In this second part of our series on the Fortress, I would like to talk about a type of fortress known as the “pawn fortress.” The example that stuck in my memory was the one I saw for the first time in Alexander Kotov’s book “Play like a Grandmaster.” This example is from Chekhover.
White to play
White seems to have lost, since they can’t avoid the rook’s triumphant entry. However, with a bit of imagination we can find the solution. It’s easy to see that the queenside is locked, but is there a way to make them locked on the kingside? As we know, examples force us to take a good look at the position, making us think laterally.
1.Kd1!! a stroke of magic 1…Rh2
2.Ke1!! Rxg2
3.Kf1 Rh2
4.Kg1 Rh3
5.Kg2 Rh8
6.f3 Now, we can see that all of black king’s entries are blocked, and once the rook lands on e8, the white king will go to f2 for a Hollywood ending!
I learned a lot about Chess Endgames by using “An Endgame Expert by Igor Smirnov” and I recommend it if you want to learn more about the topic.
An important detail to remember: The fortress is one of the few topics that even a computer can’t calculate. Let’s look at the next position as an example:
Black to play
In this position, the match-up was between Armenian GM Arshak Petrosian and Hungarian IM Lazlo Hazai. Black played the surprising 1…Qb6!
I suggest a game: Ask your computer friend if they would choose a move besides capturing the queen as their first option, and then how they evaluate said position. Petrosian took the queen, hoping to be able to open the position with h4, but forgot something. The game continued 2.Nxb6? cxb6
3.h4 gxh4
4.Qd2 h3! A detail that the Armenian missed.
5.gxh3 h4 and Black dashed all of White’s hopes. The correct option would have been not to accept the “gift.” The game is won with 1.Qd2 with the idea of Kb3, Nb2, Ka4 and then placing the knight on b3.
TAKE A LOOK AT THESE VIDEOS FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE ENDGAME:
–“Fighting in the Endgame – FIDE Master Alisa Melekhina”
–“Essential Endgame Knowledge – IM Danny Kopec”.