On the second day of the Kramnik Microsense Chess India Program, it was mostly about endgames. But before the day began Vlad gave the class a problem to solve. We ask you to solve it as well — it is quite breath-taking.
Gukesh was going to the washroom to get ready for the day. I asked him to come and have a look at the this position, which Kramnik had sent via WhatsApp a few minutes ago. Just as a warm up for the day. He wanted the youngsters to crack this one before he arrived. Gukesh looked at the position for around 30 seconds and then went on for his shower.
I assumed Gukesh had forgotten about the position, and when he turned up at the breakfast table, with his new t-shirt and looking fresh, I asked him to join us in solving the position. "I found the solution", he exclaimed. But when? "While getting ready!" Gukesh had memorized the position and was thinking about it in his head under the shower!
So what's the answer? 1.♕f1! said Gukesh (you can move the pieces on the diagram above to follow the solution). And suddenly it became clear to everyone what the idea was! Isn't it beautiful? If Black takes 1...♚xe6 and White mates with...? Yes, you got that right! 2.♕f5#!! That is a square that is attacked three times, but all the attacking pieces are suddenly pinned. And if Black tries to defend by moving the knight, 2.♕f6 mates; if he moves the rook it is 2.♕f4#; and if he moves the queen it is mate by rook or queen on the e-file. What a pretty position!
Vladimir usually arrives at around 10.30 a.m. for his training session. What happens between the time these boys wake up and Kramnik arrives is amazing! They are all in some kind of a trance, not because they are sleepy but all of them have been spending time thinking about a chess position. Praggnanandhaa has refuted some analysis from the previous night, Leon is waking up Iniyan and Raunak to tell them that White is no longer winning in a variation that they thought he was, Prithu is going to the washroom when he suddenly sees that two of his friends are analyzing. He joins them and sits there for the next thirty minutes! The Champions House is brimming with chess, and the reason is pretty simple: everyone simply loves the game here! Chess is the most important thing in their lives!
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On the second day Kramnik showed ten of his games in which he had beaten some of the best players in the world from slightly better endgame positions. The trick was always to keep improving his pieces, and at the right moment strike with accurate calculations. While this is easy to speak about, it is extremely difficult to execute in practical play. That's what makes Kramnik one of the greatest endgame players alive! In the camp he is training the kids on how they can imbibe some of his endgame skills. Here's an example:
So that's how your intuition develops! Kramnik also makes an important point — if you remove the pawns on d3 and d5, then the queen exchange makes complete sense, because the board is much more open and the chances of reaching an opposite couloured bishop endgame are much less. So there you see, that's one difficult decision to think about. Imagine a day where you have 50 such decisions to make, and each time you do it, you get feedback from Kramnik. This is definitely going to help these super-talents to improve — dramatically!
The setup of the camp
Here's a second example of the work Vlad is doing with the kids. If you spend some time looking at my notes you can learn a bit, together with the super-talents:
Food for thought — even during mealtimes chess is always in the discussion
Teamwork: everyone goes out into the village to buy groceries
The beautifully calm rural ambiance of the Kramnik Camp
How they spend their evenings together — NB: the book is Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual.
One evening we did a Skype video conference call with Frederic Friedel in Hamburg. Fred has a lot of experience with young chess talents — we are talking Nigel Short, Garry Kasparov, Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Leko, the Polgar sisters, Magnus Carlsen and many others. His urgent advice to these youngsters: "When analysing with Kramnik you will find he says many things you immediately understand, but also things that are slightly mysterious. Listen especially carefully to those parts. He is thinking in categories that you don't know. Try to understand them and make them your way of thinking."
Of course, as is always the case with Fred, there was a lot of jesting and laughter. At one stage he gave them a puzzle: "I once played a game in which I mated my opponent with 6.gxf8=♘#. But I cannot remember the moves that led to that. Can you help me find them?"
Pragg immediately looked at Gukesh, saying: "Didn't you show me this problem?" Indeed he had, after Frederic had given it to him during his visit in Hamburg, three months earlier. But he and Pragg had not found the solution — unlike their 12-year-old friend Savithashri, who worked it out in one somewhat sleepless night.
Anyway, all six super-talents at the Kramnik Camp got to work. Raunak Sadhwani tried very hard for a couple of hours, but was only able to construct a mate in seven. The nice thing about this problem is that you cannot use an engine nor can you find the answer on Google. So once you don't get it, either you give it up or keep trying!
The next morning Praggnanandhaa stood at the breakfast table as in a trance. I asked him to have his breakfast, but he didn't seem to be interested. After around ten minutes he suddenly shouted out loud: "I have got it!" And yes, he had! It is a fun problem, and you can try moving the pieces on this board to solve it:
