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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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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