Endgames from Vrnjacka Banja (4)

by Karsten Müller
3/28/2023 – Close to 250 games were played daily for 11 rounds at the European Championship that came to an end two weeks ago. The players were fighting for an entrance to the World Championship cycle via the World Cup, which made for very competitive struggles. Karsten Müller kept an eye on the games, and sent us many notable endgames with instructive analyses. Replay here ten of his finds! | Pictured: Bulgarian grandmaster Ivan Cheparinov | Photo: European Chess Union
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Bishops of opposite colours

Not all endings with bishops of opposite colours are drawn, but finding the correct way to break through from the winning side needs proper technique.

 
Babazada vs. Schekachikhin - Round 8
Black to play

For example, what should be Black’s plan to break White’s potential fortress in this position? In round 8, Maksim Schekachikhin pushed his queenside pawns at the right time to secure a win against Khazar Babazada.

 
Kacharava vs. Nigalidze - Round 7
White to play

And how to win here with White? Should he immediately grab the rook on g8 or place his rook on h7, keeping attacking chances. Surprisingly, both moves win, but Nikolozi Kacharava played the most convincing of the two. Can you figure out the winning plan?

These are only two of the ten instructive endgame positions which you can study and enjoy in our dynamic replayer below!

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qc7 7.Nf3 Ne7 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bd3 Ba4 10.0-0 c4 11.Be2 Na6 12.Ne1 0-0-0 13.f4 Qd7 14.g4 f5 15.Ng2 Kb8 16.Ne3 Nc7 17.Bd2 Rdf8 18.h3 h6 19.Qe1 g5 20.Rc1 Ng6 21.Ng2 fxg4 22.hxg4 gxf4 23.Nxf4 Nxf4 24.Bxf4 Qh7 25.Qd2 h5 26.g5 Rf5 27.Be3 Rhf8 28.Rxf5 Rxf5 29.Bf1 b6 30.Kh2 Rf8 31.Bg2 Qg6 32.Rf1 Rxf1 33.Bxf1 Qxc2 34.Kg3 Qe4 35.Qf2 Be8 36.Bg2 Qg4+ 37.Kh2 Bg6 38.a4 a5 39.Bc1 Kb7 40.Bf3 Qf5 41.Qe2 Qf7 42.Bg2 Ka7 43.Kg3 Ne8 44.Qb2 Ng7 45.Qa3 Nf5+ 46.Kh2 Nh4 47.Qd6 Bd3 48.g6 Bxg6 49.Bg5 Nxg2 50.Kxg2 Be4+ 51.Kg1 Qg7 52.Kh2 Kb7 53.Qd8 Qc7 54.Qg8 Qc6 55.Kg3 Bc2 56.Kh4 Bxa4 57.Kxh5 Qe8+ 58.Qxe8 Bxe8+ 59.Kg4 b5 60.Kf3 The fortress breaker. Pure opposite colored bishop endings have a very large drawish tendency. But in this case Black can break through: Ka6 The king comes closer for the coming king invasion. 61.Ke2 61.Be7 is met by b4 62.cxb4 a4 63.b5+ Bxb5 63...Kxb5? 64.Ke2= 64.Ke2 c3+ 65.Kd1 Bd3 66.Bb4 Kb5 67.Bxc3 Kc4 68.Kd2 Bf5 69.Ba1 Kb3 70.Kc1 a3-+ 61...b4 62.Kd1 Bg6! 62...bxc3? 63.Kc2 Kb5 64.Kxc3 Ka4 65.Bd8= 63.Bd2 a4! The fortress breaker. After the direct 63...bxc3? 64.Bxc3 White's house holds, e.g. a4 65.Kc1 a3 66.Bb4 a2 67.Kb2 Kb5 68.Bc3 Bb1 69.Ka3= 64.cxb4 Kb5 65.Bc3 a3 66.Kd2 Ka4 67.b5 67.Kc1 Kb3 68.Kd2 Be8-+ zugzwang 67...Kxb5 67...Kxb5 68.Kc1 Ka4 69.Kd1 Kb3 70.Kd2 Bd3 The decisive zugzwang. 71.Ba1 Ka2 72.Bc3 Kb1-+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Babazada,K2481Schekachikhin,M23670–12023C198.89
Kacharava,N2531Nigalidze,G24481–02023B30EICC 20237.52
Gavrilescu,D2527Zajic,M23871–02023B90EICC 20238.57
Livaic,L2569Anton Guijarro,D26850–12023D309.18
Paravyan,D2584Cheparinov,I26611–02023C889.6
Saric,I2674Dvirnyy,D2531½–½2023B12EICC 20239.21
Sebenik,M2536Peyrer,K23951–02023A138.77
Stremavicius,P2383Halkias,S2514½–½2023D35EICC 20237.60
Suleymanli,A2552Sargsyan,S2630½–½2023A14EICC 20239.24
Wieczorek,O2505Chigaev,M2632½–½2023B35EICC 20239.40
 

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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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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