Retreat to advance

by Karsten Müller
12/14/2021 – Endings with opposite coloured bishops often have drawish tendencies. But things are rarely that simple. In the diagram position material is equal but Black's king and Black's bishop are far more active than their counterparts. How should Black proceed to exploit these advantages?
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.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e4 Bb4 5.d3 d6 6.a3 Bc5 7.b4 Bb6 8.Na4 Bg4 9.Be2 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Bd4 11.Rb1 0-0 12.0-0 Qe7 13.g3 a5 14.b5 Nd8 15.Bg2 Ne6 16.Be3 h5 17.Qd2 h4 18.Nc3 c6 19.Ne2 hxg3 20.hxg3 Bc5 21.a4 Bb4 22.Qd1 Rad8 23.Bd2 Ra8 24.Be3 Rfd8 25.Bb6 Rd7 26.d4 Qe8 27.d5 cxd5 28.cxd5 Nc5 29.Bxc5 Bxc5 30.Qd3 Rdd8 31.Bh3 g6 32.Kg2 Kg7 33.Nc1 Qe7 34.Nb3 Bb6 35.Rbc1 Rh8 36.Rh1 Rh6 37.Nd2 Rah8 38.Qe2 Bc5 39.Nf3 Rh5 40.Rh2 Qd8 41.Rch1 Qb6 42.g4 R5h7 43.Ng5 Rh4 44.Kg3 Qd8 45.Nf3 R4h6 46.Kg2 Nh7 47.Qd2 f6 48.Kg3 Ng5 49.Nxg5 fxg5 50.Bf1 Rh4 51.f3 Qf6 52.Be2 Bb4 53.Qc1 Be1+ 54.Kg2 Rxg4+ 55.Kf1 Rxh2 56.Rxh2 Bh4 57.Qe3 Rg3 58.Rg2 g4 59.Rxg3 Bxg3 60.Bd1 Bf4 61.Qb6 Kh6 62.Qg1 gxf3 63.Qg4 Qe7 64.Bxf3 Kg7 65.Qc8 Be3 66.Ke2 Bc5 67.Qg4 Bd4 68.Qc8 Qh4 69.Kd3 Qf4 70.Qd7+ Kh6 71.Qh3+ Kg5 72.Be2 b6 73.Bd1 Bc5 74.Qg2+ Kf6 75.Qh3 Bb4 76.Qh8+ Kg5 77.Qd8+ Qf6 78.Qxb6 Qf1+ 79.Kc2 Qc4+ 80.Kb1 Qxe4+ 81.Bc2 Qe1+ 82.Ka2 Bc5 83.Qd8+ Kf4 84.Qf6+ Ke3 85.Qxg6 Qc3 86.Qg5+ Ke2 87.Qg2+ Ke1 88.Qe4+ Kd2 89.Bb3 Qd3 90.Qg2+ Qe2 91.Qxe2+ Kxe2 92.Bc2 Retreat to advance Endings with opposite coloured bishops often have drawish tendencies. But things are rarely that simple. In the diagram position material is equal but Black's king and Black's bishop are far more active than their counterparts. How should Black proceed to exploit his advantage?
Black to move and win
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Meshkovs,N2550Swiercz,D26470–12021A28FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20211.46

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 #204

ChessBase Magazine Extra #204

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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