<acirce> His great collection <Domination in 2545 Endgame Studies> is one of my favourite (endgame) books!

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"Though White is two pieces ahead, Black threatens 1 ... fxg2# as well as 1 ... e1=Q. It appears that Black's threats are more potent than White's plus in material. On an open board, however, a Bishop may prove to be more powerful than a Queen. Here is how it is done: <1. Bh2+ Kh4> Not 1 ... Kf2 2. gxf3, and Black is helpless since his Pawn at e2, being pinned, cannot move. <2. Rxe2 fxe2 3. Bc7!> Paradoxical; it forces Black to Queen with check. <3 ... e1=Q+> If 3 .. g4 4. Bxa5 wins. <4. Kh2> White has another threat: 5. g3+. Black makes the only move. <5 .. Qf2> Now White's Pawn at g2 is immobilized. <5. Bd6!> Black is in Zugzwang - compelled to move against his will. Otherwise, he might survive. <5 ... Qf4+ 6. g3+ Qxg3+ 7. Bxg3#> The final setting is an elegant example of the triumph of the spiritual over the material, illustrating that a Bishop on the right track is superior to a Queen that is derailed."

It's an end-game study by Kasparian from 1935 and published in the magazine '64'.

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White to play and draw

Solution :

Let me try to recollect more about the position in my memory. In the one that I saw (published in Chess Life sometime in the 1990's) it starts off with the White king "frozen" and without move. So White, who was obviously losing and desperate for a draw, offering the white Queen and the Black king kept running away from her since any capture would lead to stalemate. But then, the tables turned, and Black was finally able to get out of check by offering the Black queen. Not merely "blocking with the Queen" but offering it, free for the taking. But White couldn't take it--because then White would take the offering with one last check and go on to lose the game. (I forget the details of exactly why and how, but that was the concept).

So the unforgettable nature of the position, is that the motif switched from White with the "Crazy Queen" to one where Black had the "Crazy Queen". The only position I've ever seen like that in my life.

I actually forget the final outcome with best play. It suppose, based on my description, it must have been "White to play and draw."

I have boxes of old Chess Lifes, and sometimes I flip through them looking for the position, but never with any luck. I am almost sure it was Pal Benko's "Endgame Laboratory" column.

I go to a chess club headed by a reputed international player and when I mentioned this book to him, he said that even after I become a good player, i'll not understand this book :)

OK <Sneaky> I'll keep looking. I feel sure one of us will nail it eventually.

" By solving or playing studies, we train our imagination and our ability to decipher the opponent's ideas, as well as the calculation of variations and the rapid taking of decisions by the method of elimination. Some studies expand our understanding of the endgame.

...

In studies there is an absence of positional evaluation. Hence the conclusion: you can and should, by solving studies, train your imagination and calculation. But to develop your positional understanding in this way is not possible. Moreover, even for improvement in tactical, calculating play your should not restrict yourself to studies alone. It is also useful to test your powers in finding 'inexact combinations', with an interlacing of calculation and evaluation, in which chess is so rich."

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Black to play and draw (original study - all rights reserved)

The amazing characteristic of the problem was, if I can explain it clearly, that Black starts the problem with a "crazy queen", trying to give up his queen so that he becomes stalemated and not checkmated. The amazing twist is that White, somehow, turns the table on him--when his own queen goes bonkers and starts to throw herself at the enemy monarch. We've all seen "crazy queens" before, but never in my life have I seen a game where both sides have crazy queens.