Efstratios Grivas – Repeated Motifs

by Efstratios Grivas
12/20/2023 – As it is already well-known, chess is a game of repeated motifs; a game of repeated knowledge! Once you carefully and correctly learn a motif, a pattern or an opening, your subconscious carefully stores it for use when time comes and demands! Here is a valuable lesson from a world-class chess trainer on the subject. There is a lot to learn!

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Do not try to remember everything you are learning – you will simply fail! Try to understand and subconsciously store it - this is the secret of knowledge!

Trainees are trying hard, spending enormous time to learn and remember. Which basically it's a mistake. You just need 'quality' procedure and a logical amount of time – nobody likes too much work!

But let's try to 'understand' the concept of the subconscious knowledge. We will examine two important motifs in the endgame:

Example 1 - Repeated Motifs

Important Motif 1
White to play

The position remains drawn after 1.Ra2+ or 1.Ra1, but not after the attractive but careless 1.Ra4? This is because of 1...Rh3+!! $2.gxh3 g3+ 3.Kh1 g2+ 4.Kh2 g1=Q# 0-1. Execute the moves on the diagram above and memorize the motif. It is a strategy that occurs in the following examples.

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72...Bd1?
A careless move. Black could still hold the draw with something like the simple 72...Bd3 . 73.Rh6+! 73.Rh6+ Black resigned: gxh6 74.g6+ Kh8 75.g7+ Kh7 76.g8Q# . 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ghaem Maghami,E2603Khader,S24651–02009A13Asian Indoor Games1
Caruana,F2795Sevian,S2696½–½2023E20GCT Saint Louis Blitz11
Manik,M2465Gallagher,J25151–02003B50Mitropa Cup6
Peralta,F2595Aloma Vidal,R24351–02010E92Sabadell Tancat4
Kasparov,S2468Helstroffer,A22591–02004C06Vandoeuvre Open2

And here comes the second motif:

Lerner-Dorfman
White to play and win

What should White do - how to stop the black pawn? I do not think that many players can find the next move, especially if they do not have enough time at their disposal! And who has any time left in such a late stage of the game?

You can enter white moves on the above diagram and try to win. Black will defend. If you don't find the correct strategy – the correct first move – you will not be able to win. The game and the solution are given in the following replay window:

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.e3 0-0 6.Bd2 c5 7.dxc5 Na6 8.cxd5 Nxc5 9.Bc4 Bf5 10.0-0 Rc8 11.Nd4 Bd3 12.Bxd3 Nxd3 13.Qe2 Nxb2 14.Rab1 Nc4 15.Rxb7 Nxd5 16.Nxd5 Qxd5 17.Rxe7 Bxd4 18.exd4 Nxd2 19.Qxd2 Rc4 20.Rxa7 Rxd4 21.Qe3 Rd3 22.Qe7 Rd2 23.a3 Rd1 24.h3 Rxf1+ 25.Kxf1 Qc4+ 26.Qe2 Qc1+ 27.Qe1 Rc8 28.Qxc1 Rxc1+ 29.Ke2 Ra1 30.Kf3 Kg7 31.Ra5 h6 32.g3 Ra2 33.Ra8 Ra1 34.Ra7 Ra2 35.Kg2 Ra1 36.Ra6 Ra2 37.Ra5 Ra1 38.Kf3 Ra2 39.Ke3 Ra1 40.Ra4 Ra2 41.Ra5 Ra1 42.h4 h5 43.Ra4 Ra2 44.Ra5 Ra1 45.Ra6 Re1+ 46.Kf3 Rc1 47.Ra4 Ra1 48.Ra8 Ra2 49.Ke3 Ra1 50.Kf4 Ra2 51.f3 Ra1 52.a4 Kf6 53.Ra6+ Kg7 54.Ra7 Kf6 55.Ra8 Kg7 56.a5 Ra4+ 57.Ke5 Ra3 58.Ke4 Ra4+ 59.Kd5 Ra3 60.a6 Rxf3 61.Rb8 Ra3 62.Rb6 Rxg3 63.Kc6 Ra3 64.Kb7 g5 65.hxg5 h4 66.a7 h3 67.a8Q Rxa8 68.Kxa8 h2 69.Rh6 f6 70.Rxh2 fxg5 (D)
Well, what White should do - how to stop the black pawn? I do not think that many players can find the next move if not having enough time at their disposal! And who has any time left in such a late stage of the game? 71.Rf2‼ According to tablebases this is the only move to win - the black king must be cut-off, before his counterpart comes to assist the rook! How White found it? Well, he had plenty of time and assistants, as at those times the games were adjourned after the 40th move and then each time after 16 moves! Kh6 72.Kb7 g4 73.Kc6 Kg5 74.Kd5 g3 75.Rf8 Kg4 76.Ke4 1–0
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  • 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.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Lerner,K2495Dorfman,J25401–01980D94URS-Ch
Maletin,P2621Ovod,E24011–02010D02Chigorin Memorial4
Damljanovic,B2470Byrne,R24951–01987E94New York Open
Sipos,I2468Stankovic,M23961–02017A25HUN-Ch tt3.4
Alekseev,E2679Golubka,P23991–02014B53EU-Ch Blitz6
Kamsky,G2671Bacrot,E27081–02006C88M-Tel Masters2

An important technique to remember (and apply of course) in many endgames is the 'shouldering' - the approach of the enemy king must be not allowed! The '5th Rank' concept is quite important, although not many understands it perfectly!

Efstratios Grivas

Efstratios Grivas lives and works in Dubai. His full CV is provided at the end of this article.

Efstratios (30.03.1966) is a highly experienced chess trainer and chess author. He has been awarded by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) the titles of International Chess Grandmaster, FIDE Senior Trainer, International Chess Arbiter and International Chess Organiser.
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