Analysis practice
SPRAGGETT ON CHESS
”The deduction is irresistible: anyone who wishes to become an outstanding chess-player must aim at perfection in the realm of analysis.” Mikhail Botvinnik
Bobby Fischer is regarded as the best OTB analyst of all time
”What is the essence of a chess master’s art? Fundamentally it consists of the ability to analyse chess positions. True, at the board, you must be able to analyse very quickly and without touching the men; but in the last resort, whether you are working out the possible variations or estimating the actual position, chess is the art of analysis.
Home analysis has specific features of its own: you are not restricted by time, and you can move the men freely. Despite this difference between home analysis and practical play, there is much in common between them. It is a well known fact that almost all the outstanding chess-players have been first-class analysts.
The deduction is irresistible: anyone who wishes to become an outstanding chess-player must aim at perfection in the realm of analysis.” Botvinnik ‘One hundred selected games.’
The one time Botvinnik and Fischer met over the board , Fischer (without knowing it at the time) fell into Botvinnik’s secret home preparation (originally intended for Smyslov in one of their 3 world championship matches). Relying only on his natural ability, Fischer not only navigated the complications very well, but even refuted Botvinnik’s original analysis!
Here are three chess endings/studies for your enjoyment and practice. Demonstrating not just the solution, but also the false paths, is what is asked of you. It is actually more difficult than you might think: often the solution is easy and/or intuitive. But to err is human…and common! So in my own training I often award finding the solution just 1 or 2 points (depending on difficulty), but for each error (or some variation that did not enter my head) I deduct 5 points! At the end of the day , if I score ‘0’ points, I know that I am doing very well!
So write down atleast 3 variations for each! I will post the solutions on the weekend.
Good luck!
H.Mattison 1918
WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW
J.Crum
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN
Kralin and Kuznetsov 1966
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN
SPRAGGETT ON CHESS