May-01-25 A Zaitsev vs Huebner, 1969
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| Ziryab: Tablebases give four options for Black at move 57 that draw. 57…Rb4, as Dvoretsky gives in <Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual> draws. Also drawing are 57…Ra5 and Rc5, both restraining White’s king. 57…Kf8 draws as well. Of course, 57…Kh8 loses immediately to 58.Rf7 or ... |
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Apr-21-25 Dreev vs A Beliavsky, 1989
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| Ziryab: This ending came up in <Dvoretsky�s Endgame Manual> and so I spent some time this morning playing it against Stockfish. |
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Apr-21-25 Lisitsin vs Lilienthal, 1938
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| Ziryab: Lilienthal missed some chances for a textbook draw. 70...Rc4+ followed by 71...Kc8 would have held. Also 70...Rd4 71.Kd6 Kc8 holds. After the erroneous 70...Ke8 71.Rg8+ Kf7 White faltered with 72.Rd8, allowing 72...Ke7= |
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Apr-15-25 F Duz-Khotimirsky vs Capablanca, 1913
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| Ziryab: I spent a minute looking at 35.Bd3, then saw 35…Rxf1+ followed by 36…b1Q pinning the bishop whether on d3 or f1. |
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Mar-12-25 V Kunin vs Ochsengoit, 1958
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| Ziryab: 9...exf3 10.Qxb4 Nf6 seems okay for Black. |
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Feb-20-25 Tarrasch vs Rubinstein, 1911
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| Ziryab: 36.a4 does appear to lead to a queen ending that favors White, but Tarrasch must first see 12 moves deep to the rook exchange, then properly assess the queen ending. There is some comfort knowing that White cannot lose the queen ending, though. Practically, the active rook is usually |
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Feb-20-25 Kashdan vs Alekhine, 1933
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| Ziryab: If 43.h4, Black can play 43…f4!
This analysis appears in Thomas Engqvist, <300 Most Important Chess Positions> (2018). |
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Feb-18-25 Eliskases vs Bogoljubov, 1939
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| Ziryab: 27…Rb5 with the idea of Rg5 offers winning chances. Probably still drawn. |
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Feb-16-25 Alekhine vs Capablanca, 1927
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| Ziryab: The position before White’s move 54 appears in Thomas Engqvist, <300 Most Important Chess Positions> (2018), except that Engqvist has both h-pawns on their starting squares. I spent the past 30 minutes playing it against Stockfish with multiple failures and take-backs. ... |
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Feb-08-25 T Engqvist vs A Matros, 1999
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| Ziryab: Engqvist has three books with 300 in the title. His <Chess Lessons from a Champion Coach> also graces my shelves. When I read any of the four, I find them instructive and hence am spending time working through <300 Most Important Chess Positions> at five position per day, |
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Kibitzing
