Abdusattorov misses a chance

by Karsten Müller
12/19/2023 – Rook endings are difficult. The diagram shows a position from a game Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Magnus Carlsen played at the Aimchess Rapid Online tournament. It is White to move and win. In the game Abdusattorov failed to find the winning move - can you do better?
Let endgame expert Dr Karsten Müller show and explain the finesses of the world champions. Although they had different styles each and every one of them played the endgame exceptionally well, so take the opportunity to enjoy and learn from some of the best endgames in the history of chess.

Karsten Mueller in ChessBase Magazine

Do you like these lessons? There are plenty more by internationally renowned endgame expert Dr Karsten Müller in ChessBase Magazine, where you will also find openings articles and surveys, tactics, and of course annotations by the world's top grandmasters.

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Apart from his regular columns and video lectures in ChessBase Magazine there is a whole series of training DVDs by Karsten Mueller, which are bestsellers in the ChessBase Shop.

Karsten Mueller

Karsten Mueller regularly presents endgame lessons in the ChessBase Video Portal

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Topics: ChessBase Magazine, Endgame, Karsten Mueller
Karsten Müller is considered to be one of the greatest endgame experts in the world. His books on the endgame - among them "Fundamentals of Chess Endings", co-authored with Frank Lamprecht, that helped to improve Magnus Carlsen's endgame knowledge - and his endgame columns for the ChessCafe website and the ChessBase Magazine helped to establish and to confirm this reputation. Karsten's Fritztrainer DVDs on the endgame are bestsellers. The mathematician with a PhD lives in Hamburg, and for more than 25 years he has been scoring points for the Hamburger Schachklub (HSK) in the Bundesliga.

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Karsten Müller Karsten Müller 12/20/2023 11:14
Mamack1: Indeed I should have continued the main line with 71...f1Q 72.Qh5+ Kf4+ 73.Rxg1 Qxg1+ 74.Kf6+- and indeed the queen endgame requires good technique to convert.
Michael Jones Michael Jones 12/19/2023 11:05
White can't prevent the discovered check, since 72. Qf8 drops the rook on h1 and anything else allows the Black king onto the f-file. He has to exchange rooks on g1; the resulting Q+P vs Q position is won, but it still requires some work to get there.
Mamack1 Mamack1 12/19/2023 07:50
And indeed - whilst the final position is won for White, after 71....f1Q it isn't trivial - the possibility of a discovered check from Black guards against the quick mate that looks like it "ought" to be there.
Karsten Müller Karsten Müller 12/19/2023 12:37
lajosarpad: You are right. In the game notes I have mixed it up. The intro is correct.
lajosarpad lajosarpad 12/19/2023 11:35
@Frits Fritschy I was about to make that exact same point. The introductory paragraph is correct, but the game notes reverted the roles. It claims that it's Black (Carlsen) to move and he missed the win. But it was White (Abdusattorov) to move and he was the one missing the win. I refrain from analyzing the position to avoid spoiling the fun for those reading the comments first and I will just say that it's worth finding the solution on one's own, the motif is worth it.
Frits Fritschy Frits Fritschy 12/19/2023 10:10
'Carlsen, arguably the best endgame player ever, failed to find the winning move'. Possibly he didn't see the move as well, but it was Abdusattorov playing white...
I immediately noticed 65 h6? with the same idea, but that only draws.
I also wondered about 66. e5 being bad technique because 66 h6 looks so simple, but then after 66... Kf4+ 67 Kf7 fxe4 68 Rh2 Kg3 69 Rh1 Rf4+ 70 Ke/g7 Kg2 white must part with his rook: 71 h7 Kxh1 72 hgQ, and will need a little technique as well.
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