Passed pawns are powerful

by Karsten Müller
5/7/2024 – Passed pawns can be powerful and in the endgame they are often very powerful. In the diagram position it is Black to move. How can he use the power of his passed a-pawn to win the game?
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.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 g6 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.Be3 Nf6 10.f3 0-0 11.0-0 a6 12.a4 e6 13.Rc1 Rfd8 14.Nde2 d5 15.cxd5 exd5 16.Bb6 Re8 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.Qxd5 Qxd5 19.exd5 Rxe2 20.dxc6 bxc6 21.Rf2 Rxb2 22.Rxb2 Bxb2 23.Rxc6 Kf8 24.Kf2 Ke8 25.Ke3 Be5 26.h3 Kd7 27.Rc4 Rb8 28.a5 Re8 29.f4 Bd6+ 30.Kf3 f5 31.Rd4 Rc8 32.Rd3 Rc4 33.Be3 Kc6 34.g4 Ra4 35.Rc3+ Kd5 36.Rd3+ Ke6 37.gxf5+ gxf5 38.Rc3 Rxa5 39.Rc8 Ra3 40.Ke2 a5 41.h4 h5 42.Bd2 Ra2 43.Kd3 a4 44.Ra8 a3 45.Ra6 Kd5 46.Ra5+ Kc6 47.Rxf5
Black to move and win
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Burg,T2530Engel,L25470–12024B52German Bundesliga 2023-2412.3

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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