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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 (active) rooks are often stronger than a queen, as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave demonstrated in his third-round game against Mamedyarov
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.
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!
Magical Chess Endgames Vol. 1 & 2 + The magic of chess tactics
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.
