12/1/2020 – Pawn endings often require knowledge and precise calculation. And sometimes a (temporary) retreat is the best (and only) way to make progress.

11/26/2020 – In 1971 Bobby Fischer played against Tigran Petrosian in the Candidates Final, and in the crucial 7th game of this match Fischer made one of the most famous and surprising moves of his career: 22.Nxd7+, exchanging a "good" knight against a "bad" bishop, and this stunning exchange led to a seemingly smooth win, which practically decided the match. Since then 22.Nxd7+ has been praised in countless books and articles as a stroke of genius. But new analyses of Karsten Müller, Charles Sullivan, Zoran Petronijevic, and the ChessBase readers indicate that this famous move might actually have been a mistake!

11/24/2020 – Some endings are simple: you have a passed pawn that wants to push ahead and therefore your king also pushes ahead to support the pawn or enter the enemy's camp. But things are rarely that easy. In the diagram position White's pawn wants to push ahead and White's king can also push ahead to support his own pawn or to attack the black pawns on the queenside. But is that really the way to save the draw?

11/18/2020 – One of the most amazing moves in Bobby Fischer’s rich career was 22.Nxd7+ in the seventh game of the Candidates final match against Tigran Petrosian. Endgame specialist Karsten Müller wonders whether the move was objectively the best in the position or if an alternative pawn push might have been a better try. You can help him solve the historical riddle!

11/17/2020 – Connected passed pawns can be very dangerous - in the middlegame but of course also in the endgame. However, as dangerous as connected passed pawns may be, sometimes they need a little help from their king. Do you see how the white king can effectively support his pawns in the diagram position?

11/10/2020 – Rook endings have drawish tendencies and often being one or even two pawns up is not enough to win. However, rook endings are also complicated enough to offer both sides a lot of opportunities to go wrong and good chances to win or draw if the opponent does not find the best moves.

11/3/2020 – Rooks are of course stronger than bishops, and there is a reason why giving up a rook for a bishop is called exchange "sacrifice". But of course there are many positions in which a rook is not stronger than a bishop. In the middlegame and in the endgame. The diagram shows one example. Can you find way to save the position for Black?

10/29/2020 – About a week ago, Karsten Müller invited readers to analyze a fascinating rook endgame that occurred in a game between Vassily Smyslov and Pal Benkö from 1975. Smyslov was an endgame specialist but he still failed to grasp the hidden depths of this tricky endgame. But after taking more than one close look and with the help of the ChessBase readers, Karsten Müller and Zoran Petronijevic are now closer to the truth. | Photo: Dutch National Archive

10/27/2020 – Sometimes keeping distance is a good idea but in chess isolated pawns are usually weaker and more vulnerable than connected pawns. The diagram position is a good example. What did Black play?

10/22/2020 – Vassily Smyslov, the 7th World Champion, was an endgame specialist, and for generations of chess players Smyslov's book about "Rook Endings", which he wrote together with Grigory Levenfish, was the "Bible of Rook Endings". However, is everything in this "bible" really true? Karsten Müller and Zoran Petronijevic have doubts - and ask the readers to help analysing a fascinating endgame, which Smyslov presented in the third edition of his classic. | Photo: Dutch National Archive

10/20/2020 – Rook endgames have drawish tendencies. One reason for this is the fact that the rook of the defending side can often harass the enemy king with a series of checks. However, if the king is too close to the rook, this ressource usually fails.

10/13/2020 – It is helpful to know a couple of theoretical endgame positions - they might come up in a practical game or knowing them might help you to win an important or less important blitz game. Centurini's draw is the most important theoretical position in the endgame bishop and pawn against bishop.

10/11/2020 – Endgame expert Karsten Müller keeps finding interesting endgames at the Altibox Norway Chess Tournament. This time around, he looks at the rook and knight versus bishop and knight ending from the Levon Aronian v Fabiano Caruana game from round 5. Hidden tricks abound in these unbalanced positions! | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/10/2020 – Round 4 of the Altibox Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger saw Levon Aronian and Alireza Firouzja playing an Armageddon tiebreaker after drawing their classical game. Karsten Müller assessed the final phase of the encounter as a “fascinating knight endgame”. The endgame specialist examined the sequence in detail and now shares it with all ChessBase readers. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

10/9/2020 – The first four rounds of the Altibox Norway Chess Tournament saw a number of instructive and interesting endgames. Karsten Müller is happy and took a close look at the textbook-endgame between Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Levon Aronian in round 3, which shows why it is sometimes better to have less.

10/7/2020 – The players at the Altibox Norway Chess Tournament seem to enjoy playing "live" again, and the fighting spirit is high. The current tournament leader Fabiano Caruana started with two wins, and he won both games in the endgame. But was his endgame against Jan-Krzysztof Duda in round 2 really won? Karsten Müller is not sure and took a deeper look. | Photos: Lennart Ootes

10/6/2020 – Knights are ideal to block passed pawns. However, in the diagram position White's knight on the rim cannot stop the black pawns. If Black is careful and proceeds with precision.

9/29/2020 – This middlegame-guideline also applies in the endgame if not only the bishops remain on the board. However, attacking the enemy king with only a few pieces can be tricky. How does White win in the diagram positon?