A Berlin endgame

Hello!

Normally, I don't traverse the vast landscape that is the Berlin endgame since it is essentially a positional game. I'm normally looking for some tactics, but I decided to change things and go for the Berlin endgame, the one Kramnik used to draw Kasparov in the 2000 world championship match. Most people probably wouldn't recommend that players of my level defend such a position, but I'm encouraged by Kasparov's comments during the Chennai world championship match, that "Game 4 demonstrated exactly what I wrote for my last Chess Informant column: The Berlin is a sharp & rich middlegame, not an ending." This game demonstrates this point. Please help me analyze. 

Thanks,

chessman

Not a bad game and also interesting endgame.May I just suggest a move 11...h6 instead of 11...Be7, your knight might need to go back to e7, sometime black plays the Knight back to e7 and redevelop to g6 to put pressure on the e5-pawn.

Yes, that idea makes sense. I've seen some games, like the Caruana-Adams game in the notes where the knight goes back to e7 in some lines. It's a really interesting position with many possibilities. It's a solid winning try at any level!

I enjoy your game very a lot, the Berlin Wall is good variation to play against Ruy Lopez, you be surprise you might against higher rated players too. I also started playing the Berlin, a lot easier than the french, sicilian and caro-kann.

Yeah, I think that style tends to work against higher rated players here. I don't think they expect me to willingly enter so-called dry variations and be able to play them well. I've studied a great deal of endgames and tend to win in those sorts of positions. I tend to lose in sharper games or due to some tactical oversight.

Interesting. Thanks for posting.

Nice! I LOVE Berlin games from the black side.

Personally, I would have played 15. ... Bc6. But it looks like all worked out well for you!

Thanks! Yes, that is another square to which the bishop often comes. I went with Be6 to be consistent while also worrying about possible tactical problems associated with a pawn sacrifice on e6. This is common fare with me, a cautious approach in 30|0 games which is rather prone to seeing ghosts :)

With that being said, I think this is my best game period. I think part of it is the fact that I know the Berlin endgame much better than literally any other opening system, so this isn't necessarily my creativity at work here :) Nevertheless, at some point, I had to rely on my own ideas; I had to play the middlegame and endgame on my own. So, I shouldn't be too hard on myself!

Returning to this game, I would still be interested in others' perspective on the Berlin endgame. I think it's often stereotyped as a boring position because queens come off the board at move 9, but there are a fair amount of ideas that involve a refined understanding of chess in general if properly mastered.