Coffee Break Chess
No. 14, 31^th of July 1999

© 1999 by GM Alexander Baburin

Dear Chess Friends!

This August is very busy for me and therefore I must leave a 'proper'   issue    of CBC (No. 15) till after I come back from London, where I will play in    Mind   Sports Olympiad (21-29 August). This is just a brief note to stay in   touch with   my readers, whose support I appreciate very much. I'd like to show you   two rook   endgames, which I played at the British Championship in Scarborough. The   tournament, which was convincingly won by GM Julian Hodgson on 9 out of   11, went   wrong for me. I played rather badly and deserved my poor result - 7   points. I    lost two games - one in a winning position and another one in a very    promising   position. My wins were not convincing either. The good news is that I   stopped   losing with White, but the bad news is that I started to lose with   Black! :)   When IM (now GM-elect) Jonathan Rowson asked me in Scarborough whether   chess   ever depress me, my answer was quick: "Never! It's the way I play   it which    depresses me!". Well, it's over and, although I will come back to    that   tournament to look at my mistakes, I am now looking forward to the next   competition.

Rook endings. So, take some time and use a chance to sharpen   your    endgame technique - consider the following two positions and think how    you would   have played them. Write down your analysis (if you have time and   interest in   rook endings) and compare it with my detailed analysis of these endings,   which I   will give in CBC-15. You can check what actually happened in those games   in the   end of this message. So, rook endings:

M. Heidenfeld - A. Baburin, 1999

Black to play.

White: Ke3, Ra1, pawns c2, d4, e5, g6.

Black: Kc6, Ra7, pawns a3, c4, e4, e6. Black to play.

Black seems to be in deep trouble, but maybe there is a way out?

 

A. Baburin - N. Pert, 1999

White to play.

White: Kd7, Re3, pawns d5, h3.

Black: Kg6, Rg2, pawn h4. White to play.

This position looks winning for White and yet some precise play is   still    required. How would you continue? Remember: the actual game continuation    is in   the end of this message, while the analysis will be in the next issue of   CBC.

 

Books. Meanwhile I invite you to have a look at my latest book    review   at Chess Cafe: http://www.chesscafe.com/baburin/baburin.htm. My   own book - 'Winning Pawn Structures' - got a very favourable review at    that site   - you can check this very detailed review at http://www.chesscafe.com/text/wps.txt. If   you are   interested in this book, I still have a few copies for sale. It's   £16/$25   + postage. To order the book or get a quote in different currency,   please e-mail   me. I also have a few other books, some of which were published in   Russia. Here   is a short list:

1. Russians versus Fischer Compilers: D.   Plisetsky &   S. Voronkov. Moscow, "Chess World Ltd.", 1994. 394 pages.   In    English. Contents: preface by Y. Averbakh and 148 games    of Robert   Fischer, played against Soviet grandmasters, all games are annotated   in the   "Informator" style. There are also various documents in   the book,   e. g. letters of leading Soviet GMs, concerning Fischer's play and   style   many of those documents are published for the first time. Index of   Fischer's   opponents and their scores against him, opening index. Hardback.   £   3D DM49   3D $29.
2. I. Belov, A. Shakarov, V. Tsaturian, L. Vilensky   Anthology of    Chess Beauty Moscow, "Saturn-S", 1996. 441   pages. 2.000   copies. With a preface by Kasparov. This book is in English and    in the   Informator style. The book contains 1640 games    awarded   with special prizes in 1876-1995. Softback, large format.    £25  3D   DM62  3D $37.
3. I. Linder The Art of Chess Pieces   "H.G.S." publishers. Moscow 1994. 228 pages. In   English. The book contains 250 black-and-white and colour   illustrations.   Contents: "The World of Chess and the World of Art"   "An   Excursion into History" "Carved pieces "with   faces"   "The Evolution of Abstract Symbolism" "Notes"   and    "Bibliography". Hardback with wrappers. £30  3D    DM74  3D   $45.
4. I. Linder 'Schach. Schachfiguren im Wandel der Zeit'    "H.G.S." - Verlag. Moskau, 1994. 228 S. mit ill. The    books is   in German. The book contains 250 black-and-white and colour   illustrations. Contents: "Schachspiel und Kunst"    "Exkurs in   die Geschichte" "Geschnitzt "mit Larven"   "Evolution der abstrakten Symbolik"    "Anmerkungen"   "Bibliographie". Hardback with wrappers. £30  3D   DM74  3D   $45.  
5. FIDE Album. 1980-1982 Zagreb, 1988. 431 pages.   In    Russian, German & English. Hardback. £   3D DM49     3D $29.  
6. Boris Spassky's 300 wins' Chess Stars   series.   Chess editor &mdash GM A. Khalifman. Printed in Sofia by   Semko. 1998. 380 pages. ISBN 954 8782 08 1. Text is in   English. All the games are annotated in the   "Informator" style. There are X-tables,    index of   openings and index of opponents in the book. Softback. Large format.   £   3D DM49  3D $29.

Again, to order a book, get a quote in different currency or to check   about    postage, please e-mail me. I accept cheques and money orders, but cannot    take   credit cards.

 

GM Baburin teaches chess. In CBC-15 I will give some details   about my   services as a trainer. I can teach by phone, on the Internet or via    correspondence. For Internet lessons I am going to use both ICC and    ChessNet.   Rate will be $45 an hour on the Internet or on the phone. I will be   relatively   free in September and October, so give it a thought and let me know if   you are   interested. I have plenty of experience in coaching.

I can also annotate 5 of your games and suggest possible improvements   to you.   See samples of this work in the next issue of CBC (No.15). The rate will    be $95   for 5 games, which should be send to me in ChessBase or pgn format. If   interested, start inputting them along with your thoughts and questions   - we can   work on chess together!

One other possibility is a chess tour in UK, so if your club might be    interested in a simul/lecture (or both), please contact me for details.    Queries   from other countries are welcome too.

 

Now it's time to reveal what happened in those rook endings:

M. Heidenfeld - A. Baburin, British Ch, 1999, round 3. 60...Kb5 61   Kxe4 Kb4    62 d5 exd5+ 63 Kxd5 Rg7 64 e6 Rxg6 65 e7 Rg8 66 Ra2! Rh8! 67 Kd6 Kc3 68    Kd7 Kd2   69 e8Q Rxe8 70 Kxe8 c3 71 Kd7 Kc1 72 Kc6 Kb1 73 Rxa3 Kxc2 74 Kb5 Kb2 75   Rxc3   Kxc3 Draw. As they wrote the tournament bulletin, comments on the final   position   are very welcome!

A. Baburin - N. Pert, 1999, British Ch, 1999, round 8. 65 Re4 Kg5 66   d6 Rg3    67 Ke6 Rxh3 68 d7 Rd3 69 Re5+ Kg4 70 Rd5 Rxd5 71 Kxd5 h3 72 d8Q h2 73    Qh8 Kg3 74   Ke4 Kg2 75 Qb2+ Kg3 76 Qc1 Kg2 77 Qd2+ Kg3 78 Qe1+ Kg2 79 Qe2+ Kg1 80   Kf3 h1Q+   81 Kg3 Qh3+ 82 Kxh3 1-0

Have a nice weekend - I'll be back in September!

Alexander Baburin,  ^th of August 1999,    Dublin.

Technical support. I am very grateful to Igor   Yagolnitser for   his help with this project. For assistance regarding CBC, please contact    Igor at MOHCTP@ix.netcom.com

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