Pushing the pawns or retreating the king?

by Karsten Müller
8/3/2021 – In the diagram position both sides have dangerous passed pawns. But it is Black to move and he faces a choice: should he try to stop the white pawns with his king or should he push his g-pawn ahead? What would you do - and why?
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.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.0-0 Nd7 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Ne2 Re8 9.Be3 Bd6 10.Nd2 Nf8 11.Ng3 Ng6 12.Qf3 Be6 13.Nf5 Qd7 14.g4 c5 15.b3 f6 16.Kh1 Nf4 17.Rg1 g6 18.h4 Kh8 19.Nxd6 Qxd6 20.Nc4 Bxc4 21.dxc4 g5 22.Rad1 Qe7 23.Bxf4 exf4 24.hxg5 fxg5 25.Kg2 Rad8 26.Qc3+ Kg8 27.f3 c6 28.a4 b6 29.a5 Rd6 30.axb6 axb6 31.Rd3 Rxd3 32.cxd3 Rd8 33.Ra1 Qg7 34.Qxg7+ Kxg7 35.Ra6 Rb8 36.Ra7+ Kf6 37.Kf2 Ke5 38.Ke2 b5 39.Kd2 bxc4 40.bxc4 h6 41.Kc3 Rf8 42.Re7+ Kd6 43.Rh7 Rf6 44.Rh8 Ke5 45.Re8+ Re6 46.Rxe6+ Kxe6 47.d4 cxd4+ 48.Kxd4 c5+ 49.Kxc5 h5 50.gxh5 g4 51.h6 In the diagram position both sides have dangerous passed pawns. But it is Black to move and he faces a choice: should he try to stop the white pawns with his king or should he push his g-pawn ahead? What would you do - and why?
Black to move and draw
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Giri,A2731Radjabov,T2758½–½2021C65FTX Crypto Cup KO 20211.2

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 #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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