Endgames from Kazakhstan

by Karsten Müller
4/24/2023 – The Satty Zhuldyz rapid and blitz tournament is taking place in Astana as a side event of the World Championship match. A number of international chess stars are participating. Karsten Müller has been following the games, looking for endgame highlights. Find here four instructive positions, with on-point analysis by our in-house endgame expert. | Pictured: Hou Yifan | Photo: Anna Shtourman
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The fourth stage of the game

Jakhongir Vakhidov missed a chance to defeat the strongest female player in the world, Hou Yifan. He miscalculated a potential position with two new queens appearing on the board.

The pawn wave

Arjun Erigaisi was the clear winner of the rapid tournament. In round 2, he showed great technique to take down Javokhir Sindarov with the black pieces. A very sharp pawn race was handled marvellously by the Indian prodigy.

The rook belongs behind the passed pawn

Jakhongir Vakhidov demonstrated how to defend a double-edged position with passed pawns for both sides. He drew the ever-creative Levon Aronian with white in round 4.

The blockade

Sometimes two connected passed pawns are not enough to win a knight endgame. Javokhir Sindarov failed to notice he could set up a blockade in his round-3 game against Haik Martirosyan.

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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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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