The sharp endgame weapon zugzwang

by Karsten Müller
10/18/2016 – Every week ChessBase magazine author and renowned endgame expert Karsten Müller presents a remarkable or particularly instructive endgame in his blog. A click on the diagram opens a larger board. Test your endgame skills, improve and have fun!
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1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.0-0 Be7 5.d3 0-0 6.Nbd2 b5 7.e4 c5 8.c3 Nc6 9.Re1 Bb7 10.e5 Nd7 11.d4 b4 12.Nf1 Ba6 13.Ne3 Rc8 14.a3 bxc3 15.bxc3 Nb6 16.h4 Nc4 17.Nxc4 Bxc4 18.h5 Qa5 19.Bd2 h6 20.Nh2 cxd4 21.cxd4 Qa6 22.Be3 Bd3 23.Ng4 Kh7 24.Qd2 Bf5 25.Nh2 Na5 26.Bf1 Qb6 27.Ra2 Nc4 28.Bxc4 dxc4 29.d5 Bc5 30.d6 Bxe3 31.Rxe3 c3 32.Qc1 c2 33.Re1 Rc3 34.Nf1 Qc6 35.Ne3 Bd3 36.Ra1 Rb8 37.Qd2 Rc8 38.Rac1 Bb5 39.Kh2 Qf3 40.g4 Qf4+ 41.Kg1 Rd3 42.Qb4 Qxe5 43.Nxc2 Qxd6 44.Qxb5 Rdc3 45.Qb1 f5 46.Ne3 Qxa3 47.Rxc3 Qxc3 48.gxf5 exf5 49.Nxf5 Kh8 50.Ne7 Rd8 51.Ng6+ Kg8 52.Qe4 Qa5 53.Ne7+ Kh8 54.Ng6+ Kg8 55.Qe6+ Kh7 56.Nf4 Qg5+ 57.Ng2 Qxh5 58.Qe7 Qa5 59.Qe5 Qb6 60.Nf4 Rf8 61.Qe4+ Kg8 62.Qc4+ Kh7 63.Qe4+ Kg8 64.Re3 Qf6 65.Qe6+ Qxe6 66.Nxe6 Re8 67.Nc5 Rxe3 68.fxe3 a5 69.Kf2 h5 70.Kf3 g5 71.Ke4 h4 72.Kf3 Kf7 73.Kg4 Kg6 74.Na4 Kf6 75.Nc3 Ke5 76.Kf3 Kf5 77.e4+ Ke5 78.Kg4 Kf6 79.Kh3 Ke6 80.Kg4 Ke5 81.Kf3 h3 With a lone knight in the endgame the right to move often becomes an obligation. Special care is required, when reciprocal zugzwang positions are near:
White to move and draw
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gilyazitdinov,N2055Toropov,P23490–12016C00ch-Tatarstan 20165.7

 

Karsten Müller 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.

Click to go to the ChessBase Magazine page

Apart from his regular columns and video lectures in ChessBase Magazine there is a whole series of training DVDs by Karsten Müller, which are bestsellers in the ChessBase Shop.

 

ChessBase Magazine #174 (October/November)


 

The editor’s top ten:

1. “A fun game”: the world champion in person presents his rapid-fire attacking game against Wesley So in Bilbao. Carlsen - So
2. The decisive game in Saint Louis: Wesley So shows how he outmanoeuvred his rival for tournament victory: So - Topalov
3. Grandmaster against child prodigy: together with Simon Williams find the moves with which eleven year old Vincent Keymer outplayed GM Hertneck – „Move by Move“!
4. Masterclass in Biel with “MVL”: the present No. 2 in the world explains in a video interview with Daniel King his win in the Najdorf over Caruana.
5. Sneaky way in the King’s Indian: in his video GM Erwin l’Ami introduces you to the variation after 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Bg5 and brings you up-to-date with the latest theory.
6. The poisoned bishop: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave explains the trick with which he caught out Peter Svidler in Biel: Svidler - Vachier Lagrave
7. Mating attack out of nowhere: let Boris Gelfand show show you how he surprised European champion, Ernesto Inarkiev!
8. “Opening Trends”: IM Langrock opens a new series and demonstrates the most important trends in the French Rubinstein Variation.
9. Award your own exclamation marks! Conduct, together with Oliver Reeh, an attack with several hammer blows.
10. WCh dress rehearsal: have Daniel King show you how the world champion dismantled Sergey Karjakin’s king position.
 

 

 

Opening Surveys

Krasenkow: English A20
1.c4 e5 2.g3 c6

 

 With 2.g3 White would like to defer the development of the Nb1 to c3 so as to avoid ...Bb4. But then, according to Michal Krasenkow, Black can easily play 2...c6. The Polish grandmaster takes some ideas from the Alapin Variation in the Sicilian and presents a repertoire for Black.

Souleidis: Trompowsky Attack A45
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 e6 3.e4 c5

 

 With 3...c5 (instead of the main move 3...h6) Georgios Souleidis presents a solid weapon against the Trompowsky Attack. White can try either 4.e5 or 4.d5, but the analyses show that Black has no need to fear the one or the other.

Reinke: Sicilian B20
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3

 

 In the second part of his article on the Wing Gambit the focus is on what according to Markus Reinke is the critical move: 3...e5. However, even in this line White can also obtain exciting positions with compensation for the pawn.

Postny: Sicilian B31
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.0-0 Bg7 6.Re1 Nh6 7.c3 0-0 8.h3

 

 In the Rossolimo Variation the trend has of late been retuning to the recapture with the b-pawn. Since after that 8.d4 has not proved itself, White is now trying out the useful 8.h3. Evgeny Postny presents the latest results of his investigations.

Iotov: Sicilian B37
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Nc2 d6 7.Be2 Nf6 8.Nc3 0-0 9.0-0

 

 According to Valentin Iotov the move 6.Nc3 has both advantages and disadvantages. Avoiding the exchange of pieces favours White, but he also clears the centre and allows ...Be6. But another thing in favour of the variation is that there is less theory to be learned.

Ris: Sicilian B38
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Be2 d6 9.0-0 Bd7 10.Qd2 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Bc6 12.f3 Nd7 13.Be3 a5 14.b3 Nc5 15.Rab1

 

 With 15...e6 instead of the old main move 15...Qb6 Robert Ris pleads for a somewhat more active approach. If White does not know what he is doing, there are several ways he can immediately fall into a trap. Even with best play it is not clear whether White gets an advantage.

Stohl: Sicilian B94
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7

 

 In the second part of his article on the popular sub-variation 6...Nbd7 Igor Stohl analyses above all queen moves for White. The most venomous is 7.Qe2 and so it receives the most attention. Despite a great analytical effort, Stohl considers Black to be under pressure.

Kuzmin: Four Knights Game C49
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 d6 7.Ne2

 

 Nowadays one is satisfied with even a slight opening advantage, so the Four Knights Game is back in fashion. With 7.Ne2, according to Alexey Kuzmin White is intending Ng3, c3 and d4. Black should not miss the correct moment to play d6-d5.

Bronznik: Chigorin Defence D07
1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3

 

 In the closing fourth part of his series on the Chigorin Defence Valeri Bronznik examines the move 5.e3, which is not totally harmless. Black should then reply 5...Nf6 and retain the option of ...Bb4.

Marin: Slav Schlechter Variation D94
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Bd3 0-0 7.0-0 Bg4 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 e6

 

 For Mihail Marin Vassily Smyslov is the greatest role model in this variation. The seventh world champion is represented in the database by 7 games. Anyone wishing to play this line should thoroughly check out whether it suits him or not.

CBM 174 in the ChessBase Shop

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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