The power of the bishops

by Karsten Müller
8/6/2024 – It is often difficult to build a fortress against the pair of bishops, and it is much easier to build a fortress when opposite colored bishops are on the board. In the diagram position White fights against the pair of bishops, but had a way to draw. What should she have done?
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.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Bc4 Nb6 5.Bb3 Nc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.cxd4 d5 8.Bc2 Nb4 9.Nc3 Nxc2+ 10.Qxc2 Bd7 11.Nge2 e6 12.Qd3 f5 13.h4 Na4 14.h5 Nxc3 15.Nxc3 Be7 16.a4 0-0 17.b3 Rc8 18.Bd2 a6 19.Rh3 Rc6 20.Rb1 f4 21.Ne2 Bg5 22.Ng1 Be8 23.Nf3 Bh6 24.g4 g5 25.Kf1 Rf7 26.Kg2 Bf8 27.Rhh1 Rfc7 28.Ba5 b6 29.Bd2 a5 30.Rhc1 Rxc1 31.Rxc1 Rxc1 32.Bxc1 Be7 33.Bd2 Qc8 34.Ne1 Kg7 35.f3 Bd7 36.Kf2 Qc7 37.Ke2 b5 38.axb5 Qb6 39.Kd1 Bxb5 40.Qc3 a4 41.bxa4 Bxa4+ 42.Ke2 Bb5+ 43.Kf2 Bc4 44.Nc2 Qb1 45.Be1 Qa2 46.Kg1 Kf7 47.Qd2 Qb3 48.Kg2 Qb1 49.Nb4 Qb3 50.Nc6 Ba3 51.Na5 Qb2 52.Kg1 Bb5 53.Kf2 Qxd2+ 54.Bxd2 Bb2 55.Nb3 Ba3 56.Bc1 Bb4 57.Bd2 Be7 58.Ba5 Ba3 59.Ke1 Bc4 60.Nd2 Ba2 61.Kd1 Ke7 62.Kc2 Kd7 63.Bb6 Be7 64.Kb2 Bc4 65.Kc3 Be2 66.Ba5 Kc6 67.Bb4 Bd8 68.Kb3 Kb5 69.Bc3 Bd1+ 70.Ka3 Be7+ 71.Kb2 Ka4 72.Kc1 Bb3 73.Nb1 Bc4 74.Kd2 Kb3 75.Ba5 Ba6 76.Nc3 Kc4 77.Ne2 Bb5 78.Bc3 Bd8 79.Kc2 Bc6 80.Kd2 Ba4 81.Nc1 Be7 82.Nd3 Bd7 83.Nb2+ Kb5 84.Kd3 Bc8 85.Kd2 Ba6 86.Kd3 Kc6+ 87.Kd2 Bf1 88.Ke1 Bc4 89.Kd2 Kb5 90.Nd3 Ba3 91.Kc2 Be7 92.Kd2 Bb3 93.Nb2 Ba3 94.Nd3 Bc4 The power of the bishops It is often difficult to build a fortress against the pair of bishops, and it is much easier to build a fortress when opposite colored bishops are on the board. In the diagram position White fights against the pair of bishops, but had a way to draw. What should she have done?
White to move and draw
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vaishali,R2490Ju,W25600–12024B22Norway Chess Women 20246.1

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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