Multi-colored elephants , or heterogeneous elephants (open. " Multi -colored") - in chess , the well-established name for a pair of elephants of different sides, moving across the fields of different colors. The white black-field elephant and the black white-field elephant, as well as the white-field and black black-field, are multi-colored elephants. Formally, the definition of "heterogeneous elephants" is more accurate, but in practice both options are used with the predominance of the first.
Content
Value in the game
At the beginning of the chess game on the board are two pairs of colorful elephants. Speaking of multi-colored elephants, it is understood that one pair of multi-colored elephants is no longer on the board - that is, that this pair was exchanged before. Diverse elephants are an important element of a chess strategy, since their presence suggests rivals profitable game plans .
Middlegame
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3rd installment rematch,
Moscow, 1961
The features of multi-colored elephants described below in the middlegame are not universal, since they are mainly applicable to open positions . If the position is closed, i.e. on the board there are long pawn chains , mutually blocked, then the possibilities of long-range pieces, which include elephants, are significantly limited, and other factors come into play that affect the evaluation of the position .
A party with a positional advantage in a position with multi-colored elephants is usually advised to launch an attack on the king. This is due to the fact that the attacking side has an elephant attacking the field, inaccessible to the opponent’s elephant - thus, the attack potential is greater than the defense potential, and the attack has more chances to complete successfully. The chances of an attack succeeding increase if the defending side has weak fields that the attacking elephant can attack.
In the Botvinnik - Tal game White has a moving center and an advantage in space. On the board are multi-colored elephants. Botvinnik plans an attack on the king. He transfers the bishop to the diagonal b1-h7, pushes pawns in the center and begins to threaten the destruction of the king’s position: 35. Bc4! c5 36. b5 Сf6 37. f4 d3 38. L: d3 L: d3 39. C: d3. The elephant stood on the right diagonal. 39 ... Bd4 40. e5 g6 41. Rh1 Kpg7 42. Qe4 b6 43. Bc4. Black resigned: he faces a check on b7, and if 43 ... Qe7, then 44. g5 (with the idea of 45. Qc6 and 46. Qf6 +! ) 44 ... Rc8 45. f5 (a direct attack on the king begins) gf 46. L: h7 +! Cr: h7 47. Qh4 + and 48. Qh6 ×.
The correct strategy for multi-colored elephants is an attack on the king. Material or positional conquests are worth little if the king is in danger. Any opportunity to play the attack should be used.
- Mark Butler [1]
If the middle-position is more closed, and the opponent has a bad elephant , then it is often unprofitable for the attacking side to seek simplifications and move to the endgame due to the fact that multi-colored elephants in the endgame radically change the position score (see below).
Endgame
Speaking of colorful elephants in the endgame, they usually mean that there are no other pieces on the board except kings and pawns . Such an endgame is called an “endgame with multi-colored (mixed-gender) elephants”. In the presence of other figures, they talk about rook- bishop, elephant- knight and queens- bishop endgames, and if the elephants are heterogeneous, then there is always the possibility of exchanging “extra” pieces and moving to a clean endgame with multi-colored elephants, which is sometimes a strong positional idea to avoid defeat.
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The endgame with multi-colored elephants is interesting in that the parties have a sharp chance of winning it. Technically, a huge number of positions of such an endgame are tied with the optimal game of the parties. This is due to the fact that the bishop cannot attack pawns located in fields of a different color, respectively, this task falls on the king. The elephant, thanks to its mobility, can protect pawns on both flanks. Consequently, the side’s primary goal in the endgame - the formation of a passing pawn - is extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible.
An elephant with pawns versus an elephant without pawns
The presence on the board of a checkpoint - and even several connected checkpoints - a priori does not guarantee an advantage, since a single passing checkpoint can be blocked by the king, and in the case of a chain , set up a blockade at once for all pawns, not allowing any of them to move further.
The endings of the “bishop and pawn versus bishop” form are overwhelmingly trivial (more than 99%) - for the weakest side, it’s enough to set the king on the field in front of the pawn that is inaccessible to the opponent’s bishop, or to keep such a bishop with his bishop. [2] The same applies to cases with doubled and built pawns - the blockade of such pawns by the king provides a draw to the weaker side.
According to Emms , about half of the endings of the “bishop and two pawns against the bishop” look are nothing - for comparison, with monochromatic bishops the percentage of winning endgames reaches 90%. [3] The chances of a draw with two pawns, one of which is extreme, and the transformation field of which does not match the color of the bishop (the so-called “wrong bishop”) sharply increase: to reach a draw, the king goes to the corner in front of the extreme pawn, and the bishop holds the field in front of the second pawn. The return of the bishop for this pawn leads to a theoretical draw: it is impossible to drive the king out of the corner with an optimal game.
In the position of Sharon (1952) Black has three extra connected pawns, however, they cannot achieve victory: 1. Cre2 Cre4 2. Cc4 Cg3 3. Bb5 Kd5 4. Kd3 Ce1 5. Ca6 Krs6 6. Krs2 Kb6 7. Cc4 Kra5 8. Kb3, and Black cannot increase. However, when the position is shifted one row to the right, Black has a plan of going around the king on the queenside, which can lead to victory if the white king and bishop are not located. [4] This allows us to talk about the cornerstone concept for the endgame - the interaction of figures.
The most important factor in the struggle of an elephant without pawns against an elephant with pawns is the interaction of the elephant and the king of the weakest side. This factor is so important that the assessment of even very similar positions can differ if in one of them the interaction of the figures is established, and in the other - not.
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In the first position of Salvioli, the interaction is ensured by the proximity of the elephant and king: 1. Cre6 Cb4 2. Ce4 Kd8 3. Kf7 Ca3 4. e6 Cb4. The black king and bishop together hold both pawn advancement squares. Despite the fact that White penetrated the king on f7, they cannot gain strength - in order to advance a pawn, it is necessary to sacrifice the second, then the sacrifice of the bishop for the remaining pawn provides a draw to Black. However, in the second position of Salvioli, which differs only slightly from the first, there is no longer any interaction between the pieces of the defending side: 1. Cf3 Kd8 2. Cre6 Cb4 3. f6 Ca5 4. f7 Cb4 5. Kf6 Cc3 + 6. Kg6 Cb4 7. Kg7 , and White wins . It may seem that the distance between the pawns is to blame for a different assessment of such positions. Indeed, often such a factor is beneficial to the strongest side, but far from always it helps to achieve victory: it all depends on the specific situation on the board. [four]
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American Open, 1971.
The American grandmaster Royben Fine in the Basic Chess Endings formulated the rule: "if the distance between pawns is two rows or more, then the strongest side wins." [2] Of course, this rule is far from always true. In the position of Averbach (1950), the distance between the pawns is three rows, but the interaction of the black pieces is so well established that White cannot strengthen in any way. [4] Therefore, the priority in assessing this type of endings should be given precisely to the interaction of the figures of the weakest side. Blindly following the Fine rule can lead to a wrong decision, which is sometimes fatal. So, in the Miller-Sadie game, white capitulated. Although this position “according to the Feyn rule” is lost, in reality White saved by active defense, establishing interaction and establishing a blockade of pawns: 1. Bh3 + Kre7 2. Bg2 Kf6 3. Bh3 Kg5 4. Bg2 Kf4 5. Kc4! Bd4 6. Kd3 Bg1 7. Bc6 Kg4 8. Bg2! Bf2 9. Kc4! Kf4 10. Kd3 Kre5 11. Kc4 =
Elephant with pawns versus elephant with pawns
With such a balance of forces, the chances of winning the strongest side are mainly due to the unsuccessful position of the opponent’s pieces. A prominent endgame theorist Yuri Averbakh singled out three typical positions that guarantee the weakest side a draw with optimal play: [4]
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Positions similar to position 1 (positions of type 1) are ideal for the defending side - in this case, for black. Such positions are characterized by the fact that the king blocks the passed pawn on the field, inaccessible to the opponent's bishop, and the pawns are in the fields of the color of his bishop. Pawn breaks are impossible. For nobody's weakest side, it is enough to “stagnate” - the bishop copes with protecting the pawns on both flanks.
Positions of type 2 - positions where the king did not manage to stand on the siege field, but holds it together with the elephant. This arrangement is less advantageous for Black, but it is sufficient for a draw - you just need to be careful and avoid zugzwang : 1 . Kb6 Cd3 ?? 2. Kpc6 leads to White's victory, but 1 ... Cd7! enough to maintain balance.
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USSR Championship, Moscow, 1955
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56th Russian Women's Chess Championship
Gorodets, 2006
In type 3 positions, the weakest side should already apply active protection: passive stomping in place leads to defeat. It is necessary to prevent the invasion of the White King: 1. Kp5 Kp6 2. Kp6 Kd7 3. b5 Kpc8! and whites cannot intensify. The bishop should not leave the field before the pawn: for example, 3 ... C ~ 4. a8F! followed by 5. Kra7 and 6. Kb8 leads to a breakthrough by the king, which, together with the subsequent pushing of the passed pawn, leads to the victory of the strongest side.
Chances of winning in the ending with mixed-sex elephants appear - but not necessarily - subject to a number of conditions:
- the king of the weakest side is not able to help the elephant;
- the king or pawns of the weakest side are unsuccessful, preventing the bishop from maneuvering;
- on the board there are two or more passageways of the strongest side (the so-called “pants”), or the strongest side can form such a passage through a pawn break ;
- the strongest side can create a zugzwang position.
In the Kotov-Botvinnik game, Black created a distant checkpoint with a spectacular combination game, for which White had to give the bishop: 1 ... g5 !! 2. fg (2. hg immediately gave Black a pass - 2 ... h4 3. Cd6 Cf5 4. g6 C: g6 5. f5 C: f5 6. Kp: b3 Kpg2, and Black wins the bishop for the h) 2- pawn . ..d4 +! 3. ed Kg3 4. Ca3 Kp: h4 5. Kd3 Kp: g5 6. Kre4 h4 7. Kf3 Cd5 +. White surrendered.
In the Gallyamov-Kovalevskaya game, Black made a draw giving the b6-pawn, extending the diagonal for the bishop: 91 ... b5 92. ab Bb6 93. Kb7 Kc5 94. Bf1 h3 !, diverting the white bishop and winning the b5-pawn. Instead, Black played 91 ... h3 ?? , intending to immediately destroy the c6-pawn, which led to the unexpected position of the zugzwang, which destroyed Black: 92. C: h3 Cr: c6 93. Bd7 +! Black surrendered. After 93 ... Kd6 94. Bb5! a rare position arose, where, with full material equality, multi-colored bishops and little material, Black has not a single safe move.
See also
- Pawn chain
- Bad elephant
- The advantage of two elephants
- Endgame
- Chess strategy
Notes
- ↑ M. Dvoretsky - Positional game
- ↑ 1 2 R. Fine, P. Benko - Basic Chess Endings
- ↑ D. Emms - Minor Piece Endgames
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Yu. Averbakh, A. Kotov, M. Yudovich - Chess School
Literature
- M.I. Dvoretsky , A.M. Yusupov . III. Typical positions. Multi-colored elephants in the middlegame // Positional game. - 3. - Kharkov, 1997 .-- S. 178-218. - 272 p. - (School of future champions).
- Yu.L. Averbakh , A.A. Kotov , M.M. Yudovich . Multicolored elephants / Theory and practice of the endgame // Chess School. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2000 .-- S. 262-267. - 352 p.
- Chess endings. Elephant, Horse / Ed. Yu. L. Averbakh . - 2nd ed. - M .: Physical education and sport , 1980. - T. 1. - 239 p. - ( Chess endings ). - 75,000 copies.
- R. Fine , P. Benko . Basic Chess Endings. - McKay, 2003. - ISBN 0-8129-3493-8 .
- D. Emms . Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames. - Everyman Chess, 2004 .-- ISBN 1-85744-359-4 .