The Art of Playing Patiently
How many endings have you failed to convert, simply because you tried to play for the quickest win, disregarding simple moves to cut out your opponent’s counterplay? In this article, I am going to share with you how you can improve your endgame by playing patiently, especially in positions with a stable edge.
Strong players nearly always avoid rushing if the position is “quiet”. After all, chess rewards a win and not how fast or fancy the game is won.
GM Aman Hambleton having a little too much fun in his speedrun
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbUiM6A6y_M
This example shows Salomon Flohr comfortably winning Igor Bondarevsky. First, I would like you to assess the following position and decide what you would do as white.
White clearly has the advantage. He has the superior minor piece, enjoys mobility with his e and f-pawns, and black's passed h-pawn does not prove itself to be a threat. Let's see how he proceeds.
My next example is an ending taken from the legendary Mikhail Tal. Once again, do take some time to study this position where it is white’s turn.
Again, white has a persistent edge because he controls the a-file and is ready to penetrate it. On the other hand, even though black is able to occupy the d-file in the future, he does not have any good penetration points.
This game demonstrates how Tal saw that his advantage was stable and that he could afford to admit his mistake by playing his knight back from d2 to f3 instead of rushing to prove the speculative value of Na3.
