The imprisoned bishop

by Karsten Müller
2/20/2018 – Endgames with opposite-coloured bishops are often paradoxical — sometimes they are drawn although one side is two or even three pawns up. This often leads to surprising tactical opportunities.

Chess Endgames 1 - Basic knowledge for beginners Chess Endgames 1 - Basic knowledge for beginners

Endgame theory constitutes the foundation of chess. You realize this in striking clarity once you obtain a won endgame but in the end have to be content with a draw in the end because of a lack of necessary know-how. Such accidents can only be prevented by building up a solid endgame technique. This is Karsten Müller‘s fi rst DVD and the grandmaster from Hamburg and endgame expert, here lays the foundation for acquiring such a technique. The fi rst part of his training series can be started without any endgame knowledge, only a knowledge of the rules of chess is assumed.

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Stay on guard

Don't let bishops of opposite colors lull you into a false sense of security, when vigilance is required.

 

ChessBase Magazine 182

Enjoy the best moments of recent top tournaments (London, Grand Prix Palma, European Teams) with analysis of top players. In addition you'll get lots of training material. For example 12 new suggestions for your opening repertoire.


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.

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.

Karsten Mueller

Karsten Müller regularly presents endgame lessons in the ChessBase Video Portal


ChessBase Magazine #182

The editor's top ten

1. Sharp attack on move 7: the Russian top-player Ian Nepomniachtchi shows you how he surprised former World Champion Vishy Anand at the London Chess Classic.
2. An important step to the title: Radjabov explains his strategic win against Movsesian at the European Team Championship on Crete.
3. Castling queenside to make short shrift: join Simon Williams and follow the attack in Morozevich-Ponomariov move by move!
4. “A funky line”: share the enthusiasm of IM Lawrence Trent for the rare 7.Nbd2 in the Classical Italian!
5. Important update: Michal Krasenkow presents new ideas and trends in the popular King's Indian with 6.h3.
6. An exciting game in the Scotch: enjoy Daniel King’s video analysis of the fantastic encounter Nakamura-Carlsen!
7. “Natural moves”: how are they linked to our positional understanding? Strategy expert Mihail Marin offers valuable practical tips!
8. Petroff Defence without risk: Dennis Breder shows how 8.Nbd2 is a guarantee to get a comfortable position.
9. Nobody saw it: trap expert Rainer Knaak presents an impressive collection of "missed chances“ in current tournament practice.
10. “Troizky line and Henry’s side-check”: let Karsten Müller show you what is important when checkmating with two knights vs pawn!

Bonus: Wesley So has annotated his win against Viswanathan Anand at the London Chess Classic!

Links


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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