file:///D|/Download/Chess Downloads/Sergey Shipov - Game of the Week/The knight or the bishop The knight.

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Endgame Exploration
By Valery Yandemirov
The Endgame Laboratory
Part One. The knight or the bishop? The
knight!
Valery Yandemirov, International Grandmaster from Kasan, is known among his
colleagues as a master of chess endings. So today we present his instructive survey of three
non-standard endgames. If you read this research carefully enough it will undoubtedly
improve your chess skills.
The endgame demands a lot from a chess player: precise knowledge and far reaching
calculation, intuition and unrepressed striving for victory. This is the last frontier!
In continuation of discussion started by the chief expert of KasparovChess, Sergei Shipov,
about the struggle of the knight and the bishop, I present an instructive endgame that
occurred in my recent game against Artem Timofeev, the young star of Russian chess a
very stubborn (especially in the endgame!) and brave chess player. Here we find the case,
when, inspite of Shipovs opinion, the knight is stronger than the bishop!
Timofeev,A (2425) - Yandemirov,V (2472)
Prohorov Memorial, Kazan, 2000

After 1...Nd3
Black has a clear advantage. According to all
the endgames rules, the knight is better than
the bishop here. White has a fixed weakness
on d4, the white a- and b-pawns are also in
trouble. However, there is not much material
left on the board (the g- and h-pawns may be
traded off at any moment; play actually takes
place on one flank) and Whites defensive
potential is quite significant.
1...Nd3
with the idea of Ne5 and Nc1.
2.Bg3
Bad is 2.g4?! hxg4 3.Kxg4 Nc1 4.Bf4 Nxa2 5.Bd2 Kf6 and if White chases the black
knight with Kf4-e3-d3-c2-b2, then the black king manages to get to the b5-square just in
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file:///D|/Download/Chess Downloads/Sergey Shipov - Game of the Week/The knight or the bishop The knight.htm
time, after which Black wins. If White tries to hover with his king around the e5-square: 6.
Kf4 Ke6 7.Kg5 Kd6 8.Kf5 Kc6 9.Ke5, then Black wins by simply advancing his pawns: 9...
b5 10.b4, otherwise Black plays b5-b4 himself and then moves a5-a4, 10...a5! 11.bxa5 b4
and White is defenseless.
2...Nc1 3.Bf4 Nxa2 4.Bd2 a5!
The only move - otherwise Black obtains nothing. 4...b5 with the idea of b5-b4, 5.b4! and
Black is in zugzwang - his king must protect his h5-pawn.
5.Bxa5
Rublevsky pointed out that White should play 5.g4!? hxg4 6.Kxg4 b6 7.Bg5!: Sergeis idea.

5.Bxa5
If Black plays 7...b5, then 8.Bd8 follows.
However, all these complicated variations are
rather useless, because Black wins much more
simply here, leaving the other white pawn
alive:
A) 8...a4 seems to be the most natural
continuation for Black, 9.bxa4 bxa4 (9...b4 10.
Be7 b3 11.Ba3 Nc3 12.a5 Nb5 13.a6 Nxa3 14.
a7 b2 15.a8Q b1Q=)
A1) 10.Ba5 Nc1 11.Bb4 (11.Kf4 a3 12.Ke5
Ne2+; 11.Kf3 Nb3! 12.Bb4 Nxd4++) 11...
Nd3 12.Ba3 (12.Bc3 a3 13.Kf3 a2 14.Ke3
Nc1+) 12...Ne1 Nn2+;
A2) 10.Be7
A2a) 10...Nc3 11.Kf4! Kf7 12.Bb4 Na2 13.Bd2!=;
A2b) 10...Nc1 11.Kf3! Kf5 12.Ke3 Nb3 13.Bb4 Kg4 14.Kd3 Kf3 15.Bc3 Nc1+ (15...Kf2
16.Bb4 Nc1+ 17.Kd2 Ne2 18.Bc5 with the idea of Kn2-b2-a3=) 16.Kd2 Ne2 17.Bb2 Kf2
18.Kd3 Ke1 19.Kc2 Nf4 20.Kc3 Ke2 21.Ba3 Nd3 22.Bd6, and Black cannot improve his
position more;
A2c) 10...Kf7! 11.Bc5 (11.Ba3? Ke6 12.Kf4 Nc3 13.Ke3 Nb5 14.Bb2 Kd6! and the black
king passes to b4, winning) 11...Ke6! (11...Nc1 12.Kf5! Nd3 13.Ba3! and Black cannot
improve his position further) 12.Kf4 Nc3 (12...Nc1 13.Ke3=) 13.Ke3 Kf5 14.Kd3 Nb5 15.
Bb6 (15.Bb4 a3! the next zugzwang) 15...Kf4 16.Bc5 Kf3 , then the black king goes to f1
and White finds himself in the next zugzwang: he either must let the black king to the Q-
side, or must let the black a-pawn advance;
B) 8...Nc1!! 9.Bxa5 Nxb3 10.Bc3 (10.Bb6 b4 11.Kf3 Na1 12.Ba5 Nc2!+) 10...Nc1 11.Kf3
Rublevsky considered this position to be drawn: White does not let the black knight out of
the corner, but: 11...Na2 12.Bd2 b4 13.Ke3 b3 14.Kd3 , and 14...Kf6 with the prosaic
transfer of the black king to a3, after which the black knight gets out of the corner: 15.Be1
Ke6 16.Bd2 Kd6 17.Be1 Kc6 18.Bd2 Kb5 -- and now, if White tries to maintain the control
over the a3- and b4-squares with his bishop, then Black wins by a funny combination
(Zubarev): 19.Bg5 Ka4 20.Be7 Nb4+! 21.Kc3 Ka3!!+
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file:///D|/Download/Chess Downloads/Sergey Shipov - Game of the Week/The knight or the bishop The knight.htm

After 21... Ka3!!+
5...Nc1 6.b4 Ne2 7.Bb6
It seems that White has managed to protect
everything, but now the black king comes into
play:

After 7.Bb6
7...Kf5!
Whites only chance here is to obtain control
of the f4-square:
8.Bc7
But not 8.Kxh5? Nf4+ Ng2, and Black wins
easily. Failing is 8.g3 -- in this case the white
king is overloaded and Black can simply play
8...Ke4, and so on.
8...Nxd4 9.Kxh5 Ne6 10.g4+ Ke4 11.Bg3
in order to slow down the white d-pawn
somehow.
11...d4 12.Be1
If 12.g5, then the most simple way for Black is 12...d3 13.Be1 Nxg5! , and the resulting
pawn endgame is lost for White. The threat of transposing into such a pawn endgame is
permanent and Black obtains significant freedom of action.
12...Nf4+!? 13.Kh6
Again the only move; 13.Kg5?! Nd3 (failing is an attractive 13...Ng2 due to 14.Bd2 Kd3 15.
Bc1 Kc2 16.Kf5! and White defends himself successfully: 16...Kxc1? 17.Ke4) 14.Bd2
Ne5!, tying down the white king.
13...Ke3 14.b5!
Ke2 threatened.
14...d3 15.b6!
Again White passes around an underwater reef. For example: 15.Kg5 Ke2 16.Bb4 Nd5 17.
Ba5 b6, knocking the white bishop out of the a5-e1 diagonal.
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file:///D|/Download/Chess Downloads/Sergey Shipov - Game of the Week/The knight or the bishop The knight.htm
15...Nh3!
Unclear play arises after 15...d2 16.Bxd2+ Kxd2 17.Kg5! Nh3+ 18.Kh4, and after 18...Ng1,
19.Kg3! and the position sharpened in mutual time trouble (each opponent had about five
minutes left before time control).
16.Kh5 Nf2!!
Destroying the dangerous white g-pawn with a transposition into the aforementioned pawn
ending.

After 16...Nf2!!
17.Kg5
Black could not save himself also in the case
of 17.g5 Nh3 18.g6 Nf4+ 19.Kg5 Nxg6 20.
Kf5 d2 21.Bxd2+ Kxd2 22.Ke6 Nf4+ 23.Kd6
Nd3 24.Kc7 Nc5+
17...d2 18.Bxd2+ Kxd2 19.Kf5 Nxg4 20.Ke6
Ne3 21.Kd6 Nc4+
The knight comes just in time; White resigned.
01.
See related articles:
G The Endgame Laboratory (7/25/2000)
G Rook and Knight vs. Rook and Knight (3/2/2000)
G The Khalifman Leko Match, Budapest 2000 (2/3/2000)
G Khalifmans Rook Against Lekos Bishop(Part 2) (3/9/2000)
G The Knight in Zugzwang, or a Few Words in Fine's Advocacy (Part I) (4/7/2000)
G The Knight in Zugzwang, or a Few Words in Fine's Advocacy (5/11/2000)
G The Knight in Zugzwang, or a Few Words in Fine's advocacy (6/6/2000)

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