CBM Blog: Opposition and the Horwitz Manoeuvre

by ChessBase

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9/12/2011 – The first games of the World Cup semi-finals did not produce a lot of material for commentary. So we use this analytical pause to bring you two endgame lessons by GM Dr. Karsten Müller. The examples are taken from earlier games in Khanty-Mansiysk and give you insights into complex opposition and a classical winning technique that Ruslan Ponomariov executed perfectly. Look and learn.

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Opposition

Pawn endings are deceptively simple. But mastering a few techniques helps a lot. One of the most important is the opposition, as it is the main weapon when the king fights to occupy one of three adjacent key squares:

Click to download the PGN

The Horwitz Manoeuvre

Ponomariov certainly knew the classical winning technique:

Click to download the PGN

Since 1988 grandmaster Dr. Karsten Müller from Hamburg has been playing for the Hamburger Schachklub in the Bundesliga, and in 1996 and 1997 he finished third in the German Championship. As an internationally renowned endgame expert he is the author of the endgame column in the ChessBase Magazine and the author of the Endgame Corner column on ChessCafe.com.

You will find a whole series of his very popular endgame DVD in the ChessBase Shop here.

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