Category Archives: ENDGAMES

ENDGAMES, FRENCH DEFENCE, HOW TO, PSYCHOLOGY, TRAINING

HANDLING DRAWISH VARIATIONS

A concern that many of us have is that positions can become quite drawish, especially when playing against lower rated players. This can lead us to avoid the most logical and best moves and going for something tricky instead, but this is almost always a mistake. When your opponent plays the right moves in reply you can find yourself in a difficult position and just wishing you'd played the move you thought was the best.

This can extend to opening choices in which we may avoid many opening choices because of a concern the position may become impossible to win. So the French and Slav Defences are rejected because of their respective Exchange Variations (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 and 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5) and 1.e4 e5 is rejected because of the Four Knights Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5). That takes out three of the best opening choices, and then we might be dismayed by the prospect of 2.c3 being too drawish against the Sicilian!

What can be done? My discussions with colleagues have revealed that our worst fears are rarely realized and if they are you just keep playing. Stronger players often show their strength in apparently equal endgames, where strategic sensitivity and an eye for nuance can help turn drawish positions in their favour. There are countless examples of this happening and at the highest level, the games of Magnus Carlsen being a great source.

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying my Endgame Mastery series using the code 'june26july4'. The endgame is one of the most important aspects of chess, though it tends to be neglected at club level. In this series of videos Nigel shows how you can improve your endgame play and use this stage of the game to notch up valuable points.

Last week's discount was 40% off Surviving Computerized Opening Preparation using the code 'june19to27', and this is still valid until tomorrow. With the advent of databases and high powered engines, computerized chess opening preparation has become a menace to players at every level of competition. Drawing on his extensive experience as a player and coach, Nigel shows different ways in which the effects can be mitigated so that players can just sit down and play a chess game.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam has started a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and give him a like, I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

July 7-12: South Wales International, Bridgend, Wales
I've accepted an invitation to this event and look forward to playing! 

August 1-9: British Championships, Coventry, UK
I've accepted an invitation to this one (the Championship itself) and look forward to playing.

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I'm intending to play in this one if I can. Details are here.

October 26-31: English Senior Championships, Peterborough
This is also up in the air unless and until I get invited. Details can be found here. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

ENDGAMES, FRENCH DEFENCE, OPENINGS

WINNING WITH THE RUBINSTEIN STRUCTURE

In this week's Chess Questions Answered video I looked at how Black can win games in the Rubinstein structure in the French, which is reached after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 and now 4...Nd7 is the Rubinstein and 4...Bd7 is the Fort Knox. How is it done? Basically you need to be good at the endgame, like Uruguayan GM Georg Meier, who formerly represented Germany. Meier is the World's leading specialist in the Rubinstein, and he wins a lot of games in this opening.

Unfortunately this makes it a tough sell for most players, who would much prefer to crush their opponents with a sharp attack, for example in the Sicilian Dragon. Yet studying and playing the endgame is a sure-fire way for players to improve, it offers an extra dimension and way to win, plus the needed attention to detail can improve a player's thinking process.

Interestingly there are endgame options in many openings, without needing too much theoretical knowledge or having to take risks. This can make your chess life considerably less time consuming and stressful, though there is a need to play these endgames out!

Training Tournaments

Here are the latest scheduled events:

Sunday March 22nd, 5pm UK London System

Sunday March 22nd, 6.15pm UK French Wing Gambit

Video Discounts

This week there's a 40% discount off my Endgame Mastery series, using the code 'mar20to28'. In this series I show how you can improve your endgame play and use this stage of the game to notch up valuable points.

Last week's discount was 40% off purchasing Learning from the Greats: Akiba Rubinstein, using the code 'mar13to21'. Rubinstein was probably the best player in the World in 1911, but did not manage to secure a match for the title. Despite this he earned his place in chess history through his elegant games, phenomenal endgame technique and multiple discoveries in the opening. In this video series I examine different aspects of Rubinstein's play and show what can be learned from him

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now. I'm hoping to get invites to the British Championships (August), European Senior Team Championships (late August) and English Senior Championships (October), but there's nothing definite as yet.

April 3 - 6: 4NCL Easter Congress, Daventry

I try to make most of the 4NCL Congresses because I like them so much. This one is 7 rounds, and played over Easter weekend.

April 18 - 29: World Senior Team Championships, Durres, Albania
I've had confirmation that I'll be in the 50+ first team for this one.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

ENDGAMES, OPENINGS, TRAINING

PLAYING ENDGAME OPENINGS

One of the most useful things for players to do is to adopt openings which often lead to endgames. Playing more endgames is a great way to improve your play because it gets you to pay attention to small details and the strategic elements of a position. Being good at endgames means that you don't fear exchanges and will play logical moves rather than try to force an attack. They also tend to be a weak spot for amateur players, which means that competence there can give you a considerable edge.

Many classical openings can lead to an exchange of queens, some more than others. Usually there's no need to force the queens off, just playing good moves can lead to situations in which a queen exchange is the right thing to do. On the other hand there are openings in which the exchange of queens is less likely to happen, for example in the Dutch and Benoni Defences. Such openings might be considered combative, but their soundness is often questioned.

How should someone get started with reaching more endgames? Just play normal classical openings, such as the Queen's Gambit Declined, and allow the position to simplify. Then rather than agree a draw, just keep playing. Don't worry about the exchange of queens and other pieces, just keep going. If nobody gets checkmated, at some point an endgame is going to arise. 

Training Tournaments

The training tournaments this coming Sunday are in the 3.e3 lines of the Dutch Defence, 1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 and now 3...e6 and 3...g6. This is a simple plan based way to meet the Dutch that I recommend in both my Building an Opening Repertoire course and the White 1.d4 Repertoire.

Sunday November 30th at 5pm UK Time: Dutch with 3.e3 e6

Sunday November 30th at 6.15pm UK Time: Dutch with 3.e3 g6
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying my Endgame Openings series, using the code 'nov28dec6' on checkout. Endgame openings enable players to go directly to the endgame after just a few moves. The value of such lines can be to negate an opponent's tactical ability, just as Vladimir Kramnik used them to defeat Garry Kasparov in their World Championship match. As such they represent an great option for experienced players whose main strength is in the endgame.

Last week's discount was 40% off buying Learning from the Greats: Akiba Rubinstein which looks at different aspects of Rubinstein's play and what can be learned from him. Just use the code 'nov21to29' on checkout.

My Upcoming Events

I don't have definite plans to play anywhere right now, but I might play in the Bolton Rapidplay in December and then Nova Gorica in Slovenia in January:

December 7: Bolton Rapidplay

One of my local tournaments, details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

ENDGAMES, OPENINGS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

MY BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP POST MORTEM

I finished the British Championships with 50%, a slight rating game and a lot of lessons. As the tournament went on I became very tired, perhaps partly because of my uncompromising approach and partly because I'm now 65. Several other senior players seemed to struggle with stamina, but not so much Glenn Flear. I know that Glenn is quite careful about what he eats and drinks, and I think there's a lot to be learned from this.

From a technical point of view I felt that the new openings I've been learning needed more time to settle in, I've been changing things around and trying to modernize, so as to incorporate preparation with engines, but this comes at a cost. The preparation itself probably drained me of energy, I did an hour or two before every game because I felt that I needed it, but actually it is rather too much.

I lost two endgames that could be saved, against Michael Adams and Simon Williams. I tend to think that these were more because of tiredness than a lack of technique as I did not calculate out rather easily calculable pawn endgames. In one case, when I played my Kan Sicilian in round 8, I felt that my opponent only went for the main line because I was a bit too predictable.

So what should I work on? A good diet and fitness never goes amiss, my diet is OK but I've increased the amount of aerobic exercise I do. Cutting the amount of preparation during tournaments would be great, but this may need me be more fluent in the openings I am playing and plan to play. I don't think there's a short term solution to this, but by next year I'm hoping to have everything working pretty well.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in the Queen's Gambit Declined, featuring the positions after 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Bb4 and also 5...c6. These lines both feature in the White 1.d4 Repertoire, so this is an ideal opportunity to practice them:

Sunday August 17th at 5pm UK Time: QGD Ragozin with 5...Bb4

Sunday August 17th at 6.15pm UK Time: QGD Exchange with 5...c6
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying the frequently misunderstood area of Understanding Strategy and Planning, using the code 'aug15to23'. This series presents a systematic way of approaching these areas by learning how to play different pawn structures and the plans and ideas they contain.

Last week's discount was 40% off buying The Why and How of Chess Annotations series, using the code 'august8to16', and is still valid until close of play tomorrow. This four hour series explains how you can use this reflective process as a powerful improvement tool.

My Upcoming Events

There's still nothing new from last week and I have a new project that I'll be working on from September. I will keep playing, but it will move down my list of priorities for a while.

Here is how things look now:

August 23 - 30 2025: San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife
This looks like a great event and I'm really looking forward to it. Travelling back is a bit tricky because the direct flights were very expensive, finally I found a flight back to Glasgow from where I can take a train or maybe another flight to Manchester!

September 5-7: Hull 4NCL Congress
I'm a big fan of 4NCL Congresses because they are played in nice venues, they're invariably well organized and they offer free entry and accommodation to GMs. You can find details here: 

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

ENDGAMES, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

WHAT SHOULD YOU STUDY?

Yesterday evening, at a simultaneous display in Hereford, I got to repeat the advice that studying the endgame tended to the best option for someone trying to improve on their own. Besides developing a deep understanding of the powers of the pieces, endgames can leave us less concerned about simplification in the middlegame and help with other things like calculation technique. It's also hard to study endgames poorly, at least it's harder than with the opening!

At the same time I framed this within several other considerations, the first of which is a student's preferences. If studying something is a chore it will be done without much enthusiasm or full attention, so if endgames bore you there might be better options. I struggled to go through endgame books but I loved many biographical games collections. There were lots of endgames there too, and also every other aspect of chess. Some players are passionate about particular openings, and if that ignites their thinking and creativity it's a good way too proceed.

There have been moments in which I forced myself to go through endgame books, and I found some more readable than others. Mikhail Shereshevsky's Endgame Strategy was one that I got a lot out of, and my copy has handwritten notes of extra references for the different themes. If you're good with English descriptive notation then I warmly recommend Eugene Znosko-Borovsky's How to Play the Chess Endings.

The other way to improve your endgame play is to try to get more of them in your games. Having an opening repertoire which often leads to endgames can be a very good idea, forcing you into endgames which will then require attention. This advice was given to me long ago and I think it's even more valid in today's engine-centric chess World. It certainly works for Magnus Carlsen.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in the Rubinstein French, featuring the positions after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 (or 3.Nd2) 3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bg5 h6 and 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 (or 3.Nd2) 3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6. The 6.Bg5 line can also be reached via a 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nbd7 move order:

Sunday July 27th at 5pm UK Time: French Rubinstein with 6.Bg5 h6

Sunday July 27th at 6.15pm UK Time: French Rubinstein with 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is on the Tiger Chess Strategy Course, part 1, you get 40% off by using the code 'july25august2'. This four part course is designed to provide a thorough education in positional chess. Different aspects of chess strategy are broken down and explained, helping you understand a broad range of concepts that will provide a whole new dimension to your play.

Last week's discount is still valid until tomorrow, you get 40% off the purchase of the White 1.d4 Repertoire, with the code 'july18to26. The idea behind this course is to help players develop a real 1.d4 repertoire with c2-c4 coming in many lines. At the same time the lines are kept as simple as possible and lead to important position types.
 

My Upcoming Events

There's still nothing new from last week and I have a new project that I'll be working on from September. I will keep playing, but it will move down my list of priorities for a while.

Here is how things look now:

July 31 - August 10 2025: British Championships
As mentioned I've gone for the Championship itself rather than one of the old folks sections. Obviously this will be full of underrated juniors, I'll just have to play better against them this time! You can find details here.

August 23 - 30 2025: San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife
This looks like a great event and I'm really looking forward to it. Travelling back is a bit tricky because the direct flights were very expensive, finally I found a flight back to Glasgow from where I can take a train!

September 5-7: Hull 4NCL Congress
I'm a big fan of 4NCL Congresses because they are played in nice venues, they're invariably well organized and they offer free entry and accommodation to GMs. You can find details here:

I'll be looking for things after September, not sure when or where!
 

Chess Questions Answered

I'll just be posting my Chess Questions Answered videos on Tigerchess from here on, though I might be putting some of them on Youtube in due course. I don't think I'm cut out to be a streamer, for one thing I don't have time and for another I'm not beautiful enough!

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

ENDGAMES, OPENINGS, TACTICS, TRAINING

KNOWING YOUR STRENGTHS

One of the most useful bits of information a chess player can have is to know their strengths. These may not always be what you think they are, for example I used to think that the Modern Defence (1...g6 against either 1.e4 or 1.d4) was my friend until I checked my results with it. They were good against opponents who were lower rated than me but horrible against stronger opposition.

A different breakdown was apparent with more classical openings such as the Nimzo-Indian Defence and meeting 1.e4 with 1...e5. This in turn suggested that using the Modern more sparingly, and choosing to play it against particular opponents, would yield better results.

More recently I have been doing tactics and endgame puzzles with a couple of apps from ChessOK and my discovered that my results with the endgame app are markedly better. There are unanswered questions here, for example in how these apps have been calibrated and whether they compare like with like. Assuming they have been, for example by testing them on different users, then my endgame knowledge appears to be a relative strength.

It is important to get an objective measure such as the two I have outlined. It's tempting, for example, for us to imagine being a great attacking players because of a fond memory of a successful attack or deriving pleasure from aggressive play. An objective measure of having a skill for this kind of play might be far more difficult and should probably start with having superior tactical ability and outperforming in openings which lead to the possession of the initiative, even at the cost of material.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments return to the King's Indian Petrosian, which is a great line for learning more about pawn structures with a closed centre:

Sunday January 19th at 5pm UK Time: Queen's Gambit Accepted, Furman Variation

Sunday January 19th at 6.15pm UK Time: Queen's Gambit Accepted, 4...Bg4

My Upcoming Events

Here's my schedule over the coming months, though it is subject to change. I often don't know until fairly late in the day:

January 17-19: Huddersfield 4NCL Congress
I really enjoy the 4NCL Congresses as they're played under excellent conditions in nice hotels. This is the first one in Huddersfield, you can find details here.

January 27th: Stockport Rapidplay
I've played in this event with some regularity, so probably I'll go for it again. You can find details here.

February 16-27, 2025: World Senior Team Championship
I've accepted a place in the 50+ second team which means I'll play a much stronger field than on bottom board of the first team. Although this diminishes my chances of winning a medal I'm looking forward to the challenge.

July/August 2025: British Championships
Will these be held in Liverpool next year or maybe Torquay? I've heard rumours about both venues, if they're held in Liverpool I'd probably go for the 50+ event.

I'm still waiting to hear about the selections for the European Senior Team Championships (Poland, April 4-14) in which I've said I'll play in any team and on any board. I've been holding these dates open since July last year and have been hoping to hear something definite. Perhaps I will get an offer soon or maybe some other tournaments will come my way.

Meanwhile I missed out on these two events:

January 24-31, 2025: HIT Open in Nova Gorica: Details can be found here.

February 5-10, 2025: Senta, Hotel Fantastico: Details can be found here.

Twitch Channel

My new Twitch channel has new shows every Monday ('Chess Questions Answered) and other weekly coming soon. Please follow it if you'd like to get updates etc, all the shows will be available to Premium members in the Tiger Chess members area, even when they are no longer available on Twitch.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, CHESS SOFTWARE, ENDGAMES, EXERCISE, TACTICS, TIGER CHESS THEMED TRAINING TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

MY NEW TRAINING REGIME

Over the last few weeks I decided upon a new training regime to improve my chess. It's been a long time since I did anything that was organized and had to put some thought into it. It would need to have a relatively small footprint with regards to time, have a degree of flexibility and also have more general benefits.

Since my return to chess, a few years ago, I came to understand that my main issue has been a lack of willingness to concentrate and calculate. This probably has something to do with me being in my 60s and there's not much to do about that. On the other hand I figure I can try to make the most of what I've got.

The first essential item had to be calculation training, and getting used to calculating on a daily basis. In my teenage years I did the Alexander Kotov analysis exercise whereby you set up a key position and write down what you see. This may be the ideal approach and I created the Tiger Chess Analysis Course for this purpose; unfortunately I know the positions and would struggle to find time, a chess set and a suitable table and chair. Given these limitations I've decided to take a short cut and purchased a couple of apps on my phone; CT-Art 4.0 and Total Chess Endgames. I'm trying to do at least 30 minutes a day on these apps, which should get me more used to calculating again.

A willingness to sit down and concentrate is more of a non chess matter that relates to overall fitness. I've long felt that the standard Western approach to being fit is too one dimensional because it fails to engage the mind and the breath. After reading Wim Hof's Becoming the Iceman and experimenting with his approach, I realized that I have underestimated the importance of fresh air and deep breathing, so after 30 minutes on the exercise bike (or fast walking if a bike is unavailable) I'm using his recommendation of cold showers combined with deep breathing. This in turn has led me to incorporate better breathing into my qigong practice and I have to say that it's making quite a difference.

I've been doing a couple of other things too, mainly playing some online games with particular openings and doing a bit of research into them. I would say this is a minor part of my overall regime and rightly so, opening preparation has its limits because sooner or later you are on your own.

Overall it looks like this, with 60 minutes of chess and 90 minutes of mind/body exercise:

  1. Calculation training (30 minutes per day).
  2. Qigong with enhanced breathing (60 minutes per day).
  3. Exercise bike/fast walking (30 minutes per day) and cold shower (5 minutes).
  4. Training games and opening study (30 minutes per day).

Wish me luck, I think it should help but the proof of any pudding is when you eat it!

Training Tournaments

The training tournaments this week are in two lines of the French, the Fort Knox and the Rubinstein.

Sunday January 5th at 5pm UK Time: The Fort Knox French with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc4 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7

Sunday January 5th at 6.15pm UK Time: The French Rubinstein with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc4 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7

My Upcoming Events

Here's my schedule over the coming months, though it is subject to change. I often don't know until fairly late in the day:

January 17-19: Huddersfield 4NCL Congress
I really enjoy the 4NCL Congresses as they're played under excellent conditions in nice hotels. This is the first one in Huddersfield, you can find details here.

January 27th: Stockport Rapidplay
I've played in this event with some regularity, so probably I'll go for it again. You can find details here.

February 16-27, 2025: World Senior Team Championship
I've accepted a place in the 50+ second team which means I'll play a much stronger field than on bottom board of the first team. Although this diminishes my chances of winning a medal I'm looking forward to the challenge.

July/August 2025: British Championships
Will these be held in Liverpool next year or maybe Torquay? I've heard rumours about both venues, if they're held in Liverpool I'd probably go for the 50+ event.

I am still hoping to play in the European Senior Team Championships (Poland, April 4-14) in which I've said I'll play in any team and on any board. The details have now been confirmed and I understand that selections are to be made shortly.

Regretfully I've recently had to pass on two events in Slovenia and Serbia:

January 24-31, 2025: HIT Open in Nova Gorica: Details can be found here.

February 5-10, 2025: Senta, Hotel Fantastico: Details can be found here.

Twitch Channel

I'm setting up a new Twitch channel to answer viewers' questions and post recordings in the Tiger Chess members areas. Please follow it if you'd like to get updates etc, I'm looking at running the first one on Monday January 6th at 8pm UK time.

Have a good weekend!

Nigel

CLINIC, ENDGAMES, NEWS

AUGUST 2021 CLINIC

Continuing the trend of a return to 'normality', almost all of the August clinic games were played over-the-board. As always there was a lot of variety but it was good to see some excellent results for the strategic themes and openings I recommend.

Here's an example,  the following position arising after White's 28th move in a game of M. B.. Black to play continued with a plan that I use to show the value of pawn levers, the minority attack (see diagram).

NN - MB: Black to play

Black continued with 28... b4!, which leaves White with serious weaknesses regardless of what he does. The game continued 29.axb4 axb4 30.Rac1 Ra2 31.cxb4 Rxc1 32.Rxc1 Rxb2 33.Rd1 Rxb4 34.g3 Kf6! 35.Kg2 Kf5 36.f3 Rb2+ 37.Kg1 g5 38.hxg5 hxg5 39.Rd3 f6 40.Kf1 e5 41.dxe5 Kxe5 42.Kg1 d4 43.Ra3 Kd5 44.Ra5+ Kc4 45.Ra6 d3 0-1.

Although this is a standard plan, being able to implement it with confidence is important, much more so than the rote memorization of opening moves.

Nigel Davies

CLINIC, ENDGAMES, NEWS

JULY 2021 CLINIC

The July clinic featured over the board games, which was a pleasant change after the the previous 16 months. Online chess is a poor substitute for the real thing, and not least because engine use is far more widespread that anyone wants to admit. Those who are caught are just the visible part of the iceberg and those who are named suffer humiliation and potential career damage.

The first four games were endgames, something that is encouraged here because it good endgame play is such a fundamental skill. The fifth game was a nice win by M. B. who successfully exploited the weaknesses in his opponent's kingside (see diagram).

M. B. - A. N. Other; White to play

White to play commenced his attack with 21.Ng4!, threatening a fork on f6. The game proceeded with the moves 21...Rf8 22.Qe5! Qb7 23.Nf6+ Kh8 24.Nd7+ ( 24.Rd7 Qb6 25.Nd5+ was crushing, but the move played is quite enough) 24...Kg8 25.Nxf8 Rxf8 26.Qxc5 1-0

Nigel Davies

CLINIC, ENDGAMES

SEPTEMBER 2019 CLINIC: ENDGAMES

Those who understand my teaching approach will be aware of the emphasis I put on endgames. The September clinic was devoted to this phase of the game and I found the following position particularly interesting (see diagram):

Black to play

In the game Black played 40...Nc5 after which 41.Kd2 Nxa4 42.Kd3 Nc5+ 43.Kc4 a6 44.bxa6 Nxa6 45.Kb5 Nc7+ 46.Kc6 Ne8 47.Kxb6 led to a draw because White can sacrifice his bishop for Black's remaining pawn. Accordingly I think that Black has better chances by trying to keep the queenside pawns on the board and force White's f-pawn to move to a light square; my line is 40...Nc3 after which 41.Kd2 Nd5 42.f5 Nf6 43.Bh3 g5 gives Black definite winning chances.

I should repeat my recommendation that nobody can go far wrong by spending some time studying endgames, and Tiger Chess has a 160 week course on this with many hours of video lessons on the endgame.

Nigel Davies