This position comes from Fressinet-So, Round 6 of the TATA Steel Tournament 2011. So won a pawn early in the game, but it has not been easy for him since then. Here, we have a very instructive rook and multiple pawn ending.

If you follow the game from the beginning, as I did, it will be harder to realize that white is already lost at this point. That's why it has been suggested that we stop at the transition point from the middlegame to the ending and assess the position de novo. I know, we continually asses the position as the game goes on, but I am talking about wiping the slate clean and putting on a fresh new outlook. If you come into this game at this point, without knowing its prehistory, or being under its influence, then you will realize sooner that white is lost, barring a tremendous blunder by black.

First, black is a pawn up. Second, black has two pawn islands and white has three. White has three isolated pawns while black has three connected passed pawns. Black's G pawn is two squares from the queening square while white's c pawn is three squares away. The rook on c7 is in the way, and white has to spend a tempo just to get that rook out of there. Black does not have such a problem. Black's rook is behind his passed pawn and his H pawn is threatening to kick the white rook on g2 out of the way.

Play went 39. Ra7 h4 and the C pawn still cannot advance because of the rook on f6. Fressinet went 40. Ra3 but So's 40...h3 forces the win. The H pawn will be able to go past white's rook and promote, all this without the help of the black king, largely because the black rook is placed behind his pawn. Play continued 41. Rag3 Rg3 42. Rg3 h2 and white's rook check on h3 will not work because of rook to h6.

This was a 5-min blitz game on Chess.com and only a few seconds remained in both our clocks. It was the kind of position where one must realize the very imminent danger posed to him....It was White's move. There were factors that point to a possible win by black. Black controlled the F file particularly the F1 and F2 squares. White's E3 square is weak and ripe for a bishop check, pushing the white king into the H file. By then, the H5 square would be accessible to the black queen. White played 43. Be4? You can figure out the win and see if you even needed the H file.

It's been a while since my last post. But here we are at a point where the Black queen has invaded my space and the C pawn is hanging. Or is it really? Sometimes, the most innocent-looking captures can lead to big time trouble fast. After 24...Qc2 25. Bd3 and Black is in trouble. Can the queen make it out? Just barely, but it will cost him dearly. Black played 25...Qb2 26. Rab1 and the queen is trapped. Fortunately for Black, there is a counter attack in 26...b6 and this move will let his queen get out through the a3 square. So, after 27. Qc6 Qa3, the black queen escaped but black lost a piece and ultimately the game as well.

This is from my third round game of the Bergen County Open 2010 held at the Bergen Chess Mates in Ridgewood, New Jersey. As Black, I had a two-pawn advantage, and pressing my C pawn to promotion. It's only two squares from its queening square, but the C pawn isn't about to walk in there without opposition. Certainly, blockading it is imperative before it advances another square. The move I expected from White was 38. Qc2 which by itself isn't a life-saving move because 38... Rd2 is problematic. However, sometimes, chess players, including myself, make desperate game-losing moves when behind in the game. Here, White played 38. Re6? which I had already calculated to be immediately losing. Why did White play this move? Perhaps, he didn't realize that Black will have a temporizing move that will help the C pawn to promote. The game continued, from the diagram, 38. Re6 Qe6 39. Qe6 Re6 40. Re6 Rd1+ and the pawn will reach the queening square.

Ernest Marx Memorial 2010. Bergen Chess Mates ( Ridgewood, NJ). Finally, I get to play an opponent at or near master level, and I screwed up a great chance to get back into the game. So far, no big blunders yet at move 32 but black has managed to keep the bishop pair while I tried to keep the pawns on the board. Here, I played 33. Nb5 attacking that pesky bishop. Post game analysis showed that 33. Qh2 was much better. That move would have provided some initiative via 33...Bf5 34. Qf4 Rf8 35. Nf5 Rf5 36. Qh4 Kh6 and then 37. d6. A lost opportunity!

Deep Freeze Quads, 2010. Bergen Chess Mates ( Ridgewood, NJ). I had expected my opponent to put up stiffer resistance, but in this game at least he didn't play very well. So much so that I was two pieces up before the 31st move, and I was threatening an obvious winning sacrifice. I reckon he might not have seen it coming after all because he played 30. Qc1-f4 d6 31. Bd5... and you have the position above. All is set for the winning move 31... Nd3! attacking the white queen and threatening mate on b2. Moving the queen back to c1 doesn't work. White ultimately lost sight of the mate threat and played 32. Qa4???

But all was lost for white anyway. Consider 32. cd3 Bd3+ 33. Kc1 Qc3+ 34. Kd1 Qc2+ 35. Ke1 Qe2 mate.

This is from the second game of the Deep Freeze Quads 2010 (Feb) at the Bergen Chess Mates based in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

If this position looks complicated to you, well, it is. As black, I had foregone castling to save a move and commence a pawn storm on the kingside on the tenth move. It worked pretty well, wresting the initiative from white, until about now, when that pesky pin of the bishop on e5 against my king made it very clear that castling early does have its benefits. I had temporarily sacrificed a knight on d5 for a tempo, to allow my queen to invade white's castled position.

The previous moves were 24...Qh1+ 25. N(e2)g1... In my calculations earlier, I relied on 25... Bd4 but didn't realize that the bishop would be pinned, preventing the move. So, I thought for a while and decided to castle 25... 0-0 to get out of the pin, connect my rooks, and set a trap as well. Now, my very own bishop on e5 isn't truly hanging as you will see. White would have won if he played 26. Ne7+ Kg7 27. Nc6! ( not 27. Nc8). A reversal of fortune greeted white when he took the bait with 26. Re5? because after 26...Bd5!( diagram ) he had too many threats to deal with at the same time.

White's queen is attacked, his rook on c1 is hanging, and there's a mate threat on g2. With two pieces up, white is losing. White played 27. Qd5 27...Rc1+ 28. Re1 Re1+ 29. Ke1 Qg1+ 30. Kd2 Qf2+ 31. Kc3 Rc8+ 32. Kb3 Qb6+ 33. Ka2 Qc6 34. Qe5 h4 35. f6? allowing the exchange of queens Qe6+ 36. Qe6 fe6 and black easily won the endgame.