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zeroqueens
17-Jun-11, 11:49

Reporting possible cheater.
I have a game against a lv 14xx player and we are in a Rook and Bishop vs Rook endgame. Although this is a technical draw, there is the possibility of forcing a win. My opponent has been claiming the game is a draw for quite a while now and I have explained to him that I have the right to continue trying to find Mate. His recent responses are that the game IS a draw.
Do I have grounds to accuse him of cheating? Has he consulted an endgame database? As I understand it, Nalimov Tables are against GK rules.
perdurabo
17-Jun-11, 16:42

Nalimov Tablebases are not allowed on GK.

However endgame books are, and the way I interpret the rule that also includes for instance the chessbase dvds.

If you have a R&B vs. R endgame, the principles and the "how to play this kind of endgame" should be explained in a number of books. Karsten Müller has it on one of the chessbase dvds in his endgame series.

So there are plenty of legal resources available to know if an endgame is a theoretical draw or if a win can be forced and how.

I have not looked at your games and so can't say anything about the game in question. If it is still an active game we can't comment on it anyway.

Of course you have the right to play on as long as you like or at least until the 50-move rule or a threefold repetition occurs and your opponent declares the game a draw.

Personally I find it impolite to repeat draw offers when one has been declined already, unless the position has changed in some remarkable way since the last draw offer.

However from what you say, I can not see any evidence of your opponent cheating, and even if he did, I wouldn't know how to prove it.

The way I see it, there is not much you can do, but play on and ignore any annoying draw offers or chat as good as you can.
jkedzie
19-Jun-11, 16:44

What a dork!!
I can not stand it when someone tries to tell someone else that the position is a draw, then need to agree to a draw or, even worse... when they say someone needs to resign because the position is lost!! In your case, you have a right (if not a Chess obligation) to try to create a win. Even if the position is a "theoretical" draw, that does not mean you or him know how to draw it or, that one of you may not make a mistake. As for lost positions... just because one player knows it is lost, does not mean the other player knows it!! Also, what if someone wants to hone their defensive skills? What better time than to do it in a lost position? How can you practice defensive skills in a winning game??

I think perdurabo is right, just put him on your ignor list & play on calmly forcing him to prove that it is a draw.

An example... I was playing a game on the playchess server & I ended up in a Q vs.N endgame. I had the queen, this is a win!! 100% win, I knew it was a win, my opponent knew it was a win but... I could not remember the right way to separate the knight from the King so, it was drawn!! Now, imagine if I sat here & told my opponent he needs to resign because it was theoretically lost?

On a separate note: I suspect one of my opponents for using a Chess engine. Are there any high level Chess players that are also experts on Computer programs that are willing to look at the game & give me their opinion?

Jenn
zeroqueens
20-Jun-11, 08:26

Thanks Jenn and perdurabo. The game will end in a draw as there are only 12 more moves until he can claim the 50 move rule. Specifically I appreciate your views on the situation Jenn. Though I wasn't able to force a win I did learn from trying. He may have known it was going to end in a draw but I certainly did not. You never know how things will play out and often times there is much to be learned by continuing a game even in a lost position.
Again, thanks to you both for you comments.
archduke_piccolo
25-Jun-11, 17:27

No evidence...
... There is no real evidence that your opponent has consulted a Tablebese to confirm (for himself) his assertion.

You yourself see the thing as a 'theoretical draw', and although were the roles were reversed you might make an offer on the strength of that belief, you would not comment any further upon it. Not until after the game at any rate. But a lot of people would.

But theoretical draw or not, the stronger side has good reason to continue playing, as he has all the winning chances going. Note that I'm not speaking specifically of your game. It is always possible that in ducking and diving to get clear of the mating threats your opponent will fall into a losing position. The point is that not all R + B vs R positions are draws.

If you choose not to ignore your opponent in the circumstances, you might point out to him that the onus of proof is on him that he can survive 50 moves defending such an endgame. If he fails, you win; if he succeeds, then he has earned his half-point.
jkedzie
25-Jun-11, 19:13

ionadowman
ionadowman's last paragraph makes 100% sense and, is some excellent advice.
zeroqueens
25-Jun-11, 19:18

it is probably the simplest way to tell someone the game must go on.
tactical_abyss
25-Jun-11, 21:21

Alot of players ask me for a draw when they know they are losing,even positionally,not necessarily being down any material at all!Some players simply hope that I do not see the advantage.
I usually continue on for a while in drawish positions..not forever but for a while.I go by other factors as well.If I see my opponent has a history of time-outs and that he is making a move close to his time limit on many moves,then from my experience that tells me that there is an increased probability that he will lose to a time-out...so I play on!
This has actually happened a few times with my opponents...and no,I won't reinstate the game!
In addition,I could pop up some examples right now,where my opponent was close to a senior master level and blundered early in the game.So draw or not,this can happen at any time,especially with lower rated players,even in the open endgame!

Here:
game

The game above was = and was heading for a draw(somewhat),but anything can happen,as you see!

On the flip side of the coin,many players do not have the "patience"to want to continue on to a very long endgame with games like a R/B vs a R endgame or two Bishops vs a King.

With R/B vs a R it is a theoretical draw but its not cut and dry.Examine the Philidor position,for example.Yes,you have to be a pretty bad player...but how do you know your opponent isn't consuming a few drinks at the time?

In the 2/B vs a K endgame,this can be a very long endgame for sure and its bound to get draw offers.But you can win with patience and forcing your opponents King into one of the a or h files and then into a corner...with extreme care.This again requires patience that many opponents do not have,so they may again request a draw.

If anyone annoys me with continued draw offers and messages,I simply place them on the royal ignore list.Perhaps when I feel they will behave,I will take them off the list in a few months!This is especially where I see a small edge,but the game may go on to move 80+for example!

TA
archduke_piccolo
26-Jun-11, 02:07

2 B vs lone K ...
... is actually a pretty easy endgame to win, once you have worked out a method of containment, confinement and coup de grace. Works every time.

Much more difficult is the B+N vs lone King. I have won 3 out of 3 with that ending, but still don't fully understand how to win from a 'general' position. All three of the games I have played with that ending, I began with the enemy King already severely limited in scope, and with a straightforward winning plan fairly easy to arrive at.

The third such occasion - a pick-up game at the Christchurch Square giant chess board (a zillion years ago - the earthquakes here have put paid to that) my opponent kept insisting it was a draw. Not so, said I (of course), but this dude's whingeing was enough to distract me from noticing I was driving his King towards the wrong corner!

"Oops - wrong corner," says I eventually, and went on to win without further trouble.

If you want to find out the general method of winning B+N vs lone K, you might try Wikipedia. I'm sure a few years ago I read some such material on the ending from that source. Don't wait until you are already in such an ending to consult it, though...
tactical_abyss
26-Jun-11, 06:04

Deleted by tactical_abyss on 26-Jun-11, 06:40.
tactical_abyss
26-Jun-11, 07:01

Yes,I agree Ion,
The 2 B/K endgame is actually very easy and I also would not have any problem with the B+N/K endgame...its all very automatic to me.And if any of those scenarios arise with my opponents,99% of the time they will resign if they are on the short end.

But most of my opponents are on the 2200-2300 range and higher and know and assume on a higher etiquette chess level to resign.
But its not nearly as easy sometimes for 1500 rating or below players to understand what you and I know on the 2000+ levels.So I was primarily writing in reference to expecting zeroqueens opponents to many times not resign and play on and on,even with draw offers!
So it is very conceivable that he might expect a long endgame or draw offers,especially if the 1500 or below player dosen't mix up the exact receipe to play the 2/B or N/B spices!

Actually over the years I have purposely gone in for double Bishops or double Knights instead of Queening a pawn...just to practice....and this is a good idea for the 1200-1500 players to do.I love 2 and sometimes 3 Knights on the board vs a lone King and perhaps a few pawns....lots of torturous fun and on purpose DELAY in mating if my opponent does not resign!But a hidden subpractice in NOT getting a stalemate,which would be easy with all that horsepower!

TA
tactical_abyss
26-Jun-11, 07:30

By the way,in my message above,note I said 2 knight endgame with perhaps a few pawns.This can also be very difficult for 1500 players or below to understand.Basically it IS a draw with the 2 Knight scenario vs lone King...except with the pawns.But this can be drawn out even with draw offers!But 3 Knights are fun!

Note the link with 2 Knights:

en.wikipedia.org

This is basic info,but not always understood by class C and below players.
zeroqueens
26-Jun-11, 09:27

Just clearing up the misunderstanding that it is actually I with the extra minor piece and that it was my opponent asking for the draws.
Thanks for all the comments. I find your input very helpful.
tactical_abyss
26-Jun-11, 09:33

No problem zeroqueens....ion and me(mostly me) end up expanding and extrapolating other offshoot thoughts on your subject about draws as such and sometimes add things that are not directly correlated to the original subject.You might begin talking about an apple and i'll end up talking about a wrench!Ha ha!
zeroqueens
26-Jun-11, 09:37

Anytime you wanna discuss fruit or tools, I am in.
tactical_abyss
26-Jun-11, 09:44

How about fruits?Ok!I can't figure out if that is a mulberry or some other berry I temporarily posted as my profile picture!Do you know,before I make a pie out of them and grow 5 inches of facial hair like Bigfoot?Ha ha!
jkedzie
26-Jun-11, 09:48

Fruits & Tools!
LOL!! Oh my! What has Chess come to nowadays? This is truly some scary stuff!
archduke_piccolo
26-Jun-11, 16:55

Vegetation...
... in one's profile? Check out the wisteria in mine. Until I got in amongst it with sundry sharp objects, I was tempted to name the thing Fu Man Chu or maybe Ming the Merciless for its obvious ambition to take over the planet.

I was interested in the Wikipedia article on the two knights endings. My only experience with such endings it was to try out, one idle afternoon about 10 years back, to see how 2 Knights would win with an enemy pawn on the board. This resulted in the rather unsatisfactory puzzle I posted on GK two or three years back.

w
White to play and win. In fact White forces mate in fewer than 10 moves from this position. In general, though, what appears in that article is new to me. I had never heard or read of the Troitzky Line before...

Strangely enough, I don't think I've ever played a two-bishop vs lone king endgame. Any that might have reached such a pass were resigned long before, and at that probably had better ways of continuing for the attacker anyhow. Since the procedure is easy enough to learn I would certainly resign such an ending against one of my own rating, and possibly a good deal below it. Mind you, a player of, say, a 1500-1600 rating might well prefer to play the thing out, especially against a higher rated opponent. As for the B+N ending: maybe not.

The reason is that it was suggested several decades ago that so arcane was the B+N ending that there were even quite a lot of IMs who weren't fully 'up' with the winning method. I did once see a B+N ending between two strong players (this was at Auckland University Arts Festival, 1972) peter out to a draw. White was overall the stronger player, but had bollixed the early play so badly he was hanging by his teeth until finally baling out to the lone King side of the B+N ending. He then hung on for the next 50 moves to hold the game. I don't think Black had the slightest idea how to go about it.

So I would probably not resign until it became clear to me that my opponent knew what he was doing. In any case it would be quite nice to have the thing 'down on paper' in at least one game. It would really be a case of 'show me', but as it were a student learning at the feet of a teacher.

BACK to my comment that a developing player might want to play out one of these difficult wins as accept an opponent's resignation: I'm pretty sure that was my attitude in my younger days. In my final high school year, I moved to a larger school where I met a younger but good deal stronger opponent (now domiciled in Australia, I believe). He won the first three of our games pretty handily, but the fourth was a drawn out 70-odd move affair the came down to my Queen vs his NP on the seventh rank.

It was the first time I had played such an ending, though I knew that this was a win and how to go about it (book). But what made it interesting was the point at which I allowed the promotion, which would have led to an instant mate, my opponent promoted to a knight! That was new. Of course it made no difference to the result - merely prolonged the game by a move or two, but I quite appreciated the defensive ingenuity. That I got to practise this ending in actual play was also appreciated. I feel sure Evan knew he was losing, but wanted to test my technique. In the circumstances was glad to have it tested.
archduke_piccolo
26-Jun-11, 16:58

One other point...
For some reason I thought for the two knights to win, the enemy pawn had to be a flank pawn (a- or h-file). It is only fairly recently I discovered that view to be mistaken.
tactical_abyss
26-Jun-11, 17:45

Its great to talk about these endings...I know Loretta does.Seems like these types of ending are very rare indeed.I can't even think of a game for years that ended with these 2 knights and the enemy pawn,or 2 Bishops or even a Bishop and a Knight.I'll have to check some of my old score cards or even my postal cards...I have actually saved every one.About 100,000 cards!Stacked in many boxes in the cellar.Maybe they will be worth something in some alien museum after Dec 2012 when they land and we aren't around anymore!Ha,ha!

Yes Ion,the enemy pawn dosen't have to be on the a or h file,but your opponents King must be forced into one of the end files and then into a corner.
jkedzie
26-Jun-11, 19:06

Possibly 2 Bishops
I do believe this annotated game of mine was heading to a 2B vs. K ending:

gameknot.com
baronderkilt
26-Jun-11, 21:18

Getting in a plug for a couple of Chess friends . . .
I have had one tournament game come down to N & B vs my King, which was against NM Paul Rohwer. He was a student of my other Chess friend FM Mike Blankenau, a 2400-ish player himself, who enjoys training promising Juniors.

Indeed Paul made the USCF top ten list of Juniors in the USA ... and proved out his technique & training very convincingly ... making very short & completely accurate work of the Mate that started with my King already quartered, from which forcing play could and did bring about Mate in that corner.

So there are some players who really are up on their basic Mates. And I would not be inclined to test Paul again in that ending, with any hope of surviving it; nor ever stear for it with drawing hopes~!

Yet, as has been said ... I too have heard of very strong players failing at it in tournament practice. And so I would be inclined to play it out vs anyone untested in it, by me in a past experience. With perhaps only a slight hope to draw, but moreso to see beautifully accurate finish by someone who really has it down. Which would also serve to help bring it to mind for ME, in case i should ever be on the strong side. There seems to be something about playing it out with a tournament seriousness and time controls etc, that reinforces it to my memory much stronger than any time spent trying to review booked examples.

To me in otb play, only N&B still seems difficult. B+B is easy and I find it fun for that reason. Also Q vs R ending seems retainable once you play thru the Strong side and grasp the several ideas to pursue. But I have heard of this ending being drawn by strong players also, tho being a forcible win within the 50 move limit.

I think the difficulty with the Q vs R and N+B endings, besides coming very infrequently, is the fact that they can take over 30 moves to force, and so one botch at the wrong time can leave a situation that cannot be forced to a win within the remaining moves.

The ending of R+N vs R may also prove very difficult in that way.
jkedzie
26-Jun-11, 23:21

R+N vs. R
baronderkilt
Love the name BTW! Anyway, I am currently losing a game in a very bad way & I am planning a knight sacrifice in order to try to get it to a R+N vs. R endgame where I hope I can salvage a draw... doubtfull since this is internet Chess   However, the theme is there.
baronderkilt
27-Jun-11, 00:12

jkedzie ...
Thx~! I used to be ccmcacollister, but it was too mundane; plus I don't feel very CCM anymore~ lol. And so it goes. G/L with your game.
lighttotheright
01-Jul-11, 09:23

It's humorous and almost strange to me to hear strong players say they feel a little hesitant about a B+N endgame.

I mastered it long ago and can even choose exactly how I'm going to do it. Yes, there is more than 1 technique to force mate (although it is still in the same color corner that the bishop moves). Keep in mind that there are unforced opportunities to mate in other parts of the board. I will admit it was very difficult to learn, but once learned it is easy. It just takes quite a few moves to force the win.

My chess ability after mastering it skyrocketed because it teaches you much about how to handle the Knight and Bishop together. It also helps teach you how important King movements are.

***

N+N vs. P? Now that's interesting. Not all positions are forced wins. Enough winning positions do exist that even if it is not forced, you can often manage a win because of a mistake by your opponent. It can be a very difficult ending, especially if you are unfamiliar with the winning technique. A forced win in some positions is impossible against a player who knows what they are doing.
maca
02-Jul-11, 01:56

I once pulled off a win in a B+N endgame here in GK. Now, I managed to do it even though I haven't 'learned' the actual technique by heart. In a correspondence-style game, where one has plenty of time, it wasn't too difficult to work it out move-by-move although it did take a fair amount of time and effort. That said, my opponent probably didn't play in the optimal manner, and my execution was also far from perfect. It would have been way more difficult to accomplish in an OTB game.


Regards,
MaCa.