A (very) strong king

by Karsten Müller
11/14/2023 – In the diagram position White just played 53.g4+. Should Black take the offered pawn with 53...Kxg4 or should he ignore the potentially dangerous g-pawn and go for the white pawns on the queenside with 53...Ke4? What would you do?
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.
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nxd7 Bxd7 7.Nc3 Qh4 8.0-0 Bd6 9.g3 Nxc3 10.Qe1+ Qe7 11.Qxc3 0-0 12.Re1 Qf6 13.Be3 Bh3 14.Bf1 Bxf1 15.Rxf1 Qf3 16.Bd2 Qxc3 17.Bxc3 f6 18.Rfe1 Kf7 19.Bd2 h5 20.h4 Rfe8 21.Rxe8 Rxe8 22.Re1 Rxe1+ 23.Bxe1 g5 24.hxg5 fxg5 25.Kg2 Kg6 26.f3 Kf5 27.Bd2 Be7 28.Kf2 Bf6 29.c3 b6 30.b3 c5 31.Be3 c4 32.b4 b5 33.Kg2 Bd8 34.Kf2 Bc7 35.Kg2 Bb8 36.Kf2 Bd6 37.Kg2 Bc7 38.Kf2 a5 39.a3 Bd8 40.Kg2 a4 41.Kf2 Bf6 42.Kg2 Be7 43.Kf2 Bd8 44.Kg2 g4 45.Bc1 Bf6 46.Be3 Be7 47.Bc1 Bd8 48.Be3 Bf6 49.Bc1 h4 50.gxh4 Bxh4 51.Bd2 Be7 52.Bc1 Bd6 53.fxg4+ A (very) strong king In the diagram position White just played 53.g4+. Should Black take the offered pawns with 53...Kxg4 or should he ignore the potentially dangerous g-pawn and go for the white pawns on the queenside with 53...Ke4? What would you do?
Black to move and win
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
De Silva,L2433Paravyan,D26120–12023C43Aimchess Rapid Play-In | Champions Ches1

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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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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