The last pawn

by Karsten Müller
3/26/2024 – It is not always easy to coordinate rook and knight effectively. Which often offers possibilities for the defender. In the diagram position Black is a knight down, but he still has a way to draw the game. What should he do?
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.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 h6 4.c3 c5 5.exd5 exd5 6.Ngf3 Nf6 7.Bb5+ Bd7 8.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 9.0-0 Be7 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Nd4 0-0 12.Nf5 Re8 13.Nf3 Bf8 14.Be3 Qd7 15.N3d4 Re5 16.Ng3 g6 17.Nf3 Re6 18.Ne2 Rae8 19.Nf4 Re4 20.Qd2 Ra4 21.Rfd1 Qc6 22.Nxd5 Nxd5 23.Qxd5 Qxd5 24.Rxd5 Nb3 25.Rb1 Rxa2 26.Rb5 Na5 27.Bxa7 Nc4 28.Rxb7 Re2 29.Kf1 Rc2 30.Bd4 Bg7 31.Rb4 Rcxb2 32.R1xb2 Nxb2 33.Ke2 Na4+ 34.Kd3 Nxc3 35.Kxc3 Rxf2 36.Rb2 Bxd4+ 37.Nxd4 Rf1 38.Nf3 Kg7 39.Kd4 Rd1+ 40.Ke3 Rd7 41.Rc2 Ra7 42.Ke4 Ra4+ 43.Nd4 Ra1 44.Rd2 Ra5 45.Nc6 Rf5 46.Ne5 Rf1 47.Kd5 Rf5 48.Kd6 Rf6+ 49.Kd7 Re6 50.Nc6 Rf6 51.Re2 Kf8 52.Ne7 Ra6 53.Nc8 Ra1 54.Rf2 Ra6 55.Rc2 Ra1 56.h3 Re1 57.Rb2 Re3 58.Nd6 Re1 59.Rf2 Re7+ 60.Kd8 Ra7 61.Re2 Ra8+ 62.Kc7 Ra1 63.Rf2 Ra7+ 64.Kb6 Re7 65.Kc6 Ra7 66.g4 Re7 67.h4 Ra7 68.g5 hxg5 69.hxg5 Ra6+ 70.Kc7 The last pawn It is not always easy to coordinate rook and knight effectively. Which often offers possibilities for the defender. In the diagram position Black is a knight down, but he still has a way to draw the game. What should he do?
Black to move and draw
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kasimdzhanov,R2679Maiwald,J24451–02024C03German Bundesliga 2023-247.5

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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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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