“In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else, for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame.” – José Raúl Capablanca
In this game a much weaker player by rating had a chance to crash a former European champion. Critical position: Everything revolves around who will end up in zugzwang. Event: TCh-CHN 2019 Date: 2019.04.10 White: Inarkiev, E. WhiteElo: 2692 Black: Lan, Zilun BlackElo: 2333 Result: 1/2-1/2
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Key squares and the opposition are the basic rules in king and pawn endgames. This video is recapitulation of positions P-12, P-13 and P-14 from Basic Chess Endgames by GM Vlado Kovacevic.
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This is a study-like pawn endgame. The winning method is famous and that is one of very important motifs in pawn endgames and its name is shouldering or bodycheck! Event: German League 2018. White: Genov, Petar WhiteElo: 2428 Black: Stevic, Hrvoje BlackElo: 2588 Result: 1/2-1/2
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When the enemy king is far and there is no possibility of directly attacking its pawns, sometimes the win may be achieved by a pawn sacrifice in order to enable a quicker penetration of the king. A nice example on the theme is shown in a study by G. Mattison, 1929.
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In more complex pawn endings sometimes it is important to know whether two isolated passed pawns can win without the support of the king. In this situation we are helped out by the rule of the “common square”, formulated by A. Studenecki in 1939. The “common square” is a square the length of the […]
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If we move the pawns one rank back, they will not be able to win without the support of the king. But if the white king is far, the pawns will perish since they will not be able to defend each other. The common square ends on the seventh rank. This means that the […]
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A somewhat more complex case arose in the game Pomar – Cuartas, Olot, 1974, pointing out yet another weakness of the doubled pawns. At first sight it might appear that Black to move loses since White is threatening to force zugzwang by a roundabout manoeuvre. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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In a similar entertaining way Black saved the game in the game Nikolajevski -Taimanov, USSR Championship, 1957. Black’s position looks hopeless since the loss of the c-pawn is inevitable. However, Taimanov spotted a hidden stalemate possibility. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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Among tactical motifs also the defence by stalemate deserves attention. In tournament play two exceptionally interesting cases have been registered. The first arose in the game Chigorin -Tarrasch, Ostende, 1905. Only in a post-mortem did Geza Maroczy discover a brilliant defence by stalemate. White to play draws! ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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Very often in tournament play we run across positions where each side has three pawns on the same wing. As a rule, these positions should be within drawing limits, but there are many exceptions. One of the most unusual is the case of breakthrough. White to play wins thanks to a breakthrough. By sacrificing two […]
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