OK I did not go all the way to Mount Rushmore to kidnap
Swiss Gambit and sell him to a circus.
Infact I only went 100 yards from my house and chalked
that position on a lump of stupid rock that was lying outside
the Edinburgh Art College.
Why the confession? Because I got grassed up by my son.
Apparently the tender sole who ordered the chunk of rock
was most upset that someone had chalked a chess position on it.
This chiseler (I won’t call him a sculptor as that implies talent)
Demanded to know who done it. My son told him it was me.
So I have this doorstep confrontation with this raving crackpot wearing
dark glasses and a duffle coat screaming at me to reveal who SG is?
“Stalin’s Ghost.” I replied and before anymore was said the neighbor’s
dog saw him, jumped the fence and chased him off.
A nutter.
Want to see some Rook & Knight v Rook endings?
This bit was prompted by some recent OTB play.
M.Carlsen - W.l’Ami Wilk ann Zee 2011
Black is in check and the choices are Kh3, Kh5 or Kf3.
Black played the ‘safest’ move by moving away from the
edge of the board and lost (Kh3 or Kh5 are OK).
1…Kf3 2.Nh4+
And the Rook on a2 is the victim of a skewer.
2…Ke3 3.Rg3+ and Rg2 +.
So naturally I jumped into the 1400 DB looking for R + N v R endings.
Found 220.
58 were wins for the Rook & Knight in this theorectical drawn ending.
On here I recommend playing on if you have the Rook & Knight.
As the numbers show the defence has sometimes proved too much for the unwary.
Let us see some examples.
Pawnranger - Chrish Ward RHP 2007
Is a typical blunder I spotted in the games that were won.
White to play. Guess the gaffe.
1.Rh5
Thinking pinning the knight will guarantee a draw.
Unfortunately…..Checks all Checks.
1…Nc7+ and the undefended White Rook is lost to a discovered attack.
rghulk - NeaBelestoiu RHP 2009
This one is the same idea but includes a piece of alert play and
a reminder, if ever one needed reminding, that sometimes just
any old move will not do.
Black to play.
Black has to move the Rook, but where?
Given the hint that something nasty is going to happen can
you see the ONLY square that does not lose the Rook.
(answer at the bottom)
Black played 1…Rf1?
White checked 2Rf6+
And no matter where the Black King goes a check with the Knight
discovers an attack on the f1 Rook. 1-0
Cheshire Cat - oishi RHP 2005
An off topic oversight happened earlier on in this game.
White hung his Rook to a Knight thinking his passed pawn would
require Black giving up his Rook to stop it.
Black to play.
Black played 1…Nb5+ and grabbed the pawn.
However he can take the Rook.
1…NxR 2.d7 Nf4 3.d7=Q Ne6+
And that would have been that.
Instead 30 moves later we arrived here with White to play.
1.Rg5+ is the move. Black has no forced win from here.
He needs some help from White.
How about walking into a mate in two.
1.Ka3? Nc4+ 2.Ka4 Rb4 mate.
Enough? One more.
This is good.
It carries with it that perverse humour that all of us love.
Always Remember:
There but for the grace of God…..
strummer - sbacat RHP 2009
Black to play
Black has a move here creating a stone dead draw.
1…Rg7 pinning the Rook to the King. The Rooks comes off. Draw.
Instead Black let his imagination get the better of him and
sought a draw by another way. Stalemate.
He played 1…Rf7?
Clever stuff this. If 2.Nxf7 stalemate.
One minor flaw. CHECK ALL CHECKS.
2. Rh6+ King moves and 3.NxR and no stalemate. 1-0.
We end with a 16 mover from davaniel.
Both sides set their armies up for the coming middle game.
Development is matched.
Black has a choice on move 8. Attack first or Castle.
Out comes 8...b5 forcing the Bishop to realise the dream
of all King's Bishop's.
These pieces are soley designed to sac on f7.
Sound or unsound? Looks OK to me.
White mated Black seven moves later.
That would not have happened without the sac.
davaniel - polo2000 RHP 2011
Solution:
The square that does not drop the Rook is…
1…Rb4
Stay with me boys and I'll get you there.
Game 6013259
Hi thaughbaer
Cheers mate.
Not the first time someone has compared my stuff to what
appears in the Sun.
I'm chuffed. The Sun is Britains top selling newspaper.
(bet you never knew in the Fischer-Spassky boom The Sun
actually had a chess column.)
Next blog will have a page 3 girl just for you.
(....and of course an instructive thaughbaer loss) 😉
thatkesk
1.e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. Bxf7! works.
see game 6013259
so I didnt know, that the Kings bishop sole reason of existence is this sac on f7. Have to try that in my next game 😉 (Like 1.e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. Bxf7! sac!)
But in earnest, now I feel like to know more about the Bishop idea. Your posts are great! You write about Rook+Knight and make us interested in Bishops on f7. Thanks...
That would explain everything
Mike
from the games of the so called weaker player.
At that level it's all about avoiding and spotting blunders.
But try getting that past an editor and their readers.
If it's not done by a 2700+ then it's not worth showing.
And blunders in GM games are blue moon jobs.
(Notice I myself have used Carlsen's name as a plug) 🙂