Hiding away

by Karsten Müller
12/25/2018 – Knowing typical patterns and tricks makes you play better chess in general and rook endings in particular.

Endgames of the World Champions from Fischer to Carlsen Endgames of the World Champions from Fischer to Carlsen

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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Practical defence

Here's a little rook ending to chew on.

 

Chess Endgames 2 - Rook Endgames

With this second volume of his endgame training series, grandmaster and endgame expert Dr Karsten Mueller continues to lay the solid foundations for the last phase of the game.
Part II is dedicated exclusively to rook endgames: rook versus pawn, rook and pawn versus rook, rook and rook pawn versus rook, rook and two connected pawns versus rook.

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.

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

 

The best of ChessBase Magazine #187:

  • CBM 184WCh match London 2018
    Anand, So, Gelfand, Duda, Shankland, Navara, Adams, etc. annotate the games
  • ​Take and smile! 
    Daniel Naroditski has a new recipe for White in the London System with 4.dxc5
  • Giri's stroke of genius
    Admire Anish Giri’s new endgame discovery together with Karsten Müller (Video)
  • "Move by Move" á la Ding Liren
    Investigate some amazing attacking moves along with Simon Williams
  • Olympiad Special
    Enjoy three training videos with Yannick Pelletier
  • Olympiad Highlight
    Mihail Marin presents the brilliancy Aronian-Mamedyarov. (Video)
  • Serve and volley! 
    Let Alexey Kuzmin excite you with Mamedyarov’s plan 4…h6 / 6…g5 in the Two Knights Defence!
  • Mr. Isle of Man
    "IOM" winner Radoslaw Wojtaszek analyses his victory in the top duel with Michael Adams.
  • Dragon tamer
    Kristzian Szabo dissects the subtleties of the variation with 7.Be2 followed by 9.0-0-0.
  • A mad rook!
    Tactics expert Oliver Reeh demonstrates the versatility of a major piece. (Video)

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.

Discuss

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Karsten Müller Karsten Müller 12/29/2018 02:26
Michel de Saboulin points out that the theme is known:
"The endgame Kilinc-Nazli (2018) is very similar to the end of the game Polugaevsky - Parma (Sochi, 1965) quoted in Winning Endgame strategy, Beliavsky and Mikhalchishin (Batsford, 2000). The position is : White Ke3, Ra7, Pa5, Ph5 / Kf8, Rg4, Pg7. After 60.a6 Parma resigned since he saw the variation 60...Ra4 61.Ra8+ Kf7 62.a7 Ra1 63.h6 and thought there was no defence, as he did not see that after 63...Kg6! and 64...Kh7! Black makes a draw."
Lovuschka Lovuschka 12/27/2018 08:56
Of course, one also has to know how to destroy such a protective wall, as Kling demonstrated in a dualistic study in the Chess Player's Magazine 1866: wKb2 Rf8 Pf6 a2 - bKb5 Rc5 Pb6. White to move and win. 1.f7 Rf5 2.a4+ Kb4 3.a5, with the pawn marching or a deadly check. There are other wins, as was found in 2015 likely with endgame databases - 1.a3 and 1.Kb3 also win according to Harold van der Heijden -, but this is the fastest and clearest.
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