A fragment from the book by Y. Kirillov ‘Искусство защиты’. Part 44

07.08.2024

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. 221 1. EF2!! BA5 2. CD4 CB4 3. FG5 HF4 4. EG5 DE5!! (the best move) 5. DF6 BC3 6. DB4 AC3 7. GH6 EG5 8. HF6 CB2 9. FG7 BA1! 10. GH8 DE7 11. GH7 AD4 12. FG3 DE5 13. GH4 EF6!! Draw.

	Diagram No. 222 (black to move) In order to make a draw black readily move to the corner! 1… BA5!! (the best move) 2. DE3 DC7 3. ED4 CB6 4. FE3 BC5 5. DB6 AC7 6. ED4 CB6! 7. CD2 EF6 8. EG7 HF8 9. DE3 FG7 10. DE5 BC5! 11. CD4 AB2 12. DB6 BC1. Draw!

	Diagram No. 223 (black to move) Black have found a good draw! 1… AB6! 2. BA5 BC5 3. FG3 FE5 4. CB2 ED4! 5. FG5 HF4 6. GC3 GF6!! Draw.

	Diagram No. 224 (black to move) Black have found a good defence. 1… GH6!! 2 AB6 EF4 3. CG5 AC5!! 4. GF6 EG5 5. HF4 CD4 6. BA5 DE3 7. AB6 ED2 8. BA7 DE1 9. AB8 EH4! Draw!

	Diagram No. 225 (black to move) Black pieces are in the center, and white need to find a defensive plan. 1… DC7!! (the best move) 2. GF4 FE5 3. CD4!! (the only move) CG5 4. HD4 CB6 5. EF2! BC5 6. DB6 AC7 7. AB4 DE5 8. FG3 ED4 9. GF4 ED6 10. FG5 DE5 11. BA5. Draw!