In this video we are going to take a look at an instructive study by Hermanis Mattison. It was composed in 1913. It is similar to Chess Study #5 in the sense that again we see a fight of pawn and bishop against rook, but the theme is slightly different.

How do you like this study? Please leave your comments below.

Click on the moves below to start playing and show a diagram:

[pgn_compat]
[Event “?”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2014.10.08”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Hermanis Mattison, 1913”]
[Black “White plays and wins”]
[Result “*”]
[Annotator “Waldemar Moes ,Better Your Chess”]
[SetUp “1”]
[FEN “3r4/1P6/4K3/8/1k3B2/8/8/8 w – – 0 1”]
[PlyCount “17”]

{In this position it is White to move and win. If you want
to try and find the solution yourself, pause the video for as long as you like.
I will count to three and then show you the solution: 1, 2, 3.  In this
position everything revolves around White’s passed b-pawn. If he can safely
promote it he will win the game. Unfortunately the black rook is defending the
promotion square ready to sacrifice itself once the pawn promotes. On the
other hand it also means that the rook has to stay on the 8th rank, unless it
can give a check and immediately go back afterwards.  Can White succesfully
fight the defending rook? With some fine maneuvers he can!  With such studies
it pays off to begin thinking with the end in mind. Then you know easier what
to aim for. Regardless of whether you found the solution, can you describe in
words the one circumstance in which White can win? How should the pieces be
situated schematically speaking? Well, the one circumstance is the one where –
supported by White’s king – White’s bishop will either land on d8 or on f8
with Black’s rook to the right side of it, blocking the defense of the rook
towards the b8 promotion square. So f.i. the constellation of Kd7 and Bd8 or
Kf7 and Bf8 would do. Note that in the first case a rook check on the seventh
rank (let’s say h7) is answered by a countercheck with Be7 and in the second
case by Bg7 blocking the check and not allowing the rook to go back to h8. In
order to achieve such a position, White must play precisely and forcefully,
also because Black is threatening to bring in another defender with…Kb5. The
first stage should be to deny the rook practically all the squares on the 8th
rank using the combined power of king, bishop and… pawn! Yes, the pawn is
doing his bit by controlling a8 and c8, two light squares. Added to that the
bishop can control two dark squares, let’s say b8 and d8. Finally the white
king can control 3 more squares on the king side on the board. Darn, does this
mean that the rook always has one square available? Yes, that is the case, but
at that very moment the position of the Black king comes in handy, which is
situated on a dark square. With a check and therefore gain of tempo White will
quickly improve his bishop to cut off the Black rook before he knows what hit
him 😉 Funny right, I just used words to describe the process. We will now
break it down into the little bits we call “moves” and see how it works.} 1.
Bc7 {The bishop starts chasing the rook, Black must react.} Rh8 (1… Rf8 $4 2.
Bd6+ Kb5 3. Bxf8 Kb6 4. b8=Q+) (1… Rg8 {We will see what happens after this
in the main line.}) (1… Re8+ 2. Kf7 Rh8 {leads to the main line}) 2. Be5 {
The white bishop improves his position again with gain of time. Now the rook
is denied the h8 square. This is the difference with the starting position
where the bishop is not yet ideally placed on f4; it does not control h8.} Rd8
(2… Rg8 {Again, see the main line.}) (2… Rf8 $4 3. Bd6+) (2… Re8+ 3. Kf7
Rxe5 $2 4. b8=Q+) (2… Rh6+ 3. Bf6) 3. Ke7 {With Black’s rook being denied
the h8 square, now the White king does his but to chase the black rook.  Only
one square remains.} Rg8 4. Kf7 {And again one square is available.} Rd8 5. Bc7
{And again only one square is available. Is Black slipping away every time?}
Rh8 6. Bd6+ {No, now White wins a vital tempo. And with the rook being pushed
around to h8 White can finally set up the well-known blockade between it and
the b8 promotion square with gain of tempo.} Kb5 7. Bf8 {The blockade has been
reached! White is now threatening to promote.} Rh7+ {A spite check.} 8. Bg7 {
And another blockade. Black’s king is now to late:} Kb6 9. b8=Q+ {And White
wins.  Schematic thinking is very typical for endgame play, also when there
are a few more pieces on the board. The technique of thinking with the end in
mind can be very useful. Try to remember and use that next time you play an
endgame.} *
[/pgn_compat]

PGN Notation:

[Event “?”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2014.10.08”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Hermanis Mattison, 1913”]
[Black “White plays and wins”]
[Result “*”]
[Annotator “Waldemar Moes ,Better Your Chess”]
[SetUp “1”]
[FEN “3r4/1P6/4K3/8/1k3B2/8/8/8 w – – 0 1”]
[PlyCount “17”]

1. Bc7 Rh8 (1… Rf8 $4 2. Bd6+ Kb5 3. Bxf8 Kb6 4. b8=Q+) (1… Rg8 2. Kf7) (
1… Re8+ 2. Kf7 Rh8) 2. Be5 Rd8 (2… Rg8 3. Kf7) (2… Rf8 $4 3. Bd6+) (2…
Re8+ 3. Kf7 Rxe5 $2 4. b8=Q+) (2… Rh6+ 3. Bf6) 3. Ke7 Rg8 4. Kf7 Rd8 5. Bc7
Rh8 6. Bd6+ Kb5 7. Bf8 Rh7+ 8. Bg7 Kb6 9. b8=Q+ *