER 3: The Smothered Mate.” This is another picturesque mate. “A smothered mate is one in which the mated King is deprived of all its flight squares by its own Pieces or Pawns;” checkmate is delivered by a knight. I read the chapter and played through the eight illustrative games. This is the authors’ made-up example game to illustrate a smothered mate:

1. c4 Nc6 2. e3 Nb4 3. Ne2 Nd3# 0-1

And I read “CHAPTER 4: The Guéridon Mate and the Epaulettes Mate.” These are also classified as picturesque mates. Guéridon is the French word for an occasional table. “When the two corner squares behind the King are obstructed by its own Pieces and when the hostile Queen controls the six others adjacent to the King is called the Guéridon mate on account of the resemblance of the position to a small table.” The Epaulettes mate is when “the mated King is obstructed to the right and to the left by its own Pieces.” I read the chapter and played through both illustrative games. This is the authors’ made-up example game to illustrate a Guéridon mate:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nd7 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Ne6 Kxe6 8. Qd5+ Kf6 9. Qf5# 1-0

Videos

#agadmator videos
1956 Byrne vs. Fischer, New York
1970 Fischer vs. Ivkov, Palma de Mallorca Interzonal
1972 Fischer vs. Spassky, World Championship Match, games 1-12

Practice

Played 1 chess.com Rapid game: 1 win; 0 losses; 0 draws; current Rapid rating 1595

Completed 22 chess.com puzzles; current puzzles rating 1563

”The third essential element in chess, namely force, is also affected by end game considerations; for many reasons, the relative value of the men undergoes very considerable changes.” ~ How to Play Chess Endings, page 31

Last night I watched a movie on Netflex called, The Coldest Game. The movie is in part about a fictional chess match that takes place during the Cuban missile crisis:



Okay, so I’m watching the movie, and to me it’s obviously a fictional chess match, but I wondered if the games in the match were made-up for the movie, or if they were selected from actual master games. So, I did a Google search and found this excellent article about the games in the match. As it turns out the games are taken from real master games.

Game one of the match is actually Ortueta vs. Sanz played in Madrid, Spain in 1933. So, I’m playing over the score of the game, I get to move 31, and I’m thinking this looks very familiar. Where have I seen this before? Well, it turns out it’s diagram 17 on page 33 of How to Play Chess Endings.

Znosko-Borovsky used this ending because it “illustrates clearly the very essence of end game play and shows, incidentally, the upheaval in values which takes place in the last phase of the game.”

I think the Ortueta-Sanz game has been widely speculated on te be a composition. As far as the material you´re using, you might want to look into John Bartholomew´s videos on youtube or those by the chess dojo, both offer great free material, much better than agadmator who is entertaining, but not a particularly strong player or good instructor. Also: if you have been at 1800+, I don´t think you´re doing yourself much good going back to "square one". Improvement beginst at the edge of your comfort zone is how Jonathan Rowson described it I believe, the more you stretch, the more you will improve. ZB´s middlegame book btw is a pretty good read, it has an analysis of Pillsbury-Tarrasch in it that stuck with me forever. I don´t know the endgame one. Good luck!

Yep, the author of the ChessBase article that I linked said that the Ortueta-Sanz game might be a hoax. He provided a link to this website about Chess Curiosities.


Thanks for the recommendations. I will definitely look into John Bartholomew´s videos on youtube.

”As we have said before, the germ of victory or defeat is found in the preceding phase: amongst the outward signs which enable a player to assess the prospects of an impending end game, the King’s position is one of the most important and withal the most easily recognizable.” ~ How to Play Chess Endings, page 36

Training log (past week)

Books

How to Play Chess Endings: I read the section entitled “THE KING.” This section is a bit longer than those I’ve read so far. Many of those sections were only a page or two. This section is ten pages long, contains seven diagrams and one complete game score. Each of the illustrations display a game situation where an active king is the deciding factor. “Of all the pieces, the King changes most in value in the end game.” The king “becomes, instead of the weakest piece, one of the most formidable units.” In the endgame the king stops cowering behind his pawns, and “rushes into the thick of the fray and often decides the issue.”

Znosko-Borovsky devotes four sections—forty-two pages—to pawns: “THE PAWNS,” “THE SINGLE PAWN,” “PAWN AGAINST PAWN,” and “PAWNS.” I read the first three pawn sections. The first pawn section serves primarily as an introduction to pawn play. “Next to the King the pawns experience the most complete reversal in values as soon as the end game stage is reached.” In this section Znosko-Borovsky provides useful rules for recurring cases, and provides insight into the value of united pawns, isolated pawns, doubled pawns, backward pawns, passed pawns, etc. “The possibility of obtaining a passed pawn is the first consideration when assessing the value of a position.” In his first pawn section, Znosko-Borovsky continues to emphasize the importance of planning for the endgame from the earlier phases of the game. “Thus we see that even in the opening, one should allow for the possibilities of the end game: without this it is at times impossible to formulate a strategic plan, which conforms to the requirements of the position.” In his second pawn section “THE SINGLE PAWN,” Znosko-Borovsky explains the mechanics of how to win, or hold a draw, when the stronger side has a king and one pawn, playing against a lone king. In his third pawn section “PAWN AGAINST PAWN,” Znosko-Borovsky covers scenarios where each side has one pawn, and situations where one side has two pawns and the other one pawn. Znosko-Borovsky states that he gave “a considerable amount of space to these simple end games, because they form the basis of all pawn endings and we shall find there very similar maneuvers.”

The Art of the Checkmate: I read “CHAPTER 5: Greco’s Sacrifice.” Greco’s sacrifice is characterized by a bishop sacrifice at h7 (or h2) after the opponent has castled. The authors state this study is from a chess book published in 1619:

1. e4 e6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Bd3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. h4 O-O 6. e5 Nd5 7. Bxh7+ Kxh7 8. Ng5+ ...

Black has three main lines of play:

1) Withdrawal of the king:

8. ... Kg8 9. Qh5 Bxg5 10. hxg5 f5 11. g6 Qh4 12. Qxh4 f4 13. Qh8# 1-0

2) Capture of the knight:

8. ...Bxg5 9. hxg5 Kg6 10. Qh5+ Kf5 11. Qh3+ Kg6 12. Qh7# 1-0

3) Further advance of the king:

8. ... Kg6 9. h5+ Kh6 10. Nxf7+ Kh7 11. Nxd8 ... and white has won the queen.

I also read “CHAPTER 6: Quizzes;” however, there was not much reading in this chapter, only a single page followed by sixteen tactical pattern exercises based on the preceding five chapters. This is the final chapter of “Part I: Picturesque Mates.” I solved the sixteen exercises, and now I’m ready to move on to “Part II: Typical Mates.”

Videos

#agadmator videos:
1972 Fischer vs. Spassky, World Championship Match, games 13-21

John Bartholomew´s YouTube channel:
Two Knights, or Active Rook?
The “Flying V” Pawn Immortal
Playing World #4, Ding Liren
My First Victory Against a Grandmaster (Age 16)
How to Think About the Initiative in Chess

Practice

Played 2 chess.com Rapid games: 0 wins; 1 loss; 1 draw; current Rapid rating 1567

Completed 22 chess.com puzzles; current puzzles rating 1693