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The Chessable Masters saw a number of fascinating endgames. I picked some gems and sorted them according to material.
A) Rook against pawns
A1) Rook stops passed pawns
Usually, a rook is of course much better than the pawns. However, far advanced pawns are tricky:
B) Rook endings
B1) The safety zone
Usually, the attacker should only move his passed pawn to the seventh or second rank if this wins more or less directly. Otherwise, this often leads to a draw, as in the example below:
B2) The problematic pawn push
Thorsten Cmiel indicates that the pawn push ...e6-e5 is often not good in the constellation below.
Indeed, in Artemiev - Nepomniachtchi 34...e5? was a decisive mistake.
This endgame reminded Cmiel of an endgame between Rasmus Svane and Markus Ragger, played in the Bundesliga:
However, Svane found an antidote to Cmiel's winning attempt, and analyses indicate that Black can hold when he refrains from ...e5.
B3) Outside passed pawn
In the example below Black's counterplay is fast enough. But though the position was drawn, Ding lost the game because of an internet disconnect.
But in the following case the win is rather simple:
The next case is more complicated.
B4) Three rook endgames by Anish Giri
Giri set up the typical f2-g3-h4 constellation and now shows good defensive technique.
In the following game Giri also showed good defensive skills.
In the next example, Giri attacks, but the result is the same: a draw.
B5) An endgame by Magnus Carlsen
The following example is so complicated that even Carlsen failed to find the win.
C) Bishop endings
C1) Zugzwang is a sharp endgame weapon
Bishop endings have drawish tendencies. In the example below White did not play precise enough to win.
D) Bishop against knight
In a race of passed pawns a bishop is usually better than a knight.
E) Rook and bishop rook and bishop with bishops of opposite colours
E1) Opposite coloured bishops favour the attacker
Endgames with opposite coloured bishops, in which only bishops remain on the board, have drawish tendencies. However, if other pieces remain on the board, the rule of thumb quoted above, comes into play.
F) Minor piece endgames
When to exchange and when not to exchange is an important question in chess.
Karsten Müller regularly presents his instructive endgame analyses in the ChessBase Magazine.
The current issue:
Specials: Anish Giri presents his best games with the Italian + Palma de Mallorca 1970 - an extensive retrospect. Analyses from Biel 2020 by Wojtaszek, Harikrishna, Adams, Keymer et al. Videos by Marin, King and Ris. 11 opening articles and much more!
