Name Ladislav Prokes | Role Chess Player | |
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Died January 9, 1966, Prague, Czech Republic | ||
Chess study 2 ladislav prokes 1944
Ladislav Prokes (7 June 1884 – 9 January 1966) was one of the most prolific composers of endgame studies in chess. He was born and died in Prague.
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Prokes was joint Czech Champion in 1921 and played for the Czech Olympiad team in 1927, 1928, and 1930. In 1951 he published a collection of studies "Kniha sachovych studii". His 1,159 endgame studies, as listed in Harold van der Heijden's database, rank fourth among all composers.
Prokes maneuver
The Prokes maneuver is a tactic in chess that enables a rook to draw against two advanced pawns in a chess endgame. Prokes composed an endgame study in 1939 which illustrated the Prokes maneuver for the first time. The solution begins:
1. Kg4 e2 2. Rc1+ Kd4 3. Kf3 d2and Black threatens to promote a pawn, which would win. But White forces the draw with:
4. Rc4+! Kd3 5. Rd4+! Kxd4 6. Kxe2 Kc3 7. Kd1 Kd3 stalemateThe idea is, that by vacating the c1-square on the fourth move, White's rook prevents Black's pawn from capturing on c1. The white king is then able to reach the d1-square, stopping the pawn. The position after 6.Kxe2 is drawn (see King and pawn versus king endgame).