Thursday, July 8, 2010

Basic Checkmate Study: KBB vs K

"The end is where you must begin!"

This is the statement we all hear when we ask serious chess coaches about learning chess seriously. While the world awaits for the results of the DNA testing of the legendary world chess champion Robert "Bobby" Fischer,  let us busy ourselves with the necessaries of chess improvement. Fischer may have been so good with his endgame technique but he forgot to take care of his very ending and left everyone bewildered, as always!

Bishop endgames seldom happen in tournaments but it will help the developing player to study this and appreciate the beauty of two opposite colored pieces able to defend each other and give checkmate.

And so may I present some of the diagrams I created devoted to Basic Checkmate Study: King + Bishop + Bishop vs King.

In how many (or few) moves can you give checkmate to the black King in this position?


What about this one?



For our last diagram, the idea here they say is to centralize the King and push the opposing King at the edge and corner of the board. With the two bishops controlling the long diagonals, the end is near for the black king ala-Frank Sinatra!



For endgame videos please visit Josh Specht' Chess Videos Wiki or Jeremy Silmans's Endgame Study and Bishop Endings II

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Free Internet Chess Server

FICS: Free Internet Chess Server