Wednesday 27 May 2015

Not another stalemate

I spent an exhausting, but enjoyable, day running one of the Zones for the ACT Interschool Teams event. The quality of chess varies from team to team, but the important thing is that the kids get to play, and they enjoy themselves in doing so.
One thing I always keep my eye on are interesting stalemates. There seems to be a formula that is unconsciously followed by many young players to ensure the game that should be one ends in a draw. Step 1 is to capture lots of material. Step 2 is to then start checking the king in the hope that something comes of it. Step 3 is to *not* check the king the moment the king is finally trapped and has no escape squares. Step 4 is to shake hands with the opponent, as though what happened is perfectly normal!
Unfortunately I did not see that many egregious examples of players drawing while ahead large amounts of material. As a result I only have the diagrammed position to show you, where despite being a Queen, Bishop and 5 pawns ahead, White managed to trap the Black king in the corner, but failed to finish him off.

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