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.

German/American International Master. Originally German he moved to the United States at the outbreak of the 1st World war. His first book, "Chess Strategy" which he wrote while he was still a student in Berlin, was an instant success. It was a practical book written to explain strategic principles to the emerging chess playing public. Edward Lasker was never a full professional but he did play in a number of top class events. In 1923 he played a match against Marshall for the United States Championship and lost by a narrow margin. He had a very long chess career with periodic breaks spanning over sixty years. He knew and played most of the great players of the first half of the 20th Century and his autobiography " Chess Secrets " makes fascinating reading.

 

White is the exchange up and he has three advanced passed pawns on the queenside. But Black has a powerful attack with his pieces against the badly exposed King. He just has to play with care to avoid the back rank mate.

1...Qg5!? 2.Re1 e3 3.Rxf7 Kxf7 4.Qf3+ Bf6 5.Rd1 Rxd1 6.Kxd1 Qg1+ 7.Ke2 Qxh2+ 8.Kxe3 Qe5+ 9.Qe4 Qc3+ 10.Ke2 Qb2+ 11.Kf3 Qa3+ 12.Kg2 Qxa4 -+;

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.