Cutting off the enemy king

by Karsten Müller
4/29/2025 – This weapon can be used by the attacking and the defending side. In the diagram position Black used it to hold the 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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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bf4 Bd6 11.Nc3 Bxf4 12.gxf4 a5 13.e3 Na6 14.Kh1 Nb4 15.Qe2 Qe7 16.Nb5 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 c6 18.Na3 Ne8 19.Nc2 Nxc2 20.Qxc2 f5 21.Qb3 Nf6 22.Rac1 Nd5 23.Rg1 Rf7 24.Rc5 Kh8 25.Qd1 Qf6 26.Qf1 Rc7 27.Qg2 b6 28.Rc4 Rac8 29.Rgc1 Qe7 30.h3 Nb4 31.Be2 Na2 32.Rd1 Nb4 33.b3 Nd5 34.Rcc1 Nb4 35.Bc4 Na2 36.Ra1 Nb4 37.Rg1 Rd8 38.Kh2 Qf6 39.Be2 Rdc8 40.Rad1 Nd5 41.Ba6 Rd8 42.Rc1 Nb4 43.Be2 Rdc8 44.Rc4 Qe7 45.Bf3 Kg8 46.Rcc1 Qf6 47.Be2 Kh8 48.Bc4 Nd5 49.Qg3 Rd8 50.h4 Qf7 51.Be2 Rdc8 52.Ba6 Ra8 53.Be2 Rac8 54.h5 Nf6 55.Qh4 Qe7 56.Kg2 Nd5 57.Qxe7 Rxe7 58.Bf3 Rec7 59.Bxd5 cxd5 60.Rb1 Kg8 61.b4 Rc4 62.bxa5 bxa5 63.Kf3 Rb4 64.Rxb4 axb4 65.h6 g6 66.Rb1 Rb8 67.Ke2 b3 68.Kd3 Ra8 69.Rxb3 Rxa4 70.Rb7 Ra2 71.Rg7+ Kh8 72.Re7 Kg8 73.Rxe6 Rxf2 74.Re8+ Kf7 75.Rh8 Kf6 76.Rxh7 g5 77.fxg5+ Kxg5 78.Rd7 Kxh6 79.Rxd5 Kg6 80.Re5 Ra2 81.e4 fxe4+ 82.Rxe4 Kf5 83.Re8 Cutting off the enemy king This weapon can be used by the attacking and the defending side. In the diagram position Black used it to hold the draw. How?
Black to move and draw
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2802Mishra,A2600½–½2025E05American Cup Open Champions 20251.1

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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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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arzi arzi 4/30/2025 11:27
This same position was analyzed in the Endgame magic #293. Good endgames can be shown even twice! :)
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