It is well known that having good endgame knowledge is one of the keys to a player’s success. Capablanca, one of the best endgame players of all times, always defended the idea that one should start learning how to play endgames first, as a way of self improvement. Robert Fischer, who was famous for his opening developments and his energetic style in the middlegame, was in fact an endgame virtuoso as well.
King and pawn endgame is one of the most important and fundamental types of endings that any chess player must know. It is very important to be able to quickly identify if this position is a draw, win or a loss. It is also very important to be familiar with a technique of playing one or another king and pawn position, so that it can be played in minimum amount of time. Today we will take a look at some of the best examples of correctly played endgames by some of the greatest chess players.
Improving your technique is a day by day work. Technique has to do with knowing how to do “things”, for example winning positions or knowing how to convert a clear advantage. For certain players, no matter their strength, this ability come natural.
Many chess players think of endgames as of something unpleasant, boring and unfavorable to start with. That’s why oftentimes, even if they have a won ending they shy away from it prefer settling things down in the Middlegame. That happens because chess players nowadays don’t have in depth understanding of the endgames which leads to drawing or even losing an otherwise equal position. The goal of today’s article is to change that. Here are the 7 ways to improve your endgame play.
The Catalan has slowly gained popularity at top level. It gives white a solid position that he can keep improving and try to play for the win.
The bishop on g2 is one of the key pieces in this opening, as it supports white’s main plans: the central break with e4 and the attack on the queenside.
It is well known that endgames are a key element for chess improvement in general. However, there are several reasons why we don’t give it the attention they deserve. The main one is that most players spend their time and effort working on opening preparation in order to obtain a good position in the opening/middlegame.
In today’s article we will go over some of the greatest endgame combinations played by some of the finest chess players like Kasparov, Fischer, Alekhine, Karpov, Euwe, etc. These combinations are simply brilliant and if you understand the motifs and ideas you will be able to increase your general endgame understanding and step-up your own game.
Typically players start their chess journey by studying openings, solving tactics and playing as many games as they possibly can. Do you see what’s wrong with this approach? These players are missing out on a huge part of chess, namely THE ENDGAME. That is the part of the game that starts after the first 30-35 moves are played and there aren’t many pieces left on the board. Why is it so important to study endgames? We are about to find out.
Deep endgame understanding is something that especially separates masters from amateur players. Surprisingly, majority of chess players do not pay enough attention to this very important part of the game and concentrate on other aspects of chess. Number one chess player and World Champion Magnus Carlsen attributes a big part of his success to in-depth endgame understanding and to the ability to play simple positions very precisely.
Many chess players focus their attention primarily on the opening and the middlegame. Little do they know, that endgame is something that can bring their chess to the next level. Because endgame involves far less pieces than opening or middlegame, it is a phase of the game that can be mastered by a player of pretty much any skill level. Today we will learn seven most important principles of endgame that all chess player should know.