Karsten Müller: Topical Endgames Week 37

by Karsten Müller
9/12/2022 – Some endgames crop up more often than others as will be seen in this article. In this excellent taster, you will see classics such as Vancura's Draw, as well as a Knight Hunt set forth by Wojtaszek against his opponent. Finally there is a powerful 1-2 punch that breaks down the final barrier to victory.

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Using the active notation

You might be inclined to believe the game notations below are either to be just looked at and the moves played through in your mind. But as most of you know you can click on the moves to get a separate replay board, which you can resize and move to the best place on your screen. The popup board has full controls, and you can use the navigation buttons to advance the moves, as well as use an engine or save the game or position to your computer. In the engine window you can ask for multiple lines, or what the threat is, or see the positional evaluation of the position. 

Vancura's draw

This maneuver is one that occurs regularly or threatens to. A position well worth studying, learning and keeping it as yet another tool in your toolbox.

 

The battering ram

No wall is impervious, and in this next endgame we see white break through with some timely precision shots.

 

The perpetual check net

Queen endings are often defined by dangerous passed pawns, king safety, and perpetual check threats. Here is a lovely example of all those themes in play.

 

The knight hunt

While Black starts with a clear pawn up, the conversion is not obvious. The strong Polish player begins a hunt for the White knight that soon forces capitulation.

 

Zug then zwang

In a painful lesson, Black finds herself completely paralyzed, with no moves at her disposal. Following the game plan laid out, first zugzwang and then mop up.

 

Magical Chess Endgames Vol. 1 & 2 + The magic of chess tactics

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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