The power of passed pawns

by Karsten Müller
12/5/2023 – Far advanced passed pawns often allow amazing combinations. In the diagram position it is White to move. 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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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,185,96054%2421---
1.d4960,10155%2434---
1.Nf3286,72856%2440---
1.c4184,98756%2443---
1.g319,89756%2427---
1.b314,60454%2428---
1.f45,95848%2376---
1.Nc33,91750%2383---
1.b41,79148%2379---
1.a31,25054%2406---
1.e31,08149%2409---
1.d396950%2378---
1.g467046%2361---
1.h446654%2382---
1.c343951%2425---
1.h328956%2420---
1.a411860%2461---
1.f310047%2427---
1.Nh39366%2506---
1.Na34762%2476---
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bxc4 Bf5 6.Ne2 e6 7.0-0 Nb6 8.Bb3 c5 9.Nbc3 Nc6 10.d5 exd5 11.Nxd5 Be7 12.Nxe7 Qxe7 13.Ng3 Bg6 14.e6 fxe6 15.Bxe6 Qxe6 16.Re1 Ne5 17.Bf4 Nbd7 18.Bxe5 Nxe5 19.f4 0-0 20.Rxe5 Qc4 21.f5 Rad8 22.Qb3 Qxb3 23.axb3 Be8 24.Rxc5 Rd2 25.Rc7 Bc6 26.Re1 Rxg2+ 27.Kf1 Rxh2 28.Ree7 g6 29.Kg1 Rh3 30.Ne4 Bxe4 31.Rxe4 Rxf5 32.Re8+ Rf8 33.Ree7 Rb8 34.Kg2 Rh5 35.b4 a6 36.Rg7+ Kh8 37.Rgf7 g5 38.Kg3 Rh4 39.b5 axb5 40.Rf5 Rc4 41.Rd7 Rg8 42.Rxb5 Rh4 43.Rbxb7 Rh5 44.Kg4 Rh4+ 45.Kg3 Rh6 46.b4 g4 47.b5 Rh3+ 48.Kg2 Rh6 49.Kg3 Rh3+ 50.Kg2 Rh5 The power of passed pawns Far advanced passed pawns often allow amazing combinations. In the diagram position it is White to move. What should he do?
White to move and win
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier-Lagrave,M2747Aronian,L2742½–½2023D20Tech Mahindra GCL 202332.1

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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