00:00What I like about STATIS is that it has very few pieces and all pieces are active, all pieces are engaged.
00:19So that helps us to understand the purity of the idea of the pattern behind it.
00:24So while in the practical game, you have many other pieces, and I don't want any distractions.
00:30So we'll just move to the STATIS, and we'll start with a very, very simple one.
00:33So the old one, classical one, and I apologize if some of the advanced players who are watching our lessons, they are familiar with that.
00:44Don't worry, there will be other things that are more complicated, so everybody will have positions and tasks up to their level.
00:57It's a simple position, and we start with the very end of this study.
01:01The white king is on C2, black king is in the corner on A1, white pawn is on C7, and black rook is on D4.
01:09Actually, the last move was rook from D3 went to D4.
01:12Now, white pawn is just one move away from the promotion.
01:16And what could be more natural by taking the queen and promoting the queen, putting the queen on C8.
01:22But here is a trick.
01:24Always remember, as we discussed, watch for your opponent's tactics.
01:29Black is desperate, but it has the great way of saving the game.
01:34Rook C4 check, it's a double attack, attacking the queen, a king and a queen.
01:40Queen takes rook, and you can see it's stalemate.
01:45Black king is blocked in the corner, no moves, draw.
01:51So let's go back and see whether we can improve, and what's the next logical move if we promote the rook.
02:01Now, two rooks, no pawns, empty board, normally it's a draw.
02:08But that's not easy because black king is in a really dangerous situation, it's in a corner.
02:13And by promoting the rook, we're creating a threat.
02:16Rook A8 mate.
02:17The only way black can protect is just they put rook on A4 to close the A file.
02:25And here is the classical case of double attack.
02:29In this case, it's a deadly double attack.
02:31Because white king moves on B3, it attacks the rook, but it also creates a threat.
02:36Rook C1 mate.
02:38And black is toast.
02:40If we look at this position, and it looks very, very simple, but it contains two elements of double attack.
02:50Double attack as a defensive mechanism, stalemate combination, and double attack as an attacking mechanism,
02:58promoting the rook and creating an imminent maiden threat while attacking the opponent's piece, the only remaining piece.
03:06We move to more complicated cases.
03:16And again, we stick with an endgame.
03:19White king is on B3, black king is on A5.
03:23There are two bishops, black bishop on E3, white bishop on F4, and white has two extra knights.
03:27One is there on A8, and one is on C7.
03:31Now, what do we see in this situation?
03:33Black king is at the corner, and it's stalemated.
03:39So if we take this bishop, that's a stalemate.
03:43Again, black uses this mechanism.
03:45It attacks the bishop and tries to force the exchange of the bishops.
03:50So how white can, you know, avoid these stalemating motifs?
03:55For instance, you can move this knight from C7, protecting the bishop.
03:58Then it's an exchange.
03:59And you have a funny position.
04:01You have two extra knights.
04:04Well, technically, two knights could mate the king in the corner, but it's not a force mate.
04:10Unless your opponent is trying to help you, it's a draw.
04:14So black king can always escape, or it will end up with a stalemate.
04:20So what white can do?
04:21So it seems that, you know, the white is desperate, because black bishop will attack the white bishop,
04:28and the stalemate will be a saving mechanism.
04:33It's a miraculous escape.
04:36But if your opponent is trying to use a magic wand and to create a miracle,
04:42so let's think whether we can do the same.
04:44And we also have a trick.
04:49When opponent's king has almost no moves,
04:53it means that maybe we can create a mating threat.
04:58So suddenly, yes, we can discover a move, very nice move, knight b6,
05:04which looks a bit odd, because we put a knight on the square where it could be taken,
05:09both by the king and the bishop.
05:11But also, we leave the bishop under attack.
05:14Now, let's see what happens.
05:15If black takes our bishop on f4, then knight c4.
05:19I told you that two knights do not mate a king, an open board,
05:28unless unique positions created.
05:32So black didn't have time to escape.
05:34So it's a mate, and it's a very nice mate.
05:37So two knights and the king and the bishop plays no role.
05:42Now, let's see what else black can do.
05:45They can take this knight with the bishop.
05:47But suddenly, we open the diagonal for our bishop,
05:55and it's another mate,
05:56because bishop on b6 blocked the only square for the escape.
06:02Now, the only remaining move is to take the knight with the king.
06:08And now, we have our double attack.
06:11Knight d5 check.
06:12It's a fork.
06:14And then after king c5, we just take the bishop,
06:17with a knight, bishop and knight against opponent's king.
06:22And we'll learn the basic techniques how to mate black's king
06:28in the endgame studies.
06:30And one of the reasons I like this study is it's not because you have all the pieces being engaged.
06:43You don't have pieces that are just, you know, having rest somewhere on the side of the board.
06:49But it also emphasizes the art element of the game of chess.
06:55It's not just about winning or losing.
06:57Of course, you have to try to win.
06:59It's not just science, you know, studying it.
07:01But it's also a beauty.
07:02It's something that creates a masterpiece, you know, a picturesque position that I think you can enjoy.
07:12That's why we have chess composers, people who spend their lives creating these positions.
07:17And while many predicted after computers' arrival, the end of the game of chess,
07:27we could actually see how computers are helping to find these beautiful positions.
07:31Because when you look at these endgame databases, you can dig deep down and find some positions
07:38that are just so beautiful and they make people feel happy.
07:43This is one of the purposes of the game of chess.
07:45It's that you can enjoy not only finding good moves, but also celebrating great combinations created by others.
07:55It's very important to remember that even if you learn a new pattern, and if you learn how to apply it,
08:03that even slightest change in the position could actually hurt combination, could actually change the evaluation.
08:12So let's look at one of the classical positions.
08:15So white king is on d1.
08:17Let's put two rooks on c4 and a1.
08:21And black king goes on d3 and black rook is on h8.
08:27So white has an extra rook, but this rook is attacked and it's a double attack.
08:34It's not just rook as an attack, but it's also mate is another threat.
08:39So can white defend against both threats?
08:46Of course, you can simply now give a check and sacrifice a rook that it's a draw.
08:49But can you win the game?
08:53And here is a trick.
08:54So white can protect against both threats by making a temporary sacrifice, but creating conditions for its own combination.
09:04In fact, it will be a skewer.
09:05It's a theme that we'll learn in the next lesson.
09:09But rook goes on h4.
09:11It protects h1 square.
09:17Black rook can no longer go there.
09:20So rook takes on h4.
09:22And then it's rook a3 check.
09:24King has to move to the fourth rank.
09:27And then rook a4 check.
09:29And then white wins black's rook and wins the game.
09:34But as I said, you should remember that even if you know the pattern, it may change with a tiny, tiny fluctuation in the position.
09:47So let's do the same, but just move everything just one square.
09:52White king goes on e1.
09:54Black king on e3.
09:55And rook on d4.
09:56Looks almost the same.
09:58Almost identical.
09:59But now if you play rook h4, then black takes on h4, rook a3 check, then king manages to defend the rook.
10:18Of course, when you look at this position, so we should know whether white king was already moved.
10:24Because if it did move, white has another way of defending.
10:28And that's why I say you can always look for a concrete situation.
10:33Another way is making a long castle.
10:36Remember the rule?
10:38Long castle.
10:39King escapes and rook protects another rook.
10:42But of course, it's only if your king hasn't moved before.
10:46But so that's why every time you move position a little bit, there are always new tactical opportunities.
10:52It's important to learn about all the patterns.
10:54But it's always important to understand how these patterns apply to the very concrete situation at the board.
11:01And now after we walked around the world of double attacks, we looked at double attacks as an attacking mechanism, as a defensive tool.
11:19So let's have a position that could be quite a steep challenge.
11:27It's a serious one.
11:28And if you can conquer it, so I think you're already at the top of the mountain.
11:35It's a complicated position because it has many pieces.
11:41So white has king on b5, queen on e4, rook on h6, knight on c4, and even a pawn, tiny pawn on b3.
11:51Black has also the king on b8, of course.
11:55Bishop on c7.
11:57Queen on f8.
11:58Rook on d8.
11:59And two pawns on f7 and a5.
12:05When we look at this position, and as I said, it's not so simple.
12:09It's not just immediate combination.
12:13Here is a trick that you have to create conditions for the combination.
12:17And that's important.
12:18You have to force opponent's pieces to take squares that will help you to deliver the final blow.
12:27So you have to be creative.
12:30So naturally, you want to attack the opponent's king.
12:35But if you put the king on a6, creating the threats, queen b7, mate, then black takes the rook with a check.
12:45So that's the problem.
12:47And we have to think how to use our king to enter the attack, to join the attack, but without being checked on the 6th rank.
13:02The main theme of this study is a double attack.
13:08Even extra hint.
13:09It's a fork.
13:10We may call it a mega fork, because one knight will eliminate the entire blacks' army.
13:18And now, having this hint, you probably would like to make a pause.
13:24Stop the video and think.
13:26Can you find this combination that helps white to use the power of the knight, the beauty of the fork, to gain the decisive material advantage?
13:41I hope you found it.
13:55But whether you found it or not, so let's enjoy the solution.
14:01So rook goes on b6.
14:03It's a first temporary sacrifice.
14:06Bishop has to take on b6.
14:07Now, we have a chance to bring our king into the attack, king a6.
14:13The threat is queen b7, mate.
14:17Black king cannot escape, because it's still mate, since our knight controls d6 square.
14:23No escape.
14:25Black queen is useless.
14:27It cannot protect b7 square, because square of e7 is attacked by white's queen.
14:34So the only defense is rook d7.
14:37And here, we have everything in the right position for us to use the power of the knight.
14:45But we still need the black king to give us a chance to use the power of the knight with checks.
14:54Fork, fork, fork.
14:55So queen a8 check.
14:56It's an amazing sacrifice.
15:00Black has no choice.
15:01It has to take, because otherwise, if king c7, we simply win the queen.
15:07And after king takes a8, our knight goes into the game.
15:13Knight takes b6 check.
15:15First fork.
15:16King b8.
15:17Knight takes d7 check.
15:19Winning the rook.
15:20And another fork.
15:23And after king escapes, then we take on f8.
15:26And then we win the pawn on a5.
15:28And our knight will deal with this, with f-pawn.
15:31So, and we're winning, we're winning the endgame.
15:34There are many more examples.
15:36And I had to confess that I've been struggling to bring the best to you, because chess is a game of unlimited beauty.
15:46But I hope that this combination of studies, of positions, will help you to appreciate the concept of double attack.
16:01And it also will help you to find a way to incorporate both attacking and defensive double attacking tools into your practical portfolio.
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