|
Chessville
logo by
ChessPrints
Advertise
with
Chessville!!
Advertise to
thousands
of
chess
fans
for
as little
as $25.
Single insert:
$35
x4 insert:
@ $25 each.
From the
Chessville
Chess Store
From the
Chessville
Chess Store
|
Chess Instruction with
IM Igor Khmelnitsky
|
IM Igor Khmelnitsky
Igor is a winner of many national and
international tournaments in Europe and the United States.
At various points during his career, he has won individual
encounters with many of the game’s best players.
In total, Igor has beaten over 30 different Grandmasters. He
has been a participant in the Ukrainian National Championship as
well as a three times contestant in the US National Championship.
|
|
|
Watch your back
…rank!
Back rank checkmate is rather unique attacking situation where one doesn’t
really need many pieces to finish the game on the spot. No matter what the
material balance is, what other targets and threats are, if one has a Queen,
or even a Rook and the other side has the King stuck on the back rank (1st
for White or 8th for Black), there is always a chance for a game
ending back rank checkmate.
 Many
tactical operations are based on the back rank checkmate. Among them
elimination of defender, deflection/decoy, skewer etc… It is amazing, how
the situation can turn 180 degrees in a single move because of the back rank
problem. In fact, in my new book
Chess Exam Tactics,
I list Back rank amongst the 6 critical Motives or reasons for
combinations.
Here is an
example from a recent game of my student: |
|
Black to move
|
Black is
dominating – he has an extra Bishop and a Pawn. White has very little
to show for this material disadvantage.
Now, take
a note that both Kings are stuck on the back ranks. Well, one may say
- “So what? There are no threats!” And this is true; but watch what
happened next.
Black
was worried about the Bishop being threaten (which is not true,
because after 1.Rxb7 Qa1+ and Black has a forced checkmate).
Instead of improving his pieces or making a safe move like 1…h6,
Black played 1…Ra8?? And after 2.Qxa8+ Black is
lost on the spot! (2...Rxa8 3.Rb8+ Qd8 4.Rxd8#) |
Once you notice
a back rank problem, seek ways to arrange use it via tactical strikes.
Here is example from my game back from Ukrainian championship 1986 against
Kabatyanksy (you may recall it from my book
Chess Exam and Training Guide):
|
White to move
|
I have White pieces and I don’t have any back
rank issues (my King has h2-sqaure), but Black does have a problem.
Although it doesn't seem easy for White to get to the back rank.
The task in hand was to get rid of the Ne7 and I
found the solution – 1. Nf5!! Black resigned. After 1…exf5
2.Qxc8+ Nxc8 and, suddenly, the Rook on e1 has its path to e8 cleared
– like a magic, all three pieces (Ne3,Pe6,Ne7) have vanished and the
defender (Rc8) is gone as well! 3.Re8#. All other Black's response
would lead to losing a ton of material. |
The best way to avoid getting in trouble with the back rank is finding a
time to give your King some breezing room by advancing one of the pawns that
protect him. In fact, sometimes it is worth playing even though there might
be other, more lucrative options.
Take a look at another recent game of my student (rated under 800):
|
White to move |
It is obvious that White is easily winning.
The Fritz may spend 1/10 of a second and say 1.Qxf6 giving White 9.8
points advantage. A master may spend 1 second and play 1.Nc3.
I was very pleased to see a young child play
1.h3 here. While it is not the best move here, this shows a
disciplined approach and understanding of the back rank issues.
The rest will come with experience. |
Here is an
example from my game against GM Rohde from 2002 US Open:
|
White to move |
I have
White pieces, and, after a short thinking, I played 1.h3.
I can’t
say I recall what I was thinking, but here is what my notes say (thank
you ChessBase for helping to preserve my games!) – “Just a
prophylactics. I didn't feel like I have any forcing
opportunities, so I solved the back rank problem.” Just like
that – a very basic idea!
Some 12
moves later we were down to the R+B vs. R+N and his Rook made its way
to e5 aiming at e1. I was happy I could just win a pawn with my
Rook and didn’t have to waste a move there since I had Kh2 available. |
Summary:
always pay attention to the back rank mate opportunities, no matter how
difficult it might be to arrange. If you can afford to spend a move securing
an escape square, it might be well worth doing instead of a more active
move. When practicing using your favorite book on Tactics or software, such
as CT-ART, pay attention to various problems that are based on bank rank
checkmates and memorize the ideas.
If you want to
know how good are your tactical skills when dealing with the Back Rank
issues, one of the 30 rating reports in my
Chess
Exam Tactics will tell you just that as well as provide with training
suggestions.
=====================================================================
More on chess training (serious and enlightening):
Chess Exam and Training Guide (2004)
$24.95 + shipping
Chess Exam and Training Guide: Tactics (2007)
$19.95 + shipping
CE + CE Tactics (Special) - $39.95 -
insured shipping in US is included
|
Chess Exam and Training
Guide:
Rate Yourself and Learn How to Improve
IM
Igor Khmelnitsky's book, Chess Exam and Training
Guide: Rate Yourself and Learn How to Improve (2004, IamCoach
Press) - winner of Book of the Year from CJA - Chess Journalists
of America (2005).
"...will quickly and
accurately test your
combinational ability, positional judgment and endgame expertise...
Instructive and Entertaining!" - Alex Yermolinsky, Grandmaster,
former US Champion and Olympic team member. |
 |
See more articles at Chessville by IM Igor Khmelnitsky
Center
Squares
Copyright © 2005-2007 by Igor Khmelnitsky &
www.IamCoach.com and is used here by
permission.
It may not be reprinted or reposted in any format without
the express written permission of the author.
|
search tips
The
Chessville
Chess Store
Reference
Center
The Chessville
Weekly
The Best Free
Chess
Newsletter
On the Planet!
Subscribe
Today -
It's Free!!
The
Chessville
Weekly
Archives
Discussion
Forum
Chess Links
Chess Rules
Visit the
Chessville
Chess Store
|
