how to play chess endgames book

THINKING
IN SCHEMES
109
as a candidate for improvement. Quite often
improving the knight is the key to solving the
problem of the position.
7 ... ltJxc5 8 ltJxc5 na& was more tenacious,
but of course Black is strategically busted.
8 ltJb4 ~b7 9 ltJxb7 nhxb7 10 .l;ixc6 as 11
nxb6 axb4 12 nxb7 .l:Ixb7 13 nxb4 1-0
In the next example too, things very much
turn on the prospects of both sides' knights.
B
5.04
J.Capablanca - J.Mieses
Bad Kissingen 1928
In this 'Karlsbad' pawn-structure, d3 and d6
are ideal squares for knights, since from there
they can be redeployed quickly and flexibly on
both wings.
1 ~1! @e8 2 ltJd3 nbs 3 f3 ne7 4 @f2
ltJf8 5 .l:Ib3 ltJd7 6 g4 bS?
If Black remained passive with, for example,
6 ...@d8, then White could open a second front
on the kingside, when the d3-knight would again
render good service: 7 h4 a5 8 ltJb6 ltJxb6 9
.l:Ixb6 na& 10 ltJf4 @d7 11 g5 ±.
7 ltJacS (D)
B
7 ••. ltJb6?
5.05
Em.Lasker - J.Capablanca
St Petersburg 1914
1. .. ~b7?
Now the e6-square and the d6-pawn will be
very weak. Instead it was much better to keep
the pawn-structure as it is and bring all the
pieces to good squares, as Capablanca indicated
after the game: l...~xf4! 2 nxf4 c5! 3
.!:id 1 ~b7 4 nr2 nad8 5 .l:Ifd2 nxd2 6 l!xd2
ltJc6 7 nd7 .l:Ic8 and in view of his activity and
the great e5-square for his knight Black stands
no worse. This schematic evaluation works well
here. Of course, you should still always verify
this with some concrete variations.
2 ~xd6 cxd6 3 ltJd4 nad8?
3 ... ~c8 was necessary. Capablanca underestimates
the power of the knight landing on e6.
4 ltJe6 nd7 5 ~ad 1 ltJc8 6 nr2 bS 7 nrd2
'1de7 8 b4 @f7 9 a3 ~a8?!
9 ... ~xe6 IO fxe6+ nxe6 was by far the least
of the evils, even though White retains good
winning chances.
10@f2 na7 11 g4 h612 nd3 aS?
Ultimately the opening of the a-file just helps
White, whose forces can more easily exploit it
owing to his space advantage.