The power of passed pawns

by Karsten Müller
5/13/2025 – In the diagram position it is Black to move - how should he parry White's check and how should he use his pawns to defeat White's bishop?
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.Bb5+ Nd7 4.a4 Ngf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 b6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Bb7 9.0-0 e5 10.Qe3 Be7 11.Nd2 Nc5 12.Rd1 Rc8 13.Nc4 Nfxe4 14.Nxe4 Bxe4 15.b4 Bxc2 16.bxc5 Bxd1 17.Bxd1 Rxc5 18.Nb2 0-0 19.Nd3 Rc8 20.Bb3 Rc3 21.Rb1 d5 22.Bd2 Bg5 23.Qxg5 Qxg5 24.Bxg5 Rxd3 25.Bc2 Rc3 26.Bd1 Rfc8 27.Kf1 f6 28.Bd2 R3c6 29.Bf3 Rd8 30.Be2 a5 31.f3 Kf7 32.Rb2 f5 33.Bb5 Rc5 34.Ke2 Ke6 35.Bd3 Rd6 36.Bc2 e4 37.Bf4 Rdc6 38.Bb3 b5 39.Be3 b4 40.Rd2 Rc4 41.f4 g6 42.g3 Kd6 43.Kf2 Rc3 44.Bxd5 Rd3 45.Bxc6 Rxd2+ 46.Bxd2 Kxc6 47.Ke2 Kd5 48.Kd1 Kd4 49.Kc2 e3 50.Bc1 h5 51.Bb2+ The power of passed pawns In the diagram position it is Black to move - how should he parry White's check and how should he use his pawns to defeat White's bishop?
Black to move and win
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kazakouski,V2567Erigaisi Arjun27770–12025B51German Bundesliga 2024-2512.1

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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Topics: ChessBase Magazine, Endgame, Karsten Mueller
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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5/6/2025 – In the diagram position White is a pawn up but still has to find a way to win. What should he do?
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Cutting off the enemy king

4/29/2025 – This weapon can be used by the attacking and the defending side. In the diagram position Black used it to hold the draw. How?
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60m English A solid scandinavian surprise

On this 60 mins video we are going to concentrate on a simple, very solid idea in the main line Scandinavian, which even Magnus Carlsen has used to win games. Black focusses on making his life easy in the opening and forces White to work very hard to get advantage – but it is doubtful if White can get an advantage. Club players are always on the lookout for effective, time-saving solutions and here we have just that. Accompany FIDE Senior Trainer and IM Andrew Martin on this 60 mins video. You can learn a new opening system in 60 mins and start to play it with confidence on the very same day!

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