It's a Miracle! Part 3

Stalemate is a vital part of many theoretical endgames. For example the whole defensive mechanism in such a basic position as king and pawn vs. king is based on a stalemate:

Image: Thoughts from the Line

Here is a bunch of important theoretical positions every chess player needs to know. In all of them a huge material advantage is not enough to win and only leads to a stalemate:

This kind of positions happen in real games more frequently than you might think.  Try to find the way White saved himself in the following position:

If we talk about a common endgame queen vs. a pawn that has reached the 7th rank, then evaluation of the position depends on the pawn's file.  If the pawn is located on the central or knight's vertical, then a win is trivial providing you know the correct method:

So, the method is simple: you force your opponent's king to step in front of the pawn and you gain a tempo to bring your king closer. Rinse and repeat! Unfortunaly, this method doesn't work with a rook or a bishop pawn:

Sometimes a move that leads to a stalemate in a theoretical position is quite obvious, like in the next game:

But in some cases finding the right move even in a well known theoretical position can be very complicated.  In the next game a very experienced grandmaster resigned in a theoretically drawn position. Try to find the tricky defense:

The moral of the story is simple: know your endgames!

To be continued...