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GM Alexander Baburin's online newsletter

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No. 14a, 13 August 1999

 

Dear Chess Friends!

   This August is very busy for me and therefore I must leave a 'proper' issue of CBC (No. 15) till after I come back from London, where I will play in Mind Sports Olympiad (21-29 August). This is just a brief note to stay in touch with my readers, whose support I appreciate very much. I'd like to show you two rook endgames, which I played at the British Championship in Scarborough. The tournament, which was convincingly won by GM Julian Hodgson on 9 out of 11, went wrong for me. I played rather badly and deserved my poor result - 7 points. I lost two games - one in a winning position and another one in a very promising position. My wins were not convincing either. The good news is that I stopped losing with White, but the bad news is that I started to lose with Black! :) When IM (now GM-elect) Jonathan Rowson asked me in Scarborough whether chess ever depress me, my answer was quick: "Never! It's the way I play it which depresses me!". Well, it's over and, although I will come back to that tournament to look at my mistakes, I am now looking forward to the next competition.

 

Rook endings

   So, take some time and use a chance to sharpen your endgame technique - consider the following two positions and think how you would have played them. Write down your analysis (if you have time and interest in rook endings) and compare it with my detailed analysis of these endings, which I will give in CBC-15. You can check what actually happened in those games in the end of this message. So, rook endings:

 

M. Heidenfeld - A. Baburin, 1999

 







Black to play

 

Black seems to be in deep trouble, but maybe there is a way out?

 

A. Baburin - N. Pert, 1999

 







White to play

 

This position looks winning for White and yet some precise play is still required. How would you continue? Remember: the actual game continuation is in the end of this message, while the analysis will be in the next issue of CBC.

 

Books

   Meanwhile I invite you to have a look at my latest book review at Chess Cafe: www.chesscafe.com/baburin/baburin.htm. My own book - 'Winning Pawn Structures' - got a very favourable review at that site - you can check this very detailed review at http://www.chesscafe.com/text/wps.txt. If you are interested in this book, I still have a few copies for sale. It's £16/$25 + postage. To order the book or get a quote in different currency, please e-mail me. I also have a few other books, some of which were published in Russia. Here is a short list:

1. Russians versus Fischer Compilers: D. Plisetsky & S. Voronkov. Moscow, "Chess World Ltd.", 1994. 394 pages. In English. Contents: preface by Y. Averbakh and 148 games of Robert Fischer, played against Soviet grandmasters, all games are annotated in the "Informator" style. There are also various documents in the book, e. g. letters of leading Soviet GMs, concerning Fischer's play and style many of those documents are published for the first time. Index of Fischer's opponents and their scores against him, opening index. Hardback. £ 3D DM49 3D $29.

2. I Belov, A. Shakarov, V. Tsaturian, L. Vilensky Anthology of Chess Beauty Moscow, "Saturn-S", 1996. 441 pages. 2.000 copies. With a preface by Kasparov. This book is in English and in the Informator style. The book contains 1640 games awarded with special prizes in 1876-1995. Softback, large format. £25 3D DM62 3D $37.

3. I Linder The Art of Chess Pieces "H.G.S." publishers. Moscow 1994. 228 pages. In English. The book contains 250 black-and-white and colour illustrations. Contents: "The World of Chess and the World of Art" "An Excursion into History" "Carved pieces "with faces" "The Evolution of Abstract Symbolism" "Notes" and "Bibliography". Hardback with wrappers. £30 3D DM74 3D $45.

4. I. Linder 'Schach. Schachfiguren im Wandel der Zeit' "H.G.S." - Verlag. Moskau, 1994. 228 S. with illustrations. The book is in German. The book contains 250 black-and-white and colour illustrations. Contents: "Schachspiel und Kunst" "Exkurs in die Geschichte" "Geschnitzt "mit Larven" "Evolution der abstrakten Symbolik" "Anmerkungen"   "Bibliographie". Hardback with wrappers. £30 3D DM74 3D $45.

5. FIDE Album. 1980-1982 Zagreb, 1988. 431 pages. In Russian, German & English. Hardback. £ 3D DM49 3D $29.

6. Boris Spassky 300 wins Chess Stars series. Chess editor GM A. Khalifman. Printed in Sofia by Semko. 1998. 380 pages. ISBN 954 8782 08 1. Text is in English. All the games are annotated in the "Informator" style. There are X-tables, index of openings and index of opponents in the book. Softback. Large format. £ 3D DM49 3D $29.

 

Again, to order a book, get a quote in different currency or to check about postage, please e-mail me. I accept cheques and money orders, but cannot take credit cards.

 

GM Baburin teaches chess

   In CBC-15 I will give some details about my services as a trainer. I can teach by phone, on the Internet or via correspondence. For Internet lessons I am going to use both ICC and ChessNet. Rate will be $45 an hour on the Internet or on the phone. I will be relatively free in September and October, so give it a thought and let me know if you are interested. I have plenty of experience in coaching.

I can also annotate 5 of your games and suggest possible improvements to you. See samples of this work in the next issue of CBC (No.15). The rate will be $95 for 5 games, which should be send to me in ChessBase or pgn format. If interested, start inputting them along with your thoughts and questions - we can work on chess together!

One other possibility is a chess tour in UK, so if your club might be interested in a simul/lecture (or both), please contact me for details. Queries from other countries are welcome too.

 

Solutions

   Now it's time to reveal what happened in those rook endings:

 

M. Heidenfeld - A. Baburin, British Ch, 1999, round 3. 60...Kb5 61 Kxe4 Kb4 62 d5 exd5+ 63 Kxd5 Rg7 64 e6 Rxg6 65 e7 Rg8 66 Ra2! Rh8! 67 Kd6 Kc3 68 Kd7 Kd2 69 e8Q Rxe8 70 Kxe8 c3 71 Kd7 Kc1 72 Kc6 Kb1 73 Rxa3 Kxc2 74 Kb5 Kb2 75 Rxc3 Kxc3 Draw. As they wrote the tournament bulletin, comments on the final position are very welcome!

 

A. Baburin - N. Pert, 1999, British Ch, 1999, round 8. 65 Re4 Kg5 66 d6 Rg3 67 Ke6 Rxh3 68 d7 Rd3 69 Re5+ Kg4 70 Rd5 Rxd5 71 Kxd5 h3 72 d8Q h2 73 Qh8 Kg3 74 Ke4 Kg2 75 Qb2+ Kg3 76 Qc1 Kg2 77 Qd2+ Kg3 78 Qe1+ Kg2 79 Qe2+ Kg1 80 Kf3 h1Q+ 81 Kg3 Qh3+ 82 Kxh3 1-0

 

Have a nice weekend - I'll be back in September!

Alexander Baburin, Dublin.

 

Copyright © 1999 by GM Alexander Baburin. All rights reserved.


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