Passed pawns can be powerful

by Karsten Müller
4/4/2023 – In the endgame - and in the middlegame - far advanced passed pawns can be very powerful. In the diagram position it is White to move and win. What would you do?
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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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.Nc3 c6 7.0-0 b6 8.b3 Ba6 9.Qd3 c5 10.Ne5 Nbd7 11.Nc6 Qe8 12.Ba3 Bd6 13.e4 dxc4 14.bxc4 e5 15.d5 Nb8 16.Nxb8 Rxb8 17.Rab1 Qe7 18.Bc1 Ne8 19.f4 Bc7 20.a4 Ra8 21.Nb5 Bxb5 22.axb5 a5 23.Bb2 Nf6 24.fxe5 Bxe5 25.Bxe5 Qxe5 26.Rf5 Qd4+ 27.Qxd4 cxd4 28.e5 Ng4 29.d6 Rad8 30.Bd5 g6 31.Rff1 Nxe5 32.Rbe1 Nd3 33.Rd1 Nc5 34.Rxd4 Kg7 35.Bc6 a4 36.d7 f5 37.Rd5 Rf6 38.Ra1 Kf7 39.Rxc5 bxc5 40.Rxa4 Ke7 41.Ra7 Rd6 42.Rc7 Rd4 43.b6 Rxc4 44.b7 Rb4 45.Kf2 Rb2+ 46.Ke3 Rxh2 Passed pawns are powerful In the endgame - and in the middlegame - far advanced passed pawns can be very powerful. In the diagram position it is White to move and win. What would you do?
White to move and win
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Yakubboev,N2630Andreikin,D2729½–½2023E06Airthings Masters Div 2 20232.2

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.

ChessBase Magazine #206

Order now at the ChessBase Shop ! Available as a download or on DVD.

ChessBase Magazine Extra #205

 Order now at the ChessBase Shop ! Available as download or on DVD.

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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