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Ladislav Prokes
L Prokes 
From left to right: Prokes, (unidentified), Steiner, Neuwirth, Treybal.  

Number of games in database: 193
Years covered: 1905 to 1930
Overall record: +58 -78 =57 (44.8%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games.

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Most played openings
A46 Queen's Pawn Game (9 games)
E11 Bogo-Indian Defense (8 games)
C50 Giuoco Piano (8 games)
D02 Queen's Pawn Game (8 games)
B02 Alekhine's Defense (6 games)
D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch (5 games)
D05 Queen's Pawn Game (5 games)
C11 French (5 games)
A07 King's Indian Attack (5 games)
D51 Queen's Gambit Declined (5 games)


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LADISLAV PROKES
(born Jun-07-1884, died Jan-09-1966, 81 years old) Czech Republic

[what is this?]

Ladislav Prokes (PROK-kesh) was born in Prague. Joint Czechoslovak champion (=Karel Hromadka) in 1921, he played for the Czech Olympiad team (in 1927, 1928 and 1931) but is best remembered as one of the most prolific composers of endgame studies of all time. His lifetime output of 1,159 studies ranks 4th among all composers, according to the endgame database of Harold van der Heijden. He was the master of the study that looks easy, but is much more difficult than the solver thinks at first glance. In 1951, Professor Prokes published the acclaimed Kniha Sahovych Studii, a collection of 623 of his compositions.

He passed away in Prague in 1966 at the age of 81.

obituary: http://www.gadycosteff.com/eg/eg5.pdf

Wikipedia article: Ladislav Prokeš

Last updated: 2023-06-07 10:36:23

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 page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 193  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. L Prokes vs T Sika 1-0311905UJCS-1.KongressA07 King's Indian Attack
2. K Treybal vs L Prokes  0-1321905UJCS-1.KongressD60 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense
3. L Prokes vs F Nachtikal 0-1351905UJCS-1.KongressD51 Queen's Gambit Declined
4. Duras vs L Prokes  1-0451905UJCS-1.KongressC64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
5. Duras vs L Prokes 1-04519071st Trebitsch Memorial, ViennaC12 French, McCutcheon
6. L Prokes vs Albin 1-03119071st Trebitsch Memorial, ViennaB07 Pirc
7. J Mieses vs L Prokes 1-03319071st Trebitsch Memorial, ViennaC12 French, McCutcheon
8. L Prokes vs Spielmann  ½-½4919071st Trebitsch Memorial, ViennaC24 Bishop's Opening
9. Maroczy vs L Prokes 1-02819071st Trebitsch Memorial, ViennaD51 Queen's Gambit Declined
10. L Prokes vs L Loewy Jr  0-14519071st Trebitsch Memorial, ViennaC55 Two Knights Defense
11. Schlechter vs L Prokes  1-02019071st Trebitsch Memorial, ViennaD32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
12. L Prokes vs J Perlis  0-13119071st Trebitsch Memorial, ViennaC50 Giuoco Piano
13. J Berger vs L Prokes 1-04919071st Trebitsch Memorial, ViennaD32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
14. H Wolf vs L Prokes  ½-½3119071st Trebitsch Memorial, ViennaC00 French Defense
15. L Prokes vs Vidmar  0-13019071st Trebitsch Memorial, ViennaC77 Ruy Lopez
16. G Martinolich vs L Prokes  1-04819071st Trebitsch Memorial, ViennaD32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
17. L Prokes vs Tartakower  0-13019071st Trebitsch Memorial, ViennaA43 Old Benoni
18. L Prokes vs L Taussig  1-03519072nd Bohemian Chess Federation CongressD52 Queen's Gambit Declined
19. J Genttner vs L Prokes  0-12619072nd Bohemian Chess Federation CongressC87 Ruy Lopez
20. L Prokes vs J Brach Sr ½-½2619072nd Bohemian Chess Federation CongressD61 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack
21. K Treybal vs L Prokes  ½-½2719072nd Bohemian Chess Federation CongressC12 French, McCutcheon
22. F Treybal vs L Prokes  ½-½2619072nd Bohemian Chess Federation CongressC49 Four Knights
23. L Prokes vs M Gargulak  0-12819072nd Bohemian Chess Federation CongressD50 Queen's Gambit Declined
24. A Beck vs L Prokes  0-14119072nd Bohemian Chess Federation CongressC68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange
25. L Prokes vs J Rasovsky 1-02719072nd Bohemian Chess Federation CongressD50 Queen's Gambit Declined
 page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 193  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Prokes wins | Prokes loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
Jan-23-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  chessgames.com: Photograph: http://www.jbmd.com/sach/profProkes...
Jan-23-06  BIDMONFA: Ladislav Prokes

PROKES, Ladislav
http://www.bidmonfa.com/prokes_ladi...
_

Aug-11-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  OhioChessFan: He has some interesting end game studies. I just posted one on my forum, and am trying to find a few more.
Dec-09-07  whiteshark: German Wikipedia page:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladisl...

Picture from Bad Pistyan 1922 (Breyer Memorial):
http://www.chessbase.de/2005/badpis...

CB-report about Bad Pistyan 1922 (Breyer Memorial): http://www.chessbase.de/nachrichten...

Dec-09-07  paladin at large: Not a bad player, as well as having his name on the "Prokes Maneuver" (which is pretty nifty - nice link <whiteshark>) and being the first victim of the "Monticelli Trap"......sounds like an adventurous life.
Dec-09-07  whiteshark: <paladin at large> For the lazy kibutzers: <"Monticelli Trap">: M Monticelli vs Prokes, 1926
Jun-07-08  wolfmaster: Prokes lived until 1966, does anyone know if he was awarded an IM title from FIDE based on his performances in the early 20th century?
Jun-07-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: A simple study from Prokes, with a useful point. It's White to Play and Win:


click for larger view

<1.Kc6!>

And not 1.Kc7, as we'll see.

<1...Ka7 2.b4 b5>

2...a5 3.b5 is easy.

<3.Kc7 a5>


click for larger view

Now, of course, 4.bxa5 renders White's pawns useless. He could force Black to play ...b4, but only by stalemating Black's king first.

<4.a4!>

Now White wins after 4...axb4 5.axb5 or 4...bxa4 5.b5 as he can support the b-pawn all the way to glory, with similar lines following 4...Ka6 5.Kc6. And now you can see why White had to use the move order Kc6-Kc7; had he reversed the moves, Black could now take a pawn and play ...Kb8.

Jun-28-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Peligroso Patzer: The "Prokes Maneuver", refeenced in an earlier comment, is from a 1938 study:

White to move and win from this position:


click for larger view

Solution (translated from Prokes's German):

1. b7 Nd6+ 2. Kd4! (not 2. Kd5? Nxb7 3.e7 Kf7 drawn) Nxb7 3. Kd5 Kg7 (3… Nc5 also loses: 4. e7 Na6 (the promotion is temporarily prevented by the threatened Knight fork on c7) 5. Kd6 Kf7 6. Nd8+ Ke8 7. Ne6 (threatening 8. Ng7+) Kf7 8. Ng7 Nc7 9. Kd7 (zugzwang) Kf6 10.Ne8+ and the Knight fork ends Black’s resistance.) 4. Nd8! Nxd8 5. e7 (echo to the first move: 1. b7) wins, because now the promotion cannot be prevented. Although the king can reach the square of the pawn (5. … Kf7), the square rule is not applicable in this case, because the pawn can escape the King’s attack by 6. exd8=Q.

Jun-28-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Peligroso Patzer: The most useful finesse (in terms of potential to be used over-the-board) from the 1938 Prokes Study is from this position:


click for larger view

In the above position, 1. Nd8! is the only winning move. It threatens 2. e7 (when 2. ... Kf7 will not be possible in reply), as well as 2. Nxb7 winning easily), so Black has nothing better than 1. ... Nxd8, but this also loses, as the analysis by Prokes quoted above demonstrates.

Jul-16-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  GrahamClayton: Here is a transcript of a talk given by AJ Roycroft of the Chess Endgame Study Circle in London in 1966 about some of Prokes' endgame studies:

http://www.gadycosteff.com/eg/eg7.pdf

Oct-19-10  whiteshark: GM Lubomir Kavalek on <Prokes's Windmills> http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp...
Jun-07-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  WTHarvey: Here are some combinations and mates from Ladislav's games: http://wtharvey.com/prok.html Find the winning move.
Jan-19-20  wordfunph: rest in peace endgame master Prokes..
Jun-07-20  Nosnibor: Just to be clear the photograph shows Karel Treybal and not his brother Frantisek. During his chess career Prokes had played them both.
Jun-07-20  Cibator: A Prokes study from 1947 with minimal material, reminiscent of Reti's famous 1921 composition:


click for larger view

Draw.

May-25-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  GrahamClayton: Study from 'Ceske Slovo', 1938. White to draw:


click for larger view

1. Ke1 (1. Rh2 g3 2. Rxh3 g2+ 3. Kg1 Ke2 and Black wins) f2+ 1...Kf4 2. Kf1 Kg3 3. Rg1+ Kh4 4. Kf2 h2 5. Rh1 Kh3 6. Rb1 g3+ 7. Kxf3 g2 8. Rb8 g1=N+ 9. Kf2 Nf3 10. Rb1 draws) 2. Kf1 g3 3. Rxh3 Kf3 4. Rh2 gxh2 stalemate

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