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    <title>Chess Corner</title>
    <category>Chess Corner</category>
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    <description>Latest local news from The Durango Herald.</description>
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        <link>https://tj.durangoherald.com/wild-hunting-dogs/</link>
        <title>Wild hunting dogs</title>
        <description>White to move and win</description>
        <pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2026 10:55:03 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[White to move and winAfrican wild hunting dogs are one of the most successful predators in the animal kingdom. Cooperation and coordination are the keys to their success. Because of their small stature, injuries often occur, but the pack protects the injured and gives them time to heal.In this week’s position, White’s pieces are like a pack of wild dogs. Here, one dog strategically offers to sacrifice itself so the pack can capture the prey. From there, the dogs are not all bark. With this hint, please try to find White’s winning move and attack.This week’s position arose in Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov’s game against Russia’s Andrey Esipenko in the recent Candidates Tournament. Sindarov was White; Esipenko, Black. Like a wild dog, Sindarov bit Esipenko in the neck with rook to e6. This immediately threatens rook to e8, forcing Black to give up its queen to stop mate.Esipenko thus accepted White’s offer of an exchange sacrifice with knight takes rook. Sindarov’s bishop took the Black knight, checking Black. The Black king was forced to h8 or otherwise get promptly mated on f7 with White’s queen. White’s queen next checks from e8 (see next diagram).From here, there are multiple checkmating lines. One line is king to h7, followed by White’s bishop taking the Black f5 pawn with check. Black blocks the check with pawn to g6. White’s queen captures the g6 pawn and, on the next move, mates with queen to h7 (see next diagram).We can learn a lot from dogs: Loyalty, courage and the importance of circling around three times like a helicopter before resting.Reach Eric Morrow at ericmorrowlaw@gmail.com or (505) 327-7121.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tj.durangoherald.com/what-lurks-in-pawn-chains/</link>
        <title>What lurks in pawn chains</title>
        <description>Black to move and win Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan won the open division of the Candidates Tournament in historic fashion and will play India’s Gukesh Dommaraj for the World Chess Championship later this year. It will be the youngest championship...</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 10:20:50 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[Black to move and winJavokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan won the open division of the Candidates Tournament in historic fashion and will play India’s Gukesh Dommaraj for the World Chess Championship later this year.It will be the youngest championship match in history by more than a decade, with both players 20 years old. Computers and the internet have accelerated the development of talented players such that eight of the world’s top 20 players are in their 20s, most of them in their early 20s.In the women’s division, it was a toss-up until the final round, with Vaishali Rameshbabu of India winning a tactical melee against Ukraine’s Kateryna Lagno. She will play Ju Wenjun of China later this year for the women’s title as well. Sindarov received $200,000 for his victory; Rameshbabu, $77,000. It is perhaps worth noting that Wenjun’s world ranking is 179 and Rameshbabu’s 411. Sindarov’s meteoric rise places him at No. 5.This week’s position is from the Candidates game between Anish Giri of the Netherlands and Fabiano Caruana of the United States, who was the favorite going into the tournament. Giri placed second and Caruana third. Giri’s win in this game knocked Caruana out of contention for first place and gave Giri a small chance of catching Sindarov at the time.Here, Giri is black; Caruana, white. Giri shows that mating attacks can lurk inside pawn chains. With this hint, please try to find black’s best move.White’s f5 pawn threatens black’s bishop. The bishop can escape, but white would have a discovered check by the queen with pawn to f6, with the f6 pawn threatening black’s queen. Defending against the discovered check with pawn to e4 fires back at the white queen, and things are messy for both sides.Black’s best move is to abandon the bishop and move the king to h6. White’s pawn then captures the bishop, as played, and black rejoins with pawn to e4, simultaneously threatening the white queen and queen to g5, checkmate (see next diagram).White’s best reply to king to h6 is not to take the bishop but to retreat to f3 because of the threat of bishop to h5, checkmate. After the white king retreats, black’s e5 pawn marches to e4, checking white with an unsupported fork on the white queen and king.White’s queen wins the pawn, and black checks from h5 with its bishop. This forces the white king to move away from its defense of the queen, and black’s queen snatches white’s queen for a pawn (see next diagram).It is undisputed that Norway’s Magnus Carlsen is the best player in the world and has been ranked No. 1 for the past 12 years. He and China’s Hou Yifan, who has been ranked as high as No. 55 in the world and is a former women’s world champion, opted out of defending their titles. Both players say they have proven themselves, and Yifan is semiretired.Judit Polgar was ranked No. 8 in the world but retired to raise a family and is still an active commentator during major chess events. Polgar is the only woman to have defeated active and former world champions in major events.Reach Eric Morrow at ericmorrowlaw@gmail.com or (505) 327-7121.]]></content:encoded>
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        <link>https://tj.durangoherald.com/a-rising-star-2/</link>
        <title>A rising star</title>
        <description>What is black’s best move?</description>
        <pubDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:54:18 -0600</pubDate>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[What is black’s best move?Twenty-year-old sensation Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan has run away with the Candidates Tournament, which determines the challenger to the reigning world chess champion.With only a few games remaining, and with Sindarov posting the best performance in Candidates history, he seems a lock to challenge D. Gukesh for the World Chess Championship later this year.This week’s position is from his game against China’s Yi Wei. Wei is white; Sindarov, black. This week’s position is a lesson in how to promote advanced passed pawns. With this hint in mind, please try to find black’s best move.Sindarov’s c3 pawn is ominously close to promotion. He facilitates this by moving his f4 pawn to f3. White’s best reply is a queen trade, as Wei played. Other lines allow black to promote its ‘c’ pawn even quicker or snatch material. For example, queen to f5 is followed by the black f3 pawn taking the white g2 pawn with check. The white king takes the pawn, and black’s queen then checks from e2 and wins white’s rook.After the queen trade, white is lost in all lines. The computer engines recommend that white’s g2 pawn take black’s f3 pawn, which Wei played. In reply, black’s c3 pawn steps onto c2, as played by Sindarov (see Diagram 2).Here, white’s best move is rook to c1, albeit other lines lead to the same conclusion. For example, if rook to f1, then black moves its rook to d3, which prepares rook to d1 and the c2 pawn’s promotion. After Wei’s rook to c1, black’s rook moves to e2. This seals the white king to the first rank. White’s king races to help its rook stop black’s c2 pawn and moves to g1. But this is too little, too late, as Sindarov slides his rook to d2, preparing d1, check, which wins white’s rook and garners a new queen (see Diagram 3).Returning to the position after pawn to f3 by black and the queen trade on e3, a natural consideration for white is the immediate rook to c1. However, the black f3 pawn advances to f2 (see Diagram 4).Black’s threat of rook to e1 also wins white’s rook and garners a new queen.Only 18 months ago, Sindarov was not ranked in the top 50. He won the 2025 World Cup to qualify for the Candidates Tournament. By the end of the year, he could be the new world chess champion. A true rising star.Reach Eric Morrow at ericmorrowlaw@gmail.com or (505) 327-7121.]]></content:encoded>
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