The last pawn

by Karsten Müller
11/5/2024 – When only a few pawns remain on the board, the attacker must be careful to keep at least one of them. In the diagram position it is Black to move. He still has two pawns and he has a way to win. 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 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 d6 6.Re1 Bd7 7.c3 g6 8.d4 Bg7 9.h3 0-0 10.Nbd2 exd4 11.cxd4 Nb4 12.Bxd7 Qxd7 13.Qb3 a5 14.a3 Nc6 15.d5 Nb8 16.Qxb7 Na6 17.Qb3 Nc5 18.Qc4 Qa4 19.e5 Qxc4 20.Nxc4 dxe5 21.Nfxe5 Nxd5 22.Rd1 Nb6 23.Be3 Nca4 24.Bd4 Rad8 25.Bxb6 cxb6 26.Nd7 Rfe8 27.Ndxb6 Nxb6 28.Nxb6 Bxb2 29.Rxd8 Rxd8 30.Ra2 Rd1+ 31.Kh2 Bd4 32.Nc4 a4 33.g3 Bc5 34.Rc2 Rd4 35.Kg2 Kf8 36.Rc3 Ke7 37.Ne5 Rd5 38.Nd3 Bb6 39.Kf3 Rb5 40.Ke2 Rb3 41.Nb4 Kd7 42.Rd3+ Rxd3 43.Nxd3 Kc6 44.Kd2 Bd4 45.f3 Kd5 46.Kc2 Bg7 47.h4 Bf6 48.Kd2 Kc4 49.Kc2 h5 50.g4 hxg4 51.fxg4 Bxh4 52.Ne5+ Kd5 53.Nxf7 The last pawn When only a few pawns remain on the board, the attacker must be careful to keep at least one of them. In the diagram position it is Black to move. He still has two pawns and he has a way to win. What should he do?
Black to move and win
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Sjugirov,S2644Erigaisi,A27780–12024C6045th FIDE Olympiad 20246.7

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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