“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
It can be extremely difficult to win an opposite-colored bishops endgame, even with 2 extra pawns. Here is one aesthetic example from the past. Black to move. Event: URS-ch sf Lvov Year: 1973 White: Makarichev, Sergey Black: Averbakh, Yuri Result: 0-1
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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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When the bishop is actively positioned on the a1-h8 diagonal and obstructs the approach to the g-pawn, i.e. threatens with a back-rank attack on the opponent’s pawns, White will have to show the highest skill to realize the win. As an illustration, let us see the Radev – Pribyl endgame ( Tbilisi, 1971 ). […]
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A most instructive draw denouement occurred in the game Tseshkovski – Bagirov, Lvov, 1978. Despite his pawns being blocked, White to play draws transposing into a position where the knight defends the pawn from the unfavourable front side! Salvation is possible thanks to the black king being momentarily too far away from the action […]
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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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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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A very instructive study on the theme of breakthrough was composed by Godes and Averbakh in 1955. It appears that White is hopelessly lost since the black king is too near his pawns, whilst the white king is tied down due to the “outside” passed pawn. However, White to move wins thanks to an […]
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← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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2.5.3. No Passed Pawns When in endings of king and two pawns versus king and two pawns neither side has a passed pawn, the positions assume a static character – the main role is assigned to the kings which decide the outcome of the game by complicated manoeuvres. The only exception to this rule is […]
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