“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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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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Very complex rook endgame. White is a pawn up but it’s not easy to move his kingside pawns. Black has a threat …Rd2 and White has to think about it immediately. Event: Istanbul ol (Men) 40th Date: 2012.08.31 White: Solak, Dragan WhiteElo: 2599 Black: Saric, Ivan BlackElo: 2638 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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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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Unexpected solutions are sometimes hidden beneath the apparently perfectly clear situations thus corroborating the Indian saying “Chess is a sea in which a fly can swim and an elephant drown”. A case in point is a study by L. Kubbel in 1922. White seems to be hopelessly lost since the black king is already […]
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As doubled pawns do not protect each other, they require the help of their king. Also in this case there are some traps that need to be avoided. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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