how to play chess endgames book

60 How TO PLAY CHESS ENDGAMES
chapter on fortresses) 17 ... ~%5 18 'l!Yd7+ .t>b6
19 ~a4 !th3 20 \\H/xa2 'it;b5 21 'lifbl +-(Postny
inCBM).
17 Wc8+ .t>b5!? 18 'l!Yb7+ .t>a419 'it;xe3
After 19 'l!Yxb2?? !tf3+ = White cannot escape
the desperado. More on this theme in the
chapter on stalemate.
19 .•• .t>a3 20 ~5 a4 21 '&xc5+ 'it;b3 22
'&b4+ 'it;c2 23 \Wxa4+ 'it;xc3 24 '&a5+ .t>c2 25
'ili'f5+ .t>cl 26 '&fl+ 1-0
1 •. J!dl!! 1-0
White resigned in view of 2 !txdl c2 3 !tfl
cl\\H/-+.
The following sacrifice to create such a
pawn-roller is absolutely typical:
w
E) Pawn Power
Without pawns nothing works.
ALEXANDER KOTOY
Although the pawn is the weakest piece on the
chess board, it actually contains a lot of venom
and vitality, so that from time to time it can
play a very powerful role. In the endgame its
importance increases considerably, since promotion
to a queen always beckons, and the
number of pieces that can engage it is constantly
diminishing. Sometimes therefore the
creation of one or more dangerous passed pawns
can even be worth great material losses. In this
section we want to demonstrate a few especially
impressive achievements of the mighty pawn.
In the first example the great endgame expert
Averbakh shows the power of his pawn-mass:
2.32
H.Zoebisch - A.Diickstein
Austrian Ch (Lienz] 1981
1 .bc5! dxc5 2 !txc5
Black's position is already very difficult.
2 ••. a6 3 !ta5 !ta7 4 c5 .t>e7 5 c6 lZle8 6 c4
lZld6?
It is essential for the king to move in front of
the pawn: 6 ... 'it;d6 7 c5+ .t>c7 and Black still
has some drawing chances.
7 c5 lZlb5 8 .t>c4 !ta8 9 !tat lZld4
"Other moves are also insufficient, since the
white rook either penetrates on the f-file after
the pawn moves h4, g5 and g6, or can even be
sacrificed for the knight on d4 if the black rook
is on a7." (Zoebisch).
10d6+
White's pawn avalanche can no longer be
stopped.
10 ••• .t>e6 U c7 lZlb5?
I I....t>d7 12 'it;d5 +-.
12 l:!xa6! 1-0
2.31
E.Geller - Y.Averbakh
USSR Ch (Kiev) 1954
A further reason for the extraordinary power
of the pawn in the endgame lies in the fact that
it can often be helped by the king on the way to
promotion. In the following example, Romanishin
wins with a typical combination and also