ArcaMax

GM Carlos Torre was giving a simultaneous exhibition in 1924 when he reached this position as White. Unable to find a defense to the threatened Rc1, he resigned. He missed a saving line! Can you save the game for White?

This is another classic Botvinnik game. No mating attack. Not even a win of material. He just gets a better position with a key move that, positionally speaking, is decisive. You get the whole game today because it’s a great lesson on how to win an endgame with an advantage even though material is even. The game started out with 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4...

If you have studied each of the prior isolated queen pawn positions, you should have a shot at knowing what to do here. The game is a famous one, fully annotated in my Openings for Amateurs—Next Steps book. It starts out Botvinnik,M. - Vidmar,M. Nottingham, 1936 1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nc3 0–0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Bd3 c5 8.0–0 cxd4 9....

Black tries his best to defend a key square only to get mated.

A very unusual position. Here’s what you need to know. It is a won position. The way taken by White is amazing. In the final mating position, White has only his queen, bishop and some pawns while Black has his two rooks, queen, two knights, and two bishops and a bunch of pawns!

You also have to be tactically alert in IQP middle game positions. Here only one first move wins.

Hope you had a nice three day weekend. This is a position option taken from a game Euwe won in 1934.

Isolated Queen Pawn based attacks can get quite complicated. This game is interesting because Black didn’t pick the most tenacious defense. The engine gave an alternative, yet still had White winning, so the sac was sound; however, I let the engine run on the alternative, and it says it is decisive. Play it through. It’s a lot tougher than ...

This is a wonderful position for an IQP lesson. There is more than one way to win, even in the variations. The themes we have already seen are in there with some you haven’t. There is the N on e5, the weaknesses on f7 and e6 and the Q and B teamwork. Have fun looking at the possibilities!

Here’s another instructional game on how winning material can often come from IQP positions because of the mobility of the White pieces. The diagram is a model position for such starting points, and the modeler is none other than the late world champion, Botvinnik, who was superb in such positions.

Not all Isolated Queen Pawn attacking positions lead to mate. Sometimes, it’s just getting a winning ending from the attack, as is the case here.

The key to this is recognizing the indirect attack on the Black king by the White queen.

The continuing series on IQP attacks. This one is a dandy. Use your imagination!

We’ve decided to do something different. We’re going to give you an in-depth instruction on attacks from Isolated Queen Pawn positions (IQP). You will become very knowledgeable about this attack by doing what serious players do—Play over slightly different positions that have a similar theme. You will then become a much better attacking ...

An Isolated Queen Pawn position with a king side attack

Black seems to be in dire straits here, but there’s a defense.