Endgames from Madrid (4)

by Karsten Müller
7/3/2022 – Eight of the strongest players in the world are fighting in Madrid to get a shot in the next match for the world crown. Deep opening preparation and maximum focus often lead to slightly better (or worse) endgames. GM Karsten Müller aims his attention at the last stage of the game, as he compiles the most salient and instructive endings from the Candidates Tournament. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage
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King activity

In round 10, Ding Liren scored a second consecutive win by beating Richard Rapport with the black pieces. In the endgame, he had the more active king and that proved to be the crucial factor to decide the winner of the encounter.

 
Rapport vs. Ding - Round 10

Rapport gave up the exchange with 45.Rxd4 (also allowing his king to escape via g1), but even the opposite-coloured bishop ending is lost for White as the black king will quickly invade on the queenside.

Round 12 saw Alireza Firouzja holding a draw with black after some adventurous play against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. But how could have Duda got better winning chances in this position?

 
Duda vs. Firouzja - Round 12

37.Rxf7 was not precise. Keeping more tension in the position with 37.Rfg2 would have given White good winning chances.

Find analyses for these two positions and four more endgames in the replayer below.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 d6 9.c3 Ba7 10.0-0 Na5 11.Bc2 c5 12.Nbd2 g5 13.Bg3 Nh5 14.a3 Rb8 15.Kh1 Rb7 16.b4 Nc6 17.Bb3 Rc7 18.Bd5 g4 19.Bh4 Ne7 20.Ng1 cxb4 21.axb4 Rxc3 22.Ne2 Rc7 23.f4 f6 24.fxe5 dxe5 25.Ng3 Nxg3+ 26.hxg3 Rf8 27.Rxf6 Rxf6 28.Bxf6 Qd6 29.Qf1 Bd4 30.Bf7+ Kd7 31.Rd1 Rc2 32.Bb3 Rc7 33.Nc4 bxc4 34.dxc4 Rc6 35.Ba4 Kc7 36.Bxc6 Nxc6 37.b5 Nb4 38.c5 Qe6 39.Bh4 Bxc5 40.Rc1 Qd6 41.Qc4 Nd3 42.Rc3 axb5 43.Qxd3 Qxd3 44.Rxd3 Ding's king. King activity is often crucially important in endgames: Bd4 Now Black's king will win by invading, while White's king is only a spectator. 45.Bf6 45.Rd1 loses as well, e.g. Kb6 46.Bd8+ Ka6 47.Rb1 Bb7 48.Bc7 Bxe4 49.Re1 Bc6 50.Rxe5 50.Bxe5 Bxe5 51.Rxe5 b4-+ 50...Bxe5 51.Bxe5 b4 52.Kg1 Kb5 53.Kf2 Ka4 54.Ke3 b3 55.Bb2 Bxg2 56.Kd2 Kb4 57.Kd3 h5 58.Kd2 Be4 59.Ke3 Bf5 60.Kd2 Kc4 61.Ke3 Kd5 62.Ba1 Bc2 63.Bb2 Bd1 64.Ba1 h4 Finally White's defense is overloaded in typical style. 65.gxh4 g3-+ 45.Rb3 is met by Bd7 46.Rb4 h5 47.Bf6 Kb6 48.Rxd4 exd4 49.Bxd4+ Ka5-+ 45...Kb6 46.Rxd4 46.Be7 Bb7 47.Bb4 Bxe4 48.Rd1 Bd5 49.Bd6 Bc4 50.Bb4 h5 51.Re1 Kc6 52.Bf8 Kd5 53.Rd1 e4 54.Bg7 Bd3-+ 46.Rb3 Ka5 47.Be7 Bb7 48.Ra3+ Kb6-+ 46...exd4 47.Bxd4+ Ka5 48.Kg1 b4 49.Kf2 Ka4 50.Ke3 Kb3! Ding's king invades decisively. Of course not 50...b3?? 51.Bb2= 51.Kf4 51.Kd2 Ka2 52.Kc2 Bb7 53.e5 Bxg2 54.e6 h5 55.e7 Bc6-+ 51...Kc2 52.Ke5 b3 53.Kd6 Kd3 The direct 53...b2 wins as well due to 54.Bxb2 Kxb2 55.e5 Kc3 56.e6 Ba6 57.e7 Bb5 58.Ke5 Kd3 59.Kf5 h5 60.Kg5 Be8-+ 54.Ba1 Kxe4 55.Kc5 Kd3 55...Kd3 56.Kb4 Kc2 57.Ka3 Bb7 58.Bg7 h5 59.Bb2 Bxg2 60.Bf6 Be4 61.Bb2 h4 62.gxh4 g3 63.Bd4 g2 64.h5 b2-+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Rapport,R2776Ding,L28060–12022C77FIDE Candidates Tournament 202210.1
Duda,J2750Firouzja,A2804½–½2022D46FIDE Candidates Tournament 202212.3
Nakamura,H2760Rapport,R2776½–½2022B33FIDE Candidates Tournament 202211.1
Duda,J2750Caruana,F27861–02022C54FIDE Candidates Tournament 202210.2
Caruana,F2786Ding,L28060–12022C88FIDE Candidates Tournament 202211.4
Rapport,R2776Caruana,F2786½–½2022C65FIDE Candidates Tournament 202212.1

In over 4 hours in front of the camera, Karsten Müller presents to you sensations from the world of endgames - partly reaching far beyond standard techniques and rules of thumb - and rounds off with some cases of with own examples.

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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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