Safety first

by Karsten Müller
2/7/2022 – Passed pawns are particularly powerful in queen endgames because the mobility of the queen helps to support the advance of the pawns. However, king safety is also an issue. In the diagrammed position Black's a-pawn is far advanced, but Black's king has to find a way to hide from the enemy checks. How can Black protect her king, queen the pawn and 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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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.Rb1 Be7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.Bc4 a6 10.a4 Qc7 11.Bd3 cxd4 12.cxd4 Nc6 13.0-0 Nb4 14.Ba3 Nxd3 15.Qxd3 Bxa3 16.Qxa3 Bd7 17.Ne5 Rfc8 18.Rfc1 Qd8 19.Rxb7 Bxa4 20.Nxf7 Qxd4 21.h3 Qxe4 22.Nd6 Rxc1+ 23.Qxc1 Qd4 24.Qa3 Rf8 25.Qg3 Bc6 26.Re7 Bd5 27.Kh2 Rxf2 28.Re8+ Rf8 29.Re7 h6 30.Ne8 Rf7 31.Rxf7 Kxf7 32.Nc7 a5 33.Nb5 Qd2 34.h4 Kg8 35.Nc7 a4 36.Nxd5 Qxd5 37.Qb8+ Kh7 38.Qb1+ Qf5 39.Qb4 Qc2 40.h5 e5 41.Qa3 Qc4 42.Qh3 Qf4+ 43.Kh1 e4 44.Qe6 a3 45.Qg6+ Kg8 46.Qe8+ Qf8 47.Qxe4 a2 48.Qd5+ Qf7 49.Qa8+ Kh7 50.Qe4+ Safety first Passed pawns are particularly powerful in queen endgames because the mobility of the queen helps to support the advance of the pawn. However, king safety is also an issue. In the diagrammed position Black's a-pawn is far advanced, but Black's king has to find a way to hide from the enemy checks. How can Black protect her king, queen the pawn and win the game?
Black to move and win
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Maurizzi,M2496Zhu,J24780–12022D3584th Tata Steel Challengers 20224.7

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 #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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