Endgames from Amsterdam

by Karsten Müller
10/8/2023 – The star-studded Levitov Chess Week rapid tournament saw Ian Nepomniachtchi grabbing the title ahead of Vishy Anand and Peter Svidler. GM Karsten Müller followed the games closely and found five remarkable endgame positions. Find here the compilation of his pragmatic, instructive and enjoyable analyses!
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Extra pawns do not guarantee a win

We have all learned that when we are ahead in material, we should consider simplifying the position to reach a winning endgame. Most times, this strategy leads to victory, but some endgame setups make it difficult (or sometimes impossible) to make the most of our material advantage, as seen in the following two examples.

Kramnik vs. So

Vladimir Kramnik reached the following winning position against Wesley So in round 9. It is White to move. How to proceed?

Here, improving the king with 50.Kc2 wins, while 50.f5, as played by Kramnik, allows Black to escape with a draw. Further mistakes were made (as seen in the replayer below), but So nonetheless managed to get a half point despite the material disadvantage!

Svidler vs. Gelfand

Again, White is winning and it is his move. And again, improving the king with 66.Kf5 would have likely led to a victory. Peter Svidler, however, pushed his passed pawn (like Kramnik) with 66.b4, and saw his opponent, Boris Gelfand, managing to escape with a draw!

These are only two of the five instructive endgame positions which you can study and enjoy in our dynamic replayer below.

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4 g6 7.Be2 Bg7 8.0-0 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.Qd2 Ng4 11.Bxg4 Bxg4 12.f3 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Bxd4+ 14.Qxd4 Be6 15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.exd5 b5 17.Rfe1 Re8 18.c3 Rc8 19.axb5 axb5 20.Ra6 Rc4 21.Qb6 Qxb6+ 22.Rxb6 b4 23.Rxb4 Rxb4 24.cxb4 Kf8 25.Rc1 Rb8 26.Rc4 Rb5 27.Rd4 Rb8 28.b3 Ra8 29.b5 Ke8 30.Kf2 Kd7 31.b6 Ra2+ 32.Ke3 Kc8 33.Re4 e5 34.dxe6 fxe6 35.Rxe6 Rxg2 36.h4 Rh2 37.Re4 Kb7 38.Re7+ Kxb6 39.Rxh7 Kc5 40.Rh6 d5 41.Rxg6 Rxh4 42.Rg4 Rh1 43.b4+ Kd6 44.Rg6+ Ke5 45.f4+ Kf5 46.Rd6 Re1+ 47.Kd2 Rb1 48.Rxd5+ Ke4 49.Rb5 Kd4 Do not rush. Often the pieces should be improved first in an endgame: 50.f5? Kramnik rushes. Improving the king with 50.Kc2 wins, e.g. Rf1 51.Rc5 Rxf4 52.Kb3+- 50...Rb2+ 51.Kc1 Rf2 The rook indeed does belong behind the passed pawn here. 52.Rc5 Kd3? 52...Ke4 with the point 53.b5 53.Kb1 Kd4= 53...Kd4= was forced, e.g. 54.b6 Kxc5 55.b7 Rf1+= 53.b5? Kramnik rushes again. 53.f6 Rxf6 54.Kb2 frees the king and wins thanks to the cut-off on the fifth rank. 53...Kd4 54.Rc2 Rxf5 55.b6 Rb5 56.Rb2 Rc5+ 57.Kb1 Rc8 58.Ka2 Ra8+ 59.Kb3 Kc5 60.b7 Rb8 61.Ka4 Kc6 62.Ka5 Rxb7 63.Rxb7 Kxb7 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kramnik,V2753So,W2769½–½2023B709.3
Svidler,P2688Gelfand,B2661½–½2023B407.2
Nepomniachtchi,I2779Dubov,D27161–02023C557.5
So,W2769Anand,V27541–02023C5012.5
Gelfand,B2661Aronian,L27420–12023D456.1

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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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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