Instructive endgames from the European Club Cup

by Karsten Müller
4/3/2021 – The Schachfreunde Deizisau won the European Chess Club Cup a few days ago. The star-studded tournament was undoubtedly a top-class event. Good reason for Karsten Müller to examine the extensive game material in detail. During his research, he found bishop-related examples: he discovered an imprisoned bishop, saw how another one fought alone against a number of pawns, and found a pure opposite-coloured bishops endgame that was not a draw. | Photo: Pascal Simon
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Precision matters

The winners from the SF Deizisau were not the only Germans playing in the final phase of the European Club Cup. Also playing was the Hamburger SK, Karsten Müller’s club. The grandmaster took a close look at two endgames from round 6, when his team faced the Cercle d’Echecs de Monte Carlo, the winners of the European Women’s Club Cup. 

Elisabeth Paehtz drew Rasmus Svane on board 2, while Aleksandra Goryachkina and Nils Grandelius also split a point on top board.

The HSK did score a full point on board 4 though, as Almira Skripchenko lost to Julian Kramer after allowing Kramer’s bishop to escape from its ‘prison cell’.

How should Black keep the balance in the following position?

 
Kramer, J. v Skripchenko, A
Black to play
 
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"The bishop prison" - Same-coloured bishop endings have a large drawish tendency: 61...Bd2? This opens the prison door. 61...Bg3 62.Bg7 62.Kc6 Bf4 63.Kc7 Ke7= 62...Kf7 63.Bh6 Bf4 keeps the bishop locked up as 64.Kd5 can be met by g4 65.fxg4 Bxh6 66.Kxe5 Kg6= 62.Kc6? The bishop must break free directly with 62.Bg7!+- and White wins as shown below. 62...Ba5 63.Bg7 Bd8? Now the bishop breaks free for good. 63...Bb4 closes the prison door, e.g. 64.Kc7 Ba3 65.Kd8 Bb4 66.Ke8 Bc5 67.Bf8 Bxf8 68.Kxf8 Kf6= 64.Bf8 Ba5 65.Bc5 Bd8 65...Bd2 66.Kc7 Ba5+ 67.Kc8 Bd2 68.Kd8+- 66.Bb4 Bf6 67.Kc7 Bh8 67...g4 is refuted by 68.fxg4 Bg5 69.Bc5 Bf6 70.Be3 Ke7 71.g5 Bg7 72.Bc5+ Ke6 73.Kd8+- 68.Kd8 Bf6+ 69.Ke8 Bg7 70.Be7 White starts the final winning phase. Of course not 70.Bf8?? Bxf8 71.Kxf8 Kf6= and White's king is locked up for ever on the 8th rank. 70...Bh6 70...Bf6 is refuted by 71.Bxf6 Kxf6 72.Kd7 g4 73.fxg4 Kg5 74.Ke6 Kf4 75.g5 Kxg5 76.Kxe5+- 71.Bd8 Zugzwang is the sharpest endgame weapon. Bg7 72.Bxg5 Bf6 73.Be3 The bishop must remain on the board for the time being. 73.Bxf6? is refuted by Kxf6 74.Kd7 Kg5 75.Ke6 Kf4 76.Kf6 Kxf3 77.Kxe5 Kg3 78.Kd4 Kxh3 79.e5 Kg2 80.e6 h3 81.e7 h2 82.e8Q h1Q= 73...Be7 74.Bf2 Bg5 75.Kf8 Kf6 After 75...Bf6 76.Be3 Bh8 White's king invades from behind: 77.Kg8 Bf6 78.Kh7 Kf7 79.Kh6+- 76.Be1 Now Black must allow White's king to come closer due to zugzwang. Kg6 77.Ke8 Bf6 78.Kd7 Kf7 78...Kg5 79.Ke6 Bg7 80.Bd2+ Kg6 81.Bc3+- 79.Kd6 Kg6 80.Ke6 Kg5 81.Bd2+ Kg6 82.Be1 The direct 82.Bc3 Kg5 83.Bxe5 wins as well. 82...Kg7 83.Kf5 Kf7 84.Bc3 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kramer,J2419Skripchenko,A24181–02021B07EOC-ch-Final 20216.16

On board 3, the match was decided in favour of the team from Hamburg. Luis Engel finally managed to hold a draw after his bishop stopped Monika Socko’s passed pawns.

Should White push her pawn or bring her king to the queenside in the following position?

 
Socko, M. v Engel, L.
White to play

Karsten Müller shows that there was even more in it for the German grandmaster! 

 
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"Running the pawn or retreating king?" - That is the question. In pawn races the question is often to run or to deal with the enemy pawn first: 76.h6? This is too direct. First White's king has to deal with the d-pawn: 76.Kf2 Kd3 77.h6 Kc2 78.h7 d3+ 79.Kg2 Bd4 80.b6 d2 81.b7 d1Q 82.b8Q= Even 76.Kg2 d3 77.Kf1 Ba5 78.Kf2= is playable. 76...d3 77.h7 Bd4 78.b6 d2 79.b7 d1Q 80.b8Q Qg1+ 81.Kh3 The critical moment has been reached. Qh1+? Now White can coordinate the defense. 81...Qf1+ wins, e. g. 82.Kh2 82.Kh4 Bf2+ 83.Kg5 Qg2+ 84.Kf6 Bd4+ 85.Kf7 Qg7+ 86.Ke6 Qf6+ 87.Kd7 Qf5+! 88.Ke8 Qe6+ 89.Kd8 Bf6+ 90.Kc7 Be5+ 91.Kd8 Qf6+-+ 82...Bg1+ 83.Kg3 Qf3+ 84.Kh4 Bf2+ 85.Kg5 Qf5+ 86.Kh6 Qf6+ 87.Kh5 Qf7+ 88.Kg5 Now Black's bishop starts the attack: Be3+ 89.Kh4 89.Kg4 Qf5+ 90.Kg3 Bf4+ 91.Kg2 Qg4+ 92.Kf1 Qh3+-+ 89...Qxh7+ 90.Kg3 Qg6+ 91.Kh4 Qg5+ 92.Kh3 Qf5+ 93.Kg2 Qf3+ 94.Kh2 Bf4+-+ 82.Qh2 Qf3+ 83.Qg3 Qh5+ 84.Qh4+ Qxh4+ 85.Kxh4 Kd5 86.a5 Kc6 87.a6 Kb6 88.Kg5 Kxa6 89.Kg6 Kb6 90.Kf7 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Socko,M2421Engel,L2553½–½2021B51EOC-ch-Final 20216.15

Do not rush

In the preliminary round (Group H), the strong Ukrainian grandmaster Yuriy Kryvoruchko demonstrated in his game against the Hungarian Gabor Nagy that it is possible to win endgames with opposite-coloured bishops — at least if your opponent helps a little!

Should Black play actively or keep the existing state of affairs in the following position?

 
Kryvoruchko, Y. v Nagy, G.
Black to play
 
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"Do not rush" - Pure opposite-coloured bishop endings have a large drawish tendency, but in this case care is required: 47...a5? This advance rushs. After 47...Kf7 White cannot break through. 48.Kxg6 Of course not 48.Bxa5? Ke5 49.Kxg6 Bxg4 50.h5 Bxh5+ 51.Kxh5 Kxe4 52.Kg5 Kd5 53.Kf6 Kc6= 48...Bxg4 49.h5 Bf3 50.e5 b4 50...a4 51.h6 Be4+ 52.Kg7 b4 53.axb4+- 53.Bxb4?? Kxe5 54.h7 Bxh7 55.Kxh7 Kd5 would only be drawn as Black's king is inside Rauser's drawing zone. 51.axb4 axb4 52.Bb2! The bishop now has everything under control according to the principle of one diagonal. Ke7 53.h6 Kf8 54.h7! Necessary precision. As 54.e6? runs into Be4+ 55.Kf6 Kg8 56.Ke7 Kh7 57.Bg7 b3 58.Kd8 Bg6 59.e7 b2 60.Bxb2 Kxh6= 54...Be4+ 55.Kh6 Bxh7 56.Kxh7 Kf7 57.Kh6 Ke6 58.Kg5 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
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  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kryvoruchko,Y2699Nagy,G25091–02021B47European Online Club-ch-H 20214.13

Links

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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