The better king

by Karsten Müller
3/11/2025 – The activity of the king is often a crucial factor in endgames. In the diagram position it was Black to move and he used his better king to win the game. How?
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 e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 d4 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 Qxf6 7.Nf3 e5 8.Bd3 Bc5 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Be4 0-0 11.Re1 h6 12.Qe2 Re8 13.Rb1 Re7 14.d3 b6 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.Qxe3 Bd7 17.Bxc6 Bxc6 18.Nxe5 Rae8 19.d4 Qf5 20.Qd2 f6 21.g4 Qg5 22.Qxg5 hxg5 23.Nd3 Be4 24.Re3 Bg6 25.Rxe7 Rxe7 26.Re1 Rxe1+ 27.Nxe1 Bf7 28.d5 Kf8 29.Nc2 Ke7 30.Ne3 Bg6 31.Kg2 Kd6 32.Kg3 Ke5 33.f3 Bd3 34.Kf2 Kd6 35.Kg3 Kc5 36.a3 a5 37.h4 gxh4+ 38.Kxh4 Bxc4 39.Kh5 Bd3 40.f4 Bh7 41.g5 fxg5 42.Kxg5 Kd6 43.Kh5 b5 44.Kg5 Be4 45.Kh5 a4 46.Kg5 Bxd5 47.Kg6 Be4+ 48.Kxg7 The better king The activity of the king is often a crucial factor in endgames. In the diagram position it was Black to move and he used his better king to win the game. How?
Black to move and win
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Van Wely,L2608Aronian,L27470–12025A18German Bundesliga 2024-258.11

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.

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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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<< Susan Polgar's Rebel Queen is out
Meet Roman Vidonyak: The hidden coach behind top grandmasters >>
Topics: ChessBase Magazine, Endgame, Karsten Mueller
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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Counterplay counts

3/4/2025 – Material is reduced in endgames, but attacks on the king still happen endgames. In the diagram position it is Black to move and draw. How?
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Capablanca's Rule

2/25/2025 – In endings with bishops of the same colour it is often good for the attacking side to put their pawns on squares of the opposite colour. This gives the king room to maneuver and the enemy pawns can be attacked. As Black demonstrated in the diagram position - what would you do?
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After 1.d4 d5 many players with White avoid the great amount of theory in the Slav, Semi-Slav, QGA and Orthodox Queen's Gambit and do not therefore play 2.c4. This is not very ambitious, but the painful experience of many chess players has been that the Colle System, the Trompowsky Attack, the Torre Attack and the London System are nevertheless extremely dangerous. Black has to be prepared for each of these openings and IM Valeri Lilov offers you some help with his six instructive videos, in which he demonstrates for each single opening a relevant plan for Black. In addition to the openings mentioned, the Bulgarian trainer also delves into the Catalan, the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit and the Richter-Veresov Opening.

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