The road to ELO 2000: A very instructive draw.

Okay, I admit. Like most chess players, I do not study endgames. Why? I don't know.

Most GM"s would readily tell us that endgame understanding is the key to chess improvement. Take Magnus Carlsen, the current world no 1. He's always willing to grind out a victory in the endgame despite the position being 'theoretically' drawn. The truth is, most endgames require a great level of accuracy, and it's where most people error in terms of where to move the pieces, hence it's a fertile ground for mistakes and exploitation.

A good analogy here would be to compare endgame study to training set-pieces in soccer. Both can make the difference between a win and a draw.

Below is a game I just played illustrating the above pointers. Kudos to my Serbian opponent, who remained tenacious throughout the endgame despite being a pawn down.

Just a quick note: What I love about Chess is that it's has such a global following. I must say that having your national flag beside your name is such a great touch. Cheers.