3/14/2022 – Sipke and Karsten look at recent endgames and analyse three endgames of Sipke. In one of these endgames he had two minor pieces against a rook and won in style. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

3/8/2022 – The acronym "LPDO" was probably coined by the English player Mike Cook, who used it to explain the majority of his losses in a 100-game blitz match against John Nunn. But it was Nunn who made the term popular by talking about this blitz match in his book "Secrets of Practical Chess". Keeping "LPDO" in mind might help to reduce blundering pieces, even in the endgame. In the diagrammed position Black's rook and bishop are both "loose". How did White manage to let them "drop off"?

3/7/2022 – In the Endgame Magic Show #184 Karsten Müller presents endgame highlights from the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin, which was won by Hikaru Nakamura. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

3/1/2022 – Sometimes it is difficult to convert an extra knight into a full point: Black to move and win.

2/28/2022 – In the Endgame Magic Show #183 Karsten Müller presents endgame highlights from the Airthings Masters, the online rapid tournament which World Champion Magnus Carlsen won last Saturday by defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the finals. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

2/22/2022 – In rook endings, rooks usually belong behind passed pawns. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule but it is still a good guideline to find good moves in rook endings. In the diagrammed position it is White to move. How can she get her rook behind a passed pawn and win the endgame?

2/15/2022 – Knights can fork kings, queen and rooks, but in endgames they are often surprisingly helpless against rooks. In the diagrammed position Black's passed pawn on the h-file looks dangerous but the white rooks have everything under control. What did White play to win the game?

2/14/2022 – In the Endgame Magic Show #182 Karsten Müller continues to present endgame highlights from the Tata Steel Tournament 2022 in Wijk aan Zee. Among these highlights is a fascinating and instructive rook ending that allows you to test your rook endgame skills. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

2/7/2022 – Passed pawns are particularly powerful in queen endgames because the mobility of the queen helps to support the advance of the pawns. However, king safety is also an issue. In the diagrammed position Black's a-pawn is far advanced, but Black's king has to find a way to hide from the enemy checks. How can Black protect her king, queen the pawn and win the game?

2/7/2022 – The well-known author and Grandmaster Mihail Marin is Karsten Müller's guest in the Endgame Magic Show #181, and Mihail and Karsten look at highlights from the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee 2022. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

2/1/2022 – In the diagrammed position it is Black to move and draw. In fact, as endgame books and tablebases know this position is a theoretical draw. However, it occurred at the end of a rapid game and with only seconds on the clock Black failed to find the right move. Can you do better?

1/31/2022 – The well-known author and Grandmaster Mihail Marin is Karsten Müller's guest in the Endgame Magic Show #180. Mihail talks about his forthcoming ChessBase products, and Karsten and he look at endgame highlights from the Sitges Open 2021. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

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?

1/24/2022 – In the Endgame Magic Show #179 Karsten Müller and Arne Kähler take a look at some of the best endgames played in 2021. Karsten's favourite is game six of the World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, arguably the decisive game of the match. Arne had another favourite - a fine endgame from the Sitges Open. But what is your favorite endgame of 2021? Share it in the comments! | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

1/18/2022 – The duel knight against bishop is often full of fascinating possibilities. On first glance, the diagram position does not look particularly dangerous for White. But White's position is vulnerable, and with a cunning maneuver Black is able to exploit the hidden weaknesses in White's position. What would you do with Black?

1/17/2022 – Beginners often learn that a rook is roughly two pawn units better than a bishop. But that does not mean that it is always easy to convert an endgame rook vs bishop into a win. In the Endgame Magic Show #178 Karsten Müller and Arne Kähler present a classic example of rook vs bishop to illustrate some principles of this important and instructive endgame. | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

1/11/2022 – Pawn races often have a flavour of their own and taking pawns is not always the most important. In the diagram position it is Black to move and win. What would you do?

1/10/2022 – In the Endgame Magic Show #177, Karsten Müller and Arne Kähler look at a fascinating position played at the 2021 FIDE World Cup in Sochi. Sometimes you need to calculate what will happen in the fourth phase of the game, when newly promoted queens appear on the board, and every single check is crucial! | You can watch the Endgame Magic Show on-demand with a ChessBase Premium account.

1/4/2022 – A bishop usually has trouble when defending against a rook in the endgame - a lot of trouble. In the diagram position it is White to move and win but in the game White allowed Black to build a fortress and to secure a crucial draw. But do you see how White can win?

12/28/2021 – For 24 days, you mastered fierce end-game puzzles. We received over 6800 emails this year! This topped last year's calendar, bravo! From all entries we randomly selected three winners for each day, who can look forward to ChessBase Shop vouchers or two Fritztrainer DVDs signed by Karsten Müller. Those who guessed all 24 doors correctly, entered into our super raffle for one of three grand prizes.

12/28/2021 – Usually, in open positions a bishop is stronger than a knight. But in chess there's no rule without exception! In the diagram position it is White who has the knight, and it is White to move and win. What would you do?

12/25/2021 – We are sorry, but our calendar doesn't have 25 doors, but one solution still has to be shown. Thank you! We were able to beat last year's result, thanks to your record participation. All winners will be announced on 27.12.

12/24/2021 – That's almost it! It's the last day of the calendar, and we want to say a huge thank you for the thousands of entries! Yesterday we had to send the king to c2 because of the virtual opposition. Finally, there is a really nice endgame treat to solve.

12/23/2021 – The youngest GM ever, played the move Nf3+. Although the game was played this year, it is already a classic. On the penultimate day, there is a fast-paced task in which a white king has to find the right square. Can you help?