The June's endgame clinic is now out and can be accessed here by full members. The endgame is one of the most important aspects of the game for those who want to improve, which is why I give it so much attention here at Tiger Chess. Not only do endgames help players to save losing positions and win drawn ones, they also benefit other aspects of our game such as calculation technique and positional play. It's no accident that several World Champions have highlighted their importance to those who want to improve.
One of the examples given was a great example of how a bishop can dominate a knight in the endgame. After 46 moves the following position had been reached:
At first it seems as if the position must be good for White due to his active king and outside passed pawn, yet due to the poor position of his knight the best he has is 47.gxf5 exf5 48.Kd5 Bb6 followed by ...g4 with a draw. In the game he tried for more with 47.f3?, but after 47...fxg4 48.fxg4 e5 found that his knight was completely boxed in. The final moves were 49.Kd5 Ka7 50.Ke4 Kxa6 51.Kf5 Kb5 52.Kg6 e4 53.Kxh6 Be3 54.Kg6 Kc4 55.Kf6 Kd5 56.Nxg5 Bxg5+ 57.Kxg5 e3 58.Kf4 e2 59.Kf5 and White resigned (0-1). Tragic but also very instructive.
Nigel Davies
