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.

The winners of the 2003 cumulative competition will be announced early in the New Year.

I have decided to move away from cash prizes for Cumulative 2004. Instead book prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. The same rules will apply.

 

French Composer of Chess Problems and Studies. Famous for being on the winning side of the shortest master game ever recorded. Composed over a hundred endgame studies many of which show his exotic influence as a problem composer.

 

This study is characteristic of Lazard's compositions in which there is an unnatural feel about the position. White's situation is far from promising with his big material disadvantage but he has one glimmer of hope. Can he take advantage of the fact that Black's King is surrounded by pawns and that his own King lacks freedom of movement ? Can he set up a fortress position ?

1. Cumulative 2004 This event will run from 4/1/2003 to 19/12/2003 with a recess in the Summer. Present rules apply but note the book 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.