Endgames from Miami (1)

by Karsten Müller
8/20/2022 – A field with well-established GMs and young stars is fighting it off in Miami at the FTX Crypto Cup. Our in-house expert Karsten Müller is following the games looking to find the most intriguing and instructive ending positions. Do not miss his on-point analyses! | Pictured: Praggnanandhaa in 2018 | Photo: Amruta Mokal
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The ever-relevant rook endgames

Pragg the technician

Despite being so young, Pragg is already a very strong endgame technician. In this ending against Anish Giri, he immediately chose a technical solution when he got a chance.

 

Aronian fails to find a win amid a pawn race

Rook endings have a large drawish tendency, but races are different, as demonstrated by this position seen in a game between Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Levon Aronian.

 

Le’s missed chance

Le Quang Liem had two extra pawns in a rook endgame against Aronian, but in this particular setup, precision is needed until the very end. How would you continue with White here?

 
Le vs. Aronian

The winning idea was 73.Ra8, improving the rook. Le’s 73.Kc5 gave Black a key tempo, and Aronian found the one reply that held the draw: 73...Rc2+

Find this game’s full analysis plus three more instructive endgames in the replayer below!

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 c6 7.Qc2 Nh5 8.Bd2 Nhf6 9.Bf4 Nh5 10.Bg5 Be7 11.h4 Nb6 12.0-0-0 h6 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Ne5 Nf6 15.e3 Ng4 16.Nf3 Be6 17.Bd3 0-0-0 18.Kb1 Kb8 19.h5 Rc8 20.Qe2 Nf6 21.Ne5 c5 22.Bc2 Rhe8 23.f4 Ne4 24.Bxe4 dxe4 25.d5 Bd7 26.d6 Qe6 27.Nxe4 Qf5 28.Qc2 Ba4 29.b3 Bc6 30.Ng3 Qxc2+ 31.Kxc2 c4 32.Kb2 c3+ 33.Kc2 Rxe5 34.fxe5 Nd7 35.Rh4 Nxe5 36.Nf5 Bxg2 37.d7 Rd8 38.Nxg7 Bc6 39.Nf5 Bxd7 40.Nxh6 Kc7 41.Rf4 f5 42.Nxf5 Rh8 43.h6 Bxf5+ 44.Rxf5 Ng4 45.Rd3 Rxh6 46.Rxc3+ Kb6 47.Rf4 Rh2+ 48.Kb1 Rh1+ 49.Kb2 Rh2+ 50.Ka3 Ne5 51.Rf6+ Nc6 52.b4 a5 53.bxa5+ Kxa5 54.Rf5+ Ka6 55.Rb3 Re2 56.Rf8 Ka7 57.Rf4 Ka6 58.Ra4+ Na5 59.Kb4 b6 60.Rba3 Kb7 61.Kb5 Rc2 62.Rxa5 bxa5 63.Kxa5 Kc6 64.Kb4 Kd5 65.Ra8 Re2 66.Ra3 Ke4 67.Ra7 Kd5 68.Ra3 Ke4 69.Kc4 Rc2+ 70.Kb3 Rh2 71.Kc4 Rc2+ 72.Kb4 Rh2 Aronian's activity. Rook endings should usually be defended actively: 73.Kc5? The king has no aim. Improving the rook with 73.Ra8 wins, e.g. Kxe3 74.a4 Kd4 75.Rd8+ Ke5 76.a5 Ra2 77.Kb5 Rb2+ 78.Kc6 Rc2+ 79.Kb6 Rb2+ 80.Ka7 Ke6 81.a6 Ke7 82.Rb8 Ra2 83.Kb7 Rb2+ 84.Ka8 Ra2 85.a7 Kd6 Now a typical win worth knowing follows: 86.Kb7 Rb2+ 87.Kc8 Rc2+ 88.Kd8 Rh2 89.Rb6+ Kc5 90.Rc6+ Kxc6 90...Kb5 91.Rc8+- 90...Kd5 91.Ra6 Rh8+ 92.Kc7+- 91.a8Q+ Kc5 92.Qc8+ Kd4 93.Qg4+ Kd5 94.Qf5+ Kc6 95.Qe6+ Kb7 96.Qc8+ Ka7 97.Qc7+ Ka8 98.Qxh2 73...Rc2+! The only move. 74.Kd6 74.Kb4 Kd5! Again the only move. 75.Rd3+ Ke4 76.Ra3 Kd5 77.Ra8 Re2! 78.a4 Rxe3 79.a5 Kc6= 74...Rd2+ 75.Ke6 Rh2 76.Kd7 Rd2+ 77.Kc6 Rc2+ 78.Kb7 Rb2+ 79.Ka8 Kf3 80.Ka7 Ke4 81.Ra6 Kxe3 82.a4 Kd4 83.Rh6 Kc5 84.a5 Rg2 85.Rb6 Rg7+ 86.Rb7 Rg5 87.Rb8 Kc6 88.a6 Rg7+ 89.Ka8 Rg1 90.Rh8 Kc7 91.Ka7 Rg7 92.Rh6 Re7 93.Rb6 Re1 94.Rb7+ Kc6 95.Rb2 Re7+ 96.Rb7 Re1 97.Rb6+ Kc7 98.Rb3 Rc1 99.Rb7+ Kc8 100.Ka8 Rc6 101.a7 Rc1 A standard book draw has arisen. 102.Rb8+ Kc7 103.Rh8 Rc2 104.Rh7+ Kc8 105.Rh4 Rc1 106.Rb4 Rc2 107.Rb8+ Kc7 108.Rb3 Rc1 109.Rc3+ Le's final joke. Rxc3 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Le,Q2722Aronian,L2775½–½2022D351.2
Firouzja,A2793Praggnanandhaa R26481–02022B31FTX Crypto Cup MCCT 20221.2
Praggnanandhaa R2648Giri,A2760½–½2022C772.3
Praggnanandhaa R2648Firouzja,A27931–02022C411.3

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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