Counterplay counts

by Karsten Müller
3/4/2025 – Material is reduced in endgames, but attacks on the king still happen endgames. In the diagram position it is Black to move and draw. How?
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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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
1.Nf3281,60256%2441---
1.c4182,10256%2442---
1.g319,70256%2427---
1.b314,26554%2427---
1.f45,89748%2377---
1.Nc33,80151%2384---
1.b41,75648%2380---
1.a31,20654%2404---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d395450%2378---
1.g466446%2360---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c343351%2426---
1.h328056%2418---
1.a411060%2466---
1.f39246%2436---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.a4 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.a5 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2 0-0 9.0-0 Ne7 10.c3 Ng6 11.Re1 h6 12.d4 Nh7 13.Re3 Ng5 14.Nxg5 Qxg5 15.g3 Bg4 16.h4 Qh5 17.Qb3 Rab8 18.Nf1 Ne7 19.Nh2 Bd7 20.Be2 Qg6 21.dxe5 dxe5 22.Rd1 Be6 23.Qb5 Nc6 24.a6 Bc8 25.h5 Qf6 26.Rf3 Qe6 27.Bc4 Qe7 28.Qa4 Nd8 29.axb7 Bxb7 30.Re3 Bc6 31.Qa2 Nb7 32.b4 Nd6 33.Bd5 Bxd5 34.Rxd5 Qe6 35.Re2 c6 36.Ra5 Qxa2 37.Raxa2 Rfc8 38.Ng4 c5 39.bxc5 Rxc5 40.Rxa7 Rxc3 41.Rd7 Ne8 42.Nxe5 Nf6 43.Re7 Rb4 44.g4 Rc5 45.f3 Kf8 46.Rxf7+ Ke8 47.Nd3 Rb1+ 48.Kg2 Rc3 49.Ne5 Rb5 50.Rxg7 Rxe5 51.Ra2 Kf8 52.Rg6 Nxe4 53.Re2 Rg5 54.Rxh6 Nc5 55.Rc6 Na4 56.Ra6 Nc5 57.Ra8+ Kf7 58.Ra7+ Kf6 59.Re8 Ne6 60.h6 Counterplay counts Material is reduced in endgames, but attacks on the king still happen endgames. In the diagram position it is Black to move and draw. How?
Black to move and draw
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Abdusattorov,N2768Gukesh,D2777½–½2025C5087th Tata Steel Masters 20256.4

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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<< Jon Speelman: A few patterns
Saint Louis: Champions Showdown and American Cup 2025 >>
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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See also

Capablanca's Rule

2/25/2025 – In endings with bishops of the same colour it is often good for the attacking side to put their pawns on squares of the opposite colour. This gives the king room to maneuver and the enemy pawns can be attacked. As Black demonstrated in the diagram position - what would you do?
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Outposts

2/18/2025 – Knights often need outposts to defend against bishops. In the diagram position Black's knight has no safe outpost and this allows White to win. How?
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Video

60m The Two Knights

This entry into the 60 minutes series concentrates on the Modern variation of the Italian game where White opens the centre early : 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 d4 exd4 5 e5!. This line can be reached by various move orders, most frequently from the Scotch 3 d4 exd4 4 Bc4. It's a sharp variation and Grandmasters such as Evgeny Sveshnikov have used it frequently,with very good results. It's a perfect line for club players to adopt which is relatively easy to learn and which contains many traps. All the main responses are covered here, including 5...d5, 5...Ng4 and 5...Ne4 and the conclusion is that is is difficult for Black to equalize in a straightforward way. Problems are being posed, which over the board might prove tough to solve.

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