Endgames from the Biel Triathlon

by Karsten Müller
8/13/2023 – The 56th edition of the Biel Chess Festival saw Le Quang Liem successfully defending his title in the Grandmaster Triathlon, an innovative event featuring classical, rapid and blitz sections. As ever, GM Karsten Müller attentively followed the action, and found outstanding endgame positions to share with us. Find here six instructive endings from the unique event! | Photo: Official site
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Material imbalances in Navara’s games

The ever-creative David Navara did not shy away from entering highly imbalanced positions in Biel. Facing Vincent Keymer, he demonstrated that an advanced passer can make up for an exchange deficit, while against Arjun Erigaisi, he reached an endgame with a rook and a pawn against six pawns!

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Bc4 Qb6 8.Bb3 e6 9.Bxf6 Nxf6 10.Qd2 Nd7 11.0-0-0 Nc5 12.Rhe1 g6 13.e5 Nxb3+ 14.axb3 d5 15.Qf4 Be7 16.h4 h6 17.Kb1 Bd7 18.h5 g5 19.Qf3 a5 20.Qd3 Bc5 21.Nxd5 exd5 22.e6 Bxe6 23.Nxe6 fxe6 24.Qxd5 Kf7 25.Qd7+ Be7 26.Rd3 Rh7 27.Rf3+ Kg8 28.Rxe6 Rd8 29.Qxe7 Rxe7 30.Rxb6 Rd1+ 31.Ka2 Ree1 32.b4 a4 33.b3 Ra1+ 34.Kb2 a3+ 35.Kc3 Re7 36.Rg6+ Kh7 37.Rff6 Rc7+ 38.Kd2 a2 39.Rxh6+ Kg8 40.Rhg6+ Rg7 41.Rxg7+ Kxg7 42.Rg6+ Kh7 43.Rxg5 Rb1 44.Ra5 a1Q 45.Rxa1 Rxa1 46.c4 Kh6 Activate the king. This is usually important in an endgame: 47.Ke3? The wrong king direction. 47.Kc3 Kxh5 48.Kd4= is called for. 47...Kxh5? Now White's counterplay is quick enough. The direct cut-off 47...Rd1 wins, e.g. 48.g4 48.b5 Kxh5 49.Ke4 Kg6 50.Ke5 Kf7 51.g4 Ke7 52.f4 Rb1 53.g5 Rxb3 54.g6 Re3+ 55.Kd4 Rg3 56.f5 Kf6 57.Kc5 Kxf5 58.Kb6 Rxg6+ 59.Kxb7 Ke6 60.Kc6 Ke7+ 61.Kc7 Rg4 62.c5 Rg5 63.Kc6 Kd8-+ 48...Kg5 49.Ke4 Kxg4 50.h6 Kg5 51.h7 Rh1 52.Kd5 Rxh7 53.Kd6 Kf6 54.b5 Rh3 55.b4 Rh4 56.c5 Rxb4 57.c6 Rxb5 58.c7 Rb6+ 59.Kd7 Rc6-+ 48.Kd4! Of course not 48.b5? due to Rd1-+ 48...Kg6 49.b5 Rb1 50.Kc5 Rxb3 51.Kb6 Rc3 52.Kxb7 Kf7 53.b6 Ke6 54.Kc7 White's b-pawn now secures the draw. Rxc4+ 55.Kd8 Rb4 56.Kc7 Rc4+ 57.Kd8 Rd4+ 58.Kc7 Rc4+ ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Erigaisi Arjun2710Navara,D2689½–½2023B9456th Biel GMT Classical 20232.2
Navara,D2689Keymer,V2690½–½2023C8856th Biel GMT Classical 20235.2

David Navara

David Navara

Keymer’s endgame technique

Recently, Vincent Keymer defeated Magnus Carlsen for the first time in his career and entered the world’s top-30 in the live ratings list. A month earlier, he had shown his technical prowess in Biel. The German prodigy defeated the two top seeds — Yu Yangyi and Le Quang Liem — in the classical section of the Triathlon.

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1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 c6 5.0-0 Nf6 6.c4 dxc4 7.a4 Ne4 8.Nc3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 0-0 10.a5 c5 11.Qa4 Nc6 12.Rd1 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14.cxd4 Bg4 15.Ra2 Rc8 16.Bxb7 Rc7 17.a6 c3 18.Bf4 Rd7 19.d5 Bf5 20.Be3 c2 21.Rxc2 Bxc2 22.Qxc2 Qa5 23.Qb3 Rd6 24.Qc4 Rb6 25.Bxb6 Qxb6 26.Qe4 Qc5 27.Kg2 Bf6 28.Rd2 Rd8 29.Rc2 Qd4 30.Qxd4 Bxd4 31.e4 e6 32.Rc4 Be5 33.dxe6 fxe6 34.f4 Rd2+ 35.Kf3 Bd4 Opposite-colored bishops favor the attacker. Pure opposite-colored bishop endings have a large drawish tendency, but with more pieces on the board they favor the attacker, like in the middlegame: 36.e5! The attacker usually wants to place his pawns on the color of the enemy bishop to restrict it. Bg1 37.Bc8 Rxh2 37...Kf7 38.Rc7++- 38.Bxe6+ Kf8 39.Rc7 Ke8 40.Rb7 Kd8 41.Bg8 h5 42.Bf7 Rf2+ 43.Ke4 White's king joins the attack with decisive effect. Re2+ 44.Kd5 Rd2+ 45.Kc6 Rd3 46.Bxg6 Rxg3?! 47.f5?! 47.Rb8+ Ke7 48.Re8# wins more quickly. 47...Rc3+ 48.Kd5 Rd3+ 49.Ke6 h4 50.f6 Ra3 51.Kf7 Rxa6 52.e6 Kc8 53.Rb4 53.Rb4 h3 54.e7+- 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Keymer,V2690Le,Q27281–02023A0756th Biel GMT Classical 20233.1
Keymer,V2690Yu,Y27351–02023E054.4

vincent Keymer

Vincent Keymer

The importance of activity

Activity is often crucial in endgames, as demonstrated by Yu Yangyi and Le Quang Liem in their games against Bassem Amin and Bogdan-Daniel Deac.

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1.c4 c5 2.b3 b6 3.h4 Nf6 4.h5 Nc6 5.Nf3 e5 6.Ne3 Nd4 7.Nf5 Ne4 8.Bxd4 exd4 9.Rh4 Re8 10.Qh1 f6 11.Qh3 Qe6 12.Qg4 Rg8 13.e3 dxe3 14.dxe3 Nxf2 15.Kxf2 g6 16.hxg6 hxg6 17.Rh8 Rxh8 18.Qxg6 Qf7 19.N3h4 Be4 20.Bxe4 Rxe4 21.Nd6 Qxg6 22.Nxg6+ Kg7 23.Nxe4 Kxg6 24.Rd1 Rh7 25.Nc3 Kf5 26.Kf3 Ke6 27.Nd5 Be5 28.a3 Rh4 29.a4 Rh5 30.Nf4+ Bxf4 31.exf4 d5 Activate the king. This is often important in an endgame: 32.Kg4! The king starts the invasion. Rh2 33.cxd5+ Kd6 34.Rd2 a6 34...Rh1 does not defend due to 35.Kf5 Rf1 36.Re2 Kxd5 37.Re7 Kc6 38.Re3 a6 39.Re6+ Kc7 40.Rxf6+- 35.Kf5 The king invasion decides. b5 35...Rh6 is met by 36.g4 b5 37.a5 c4 38.bxc4 bxc4 39.Rd4 Kc5 40.Rd1 Kd6 41.Ke4+- 36.axb5 axb5 37.Kxf6 c4 38.bxc4 bxc4 39.Kf5 Rh1 39...c3 40.Rc2 Kxd5 41.Rxc3 Rxg2 42.Rd3++- 40.g4 Rc1 41.g5 c3 42.Rg2 Rd1 43.g6 Rxd5+ 44.Kf6 Rd2 45.Rg1 c2 46.g7 46.g7 Rd1 47.g8Q c1Q 48.Rxd1+ Qxd1 49.Qd8++- 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
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  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
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  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Yu,Y2735Amin,B26941–020234.1
Deac,B2693Le,Q27280–12023D381.1

Le Quang Liem

Le Quang Liem

In over 4 hours in front of the camera, Karsten Müller presents to you sensations from the world of endgames - partly reaching far beyond standard techniques and rules of thumb - and rounds off with some cases of with own examples.

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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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