A fragment from the book by Y. Kirillov ‘Искусство защиты’. Part 37

04.10.2023

It is not always possible to come out of the opening with the best position and at the end to fight for the victory, you also have to defend. Sometimes it seems that the position is already ‘impossible to save’, after a while you will have to give up, but there is the only plan that still leads to a cherished draw.

The art of defense in the draughts game is certainly one of the indicators of the player’s skill. We express our gratitude to Yuri Kirillov for the book of paradoxically drawish positions ‘Искусство защиты’. Perhaps in this book you will find the game that was ‘not saved’.


	Diagram No. 186 In a tough position black have found a good idea! 1.CD2!! (the best move) BC7!! (the best move) 2.CD4 CB4! 3.AC3 CB6 4.CB4 DE5!! 5.FD6 FE5! Black have achieved a draw.

	Diagram No. 187 (black to move) White pieces are in the centre, and black need to make a draw. 1… BA5 2.DB6 AC5! 3.CD4 GH4 4.DB6 AC7 5.ED4! FG5!! (the only move) 6.FE5 HG3 7.DC5 GF4 8.AB4 FD6 9.CE7 CD6 10.EC5 HG5 11.CD6 GF4 12.DC7 FE3 13.CB8 ED2 14.BH2 DE1! Draw.

	Diagram No. 188 White attack is inevitable; what black can do? 1.CD4 BA7 2.DB6 AC5 3.ED4! CE3 4.FD4 DE5! 5.DC5 ED6!! 6.CD5 HF4 7.GF2 FG3!! 8.FH4 EF4. Draw.

	Diagram No. 189 (black to move) Threat of losing a piece makes black to play precisely! 1… ED4! 2.CB2 FE5 3.BC3 DB2 4.AC1 ED4! 5.FG3 DE3! 6.GE5 EF2!! 7.EF6 EG5 8.HF6 FE1 9.DE3 ED2! Draw.

	Diagram No. 190 (black to move) Black have found very nice and hard draw in this position. 1… HG3!! 2.FH4 CB6 3.ED2 BD4 4.HG5 ED6! 5.GF2 DC5 6.DC3! AB6 7.GF6 EG7 8.CE5 CB4!! 9.BA3!! BC3 10.ED6 GF6 11.FE3 FE5!! 12.DF4 BC5 13.FE5 CB4 14.AC5 CB2, draw.