Dvoretsky’s
Endgame
Manual
Fourth Edition
Foreword by Artur Yusupov
Preface by Jacob Aagaard
2014
Russell Enterprises, Inc.
Milford, CT USA
Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual
Fourth Edition
© Copyright 2003, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2014
Mark Dvoretsky
ISBN: 978-1-941270-04-2
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book maybe used, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any manner or form whatsoever or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First Edition 2003
Second Edition, First Printing 2006
Second Edition, Second Printing 2008
Third Edition 2011
Fourth Edition 2014
Published by:
Russell Enterprises, Inc.
PO Box 3131
Milford, CT 06460 USA
http://www.russell-enterprises.com
info@russell-enterprises.com
Cover design by Pamela Terry, Opus 1 Design
Back cover photograph of Mark Dvoretsky by Carl G. Russell
Printed in the United States of America
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
From the Author (First Edition)
From the Author (Second Edition)
Publisher’s Note to the Third Edition
From the Author (Fourth Edition)
Other Signs, Symbols, and Abbreviations
Chapter 1 Pawn Endgames
Key Squares
Corresponding Squares
Opposition
Mined Squares
Triangulation
Other Cases of Correspondence
King vs. Passed Pawns
The Rule of the Square
Réti’s Idea
The Floating Square
Three Connected Pawns
Queen vs. Pawns
Knight or Center Pawn
Rook or Bishop’s Pawn
Pawn Races
The Active King
Zugzwang
Widening the Beachhead
The King Routes
Zigzag
The Pendulum
Shouldering
Breakthrough
The Outside Passed Pawn
Two Rook’s Pawns with an Extra Pawn on the Opposite Wing
The Protected Passed Pawn
Two Pawns to One
Multi-Pawn Endgames
Undermining
Two Connected Passed Pawns
Stalemate
The Stalemate Refuge
“Semi-Stalemate”
Reserve Tempi
Exploiting Reserve Tempi
Steinitz’s Rule
The g- and h-Pawns vs. the h-Pawn
The f- and h-Pawns vs. the h-Pawn
Both Sides have Reserve Tempi
Chapter 2 Knights versus Pawns
King in the Corner
Mate
Drawn Positions
Knight vs. Rook’s Pawn
The Knight Defends the Pawn
Chapter 3 Knight Endgames
The Deflecting Knight Sacrifice
Botvinnik’s Formula
Pawns on the Same Side
Chapter 4 Bishop versus Pawns
The Elementary Fortresses
Bishop and Rook’s Pawn
Pawns at h6 and h7
Pawns at g6 and g7
Bishop at h7 and Pawn at g6
Bishop vs. Disconnected Pawns
Bishop vs. Connected Pawns
Chapter 5 Opposite-color Bishops
The Most Important Rules
Bishop and Two Connected Pawns vs. Bishop
Separated Passed Pawns
The King Blockades the Passed Pawn
The Bishop Restrains the Passed Pawn
Chapter 6 Bishops of the Same Color
Minimal Material
Bishop and Pawn vs. Bishop
Transposition to Positions with One Pawn
Interference
The Bad Bishop
Fixing Pawns
Zugzwang
Pawns Which Do Not “Play by the Rules”
Barrier
Chapter 7 Bishop versus Knight
Bishop and Pawn vs. Knight
Knight and Pawn vs. Bishop
The Bishop is Superior to the Knight
Cutting the Knight Off
Fixing the Pawns
The Passed Pawn
An Open Position, A More Active King
Defensive Methods with a Knight against a Bishop
The Knight is Superior to the Bishop
Domination and Knight Forks
Fixing the Pawns
Closed Position, Bad Bishop
Chapter 8 Rook versus Pawns
Rook vs. Pawn
“Moving Downstairs”
Cutting the King Off
Pawn Promotion to a Knight
Stalemate
An Intermediate Check for a Gain of Tempo
Shouldering
Outflanking
Rook vs. Connected Pawns
Rook vs. Separated Pawns
Chapter 9 Rook Endgames
Rook and Pawn vs. Rook
The Pawn on the Seventh Rank
The Pawn on the Sixth Rank
The Pawn on the Fifth Rank
The Umbrella
The Pawn Has Not Crossed the Mid-line
A Rook and a Rook’s Pawn vs. a Rook
The King is in Front of Its Own Pawn
The Rook is in Front of the Pawn and the Pawn Is on the Seventh Rank
The Rook is in Front of the Pawn and the Pawn Is on the Sixth Rank
a- and h-Pawns
A Rook and Two Pawns vs. a Rook
Doubled Pawns
Connected Pawns
f- and h-Pawns
Other Pairs of Disconnected Pawns
A Far Advanced Passed Pawn
Transition to a Rook vs. Pawns Endgame
Lasker’s Idea
A Rook and Two Pawns vs. a Rook and Pawn
All Pawns are on the Same Wing
Pawns on Opposite Wings
Disconnected Pawns, One of them is Passed
Four Pawns vs. Three on the Same Wing
Balance on One Wing and an Extra Pawn on Another
The Rook Behind its Own Pawn
The Rook in Front of the Pawn, with the Pawn on the Seventh Rank
The Rook in Front of the Pawn, with the Pawn on the Sixth Rank
A Knight’s Pawn
The Rook at the Side of the Pawn
Common Observations about Endgames with Many Pawns
The Rook’s Activity
The King’s Activity
King on the Edge
Cutting the King Off
Akiba Rubinstein’s Masterpiece
Chapter 10 Rook versus Knight
The Lone Knight
Rook and Pawn vs. Knight and Pawn
Multi-Pawn Endgames
Pawns on One Side of the Board
Pawns on Both Sides
When the Knight is Stronger than the Rook
Chapter 11 Rook versus Bishop
The Lone Bishop
The Dangerous Corner
The Safe Corner
A Bishop’s Pawn
Rook and Pawn vs. Bishop and Pawn
The Pawns are on the Same File or on Adjacent Files
Rook Pawns
Two Pawns vs. Two on the Same Wing
Three Pawns vs. Three on the Same Wing
Chapter 12 Queen Endgames
Queen and Pawn vs. Queen
Winning Tactical Tricks
Defensive Tactics
Pawns on the Same Wing
A Passed Pawn
An Active Queen
Chapter 13 Queen versus Rook
A Solitary Rook
Queen vs. Rook and Pawn
The Rook behind the Pawn
The Pawn on the Seventh Rank
The Pawn on the Sixth Rank
A Knight Pawn on the Fifth or Sixth Rank
Queen and Pawn vs. Rook and Pawn
Passed Pawns
Pawns on Adjacent Files
A Fortress with Multiple Pawns
Chapter 14 Other Material Relations
Two Extra Pieces
Checkmating with Bishop and Knight
Checkmating with Two Knights
Rook and Knight vs. Rook
Rook and Bishop vs. Rook
Without Pawns
With Pawns
An Extra Bishop or Knight with Queens or Minor Pieces
Rook vs. Two Minor Pieces
Queen vs. Various Pieces
Queen vs. Two Rooks
Chapter 15 General Endgame Ideas
King’s Activity
Pawn Power
Zugzwang
Fortresses
A Fortified Camp
A Pawn Barrier
An Imprisoned King
An Imprisoned Piece
Binding
Stalemate
Checkmate
Domination
Chapter 16 Solutions
Bibliography
Indexes
Index of Players
Index of Composers and Analysts
Index of Strategic and Tactical Techniques
Foreword
My cooperation and friendship with Mark Dvoretsky has already lasted almost 30 years. He was more than just a coach or second. He was my most important chess teacher. I owe my greatest victories to him and we are still in contact with each other quite often.
Mark has developed a method that can catapult a talented player from Elo 2200 to grandmaster level in 4 to 5 years. An important part of this procedure is the study of the endgame. Mark firmly believes that endgame technique is of universal value. He recognized this when he prepared several endgame sessions for the education of prospective Russian chess trainers. At first he thought that the job was routine work, only requiring him to write down what he already knew. But suddenly he realized that he was playing better!
I also believe in the interactive effect of endgame study. It makes it easier to judge and use the potential of the pieces and to understand their interaction. So not only our endgame technique, but also our intuition and positional understanding are refined. In the endgame, plans must be found all the time – so it sharpens our strategic eye as well.
So I was very happy when Mark told me two years ago, that he was planning to write an endgame manual. Now this work by one of the world’s leading endgame specialists has appeared and you can enjoy the fruits of his labor. I am sure that those who study this work carefully will not only play the endgame better, but overall, their play will improve. One of the secrets of the Russian chess school is now before you, dear reader!
International Grandmaster Artur Yusupov
Weissenhorn
September 2003
Preface
The first time I heard about the book you are now holding in your hands was in the summer of 2000, when Mark Dvoretsky was giving lectures in Copenhagen for a group of the best Danish players. I had only just been able to put my jaw back in place after being rushed through a rook ending I was badly prepared to understand. What had fascinated me most was not that rook endings could be explained the way Mark explained them, but that the simplicity of dicta like the rook should always be active had such far reaching practical implications. Hey, I can actually understand this! was the thought running through my head. The game Flohr-Vidmar, Nottingham 1936 (p. 227) especially impressed me. Mark then told us that he was indeed working on a new book on the endgame, a comprehensive manual which would be finished within a year.
In fact it took far more than a year, and to be honest, I am not really sure that Mark will ever finish his work with this book – or that he should. In the summer of 2002 the German version, titled Die Endspieluniversität, was published. And I am the proud owner of the first ever signed copy of the book I called The best chess book ever written in a 10-page review in the Swedish chess magazine Schacknytt.
Since the book was released (and I wrote my review) I have worked with it, in both my own training and my work with juniors, and I have come to the following conclusion: Going through this book will certainly improve your endgame knowledge, but just as important, it will also greatly improve your ability to calculate variations. In particular, the section on pawn endings has convinced me that solving studies and pawn endings should be an important part of my pre-tournament training (and when am I not preparing for the next tournament?). So the book is practical indeed, more so than any other book in my extensive library.
But there is another point, just as important, regarding the general sense of aesthetics in the book. The studies, both those selected and those created by the author himself, are not just instructive, but some of the finest studies I have ever seen.
But what really impresses me is the deep level of analysis in the book. Rules and techniques are important for the practical player in the development of ability, but if the analysis is less than thorough, it is hard to really get into the text. Improvements have been found to the analysis of the German edition and incorporated into the English edition and Mark is always ready to discuss and improve his analysis with anyone. He understands fully that a book has a life and rights of its own. Greatness is possible, but perfection may not be. I must admit that I personally feel as if Shakespeare asked me to write a foreword to Hamlet, and yes, I must admit that I suffer from a lot of confusion as to why he did this. All I can say is: This is a great book. I hope it will bring you as much pleasure as it has me.
International Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard
Copenhagen
September 2003
From the Author (First Edition)
Endgame theory is not a complicated subject to study!
All one needs is thorough knowledge of a limited number of “precise” positions (as a rule, elementary ones) plus some of the most important principles, evaluations, and standard techniques. The question is, how to select the most important material from the thousands of endings analyzed in various handbooks? That is why this book was written: it offers the basic information you need as the foundation of your own personal endgame theory.
As long ago as 1970, when I was just a young chess master and a student at Moscow University, I was unexpectedly invited to give some endgame lectures to the chess faculty of the Moscow High School for Sports. It was then that I had to think about what exactly a practical chess player must study. I defined sound methods of studying endgame theory (from the point of view of logic, rather obvious ones) and prepared examples of the most important types of endgames (pawn, rook-and-pawn endgames, and those with opposite-color bishops). I also prepared a series of lectures on the general principles of endgame play. By the way, the main ideas of that series became (with my permission) the basis of the popular book Endgame Strategy by Mikhail Shereshevsky (I recommend that book to my readers).
Later on, these materials, continually corrected and enlarged, were used in teaching numerous apprentices. They proved to be universal and useful for players of widely different levels: from ordinary amateurs to the world’s leading grandmasters. My work with grandmasters, some of them belonging to the world’s Top Ten, have convinced me that almost none of them had studied chess endings systematically. They either did not know or did not remember many important endgame positions and ideas, which can be absorbed even by those of relatively modest chess experience. As a result, even among grandmasters, grave errors occur even in elementary situations: you will find plenty of examples in this book. Some grandmasters asked me to help them, and our studies resulted usually in a substantial improvement of their tournament achievements. Two weeks of intensive study were usually more than enough to eliminate the gaps in their endgame education.
So, what will you find in this book?
Precise positions. This is our term for concrete positions – positions with a minimum number of pawns, which should be memorized and which will serve as guideposts again and again in your games.
The hardest part of preparing this book was deciding which positions to include and which to leave out. This required rejection of many examples that were intrinsically interesting and even instructive, but of little practical value. Common sense dictates that effort should be commensurate to the expected benefit. Human memory is limited, so there is no sense in filling it up with rarely-seen positions that will probably never occur in our actual games. One should study relatively few positions, the most important and most probable, but study and understand them perfectly. One should not remember long and perplexing analyses. We may never have an opportunity to reproduce them in our games, and we will certainly forget them sooner or later. Our basic theoretical knowledge must be easy to remember and comprehend. Some complicated positions are also important, but we may absorb their general evaluations and basic ideas, plus perhaps a few of their most important lines only.
The positions that I consider part of the basic endgame knowledge system are shown by diagrams and comments in blue print. If the explanatory notes are too complicated or less important the print is black; these positions are also useful but there is not much sense in committing them to memory.
Endgame ideas. These represent, of course, the most significant part of endgame theory. Study of certain endgame types can be almost fully reduced to absorbing ideas (general principles, standard methods and evaluations) rather than to memorizing precise positions.
When discussing precise positions, we will certainly point out the endgame ideas in them. But many standard ideas transcend any particular precise position. These ideas should be absorbed with the help of schemata – very simple positions where a technique or a tool works in a distilled form and our attention is not distracted by any analysis of side lines. Over the course of time we may forget the precise shape of a schema but will still remember the technique. Another method of absorbing endgame ideas is to study practical games or compositions where the ideas have occurred in the most attractive form.
The schemata and the most instructive endgames are represented by color diagrams as well. Plus, important rules, recommendations and names of the important tools are given in bold italics.
As I am sure you realize, the choice of the ideas and precise positions included in this system of basic endgame knowledge is, to some extent, a subjective matter. Other authors might have made slightly different choices. Nevertheless I strongly recommend that you not ignore the blue text: it is very important. However you of course are free to examine it critically, and to enrich it with the other ideas in this book (those in black print), as well as with examples you already know, from other books or your own games.
Retention of the material. This book would have been rather thin if it included only a laconic list of positions and ideas related to the obligatory minimum of endgame knowledge. As you see, this is not so.
Firstly, the notes are definitely not laconic, after all, this is a manual, not a handbook. In a handbook, a solution of a position is all one needs; in a manual, it should be explained how one can discover the correct solution, which ideas are involved.
Secondly, in chess (as in any other sphere of human activity), a confident retention of theory cannot be accomplished solely by looking at one example: one must also get some practical training with it. For this purpose, additional examples (those with black diagrams and print) will be helpful.
You will see instructive examples where the basic theoretical knowledge you have just studied is applied in a practical situation. The connection between the theory and the practical case will not always be direct and obvious. It is not always easy to notice familiar theoretical shapes in a complicated position, and to determine which ideas should be applied in this concrete case. On the other hand, a position may resemble theory very much but some unobvious details exist; one should discover them and find how this difference influences the course of the fight and its final outcome.
Some practical endings are introduced by the “Tragicomedy” heading. These are examples of grave errors committed by various players (sometimes extremely strong ones). The point is not to laugh at them: you know that there are spots even on the sun. These cases are simply excellent warnings against ignoring endgame theory. Additionally, experience shows that these cases tend to be very well remembered by the student, and are therefore very helpful in absorbing and retaining endgame ideas.
Practical training, by which I mean solving appropriate exercises, is essential. You will find a large number and wide variety of exercises in this book, from easy to very difficult. Some solutions are given directly after the exercises, other are placed in the special chapter that concludes the book.
Some exercises do not involve a search for a single correct solution. They are designed for solving in the playing mode, when a series of contingent decisions is required. The best result can be achieved if a friend or coach assists you by referring to the book. But you can also play through the example without assistance, choosing moves for one side and taking the answering moves from the text of the book.
Of course, one need not study all these examples, nor must one solve all the exercises. But still, if you do, your knowledge of the basic theory will be more sound and reliable. Also, self-training develops one’s ability to calculate lines deeply and precisely; this skill is essential for every player.
Analyses. When working on the manuscript, in addition to the large volume of material I had collected myself, I also – quite naturally – used endgame books by other authors. Checking their analyses, I found that an amazingly high number of endings, including many widely known and used in book after book, are analyzed badly and evaluated wrongly. In those cases I went deeper than the concept of the endgame manual required. I felt I had to do it. As I wrote above, studying endgame theory is not a very labor-intensive process, but analysis of a particular endgame, or practical play under time restriction in a tournament, can be a much more sophisticated and complicated matter. Therefore, my readers will find corrected versions of many interesting endgame analyses, plus some entirely new analyses that are important for endgame theory.
Presentation of the material. The material here is presented mainly in a traditional manner, classified according to the material relationships on the board. First pawn endings are analyzed, then those with minor pieces, then rook-and-pawn, etc. But this method is not followed too strictly. For example, the queen-versus- pawns section is in chapter 1, to demonstrate immediately what can arise in some sharp pawn endings.
In the chapter on pawn endings, you will meet some terms and techniques (such as “corresponding squares,” “breakthrough,” “shouldering” etc.) that are important for many kinds of endgame. Some of these techniques are illustrated by additional examples with more pieces on the board; as the book continues, we may refer to these cases again.
Some chapters (for example, those on pawn and rook-and-pawn endings) are quite long while others are rather short. Chapter length does not reflect the relative importance of a kind of endgame; rather it has to do with the richness of ideas and number of precise positions required for full understanding.
The final chapter deals with the most general principles, rules and methods of endgame play, such as king’s activity, zugzwang, the fortress etc. Of course, these themes appear earlier in the book, but a review of already familiar ideas improves both understanding and retention.
What this book does not contain. Obviously, one cannot embrace the infinite. I have already described how the book’s material has been selected. Now about other limitations.
My own formal definition of “endgame” is: the stage of a chess game when at least one side has no more than one piece (in addition to the king). Positions with more pieces are not discussed here (except for cases when the “extra” pieces are exchanged).
Our subject is endgame theory. Some problems of chess psychology that belong to “general endgame techniques” are beyond our discussion. Interested readers may turn to the aforementioned Endgame Strategy by Shereshevsky, or to Technique for the Tournament Player, a book by this writer and Yusupov.
Special signs and symbols. The role of the blue text in this book has already been explained. Now the time has come to explain special signs and symbols.
To the left of diagrams, you will find important information. First of all, the indication of who is on move: “W” means White and “B” Black.
If a question mark is shown, the position can be used as an exercise. Most often, there is no special explanation of what is expected from the reader – he must make a correct decision on his own, because in an actual game nobody will tell you whether you should play for a draw or for a win, calculate a lot or simply make a natural move. Sometimes, however, a certain hint is included in a verbal question.
Exercises with solutions that are given separately, at the end of the book, have two sets of numbers beside the diagrams. For example, diagram 1-14, the 14th diagram of chapter 1, also has the designation the information given in the 1/1, meaning it is the first such exercise of chapter 1.
The combination “B?/Play” means that the position is designed for replaying, and that you are to take the black pieces.
Beside some black diagrams, the symbol “” appears. This indicates that the position and the idea behind it have theoretical value, though less compared to those from basic theory (blue diagrams).
Many years ago, the publication Chess Informant developed a system of symbols to describe the evaluation of a position or move. This system is widely used now and, with minimal changes, is applied in this book, too.
Finally, a work of this scope cannot be produced by a single individual. I am grateful to many others for their assistance during the many stages of producing this book. I would like to thank Artur Yusupov and Jacob Aagaard for their encouragement and eventual contributions, the Introduction and Preface respectively; Karsten Müller for his help proof-reading the text and checking the accuracy of variations; Taylor Kingston for his assistance editing the final version of the text; Jim Marfia and Valery Murakhveri for their translations of the original Russian text; Harold van der Heijden for his assistance checking sources; and Hanon Russell, the publisher, for coordinating the efforts of all concerned.
This book is an improved and expanded version of the German-language edition, and in that regard, it is also appropriate to thank Ulrich Dirr, who provided invaluable assistance in the preparation of the German edition and Jürgen Daniel, its publisher. Without their fine work, it would have been significantly more difficult to bring out this English-language edition.
Mark Dvoretsky
Moscow
September 2003
From the Author (Second Edition)
An author usually has a hard time predicting whether his book will be popular; in this case, however, I was confident that Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual would be a success. And it was, as witnessed by the almost uniformly favorable (and in some cases – ecstatic) reviews and the rapidly sold-out first edition. Now, only two years later, it is time to prepare a second edition.
The theory of the endgame is constantly evolving – although not, of course, as fast as opening theory. New instructive endgames are constantly being played and then analyzed; commentaries on endgames played earlier are corrected – in large measure, thanks to the use of rapidly improving computer programs. On the other hand, if we understand endgame theory, not as the mechanical accumulation of all the information we have, but as the results of our consideration of it, then the authors of endgame books (as opposed to the authors of opening books) have no need to be continuously expanding and reworking their texts, since very few new analyses have any practical value in forcing us to reexamine our approaches to the study and play of endgames.
In the past two years, very important discoveries have been made in the theory of one particular area of rook endgames – and I have completely reworked the corresponding chapter of this book. However, there have also been a number of corrections made in other chapters as well – perhaps not as fundamental, and some that are barely noticeable. A few of them involve corrections to the names of players and composers; but most of them, of course, are analytical. And here, the letters from readers to the author and to the publisher, Hanon Russell, have been most valuable. I am truly grateful to everyone who has written to us. All these notes have been considered in the preparation of the new edition – as a result, a number of new names now appear in the index of composers and analysts. Special thanks are due to that exacting aficionado of the endgame, Karsten Müller, who helped me eradicate of a number of inaccuracies and outright errors in the original text, just as he did with the preparation of the first edition.
Mark Dvoretsky
Moscow
September 2005
Publisher’s Note to the Third Edition
It is with a great sense of pride that we present the third edition of Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual by Mark Dvoretsky. When it was first released in 2003, it was embraced by the chess world. Since then, it has set the standard by which all other works on the endgame are measured.
From the outset, the author’s comprehensive coverage of this critical phase of the game has been both staggering in its depth and impressive in its accuracy. However, rather than rest on his laurels, Mark Dvoretsky has continued to re-examine and re-work the material.
The result is this revised and updated third edition. Not only working independently, but also with the help of attentive readers, masters and grandmasters, the author’s efforts have resulted in what can only be described as the definitive work on endgame theory and practice.
No doubt, when confronted by this massive volume, many chessplayers are intimidated. After all, there are over four hundred large-format pages and over one thousand positions contained in the book. Recognizing the challenge set before the reader, and with an eye to making the material accessible to as many players as possible, Dvoretsky devised a system whereby his Manual could be effectively used by both those wishing to immerse themselves in theory, as well as those wishing a more practical approach.
The key is the author’s concept of using two colors in the text. If your objective is to study and master all the secrets of the endgame, then go through the entire text thoroughly. On the other hand, if you wish to get practical, working knowledge of endings more quickly, then focus your attention only on the text in blue. Either way, you will be rewarded with better results in your games. That is particularly important in this era of rapid time controls and sudden-death finishes.
We hope you will appreciate the author’s passion for the endgame and dedication to producing the most accurate work possible. Regarded by many as Dvoretsky’s magnum opus, it is truly a masterpiece. We wish you good chess, and, of course, better endgames…
Hanon W. Russell
President, Russell Enterprises, Inc.
Milford, Connecticut, USA
July 2011
From the Author (Fourth Edition)
Readers familiar with previous editions of the Manual have probably noticed that the new edition is larger than the previous one. But it is not because its content has been significantly increased or is more complicated – it is not. On the contrary, I have tried to make it more accessible to study, adding about 200 new diagrams to the text. Those who read the book without a board (there are many players who are able to do this) will find it easier to follow complex examples. In addition, the new diagrams will draw your attention to many interesting and instructive moments previously buried in the text and variations.
As always with new editions, I have revised the text with clarifications and corrections which were found since the release of the previous edition. Significant revisions have been made in some aspects of the theory of rook endings. For that, I would like first and foremost to thank the analyst Vardan Pogosyan. In 2011-2012, I actively corresponded with Pogosyan, and he showed me many of the discoveries he had made, leading me to rethink some important theoretical concepts.
Relatively recently the computer database “Lomonosov” was created; it accurately evaluates seven-piece endings (previously only six-figure endings were available). Naturally, I checked the book’s seven-piece examples with the “Lomonosov” database and corrected any errors found.
Mark Dvoretsky
Moscow
September 2014
Other Signs, Symbols, and Abbreviations
! |
a strong move |
!! |
a brilliant or unobvious move |
? |
a weak move, an error |
?? |
a grave error |
!? |
a move worth consideration |
?! |
a dubious move |
a forced move |
|
= |
an equal position |
White stands slightly better |
|
White has a clear advantage |
|
+– |
White has a winning position |
Black stands slightly better |
|
Black has a clear advantage |
|
–+ |
Black has a winning position |
∞ |
an unclear position |
|
with the threat or idea of |
with counterplay |
|
# |
mate |
zugzwang |
|
* |
in a game: a position that could arise but did not actually happen |
* |
in a study: a position that is not an initial one |
m |
match |
wm |
match for the world championship |
zt |
zonal tournament |
izt |
interzonal tournament |
ct |
candidates’ tournament |
cm |
candidates’ match |
ch |
championship |
ch(1) |
championship, 1st league |
wch |
world championship |
ech |
European championship |
f |
final |
sf |
semifinal |
qf |
quarterfinal |
ol |
Olympiad |
tt |
team tournament |
jr |
junior competitions |
cr |
correspondence game |
simul |
simultaneous display |