Endgames from Miami (2)

by Karsten Müller
8/21/2022 – 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: Anish Giri | Photo: Amruta Mokal
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Counterplay and coordination

Giri finds the draw

In a knight versus bishop (plus an extra pawn) endgame, Anish Giri found counterplay at every turn to save a draw against Alireza Firouzja. Very instructive!

 

Checks from all directions

In rook endgames, f and h-pawns can be problematic. Alireza Firouzja could have held a draw with black in the game shown below, but failed to find the correct manoeuvre and ended up losing against Jan-Krzysztof Duda.

 

Magnus’ mighty pawns

The world champion showed excellent technique to coordinate his army and defeat Levon Aronian. Impressive stuff.

 
Aronian vs. Carlsen

After 52...g5, Black needed fifteen more moves to take down his opponent.

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

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 Be7 4.h3 b5 5.e3 a6 6.Nbd2 Bb7 7.Bd3 c5 8.c3 Nc6 9.e4 d6 10.Be3 0-0 11.0-0 Rc8 12.dxc5 dxc5 13.Qe2 Qc7 14.a4 c4 15.Bc2 Rfd8 16.Rfd1 h6 17.axb5 axb5 18.b3 cxb3 19.Bxb3 b4 20.cxb4 Nxb4 21.Nd4 Qe5 22.f4 Qb8 23.Nxe6 fxe6 24.Bxe6+ Kh8 25.Bxc8 Rxc8 26.Ra7 Bc5 27.Bxc5 Rxc5 28.Rda1 Nc6 29.Qe3 Rc2 30.R7a4 Qd8 31.Nf3 Ne7 32.Qb3 Qc7 33.Nd4 Rc1+ 34.Rxc1 Qxc1+ 35.Kh2 Qxf4+ 36.Qg3 Qxe4 37.Rb4 Bd5 38.Qf2 Ng6 39.Nc2 Qe7 40.Rd4 Be4 41.Ne1 Qe5+ 42.Kg1 Nf4 43.Rb4 Kh7 44.Rb3 N6d5 45.Nf3 Qc7 46.Qb2 Qc5+ 47.Kh2 Ne3 48.Qd4 Nf1+ 49.Kh1 Qxd4 50.Nxd4 Bxg2+ 51.Kg1 Bxh3 52.Rf3 Magnus' mighty pawns. Connected passed pawns are usually very dangerous in an endgame: g5! 53.Ra3 Kg6 54.Nf3 Ng3 55.Kh2 Nf5 56.Ra6+ Kh5 57.Ne5 57.Ra5 Bg4 58.Ne5 Bd1 59.Ra1 Bb3 60.Ra5 g4-+ 57...g4 58.Ra3 Bf1!? Same care is required due to the reduced winning potential. Of course not 58...g3+? 59.Rxg3 Nxg3 60.Kxg3 Kg5 61.Nf7+ Kg6 62.Nxh6 Kxh6 63.Kxf4= 59.Ra4 g3+ 60.Kg1 Nd3! The only winning move. 61.Nd7 61.Nxd3 Bxd3 62.Ra3 Be4 63.Ra4 Bf3 64.Ra5 Kg4-+ and sooner or later the h-pawn will march down the board in full glory. 61...Bh3 62.Nf6+ Kg6 63.Ne4 Nf4 64.Ra6+ Kh5 65.Nf6+ Kh4 66.Ra4 Kg5! 67.Ne4+ Kg4 68.Nc3 Nh4 68...Nh4 69.Ra2 Nf3+ 70.Kh1 g2+ 71.Rxg2+ Bxg2# 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2775Carlsen,M28640–12022A463.1
Niemann,H2688Praggnanandhaa R26481–02022B303.1
Giri,A2760Niemann,H26880–12022E174.3

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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