Heijden's Study Database, Now With (Almost) 94,000 Entries

I'm a big fan of endgame studies - not to be confused with problems. Some folks love mate-in-X problems, or helpmates or selfmates or other still crazier tasks. God bless 'em; it's not my thing. But studies? They're great. They are compositions, but the vast majority of the time the positions are realistic. They are great for practicing one's calculation skills and developing one's imagination, and good studies will almost always have surprising or beautiful moves and ideas, and generally both.

There are a few good books with studies, but not too many, and at most they might have a 2,000-3,000 entries. With the latest (sixth) version of study composer and judge Harold Van Der Heijden's database, you'll have a significant percentage of all the best studies ever composed, right up until late 2020. All the great old composers, including people like Troitsky, Reti, Prokes, Rinck, Kling & Horwitz, Kasparyan, Grigoriev; and the more contemporary ones - including some legends of OTB chess - like Benko, Smyslov, Timman, Mitrofanov, Gurdenidze, Vukcevich, Nadreishvili, Costeff, Afek, etc. are all there. If Van Der Heijden could get his hands on it, it's there.

As noted earlier, this is the 6th edition of his study database. 11(!) years ago I reviewed the 4th edition, and now, with an additional 18 thousand or so entries in this edition, I can heartily recommend it once again - go here for purchasing information.

To give a very small taste of the contents, I've decided to pick four studies from the 30 most recent entries. I didn't go looking for ones that won contests or that were composed by the legends of composition. These are just four nice, relatively simple and accessible entries chosen from a random sample that I hope you'll enjoy, and that will show that there are little gems and nice exercises to be found everywhere. The studies are presented in two stages: first the position and the task, and in the next entry the solution as given in the database, with some verbal explanations of my own added in. Have a look here.

Again, I very much recommend getting this database - the beauty of endgame studies almost always surpasses the products of over the board play (as it should), and it is among the best things you can do to work on your tactical skill.

This and That From Here and There

Let's catch up on some other news, and take note of some interesting matters from around the web.

1. Carlsen wins the FTX Crypto Cup

Old news, but for those who didn't follow the event, it's worth going back and browsing the games. After the preliminaries of this rapid event the quarterfinal pairings, in bracket order, were as follows:

• Caruana vs. Nepomniachtchi
• MVL vs. So
• Nakamura vs. Carlsen
• Giri vs. Radjabov

It would have been interesting to have a world championship match preview, but it didn't happen. In fact, both players were nearly eliminated in the quarters. They both split each day's mini-matches, and the two-game blitz tiebreakers were both drawn as well. It came down to a pair of Armageddon games, with both Carlsen and Nepo needing to win with White. And they did. The other matches were won more smoothly by their victors. So won both mini-matches against Vachier-Lagrave, while Radjabov won the first day's match against Giri and drew the second to advance.

In the semis no tiebreaks were required. Carlsen and Radjabov drew the first day's match, with Carlsen winning game three and Radjabov saving the day with a win in game 4; on day two, however, Carlsen won games 1 and 4 without a defeat to advance. Nepomniachtchi failed to join Carlsen in the final, however. So won one game on day 1 to win that match, and won game three on day 2 to clinch at least a draw in the second day's match, guaranteeing match victory and ending the contest.

The Carlsen-So final was epic, as the kids say. Carlsen won the first game with Black, but So equalized the first day's match with a win in the third game and saved the day. On day 2 Carlsen again struck first, winning the first game, and again So got revenge, this time in game 2, and once again the match finished in a tie. It was on to the blitz tiebreaker, and this time So won first - with Black, no less. Big problem? Maybe, but not too big a problem. Carlsen got his revenge, and then won the Armageddon game with White to win the match and the tournament. There was also a battle for third place, and Nepo won it, drawing the first day's mini-match against Radjabov before winning the second one.

2. World Chess Championship 2022

In November, as alluded to in the previous entry, Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi will have their world championship match. It was supposed to happen last year, of course (assuming Nepo had managed to win the Candidates last year, had it been played straight through without the one-year break after the first cycle), with another cycle culminating in a world championship match in 2022. One might think that the year's delay would push that back as well, but no: FIDE is going to have a world championship match in 2022 after all. One other note - one I at least wholeheartedly approve of: Teimour Radjabov will get a direct spot in that event. More here.

3. 10 Positions Chess Engines (Allegedly) Just Don't Understand

While some of the positions mentioned in this article still display relative blind spots for engines, quite a few of these positions are perfectly well "understood" by engines. One example is the Topalov-Shirov game in section three, where Stockfish on my mediocre computer recognizes 47...Bh3 as the winning move, and the only winning move, after less than seven seconds. Or to take another hoary old example, the Arshak Petrosian-Laszlo Hazai game is another fairy tale. White's 46.Nxb6+ is often given one or two question marks, but if you play around with the position you'll see that the standard story of how White could have won is a myth. Or back to section 3, where the computer has no trouble seeing Spassky's 50.c5. Or in the game Brzozka-Bronstein, it doesn't take too long for the comp to find 48...Rxb3+. So while the article should be taken with a horse-sized salt lick, there's still some entertainment value to be had.

4. Endgame Studies for and by Jan Timman

Have a look here. The last study given by Timman, at the end of the article, is really extraordinary. I would also add - and will say more about this soon - that Harold van der Heijden's study database (he is the director of the contest, a fine composer in his own right, and the compiler of the premier endgame study database) is a terrific value, very much worth buying for anyone interested in endgame studies for either aesthetic value or as a training tool. More info here.

A Short Review of Tkachenko's *Oleg Pervakov's Industrial Strength Endgame Studies*

Sergei Tkachenko, Oleg Pervakov's Industrial Strength Endgame Studies. (Elk & Ruby, 2018). 248 pp. Reviewed by Dennis Monokroussos.

Those of you who have followed this blog for a while know that I’m a fan of endgame studies. They make for excellent practice in calculating variations, but even more than that, they are a source of great beauty. In over-the-board play most games are mundane. Even if they are perfectly played—sometimes, especially if they are perfectly played—they can seem rather dull to all but the most refined aficionado. And even then, it’s more an appreciation for the way in which one player (typically Black) solved his problems. In endgame studies, by contrast, beauty is fundamental. Occasionally, beauty takes a back seat to depth or humor, but it’s rare. (Besides, I’m inclined to think that humor, in the way it is manifested in chess, is closely related to beauty – it’s another manifestation of the aesthetic.)

Many tournament players are familiar with the great composers of yesteryear, with names like Kasparyan and Kubbel, Mattison and Mitrofanov, Reti and Rinck, and – non-alliteratively – Grigoriev and Troitsky. We’re less aware of contemporary composers, unless they’re also known for their tournament play (e.g. Benko, Smyslov, and Timman). Why? I think it’s because a lot of the low-hanging fruit has been taken, and for a contemporary composer to get published and succeed in competitions he must produce studies that are not only beautiful but deep – generally so deep that even strong club players have little chance of solving them without becoming specialists.

There are exceptions, one of whom is the Russian composer Oleg Pervakov, born in 1960. Those of you who are fans of Mark Dvoretsky’s works will remember that name: they co-authored one book (Studies for Practical Players) and Pervakov’s work made a significant contribution to a second work. His compositions are fantastic, and have been praised by both Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen. (Frankly, that’s already a good enough reason to seek out Pervakov’s work, but I’ll continue anyway, if only to assure you that one need not be a contender for the greatest player of all time to appreciate and benefit from Pervakov’s studies.)

His studies aren't easy, but they are accessible - both intellectually and aesthetically. When you see the solutions (if you didn't solve it yourself) they will make sense to you. They're not like, say, some of the monster tablebase endings computers have worked out to a win in several hundred moves, where nothing makes any discernible sense until the very end. You'll get it. And the beautiful moves are beautiful for all the usual reasons we love endgame studies and great combinations.

Enough blather. Let's have a look at some examples. (The first of each pair of entries gives the position, the second the solution.) Then when you're done and have been suitably impressed, go here and spend some coin. Bear in mind that none of the three studies I'm showing did better than 4th place, and Pervakov has won many firsts over the course of his composing career. He's goooooood.

Pervakov Puzzle: Solution Time

Before you have a look at the solution, please make sure you've seen the puzzle and tried to solve it first. I'll wait.

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Got it? No? Keep trying!

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Okay, here's the solution, including the preliminary moves in the study.

Pervakov Puzzle

There's a new book featuring some of the great chess composer Oleg Pervakov's finest studies, which I will be reviewing for this blog very soon. For now, a little taster that I came across on Emil Sutovsky's Facebook page. It's White to move and win: 

This starts a few moves into the study, but you'll probably find it challenging enough even from here.

Here are a few general tips for those of you who are relatively new to solving studies. First, if you don't find anything clever or beautiful in your proposed solution, you haven't found the solution. (At least this is the case for good studies, which you will find in abundance in Pervakov's work.) Second, sacrifices are common, though not a necessity. But there will almost always be some paradoxical element, and sacrifices fit into that category. Third, look for unusual geometrical motifs. Sometimes that too will fall under the heading of paradox, though it need not.

Do your best and enjoy the study. You will certainly get a kick out of it once you've solved it, and even if you don't I'm sure you'll find it beautiful all the same. I'll post the solution later today.

A Short Review of Sergei Tkachenko's *Tigran Gorgiev, Maestro of Practical Studies* (Updated)

Sergei Tkachenko, Tigran Georgiev, Maestro of Practical Studies: A World Champion's Favorite Composers. (Elk and Ruby 2018, original Russian version in 2013.) 212 pp. Reviewed by Dennis Monokroussos.

The new chess publishing concern Elk and Ruby seems to specialize in two sorts of books thus far: books with a biographical tinge and books on endgame studies. This one combines the two, offering a short biography of chess composition IM (and near-GM) Tigran Gorgiev (1910-1976), followed by a selection of 100 (of approximately 400) of his studies. (Usually but not always given in full.) The bio was quite brief, but long enough to see that he was impressive not only as a study composer but in his professional life as well: he was an epidemiologist who may have made an important contribution to that field. There are also a couple of pages of photos, though none as interesting as the arresting one gracing the front cover.

The vast majority of the work is dedicated to his studies, however, and it is on their basis that I recommend the book to you. As with many but not all of Elk & Ruby's books with studies, the pages are rather small - approximately the size of an index card. On the right side of the page the study is presented on a diagram, along with the task and when and where it was first published. Overleaf we find the solution, and as you would hope from any decent book of studies the solutions are typically beautiful, humorous, or both.

For me, the book was just right. I didn't solve all the studies, but I succeeded in getting most of them right. The first half or so of the book was almost too easy for me. I'd occasionally neglect a point here or there, but went well over 90% when it came to finding the key and at least most of the critical variations. And the vast majority of the time I solved everything. As the book went on my results weren't as consistent, but I still managed to solve a pretty significant majority of the studies.

While my results are likely to be above average, I do think that many of his studies will be accessible and solvable to players rated 2000 and maybe a bit below. Below 1800, I think it'll be tough sledding, but if you're patient and you've tried endgame studies before, give it a shot. And even if you don't want the workout, they're beautiful in their own right, so you might pick up a copy purely for aesthetic reasons.

I was going to show some of the studies, but if you look up the book on its Amazon page and choose the "Look Inside" feature you can find a number of examples already. That will give you a good idea if the book is for you. As for me, I enjoyed it very much. And...okay, I'll show you one study that I especially enjoyed - have a look. Solving it wasn't that difficult, but it filled me with joy all the same. I hope and expect your experience will be similar.

Update: For some reason ChessBase's web publishing tool doesn't show text commentary if there aren't any moves, so the instruction that it's "Black to move, White to achieve a draw" didn't show up, to the consternation of at least one reader. I've therefore re-posted the link, giving a wrong first move for Black to allow the instruction to show up.

Book Notice: *One Knight Saves the Day* and *One Pawn Saves the Day*

The new chess publisher Elk and Ruby, which put out the books on David Bronstein and Mikhail Tal that I recently reviewed (here and here), has also released a couple of small but fun books written - or maybe more accurately, compiled - by Sergei Tkachenko. Tkachenko is a Ukranian composer of endgame studies, and in these volumes he has collected 100 of his favorites in which White winds up with either nothing but a knight after his final move (in the one volume) or nothing but a pawn (in the other) - excluding the king, of course.

The format of both books is the same: a diagram with the starting position and the task on the odd-numbered page, with the solution given on the next page, overleaf. The studies aren't especially long - the solutions typically run from 5-7 moves - so they are manageable. One need not be a world champion solver to work these out. But don't be fooled! Even though the solutions aren't monstrously long and you even know that at the end White will have only one knight left (again, at least as of his last move; it might be captured by Black in reply, creating some sort of draw - most likely stalemate) or only one pawn left (depending on which book it is), the positions will still be challenging for most readers. (When I didn't give a puzzle my full attention, I would regularly miss something. When I did give it my full attention I'd manage to get it right, but sometimes it took a while.) It's a good workout, and the book's small size and well-chosen puzzles makes it a handy and enjoyable way to pick up some practice not just at home but when you've got a few minutes on the go.

The book's Amazon pages are here and here, and you can find some examples in the "Look Inside" feature. $11.99 seems a little bit much, given the book's small size, but I do like them, and think either would make a nice stocking stuffer for your chess friends this Christmas.

Study Time: An Oldie From Platov

Not as old as one from Plato, but chess as we know it today wasn't around back then. And "Platov" is ambiguous: there's Mikhail and Vassily, brothers who often produced joint compositions. The one here is by Vassily alone. (HT: Chess Today) The first entry is the position to solve, the second one provides the solution. (And do your best to ignore the bottom right of the overall window!)

Two Studies and a Problem

Solving studies is an excellent way to work on one's chess. Unfortunately, contemporary studies tend to be extremely sophisticated, to the point where they're no long accessible to amateurs. But there are many classic ones that are accessible from both a solving and an aesthetic point of view.

There are two studies in this ChessBase article, and the first one is well within the grasp of rank-and-file club players - all that's needed is a little patience. The second one is a bit subtler and tougher, but I think many of you will get it if you give it a shot. There's also a third position to solve, but it's a mate-in-x problem rather than a study. As if often the case with problems, it looks as if Caissa vomited the pieces on the board (sorry for that image), but even if you have no patience for solving mate-in-x problems, do have a look at the solution, which is very nice.

The Endgame Study of the Year for 2014

The very nice endgame study we'll see in a moment didn't win the competition in which it was entered (it took second), but it was nevertheless awarded a prize as Study of the Year by a very prestigious panel, by which they mean the following:

It is not the selection of the best study of the year, but the study which is best suited to popularize our art among the general chess public. The solution should be both understandable to players of average level, and appeal to players of master level.

You can go to the link above and follow the links to the solution, or you can click through my presentation. First, the starting position. Second, I give the first part of the solution, almost up to the "punchline" of the study. Third and finally, the full solution. Enjoy!