Knight against rook's pawn

by Karsten Müller
9/17/2024 – A knight often has problems to fight against a- or h-pawn. In the diagram position, White's knight could have won that fight, but in the game White failed to find the win. Can you do better?
Let endgame expert Dr Karsten Müller show and explain the finesses of the world champions. Although they had different styles each and every one of them played the endgame exceptionally well, so take the opportunity to enjoy and learn from some of the best endgames in the history of chess.
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
1.Nf3281,60256%2441---
1.c4182,10256%2442---
1.g319,70256%2427---
1.b314,26554%2427---
1.f45,89748%2377---
1.Nc33,80151%2384---
1.b41,75648%2380---
1.a31,20654%2404---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d395450%2378---
1.g466446%2360---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c343351%2426---
1.h328056%2418---
1.a411060%2466---
1.f39246%2436---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Nge2 0-0 9.0-0 Re8 10.a4 h6 11.Bh4 Ne4 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Bxe4 dxe4 14.a5 Nf6 15.Qc2 Bd7 16.h3 Rad8 17.Rfd1 Bc8 18.Rd2 h5 19.Rad1 Qb4 20.Qa4 Qxa4 21.Nxa4 h4 22.Nec3 Be6 23.Rc1 Re7 24.Nc5 a6 25.N3xe4 Nxe4 26.Nxe4 Bxh3 27.Nc5 Bc8 28.e4 f5 29.d5 Rd6 30.f3 Kh7 31.Rcd1 g5 32.b4 Kg7 33.dxc6 Rxc6 34.Rd5 fxe4 35.Rxg5+ Kf6 36.f4 e3! 37.Rd8 e2 38.Rf8+ Rf7 39.Re8 Re7 40.Rxe7 Kxe7 41.Re5+ Kf6 42.Kf2 b6 43.Ne4+ Kg6 44.Kxe2 bxa5 45.Rg5+ Kh6 46.bxa5 Rg6 47.Rxg6+ Kxg6 48.Nc5 Kf6 49.Ke3 Ke7 50.Kd4 Kd6 51.Ne4+ Kc6 52.Ng5 Kb5 53.Ke5 Bg4 54.f5 Kxa5 55.f6 Bh5 Knight against rook's pawn A knight often has problems to fight against a- or h-pawn. In the diagram position, White's knight could have won that fight, but in the game White failed to find the win. Can you do better?
White to move and win
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Le,Q2731Martirosyan,H2662½–½2024D35Biel Festival Masters Qual 20245.1

Karsten Mueller in ChessBase Magazine

Do you like these lessons? There are plenty more by internationally renowned endgame expert Dr Karsten Müller in ChessBase Magazine, where you will also find openings articles and surveys, tactics, and of course annotations by the world's top grandmasters.

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Apart from his regular columns and video lectures in ChessBase Magazine there is a whole series of training DVDs by Karsten Mueller, which are bestsellers in the ChessBase Shop.

Karsten Mueller

Karsten Mueller regularly presents endgame lessons in the ChessBase Video Portal

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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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