chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

, a desperado is a piece that is (in the first meaning) either '' en prise'' 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 Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...

that will result in

stalemate Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferior position ...

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 or a

queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

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

Examples of the first definition

Petrosian vs. Fischer

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

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

and

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Chess Champi ...

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

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a 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. The concept of a knighthood ...

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 ...

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 for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

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

Bogoljubow vs. Schmid

A classic example of the first definition is Bogoljubow–

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: * Akira Schmid, Swiss ice hockey p ...

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

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 sys ...

Bad Pyrmont Bad Pyrmont (, also: ; West Low German: ) is a town in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river Emmer (Weser), Emmer, about west of the Weser. Bad Pyrmont is a popul ...

1949, which began 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4. 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 that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

will regain the piece. According to the '' Encyclopedia of Chess Openings'', 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 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 rooks, two knights, and three pawns. The game continued 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?? Bogoljubow 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.

Tal vs. Keres

Another example of this type of desperado is Tal–Keres, Candidates Tournament,

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

1962 (see diagram). Seeing that White's knight on d4 is unprotected, Keres 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 vs. 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 vs. Reshevsky

Another of the best known examples involves a swindle in a game by Larry Evans versus

Samuel Reshevsky Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid 1930s to the late 1 ...

. 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 perpetually checks Black's king. 47. h4! Re2+ 48. Kh1 Qxg3?? 49. Qg8+! Kxg8 50. Rxg7+ As with any perpetual check, a draw by agreement 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.Artic ...

or the fifty-move rule can eventually be claimed. The game was called "The Swindle of the Century".

Reshevsky vs. Geller

Reshevsky also fell into a stalemating trap against 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 or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

every 11 years.

Keres vs. 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 * ...

avoided the stalemating lines, he allowed Keres to draw by

perpetual check In the game of chess, perpetual check is a situation in which one player can play an unending series of checks from which the defending player cannot escape. This typically arises when the player who is checking feels their position in the game i ...

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 vs. 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 (diagram). Black saved the draw with: :1... h3+! 2. Kxh3 Qf5+! 3. Qxf5 Not 3.Kg2? Qxd7. :3... Rxg3+! 4. Kh4 Rg4+!

Korchnoi vs. Vaganian

In Korchnoi–Vaganian,

Skellefteå Skellefteå (, locally ) is a Cities in Sweden, city in Västerbotten County, Sweden, with a population of 36,388. It is the seat of Skellefteå Municipality, which had 77,322 inhabitants in 2024. The city is historically industrial, with mining ...

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 notes that now "White had a winning endgame, 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 vs. Pitschak

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

– Pitschak,

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

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 vs. Palatnik

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

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

1988. The position appeared in the endgame section of ''

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

45''. Black resigned 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 vs. 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 Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. '' Encyclopedia of Chess Openings'', Vol. C (1997), at 271 n.26. * * *