“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 you asked yourself why the black king has to go to the square of the bishop’s opposite colour, here is the answer: in the bishop’s corner, stalemate defence fails and Black loses! Look how to plan the mating attack in such a case! White to move wins. The first phase is to bring […]
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a ) Bishop and a-pawn against knight In accordance with fundamental didactic principles, first we will examine most simple positions, in which – due to unlucky placement at the edge of the board – real knight value is much lesser than bishop’s. The least favourable is the case with the rim pawn on the […]
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A much more complex is the situation with the black king near the rim of the drawing zone. This position was analyzed in great detail by Y. Averbakh, 1954. The outcome depends on who has the move. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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Conversion of advantage is much more complex with the pawns of the weaker side being blocked only on the fourth or the fifth rank. The winning strategy is again based on stalemating the opponent. We should note from the beginning that this is possible only if the king of the weaker side cannot penetrate […]
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Of special importance for both the theory of the endgame as well as tournament practice are positions with a rook’s pawn and the wrong-corner bishop against connected pawns by the rim of the board. As we saw in example 531, when the weaker side has only a rook’s pawn, the position is drawn provided […]
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Black to move loses despite being able to put up much tougher resistance. Thanks to the opposition and the ideal bishop position, White will systematically push back his rival until he gains a tempo for the pawn capture. ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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Let us take a look now at another critical position with the black king outside the safe zone. This position with the black king in the centre was elaborated in great detail by V. Rauzer, 1928. White wins whoever has the move! When White has the move, the path to victory is much simpler […]
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The most complex positions with rook’s pawns arise when the stronger side has the “wrong” bishop. As in all similar examples that we have already examined, a win may be achieved only if the condition of capturing the pawn whilst keeping the enemy king away from the “wrong” corner can be met. The simplest […]
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A very instructive position also arose in the endgame Paulsen – Metger ( Nürnberg, 1888 ) . White was forced to place the bishop on a7 in order to prevent the penetration of the black king on a8, but he still has to complete the other half of the job. That is, he can […]
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