The power of passed pawns

by Karsten Müller
1/25/2022 – In the diagrammed position it is White to move and draw. White has a powerful passed pawn on g7 that forces Black's bishop to control the g8-square, but White is a pawn down and Black also has a powerful passed pawn that just attacked White's bishop on d3. Should the bishop go to b5 or to c2?
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 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 Qb6 8.Nb3 Be7 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Qxd6 Be5 11.Qd2 0-0 12.Bd3 a5 13.a4 Nb4 14.0-0 Rd8 15.Nc1 Bd7 16.Kh1 Bc6 17.N1e2 Na6 18.f3 Nc5 19.b3 Qb4 20.Rad1 Rd7 21.Na2 Qa3 22.Nac1 Qb2 23.Qe3 b6 24.f4 Bd4 25.Nxd4 Rxd4 26.Ne2 Rd7 27.Rb1 Qf6 28.e5 Qh6 29.Nd4 Bb7 30.Bb5 Qg6 31.Rf2 Rc7 32.Bc4 Rd8 33.Nb5 Rcd7 34.Nd6 Ne4 35.Nxe4 Qxe4 36.Qxe4 Bxe4 37.h3 Rd2 38.Rbf1 Bxc2 39.Kh2 Kf8 40.g4 Ke7 41.Kg3 Be4 42.Rc1 Rd1 43.Rf1 Rxc1 44.Rxc1 Rd2 45.Rc3 h6 46.Bb5 Kd8 47.Kh4 g6 48.Ba6 Bd5 49.Rc8+ Kd7 50.Rf8 Ke7 51.Rb8 Rd4 52.Bb5 f6 53.Rh8 Rxf4 54.Rh7+ Kf8 55.exf6 g5+ 56.Kh5 Rxf6 57.Rxh6 Kg7 58.Rxf6 Kxf6 59.h4 gxh4 60.g5+ Kf5 61.Bd3+ Kf4 62.Kxh4 Bxb3 63.g6 e5 64.g7 e4
White to move and draw
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Soumya,S2351Dardha,D25330–12021B60VIII Sunway Sitges Open 20215.11

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.

ChessBase Magazine #204

ChessBase Magazine Extra #204

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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