Mueller on Endgames: Lessons from Gibraltar

by Karsten Müller
2/4/2015 – With so many grandmasters playing in Gibraltar, and then masters, you might expect endgame guru Karsten Mueller to choose some mindboggling sequence by a big name for his selection, but enlightenment can come from anywhere as he shows in his first example. See also how lack of endgame knowledge can lead you to fall for that 'last trap'. These and others await your pleasure.
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The bodycheck

As a further example of why you should analyze and study your own games, in this example neither
player is even a master, yet there is much to be learned from this typical pawn endgame motif

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82.Kd4Login0.00Premium Required
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82...Ke4‼ 82...Kd4? 83.Kf4 Kxc4 84.e4 Kd4 85.e5 c4 86.e6 c3 87.e7 c2 88.e8Q c1Q+ 89.Kf5= 83.Kf2 Kd4? The wrong direction as the remaining h-pawn is not easy to convert. 83...Kf4! wins the h-pawn first and the game later, e.g. 84.e3+ 84.Kg2 Kg4-+ 84...Kg4 85.e4 Kxh4 86.Kf3 Kg5 87.Kg3 Kf6 88.Kh4 Ke5 89.Kxh5 Kxe4-+ 84.e3+? White misses the moment. Admittedly, it is not visually obvious, but White's saving move involves going around his own pawn with 84.Ke1! Kxc4 85.Kd2 draws, e.g. Kd4 Attempts such as 85...Kb3 are no better. 86.e4 Kc4 87.Ke3= 86.e3+ Ke4 87.Ke2 Kf5 87...c4 88.Kd2= 88.Kf3 c4 89.e4+ Ke6 89...Ke5 changes nothing since after 90.Ke3 c3 91.Kd3 c2 92.Kxc2 Kxe4 93.Kc3 Kf4 94.Kd4 is an elementary draw. 90.Ke2 Ke5 91.Ke3 c3 92.Kd3 c2 93.Kxc2 Kxe4 94.Kd2= 84...Kxc4 85.Ke2 85.Kf3 Kd3 86.e4 86.Kf2 c4 87.Ke1 Kxe3 88.Kd1 Kf3-+ 86...Kd4 87.Kf4 87.e5 Kxe5 88.Ke3 Kf5 89.Kd3 Kg4 90.Kc4 Kxh4 91.Kxc5 Kg3-+ 87...c4 88.e5 c3 89.e6 c2 90.e7 c1Q+-+ Check! 85...Kc3! Another strong bodycheck, and the only winning move. 85...Kb3? is met by 86.Kd2 86.e4 is also playable. 86...c4 87.Kc1 Kc3 88.e4 Kd4 89.Kc2 Kxe4 90.Kc3 Kf4 91.Kxc4 Kg3 92.Kd3 Kxh4 93.Ke2 Kg3 94.Kf1= 86.Kf3 c4 87.Kf4 87.Ke2 Kb2-+ 87.e4 Kd4 88.Ke2 Kxe4 89.Kd2 Kf3 89...Kd4? 90.Kc2= is only drawn according to Bähr's rule as the passed pawn c4 has crossed the determining diagonal f2-a7. 90.Kc3 Kg3 91.Kxc4 Kxh4 92.Kd3 Kg3 93.Ke2 Kg2-+ 87...Kd3 88.Kg5 88.e4 c3 89.e5 c2 90.e6 c1Q+-+ 88...c3 89.Kxh5 c2 90.Kg6 c1Q 91.h5 Qc6+ 92.Kh7 Qf6 92...Qf6 93.h6 Qf7+ 94.Kh8 Kxe3 95.h7 Qf8# 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aure,A1688Holleland,S21160–12015A29Gibraltar Masters 20152.119

The last trick

Rook endings have a large drawish tendency, but it pays to know the
right moves. Never neglect endgame knowledge as it is often decisive.

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87.Rg6!? A good try as 87.Kf4 is also met by Rxg7 88.f6 Rxg5 89.Kxg5 Kf7 90.Kf5 Kf8!= 87...Rxg7 88.Kg5 Kf7? Black falls into the trap. All was not lost though, and Black could have saved the game after 88...Kf8!? 89.Kh6 89.Kf6 Ra7= 89...Ra7= Black's rook breaks free. Obviously not 88...Rxg6+? 89.Kxg6+- and White wins easily. 89.Kh6! Now Black's rook can not escape. Rxg6+ 89...Rg8 90.Rxg8 Kxg8 91.Kg6 Kf8 92.Kf6 Opposition Kg8 93.Ke7+- 90.fxg6+ Kg8 90...Kg8 91.g7 Kf7 92.Kh7+- 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Muzychuk,A2544Walton,A21291–02015C12Gibraltar Masters 20156.26

The breakthrough

A pawn majority can be mobilised in several ways, but few are as efficient and satisfying as that decisive breakthrough ramming through the opponent's position.

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63.g5‼ The direct breakthrough is strong as the resulting passed pawn is very far advanced. fxg5 63...f5 64.gxh6 Bf6 65.Nd3+ Kd4 66.Ne5 Ke4 67.Ng6+- 64.fxg5 Kd5 64...Bxg5 65.Ne4+ Kd5 66.Nxg5 hxg5 67.h6+- After 64...hxg5 65.h6 the h-pawn can not be stopped: Kb4 65...Bf6 66.Ne4++- 65...Kd5 66.Ng4 Bb6 67.Nf6+ Ke6 68.h7+- 66.Ng4 Bb6 67.Kd3 Kxb3 68.h7+- 65.g6 65.gxh6 wins as well. 65...Bf6 66.Ng4 Bg7 67.Kd3 Bf8 68.Ke3 Ke6 68...Kc5 69.Kd3 Kb4 70.Kc2 a4 71.bxa4 Kxa4 72.Kc3 Even 72.Nxh6!?+- is playable. 72...Kb5 73.Kd4 Kc6 74.Ke5 Kd7 75.Kf6 Ke8 76.Nxh6 Bxh6 77.g7+- 69.Ke4 Bg7 70.Ne3 Bc3 71.Nf5 Bd2 72.Nd4+ Kf6 73.Kd5 Be3 74.Ne6 Bd2 75.Nd4 Bc3 76.Ne6 Bb2 77.Kd6 Ba3+ 78.Kd7 Bb2 79.Kd6 Ba3+ 80.Nc5 Bb2 81.Kd5 Kf5 82.Ne6?! Not most precise, but the position is still won, so maybe the result should be 1-0 ? 82.Nb7!? wins quicker, e.g. Kg5 83.Ke6 Kxh5 84.Kf5 Kh4 85.Nxa5 Kg3 86.b4 h5 87.b5 h4 88.b6 h3 89.b7 Be5 90.Kxe5 h2 91.g7 h1Q 92.g8Q++- 82.Ne6?! Kf6 83.Nd8 Bc1 83...Kg5 84.Ke6 Kxh5 85.Kf5 Kh4 86.Nc6 Bg7 86...h5 87.Ne5+- 87.Nxa5 Kg3 88.b4+- 84.Nc6 Bd2 85.Kc4 Be1 86.Kd3 Kg7 87.Nd4 Kf6 88.Nf5+- 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Georgiadis,N2490Galmandakh,B22401–02015C41Gibraltar Masters 20154.57

The fortressbreaker

In spite of his modest 2081 rating, Black is positioned for an IM norm in Gibraltar, and here is one reasone why. Though pure opposite colored bishop endings have a large drawish tendency, never say never.

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59.Be5? White chooses the wrong defensive diagonal. After 59.Bc5 Kf2 60.Bd6 Black can not make real progress, e.g. Kf3 60...Be6 61.Bc7= 61.Kg1 c5 61...hxg3 62.Bc5= 62.dxc5 Bc6 63.Kh2 Ke3 64.Be7 Kd3 65.gxh4 gxh4 66.Bxh4 Kc2 67.Be1 Kb3 68.Bb4= 59...h3 60.Bf6 Kd3 61.Kg1 Kc4 62.Be5 Now comes the fortressbreaker c5! 63.dxc5 Kb3‼ and the second black passed pawn decides the day: 64.c6 Kxa3 65.c7 Bb7 0–1
  • 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
De Haan,E2299Yu,J20810–12015E42Gibraltar Masters 20152.69

Karsten Müller 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.

Click to go to the ChessBase Magazine page

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

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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