Fun With Queens

     For whatever reasons studying endings isn't something most amateurs concern themselves with, but they actually can be quite enjoyable as well as instructive. My guess is that if most players spent as much time studying endings as they do openings they would be more advanced. 
     When I played over the following game in which white had a Q+3Ps vs. a Q+2Ps with all the Pawns on the same side, I thought there was no way white could win, but Averbakh managed to win in just a handful of moves. 
     What makes endings tough to study is that there are rules that must be remembered, lots of them. For example, in the case of a Q vs. a single P, the P always wins unless her K is not nearby and the P is a BP or a RP. Of course, there are exceptions. 
     Generally, in Q+P vs Q endings, the Q moves in a zig-zag fashion, checking and pinning until the K is forced to block its P allowing the opposing K to approach. 
    In a R and P ending where there are Ps on one side of the board, the game is almost always drawn, but with Qs there are winning chances. The reason is that with Qs there are mating chances. 
     In the following game, black also has a weak P, so combined with the mating possibilities, white was able to win fairly quickly.  
     Averbakh's opponent in this game was Alexey Suetin (November 16, 1926 - September 10, 2001) who was a Russian GM and author. A Muscovite and a mechanical engineer by profession, his philosophy was always that "mastery is not enough; you must dare, take risks." 
     Suetin was a strong GM and for many years one of the most respected coaches in Moscow; he guided the ultimate strategist, Tigran Petrosian, to the World Championship and numbered Vassily Ivanchuk among his many pupils. 
    He achieved many excellent results in tournaments in the 1960s and 1970s and participated in seven USSR Championships from 1958 to 1966. His playing career stretched into the 1990s, but he was a chain-smoker,and found it difficult to adjust to FIDE's ban on smoking in tournament halls that went into effect in 1990. 
     Suetin was married to WGM Kira Zvorykina; He died aged 74 of a heart attack shortly after returning home from the Russian Senior Championship. Two of his books that are worth reading are: Soviet Chess Strategy - a collection of Suetin's best writings covering things like strategy, play in the center, accurate evaluation, attack and defense and the relationship between strategy and tactics, etc. An excellent book. Plan Like A Grandmaster - how to formulate a plan in the opening and early middle game 
     This game was played in the 21st (1954) Soviet Chess Championship which was held in Kiev. Twenty of the Soviet Union's best players participated. Vladimir Simagin quailfied, but was unable to play and his place went to Salo Flohr. Four places were awarded on merit to Averbakh, Geller, Petrosian and Taimanov.
     Averbakh's play was surprising...he was undefeated, drawing with Taimanov, Korchnoi, Lisitsin, Petrosin, Kholmov, Nzehmetdinov, Flohr, Borisenko and Shamkovich. Both Taimanov and Petrosian were also undefeated, but had too many draws. 

1) Averbakh 14.5 
2-3) Taimanov and Korchnoi 13.0 
4-5) Lisitsin and Petrosian 11.0 
6) Kholmov 10.5 
7-9) Suetin, Furman and Nezhmetdinov 10.0 
10-11) Byvshev and Geller 9.5 
12-13) Flohr and Borisenko 8.5 
14-16) Bannik, Ilivitsky and Lilienthal 8.0 
17-18) Shamkovich and Ragozin 6.5 
19) Livshin 6.0 
20) Sokolsky 5.0 

     The year 1954 had some interesting events: Actress Marilyn Monroe eloped with baseball player Joe DiMaggio in an ill-fated marriage that lasted only nine months. DiMaggio quit his job on August 1, 1962 because he had decided to ask Monroe to remarry him, but she was found dead in her home on August 5th.
     The seeds of the Vietnam War had already been planted. In early 1954, President Eisenhower authorized the release of $385 million over the $400 million that was already budgeted for military aid to Vietnam and at the same time warned against United States intervention in Vietnam. Nevertheless, in April, Vice President Richard Nixon announced that the United States would be “putting our own boys in Indochina regardless of Allied support.” 
     Four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire in the House of Representatives and wounded five people. The Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional. Elvis' first single, That's All Right, was released. 
     The Senate voted 67–22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute” because of his witch hunt for Communists. Too bad they don't condemn members today for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute”, but I suppose that's because if they did, just about everybody in the Senate would be censured. TV dinners were introduced. 
     In chess, the Russian team pummeled the American team by a score of 19-13 in New York. As if that wasn't bad enough, Keres beat Reshevsky 21-19 in ping-pong, in team play Bisguier and Kaminsky lost two matches to Keres and Geller, Tainanov beat Evans and Kotov beat Abe Turner. 
     Arthur Bisguier won the U.S. Championship with an undefeated 10-5. Defending champ Larry Evans was second a point back. The U.S. Open was a tie between Larry Evans and Arturo Pomar of Spain.