“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
Rook against Bishop and Two Pawns Bishop and Two Pawns are in endgame usually much stronger than a rook. Evaluation of the position mostly depends on pawn structure, distance to promotion square and piece activity. We will divide these endgames accordingly: with connected pawns, with isolated (disconnected) pawns, with doubled pawns. a ) Endings […]
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Event: “27th TCh-CRO Div 1a 2018” White: “Georgiev, Kiril” WhiteElo: “2590” Black: “Beliavsky, Alexander G” BlackElo: “2540” Result: “0-1” It is clear at first glance that White is close to a draw. The most important question which White should ask himself is how he needs to set up his pieces. The pawns are on […]
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With the knowledge from previous example it is not hard to understand Mandler study (1924.).
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As we saw, knight position on g7 (b7) is very clumsy as it’s mobility is substantially reduced. It fails to give his king necessary protection. This position has already been analysed in 12th century by Arab players. Black must separate his pieces and the subtle hunting of the knight begins. That knowledge is basic […]
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I. Berger study from 1890. is another example of fatal cornered position of Black king.
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Having the king in the corner is the worst position for Black. In this position he is hopelessly lost.
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Problems start when king is on the knight line. Still, if black knight is not in corner, but on the “right” side, closer to center, it is a draw as we know from Kling and Horwitz (1851).
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Now that we have examined all methods of defense, let us see positions where White has realized his strategic maximum – the black king driven to the eighth rank; and the reached opposition indicating a mating attack. We shall see the Philidor’s position where the kings occupy the central file, which was researched by […]
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Defence along the seventh rank was discovered by a Polish grandmaster, W. Schmidt, and is based on the «hedgehog» set up on the seventh rank and a stalemate motif. Black to move draws not allowing the opponent to invade the seventh rank with his rook, and thus «pin» it to the edge of the […]
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If the bishop is, in a similar position, less than four files away from the edge, White wins by means of zugzwang when the rook is driven to the eighth rank ( Kling and Kuiper,1846 ). ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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