◼️ Today is death day of Alexander Kotov
▪️ Soviet chess Grandmaster

▪️ Born: August 12, 1913, Tula, Russia
▪️ Died: January 8, 1981, Moscow, Russia
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
@unitychess

"If you are weak in the endgame, you must spend more time analyzing studies; in your training games, you must aim at transposing to endgames, which will help you to acquire the requisite experience."

🔸Mikhail Botvinnik (1960). “Botvinnik: 100 Selected Games”

@UnityChess

Paul Keres v. Hugh Alexander, Round 1, Board 1, Great Britain v. USSR match, 21st September 1947.

@UnityChess

For the 103rd anniversary of the birth of Paul Keres, a photo of the Estonian grandmaster in play at Beverwijk, January 1964. Keres shared 1st-2nd place in the event, together with his compatriot, Iivo Nei.

@UnityChess

🔸chess.com IoM Masters Douglas ENG 2018
🔸Round 6
⚪️Kramnik,Vladimir (2779)
⚫️L'Ami,Erwin (2639)
🔸1-0

33.d7! [Kramnik finds the exact move order that brings him victory.]
[33.Qd5? b3! 34.Qxa5 bxa2+ 35.Kxa2 Rc2+ 36.Ka3 Bb2+ 37.Ka2 Bc3+ 38.Ka3 Bb2+=; 33.e7!? Rxb3+ 34.Rxb3 Qf5+ 35.Rbd3 Qe4 36.f3! Qg6 37.f4! △f5 37...Rd7 38.f5 Qe8 39.f6 Bh8 40.Rf1+–]
33...Rxb3+ [33...Qd8 34.e7!+–]
34.Rxb3 Qd8 35.e7! [It is time to throw in the towel!]
1–0

⚪️#118 (Strategy-White to Move)
🔸Pelletier,Yannick (2544)
🔸Perez Candelario,Manuel (2590)
🔸Olympiad 2018 Batumi

24.e5! [A multi-purpose move: It opens up the light-squared bishop diagonal, clears the e4 square for his knight and prepares the conditions for a coordinated attack on the enemy's king.]

[24.Ne2 Be5 25.Bh6 f6 26.Ng3 Bxg3 27.hxg3 Ne5 28.Be2 Rad8=; 24.Bg3 Be5 25.Qf2 Rad8 26.Bxe5 Nxe5 27.Be2²]

24...dxe5 25.d6 Qd8 [25...Qxd6?? 26.Bxg6 Qxd2 27.Bxd2 fxg6 28.Rxf6]

26.Bxg6 fxg6 27.Nd5 Qxd6 [27...exf4?? 28.Rxe8+ Qxe8 29.Nxf6+ Kg7 30.Nxe8+]

28.Bg3 Bg7 29.Bh4 [29.Nf6+ Qxf6 30.Rxf6 Bxf6 31.Qd5+ Re6 32.Qxb7 Rd8 33.Kg1 e4 34.Bf2„]

29...Re6 30.Qg2 Rae8 [30...e4! 31.Rxe4 Bh3! 32.Qxh3 Rxe4–+]

31.h3 Bf5 32.Rxf5 gxf5 33.Rg1 Qf8 34.Ne3 R8e7?? [34...Kh8 35.Nxf5 Bh6 36.Rf1 e4–+]

35.Bxe7 Rxe7 36.Qg6 Rf7 37.Rg5 Qd8 38.Rxf5 Rxf5 39.Nxf5 Qd1+ 40.Kg2 Qe2+ 41.Kg1 Qe1+ 42.Kg2 Qe4+ 43.Kf2 Qf4+ 44.Kg2 Qd2+ 45.Kg3 Qf4+ 46.Kg2 Qd2+ 47.Kg3 Qf4+
½–½

⚫️ #118 (Endgame-‌Black to Move)
🔸Vocaturo,Daniele (2615)
🔸Matamoros Franco,Carlos S (2494)
🔸World Chess Olympiad 2018 Batumi

39...Kxd5? [39...Ra6! 40.Ke3 Kxd5 41.g4 g6 42.h4 f6 43.f4 exf4+ 44.Kxf4 g5+ 45.Kg3 Ke6 46.Ra1 f5 47.hxg5 hxg5 48.Kf3 Kf6 49.gxf5 Kxf5; 39...Kc5? 40.a6 Kxd5 41.a7 h5 42.h4 f5 43.Ke3 Ke6 44.Ra5 g6 45.Kd3 Kd6 46.Kc4 Kc6 47.Ra3 Kd6 48.Ra6+ Kc7 49.Rxg6]

40.a6 Kc6 41.Ke3 f5 42.Kd3 [42.g4 fxg4 43.fxg4 Ra7 44.Ke4 Kd6 45.Ra1 Ke6 46.Ra4 Kd6 47.Ra5 Ke6 48.Rxe5+ Kd6 49.Ra5 Kc6 50.Kf5 Kb6 51.Ra2 Kc5 52.h4 Kd4 53.Ra5 Ke3 54.Ra4 Kd3 55.Ke5 Kc3 56.Kd5 Kb3 57.Ra1 Kb4 58.Kc6+–]

42...Kb6 43.Kc4 Ka7 44.Kd5 Re8 45.Ra4 g5 46.g4 Rd8+ 47.Kxe5 f4 48.h4 Re8+ 49.Kf5 gxh4 50.Ra2 Rf8+ 51.Ke5 h5 52.g5 Re8+ 53.Kf5 [53.Kxf4]

53...Re1 54.Rh2 Rf1 55.Kxf4

1–0

⚪️#119 (Strategy-White to Move)
🔸Sanikidze,Tornike (2497)
🔸Tran,Tuan Minh (2491)
🔸Olympiad 2018 Batumi

Unity Chess Strategy Multiple Choice 119
public poll

C) h4 – 14
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 78%
future, Nikhil, @BehroudR, Jayden, @MerissaWongso, Mohsen, @h_a_d_I_1169, @Somebody_Sophia, @AryanLeekha, @WataxPin, Adith, Michael, Pravin, Daniel

A) f4 – 4
👍👍 22%
@shahrook, @mahyarebrahimi1983, Babak, Atharva

B) Qe3
▫️ 0%

👥 18 people voted so far.

⚪️ #118 (Endgame-‌White to Move)
🔸Kovalenko,Igor (2646)
🔸Godart,Francois (2431)
🔸World Chess Olympiad 2018 Batumi

Unity Chess Endgame Multiple Choice 119
public poll

C) Qc1 – 13
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 68%
@shahrook, @mahyarebrahimi1983, future, Seyed Hossein Ali, Nikhil, @BehroudR, Jayden, @Somebody_Sophia, Atharva, @WataxPin, Michael, Pravin, Daniel

A) g5 – 4
👍👍 21%
Babak, king, @Behi_jb, @Tashdid_man

B) Q×c3 – 2
👍 11%
@h_a_d_I_1169, @AryanLeekha

👥 19 people voted so far.

Mikhail Tal won the tournament in Wijk aan Zee in 1973 with 10.5/15

@UnityChess