Pawn race in a rook ending

by Karsten Müller
10/19/2021 – Rook endings often have drawish tendencies, but pawn races usually spice things up. In the diagram position it is Black to move. Should he protect his pawn on g6 or should he attack White's pawn on b3?
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.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Qe7 8.Bd3 e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Nxe5 Qxe5 11.Rc1 d4 12.Ne2 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 dxe3 14.Qxe3 Qxe3 15.fxe3 Bg4 16.Nd4 c5 17.Nb5 0-0-0 18.Be2 Rhe8 19.Bxg4+ Nxg4 20.0-0 a6 21.Nc3 f6 22.e4 Rd4 23.h3 Ne5 24.Rce1 b6 25.Re2 Kb7 26.Nd5 Nd3 27.Rf3 Re6 28.Rg3 g6 29.Nc3 Kc6 30.Rf3 b5 31.cxb5+ axb5 32.Ree3 Ne5 33.Rf1 Nd7 34.Ref3 b4 35.Nd5 Rdxe4 36.Nxf6 Nxf6 37.Rxf6 Rxf6 38.Rxf6+ Kd5 39.Rf2 Re1+ 40.Kh2 Rc1 41.Rd2+ Ke4 42.Rd7 Rc2 43.Ra7 h5 44.h4 Kd3 45.Ra6 Kc3 46.Kh3 Kb2 47.Kg3 Kb1 48.Ra5 Rxa2 49.Rxc5 Rc2 50.Rg5 Pawn race in a rook ending Rook endings often have drawish tendencies, but pawn races usually spice things up. In the diagram position it is Black to move. Should he protect his pawn on g6 or should he attack White's pawn on b3?
Black to move and win
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Khademalsharieh,S2494Keymer,V2602½–½2021D45Kramnik Challenge 20216.7

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 #202

 

ChessBase Magazine Extra #201

 

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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