Chess Endgame Archives - Chessentials https://chessentials.com/tag/chess-endgame/ Chess blog about chess tactics, chess games and chess books Wed, 20 Mar 2019 21:08:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://chessentials.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/cropped-vjeks2-2-1-32x32.png Chess Endgame Archives - Chessentials https://chessentials.com/tag/chess-endgame/ 32 32 10 Endgames Every Chess Player Should Know https://chessentials.com/10-endgames-every-chess-player-should-know/ https://chessentials.com/10-endgames-every-chess-player-should-know/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2019 21:08:05 +0000 https://chessentials.com/?p=9430 “It is impossible to become a World Class player without proper endgame technique”. ~ Mark Dvoretsky Ever since starting my chess career, I have been a terrible endgame player. Oh sure, I have read some...

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“It is impossible to become a World Class player without proper endgame technique”.

~ Mark Dvoretsky

Ever since starting my chess career, I have been a terrible endgame player.

Oh sure, I have read some chess endgame books.1 I have heard something about chess endgame principles. I have analyzed and practiced some endgames. But my study wasn’t systematic. Or methodical. It was a bit random.

As a consequence – my play 2 suffered. I lost several drawn positions. I failed to convert several good positions. And I shed a number of rating points.

Which kinda pissed me off. So I decided to do something about it. At the beginning of 2019, I decided to do something about it. I decided to put real effort and improve this phase of my game.

And was immediately confronted by a question: What is the best way of studying chess endgames?

How to study chess endgames?

“Practically all chess players I have trained have had a high level of technique and an excellent grasp of the endgame“

~ Mark Dvoretsky

To find the answer to this question, I decided to seek wisdom from the trainer of all trainers – Mark Dvoretsky. In several books, such as Technique For The Tournament Player, School Of Chess Excellence 1: Endgame Analysis, Endgame Manual and Tragicomedy In The Endgame, he talks about the topic of studying the endgame. 3 His philosophy can be reduced to two important points:

Learning theoretical endgame positions

Just like in the opening, it is impossible to manage without memory. There are certain theoretical positions that simply have to be learned by heart. Extensive knowledge of elementary endgames allows us to quickly evaluate the consequence of our decisions, without wasting time and energy on calculation.

Ironically, many chess players 4 resist doing it and believe they can manage everything when there are so few pieces on the board. However, both Dvoretsky and tournament practice demonstrate it is impossible to develop a good technique without the knowledge of theoretical endgames.

Improving your endgame technique

Now, Dvoretsky also points out the human memory is limited. That it is futile and impossible to learn to play the endgame by heart. That you have to increase your understanding and improve your endgame technique – which is a skill.

How does one do that? First and foremost, Dvoretsky recommends analyzing endgames from the practical play:

“We shall now discuss how to raise the level of your technique. To do this it is necessary to study questions which are common to all (or many endgames)… The best way of learning all this is to analyze practical endgames played by the great masters”.

Apart from that, playing classical chess on a regular basis also helps. In tournament practice, a player is bound to encounter different endgames. Detailed analysis of these games with a particular focus on the mistakes you made is bound to improve your play in subsequent games. 5

10 Endgames Every Chess Player Should Know

After reading Dvoretsky’s words, I took a deep breath and realized my knowledge of theoretical endgames sucked 6 The first step toward improving my endgame was clear – actually learning them. I grabbed Jesus De La Villa’s 100 Endgames You Must Know and Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual. And got down to business.

This time, I tried to have a more methodic and systematic approach. Which leads me to the motivation behind this post. I realized that some positions appear more frequently than others. And that I have trouble remembering them. So I decided to reduce De La Villa’s number. And write a blog post about 10 Endgames Every Chess Player Should Know.

The idea was that doing so would help me memorize these endgames better.

And that readers would also find it useful. And get motivated to improve their endgame technique as well.

Hope you will enjoy it! Without further ado – here’s a list of 10 endgames I think every chess player should know.

1.   The Lucena – the bridge (rook+pawn vs rook)

An elementary endgame, which kids in Russia learn by heart even before they learn how to speak.

2.   The Philidor position (rook+pawn vs rook)

A position in which the weaker side has a king in front of the enemy pawn. Easily drawn with proper play.

3.   DT – Distant (side) checks position (rook + pawn vs rook)

Sometimes the weaker side is unable to reach the Philidor position. Do not despair – there are alternative defensive methods available. The first one is the so-called distant (side) check defence.

Knowledge of this position helps us make more complicated decisions:

Alas, it is not always so easy. Even future World Champions are sometimes prone to mistakes in these endgames:

4.   The Kling and Horwitz Defence (rook+pawn vs rook)

What if the weaker side is also unable to utilize distant (side) checks. There is, fortunately, another (lesser known) defence – the Kling and Horwitz.

5.   The Vancura Defence (rook + pawn vs rook)

Rook endgames with rook pawns are particularly tricky. The knowledge of the Vancura Defence is the first step toward understanding them.

6.   The Centurini Position (bishop + pawn vs bishop – same coloured bishops)

Centurini’s position refers to a set of same-coloured bishop positions. There is a whole bunch of the problems he studied. We will consider two instructive ones. The first one is trivial:

The second one is slightly more difficult (and more famous:)

7.   Tarrasch’s Position (bishop + 2 pawns vs bishop – opposite coloured bishops)

Tarrasch’s position demonstrated important principles regarding the opposite-coloured bishop position where the stronger side has two connected passed pawns:

8.   The Philidor position (queen vs rook)

Although we all know that Queen and King win against Rook and King, none of us actually bother to study this endgame. Yet, it is not so trivial against the best defence. 7 In order to win it, one has to know another position studied by the French genius, Francois Andre Philidor:

9.   The Philidor position (rook+bishop vs rook)

Last but not least, I have decided to include two rook+bishop vs rook position. This decision might seem weird. However, it DOES appear in tournament practice than other material relations 8 And it often costs players half a point. I think it is worth knowing the correct method of attack and defence, even though matters are more complicated than in previous endgames.

Let’s start with the standard position in which the stronger side is winning. Have I mentioned it was also studied by Philidor? You have to admire the strength of the French master. Don’t forget there weren’t any computer engines in the 18th century.

10.  The Cochrane defence (rook+bishop vs rook)

Now we know what the stronger side wants to achieve. How should the weaker side go about avoiding it?

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]]> https://chessentials.com/10-endgames-every-chess-player-should-know/feed/ 1 Best chess endgame books https://chessentials.com/chess-endgame-books/ https://chessentials.com/chess-endgame-books/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2017 21:27:37 +0000 https://chessentials.com/?page_id=1289 Chess endgame Bibles After assembling a list of best chess tactical books in the previous post and after writing a first post in the “endgame domain”, we thought that the next logical step is making...

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]]> Chess endgame Bibles

After assembling a list of best chess tactical books in the previous post and after writing a first post in the “endgame domain”, we thought that the next logical step is making a similar list with the best endgame literature.

Our personal opinion is that books are the best source for endgame study and that the alternative sources are not that efficient as compared to the opening or middle game study:

  • Modern chess databases have huge opening books that are regularly updated. Therefore, one has instant access to every  relevant theoretical game played in a certain opening line. It is true that with such an approach one doesn’t absorb ideas behind certain opening moves. But since virtually every prominent game gets annotated in great  detail, it is also much easier to understand the purpose of a specific move than it was ever before.
  • As already mentioned in the previous article, exercising tactics is also more available than ever before. Just search the internet or install an app and voila. The infinite amount of chess puzzles.
  • A great majority of games concludes before reaching the endgame. That relates especially to blitz games, but long games also aren’t a big exception. Therefore, one doesn’t get the opportunity to practice his endgame play and correct deficiencies so often.

Additionaly, many people, myself included, consider endgames tedious and boring, and never bother to study them properly.

However, I think that investing some time in the endgames will well repay the study. I think that reading just a single book from this list will significantly improve your understanding of the endgames.

And if you need an extra motivation, Rise Against always gets ME pumped up.

Silman’s Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner to Master – Jeremy Silman

Silman endgame

It is always hard to choose the first thing to put on a list of anything.

In our case, we  have tried to choose the book that is perhaps most useful to beginners.

Because Silman’s Complete Endgame Course is definitely the book that is best suited for someone who has never played a serious game of chess.

The main concept of the book is that Silman divides the content into nine chapters, each being suited for the players of different rating.

Every chapter covers various field of endgame play, depending on how high the base rating of the chapter is.

The book is intended as a textbook. As a player progresses in his chess strength, he can progress through the material in book as well, gradually learning and deepening his understanding and strength.

Of course, for someone who is not complete beginner, the book also has something to offer, since the highest rated chapter is intended for player of master calibre.

However, we are of opinion that there is superior choice for someone who has some basic idea about what he should do in the endgame.

Basic Chess Endgames

Basic_Chess_Endings_(front_cover_-_2003_edition)

Historicaly probably most popular and most established book about the endgame.

One can hardly go wrong with choosing this classic, although a word of caution is required. Due to it’s release date (1941!), it can be considered somewhat old fashioned.

It is well known that the original edition contained some inaccuracies. According to most of the reviewers, GM Pal Benko hasn’t corrected every single line throughout the book.

However, when I was personally reading it, I didn’t find some radical and obvious mistakes. It is arguable whether I could have benefited MORE from some other book, but I still think that Fine’s is a must for any self respected chess player.

In addition, it IS somewhat cheaper than some more modern books examined below.

Fundamental Chess Endgames

Fundamental Chess Endings

I will be honest and say that I haven’t fully read this book yet.
I have discovered it while I was doing my research for this list, and it has immediately found a way toward my Kindle device.

Because GM Karsten Müller is well known endgame expert who contributes regularly to the New in Chess magazine and other publications. I have complete faith in his capability, and apparently his book about endgames is considered by many as the most relevant endgame book these days.

So far, my personal impression coincides fully with the reviews and the opinion of community. Müller’s style is crystal and concise, the content follows a logical flow and everything is double checked on the engine.

Therefore, it definitely deserves a place on this list.

Understanding Chess Endgames

understanding chess endgames

We have already met the name of John Nunn on our other list, but once again he gets a spot under the sun.

This time he treats us with a great endgame book in which he covers 100 endgame themes.

This books is excellent for studying and learning endgame principles. Because instead of the typical “Pawn and king endgames”, John Nunn bases his chapters on the very same principles.

For instance under the title Rook Endings, there are subtitles such as Extra Passed Pawn – Rook in front of the pawn, Extra Passed Pawn – Rook behind the Pawn, and many more.

It is very hard to compare this book directly to the others on this list.

But is certainly deserved to be mentioned here.

Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual

Dvoretsky's endgame manual

The last, but not the least, another very famous book. Dvoretsky’s endgame manual was written by the world’s most famous chess trainer, Mark Dvoretsky, who unfortunately recently died at the age of 68.

The book is famous for a reason because it is definitely the most complex and thorough of all the books mentioned on this list.

The analysis are long and meticulous, the style is described as a “bit dry”, and the book can be rightfully described as highly technical.

Therefore, perhaps it is not the best choice for beginners and novices. But I think that it is ideal for anyone above the first category strength and that one can hardly miss by getting this monumental manual.

Fortunately, it is not as pricey as one might assume by reading things written above.

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]]> https://chessentials.com/chess-endgame-books/feed/ 1 Chess endgames – Pawn endgames principles https://chessentials.com/chess-endgame-basics-pawn-endgames/ https://chessentials.com/chess-endgame-basics-pawn-endgames/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2017 21:56:54 +0000 https://chessentials.com/?p=1253 “ENDGAMES TEACH YOU CHESS” Last year I have had the pleasure of playing in the 2016 edition of the Zalakaros Chess tournament.  In the first round I have had the opportunity to play the Israeli...

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]]> “ENDGAMES TEACH YOU CHESS”

Last year I have had the pleasure of playing in the 2016 edition of the Zalakaros Chess tournament. 

In the first round I have had the opportunity to play the Israeli International Master, Ben Artzi Ido.

In the game, he wasn’t very familiar with the opening. Also, he probably underestimated me a bit and for the most of the opening and the middle game I have had the upper hand.

Unfortunately, I haven’t capitalized on those chances. And managed only to reach an equal endgame.

An equal endgame, in which I got completely trashed.

After the game, I was completely furious and unobjective, and kept blaming my opponent for playing such a tedious, boring chess.

Afterwards, after he won two rook endgames against Grandmasters in the same tournament, I was amazed.

Because I realized that winning in the endgame yields as many tournament and rating points as winning in a brilliant attack.

And considering that majority of players don’t like to play simple and dry positions, perhaps such an approach is even more effective.

Therefore, understanding the quote from the title by Stephan Gerzadowicz is one of the more useful lessons I have learnt throughout my chess career.

Or perhaps I should say, “career”.

Ben Artzi Ido
The Israeli International Master Ben Artzi Ido, from which I got free “Importance of endgame play” lesson

PAWN ENDGAMES

At this point a natural question, written multiple times on this blog already, arises. What is the best way for a beginner to start?

Apart from resisting saying “In the beginning” for the umpteeth time, I will also suggest that starting out with pawn endgames is the most common approach.

I have often seen trainers seting up the chessboard and removing all the major and minor pieces from their starting positions before letting the students play.

Some players might question such an approach considering that pure pawn endgames don’t arise that often in actual chess games, compared to for instance rook endgames.

However, I still think that starting with the pawn endgames is perfectly reasonable because of the following two factors:

  • SIMPLICITY – because of reduced material, pawn endgames are considered as the simplest endgames. The king becomes a major factor which makes learning his typical maneuvres much easier. And those typical maneuvres are applicable for any type of endgame in general. (As Reuben Fine once remarked : “The king is a strong piece. Use it!”)
  • COSTLY MISTAKES – in a typical pawn endgame, playing one bad move usually means the difference between a draw or a win, or even a loss or a win. Additionaly, due to simplicity, learning key maneuvres is less complicated task compared to other types of endgames.

Therefore, I thought it might be a good idea to cover basics of pawn endgames before proceeding to more complicated chess endgames.

Quotefancy-1562543-3840x2160
I have no idea what the background has to do with chess… but I like the photo nevertheless 😀

One final remark has to be added to complete the picture. The simplicity of the pawn endgames is sometimes double edged. Because often chessplayers fall in the complacency trap and don’t bother to calculate variations in pawn endgames, thinking that everything is self evident and playing on autopilot.

Personally, I don’t know how many games, especially in blitz, I have lost in various tournaments in such a fashion. Which led to the inevitable destruction of the whole inventory of the hotel room I was staying in.

I am just joking though.

I don’t have money for hotels.

THE BASIC POSITION

Firstly, let’s look at the “simplest” chess position of all times.

This position is very common and indicates that sometimes, being a pawn up might not be enough to win a chess game.

In the diagram position it is clear that if it is Black to move, the game ends immediately with a stalemate (if you forgot what a stalemate is, here is a reminder).

The point is obvious now. White first promotes his pawn, then proceeds to checkmate the adversary king. Since the queen checkmate is the fastest and the easiest, it makes sense to promote to a queen, although a rook will also do, as we have also seen on this blog already.

Therefore, the aim of the stronger side is to achieve a position where he is able to win, and avoid all those stalemate draws along the way.

That is why it’s important to be familiar with the typical king maneuvres that constitute the basic pawn endgame principles.

PAWN ENDGAMES PRINCIPLES

The King Opposition

The opposition of the kings is a position when there is a only one square between them and they restrict each other’s movement.

A typical example of the opposition is shown on diagram below.

This is an example of the so called vertical opposition. We see that the side on the move can’t move it’s king on the squares c5,d5 or e5, and therefore has to move back.

One can also encounter horizontal…

…and diagonal opposition.

The importance of the opposition in the endgame play can never be overemphasized. The opposition is a recurring theme in almost any endgame that appears on the board. And as already mentioned, with limited material on the board, it is probably the key maneuvre in many positions.

As an illustration, take a look at an elementary position shown on diagram below:

Finally, more complex, but still rather understandable type of opposition is the so – called distant opposition.

Consider the following position:

The Square Rule

The square rule is a rule that gives the answer to the “Can my king catch a pawn” question.

Consider the most primitive position:

We see that even in the final position Black’s king is inside the square.

It has to be mentioned that some of the most beautiful chess studies try to defy the square rule by proving that king can sometimes catch a pawn even when it seems impossible.

The famous Richard Reti study is the most prominent example, but there are others, of course.

The Triangulation

The final principle we will examine is the paradoxical triangulation king maneuvre.

The triangulation refers to the situation where king moves in the “triangle” shape with the intention of losing a tempo. This is typicaly done in endgame positions in order to achieve the same position, only with the opposite side to move.

And before you start bashing me with all kind of “Why the hell would i gief anything to opponent, I am hir to play” questions, take a cookie and take a look at the following position:

CONCLUSION

We have arrived to the end of this post. I hope that some of the basic pawn endgame principles are more clear now. In the future posts we will focus on the more complex endgames.

Try not to break any hotel rooms until then 🙂

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