how to play chess endgames book

STALEMATE 219
We should note that I '&e6?! is a typical mistake,
since the queen should be kept slightly
further away, so as not to run into the following
surprise: l...l'.:Ib7+2 Wa6l'.:Id7 and 27 moves are
still required to mate.
1. .• m7! 2 '&gs+ We8 3 Wd6 Wf8?!
The stalemate trick 3 ... W6+! was much more
tenacious: 4 We5 l::Ia6 5 \Wd2 and Black has set
up the 3rd-rank defence, so that it still takes 20
moves until mate.
4 We6 l'.:Ih7 s \l!tf6+ @g8 6 '&g6+ 1::Ig7 7
'lf/e8+ Wh7 8 Wf6
Black is in a fatal zugzwang and loses his
rook wherever he moves it.
8 ... l;Ig4 9 '&h5+ Wg810 \l!txg4+ 1-0
C) Desperado
If one of the defender's pieces cannot be captured
because of stalemate, this is an example
of what is called a desperado. Rooks feature
here with especial frequency and sometimes it
is not easy to decide whether you can escape
from a series of desperado checks.
since he cannot escape the desperado: 2 ... Wxe6
3 l'.:Ia6+ Wd5 4 l'.:Ia5+@e4 5 l:Ia4+ We3 6 ~a3+
Wf2 7 ~a2+ Wgl 8 l:Ig2+ 'ii>fl 9 ~gl+ We2 IO
l::Iel+ @d3 11 l:Id!+ Wc3 12 l:Id3+ Wb4 13
~d4+ = (Leko in CBM).
l...l'.:Ie3?! is Leko's suggestion, but White
can hold his own here too: 2 l:Ixa7 l:If3 3 l'.:If7+?
(3 l'.:Ie4 is indicated: 3 ... l:I5xf4+ 4 l'.:Ixf4+ l::Ixf4+
5 Wxh5 e5 6 l:Ia! e4 7 l:Ia6+ 'ii>e5 8 l:Ia5+ Wd4 9
Wg5! =) runs into 3 ... Wg6!! (after 3 ... @xf7?
Black cannot avoid the rampaging rook: 4 l:Ia7 +
@f8 5 l::Ia8+ =) 4 ~g7+ Wxg7 5 l:Ia7+ and now
5 ... l:If7 -+ (Leko) puts an end to the nightmare.
However, l...~d5!? 2 l:Ie4 l:Ib6 3 ~xa7 l:Id3
still offers Black good winning chances.
2 ~e4?!
2 l::Ixa7 l::Ixa7 3 l:Ixa7 l:Ixf4+ 4 Wxh5 e5 5
~a8 Wf5 6 l:If8+ We4 7 l:Ie8 Wd4 8 @g5 =.
2 ... ~e7 3 l:Iea4 (D)
B
B
3 ~b5?!
3 Wg6 was worth another try.
4 l:Ixa7 l:Ixa7 5 l:Ixa7 ~b4 6 Wg3 l:Ib3+ 7
Wg2 wrs 8 l:Ias+ @xf4 9 1:Ixh5 11z.11z
12.09
V.Kramnik - P.Leko
Dortmund 1998
The white defence is based on stalemate and
in the following commentary, particular attention
should be given to the desperado variations.
1. •• l'.:Ib7?!
Leko gave up hope somewhat, as he realized
that his planned l...l'.:If3?! fails to 2 ~xe6+!!,
D) Underpromotion to
Avoid Stalemate
Normally when you promote a pawn you automatically
make it a queen. But chess is such a
complex game that even this rule of thumb has
exceptions. In such cases the power of a queen
or a rook can be too great, such that the opponent
is afforded a defence based on stalemate.