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Grinding EndGame after a Pawn Advantage

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Avatar of TheGrobe
TheGrobe
Jul 1, 2010
0
#21

I have to say that working on my endgame and learning which endings I'm able grind out endgames has been the biggest single thing I've done to improve my game.  It's an invaluable skill.

The knockout blow isn't always going to be there, and being able to recognize when a winning endgame conversion is has really changed the way I play the game and allowed me to make the decision to simplify with much more confidence and to convert many more games than I would otherwise have been able.

Avatar of Shakaali
Shakaali
Jul 1, 2010
0
#22

I was actually never trying to claim that white wins by force but rather that he is significantly better and therefore 6... dxe5 would have been preferable imo. Games played with fast time controls usually contain some mistakes but overall I think this was strong performance from you.

I must say that I really like how you present your games by showing your thought process during the game in the comments and also make honest evaluations about what you did well and what parts of your game need improving. I believe this kind of approach is one of the best ways to improve one's game.

Avatar of Hammerschlag
Hammerschlag
Jul 1, 2010
0
#23
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Hammerschlag
Jul 1, 2010
0
#24
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Hammerschlag
Jul 1, 2010
0
#25
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Avatar of erikido23
erikido23
Jul 1, 2010
0
#26
Hammerschlag wrote:
Shakaali wrote:
Hammerschlag wrote:

 after Nxd5, e6 forces the Knight to move again, which looks like has to move to (N)e3 instead of Nc3 to avoid...Nxc3 attacking the Queen and forcing White to recapture by bxc3, doubling his pawns on the c-file. Black can play to attack e5, Bg7 as well as Nc6(d7) to pressure e5, and f6 to challenge if necessary. I think that White will have a pawn advantage although I think it's far from clear if that advantage is winning...it's possible Black can equalize (in material) after some pressure. That game would take on a whole different direction.

You are not letting me get away with hasty analysis. Ok, I gave this line some more thought.

I am still not convinced that black is out of the woods in the variation with Ne3. Pawn is a pawn and I think it's rather black who has to prove that she can get some compensation or win the pawn back. I must admit that originally I somewhat underestimated e6 not noticing that it also gives Ne4 a flightsquare in g5. Even so black has to be carefull that Ne4 won't get trapped. It seems to me that alternatively white can also hope some advantage by sacrificing the pawn back. More importanly 8. Nxe4 (instead of 8. Nxd5) also leads to big edge for white. My apologies for not noticing this earlier. When posting to forums I usually just record my quick impression and occasionaly miss something embarassingly simple. 

See the diagram in my earlier post - I added some new lines.

 

 its not really trappy...it wins another pawn.  While it doesn't allow you to control the diagonal it does win the 2nd pawn.  If a trap wins material and or improves your position you should not discount it because it is a "trap". it should be pretty simple(at least clear strategically) win once the second pawn is won(and either the bishop or knights come off the board). ~ erikido23

The thing is, White's Bishop (an his other pieces for that matter) is not actually very active and White would love to trade it off for another of Black's more active piece. Bd6 does win a pawn, as does Bc5 (which is probably better if White decides to exchange the Rook - as the Knight is too slow to stop both pawns by himself...the Bishop is no help) although it can end up that White gets rid of the strong Knight or "good" Bishop that Black would, at this position, want to hold on to seeing as how their counterpart are weak. Forcing the trade wasn't my objective at this point, I want my opponent (White) to work for that himself...I am not willing to give him what he wants.

 WHile your play wasn't bad I think your opponent could have made life much harder on you (that bad bishop did create back rank threats).  He could have also attacked that bpawn instead of "going after the knight" which just wasted a move. 

BUt, at any case it almost seems like a win if you trade the bishop off the board.  That leaves a knight which can't handle the pawns on both wings.  YOu can create the passed pawn on the wing let him take it (which should be forced to take with the rook otherwise it would be pinned and if the knight isn't won then the rook is eventually traded off anyway.  While all the other pieces are moving over to try and stop your wing pawn you can take advantage of your 4-2 pawn advantage on the opposite wing.

 

 

Don't get caught up in keeping a bad piece on if you can create another advantage. 

Avatar of erikido23
erikido23
Jul 1, 2010
0
#27

as an example of play

edit on a5 nxf2, n-g4, h6 is completely winning
Avatar of Hammerschlag
Hammerschlag
Jul 1, 2010
0
#28
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Avatar of MyCowsCanFly
MyCowsCanFly
Jul 1, 2010
0
#29

I was really impressed by all the positive, constructive feedback in this thread.

Avatar of erikido23
erikido23
Jul 1, 2010
0
#30
Hammerschlag wrote:

While your play wasn't bad I think your opponent could have made life much harder on you (that bad bishop did create back rank threats).  He could have also attacked that b-pawn instead of "going after the knight" which just wasted a move. ~ erikido23

Not exactly sure what you mean by "attack that b-pawn"...did you mean on move 34, instead of Bg5, play Rc6?

I think that loses to a3, Rxb6, a2, and there's no way to stop the a-pawn from promoting.

I'm not sure what you had in mind by attacking the b-pawn. Maybe you can show the line in a diagram?

 go to move 28 in the diagram...(I just pasted your pgn and then edited it.)

Avatar of Hammerschlag
Hammerschlag
Jul 5, 2010
0
#31
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