Endgame Handling #2: Important Techniques

KrithinSatya

Updated: Aug 8, 2023, 4:17 AM | 0

Hello Friends,

Sorry for the long break I took from chess but now that I have some time, I will start this again and give you a great time to learn chess!

I am specially dedicating this blog of the 5 blog series to some important ideas which might put your opponent in a difficult state of play, we can also create beautiful miniature endgame positions, so with no further ado, lets dive straight in!

1. Triangulation

Here is a position we looked at an example in the last blog but it had also used triangulation too!

On moves 3,4 and 5 we saw that white moved around with his king to a3, b3 and b4 to 'lose a move' and put black in zugzwang or when he wants to pass a move. At this stage he was in zugzwang as he gave up the crucial b5 square from where we could comfortably exchange the pawns and win. So why is this idea so important?

This idea is very important in endgames as this tactic is usually needed to put an opponent in a spot where he needs to give up either some crucial squares or give up material enough to win the game.

Now that we know what is triangulation, let's view this position:

Here we illustrate how the move Ke5!,Kd4! could finish the game. But how was it so effective?

It was very effective because the extra pawn on c5 stopped the black king to do triangulation again, to also lose a move, but if 1.Ke7 is played, 2.c6! and force a breakthrough and finish the game! I think we now got our next Technique!

2.Breakthrough

Breakthrough involves getting to break a pawn of a file to either open the file of the pan breaking the other pawn or the pawn the side wants to take.

If you still do not understand it, we can analyze this famous game:

This game between Yuri Averbakh and Victor Korchonoi illustrates why making progress in chess is crucial to victory. Had Korchonoi been sitting around there the material equality would have probably forced a draw. However thanks to Korchonoi breaking Averbakh pawn structure while Averbakh pieces were on the other side of the board. This is a great example of breakthrough in or near the endgame. While looking for breakthroughs, look for this:

Breakthroughs work when the pieces are not on the same side or can not access the other side. This provides a great chance for your pawns/pieces to make breakthroughs on this side.
If you have a pawn advantage, break to try make a passed pawn.
If your king is on this side sometimes there could be a pawn to be won.

Passed Pawns

Promoting and winning a game with KQ vs K is the simplest way win right? Well mostly in endgames we get a queen by promoting a pawn and to promote a pawn, we need to have a passed pawn. But how do we get a passed pawn? Well visit me in the next blog...

But before you leave please have a look at my YouTube channel where I post more instructive content! (https://www.youtube.com/@Chess4All24)

Thank you for reading me even after 2 years! See you next week!

Endgame Handling #2: Important Techniques

KritSat’s Blog