How to master endgames in chess

This is a question/answer post to help the understanding of endgame :)!

Question 1:

RESOLVE THIS PUZZLE ABOUT ENDGAME WITH KING VS KING + PAWNS!

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Question 2:

RESOLVE THIS SECOND PUZZLE ABOUT ENDGAME WITH KING VS KING + PAWNS!

Question 3:

Here, White's d-pawn ans vastly superior King give him a winning advantage!

WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO PROCEED..?

Answer for question 3:

Though a passed d-pawn and a superior King are wonderful things, possessing them doesn't mean you can stop looking for ways to gain new advantages...

Let's look it on an explication diagram

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Question 5:

 Here White is obviously doing well, but claiming a clear, easy win is quite another matter.  Write down your general observations about this positions and then, based on the power and logic of these observations, SHOW A CONCRETE WAY FOR WHITE TO PROCEED?

Answer to question 5:

The first thing that White must understand is that most four vs three rook endgames where all the pawns are on one side of the board should be avoided like the plague!  In fact, the defending side should always try and trade pawns on one side of the board.  This leaves him with a much smaller area to defend and less targets to worry about!  Rook endgames with pawns on one side of the board are either drawn or are nightmares to win...

Keeping this in mind, in this game, white has no interest in trading off the       a-pawns. 

The 2 majors Whites problem are:

1-He must spend a tempo at some point to parry Black's back rank mate threats

2-Black's rooks are going to get active after ...Rc3.

...So Let's see on a diagram how white find a way to end the back rank threat, defend his    a-pawn, restrain Black's rooks and finally ..activate his own!...

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Question 6:

White here is clearly better, but a forced win is nowhere in sight.  CAN YOU FORMULATE A PLAN FOR THE WHITE?

Answer to question 6:

White is better due to his move active King and his superior pawn structure.  To increase his advantage, White must place his knight on g4 and his bishop on c3, dominating the enemy Knight.  Any trade of white's bishop for Black's knight will increase the first player's chances because the black bishop has very little mobility while the White Knight can danse to almost any square on the board.  Once white gets his bishop on c3 and his Knight to g4, the threat of Nf6 ..will force the black's h-pawn to move on h5.  This, in turn, weakens the g-pawn.  when this is done, white will train his sights on g6 and, if necessary, freeze it in its tracks by h2-h3 followed by g3-g4-g5!!!

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Question 7:

CAN BLACK DRAW THIS POSITION?

Answer to question 7:

Black can easily draw this position by trading rooks and entering a pure Bishops of opposite colors endgame.  REMEMBER: When you're two pawns down (in a two to nothing situation), the closer the pawns are, the greater the drawing chances.  Why?  Because the defending King and Bishop can work together to form a solid blockade, Thanks to the fact that the stronger side's Bishop can't challange the same squares as the defending Bishop.

Black Want to trade Rooks because, in general, the stronger side usually wants to keep as many pieces on the board as possible (if you want to use to your attacking power) ...or you can only trade all to matematically encrease a little you're plus!

Lets look...

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Question 8:

HOW WOULD YOU PLAY THIS POSITION?

Answer to question 8: 

In this position Alekhine claim a forced win!!.. And he give also four phases to secure the victory!!!!. ;)

PHASE 1:  23.h4! followed by g4 and g5 on which Black will have nothing better than ...h5, seeing that the exchange of pawns abondons the square h4 to White's Knight.

PHASE 2: b3, followed by Kd3, Nc3 and Ke4.

PHASE 3: The maneevering of the White Knight to d3 after which Black must immobilize his King on d6 in order to be able to defend the doubly attacked e5-pawn.

PHASE 4: And lastly f4! Forcing the win of the e5-pawn or the g6-pawn after which the advantage secured will be decisive.

Let's try to explain things : Black is passively placed and can't do anything active; all he can do is sit around and try to stop White from breaking through.  This means that you can take all the time you want to set up some idea position...

It's important to understant this!!!

To win, White must create as many targets as possible.  His main targets----pawns that can't be defended by other pawns---- are e5 and g6!  To make sure that the g6-pawn remains on that vulnerable square, White starts out with 23.h4!

Next on the agenda is 24.g4 and g5.  Now the g6-pawn is stuck on g6 forever.  When this is done, White changes the guard on e4: he will move his King to that square and place his Knight on d3 so both pieces can gang up on e5.  To defend the e-pawn, Black must move his King on d6.  white then administers the coup de grace : a timely f2-f4 forces...exf4 when Nxf4 brings the Knight into range of g6. That pawn is lost and White win th game!!!

Let's see in an explain diagram how the plan is develop...

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