In chess, a swindle is a ruse by which a player in a losing position tricks their opponent and thereby achieves a win or draw instead of the expected loss. It may also refer more generally to obtaining a win or draw from a clearly losing position.[1] I. A. Horowitz and Fred Reinfeld distinguish among "traps", "pitfalls", and "swindles". In their terminology, a "trap" refers to a situation where players go wrong through their own efforts. In a "pitfall", the beneficiary of the pitfall plays an active role, creating a situation where a plausible move by the opponent will turn out badly. A "swindle" is a pitfall adopted by a player who has a clearly lost game. Horowitz and Reinfeld observe that swindles, "though ignored in virtually all chess books", "play an enormously important role in over-the-board chess, and decide the fate of countless games".
Although "swindling" in general usage is synonymous with cheating or fraud, in chess the term does not imply that the swindler has done anything unethical or unsportsmanlike.[2] There is nonetheless a faint stigma attached to swindles, since players feel that one who has outplayed one's opponent for almost the entire game "is 'morally' entitled to victory" and a swindle is thus regarded as "rob[bing] the opponent of a well-earned victory".[3] The best swindles can be quite artistic, however, and some are widely known.
There are ways that players can maximize their chances of pulling off a swindle, including playing actively and exploiting . Although swindles can be effected in many different ways, themes such as stalemate, perpetual check, and surprise mating attacks are often seen.
The ability to swindle one's way out of a lost position is a useful skill for any chess player and according to Graham Burgess is "a major facet of practical chess".[4] Frank Marshall may be the only top player who became well known as a frequent swindler.[5] Marshall was proud of his reputation for swindles, and in 1914 wrote a book entitled Marshall's Chess "Swindles".[6] [7]
| + Marshall vs. Marco, 1904 |
Perhaps the most celebrated of his many "Marshall swindles" occurred in Marshall–Marco, Monte Carlo 1904.[9] Marshall wrote of the position in the leftmost diagram, "White's position has become desperate, as the hostile b-pawn must queen." White could play 45.Rxc7+, but Black would simply respond 45...Kb8, winning. Many players would resign here, but Marshall saw an opportunity for "a last 'swindle. He continued 45.c6 Now Black could have played 45...bxc6!, but disdained it because White could then play 46.Rxc7+ Kb8 47.Rb7+! Kxb7 48.Nc5+, winning Black's rook and temporarily stopping Black's pawn from advancing.
Black should have played this line, however, because he still wins after 48...Ka7 49.Nxa4: while there are many ways to win from the resulting position, the quickest would be to play Bd4, trapping the knight, and after 50.Kf3 Ka6 51.Ke4 Ka5 52.Kxd4 Kxa4 53.Kc3 Ka3, Black's pawn queens after all. Instead, Marco defended c7 with 45...Be5, mistakenly thinking that this would put an end to Marshall's tricks. The game continued 46.cxb7+ Kb8 (46...Kxb7? 47.Nc5+ wins the rook) 47.Nc5! Ra2+ 48.Kh3 b2 49.Re7! Ka7 (not 49...b1=Q 50.Re8+ Ka7 51.Ra8+ Kb6 52.b8=Q+, winning Black's newly created queen) 50.Re8 c6 51.Ra8+ Kb6 52.Rxa2! b1=Q (rightmost diagram).
White's resources finally seem to be at an end, but now Marshall reveals his deeply hidden point: 53.b8=Q+ Bxb8 54.Rb2+! Qxb2 55.Na4+ Kb5 56.Nxb2. Marshall has caught Black's pawn after all, and is now a pawn up in a position where it is Black who is fighting for a draw. Fred Reinfeld and Irving Chernev commented, "Marshall's manner of extricating himself from his difficulties is reminiscent of an end-game by Rinck or Troitsky!"[10] Marshall eventually won the game[11] after a further mistake by Black.
| + Evans vs. Reshevsky, 1963–64 |
International Master (IM) Simon Webb in his book Chess for Tigers identified five "secrets of swindling":
(1) Be objective. The first prerequisite to a swindle is to be objective enough to realize early on when you have a lost position and start playing for a swindle while your position still has resources. If you wait until your position worsens and becomes hopeless, it will be too late.
(2) Do not be afraid of losing. "Once you've accepted that your position is lost, you should be in a position of psychological strength." The worst that can happen is that you'll lose the game. The pressure is on your opponent to win a "won game", and it is your opponent who will be embarrassed if unable to do so.
(3) Play actively. In a losing position, you cannot passively wait for your opponent to squeeze you to death. To stand a chance of pulling off a successful swindle, it is important to get the, and this may involve sacrificing a pawn or two, or even the exchange, to activate your pieces.
Grandmaster (GM) John Nunn adds a caveat: when in a bad position, one must decide between two strategies, which he calls "grim " and "create confusion." "Grim defence" involves finding some way to hang on, often by liquidating to an ending. "Create confusion" entails trying to "gain the initiative, even at material cost, hoping to stir up complications and cause the opponent to go wrong." Nunn cautions that, "If you decide to go for 'create confusion' then you should press the panic button sufficiently early to give yourself a reasonable chance of success. However, you should be sure that your position is really bad enough to warrant such drastic measures. In my experience, it is far more common to panic too early than too late."
(4) Use the process of elimination. If you have a choice of several possible moves, and you see simple forced wins against all but one of those moves, you should play the one remaining move, and do so quickly. Again, the onus is on your opponent to find a way to win. GM Parimarjan Negi observes, "the key is not to lose instantly."[19]
Negi also notes that the prospective swindler should "keep enough options on the board so your opponent has a chance to see ghosts and lose his bearings. The closer he gets to winning, the less he wants to work – exploit that state of mind!"[20]
(5) "Star quality." Webb uses this term to refer to the prospective swindler's manner at the chessboard. He explains, "if you're on the defensive, try to look completely dejected and uninterested, in the hope that your opponent will get careless; but once you start getting your pieces into action and complicating the position, look as confident as possible in an effort to frighten him." Further, when you set a trap, try to look normal, or even to appear nervous if you're sure that you can do so without arousing your opponent's suspicions.
Such play-acting can be carried to extremes. GM Nikolai Krogius writes that Najdorf, in his game against Gligorić at the 1952 Helsinki Olympiad,[21] "left a pawn in time trouble, and then desperately clutched his head and reached out as if wanting to take the pawn back. ... Gligorić took the pawn, and soon thereafter lost the game. It transpired that Najdorf had staged the whole pantomime to blunt his opponent's watchfulness. This can hardly be called ethical."
(6) Time trouble is another consideration noted by various authors, including Webb himself. This has two aspects; the more obvious is exploiting the opponent's time pressure to perpetrate a swindle. Ali Mortazavi observes that "when the clock is ticking and time is pressing, a player's intuition is most likely to let him down, and this is where the swindler will get his opportunity." He writes, "It is of the utmost importance that the swindler conducts himself in the appropriate fashion when his opponent is in time trouble." This includes calmly reflecting rather than rushing one's moves. GM Pal Benko notes that it is unpleasant for the player in time trouble to have to wait at the board, without daring even to get up to get a drink of water; this also makes the player in time trouble impatient, interferes with his concentration, and may cause him to mix up his planned responses. Mortazavi also advocates that, in general, one should avoid playing the most obvious moves (one-move traps, obvious pawn breaks, checks, etc.), since the player in time trouble will likely have analyzed and have responses ready for them.
However, both Benko and Webb advocate what Webb calls the "barrage technique": analyze a forced sequence of moves, then play them quickly. Webb explains, "For example, if you have an obvious exchange of pieces available, don't play it immediately, but first decide on your next move, and then play them both at once. ... The aim is to catch your opponent with a move he hasn't considered. He will probably have considered most sensible moves in the position on the board, but since he doesn't know what your first move is going to be, he can't prepare replies to your second or third moves. The effect of an unexpected second move bashed out instantaneously can be shattering, even if it isn't particularly good." (Both Benko and Webb emphasize that a player who has a winning position should not play quickly in his opponent's time pressure. Likewise, GM Luděk Pachman remarks, "It is best to continue with one's sound strategic plan, and if one has the better position, it is completely illogical to fish in the murky waters of the opponent's time trouble.")
The second aspect of time trouble is that the player in time trouble may use it to facilitate a swindle. An example of this is Chigorin–Schlechter, cited below, where Schlechter's time trouble led Chigorin to believe that 44...Qc7+! was a time pressure-induced blunder rather than a trap. Mortazavi notes that although players in time trouble "rarely play the best moves, their opponents can also suffer from the excitement of the moment and play abysmally." Krogius notes that a player who is unhappy with the course of the game sometimes "enters time trouble with the idea of exploiting it as a form of psychological warfare. This ... is often successful: the opponent, hoping to gain a quick victory during the other side's time trouble, becomes excited and loses the necessary critical approach. ... The result is a loss of detachment in controlling one's emotions which leads to serious errors, and thus the intentional use of time trouble is often justified. However, Krogius warns that one should deliberately get into time trouble only after a detailed assessment of a number of considerations, such as the complexity of the position, the opponent's character, and the likelihood of errors on his part.
Pachman once deliberately let an hour run off his clock in order to use his own time trouble to lure his opponent into a swindle. In Pachman–Doda, Havana 1965, Pachman had earlier sacrificed an exchange for attacking chances. In the left-most position, Pachman had just played 27.Re1–e3?, to which his opponent responded with 27...Nd7–e5!. After that move, Pachman writes, "I was suddenly aware that my position was in ruins." Black threatens to win a second exchange with 28...Ng4; since 28.fxe5 fxe5, threatening both 29...Rxf2 and 29...exd4, is hopeless for White, White must allow the knight to penetrate to d3, where it will threaten White's b and f pawns, leaving Black with a crushing position. Pachman considered resigning immediately, but saw an opportunity for a possible swindle. Since Black could easily sidestep the swindle, leaving him with a winning position, it was essential for Black to think that the move introducing the swindle was a time-trouble induced blunder. Pachman, who had over an hour for the next 13 moves, accordingly let his time go down to three minutes, "the absolute minimum required in case my opponent should err." Pachman then played 28.Qd2, Doda responded 28...Nd3, and Pachman played 29.Nd1 immediately, "in my artificially created time trouble!" Doda now could have kept a winning position with (for example) 29...Bg4. Instead, he glanced at Pachman's clock, thought no more than 30 seconds, and played 29...Nxf4?, falling into Pachman's swindle. Pachman played 30.Nf5!, initiating a strong attack (see right-most diagram). Pachman writes, "The rest of the game followed at lightning speed, with my opponent in no way short of time but clearly depressed by the piece sacrifice." The game concluded 30...gxf5 31.Rg3+ Kh8 32.Qxf4 Rb3? (better was 32...Qxe4 33.Qd2 f4 34.Rf3 and 35.Rxf4, with a strong attack) 33.Nc3 Rxb2 34.exf5 a5 35.Ne4 Re2 36.Nxf6 Rxf6? (after the better 36...Re5 37.Ng4 Rxf5 38.Nh6! Rf8 39.Rg5! wins) 37.Qg5 Re1+ 38.Kh2 [22]
Similarly, if you have a lost position and can manage to induce your opponent to play quickly, you maximize the chances of a swindle. As Benko explains, "if you have a lost position, you may as well try speed chess—you can only lose a game once. Maybe your opponent will get rattled and blow his advantage." GM Larry Christiansen successfully used this strategy in Burden–Christiansen, Las Vegas 1992 (diagram at right).[23] Down a queen for a knight and pawn against an opponent rated about 2200[24] (master-level), he managed to outplay his opponent and win! National Master Todd Bardwick explains, "Christiansen hung his queen (!) in the early middle game and had a hopelessly lost position. He then moved quickly, hoping to get Jim [Burden] caught up in a faster paced game where the probability of Jim making a mistake was increased. The idea worked as the game actually speeded up to a blitz pace where Jim ended up blundering away a game he would have never lost had he taken his time."[25]
The game continued: 26...Ng4 27.Kb1 Nh6 28.Bc4 Ng4 29.Qd3 Rd8 30.d7 e4 31.Qd6 Be5 32.Qe7 32.Qxb6! Rxd7 (or 32...Bf6 33.h3) 33.Qe6! Rd8 34.h3 wins a piece. Bf6 33.Qe8+ Kg7 34.Qf7+ Kh6 35.h3 Ne3 36.Qxf6 36.Be6! Rxd7 37.Qe6 37.Rf4! (threatening Rh4#) Nxg2 38.Rxf5 (intending Qf8+ is crushing) Rd4 38.Re1 Nxg2 Christiansen evidently felt that this gave better swindling chances than 38...Nxc4 39.c3 Nd2+ 40.Kc2 Rd8 (or 40...Nb3 41.Rd1!) 41.Qxb6. 39.Rg1 Nf4 40.Qg8 e3 41.Qf8+ Kh5 42.h4 42.Qg7! h6 43.Be2+! mates quickly. Rxc4 43.Qf6 White mates with 43.Rg5+! Kxh4 44.Qh6+ Nh5 45.Rg1! Rg4 46.Rh1+ Kg3 47.Qxe3+ Kg2 48.Rg1+ Kh2 49.Qf2+ Kh3 50.Rh1#. 43.Qf7! or 43.Qg8! is also crushing, threatening both Qxh7# and Black's rook. Kh6 44.Qg5+ 44.Qf8+ allows White to transpose to the above lines, but even better is 44.Rg5! (threatening Qf8#) Ne6 (44...Nh5 allows 45.Rxg6+! hxg6 46.Qh8# or 45.Rxh5+! Kxh5 46.Qg5#). 45.Rxg6+! Kh5 46.Rg5+! Kxh4 47.Qh6#. Kg7 45.Qe7+ 45.Rd1! (threatening Rd7+) Rd4 46.Rxd4 cxd4 47.Qxf4 wins easily. Kh6 46.Qxe3? 46.Qg5+! Kg7 47.Rd1! transposes to the above line. Re4 47.Qf2 Nh3 48.Qd2+ Kh5 49.Re1 Rxe1+ 50.Qxe1 f4 51.Qe7 h6 52.Qf6? 52.Qf7! Kxh4 53.Qxg6 h5 54.Kc1 f3 55.Kd2 and now (a) 55...f2 56.Qg2 zugzwang; (b) 55...Nf4 56.Qf5! and if 56...Kg3 57.Qg5+ wins the knight; (c) 55...Ng5 56.Qf5 wins. g5 53.hxg5 hxg5 54.Qxb6 f3 55.Qxc5 Kg4 56.Qe3 Kg3 57.c4 Kg2 58.c5 f2 59.Qe4+ Kh2 60.Qf3 g4! 61.Qe2? White could draw with 61.Qxg4 f1=Q+ 62.Kc2 Qf2+ 63.Kb1 Qf1+ 64.Kc2 Qb5 (64...Nf2 65.Qf4+ Kg2 66.Qg5+ Kf3 67.Qf6+ Ke3 68.Qh6+ Kd4 69.Qd6+ Ke4 70.Qg6+ Kd5 71.Qd6+ Ke4 72.Qg6+ Kf4 73.Qd6+ Ke4 draws by repetition of moves) 65.Qb4. g3 62.c6 g2 63.Qe5+ Kh1 64.c7 g1=Q+ 65.Kc2 f1=Q 66.Kc3 Qc1+ 67.Kb4 Qb6+ 68.Kxa4 Qcc6+ [26]
Swindles can occur in myriad different ways, but as illustrated below certain themes are often seen.
One classic way of saving a draw in a losing position is by stalemate. Almost every master has at some point spoiled a won game by falling into a stalemate trap.[27] The defender often achieves the stalemate by sacrificing all of their remaining mobile pieces, with check, in such a way that they must be captured, leaving the defender with only a king (and sometimes also pawns and/or pieces) with no legal moves.
In Chigorin–Schlechter, Ostend 1905,[28] (see diagram), a game between two of the leading players of the day, an unusual combination of stalemate and zugzwang enabled the great Schlechter to rescue a desperate position. Schlechter, in extreme, played 44...Qc7+! Chigorin, thinking Schlechter had blundered, responded 45.Qb6+??, seemingly forcing the trade of queens. Schlechter's 45...Ka8! forced an immediate draw: 46.Qxc7 is stalemate, and 46.Ka6 Qc8+! 47.Ka5 allows a draw with either 47...Qc7! (zugzwang), when White cannot make progress, or 47...Qc3+! 48.Ka6 Qc8+! with a perpetual check.
| + Kasparov vs. McDonald, 1986 |
| + Grischuk vs. J. Polgar, 2007 |
Popular chess YouTuber and streamer Eric Rosen has developed a reputation for making use of what has become known eponymously as the Rosen Trap in online speed chess to induce stalemate in losing positions;[35] the most well known is the Classic Rosen Trap, where the losing side puts a piece on a square a knight’s move away from the corner (on g6, f7, c7, b6, b3, c2, f2, or g3) and lures the opponent into taking its only remaining piece with the queen (the king can shift on the two squares adjacent to both the piece and the corner for waiting moves), but instead of recapturing the queen with the king as might be expected, the losing side moves the king to the corner of the board, resulting in a classic stalemate if the winning side does not move the queen or deliver checkmate on the following move. The Rosen Trap can also happen with other pieces or in other locations, but the Classic Rosen Trap is the most common, since it only involves a king + another piece against a queen.
While in chess such a trap would be unlikely to be effective given the obvious nature of the resulting stalemate, in online speed chess the winning side often premoves a continuation to king takes queen to save time, thus falling into the trap. For this reason, the Rosen Trap can be an effective drawing resource in online speed chess endgames.
For further examples of swindles based on stalemate, see Stalemate; Desperado (chess); Congdon–Delmar, New York 1880;[36] Post–Nimzowitsch, Barmen Masters 1905;[37] Schlechter–Wolf, Nuremberg 1906;[38] Znosko-Borovsky–Salwe, Ostend B 1907;[39] Walter–Nagy, Győr 1924;[40] Janowski–Grünfeld, Marienbad 1925;[41] Heinicke–Rellstab, German Championship 1939;[42] Bernstein–Smyslov, Groningen 1946;[43] Horowitz–Pavey, U.S. Championship 1951;[44] Fichtl–F. Blatny, Czechoslovakia 1956;[45] Portisch–Lengyel, Málaga 1964;[46] Matulović–Suttles, Palma de Mallorca Interzonal 1970;[47] Fuller–Basin, Michigan Open 1992;[48] Boyd–Glimbrant, Alicante 1992;[49] and Pein–de Firmian, Bermuda 1995.[50]
| + St. Amant vs. Staunton, 1843 |
This stunning reversal had a major impact on the match. Staunton had won seven and drawn one of the first eight games, and believed that St. Amant would have resigned the match if he had lost. Instead, St. Amant was able to continue the match for three more weeks, winning another five games, before finally succumbing.[53]
| + Rhine vs. Nagle, 1997 |
| + de Firmian vs. Shirazi, 1986 |
| + Zukertort vs. Steinitz, 1883 |
Draw by perpetual check is another often-seen way of swindling a draw from a lost position.The position at left is from Ivanchuk–Moiseenko, Russian Team Championship, Sochi 2005.[64] Black is down two pawns against the world's sixth highest-rated player.[65] Worse, Ivanchuk's pieces dominate the board. IM Malcolm Pein notes that after almost any sensible move, for example 30.Qc2, Black would be completely lost.[66] White would then threaten 31.Rd6 pinning the knight to the queen, and neither 30...Nf6 31.Bxf6 gxf6 32.Qxh7# nor 30...Nc5 31.Ree7 is an adequate response. 30.Qc2 would also guard against a possible ...Qd1+, the significance of which becomes apparent after seeing the game continuation.
Moiseenko met Ivanchuk's 30.Rb7?? with 30...Nf8!! This not only threatens 31...Nxe6, but also enables Black to meet 31.Rxb8 with 31...Qd1+ 32.Kh2 Qh5+ 33.Kg1 Qd1+, drawing by perpetual check. The perpetual check is based on White's weak back rank combined with his slightly compromised king position (no h-pawn). Note how pieces that are well placed for attacking purposes may be misplaced for defensive purposes. White's rook on e6 was well placed when White had the initiative, but is of no use in stopping the threatened perpetual check. (Similarly, in Rhine–Nagle, Black's rook on g5 was an excellent attacking piece, but was poorly placed to defend Black's back rank or stop White's passed c-pawn.)
White tried 31.Rh6, but could not avoid the perpetual: 31...Rxb7 32.Qxb7 Qd1+ 33.Kh2 Rh5+ 34.Rxh5 34.Kg3!? (hoping for 34...Rxh6?? 35.Qxg7#) is met by 34...Rg5+! and White must repeat moves with 35.Kh2! Rh5+, since 35.Kh3?? Qh1#; 35.Kh4?? Qg4#; and 35.Kf4?? Qg4# all get mated. 34...Qxh5+ 35.Kg3 Qg5+ 36.Kf3 Qf5+ ½–½ since White cannot escape the perpetual check.
Sometimes perpetual check can even save the draw in a very simplified ending. In Keres–Eliskases, Noordwijk 1938[67] (see diagram), Black seems to be in desperate straits: he can win either of White's pawns, but then the other will queen, leaving White with a theoretical win in the queen versus rook ending. However, the players agreed to a draw after 56...Rb6+! 57. Kc1 Rh6! Because of continuous checks and mate threats from Black's rook, White will never have time to queen either pawn. For instance, 58.Kd1 Kd3 59.Ke1 Ke3 60.Kf1 Kf3 61.Kg1 Rg6+! 62.Kh2 Rh6+! 63.Kg1 Rg6+ 64.Kf1 Rh6! 65.Ke1 Ke3 66.Kd1 Kd3 67.Kc1 Kc3 68.Kb1 and now Black even has a choice of draws: (a) 68...Rb6+ 69.Ka2 Ra6+! or (b) 68...Rh1+ 69.Ka2 Rh2+ 70.Ka3 Rh1! 71.Ka4 Kc4 72.Ka5 Kc5 73.Ka4 (forced) Kc4 etc.
| + Korchnoi vs. Karpov, 1978 |
| + Bouaziz vs. Miles, 1979 |
David Bronstein, in his immortal losing game, valiantly but unsuccessfully tried to swindle Bogdan Śliwa with a surprise mating attack.
Sometimes a player who is behind in material can escape into an endgame with bishops of opposite colors, i.e. where one player has a bishop that moves on white squares and the other player a bishop that moves on black squares. In such endings, the superior side is often unable to win with two or even three extra pawns. An example of a swindle based on securing bishops of opposite colors is seen in the diagram on the right. Grandmaster Mark Taimanov, playing White, has a winning position because his is very strong, his king is more active, and Black's pawns are weak. White could win with 1.Bc2! Be8 2.Bxb8 Kxb8 3.Ke5 followed by Kf6, winning Black's g-pawn and the game, or 1...Na6 2.Bd6.[75] Taimanov saw this line, but thought that the order in which he played Bc2 and Bxb8 did not matter. He played 1.Bxb8?, expecting to transpose into the above line after 1...Kxb8 2.Bc2 Be8 3.Ke5. Bronstein surprised him with 1...c5+!! 2.Kxc5 Bxa4, resulting in a dead-drawn bishops of opposite colors ending. After White moves his en prise bishop, Black can play 3...Kb7 followed by 4...Bc2; then Black can keep his king on b7 forever, blocking White's pawn, and shift his bishop along the b1–f5 diagonal to defend his own pawn.
The Dutch grandmaster Jan Hein Donner swindled future World Champion Bobby Fischer in similar fashion at the second Piatigorsky Cup tournament (had Fischer won, he would have tied with Boris Spassky for first place). In the position at right Black, a pawn behind, has just played 29...Qf5, attacking White's rook and hoping for the obvious 30.Bd3? which seems at first glance to win a second pawn, e.g. 30...Qd7 31.Rxc8+ Qxc8 32.Bxa6. Fischer indeed played this, but Donner responded with 30...Rxc2! 31.Bxf5 Rc1, when the "exchange of queens leads to a dead draw" in a pawn-down bishops of opposite colors ending.[76] (Instead, Fischer could have increased his advantage with 30.Qb1! threatening a decisive gain of material with 31.Bxf7+! Kxf7 (or 31...Qxf7 32.Rxc8+) 32.Qb7+ (or even 32.Rc7+ Rxc7 33.Qxf5). 30...Rxc4? would lose material to 31.Qb8+. Fischer agreed to a draw after 32.Qxc1 Bxc1 33.Kf1 Kf8 34.Ke2 h6.[77]
Sometimes a player who is behind in material may achieve a draw by exchanging off, or sacrificing for, all of the opponent's pawns, leaving a position (for example, two knights versus lone king) where the superior side still has a material advantage but cannot force checkmate. (Properly speaking, this may or may not be a "swindle", depending on whether the superior side missed a clear win earlier.) The inferior side is also sometimes able to achieve an ending that is theoretically still lost, but where the win is difficult and may be beyond the opponent's abilities—for example, bishop and knight versus lone king;[78] queen versus rook;[79] two knights versus pawn, which is sometimes a win for the knights;[80] or two bishops versus knight.[81] [82]
The diagram at above left, a 1623 composition by Gioachino Greco, shows a straightforward example of forcing a draw by material insufficiency. Black, although two pawns down, draws easily with 1...Ra1+ 2.Rf1 Rxf1+ 3. Kxf1 Bh3! Then 4.gxh3 is a standard book draw, since White's bishop is of the "wrong color" from the rook pawns (i.e., it moves on the squares opposite in color to that of the pawns' queening square) and thus can never drive Black's king from the h8 corner. On other moves, Black will play 4...Bxg2!, again leaving White with a rook pawn and the wrong-colored bishop.[83] [84] Black implemented this idea in actual play in Carlsen–Aarland, Norwegian Championship final 2002.[85] From the middle diagram above, Aarland played 52...Ba5!! 53.bxa5 Kc6, and the future world champion had to agree to a draw a few moves later.
White drew similarly in Parr–Farrand, England 1971. From the diagram at above right, play continued 1.Rd5 Bf6 2.Rxf5! On 2...gxf5 3.Kf4, White's king will capture Black's f-pawn, then retreat to h1, reaching a bishop and opposite-colored draw. Instead, Black tried 2...Ke7 3.Rb5 Ke6, "but he soon had to admit that the draw was inevitable."[86]
Schmidt–Schaefer, Rheinhessen 1997 (diagram at above left), is another straightforward example. Black has connected passed pawns, but if White can sacrifice his knights for them he can reach the drawn two knights versus lone king ending. Thus, 50.Nfe4! threatened to capture both pawns with the knights. 50...dxe4 51.Nxe4 Kd5 52.Nxc5! would also achieve that goal. Black tried 50...d4, but agreed to a draw after 51.Nxc5+ Kd6 52.Nb5+! Kxc5 53.Nxd4![87]
Such cases can also be observed in games between chess engines. In Bagatur 1.3a 64-bit–Fischerle 0.9.65 64-bit, CCRL 40/40 2015, rather than capturing the bishop (57...Kxg6), Black played 57...Rxg4. Instead of retreating the bishop, White answered 58.h5? After Black's response 58...Rxg5!, the game concluded 59.fxg5 Kxg5 ½–½. White cannot promote its pawn as it is left with a wrong-color bishop and the black king reaches the h8 square in time. Of course, rather than embodying an instance of swindling proper, the decision of Fischerle to play 57...Rxg4 instead of 57...Kxg6 is based on general considerations regarding the dangerousness of connected passed pawns. In fact, for a chess engine to be able to swindle in a narrower sense, it requires an opponent model[88] that enables it to exploit the relative weaknesses of its particular adversary, enabling asymmetric evaluation[89] to performing speculative play.
The five examples above arguably are not true swindles, but rather the inferior side's exploitation of a defensive resource available in the position. However, Chandler–Susan Polgar, Biel 1987,[90] (diagram at above right), is a bona fide swindle. Polgar has just played 53...Nh6!? (from g8), transparently playing for a rook pawn and wrong-colored bishop draw. GM Chandler obligingly played 54.gxh6+??, expecting 54...Kxh6 55.Kf6! when he will win because Black cannot get her king to h8. Polgar, however, responded 54...Kh8! with the standard draw. White's possession of a second h-pawn is immaterial, and the game concluded 55.Bd5 Kh7 56.Kf7 Kh8! ½–½
The position above left, the conclusion of an endgame study by the American master Frederick Rhine,[91] provides a more complicated example of forcing a draw by material insufficiency. White draws with 5.Nxc4+! Nxc4 If 5...Kc6 6.Nxb6 Kxb6 7.Rxb2+, White's rook draws easily against Black's knight and bishop. 6.Rxb6+ Now Black's best try is 6...Kd5! or 6...Ke7!, when the endgame of rook against two knights and a bishop is a well-established theoretical draw.[33] [92] [93] [94] The more natural 6...Nxb6+ leads to a surprising draw after 7.Kd8! (diagram above), when any bishop move stalemates White, and any other move allows 8.Kxe8, when the two knights cannot force checkmate.[95]
Building a fortress is another method of saving an otherwise lost position. It is often seen in the endgame, for example in endings with bishops of opposite colors (see above).
| + Petrosian vs. Hazai, 1970 |
| + Ivanov vs. Dolmatov, 1976 |
Zugzwang, though most often used by the superior side, is sometimes available as a swindling technique to the inferior side. Chigorin–Schlechter above is one such instance.
In the position at left, the natural 1...Kb4 would be a fatal blunder, turning a win into a loss after 2.Kd5!, reaching the noted trébuchet position (diagram at right), where whoever is on move loses, a situation described as "full-point mutual zugzwang."[100] Instead, 1...Kb3! 2.Kd5 Kb4 wins.
An extraordinary example of using zugzwang to swindle one's way out of a dead lost, complicated endgame occurred in the position at left.[101] On the previous move Black, with an easily winning position, had played 73...d4? (73...b3! wins) and White responded 74.Rd2–d3!!, when Black, a knight up with three dangerous passed pawns, suddenly must fight for a draw. Tim Krabbé explains that the pawns on d4 and e4 are blocked and pinned, the knight is bound to the defense of e4, the rook is bound to the defense of d4, and the pawn on b4 is bound to the defense of the knight. Krabbé analyzes as best for Black 74...b3! 75.Rxd4 Rxd4 76.Rxc3 Rd8 77.Rxb3 Re8 78.Re3 Re5 79.Rc3 (79.Kxf6? Rxa5 82.Kg6 Ra1 83.f6 Rg1+ wins) Re8 80.Re3 Re5 81.Rc3 and the game will end in a draw by repetition of moves. Instead, Black played 74...Nb5? 75.Rxe4 Nd6 76.Re6 Rc6 77.Rxd4 Rxh6+ 78.Kxh6 Nxf5+ 79.Kg6 1–0
| + Beliavsky vs. Christiansen, 1987–88 |
In the movie Tower Heist, Arthur Shaw (played by Alan Alda) mentions "the Marshall Swindle" in a scene[105] where Shaw is playing chess alone, and the main character of Kovaks (played by Ben Stiller) and others are asking where their money is. Shaw specifically mentions the 1912 Master's Tournament game Levitsky versus Marshall and the swindle in that game, which he describes as "the greatest move in the history of chess". This move is later spoken by Kovaks as Shaw is arrested for fraud at the end of the film.
Bibliography
(notes based on those by Pachman)