Kingwalks: Paths of Glory

by Yasser Seirawan, Bruce Harper, Hans Ree (Foreword by)

Overview

The Fearsome Fascination of Kingwalks!

Marching your king across the board – at times right through or into enemy lines – may be both exhilarating and terrifying. Nothing may be quite as satisfying as a majestic kingwalk across the board which brings you glorious victory. And nothing as tragicomic as a needless journey ending in epic failure.

Chessplayers are fascinated by kingwalks, perhaps because of their inherent contradiction and even implausibility. The most important – and vulnerable – chess piece does something other than trying to remain safe.

Topics include: Kingwalks to Prepare an Attack; Kingwalks in Anticipation of an Endgame; Kingwalks to Defend Key Points; Kingwalks to Attack Key Points or Pieces; Mating Attacks; Escaping to Safety Across the Board; Escaping to Safety Up the Board; Kingwalks in the Opening; Kingwalks in the Endgame; Double Kingwalks; and Unsuccessful Kingwalks.

For sheer entertainment as well as instructive value, the kingwalk is transcendent!

"Executing a successful kingwalk has the power to make a chessplayer happy and the same can be said about playing over the many beautiful examples in this book. Enjoy!" — From the Foreword by Hans Ree

About the Authors:

American grandmaster Yasser Seirawan is a four-time U.S. champion. He also won the World Junior Championship in 1979. He is one of the best-selling chess authors and is considered one of the top commentators for games broadcast on the web.

Canadian master Bruce Harper has been champion of British Columbia many times and has also participated in several Canadian championships. He is the co-author with Yasser Seirawan of the highly acclaimed three-volume series, Chess on the Edge, chronicling the career of Canadian grandmaster Duncan Suttles. He is also co-author, with American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, of Bullet Chess: One Minute to Mate.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781949859386
Publisher:	Russell Enterprises, Incorporated
Publication date:	07/15/2021
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

American grandmaster Yasser Seirawan is a four-time U.S. champion. He also won the World Junior Championship in 1979. He is one of the best-selling chess authors and is considered one of the top commentators for games broadcast on the web.

Canadian master Bruce Harper has been champion of British Columbia many times and has also participated in several Canadian championships. He is the co-author with Yasser Seirawan of the highly acclaimed three-volume series, Chess on the Edge, chronicling the career of Canadian grandmaster Duncan Suttles. He is also co-author, with American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, of Bullet Chess: One Minute to Mate.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1
Kingwalks to Prepare an Attack
The “classic” kingwalk of this type involves marching the king from the kingside (its usual position, given the high frequency of kingside castling) to the queenside, in anticipation of opening lines on the kingside. The king is removed from a potential, rather than an actual, area of danger, the idea being that the opening of lines on the kingside will expose the king to enemy counterplay.

This sort of kingwalk is an example of extreme “prophylaxis” (Nimzowitsch) or “anticipatory defense,” and while in many instances it is unnecessary or impossible to achieve, it is a very effective strategy when the opponent is subject to a bind which gives the attacker time for such a step.

As will become apparent from the following examples, several conditions must be met before anticipatory defense by means of a kingwalk comes into play:

* One side of the board must be completely safe; on the other side of the board attacking lines must exist or be capable of being created.
* The side conducting the kingwalk must have a sufficient positional superiority that it can dictate the pace of play, leaving the opposing side without counterplay.
* The opposing player must not only be unable to impede or exploit the dominant player's kingwalk, but must also be unable to emulate it, so that his or her king must remain on the side of the board where it will be exposed to attack.
It is no accident that the quintessential example of anticipatory defense by means of a kingwalk comes from world champion Tigran Petrosian (Petrosian-Unzicker, Hamburg 1960), the recognized master of anticipatory defense. But in fact our first example is from a game involving another world champion: Alexander Alekhine.

Given Alekhine's justifiably renowned attacking style, it's slightly surprising that he adopted such a positional approach. The fact that this game is from a simultaneous exhibition might be relevant – is it cynical to think that Alekhine might have been treading water while finishing off some other opponents? We prefer to think that, even in a simul, Alekhine was quite capable of demonstrating his deep understanding of chess and his flair for beauty.

All three of the prerequisites for a kingwalk exist, including that White's king is trapped on the kingside.

Kevitz & Pinkus – Alekhine
New York 1929 (consulting clock simultaneous exhibition)

[Diagram]

In this position, Black has a clear advantage. White's pieces are tied to the defense of

Table of Contents

Introduction 5

Foreword Hans Ree 11

Chapter 1 Kingwalks to Prepare an Attack 13

Chapter 2 Kingwalks in Anticipation of an Endgame 26

Chapter 3 Kingwalks to Defend Key Points 35

Chapter 4 Kingwalks to Attack Key Points or Pieces 46

Chapter 5 Mating Attacks 56

Chapter 6 Escaping to Safety Across the Board 69

Chapter 7 Escaping to Safety Up the Board 80

Chapter 8 Kingwalks in the Opening 105

Chapter 9 Kingwalks in the Endgame 121

Chapter 10 Double Kingwalks 128

Chapter 11 Unsuccessful Kingwalks 136

Chapter 12 Wilhelm Steinitz 149

Chapter 13 Aron Nimzowitsch 156

Chapter 14 Tigran Petrosian 168

Chapter 15 Duncan Suttles 200

Chapter 16 Yasser Seirawan 212

Chapter 17 Recent Examples 246

Bibliography 288