Endgame Puzzles!

We are nearing the turn of the year after an eventful twelve months, not only on the geopolitical front but also in the world of chess. New talents have emerged, and the Indian teams triumphed in both the Open tournament and the women’s biennial Chess Olympiad. Magnus Carlsen remains unapproachable across all time formats and continues to dominate even in Fischer Random Chess.

We also had an exciting World Championship match and a young and strong Grandmaster was caught red-handed cheating during a 2024 tournament, and the alleged cheater Hans Niemann has been reinstated. The young American has also made a name for himself by organizing a variety of matches for himself.

Given these developments, this seems like an excellent moment to treat all viewers—especially the club chess players who follow this video show—to a few entertaining puzzles for these long winter evenings. Hopefully, these challenges will stimulate the brain in a productive and enjoyable way.

To create this selection of endgame studies, I relied on the unparalleled and largest database of endgame compositions, compiled by the Dutch scientist Harold van der Heijden. This treasure trove, which he started many years ago, has grown into a remarkable collection that Harold can proudly call his own.

As a chess trainer, I focus on positions that revolve around common themes. For this final video of the year, I’ve chosen studies featuring the battle between a bishop and knight versus an enemy queen. In putting together this selection, I have occasionally committed a “mortal sin” by removing the sometimes-complicated preludes that were artfully crafted by the endgame composers.

In a conversation with Israeli IM Yochanan Afek, one of the best modern study composers and a long-time resident of the Netherlands, I was advised against this practice. However, when I explained that many of these studies are beyond the reach of the average club chess player and that preserving the enjoyment of chess is my priority, he agreed that a chess trainer could take such liberties. Fortunately, I’ve also included some studies in their original form to give full credit to the composers.

The common theme in this selection is the knight fork—a tactic beloved by club chess players. To solve these puzzles, it’s essential to make your three pieces (king, bishop, and knight) work harmoniously, often with the help of your pawns, while limiting the queen’s mobility.

By chasing the queen (and sometimes the opposing king), you can trap and capture the queen. It’s crucial to evaluate your candidate moves using three main methods of coercion in chess:

1. Check
2. Capture (or sacrifice)
3. Mate threat

If you align your candidate moves with these three principles, a forced sequence of moves can often lead to victory. Some positions in the studies may feature a black pawn about to promote into a queen. In one scenario, the newly promoted queen is immediately lost; in another, you may deliver checkmate just after promotion.

By applying these guidelines, you should be able to solve these studies. However, as in a real game, you may occasionally hit a roadblock. That’s when creativity must come into play. Sometimes, the winning idea lies “beyond the horizon,” where you didn’t initially see it. Finding such an idea is incredibly satisfying!

In every puzzle, White plays and wins. I encourage everyone to try solving the studies on their own first by pausing the video.

Have fun tackling these, in my opinion, brilliant endgame studies! I wish everyone a healthy, happy, and wonderfully successful chess year in 2025!

In the diagram position, White plays and wins. How?

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