CBM training: Magnus mighty minor pieces + rook endings

by ChessBase
1/21/2012 – Once again our endgame expert, GM Karsten Müller of ChessBase Magazine fame, presents interesting endgames from the running Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee. Two instructive examples caught his eye, and he has added two similar endgame motifs that occurred earlier this year. Quite a lot to learn and grasp, but hey, it will help you with your tournament results. Learn and enjoy.

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Magnus Mighty Minor Pieces

Two minor pieces are usualy stronger than a rook but careful manovering is often called for:

The outnumbered rook

An active rook is strong in open positions and can sometimes fight with two minor pieces on even terms in a simplified endgame (the play of B+N vs R is quite similar to the Carlsen-Aronian game):

The King will come

Single rook endgames have a large drawish tendency, but over the board with the clock ticking it is of course much more difficult than at home with an engine and the tablebases:

Saving rook checks

In rook endings the defending rook usually should be activated (the rook endgame is similar in several lines to the previous one, L'Ami-Vocaturo):

Karsten Müller 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.

Click to go to the ChessBase Magazine page

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

Reports about chess: tournaments, championships, portraits, interviews, World Championships, product launches and more.

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