A fragment from the book by Y. Kirillov ‘Искусство защиты’. Part 47

04.12.2024

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. 236 White have found a good possibility to win, however, black have effectively defended their position. 1.AB4! CA3 2.GF4 FE5! 3.FD6 GF6! 4.EF4 BA5! 5.DC7!! (Doesn’t win 5.HG5 FH4 6.DC7 AB6 7.CB8 BC5 8.BA7 CB4, draw) 5… AB6!! 6.CD8 FE5 7.FD6 BC5! Draw.

	Diagram No. 237 White have found a good defense in a bad position. 1.HG3 DE5 2.GH4 DC7 3.DC5 CB6 4.CD4! (It is possible to play 4.CD6 EC7 5.AC5 BA7 6.CD2! CB6 7.CD6 BC5 8.DB4 AC5 9.CD4 CB4 10.DE5! FF2 11.HF6 FE1 (the best move) (If 11… FG1, 12.FG7 GD4 13.GF8 BA3 14.DE3! DF2 15.FG7, draw) 12.DC3! BD2 13.FG7, draw) 4… EC3 5.CD6 BA5 6.DC7 BD6 7.AB8 DC5 8.BA7 CB4 9.CD2!! CE1 10.AD4! Draw. Does not lose 1.CB4.

	Diagram No. 238 (black to move) Black have found an easy draw. 1… BC7!! 2.CB6 ED6 3.BD8 DE5 4.FD6 GH4 5.GD5 HD2! Draw. This is the easiest draw!

	Diagram No. 239 1.CB4!! (the only move) CD4 2.BC5!! (the only move) DB6 3.AB4! CD6 4.BA5 BC5 5.FG3!! CD4 6.AB6 DC5 7.BC7 CB4 8.CB8 DE3 9.DC3 BD2 10.BA7! Draw.

	Diagram No. 240 White have found a good defending plan in a very bad position. 1.DC5! (the only move) CB6 2.CD6 DE7 3.EF4 EC5 4.BD6 FE5 5.FG5 EC7 6.GF6 CD6 7.DE3 DC5 8.CD4 AB4 9.FE7 FD6 10.EF4 CG5 11.AE7. Draw.