chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

, a desperado is a

piece Piece or Pieces (not to be confused with peace) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Piece (chess), pieces deployed on a chessboard for playing the game of chess * ''Pieces'' (video game), a 1994 puzzle game for the Super NES * ...

that is (in the first meaning) either ''

en prise This glossary of chess explains commonly used terms in chess, in alphabetical order. Some of these terms have their own pages, like ''fork'' and ''pin''. For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see Fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific t ...

'' or trapped, but captures an enemy piece before it is itself captured in order to compensate the loss a little, or (in the second meaning) is used as a sacrifice that will result in stalemate if it is captured. The former case can arise in a situation where both sides have pieces, in which case these pieces are used to win material prior to being captured. A desperado in the latter case is usually a

rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ...

or a

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

; such a piece is sometimes also called crazy or mad (e.g. crazy rook).

Examples of the first definition

Petrosian versus Fischer

A simple example illustrating the first definition comes from a 1958 game between future world champions

Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (, ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style ...

and

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 1 ...

(see diagram). White had just captured the e5-pawn with his

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

on f3. The white knight can be taken, but White's move also opened a

discovered attack In chess, a discovered attack is a direct attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another. Discovered attacks can be extremely powerful, as the piece moved can make a threat independently of the piece it reveals. Like many chess t ...

on the black knight on h5. If Black takes the knight, then 13.Qxh5 leaves him a pawn down. To avoid this, Black sacrificed the h5-knight, capturing a pawn with

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

on the rook: :12... Nxg3 13. hxg3 Bxe5 Fischer later said 13...dxe5 would have been better ; the game ended in a draw.

Bogolyubov versus Schmid

A classic example of the first definition is

Bogolyubov Bogolyubov or Boholyubov (; ) is a surname in Russia and Ukraine, meaning "he who loves God" or, possibly "he who is loved by God". Spellings Bogoljubov and Bogoliubov are also used. The feminine form is Bogolyubova (russian: Боголюбова). ...

–

Schmid Schmid is a German surname that is a cognate of "Smith", an occupational surname for a blacksmith. The spelling is more common in Switzerland than Schmidt or Schmitt. Notable people with the surname include: * Alex P. Schmid, Dutch scientist on ...

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, Bad Pyrmont 1949. In the position shown, Schmid played the surprising 5... Nxe4!?, with the point that 6.Nxe4 would be met by 6...Qe7 7.f3 d5, and

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

will regain the piece. According to the ''

Encyclopedia of Chess Openings The ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' () is a reference work describing the state of opening theory in chess, originally published in five volumes from 1974 to 1979 by the Serbian company Šahovski Informator ( Chess Informant). It is curren ...

'', White can then gain a small advantage with 8.Bb5 Bd7 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.0-0 dxe4 11.fxe4! g6 (or 11...0-0-0 12.Qf3) 12.Qf3 Bg7 13.c3 0-0 14.Bf4 c5 15.Nb3 Bc6 16.Qg3! Instead of 7.f3, Tartakower and du Mont recommend 7.Nb5 Qxe4+ 8.Be2 Kd8 9.0-0 "with compensations for the mislaid pawn" . Instead, play continued 6. Nxc6 Nxc3! initiating a sequence of desperado moves, where each player keeps capturing with his knight, rather than pausing to capture the opponent's knight. Black cannot pause for 6...bxc6?? 7.Nxe4 Qe7 8.Qe2, leaving White a piece up with a . 7. Nxd8! White must also continue in desperado fashion, since 7.bxc3? bxc6 would leave Black a

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an his ...

up. 7... Nxd1 Again the desperado move is forced, since 7...Kxd8?? 8.bxc3 would leave Black a queen down. 8. Nxf7 Since 8.Kxd1 Kxd8 would leave White a pawn down, the knight continues capturing. 8... Nxf2 Still continuing in desperado fashion, in preference to 8...Kxf7 9.Kxd1 with material equality. 9. Nxh8 Nxh1. Between them, the desperado knights have captured thus far two

s, two

s, two knights, and three pawns. The complete score of the game: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nxe4!? 6. Nxc6 Nxc3 7. Nxd8 Nxd1 8. Nxf7 Nxf2 9. Nxh8 Nxh1 10. Bd3 Bc5 11. Bxh7 Nf2 12. Bf4 d6 13. Bg6+ Kf8 14. Bg3 Ng4 15. Nf7? (Better is 15.Bd3 followed by Ng6+ "with a probable draw" .) 15... Ne3 16. Kd2 Bf5! 17. Ng5?? (Bogoljubov probably saw 17.Bxf5 Nxf5 18.Ng5 Be3+ wins, and played Ng5 in desperation; however, 17.Bxf5 Nxf5 18.Rf1 was possible) 17... Bxg6 18. Ne6+ Ke7 19. Nxc5 Nxc2! (The desperado knight strikes again, this time with deadly effect. Not 19...dxc5? 20.Kxe3 with equality.) 20. Bh4+ Ke8 21. Ne6 Kd7 22. Nf4 Nxa1 23. Nxg6 Re8 24. Bf2 Nc2! 25. Nf4 (If 25.Kxc2, Re2+ followed by ...Rxf2 wins.) 25... Nb4 (The knight departs, having captured in its 13 moves White's queen, both rooks, a knight and three pawns. Its White counterpart captured the queen, a rook, both bishops, a knight, and two pawns in its 14 moves.) 0–1

Tal versus Keres

Another example of this type of desperado is Tal–Keres, Candidates Tournament, Curaçao 1962 (see diagram). Seeing that White's knight on d4 is unprotected,

Keres In Greek mythology, the Keres (; Ancient Greek: Κῆρες), singular Ker (; Κήρ), were female death-spirits. They were the goddesses who personified violent death and who were drawn to bloody deaths on battlefields. Although they were pre ...

offered to simplify the position with 18... Nd3!, when 19.Bxd3 Bxd4 20.Rb1? would allow 20...Qf6! White's b- and f-pawns. Instead, Tal went in for complications with 19. Nc6? Nxf2!, when either 20.Kxf2 Qb6+ or 20.Nxd8 Nxd1 21.Nxf7 Nxb2 22.Nxd6 Nc4! 23.Nxc4 Bxa1 would leave Black with a material advantage. Tal tried: 20. Qf3? Nxh3+! 21. Kh2 If White captures the knight, 21...Qb6+ regains the piece and leaves Black with a won game. 21... Be5+! 22. Nxe5 dxe5 23. Rad1 If 23.gxh3, Qxd2. 23... Nf4! Now 24.Bxf4 is met by 24...Qh4+. Black won .

Examples of the second definition

Pilnick versus Reshevsky

One of the best known examples of sacrificing a desperado piece to achieve stalemate is the game between Carl Pilnick and Sammy Reshevsky, US Championship 1942 (see diagram). After: :92... g4?? 93. Qf2! the white queen is a desperado piece: Black will lose if he doesn't capture it, but its capture results in stalemate.

Evans versus Reshevsky

Another of the best known examples involves a swindle in a game by Larry Evans versus Reshevsky. Evans sacrificed his queen on move 49 and offered his rook on move 50. White's rook has been called the ''eternal rook''. Capturing it results in stalemate, but otherwise it stays on the seventh and checks Black's king ''

ad infinitum ''Ad infinitum'' is a Latin phrase meaning "to infinity" or "forevermore". Description In context, it usually means "continue forever, without limit" and this can be used to describe a non-terminating process, a non-terminating ''repeating'' pr ...

''. 47. h4! Re2+ 48. Kh1 Qxg3?? 49. Qg8+! Kxg8 50. Rxg7+ Either a

draw by agreement A game of chess can end in a draw by agreement. A player may offer a draw at any stage of a game; if the opponent accepts, the game is a draw. In some competitions, draws by agreement are restricted; for example draw offers may be subject to the d ...

will occur or a draw by

threefold repetition In chess, the threefold repetition rule states that a player may claim a draw if the same position occurs three times during the game. The rule is also known as repetition of position and, in the USCF rules, as triple occurrence of position.Articl ...

or the

fifty-move rule The fifty-move rule in chess states that a player can claim a draw if no has been made and no pawn has been moved in the last fifty moves (for this purpose a "move" consists of a player completing a turn followed by the opponent completing a tur ...

can eventually be claimed . The game was called "The Swindle of the Century".

Reshevsky versus Geller

Reshevsky also fell into a stalemating trap agains
Efim Geller
in the Zürich 1953 Candidates Tournament. After 53... Rf3+! (diagram) 54.Kxf3 would be stalemate. If 54.Kg2, then 54...Rxg3+! winning a crucial pawn; again, White could not take the rook without resulting in stalemate. The game continued: :54. Ke2 Rxg3 55. Rxf5+ Kxh4 and the players agreed to a draw a few moves later. In light of the three aforementioned Reshevsky games, the Russian analyst Verkhovsky observed that Reshevsky apparently suffered from stalemate

blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

every 11 years.

Keres versus Fischer

Another famous game saved by the possibility of stalemate is Keres–Fischer, Curaçao 1962. Although

Fischer Fischer is a German occupational surname, meaning fisherman. The name Fischer is the fourth most common German surname. The English version is Fisher. People with the surname A * Abraham Fischer (1850–1913) South African public official * A ...

avoided the stalemating lines, he allowed

to draw by

perpetual check In the game of chess, perpetual check is a situation in which one player can a draw by an unending series of checks. This typically arises when the player who is checking cannot deliver checkmate, and failing to continue the series of checks give ...

instead. In the diagrammed position, Keres played the 72. Qe5!! Fischer commented:

What's this? He makes no attempt to stop me from queening!? Gradually my excitement subsided. The more I studied the situation, the more I realized Black had no win.

Now if 72... g1=Q, 73.Bf5+ Kg8 (73... Kh6?? 74.Qh8#) 74.Qe8+ Kg7 75.Qe7+ Kg8 (75...Kh8?? 76.Qh7#) 76.Qe8+ draws by repetition; if 72...Qf2+, 73.Kh3 g1=Q 74.Bf5+ Kh6 75.Qf6+ Kh5 76.Bg6+! Qxg6 77.Qg5+!! and either capture is stalemate. The game continued: 72... Qh1+ 73. Bh3 Now if 73...g1=Q, 74.Qh5+ Kg7 75.Qg6+! and either capture of the queen results in stalemate (see analysis diagram) – otherwise the white queen keeps checking the black king: 75...Kh8 76.Qh6+ Kg8 77.Qg6+! Kf8 78.Qf6+ Ke8 79.Qe6+, and Black must repeat moves with 79...Kf8, since 79...Kd8?? runs into 80.Qd7# . :73... Qxh3+ 74. Kxh3 g1=Q 75. Qe7+ Kh8 76. Qf8+ Kh7 77. Qf7+ ½–½ .

Tilberger versus Drelikiewicz

Sometimes it is possible for the inferior side to sacrifice two or three pieces in rapid succession to achieve a stalemate. An example is seen in the game Tilberger–Drelikiewicz, Poland 1970 (see diagram). Black saved the draw with: :1... h3+! 2. Kxh3 Qf5+! 3. Qxf5 Not 3.Kg2? Qxd7. :3... Rxg3+! 4. Kh4 Rg4+!

Korchnoi versus Vaganian

In Korchnoi–Vaganian,

Skellefteå Skellefteå (, locally ) is a city in Västerbotten County, Sweden. It is the seat of Skellefteå Municipality, which had 73,246 inhabitants in 2021. The city is historically industrial, with mining being a large part of that industry, especial ...

1989, a similar three-piece sacrifice might have enabled Vaganian to save the game. From the position diagrammed, Vaganian played: 35... Qxc2+? 36. Kh3 Qa4 37. Kh4

Jacob Aagaard Jacob Aagaard (born 31 July 1973) is a Danish-Scottish chess grandmaster and the 2007 British Chess Champion. He is Scotland's third-highest rated player as of July 2021, with an Elo rating of 2477. His peak rating was 2542. In 2004, he took ...

notes that now "White had a winning

endgame Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to: Film * ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film) * ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film * ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...

, which Korchnoi indeed won." Aagaard instead recommends 35... b6!!, when the natural 36. Qxc6 would be met by 36... Ne3+! 37. Rxe3 Qf1+! (analysis diagram) 38. Kxf1 stalemate .

Korn versus Pitschak

In Korn– Pitschak, Brno 1936, White's desperado queen and rook saved the draw despite White's apparently mobile e-pawns. In the position illustrated, Black appeared to be winning after: 1... dxe2! in light of 2.Qxd4 exf1=Q+ or 2.Qxe2 Qh4+ 3.Kg1 Qh2#. Instead, Korn played: 2. Rf8+! Kxf8 3. Qf5+ Ke8 3...Kg8? 4.Qf7+ Kh8 5.Qf8# 4. Qf7+ Kd8 5. Qf8+! Ne8 6. Qe7+! (diagram) Now 6...Kxe7 is stalemate, while 6...Kc8 loses to 7.Qb7+ Kd8 8.e7# .

Hegde versus Palatnik

This

position is from a game between Ravi Gopal Hegde and Semon Palatnik,

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...

1988.Ravi Gopal Hegde vs. Semon Palatnik, Kozhikode 1988

Chessgames.com Chessgames.com is an Internet chess community with over 224,000 members. The site maintains a large database of chess games, where each game has its own discussion page for comments and analysis. Limited primarily to games where at least one pla ...

The position appeared in the endgame section of ''

Chess Informant Chess Informant (Šahovski Informator) is a publishing company from Belgrade (Serbia, former Yugoslavia) that periodically (since 2012, four volumes per year) produces a book entitled ''Chess Informant'', as well as the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Op ...

45''. Black in this position but had an easy draw: :59... Bg7! 60. Rh4 Bd4! (threatening 61...Bxa7), etc. . Capturing the bishop results in a stalemate, allowing 61...Bxa7 is a draw, and 61.Rh7 Bg7 leads to a repetition of position.

Vasilevich versus Kosteniuk

Now (see diagram) the game ended with: :56. Qg4+! If Black captures the queen, it is stalemate. If Black instead plays 56...Kh6, then 57.Qg6+! forces Black to capture the queen. Instead of 55...Nf3??, 55...Qc3+ followed by 56...Nf3 would have allowed Black to keep her decisive advantage.

Ponziani study

Black draws after : :1... Rh7+ 2. Kg5 Rg7+ 3. Kh6 Rh7+! Capturing the rook results in stalemate. :4. Kg5 Rg7+ 5. Kf6 If 5.Kf5 then 5...Rf7+; and then if 6.Ke5 then 6...Re7. :5... Rg6+! Capturing the rook results in stalemate.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *Šahovski Informator, Belgrade. ''

'', Vol. C (1997), at 271 n.26. * * *