Thinking in Schemes |
| Written by Administrator | ||||
| Friday, 02 August 2013 | ||||
 By GM Lars Bo Hansen, PhD, MBA  A good approach to strategic endgames is to first think schematically and only then specifically. In such endgames, you should try to consider what you are ideally want to achieve in broad terms and only then move on to calculating specific moves.  An instructive example of this approach can be found in the game Grischuk-Nakamura from the recent FIDE Grand Prix in Greece. The players reached an endgame with two extra pawns for Grischuk but with good drawing chances for Nakamura because one of the extra pawns was doubled. View the game  The American's 70th move was an instructive error, though, after which the game could not be saved even if it took Grischuk another 50 moves to convert. The reason that 70...Bf8 was an error is that it allowed White to seize the 5th rank with 71. Rh5! (therefore Black should have played 70...Ra5! instead, with good chances to draw). Then White could initiate a series of maneuvers that eventually brought in the point. Notice how systematically and with no hurry Grischuk proceeds: First stage: Push f3-f4-f5 (this is why the fifth rank was so critical to control; otherwise this advance would not be possible). Second stage: Force the exchange of rooks. Third stage: King maneuver to h5, threatening to break in on g6 and forcing Black to put his king on f7. Fourth stage: Push the d-pawn, using it as decoy. Fifth stage: Use Zugzwang to bring the bishop onto the a3-f8 diagonal, cutting off Black's king from the d-pawn. Sixth stage: Bring the king back to the center, queening the d-pawn (Black resigned before this stage was concluded). If you like the article, you can learn more about GM Lars Bo Hansen & his books at Amazon.com. Related materials: Does the "Draw with Black, Win with White" approach work anymore? Boris Gelfand & maintaining a strong center How to react to a chess novelty A lesson from the Ukrainian Chess Champion Carlsen-Anand @ Tal Memorial Strategy of Restriction
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