Insurance Chess Club

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   Roycroft Talk

23-Mar-2008

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Endgame Studies Evening
A Talk by John Roycroft - 31st October 2007

For the caption to each picture, hover your mouse pointer over the picture.

The idea for this evening came out of the Future Activities Sub-Committee which deliberated on the life of the Club and what additional interesting activities might be mounted in the future.

John Roycroft is a name synonymous with chess engame studies, a field to which he has devoted his life following a working career with London Assurance and then IBM.

As will be noted, in the above paragraph, John Roycroft spent a short period of time in the Insurance industry and indeed is a former member of the Insurance Chess Club. Not only that, but during his time of membership he won the Club Championship, in fact fifty years ago this season, 1957-58. (Follow this link for the entry in the Archive and this link for a potted Biography.)

If you have followed the above Biography link you will know that John founded EG in 1965, the first magazine devoted to endgame studies, and was its editor until 1991. If anyone would like to know more about EG please contact John Roycroft direct. Use this email link.

John Roycroft's talk was devoted to the studies of Mike Bent and was given in the presence of a dozen Club members, which was quite a good turn out for a new venture.

The picture (right) is not one of John Roycroft, but of the prolific British endgame study composer, C.M. Bent. Mike Bent died as recently as 28th December 2004 in a motor accident. Mike Bent Obituary

Below we give a couple of the dozen positions which John used to illustrate his subject's work. Neither of these positions has been published before and we are indeed honoured to be allowed the prvilege of first publication.

The solutions are available, should you need them, by clicking on the 'solution' link beside each position. You will find, if and when you access the solution window, that I have followed the convention in the endgame studies field of using the letter 'S' for knight (from German chess notation, standing for  'Springer').

In fact John has given us a third position, but we are sworn not to publish it until it has appeared in 'EG', so you will just have to wait for that one!

John took us through each of these positions in preference to making us sweat through each solution. Just as well, or we might have been there all night! You have the choice of being able to work them out for yourself or to hit the 'solution' button whenever you choose.

Before proceeding, we must establish, for the benefit of the uninitiated, that the field of endgame studies is a distinct sphere of chess composition quite separate from "problems". Problems are composed positions of the 'White to move mate in three' variety with pieces scattered across the board as from a pepper pot. Endgame studies, as the description implies, are studies of endgame positions more akin to positions that one might meet in an endgame over the board. Commonly, though not exclusively, the task in an endgame study is to find a draw (e.g. "White to play and draw"), or, as the examples given below, find a win.

If this has whetted your appetite for endgame studies, and you have not already made their acquaintance, visit the studies on the Webmaster's page.

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Black to play - White wins (5 + 7)

C M Bent

First publication

Study 1

This was the study with which John Roycroft opened his talk (see picture above).

This is a variation on the normal 'White to move' scenario. Here it is Black to move, but White wins; just as well, really, since White has a mate on the move if it's his turn!

Solution

Study 2

A few more pieces in this one. You should't find it too difficult once you have established how Black attempts to avoid defeat.

Solution

White to play and win (9 + 5)

C M Bent

First publication