Last week we played Spot the Blunder. I asked you to guess the blunder Black made in this position (Penrose – Aitken Enschede Zonal 1963).

Black played the horribly plausible 34… Rc5??, defending c6 and attacking c3. What could be more natural?

Sadly for Dr Aitken, he was playing an opponent who wasn’t going to miss a tactical point.

The game continued 35. Rxf6! Rxd2 (or 35… gxf6 36. Ne4, regaining the exchange with a winning ending) 36. Kxd2 gxf6 37. Rxa4, again with a winning rook ending. Try playing the position out yourself: winning simple technical endings like this is a vital skill.