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The Backward Facing Knight and Lolli

The Backward Facing Knight and Lolli

The Planet Greenpawn



Picked this book up on the 1986 Kasparov - Karpov World Championship
by Wade, Miles, Bronstein, Hartston....(phew!).... Blackstock, Martin....

Here is a picture of the cover listing all the names.
Title here

It’s OK, reasonable notes, nice bit of background chit chat and the book is built
to last (a lot of my books fall to pieces during study), but.....there is always a but.

The diagrams and figurine notation is playing havoc with my pattern vision.
They have the Knights facing right instead of left and it looks very strange.
Title here

Things look worse when they use another feature of the book. Each game is noted up
but they also show the same game with no notes, just a diagram after every two moves.
Title here

And that silly Knight makes it look like Egyptian hieroglyphics.
red pawns

Giambattista Lolli (1698 – 1769)

An Italian chess player and author who one day, fed up waiting for television to
be invented, decided to mess about with King & Queen v a King & Rook ending.

He discovered that this position with White to move is a draw.

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White to play and draw. Lolli 1763.

Here is the drawing procedure. I’d pay attention here because this idea may
save you a ½ point. More than 250 years later some RHP players missed it.

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1.Rh2Kg7
2.Rg2Kf6
3.Rf2Kg5
4.Rg2Kh4
5.Rh2Kg3
6.Rh3Kxh3

-4

I offer you Four RHP players all missing this stalemate in all four corner s of the board.

None of the lads played the stalemate move in brackets and all went onto to lose.
Title here

A = kuldeep Sharma - Nishi Kant Gupta RHP 2013 (76....Rb7+)
B = dartsman - Palimpsest RHP 2011 (65...Rg6+)
C = Kresten - sameeh RHP 2014 (83...Rb3+)
D = wiz444 - traut777 RHP 2012. (100....Rg3+)

We are having so much fun with Lolli let us look at the Lolli Mate.

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And this gives us a chance to see some good RHP games in action.

First we see the Lolli in it’s basic form. A perfect example from an RHP game.

anom asil - Farzad Farsee RHP 2017

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1.f6g6
2.Qc1Kh8
3.Qh6Rg8
4.Qxh7Kxh7
5.Rh3

0

Now you have seen one we look at a game where Black did not know the Lolli Mate.

Biagio Bascetta 2 - Sc111 RHP 2017

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1.exd5cxd5
2.f6dxc4
3.Qh6Rg8
4.Rg4Qc5
5.d4Qf8
6.Qxh7Kxh7
7.Rh4Qh6
8.Rxh6

0

Same theme but this one has an instructive twist well worth knowing.

Shelrock57 - gregory eyetech RHP 2017

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1.Qg5Kh8
2.Qh6Rg8
3.Rg3Qd7
4.Rg5Ne3
5.Qxh7Kxh7
6.Rh5

0

We end this piece on Giambattista Lolli with a full game.

PAWN RIOT - jose sureda RHP 2010

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1.e4e5
2.Nc3Nf6
3.f4d5
4.fxe5Nxe4
5.Qf3Nxc3
6.dxc3Be7
7.Bd3Be6
8.Bf4O-O
9.Qh5g6
10.Qh6Kh8
11.Nf3Rg8
12.Ng5Bxg5
13.Bxg5Qf8
14.Bf6Rg7
15.h4Nd7
16.h5Nxf6
17.exf6Rg8
18.Qxh7Kxh7
19.hxg6

0

      The thread accompanying this blog is...
      Title here

      penguinkeeper - AlekhineReborn RHP 2011

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      White missed 29. Qxh7+ mating Black and went onto lose.

      Blicher - Dreamthief RHP 2012

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      White missed 23. Qxh7+ mating Black and went onto lose.

      Pololo - willysan RHP 2011

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      White missed 28. Qxh7+ mating Black and went onto lose.

      SirLurch - joaodelisboa RHP 2017

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      A wee bit trickier 25.Nxf7+ Bxf7 26.Qxh7+ mates. but 0-1 on move 42.

      The thread accompanying this blog is Thread 178298

      The Planet Greenpawn

      Last Post
      03 Apr 25
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