A mad rook rampage

by Frederic Friedel
3/18/2021 – Round seven of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational. In the game between Jorden van Foreest and Taimour Radjabov the latter had outplayed his opponent and was clearly on his way to victory. But the Dutch GM used a well-known trick to conjure up a problem for his opponent, one he was unable to resolve. Watch the exciting live commentary during the game. It's entertaining and instructive.

ChessBase 18 - Mega package ChessBase 18 - Mega package

Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

More...

Before we come to the remarkable game I need to give you some background.

In my college days I sometimes had a visitor who, at the time, had two IM norms. We's play games, without me having the ghost of a chance – until one evening, when he was thoroughly inebriated and blundered a piece. I went on to get a thoroughly won endgame and was looking forward to chortling triumph, when he suddenly pulled a trick on me, the likes of which I had never seen before. He got a draw and I sat there stunned.

I sought to use the trick myself, in my games – but the situation never arose. And a few years later I read about it in one of the most influential books I own.

The author is Tim Krabbé, writer and collector of chess curiosities. Buying his books on chess curiosities I discovered that I could read Dutch, which is very close to my native German. Later I got to know Tim and wrote a number of stories based on what I had learned from him (here is the most famous on the Babson Task).

In any case Tim had written about the manoeuvre my IM friend has used on me. The Dutch call it "dolle toren", which translates to "crazy rook". His chapter on that contains the following example:

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Position not in LiveBook
58...a4! White is winning. But Nimzowitsch uses the same trap I fell into to lure his opponent into a draw. 59.Kf4 Rh4+ 60.Kg5 Rxf3! Sacrificing a rook - but why? 61.Kxh4 Rf4+ 62.Kg3
Now the reason becomes clear - Black unleashes a dolle toren! 62...Rf3+ 63.Kg4 White could not take the rook because that would be stalemate! Now the black rook can hound the king, which can only take it if the capture move would relieve the stalemate. He doesn't succeed and the game ends in a draw. Rf4+ 64.Kg5 Rf5+ 65.Kg6 Rf6+ 66.Kg7 Rg6+ 67.Kh8 Rg8+ 68.Kh7 Rh8+ 69.Kg6 Rh6+ 70.Kf5 Rf6+ 71.Kg5 Rf5+ 72.Kg6 Rf6+ 73.Kg7 Rg6+ 74.Kh8 Rg8+ 75.Kh7 Rh8+ 76.Kg6 Rh6+ 77.Kg5 Rg6+ 78.Kf4 Rg4+ 79.Kf3 Rf4+ 80.Ke2 Rxe4+ 81.Kd1 Re1+ 82.Kc2 Rc1+ 83.Kd3 Rc3+ 84.Kd4 Rc4+ 85.Kd5 Rc5+ 86.Kd6 Rc6+ 87.Kd7 Rb6 88.Rc7 Rb2 89.Rd4 Rb8 90.Rcc4 Ra8 91.Rb4 Ra6 92.Ke7 Ra7+ 93.Ke6 Ra6+ 94.Ke5 Ra5+ 95.Ke4 Ra6 96.Kd3 Ra8 97.Kc2 Rc8+ 98.Kb1 Rb8
½–½
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Post,E-Nimzowitsch,A-½–½1905D07Barmen Meister-B8

You can see a wonderful example of a dolle toren hounding the opponent's king. This is the path the rook took, and this is how the white king sought in vain to evade it.

The only way to escape the mad rook is to capture it with a move that relieves the stalemate. There are a number of well-known positions that demonstrate that. Here's one that makes the principle clear in an elementary fashion:

 
Bernhard Horwitz, 1881
Black to play

Black launches a mad rook: 1...Rd6+. White can't take the rook (stalemate), but he can escape with 2.Ke4 Rd4+ 3.Kf3. Now White can defend against any mad rook check by releasing the stalemate. Here's a more complicated example:

 
White to play, Black wins

To win this position Black must tread a careful path: 1.Rc6+ d6 2.Rxd6+ f6 3.Rxf6+ Kh7 4.Rh6+ Kg8 5.Rh8+ Kf7 6.Rf8+ Ke6 7.Rf6+ Kd7 8.Rd6+ Kc8 9.Rd8+ Kb7 10.Rb8+ Kc6 11.Rxb6+ Kd7 12.Rd6+ Ke8 13.Rd8+ Kf7 14.Rf8+ Kg6 15.Rf6+ Kh7 and now if 16.Rh6+ Black has Rxh6 mate! 

Which brings us to a truly remarkable game that occurred in round seven of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational:

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 d6 5.d4 exd4 6.Nxd4 Bd7 7.Nc3 Be7 8.Re1 0-0 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.h3 Re8 11.Bf4 Rb8 12.b3 c5 13.Nf3 Bc6 14.e5 Nh5 15.Bh2 g6 16.Qd3N Ng7 17.Rad1 Ne6 18.Nd5 Bxd5 19.Qxd5 Rb6 20.exd6 cxd6 21.Nd2 Qa8 22.Nc4 Qxd5 23.Rxd5 Ra6 24.a4 Rd8 25.Red1 Nd4 26.Rd2 f5 27.a5 Kf7 28.b4 Ke6 29.Ne3 g5 30.bxc5 dxc5 31.Re5+ Kf7 32.Nc4 f4 33.f3 Ne6 34.Rdd5 Bf6 35.Rxd8 Bxd8 36.h4 h6 37.hxg5 hxg5 38.g3 Bc7 39.Rf5+ Kg6 40.g4 Bxa5 41.Kg2 Bc3-+ 42.Bg1 Ra2 43.Ne5+ Bxe5 44.Rxe5 Rxc2+
This is the position at 1h 39m 51s in the video below (https://youtu.be/TLf32mTQ4bU?t=5991). Listen to the commentators, Sagar and Amruta, discuss the moves as they take place on the board. 45.Kh3 Kf6 46.Bd4 Ke7! 46...Nxd4 47.Re6+ Kf7 48.Re7+ Kf8 49.Re8+= 46...cxd4 47.Rxe6+ Kf7 48.Re7+ Kf8 49.Re8+= 47.Rd5
47...cxd4! Radjabov takes the bishop at the right moment. 48.Rd7+ Kf6 49.Rf7+ Ke5 50.Rf5+ Kd6 51.Rd5+ It seems as if there are continuous checks, but the Black king can escape! Kc7 52.Rd7+ Kb6 53.Rb7+
53...Ka5? With just 10 seconds on his clock, Radjabov errs. 53...Kc5! mates 54.Rb5+ 54.Rc7+ Kb4 55.Rxc2 d3 56.Rd2 Kc3 is just lost. 54...Kc4 55.Rb4+ Kc3 56.Rb3+ Kd2 57.Rd3+ Ke2 And now there is no way to continue the mad rook rampage as Re3+ is met with fxe3 and Rd2 is met with Rxd2 when the king on h3 can safely move to g2 or h2. 54.Rb5+!= Ka4 55.Rb4+! Ka3 56.Rb3+! Kxb3
½–½
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Van Foreest,J2543Radjabov,T2758½–½2021Magnus Carlsen Invitational 20217.4

I want you to listen to the hysterical commentator follow the actions live on the board. You will get a feel for this kind of mad rook position like you have never got before. Note that Radjabov, who is around 200 points stronger than the commentator, misses a win that Sagar finds while screaming at the position. You can see how the pressure of actually making the moves weighs on a player. If you do not enjoy this video tremendously (maximize, sit back and watch), you should seek psychological council.

You can try to follow everything with your chess engine, or watch Sagar explain it all very clearly in this video recorded after the round:

Well worth the five minutes invested in learning how to escape a mad rook.

And if you are now in the mood, here's another extraordinary stalemate from the same event.

Finally, if you want to try your skill at a mad rook problem, here is a very pretty one I have taken from Tim Krabbé's book. 

 
Tim Krabbe (?)
White to play and win

After 1.Ne2 h1=Q+ 2.Bxh1 Ra1+ how does White stop the rampaging rook? 3.Kc2 Rc1+ 4.Kd3 Rd1+! (of course not 4...Rxc7, which quickly loses). White needs 33 more carefully executed moves to finally take the rook while at the same time relieving the stalemate. Are you able to work it out? 


Editor-in-Chief emeritus of the ChessBase News page. Studied Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Hamburg and Oxford, graduating with a thesis on speech act theory and moral language. He started a university career but switched to science journalism, producing documentaries for German TV. In 1986 he co-founded ChessBase.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.