Tactically Defended Weak End Game Pawn

Alexander Shabalov had the fond nickname or sobriquet Shabba when face to face chess was all the rage. He and Yermo were buddies and life was good. Now online streaming resources have facilitated stay at home chess and writing talents like Daniel Naroditsky realized the USCF chess periodical were obtaining the rights to their priceless endgame commentary way tooooo CHEAP!

GM Naroditsky's Chess Life column was sucked away in Twitter induced vacuum.

This Knight versus Bishop was played against an aging Shabba at the internet chess club where the Horse on the f5 square is immune to capture due to winning KP ending for Black. Also  Bishop takes the pawn on c6 loses to the Knight fork check at d4! 

Black's doubled c pawns at c6 and c5 guard the key potential King entry point squares d5 and d4.

Was shocked to learn that folks like n.u.r.74(a colleague of Nazala Imaniah) are apparently making money by recording their facial reactions, at Youtube and instagram,  to movies and other stuff. She is some kind of Asian with nice teeth and is maybe making some click bait ad revenue by creating Male Felatio fantasies based on her supple lips. 

There are multiple safe prostitution accounts like hers where physical contact does not occur and solicitors hide behind screen names. I get a slight erection when she smiles and laughs a certain way, but have never clicked on any of her ads. 

Giving up pawn in KP ending to cement the Draw

Brazilian Jugadore Rafalvar must have thought he was winning the King and Pawn ending based on some of the ICC trash talking that is allowed in moderation at the most popular internet chess club in the entire fuckin WORLD!

He confidently played the pawn move c4 expecting an easy win if Black carelessly recaptured with his d pawn. However, we have a Dvoretsky example of widening the beachhead which essentially gives up a pawn to block all entry points of the menacing White Monarch! Note that Black's d6 pawn performs the vital function of controlling the c5 and e5 squares. So Black aloofly places Kb6 and becomes a King pendulum(another term used freely in the Russian's excellent endgame manual)

PHD and exceptional instructor WIM Alexey Root has produced some excellent lessons on KP endings, but I suspect widening the beachhead is too abstract and deep for her k-6 cute kids. Also GM chess instructor and ICC employee Yermolinsky knows that every Russian school boy is much smarter than their American counterparts. Alex is one helluva writer and commentator(despite his contempt for the Dutch Defence) as his Bally's Las Vegas Casino Hotel friend Shabalov. Some real poker studs in the group! Shahade Chess Bitch Fan club!!

Also see if you can calculate the variation which involves mutual/simultaneous queening if White tries to enter via the b1-h7 diagonal.

Silent Draw Offer at the Highest Level

So I was watching the Ruy Lopez Rapid Championship 2019 game between the Norwegian and the American Nakamura. Magnus was Black and had a screwed up pawn structure but possessed the Bishop pair. Hikaru had granite grip on the c4 square with his Horses since the Horse could NOT be driven away by Black pawns. Carlsen had put his tower/rook at a spot that would straighten out the pawns if the best player in the United States ever decided to capture the  tower on square controlled by one of the Norway star's doubled pawns. So the two dudes agreed upon mysterious draw where the spectators present observed no draw offer!!

Sunil's son had just  moved his lady to the corner square a1 and a draw was agreed upon with no clear verbal offer by Nakamura. So do these stud chess players practice better non verbal communication better than most females?!!

Chris Voss knows all about this in the world of business negotiations. Nashama Mohamed relates it to helping those afflicted with Big Phrama's dream malady Aspergers. Yoshihiro Nishiaki connects it to cavemen in a paleontology backdrop.

Capturing c3 Knight in Nimzo Indian Defense Unprovoked

The Nimzo-Indian Defense reaction to 1.d4 2. c4 3.Nc3 is likely the best Black Defense. There are many die hard Gruenfeld and Slav Defense players who would vehemently contest this claim, but Super GMs such as Anatoly Karpov and Michael Adams play move orders that avoid the Nimzo-Indian which is characterized by Bb4 pinning the c3 Knight and "threatening pawn doubling".

In the diagrammed position, BIV of the United  States playing at the ICC, ill-advisedly played Bishop captures Knight without being provoked by a3. The drawback to the premature capture, giving up the mini exchange according to Fischer, is that White has not blocked his f-pawn with Nf3. The f pawn can spearhead a line-opening attack against the Black King. The lines being the f file and the c1-h6 diagonal.

Also the  e2 White Knight can become fatally aggressive by hopping to g3 and h5 accentuating the pinned Black Horse at f6.

Black greedily went after one of the doubled c pawns at c4 by misplacing his Knight at a5 millions of miles from the King Side where it might play a defensive role. The materialist plan of winning the the c4 pawn with the aforementioned Knight and Bishop to a6 is unsound as proved in this game where Black was crushed to death by a merciless White attack for his greedy forays on the other side of the board!

GM Roman Dzindzichashvili, who was sort of a sleazy, Bohemian, con-artist type back in the 80s and early 90s at many United States USCF tournaments, has written some excellent stuff regarding the demerits of capturing at c3 too early in the Nimzo-Indian.

Bad Bishop and Weak Pawns Equals a Loss in this Chess Ending

Playing 3 minute blitz chess at ICC is not as bad for one's chess game as is widely promulgated. In the following ending that arose from a Catalan Opening structure, kenmiller457 finds himself with a difficult to defend position due to two considerations: 1. A bad Bishop  2. A weakened, shattered pawn structure namely doubled pawns at f7, f6, and h7.

Amazingly, Black's Bishop is bad because of one pawn! Yes the d5 pawn obstructs two long diagonals limiting the the mobility of the dismayed Prelate.  White's light squared bishop is NOT blocked by the d4 pawn giving it superior range and mobility.



White's winning plan is quite straightforward. Occupy the weak square f4 with impunity owing to the the doubled Black f pawns. After bringing his Bishop to f5, White will create a Zugzwang  position which will eventually yield a passed a pawn and a won game.

Black's weakened Kingside pawn structure occurred due to a pin on the f6 Knight by White's g5 Bishop. As the Queen's and rooks were exchanged these weaknesses became more of a concern. Remember tattered pawns are invariably a liability in an ending. Allow them at your own risk!

Artificial Back Rank Mate

Grandmanok, from the country of Brunei, plays a lot of 3 minute blitz chess at ICC. He is not fond of weak pawn structures and does not like to sacrifice material.

In the following game, Grandmanok played g3 intending to evict the knight at f4. This mating steed attacks the squares g2 and e2 which happen to be escape squares for the White Monarch placed on back rank at f1.



Had white pawns been positioned on these squares, then a standard back rank mate would have existed. The Knight surveilling these squares creates the same but artificial effect of a back rank mate which was executed with Rook to b1 mate.

So despite White's extra pawn and better pawn structure, tactics decided this error prone type of chess competition.

 This game did not end peacefully for this citizen of  the Abode of Peace in southeast Asia which has had conflicts with both Spain and England over the years. Such is the nature of the war game chess which attracts players from all cultures.

Doubled Pawns as weakness in Endgame

In a balanced game, creating pawn weaknesses comes at a price. In the following chess position, Boba-Fett of Germany playing at ICC allowed the doubling of his c7 and c6 pawns which create weak squares at c5 and c4. The "price paid" by White was giving up his Bishop for the Knight at c6 which was referred to as giving up the mini exchange by Jew Hater Robert Fischer.



Weak squares are ones that typically can not be guarded by pawns and provide great permanent outposts for pieces and Kings in an ending. Also as more material leaves the chess board, the weakness of the doubled pawns becomes more of a concern.

Black would like to place a piece at d6 begging for an exchange which would undouble his pawns. The white Knight at c4 is the dominant piece on the board for either side attacking the weak a5 pawn which can only be protected by Black Horse residing at b7.

Black has to be on guard for White King infiltrations which could lead to lost endings

Capturing at c3 too early in the Nimzo Indian

The below chess diagram is an example of a theoretical opening mistake by Black with significant practical implications.

Specifically in this Nimzo Indian Defense Black captured the c3 Knight with his f8 Bishop without any provocation which is OK only after White has placed his King's Knight on f3.

Why is this important? Capturing the c3 Knight is part of a long term blockade strategy for Black where he intends to construct an unbreakable pawn barrier comprised of the c5,d6, and e5 pawns and fight like hell to keep the position closed.



A natural enemy to this is the White f4 pawn which seeks to open files and diagonals that will favor the c1 Bishop which is currently quite immobile and immured by his own pawns.

Note that in the diagram, the White Knight developed to the e2 square staying out of the way of the f2 pawn which will advance in an attempt to liberate the Queen's Bishop aimed at the Black Kingside. This may not seem like a big deal,but remember Black has no dark squared Bishop to oppose White's.

Black gave up that piece to produce a rigid, blocking pawn structure and give White weak doubled c pawns.