Endgame Corner

Karsten Müller

Play through and download
the games from
ChessCafe.com in the
DGT Game Viewer.

Learning from the Classics

In opposite-colored bishop endgames, positional considerations often take precedence over material, as in the following famous classic:

113.01 Topalov, Veselin (2740) – Shirov, Alexei (2710)
Linares (10), 04.03.1998

[FEN "8/8/4kpp1/3p1b2/p6P/2B5/
6P1/6K1 b - - 0 47"]

47...Bh3!!

The only move to win as White's defense on the diagonal a1–h8 must be broken. 47...Be4? 48.g3 f5 49.Kf2 Kd6 50.Ke3 Kc5 51.Bf6 Kc4 52.Be5 Kb3 53.Kd2 Ka2 54.Kc1! Kb3 55.Kd2=.

48.gxh3

48.Kf2 Kf5 49.Kf3 Bxg2+!–+ does not change the outcome.

48...Kf5 49.Kf2 Ke4 50.Bxf6

After 50.Ke2 a3 51.Kd2 d4 52.Ba1 f5–+, Black's army of ants will roll down the board.

50...d4 51.Be7 Kd3! 52.Bc5 Kc4 53.Be7 Kb3 0–1

113.02 Psomiadis, Stavros (2204) – Skembris, Spyridon (2452)
37th Greek T-Ch Kallithea Halkidiki (1.1), 03.07.2009

[FEN "8/3kp3/8/4Pbp1/7p/1pK4P/
1B4P1/8 b - - 0 43"]

Skembris doubtlessly knew the previous example, calculated deeply, and came up with the inspired 43...Bxh3!!

After 43...Be4?, White's counterplay is in time: 44.Bc1 g4 45.hxg4 Bxg2 46.Kxb3 Ke6 47.Bf4 Kd5 48.g5 Ke4 49.Bh2 Bh3 50.g6 Be6+ 51.Kb4 Kf3 52.Kc5 Kg2 53.Bf4 h3 54.Kc6 h2 55.Bxh2 Kxh2 56.Kc7=.

44.gxh3 g4 45.Bc1 gxh3 46.Bf4 Ke6

[FEN "8/4p3/4k3/4P3/5B1p/1pK4p/8/8 w - - 0 47"]

47.Kxb3?!

The tricky 47.Kb2!? was much more tenacious: 47...Kf5 48.Bh2 Ke4 (48...e6? 49.Kxb3 Ke4 50.Kc2 Kf3 51.Kd2 Kg2 52.Ke2 Kxh2 53.Kf2=) 49.e6

[FEN "8/4p3/4P3/8/4k2p/1p5p/1K5B/8 b - - 0 49"]

Now only 49...Ke3!! does the job. (Black's queen is dominated after 49...Kf3? 50.Bd6 Kg2 51.Bxe7 h2 52.Bxh4 h1Q 53.e7=)

[FEN "8/4P3/8/8/7B/1p6/1K4k1/7q b - - 0 53"]

50.Bd6 Kf3 and White is in fatal zugzwang: 51.Bxe7 h2 52.Bxh4 h1Q 53.e7 Qg2+–+.

47...Kf5 48.Bh2 Ke4 49.e6 Kf3 0–1

White resigned because of 50.Bd6 Kg2 51.Bxe7 h2 52.Bxh4 h1Q 53.e7 Qd1+ 54.Kc4 Qd7–+

The following endgame is another famous classic:

113.03 Euwe, M – Yanovsky, D
Groningen, 1946

[FEN "8/B4kpp/2pp4/P7/4P3/8/
1Pb3PP/6K1 w - - 0 1"]

1.Bc5! Bd3

1...dxc5?? 2.a6+-.

2.Bxd6 Bxe4 3.a6 c5 4.Bxc5 h5 5.Kf2 Bd3?

In principle it is good to force the pawns on dark squares and blockade them, but here it costs too much time. 5...Ke6 is called for.

6.a7 Be4

[FEN "8/P4kp1/8/2B4p/4b3/8/1P3KPP/8 w - - 0 7"]

7.g3?

Too slow. 7.g4!! is necessary: 7...hxg4 8.Kg3 Bf3 9.Kf4 Ke6 10.Bd4 g6 11.h3 g5+ 12.Kg3+- (Nunn in his excellent Understanding Chess Endgames, Gambit 2009); By the way: 7.h4! wins as well. Burkhard Treiber had found the move in an Internet forum and proved that it does the job. One line runs 7...g6 8.g4 hxg4 9.Kg3 Bf3 10.Kf4 Ke6 11.Kg5 Be4 12.Kxg4 Kd7 13.Kf4 Bg2 14.Kg5 Be4 15.a8Q Bxa8 16.Kxg6 and White wins, as his pawns are so far apart from each other.

7...Ke6 8.Ke3

[FEN "8/P5p1/4k3/2B4p/4b3/4K1P1/1P5P/8 b - - 0 8"]

8...Bg2?

Too careless. 8...Kf5! defends: 9.Bf8 g6 10.Kd4 Ba8 11.Kc5 Ke6 12.Kb6 Kd7= (Averbakh).

9.Kf4! g6 10.g4! hxg4 11.Kxg4 Bh1 12.Kg5 Kf7

12...Be4 13.a8Q Bxa8 14.Kxg6+-.

13.Bd4 Bg2 14.h4 Bh1 15.b4 Bg2 16.b5 Bh1

[FEN "8/P4k2/6p1/1P4K1/3B3P/8/8/7b w - - 0 17"]

Now White wins by preparing the transfer of his king to the queenside.

17.Bf6! Bg2

17...Be4 18.Kf4 Bb7 19.Ke5+-.

18.h5 gxh5 19.Kf5! 1–0

L'Ami most probably knew the previous example and applied the same technique, but here it does not lead to a win:

113.04 Reinderman, D (2608) – L'Ami, E (2620)
ch-NED Eindhoven NED (4), 15.06.2010

[FEN "8/8/8/3p3p/4b1k1/6P1/pB3K2/8 b - - 0 71"]

71...Bf3 72.Ba1 h4 73.gxh4 Kf4! 74.Bb2 Ke4 75.Kf1 Ke3 76.Ke1 Bh5 77.Bc1+ Kd3 78.Bb2 d4

78...Kc2 does not help, as White can liquidate all the pawns after 79.Bf6 Kb1 80.Kd2 a1Q 81.Bxa1 Kxa1 82.Kd3=] 79.Kf2! Bg4 [79...Kc4 80.Ke1 d3 81.Kd2 Kb3 82.Ba1=.

80.Ke1 Be2 81.Kf2 Bd1 82.Ke1 Bh5 83.Kf2 Ke4 84.Ke1 Ke3

[FEN "8/8/8/7b/3p3P/4k3/pB6/4K3 w - - 0 85"]

Black has made as much progress as possible, but White still defends.

85.Bc1+!

85.Ba1? d3 86.Bc3 a1Q+ 87.Bxa1 d2+–+.

85...Kd3 86.Bb2 Bg4 87.Kf2 Bh5 ½–½

Solutions to last month exercises

E112.01 Mohammed Abdul, M (2259) – Enkhtuul, A (2133)
Six Seasons WIM Narayanganj BAN (2), 24.05.2010

[FEN"8/6k1/7p/5p1P/1K6/5P2/8/8 w - - 0 67"]

How to assess the position with White to move?

67.Kc5? allows Black counterplay. After 67.f4!, Black's king remains passive and White wins: 67...Kf6 68.Kc5 Ke6 69.Kc6 Ke7 70.Kd5 Kf6 71.Kd6 Kf7 72.Ke5 Kg7 73.Kxf5 Kf7 74.Ke5 Ke7 75.f5 Kf7 76.f6 Kf8

[FEN "5k2/8/5P1p/4K2P/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 77"]

Now White wins by triangulation: 77.Ke4 Ke8 78.Kf4 Kf8 79.Ke5 Kf7 80.Kf5+-. 67...f4! 68.Kd5 Kf6 69.Ke4 Kg5 70.Ke5 Kxh5 71.Kf5 Kh4 72.Kxf4 h5 73.Ke5 Kg3 74.f4 h4 75.f5 h3 76.f6 h2 77.f7 h1Q 78.f8Q Qe1+ 79.Kf6 Qf2+ 80.Kg7 Qxf8+ 81.Kxf8 ½–½

E112.02 Smeets, Jan (2651) – Karjakin, Sergey (2725)
Amber-blindfold 19th Nice (2), 14.03.2010

[FEN"8/5p1p/5kp1/8/5PP1/1K5P/8/8 b - - 0 46"]

Karjakin missed the win. Can you do better?

46...g5? Now White's king is just in time. Karjakin had to exchange the h-pawns first: 46...h5! 47.Kc4 hxg4 48.hxg4 g5 49.f5 Ke5 50.f6 Kf4 51.Kd5 Kxg4 52.Kd6 Kf5 53.Ke7 Kg6–+. 47.f5 Ke5 47...h5 48.gxh5 Kxf5 49.Kc4 Kf6 50.Kd5 Kg7 51.Ke5 Kh6 52.Kf6 Kxh5 53.Kxf7 Kh4 54.Kg6=. 48.Kc4 Kf4 49.Kd5 Kg3 50.f6 Kxh3 51.Kd6 Kxg4 52.Ke7 h5 53.Kxf7 h4 54.Kg6 h3 55.f7 h2 56.f8Q h1Q 57.Qf5+ ½–½

E112.03 Cramling, P (2523) – Munguntuul, B (2428)
FIDE GP w Nalchik RUS (5), 30.04.2010

[FEN"8/5p2/4k3/4P1RK/7P/6r1/8/8 b - - 0 109"]

Black did not play 109...Rxg5+. Why?

109...Rh3! 109...Rxg5+?? would have been a disastrous choice: 110.Kxg5 Kxe5 111.h5 Ke6 112.h6 f6+ 113.Kg6+-. 110.Kg4 Rh1 111.Kh5 Rh2 112.Kg4 Rh1 113.Rh5 f6 114.exf6 Kxf6 115.Ra5 Kg6 116.Ra6+ Kh7 117.Kh5 Rg1 118.Ra7+ Rg7 119.Rxg7+ Kxg7 ½–½

E112.04 Reisch, S (2192) – Migheli, G (1863)
7th Balagne Open Calvi FRA (6), 28.04.2010

[FEN"8/8/4k2K/7P/1p4P1/8/8/8 w - - 0 51"]

White to move and draw.

51.g5? 51.Kg7 b3 52.h6 b2 53.h7 b1Q 54.h8Q draws despite the unfortunate position of White's queen. Without the pawn g4, Black would be winning. but as matters are it shields the king. 51...b3 52.g6 b2 0–1 White resigned because of 53.g7 Kf7 54.Kh7 b1Q+–+.

E112.05 Hallerod, R (2121) – Sorensen, B (2240)
TCh-Eur Seniors Dresden GER (4), 13.02.2010

[FEN"8/8/8/8/6p1/4k1p1/6Kp/8 b - - 0 82"]

Can White's defense be overrun?

White's house was stormed by 82...Ke2 83.Kh1 g2+ 84.Kxg2 84.Kxh2 Kf1 85.Kg3 g1Q+–+. 84...h1Q+ 85.Kxh1 Kf2 0–1

E112.06 Alfelo Alsad, G Ahmed – Alnami, Salaheddin (1716)
Africa-ch U16 Cairo (6), 05.01.2010

[FEN"8/8/2k5/1p3K1p/7P/4P3/8/8 b - - 0 41"]

Black to move and win.

41...b4? Black plays this trump too early. First 41...Kc5! forces White's king to make a longer march: 42.Ke4 (42.e4 b4 43.e5 b3 44.e6 b2 45.e7 b1Q+–+) 42...Kc4 43.Kf3 b4 44.Ke2 Kc3 45.Kd1 Kd3–+. 42.Ke4 Kc5 43.Kd3 Kd5 44.e4+ Ke5 45.Kc4 Kxe4 46.Kxb4 Kf3 47.Kc3 Kg3 48.Kd2 Kxh4 49.Ke1 Kg3 50.Kf1 ½–½

E112.07 Kadziolka, Beata (2328) – Worek, Joanna (2226)
POL-ch (Women) Warsaw (1.3), 10.01.2010

[FEN"8/8/8/1R6/p2r4/P7/KPk5/8 b - - 0 42"]

Why was 42...Kc1 a mistake?

42...Kc1? 42...Kd3 43.Rb4 Rxb4 44.axb4 Kc4 45.Ka3 Kb5 and 42...Rc4 43.b3 axb3+ 44.Rxb3 Ra4 45.Rb4 Ra8 46.a4 Kc3 47.Ka3 Ra7 48.Rb5 Kc4 are drawn. 43.Rb4 Rd2 44.Ka1!

[FEN "8/8/8/8/pR6/P7/1P1r4/K1k5 b - - 0 44"]

Black is defenseless. 44...Rc2 45.Rxa4 Rxb2 46.Rc4+ 46.Rb4 wins as well. 46...Rc2 47.Rxc2+ Kxc2 48.a4 Kd3 49.a5 Kd4 50.a6 1–0

© 2010 ChessCafe.com. All Rights Reserved.

Comment on this month's column via our Contact Page! Pertinent responses will be posted below daily.

Purchases from our
chess shop help keep ChessCafe.com freely accessible:

Endgame Fireworks
by Alexei Shirov

Practical Endgame Play:
Beyond the Basics
by Glenn Flear

ECE: Minor Piece Endings
by Chess Informant

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists]
[Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [ChessCafe Archives]
[ChessCafe Links] [Online Bookstore] [About ChessCafe.com]
[Contact ChessCafe.com]

© 2010 BrainGamz, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
"ChessCafe.com®" is a registered trademark of BrainGamz, Inc.