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Ladislav Prokes
L Prokes 
From left to right: Prokes, (unidentified), Steiner, Neuwirth, Treybal.  
Number of games in database: 192
Years covered: 1905 to 1930

Overall record: +57 -78 =57 (44.5%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Queen's Pawn Game (13) 
    D02 A46 D05 D00
 Giuoco Piano (11) 
    C50 C54 C53
 Ruy Lopez (9) 
    C84 C77 C78 C70 C67
 Orthodox Defense (6) 
    D50 D61 D53 D51 D52
 French Defense (6) 
    C01 C11 C10
 Caro-Kann (6) 
    B10 B13 B15 B18
With the Black pieces:
 Queen's Pawn Game (14) 
    A46 D02 D05 A45 E00
 French Defense (12) 
    C12 C11 C13 C14 C01
 Orthodox Defense (11) 
    D51 D67 D60 D63 D50
 Ruy Lopez (10) 
    C68 C93 C69 C64 C80
 French (10) 
    C11 C12 C13 C00 C10
 Bogo Indian (8) 
    E11
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Prokes vs O Zander, 1925 1-0
   Prokes vs K Krofta, 1909 1-0
   Prokes vs T H Tylor, 1930 1-0
   J Dobias vs Prokes, 1911 0-1
   F Duz-Khotimirsky vs Prokes, 1908 0-1
   Prokes vs Spielmann, 1907 1/2-1/2
   Prokes vs H Mattison, 1926 1/2-1/2

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Debrecen (1925)
   Hamburg Olympiad (1930)
   Prague (1908)
   Bad Pistyan (1922)
   London Olympiad (1927)
   The Hague Olympiad (1928)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   UJCS-1.Kongress 1905 by thelegendisback


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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

 page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 192  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. K Treybal vs L Prokes  0-1321905UJCS-1.KongressD60 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense
2. L Prokes vs F Nachtikal 0-1351905UJCS-1.KongressD51 Queen's Gambit Declined
3. Duras vs L Prokes  1-0451905UJCS-1.KongressC64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
4. L Prokes vs T Sika 1-0311905UJCS-1.KongressA07 King's Indian Attack
5. L Prokes vs M Gargulak  0-1281907BrnoD50 Queen's Gambit Declined
6. L Prokes vs J Brach Sr ½-½261907BrnoD61 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack
7. K Treybal vs L Prokes  ½-½271907BrnoC12 French, McCutcheon
8. F Treybal vs L Prokes  ½-½261907BrnoC49 Four Knights
9. L Prokes vs L Taussig  1-0351907BrnoD52 Queen's Gambit Declined
10. J Genttner vs L Prokes  0-1261907BrnoC87 Ruy Lopez
11. L Prokes vs A Perna  ½-½411907BrnoD53 Queen's Gambit Declined
12. A Beck vs L Prokes  0-1411907BrnoC68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange
13. L Prokes vs J Rasovsky 1-0271907BrnoD50 Queen's Gambit Declined
14. Duras vs L Prokes 1-0451907Trebitsch MemorialC12 French, McCutcheon
15. L Prokes vs Albin 1-0311907Trebitsch MemorialB07 Pirc
16. J Mieses vs L Prokes 1-0331907Trebitsch MemorialC12 French, McCutcheon
17. L Prokes vs Spielmann  ½-½491907Trebitsch MemorialC24 Bishop's Opening
18. Maroczy vs L Prokes 1-0281907Trebitsch MemorialD51 Queen's Gambit Declined
19. L Prokes vs L Loewy Jr  0-1451907Trebitsch MemorialC55 Two Knights Defense
20. Schlechter vs L Prokes  1-0201907Trebitsch MemorialD32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
21. L Prokes vs J Perlis  0-1311907Trebitsch MemorialC50 Giuoco Piano
22. J N Berger vs L Prokes  1-0491907Trebitsch MemorialD32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
23. H Wolf vs L Prokes  ½-½311907Trebitsch MemorialC00 French Defense
24. L Prokes vs Vidmar  0-1301907Trebitsch MemorialC77 Ruy Lopez
25. Martinolich vs L Prokes  1-0481907Trebitsch MemorialD32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
 page 1 of 8; games 1-25 of 192  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.

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