Is activity always called for?

by Karsten Müller
11/12/2024 – One rule of thumb in rook endings is to get active - with your king and with your rook. But this is just a rule of thumb. In the diagram position it is Black to move and draw. What should she 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       c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Be2 Bg7 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Na3 Nf6 8.Nb5 Qd8 9.d4 a6 10.Na3 cxd4 11.cxd4 0-0 12.Be3 b5 13.Rc1 Bb7 14.Ne5 Nb4 15.Qb3 Qd5 16.Bf3 Qxb3 17.axb3 Bxf3 18.Nxf3 Nfd5 19.Nc2 Rac8 20.Nxb4 Nxb4 21.Bd2 Nc2 22.Bc3 b4 23.Rxc2 Rfd8 24.Rfc1 bxc3 25.bxc3 a5 26.Kf1 Rb8 27.Ra1 Rxb3 28.Rxa5 Rc8 29.c4 Rb4 30.Rc5 Rxc5 31.dxc5 Rb8 32.Ne1 Rc8 33.Nd3 Bd4 34.Ke2 Kg7 35.Ra2 Bxc5 36.Nxc5 Rxc5 37.Kd3 Kf6 38.Kd4 Rc7 39.Re2 e6 40.c5 Ke7 41.Kc4 Kd8 42.Ra2 Kc8 43.Ra6 Rb7 44.Ra2 Kc7 45.h4 h6 46.g4 g5 47.hxg5 hxg5 48.Ra8 Rb2 49.f3 Rb1 50.Ra7+ Rb7 51.Ra3 Rb1 52.Ra7+ Rb7 53.Ra8 Rb1 54.Rf8 Rc1+ 55.Kd4 Rd1+ 56.Ke5 Rd5+ 57.Kf6 Rxc5 58.Kxf7 Kd7 59.Kf6 Ra5 60.Rf7+ Kd6 61.Re7 Re5 62.Ra7 Re3 63.Ra6+ Kd7 64.Kxg5 Rxf3 65.Kg6 Rg3 66.g5 Ke7 67.Ra7+ Kf8 68.Kf6 Kg8 69.Re7 Is activity always called for? One rule of thumb in rook endings is to get active - with your king and with your rook. But this is just a rule of thumb - in the diagram position it is Black to move and draw. What should she do?
Black to move and draw
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Mbatha,C1799Vasquez Jaen,L18211–02024B2745th FIDE Womens Olympiad 20244.167

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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