Jon Speelman: Royal March

A study-like endgame

[Note that Jon Speelman also looks at the content of the article in video format, here embedded at the end of the article.]

A fortnight ago, I was wondering which game(s) to put in my column in (the weekly British newspaper) The Observer, alongside a preview of the Candidates on the day of the first round. Normally, I would have used some battles between the two Americans, but since they were actually playing live that seemed odd. So instead I looked at their games from the previous Candidates in Toronto and also Praggnanandhaa's and eventually settled on Vidit Gujrathi's brilliant win as Black against Hikaru Nakamura, which went a long way to denying Nakamura tournament victory.

On the way I played through Nakamura's nice win as Black against Alireza Firouzja and rereading my notes found a line near the end which leads to a study-like finish.

After more than a week of analysis on and off, I decided on this version of a study based on the game. There's also a second version with quite a long intro beforehand, which engines confirm is sound but is rather complicated. Please have a look and see where you can get with it. As you'll see, his White Majesty goes on quite a journey.

(After the introduction, you can always consult a tablebase if the resultant ending is too daunting.)

The Endgame Academy Vol.2: Theoretical Rook Endgames

Grandmaster Dr. Karsten Müller, one of the world’s leading endgame experts, guides you step by step through everything you need to know in this second volume.
Picture this: you’ve outplayed your opponent move by move, you’re clearly better – and then the endgame slips into a draw, simply because you lacked the crucial theoretical knowledge. That is exactly where this course comes in. Without solid endgame skills, there’s no way forward. Rook endgames are most essential: they occur more often than any other type of endgame, and often make the difference between victory and half a point. If you master them, you’ll confidently convert your advantages into wins!
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: Bodycheck

I've analysed these in detail in the pgn below and on the video, and added the stem game Firouzja v. Nakamura.

I hope you are enjoying watching the Candidates as much as I am. One interesting thing I noticed is that in the first round, both now and in Vancouver, Caruana ended up with a queen, rook and white-squared bishop against Nakamura's queen, rook and dark-squared bishop.

I also remember Nakamura winning at least one game against Caruana when he had the dark-squared bishop as White, and wondered whether they have more games with opposite bishops than the average. I did a pretty crude test in my database and found that out of 300 odd games between them (no doubt many of then blitz), 80 odd had opposite bishops at some stage. So a bit more than 26%, which is a little more than average, I think.

The first-round battle between Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura at this year's Candidates Tournament in Cyprus | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Select an entry from the list to switch between games

Understanding Middlegame Strategy Vol 12: Reversed Colour Systems – King’s Indian/Pirc Defence

In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
The King’s Indian Defence is one of the most dynamic openings in chess - and Pirc structures share much of the same DNA. With colours reversed (the King’s Indian Attack), these setups can be just as powerful. What may look modest at first often transforms into highly complex middlegames, where timing, precision, and a deep feel for dynamics make all the difference.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: Misplaced Pieces

Links

• Previous column: Battles with Jan
• All Speelman's Agony columns