Endgames from Saint Louis

by Karsten Müller
9/1/2022 – Five days of rapid and blitz saw Alireza Firouzja achieving a magnificent result in his first outing at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Our in-house expert Karsten Müller once again compiled a series of instructive endgames for us to learn from and enjoy! | Pictured: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes
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Rooks, rooks, rooks

Truly double-edged

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Fabiano Caruana played a razor-sharp, entertaining endgame in round 8 of the rapid section. Shakh had a winning position with two connected passers one move away from promotion, but Caruana could have saved a draw with his active pair of rooks — extremely precise calculation was required, though!

 

Two are better than one

Two (active) rooks are often stronger than a queen, as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave demonstrated in his third-round game against Mamedyarov

 

Activate the rook

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave tied for first in the rapid section of the event. Perhaps he would have won the rapid had he found the correct approach to convert his pawn advantage against Sam Shankland in round 5.

 
Vachier-Lagrave vs. Shankland

Shankland went on to save the draw after MVL played the passive 61.Rd2 here. Both the direct 61.Ra6+ and the more subtle 61.Rb2 — which are more active alternatives — were winning manoeuvres for White.

Find this game’s full analysis plus two more instructive endgames — including one in which passive defence is required — in the replayer below!

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0-0 9.Nc3 Bf6 10.Re1 Re8 11.Nd5 Rxe1 12.Qxe1 b6 13.d3 Bb7 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 15.Qb4 c5 16.Qg4 Bc6 17.c3 Re8 18.Bd2 Nf5 19.a4 h6 20.b4 cxb4 21.Qxb4 Nh4 22.Qf4 Re6 23.Qxf6 Rxf6 24.f3 g5 25.Be3 Nf5 26.Bf2 Re6 27.a5 Ne3 28.Bxe3 Rxe3 29.axb6 axb6 30.Rb1 b5 31.Kf2 Re8 32.d4 Ra8 33.Bxb5 Ra2+ 34.Be2 d5 35.Ke3 Bd7 36.g3 Rc2 37.Rb3 Kg7 38.h4 Be6 39.hxg5 hxg5 40.Bd3 Rh2 41.g4 Rh3 42.Bf1 Rh2 43.Rb6 Rc2 44.Rc6 Kf8 45.Bd3 Rc1 46.Rc7 Ke8 47.Kd2 Ra1 48.Bf5 Kf8 49.Rb7 Rf1 50.Ke2 Rc1 51.Rc7 Rh1 52.Bxe6 fxe6 53.Rc5 Ke7 54.c4 Kd6 55.cxd5 e5 56.Ra5 exd4 57.Kd3 Rf1 58.Ke4 d3 59.Ra6+ Kd7 60.Ra2 Kd6 Activate the rook. Rook endings have a large drawish tendency and often care is required to convert an advantage: 61.Rd2? Here the rook is too passive. More active options win, for example: 61.Ra6+ Ke7 61...Kc5 62.Rc6++- 61...Kd7 62.Ke3 d2 63.Kxd2 Rxf3 64.Rg6+- 62.Re6+ Kf7 63.Kxd3 Rxf3+ 64.Re3 Rf4 65.Re4+- 61.Rb2 Kc5 61...Re1+ 62.Kxd3 Kxd5 63.Rb5++- 62.Kxd3 Rxf3+ 63.Ke4 Rf4+ 64.Ke5 Rxg4 65.Rd2+- 61...Re1+! 62.Kd4 62.Kf5?? Re5+ 63.Kf6 Rxd5-+ 62.Kxd3 can be met by Kxd5 63.Re2 Rxe2 64.Kxe2 Ke6= 62...Re5 63.Rxd3 Rxd5+ 64.Ke4 Rxd3 65.Kxd3 Kd5 66.Kd2 Kd6 Distant opposition Of course not 66...Kd4? due to 67.Ke2 Kd5 68.Kd3 Ke5 69.Ke3 Kf6 69...Kd5 70.f4 gxf4+ 71.Kxf4 Ke6 72.Kg5 Kf7 73.Kh6+- The king has reached a key square. 70.Kd4 diagonal opposition Ke6 71.Ke4 Kf6 72.Kd5+- The king has reached a key square. 67.Ke2 Ke6 Distant opposition 68.Ke3 Ke5 Distant opposition with 68...Ke7= draws as well. 69.f4+ gxf4+ 70.Kf3 Kf6 71.Kxf4 Kg6 72.Ke3 Kg5 73.Kd2 Kxg4 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier-Lagrave,M2760Shankland,S2720½–½2022C675.4
Mamedyarov,S2759Dominguez Perez,L27541–02022D20Saint Louis Rapid 20229.3
Nakamura,H2760Vachier-Lagrave,M2760½–½2022B564.3

In over 4 hours in front of the camera, Karsten Müller presents to you sensations from the world of endgames - partly reaching far beyond standard techniques and rules of thumb - and rounds off with some cases of with own examples.

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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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