“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
If in similar positions with a tied king the bishop can protect its weak pawns on the other wing, a win will be possible only if somehow in some wondrous way a second passed pawn can be created. A brilliant, truly study-like example on the theme was contributed by the former world champion Mikhail […]
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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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The most difficult in queen endgames is to realize minimal advantage. Queen and pawn can win against queen if the weaker side’s king is not in front of the pawn and if it is possible to prevent draw by repetition. The best chances to win are with the pawn on the seventh rank, and […]
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Queen easily wins against a rook alone. The winning plan is based on driving Black to the edge of the board, and creating zugzwang which forces the rook to separate from the king. Then a double blow or mating attack with decide. The winning strategy will be examined on the example of a Philidor’s […]
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Queen easily wins against one minor piece, and one should understand a strange position where the knight and bishop realize a positional draw by creating an impenetrable shield in front of his king. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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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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Defence along the sixth rank is efficient on the longer side only, i.e. the one where the distance between the bishop and the edge of the board is at least four files away. A typical position was studied by Kling and Kuiper in 1846. White to move cannot win because the black rook has […]
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At the defence with the double intersection control there is one exception, which is necessary to know. If the intersection is on the b (g) -file, White wins by capturing the rook. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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