Welcome to this active site. Each week I am going to present to you an endgame position for you to solve or to workout the best continuation. Computer analysis will also be considered. Some of these positions will come from actual historical games. Others will be composed endgame studies, but all the solutions will be relevant to the practical game. The new position will occur each SUNDAY and I will always be pleased to receive POSITIVE feedback about the positions and the analysis and I will try to acknowledge these where relevant.

 

British Composer of Endgame Studies. Sometime ago while on holiday in Wales I came upon Claude's book: End-game studies which was produced by the composer himself in the nineties. Perhaps not many original works of art among the 156 compositions but a labour of love and a tremendous achievement by the composer.

White is serious material down but due to the unfortunate position of the enemy monarch in the corner has a way to victory. The main charateristic of this study is the long series of checks given by the Queen as she ascends and descends an imaginery ladder which lead to a forced win. Another name for this strategem is the "stepping-stone" manoeuvre as the Queen marks out imaginary steps on the board. These ascending and descending movements have also been described as "staircases" or "escalators".

These long manoeuvres are beginning to pay off as the Queen wins the Rook with check. This opens up the h-file for the finale but first White has to work round the blockading Knight.

1. Cumulative 2003 Prizes: 1st £100 or equivalent, 2nd £50, 3rd £30; 4th £20. (Total Prize Money=£200) Entries limited to 20 solvers. This event will run from 5/1/2003 to 22/12/2003 with a recess in July. Present rules apply but note the prizes will go to those participants who climb the ladder the greatest number of times during the year. The relative position of the solver's name on the ladder will decide the allocation of prizes.