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Rooky Mistakes

GM Karsten Mueller’s first DVD, which I reviewed here a few months back (Chess Endgames 1 (Basic Knowledge for Beginners) covered the basics of endgame play and was recommended for those under 1400.  This DVD, the second in the series, covers Rook endings exclusively.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the contents page starts with Chapter 6.  This is because the first DVD contained chapter 1-5, and so obviously ChessBase is linking all the DVDs in this series together.  The video segments break down as follows:

Rook endgames - Introduction
Rook vs pawn 1 - IV
Rook and pawn vs rook 1 - VIII
Rook and rook’s pawn vs rook 1 - IV
Rook and two connected passed pawns vs rook I – III
Rook and two pawns vs rook I – IX
Rook and doubled pawns vs rook
Rook and four pawns vs rook and three pawns I –V
Classic Flohr – Vidmar
Umbrella
Activity I-II
Checking distance I-II
Recent rook endings from super grandmaster practice I-III

Total time: 5 hours

The first clip, the Introduction, begins with Mueller welcoming the viewer to this DVD on rook endings.  He explains that rook endings are important to know because while the minor pieces and queens usually get traded off, often at least one rook makes it to the endgame.  Therefore, he points out, learning these theoretical rook endings that often come up will payoff.

He says that there are many principles, motifs and guidelines which are useful for finding the right candidate moves including:

1. Using your rook to cut off the enemy king when up a pawn.
2. Using your king to “bodycheck” the opposing king away.
3. When facing two passed pawns, putting your rook behind the one furthest advanced.
4. Knowing the Lucena (which Mueller pronounces, “Louchaina”) and Philidor positions by heart.
5. Fighting to keep your rook(s) as active as possible.
6. Understanding that when you are defending sometimes your only chance to hold the draw is by not trading off the final pair of rooks, as the resulting pawn ending would be lost for you.

Obviously this is all excellent advice.  And as I mentioned on my review of Mueller’s first DVD in this series, his booming voice is definitely impressive.  However, once again he does not seem entirely comfortable in front of the camera.  Oftentimes he quickly speeds up in the middle of a sentence and continues to talk rapid fire as if he is late for an appointment!  Somebody at ChessBase definitely needs to slow him down and ask him just to relax and enjoy what he’s saying rather than rushing through it.  Another curious thing about the introduction has to do with the position that is on the board while Mueller is talking.  It is from Kramnik vs Grischuk, Corus 2005 and appears to be quite interesting.  Unfortunately, Mueller never takes us through it!  Here is the position: (see screen shot)
 

The only comment that Mueller makes about this position (which he spends about 10 seconds on) is that White’s rook is extremely active as it protects both of White’s pawns via the a-file and the 3^rd rank.  This is certainly true, however since the game ends in a draw I don’t understand why Mueller doesn’t take us through it.  I mean, what’s the point of showing a position if you’re not going to go through it?  (Update: I just discovered that this example is covered under the very last video segment on the DVD, “recent rook endings from super grandmaster practice I.”  But again I have to ask, why show it in the introduction if you aren’t going to talk about it there?)

Let’s move on to the next video segment, which covers Rook vs a single pawn.  One of the keys for the side with the rook is, if possible, to cut off the king as Mueller shows here: (see screen shot)
 

White simply brings his king over to the pawn to capture it.  If Black tries advancing his pawn to g3, then White simply plays Ra3 and if g2 then Rg3 and the pawn is lost.

The key to this “cutting off” procedure for White is that the Black king must be cut off by at least 5 ranks.  If the Black king were on f5 and the pawn on g3, and the rook on a4, then after g2 White has no time for Ra2 as the pawn would queen.

While this example is relatively simple and straightforward, often rook vs pawn endings can be quite tricky. Take a look at this position: (see screen shot)
 

What is White’s best move?  Take a moment and think what you would play for White here.

*          *          *

Did you come up with 1.Kc6, immediately bringing the king over to help stop the pawn from queening?  Well if you did, you’re not alone as this was in fact the moved played by White in the game.  Unfortunately, it turns out that in this position it is a mistake and throws the win away!  Black was able to quickly advance his h-pawn and force a draw by one tempo.

Mueller shows that White would have won had he played the not-so-obvious check 1.Rg2+!  And if 1…Kf4 than 2.Rh2! forces Black’s king back to g5 to protect the pawn.  This subtle maneuver wins White a vital tempo and secures the win.  Here is the winning line: 3.Kg5 3.Kc6 h5 4.Kd5 h4 5.Ke4 Kg4 6.Rg2+ Kh3 7.Rg8! (this move keeps the Black king trapped on the h-file.) 7…Kh2 8.Kf3 h3 9.Rh8 Kh1 10.Rxh3+ Kg1 11.Rh4 Kf1 12.Rh1#

And if 1...Kh3 instead of 1…Kf4, White wins this way: 2.Rg8 (again trapping the Black king on the h-file) 2…h5 3.Kc6 h4 4.Kd5 Kh2 5.Ke4 h3 6.Kf3 Kh1 7.Ra8 Kg1 (7…h2 allows 8.Ra1#) 8.Ra2! and now both 8…h2 and 8…Kf1 run into Ra1#, so: 8…Kh1 9.Kg3 h2 10.Ra1#

And obviously 1…Kf3 loses instantly to 2.Rh2 picking up the pawn next move.

*          *          *

Of course, the examples become more complicated as the DVD goes on. Take a look at this position from the game Flohr-Vidmar, Nottingham 1936, which Mueller says he couldn’t resist showing: (see screen shot)
 

He points out that White only has two pawn islands whereas Black has three.  Also, Black’s pawns on a6 and c6 are very weak.  Additionally, White’s rook is actively attacking Black’s pawn on c6 whereas Black’s rook is stuck passively defending it.

The first thing both sides do is centralize their kings: 32.Ke2 Ke7 33.Kd3 Kd6 34.Ra5 Ra8 35.Kd4 f5: (see screen shot)
 

Now, to make progress, Mueller says that White must open up a “second battle front.”  The idea is that the more weaknesses/targets you can create in your opponent’s position, the harder it will be for him to be able to defend them all.

Here Flohr continued with: 36.b4 to which Vidmar answered with 36…Rb8?  Mueller points out that this is a mistake as Black is keeping his rook too passive.  Instead he should use his king to protect his pawns in order to free up his rook: 36...Kc7 37.Kc5 Kb7 38.Kd6 Re8 39.Ra3 g5 40.g3 g4 41.f4 Re4 as given by Dvoretsky and Black has drawing chances.

The game continued: 37.a3 Ra8 38.e4 fxe4 39.fxe4 dxe4 40.Kxe4: (see screen shot)
 

And now Black again stays too passive: 40…Ra7?!  Better according to Dvoretsky was: 40...Kc7 41.h4 Kb6 42.g4 Rf8 43.h5 and at least Black is fighting to keep his rook as active as possible.  41. Kf4 h6 and now White advances his g and h pawns in order to “soften” up Black’s kingside: 42.h4 Ke6 43.Kg4 Ra8 44.h5 g5 45.g3 Ra7 46.Kf3 Ra8 47.Ke4 Ra7 48.Kd4 Kd6 49.Ke4 Ke6 50.Re5+ (see screen shot)
 

And Black’s goose is cooked. His king has to pick a side to go and none of his options are good. He chooses: 50…Kd6 and the game finished after 51.Re8 c5 52.Rd8+ Kc6 53.Rc8+ Kb6 54.Rxc5 Rh7 55.Re5 Kc6 56.Re6+ Kb5 57.Kf5 Rf7+ 58.Rf6 1–0 (see screen shot)
 

Trading rooks leads to an easily won king and pawn endgame for White and not trading rooks will result in more black pawns falling, so Vidmar resigned.

The Bottom Line

Essentially this DVD has both the pros and cons of the first one.  The good news is that you get a huge amount of material, approximately 5 hours worth that is sure to teach you quite a lot about rook endings and thus make you a better player.  Whereas the first DVD was aimed at beginners, this one is really for club players all the way up to master level, say those rated between 1400-2200 Elo.

Unfortunately, Mueller is still not quite at home yet in front of the camera.  His tendency to speed up and rapidly blitz through both moves on the board as well as his explanations detracts from what could have been a great DVD.  Chessbase really needs to get him to slow down, take his time, and ENJOY his presentation.  Once he does this, these DVDs will be unbeatable.

This said, there is still so much useful material on this disk that I can still recommend it.  On a scale of 1-10, Chess Endgames 2 gets an 8.

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