There are lots of accounts of how to mate with bishop and knightNe7 Kg7 26.Be3 Kf6 27.Bf4 Kf7 28.Bg5 Ke8 29.Nd5 Kf8 30.Ke6 Kg7 31.Ne7 Kf8 32.Nf5 Ke8 33.Ng7+ Kf8 34.Bf6 Kg8 35.Nf5 Kh7 36.Ng3 Kg6 37.Ke7 Kh6 38.Kf7 Kh7 39.Bg5 Kh8 40.Bh6 Kh7 41.Bf8 Kh8 42.Nh5 Kh7 43.Nf6+ Kh8 44.Bg7# 1-0
against king. My preferred version is the one by Jesus de la Villa in
his 100 endgames book.
This enabled me to beat Stockfish at its highest setting from an initial position
which I tried to make as challenging as possible.
It wasn't at all straightforward for me. I remembered the positions
from de la Villa (I didn't allow myself to consult any text while reading) but struggled to reach some of them.
The score and initial position are below.
Just so that I'm not deluding myself, I'll take up another challenge against Stockfish if anyone wants to give another initial position.
Of course, Q against R is so much harder.
[White "Guest"]
[Black "Stockfish (Level 10)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[FEN "8/8/8/3k4/8/8/1B6/K6N b - - 0 1"]
2... Ke4 3.Nf2+ Ke3 4.Nd1+ Kd3 5.Kb1 Kd2 6.Nc3 Kd3 7.Kc1 Kd4 8.Kc2 Ke5 9.Kd3 Kd6 10.Kd4 Kc6 11.Ba3 Kc7 12.Kd5 Kb7 13.Bb4 Kc7 14.Na4 Kb8 15.Nc5 Kc7 16.Ba5+ Kb8 17.Bb6 Kc8 18.Kc6 Kb8 19.Ne6 Kc8 20.Bc5 Kb8 21.Nc7 Kc8 22.Ba7 Kd8 23.Nd5 Ke8 24.Kd6 Kf7 25.
There are lots of accounts of how to mate with bishop and knight
against king.
On 04/03/2023 21:30, Paul Epstein wrote:
There are lots of accounts of how to mate with bishop and knight
against king.
I learned how to do it many, many years ago. I've had it just
once in actual play. Sadly, it was a Kriegspiel game, so it was, of
course, absolutely hopeless. The spectators just fell about laughing,
as did my opponent and the referee.
In all my years playing in over-the-board tournaments, I was never in
a B+N ending, so I never took the trouble to learn how.
On 04/03/2023 21:30, Paul Epstein wrote:
There are lots of accounts of how to mate with bishop and knightI learned how to do it many, many years ago. I've had it just
against king.
once in actual play. Sadly, it was a Kriegspiel game, so it was, of
course, absolutely hopeless. The spectators just fell about laughing,
as did my opponent and the referee.
I learned how to do it many, many years ago. I've had it justBut B and N against K is a win also in Kriegspiel so it was only
once in actual play. Sadly, it was a Kriegspiel game, so it was, of
course, absolutely hopeless. The spectators just fell about laughing,
as did my opponent and the referee.
"hopeless" if you hadn't learned the win.
It is given here: https://www.math.ucla.edu/~tom/papers/ks.pdf
Presumably the 50 move rule doesn't hold in Kriegspiel.
On 02/04/2023 00:09, Paul Epstein wrote:
[me:]
I learned how to do it many, many years ago. I've had it justBut B and N against K is a win also in Kriegspiel so it was only
once in actual play. Sadly, it was a Kriegspiel game, so it was, of
course, absolutely hopeless. The spectators just fell about laughing,
as did my opponent and the referee.
"hopeless" if you hadn't learned the win.
It is given here: https://www.math.ucla.edu/~tom/papers/ks.pdf
I get "server not found" with that address; no matter, I found
the paper elsewhere. V interesting, but [sadly] not that helpful; it's >barely worth the time and effort to learn the original KBNvK mate, so
it's certainly not worth the effort [in practical terms] to learn it for >Kriegspiel.
Even KQvK is non-trivial
[and can take over 40 moves], and
KRvK relies on a certain amount of luck [and/or better knowledge of the >starting position].
On 09/04/2023 15:57, Ken Blake wrote:
[I wrote, re KBNvK:]
it's certainly not worth the effort [in practical terms] to learn it for >>> Kriegspiel.Yes, definitely true, as far as I'm concerned. Moreover, few people
ever play Kriegspiel, and most don't even know what it is.
Even KQvK is non-trivialI completely disagree, It's extremely easy. Even today, 64 years after
I last played any serious chess, I could do it my sleep.
Unless you mean in Kriegspiel.
Harrumph. Well, as my previous two words were "for Kriegspiel", I
didn't feel it necessary to repeat that I indeed meant "for Kriegspiel". >Apologies if I've over-egged a left-Pondian mickey-take.
[and can take over 40 moves], andNonsense. No luck is required. It's extremely easy. Unless you mean in
KRvK relies on a certain amount of luck [and/or better knowledge of the
starting position].
Kriegspiel.
Ditto. OTOH, a few years back, I watched a reasonably strong player
[2100-ish] struggle to force mate in [normal chess] KRvK; he made it with >perhaps five moves to spare. His opponent was too busy reaching a time >control to resign; having reached it, and seen what difficulties my friend >was having, he played on anyway and nearly reaped his reward. "Never miss
a check" may be good advice, but "always give a check" certainly isn't.
it's certainly not worth the effort [in practical terms] to learn it forYes, definitely true, as far as I'm concerned. Moreover, few people
Kriegspiel.
ever play Kriegspiel, and most don't even know what it is.
Even KQvK is non-trivialI completely disagree, It's extremely easy. Even today, 64 years after
I last played any serious chess, I could do it my sleep.
Unless you mean in Kriegspiel.
[and can take over 40 moves], andNonsense. No luck is required. It's extremely easy. Unless you mean in Kriegspiel.
KRvK relies on a certain amount of luck [and/or better knowledge of the
starting position].
Ditto. OTOH, a few years back, I watched a reasonably strong player
[2100-ish] struggle to force mate in [normal chess] KRvK; he made it with >perhaps five moves to spare. His opponent was too busy reaching a time >control to resign; having reached it, and seen what difficulties my friend >was having, he played on anyway and nearly reaped his reward. "Never miss
a check" may be good advice, but "always give a check" certainly isn't.
I completely disagree, It's extremely easy. Even today, 64 years after
I last played any serious chess, I could do it my sleep.
On Sun, 9 Apr 2023 18:56:27 +0100, Andy Walker <anw@cuboid.co.uk>
wrote:
Ditto. OTOH, a few years back, I watched a reasonably strong player >>[2100-ish] struggle to force mate in [normal chess] KRvK; he made it with >>perhaps five moves to spare. His opponent was too busy reaching a time >>control to resign; having reached it, and seen what difficulties my friend >>was having, he played on anyway and nearly reaped his reward. "Never miss >>a check" may be good advice, but "always give a check" certainly isn't.
I would never criticize a player doing the darnedst things while in
trouble as long as it was strictly over the board and not rude and
appalling in any other way.
While I'm a fairly fast player who has been in time trouble at most 10
times in 40 years, I've had plenty of opponents who were polite but
clearly hoping for a miracle in their own time trouble. On the other
hand I remember one where I hung a minor piece against somebody 600
pts lower and hung on for 40 moves for no apparent reason other than
ego (and was ashamed of myself driving home)
On Sun, 09 Apr 2023 07:57:20 -0700, Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com>
wrote:
I completely disagree, It's extremely easy.
Even today, 64 years after
I last played any serious chess, I could do it my sleep.
64 years? Definitely older than me then.
One of the crowning embarassments of my life is remembering when I
told my grandfather (who taught me to play) "I don't want to play with
you anymore you're too WEAK!!"
This was after I had played in my first 2-3 tournaments, done
reasonably well, and no question he was NOT a strong player but to say
that to somebody near and dear to me .....50 years later, oy veh!
This was after I had played in my first 2-3 tournaments, done
I think I was about 15 when I played in my first tournament.
reasonably well, and no question he was NOT a strong player but to say
that to somebody near and dear to me .....50 years later, oy veh!
How old were you when you said it?
I remember once resigning in an even (or almost-even) position against >soneone who went on to become World's Champion (Bobby Fischer, in the
1956 US Junior championship). I thought I had to lose a piece, and I >completely missed the saving move. We were around the same rating
then. And I wasn't in time trouble. I'm still ashamed of myself. That
final position, 67 years later, is still indelibly engraved on my
mind.
On Sun, 09 Apr 2023 13:14:28 -0700, Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com>
wrote:
I remember once resigning in an even (or almost-even) position against >>soneone who went on to become World's Champion (Bobby Fischer, in the
1956 US Junior championship). I thought I had to lose a piece, and I >>completely missed the saving move. We were around the same rating
then. And I wasn't in time trouble. I'm still ashamed of myself. That
final position, 67 years later, is still indelibly engraved on my
mind.
I never played more than 1 or 2 future IMs and GMs but at the 1971
Canadian Open I was in a position a protected passed pawn up against a
player about 250 pts above me (easy win right?) and got greedy and
played Bxh7 immediately followed by g6 of course and while I ended up
with 3p's for the B wasn't enough to draw.
When he played g6 I cupped my head in my hands, looked up and saw a
very distinguished player watching my game, and when I blundered
noticed he had seen my immediate reaction shook his head and sadly
walked away.
10 minutes later I walked up to the front and realized this was World >Champion Boris Spassky and ever since I've wondered if the following
year in Reyjavik when Fischer played Bxa2 in game one if Spassky
remembered that disconsolate teenage in Vancouver the previous year
(in pretty much the same position with colors reversed)
I cannot make up stuff like this. :)
Along the way I also met Paul Keres (got him to autograph his ending
book for me), Max Euwe (we were making too much noise in the skittles
room and he came in to tell me and my bodies to quiet down) as well as >directing the tournament that featured all living Canadian GMs but
Biyiasas (who was by then living in the US, and retired from chess due
to medical conditions involving his vision) - Suttles wasn't playing
but Spraggett and Lesiege were and the photo ended up on the coverage
of the En Passant magazine (at the time this was the Canadian
federation's mag). The only other person in the picture was my
assistant TD Lynn Stringer - I was the head TD in that event but
working on pairings when I noticed Suttles was there and that Lynn was >getting Spraggett and Lesiege together for the photo.
Ironically FIDE joined me and Lynn in another way by messing up and on >FIDE.COM showing her as male and me as female. While I've been
national secretary of the Chess Federation of Canada for 15 years my
only other direct dealing with FIDE was when they kept GM Abe Yanofsky
(who I knew from my 4 years living in Winnipeg in the 80s) on the IA
list 2-3 years after his passing - it seems FIDE knew he was a GM and
marked him deceased immiediately on his passing but had forgotten he
was also an International Arbiter.
(The chess community in Winnipeg is fairly small but no question he
really helped them during his lifetime)
Anyhow enough reminiscing.....though one of my few regrets in chess
was obeying my parents when they insisting I stay home from
Fischer-Taimanov since it was at the University of BC campus and a 90
minute bus ride each way. They felt at 14 that was too long a ride for
a kid on his own though 4 months later they were fine with me playing
in the aforementioned Canadian Open on the same campus where I met
Euwe and Spassky (and where years later I graduated)...
On Wed, 12 Apr 2023 03:24:41 -0700, The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca>
wrote:
On Sun, 09 Apr 2023 13:14:28 -0700, Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com>I played many. Besides Fischer, the following names come to mind:
wrote:
Lombardy (he was a good friend of mine). Mednis, Bisguier, Sherwin,
Robert Byrne, Al Horowitz. Probably many others who I didn't think of.
Along the way I also met Paul Keres (got him to autograph his ending
book for me), Max Euwe (we were making too much noise in the skittles
I never met Keres, but I played against Euwe once in a simultaneous he
gave at the Manhattan Chess clus (around 1957).I drew.
Ironically FIDE joined me and Lynn in another way by messing up and on >>FIDE.COM showing her as male and me as female. While I've been
national secretary of the Chess Federation of Canada for 15 years my
only other direct dealing with FIDE was when they kept GM Abe Yanofsky
(who I knew from my 4 years living in Winnipeg in the 80s) on the IA
list 2-3 years after his passing - it seems FIDE knew he was a GM and >>marked him deceased immiediately on his passing but had forgotten he
was also an International Arbiter.
On Wed, 12 Apr 2023 09:36:35 -0700, Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com>
wrote:
On Wed, 12 Apr 2023 03:24:41 -0700, The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca>
wrote:
On Sun, 09 Apr 2023 13:14:28 -0700, Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com> >>>wrote:I played many. Besides Fischer, the following names come to mind:
Lombardy (he was a good friend of mine). Mednis, Bisguier, Sherwin,
Robert Byrne, Al Horowitz. Probably many others who I didn't think of.
While I have books by all of them except Bisguier and Sherwin I never
met any of them - but then I'm on the west coast of Canada and most of
them are easterners.
Along the way I also met Paul Keres (got him to autograph his ending
book for me), Max Euwe (we were making too much noise in the skittles
Again with Euwe it was the 1971 Canadian Open (the FIDE Congress was
going on in another building on campus and we were making too much
noise in the skittles room for his liking "Gentlemen this is a CHESS >tournament!!!" (his exact words) Me? I was just a 14 year old future
IA.
I never met Keres, but I played against Euwe once in a simultaneous he
gave at the Manhattan Chess clus (around 1957).I drew.
I played against future IMs but Biyiasas was the only future GM I
played. We were teenagers at the time.
Ironically FIDE joined me and Lynn in another way by messing up and on >>>FIDE.COM showing her as male and me as female. While I've been
national secretary of the Chess Federation of Canada for 15 years my
only other direct dealing with FIDE was when they kept GM Abe Yanofsky >>>(who I knew from my 4 years living in Winnipeg in the 80s) on the IA
list 2-3 years after his passing - it seems FIDE knew he was a GM and >>>marked him deceased immiediately on his passing but had forgotten he
was also an International Arbiter.
Incidentally I failed to mention that the recently late Lynn Stringer
was definitely female, never about B strength yet organized and ran
far more tournaments than I did (and my count is in 3 figures). I'd be >astonished if the Victoria, BC players don't organize a Stringer
memorial during the next 12 months.
I can guarantee every Canadian GM and IM knows who she was as does the
entire Chess Federation of Canada executive.
I played many. Besides Fischer, the following names come to mind: >>>Lombardy (he was a good friend of mine). Mednis, Bisguier, Sherwin, >>>Robert Byrne, Al Horowitz. Probably many others who I didn't think of.
While I have books by all of them except Bisguier and Sherwin I never
I used to have a lot, but I have almost no chess books left these
days. There were all old and nearly obsolete, and I wasn't playing any
more, so I gave them away when I retired, downsized, and moved away
from NY. The only modern chess book I have is "Blindfold Chess" by
Eliot Hearst; I had helped him with some of the technical aspects of
it (fonts for board diagrams, scanning photos, etc.), so he gave me a
copy when it was published a few years ago
Yes, New Yorkers, as I was then. I met them all either at the
Manhattan or Marshall Chess Clubs. I was a member of both.
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