Understanding

Minor Piece Endgames

Karsten Müller
and

Yakov Konoval
Foreword by Jacob Aagaard

2018
Russell Enterprises,
Inc. Milford, CT USA

1
 Understanding Minor Piece Endgames
by Karsten Müller and Yakov Konoval

ISBN: 978-1-941270-78-3 (print)

ISBN: 978-1-941270-79-0 (eBook)

© Copyright 2018
Karsten Müller and Yakov Konoval
All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be used, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system

or transmitted in any manner or form whatsoever or by any means,
electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the express written permission from the publisher
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or
reviews.

Published by:
Russell Enterprises, Inc.
P.O. Box 3131
Milford, CT 06460 USA

http://www.russell-enterprises.com
info@russell-enterprises.com

Cover by Janel Lowrance

Printed in the United States of America

 Table of Contents

Bibliography 4

Preface 5

Foreword 6

The History of Creating

Seven-Piece Endgame Tablebases 7

Chapter 1
Knight vs. Pawn Endgames 14

Chapter 2
Knight Endgames 63

Chapter 3
Bishop and Pawns vs. Pawns Endgames 95

Chapter 4
Same-Color Bishops Endgames 140

Chapter 5
Opposite-Color Bishop Endgames 174

Chapter 6
Bishop vs. Knight Endgames 196

Chapter 7
Computer Endgames 314

Chapter 8
Endgame Studies 324

Solutions 327
 Understanding Minor Piece Endgames

Bibliography

Fundamental Chess Endings, Karsten Müller and Frank Lamprecht, Gambit

2001
How to Play Chess Endgames, Karsten Müller and Wolfgang Pajeken, Gambit
2008
Understanding Rook Endgames, Karsten Müller and Yakov Konoval, Gambit
2016
Understanding Chess Endgames, John Nunn, Gambit 2009
Nunn’s Chess Endings, John Nunn, Gambit 2010
Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual, Mark Dvoretsky, Russell Enterprises 2003,
4th edition 2014
Encyclopedia of Chess Endings (ECE v. 5) Yuri Averbakh, Nicosia 1993

DVDs
Chess Endgames 1-14, Karsten Müller, ChessBase Fritztrainer DVDs,
ChessBase 2006-2013

Periodicals and Magazines

Chess Informant
New in Chess Magazine
ChessBase Magazine (CBM) and CBM Blog at ChessBase.com
The Week in Chess
Chess Today
Endgame Corner at ChessCafe.com

Databases and Programs

ChessBase MEGABASE 2015
ChessBase Let’s Check
Harold van der Heijden’s Endgame Study Database
Stockfish
Konoval’s five-, six- and seven-piece Tablebases
Lomonosov’s seven-piece Tablebase

4
 Preface

Knowing the abilities and limitations of the minor pieces is very valuable for
mastering the secrets of the royal game, and this can be studied best in the endgame.
There are already many books dealing with this issue. Why have we added another
one to the collection? Computer technology continues to move forward and it
advances endgame theory at the same time. Yakov Konoval and Marc
Bourzutschky have created seven-piece tablebases and so the definitive verdict on
all such positions and optimal moves are known with certainty. Now seven-piece
Lomonosov tablebases are available. They allow any given position to be
evaluated.
In addition, Marc and Yakov have developed software which allows automatic
access to many interesting things such as long wins, zugzwang, typical positions,
and so on. Thanks to this software, there are many new discoveries. So Yakov
contacted Karsten with the idea of writing a book on the new insights.
This book follows a dual philosophy, like our previous work, Understanding
Rook Endgames. We deal with seven-piece endings in some detail. They are often
so deep that pre-tablebase analysis almost always contains errors. Many new
discoveries are revealed here. We have also added the important five- and six-piece
endings a club player should know. But to really understand minor piece endings,
these theoretical positions are of course not enough. We have therefore added
subchapters on the principles of each material constellation. Finally we want to
thank Hanon W. Russell for his cooperation, Jacob Aagaard for his foreword, Guy
Haworth for checking a position with the tablebase generator FinalGen, and
Vladimir Makhnychev and Victor Zakharov for allowing access to the Lomonosov
Tablebases.

Karsten Müller and Yakov Konoval

August 2018

5
 Understanding Minor Piece Endgames

Foreword

While we are still physical beings, located in only one place at any given time,
our minds have gone global thanks to technology. I have worked with Karsten
Müller in some form for more than a decade, exchanging views on endgames and
each other’s books, asking for advice. I consider him a friend. Yet, we have only
spoken in person once, more than a decade ago. (We also played in the same
tournament at least once, but I only know this because of ChessBase technology!)
I was recording a video for ChessBase in Hamburg, and through a friend of a
friend, asked Karsten to join me for dinner. But in terms of how I look at chess,
he is one of the most influential people in my life, both because of his outstanding
books and because of the hundreds of emails we have exchanged over the years.
This same technology lies at the roots of this new effort from the German
master of the endgame. Every new book written by Karsten is an event for me and
I was especially impressed by his latest effort, Understanding Rook Endgames,
also co-written with Yakov Konoval. The combination of technological
information and interpretation of this information by an expert in his field is
continued in this book.
Having had the pleasure to preview this book, I can tell you that you are in
for a treat. Careful study of this book will benefit your chess immensely, as well
as improve your life quality. Now you have made this wise investment, do not
forget to read the book cover to cover.

Jacob Aagaard
Glasgow
March 2018

6
 Understanding Minor Piece Endgames

Chapter 4
Same-Color Bishop Endgames

(a) The defending king tries to

cuuuuuuuuC
get in front of the pawn {wiwDwDwD}
Here the typical fighting {DwDwDwDw}
techniques are bodychecks and the {w)KDwDwD}
defending bishop should be able to go {DwDBDwDw}
to both diagonals needed to stop the
pawn. If the defending king can reach {wDwDwDwD}
a square in front of the pawn which the {DwDwDwDw}
bishop cannot control, then the draw is {wDwDbDwD}
clear: {DwDwDwDw}
04.01 Petersons – Ljavdansky
Kiev 1964
vllllllllV
cuuuuuuuuC When the bishop can control the
{wDwDwDwD} blockading square, it is different:
04.02 Shyam – Vaibhav
{DwDwDwDw} New Delhi 2010
{wDwDwiwD} cuuuuuuuuC
{DwIwDwDw} {wDwDkDwD}
{w)BDwDwD} {DwDwDwDw}
{DwDwDwDw} {wDbDwIwD}
{wDwDbDwD} {DwDwDBDw}
{DwDwDwDw} {wDwDwDPD}
vllllllllV {DwDwDwDw}
72...Bf3? 72...Bh5 73.b5 {wDwDwDwD}
(73.Kd6 Be8! 74.Bd5 Bb5!=) {DwDwDwDw}
73...Ke7! 74.b6 Kd8! 75.Be6 Bf3
76.Bd5 (76.Kd6 Bb7! 77.Bd5 Kc8!=) vllllllllV
76...Be2 77.Kd6 Kc8 78.Kc6 Kb8 (D) 59.Kg7? Now the pawn cannot
cross g6. 59.g5! wins as g8 can be
Such configurations are always controlled by the bishop: 59...Kf8 60.g6
drawn of course. 73.Kd6 This Bd5 61.g7+ Kg8 (D)
bodycheck keeps Black’s king away.
73...Be4 74.b5 Bf3 75.b6 Bb7 Next White’s king goes to h6 and
76.Kc7 Ba8 77.Bb5 Ke7 78.Bc6 then to h8, which wins, e.g., 62.Bg6
1-0 Bc4 63.Be8 Bd5 64.Kg6 Bc4 65.Kh6

140
 Same-Color Bishop Endgames

cuuuuuuuuC 1.Be7 Be3 2.Bf6 Bc5!= If the

{wDwDwDkD} passed pawn has advanced beyond the
{DwDwDw)w} line, then the attacker wins as one of the
{wDwDwIwD} diagonals is shorter than 4 squares and
{DwDbDBDw} therefore not long enough. There are
two exceptions to this rule, both given
{wDwDwDwD} by Centurini in 1856. The next two
{DwDwDwDw} positions are both drawn, regardless of
{wDwDwDwD} who moves first:
{DwDwDwDw} cuuuuuuuuC
vllllllllV {wDwdKDwD}
Bd3 66.Bc6 Bc4 67.Be4 Kf7 68.Kh7 {DwDwDPDw}
Kf6 69.Kh8 Bb3 70.Bh7 Bc4 71.Bg8 {wDwgkDwG}
Bd3 72.Bd5i 59...Ke7 60.Bg6 {DwDwDwDw}
Bd7 61.g5 Bb5 62.Bf7 Bc6
63.Kg8 Be4 64.Bb3 Bg6 65.Kg7 {wDwDwDwD}
Be4 66.Kh8 Kf8 67.Bg8 Bg6 {DwDwDwDw}
68.Bh7 Bf7 69.Be4 Bh5 70.Kh7
Be8 71.Bd5 Bb5 72.Be4 Be8 {wDwDwDwd}
73.Bg6 Bb5 74.Kh8 Bc6 {DwDwDwDw}
75.Kh7 Bb5 76.Kh6 Bc6 vllllllllV
77.Bd3 Be8 78.Bc4 Ke7 79.Be2 cuuuuuuuuC
Kf8 80.Bf3 Kg8 81.Bd5+ Kf8 {wDwdwDKD}
82.Bf3 Kg8 83.Bh5 Bxh5 ½-½
{DwDwDwDP}
(b) The defending king tries to {wDwdwDkd}
go behind the pawn {DwDwgwDw}
This is the other principal {wDwDwDwD}
defensive method, which was worked
out in detail by Centurini:
{DwDwGwDw}
04.03 Centurini’s Rule 1856 {wDwDwDwd}
cuuuuuuuuC {DwDwDwDw}
{wDwDwDwD} vllllllllV
{DwDwDKDw} If near the edge, the attacker must
{wDwDPDwD} be careful:
04.04 Centurini 1856
{DwGwDkgw} cuuuuuuuuC
{wDwDwDwD} {wDKGwDwD}
{DwDwDwDw} {DPDwDwDw}
{wDwDwDwD} {wDkDwDwD}
{DwDwDwDw} {DwDwDwDw}
vllllllllV {wDwDwDwD}
Black’s king controls the important {DwDwDwDw}
f6-square and Black cannot fall into
zugzwang as both diagonals are longer
{wDwDwDwg}
than three squares: {DwDwDwDw}
vllllllllV
141
 Understanding Minor Piece Endgames

1.Bh4 Kb6 2.Bf2+ Ka6 91.Kc6i (Dvoretsky) 90.Bd8 Be3!

3.Bc5! An important point to force 91.Bc7 91.Be7 Bb6! 92.Kc6 Ba5!
Black’s bishop into the open to win a 93.Bd6 Kc4= (Dvoretsky) 91...Bd2!
tempo later. 3.Bd4?! is met by 3...Bd6!? 92.Kc6 Be3 93.Kb7! Kc4 94.Ka6
4.Bf6 Kb6 5.Bd8+ Kc6 6.Be7 Bh2 Kb3!! 95.Bb6 Bg5 96.Bf2 Bd8
and White has made no progress. 97.Be1 Ka4= (Averbakh)
3...Bg3 4.Be7 Kb6 5.Bd8+ Kc6
6.Bh4 Bh2 7.Bf2 Kb5 8.Ba7 Fischer knew all the details:
Kc6 9.Bb8 Bg1 10.Be5 Ba7 04.06 Taimanov – Fischer
11.Bd4i Buenos Aires 1960
cuuuuuuuuC
So the defending king should often
head for the rear:
{wDwDwDwD}
04.05 Capablanca – Janowsky {DwDwDwDw}
New York 1916 {wDwDwDwD}
cuuuuuuuuC {DwDwDwDw}
{wDwgwDwD} {wgKGwDkD}
{DwDwDwDw} {DPDwDwDw}
{wDwDwDwD} {wDwDwDwD}
{DwDwDkDw} {DwDwDwDw}
{w)KDwDwD} vllllllllV
{DwGwDwDw} 79...Ba5 79...Bd6? 80.Bc5 Bc7
{wDwDwDwD} 81.b4 Kf3 82.Kd5 Ke2 83.Kc6 Bd8
84.Kd7 Bh4 85.b5 Kd3 86.b6 Kc4
{DwDwDwDw} 87.b7 Bg3 88.Bd6i 80.Bc3 Bd8
vllllllllV 81.b4 Kf4 82.b5 82.Kd5 Ke3=
Janowski resigned but the position 82...Ke4 83.Bd4 Bc7 84.Kc5
is drawn: 83.Kd5 Kf4!! 84.Bd4 Kd3 The right direction, to get behind
Kf3! 85.b5 Ke2! 86.Kc6 Kd3 the pawn, which reaches Centurini’s
87.Bb6 Bg5 88.Bc7 Be3 89.Kd5! drawing set-up as both stopping
cuuuuuuuuC diagonals are longer than three squares.
{wDwDwDwD} 85.Kc6 Kc4 86.Bb6 Bf4 87.Ba7
Bc7 ½-½
{DwGwDwDw} cuuuuuuuuC
{wDwDwDwD} {wDwDwDwD}
{DPDKDwDw} {GwgwDwDw}
{wDwDwDwD} {wDKDwDwD}
{DwDkgwDw} {DPDwDwDw}
{wDwDwDwD} {wDkDwDwD}
{DwDwDwDw} {DwDwDwDw}
vllllllllV {wDwDwDwD}
“The most dangerous continuation,
as pointed out by Issler.” (Dvoretsky) {DwDwDwDw}
89...Bd2!! 89...Kc3? 90.Bd6 Bb6 vllllllllV
(90...Kb3 91.Bc5 Ka4 92.Kc6i)

142
 Same-Color Bishop Endgames

After the game,Taimanov inquired, cuuuuuuuuC

“Bobby how did you manage to save {wDwDwDwD}
the situation and do it so quickly?” “I {DwDBDwDw}
didn’t have to do any thinking. Seven {wDwDwIwD}
years ago, your magazine, Shakhmaty v
SSSR, printed a detailed analysis of this
{DwDwDwDw}
endgame [by Averbakh] and I just knew {wDwDwDw0}
all the variations,” was the astonishing {DwDwDwiw}
reply of the American genius. {wDwDwDwD}
{DbDwDwDw}
So the attacker must keep the
defending king away, if possible: vllllllllV
04.07 Mariotti – Larsen 71.Kg5? The Centurini set-up is
Las Palmas 1978 lost as the stopping diagonal f1-h3 is
cuuuuuuuuC only three squares long. Against a rook
{wDwDbDwD} pawn, 71.Ke5! Bg6 72.Kd4! Bh5
73.Ke3 Bg4 74.Bxg4 Kxg4 75.Kf2
{DwDwDwDw} draws. 71...Bd3 72.Be6 Bf1
{wDwDw)wD} 73.Bd7 Bh3 74.Bb5 Bg4 75.Bf1
{DwiwIwDw} Bf3 White is in zugzwang as the
{wDwDwDwD} stopping diagonal is too short. 76.Kf5
Bg2 0-1
{DBDwDwDw}
{wDwDwDwD} (c2) The bishop does not control
{DwDwDwDw} the queening square
vllllllllV Here new motifs appear, as
sometimes the defending bishop is not
82.Kf5? After 82.Ke6? Kd4 needed, and sometimes even miracles
83.Ke7 Ke5=, Black reaches can occur:
Centurini’s draw. First the bishop must 04.09 Dreev – Onischuk
cross with 82.Bg8 Bh5 and now the Cap d’Agde 2002
king can come: 83.Ke6 Kd4 84.Bf7 cuuuuuuuuC
Bg4+ 85.Kd6 Bd1 (85...Ke4
86.Bg6+i) 86.Be8 Bb3 87.Bd7 Bf7
{wgwDwDwD}
88.Ke7 Bh5 89.Be8i 82...Kd6 {DwDwDwDw}
83.Kg5 Ke5 84.Bc2 Bf7 85.Bf5 {PGwDwDwD}
Bc4 86.Bd3 Bf7 87.Bc2 Bc4
88.Kg6 Kf4 89.Ba4 Bd5 90.Be8 {DwDwDkDw}
Bc4 ½-½ {wDwDwDwD}
{DwDKDwDw}
(c) A rook pawn
The rook pawn is a bit special, so
{wDwDwDwD}
we deal with it separately. {DwDwDwDw}
(c1) The bishop controls the vllllllllV
queening square 52...Ke6! 53.Kc4 Kd6?
Centurini’s rule is valid here as 53...Kd7! 54.Kb5 Kc8! 55.Kc6 Black
well. But there is also another defense is in zugzwang, but there is an amazing
available: way out: 55...Bh2 56.a7 Bb8!!=

143
 Understanding Minor Piece Endgames

cuuuuuuuuC E04.02 Thomas – Maróczy

{wgkDwDwD} Weston 1922
{)wDwDwDw} cuuuuuuuuC
{wGKDwDwD} {wDwgwDwD}
{DwDwDwDw} {DwDwDwDw}
{wDwDwDwD} {wDKDwDwD}
{DwDwDwDw} {DwDwiwDw}
{wDwDwDwD} {PGwDwDwD}
{DwDwDwDw} {DwDwDwDw}
vllllllllV {wDwDwDwD}
Promotions to a queen or rook lead {DwDwDwDw}
to stalemate and under-promotions to vllllllllV
drawn pawnless endings. 54.Kb5! How to break Black’s blockade?
Kd7 55.Kc5? 55.Bg1 Kc7
56.Bf2i and Black is in zugzwang E04.03 Eliskases – Bogoljubow
55...Bd6+ 56.Kb5 Kc8 57.Kc6 Germany 1939
Kb8 Black does not need the bishop cuuuuuuuuC
anymore. 58.Kxd6 Ka8 ½-½ {wDwDwDwD}
{DwiwDwDw}
Exercises
{wDwDwIwD}
E04.01 Sydor – Pokojowczyk {DwDwDwDB}
Bydgoszcz 1976 {wDwDwDw)}
cuuuuuuuuC {DwDbDwDw}
{wDwDwDwD} {wDwDwDwD}
{DwDwDwDw} {DwDwDwDw}
{wDwDwDwD} vllllllllV
{DwDwDbDw} How did Bogoljubow defend?
{BDwDwiwD}
E04.04 Burke – Cabanas
{DwDwDw0w} Vancouver 1984
{wDwIwDwD} cuuuuuuuuC
{DwDwDwDw} {wDwDwDwD}
vllllllllV {DwDwDwDw}
How to defend?
{wgwDwGwD}
{0wDwDwDw}
{wDwDwDwD}
{DwDwDwDw}
{wDkDKDwD}
{DwDwDwDw}
vllllllllV
How to defend?

144
 Same-Color Bishop Endgames

E04.05 Voitsekhovsky – Zagrebelny E04.08 Fressinet – Smeets

Kstovo 1998 Germany 2012
cuuuuuuuuC cuuuuuuuuC
{wDwDwDwD} {wDwDBDwD}
{DwDbDwDw} {DwDwDwIw}
{wDwDwIwD} {wDwDw)wD}
{DwiwDwDB} {DwDbiwDw}
{wDwDwDw)} {wDwDwDwD}
{DwDwDwDw} {DwDwDwDw}
{wDwDwDwD} {wDwDwDwD}
{DwDwDwDw} {DwDwDwDw}
vllllllllV vllllllllV
White has two moves to win. Black to move and draw
Find one of them!
E04.09 Forintos – Liberzon
E04.06 Forster – Smokina Moscow 1971
Queenstown 2009 cuuuuuuuuC
cuuuuuuuuC {wDwDwDwD}
{wDwDwDwD} {DwDwDwGw}
{DwDwDwDw} {wDwDPDwD}
{wDwDwDwG} {DwDKDwDw}
{DpgwDwDw} {wgwDwDwD}
{wDkDwDwD} {DwDkDwDw}
{DwDwDKDw} {wDwDwDwD}
{wDwDwDwD} {DwDwDwDw}
{DwDwDwDw} vllllllllV
vllllllllV White to move and win
What is Black’s highest priority?
(4.2) B+2Ps vs. B
E04.07 Nevednichy – Saric
This is usually won. But problems
Kozloduy 2013
can arise with a wrong rook pawn or
cuuuuuuuuC when the pawns can be securely
{wDwDwDwD} blockaded by the king.
{DwDwDwDw} (a) Connected passed pawns
{wDwDwDwD} They usually win, but it is
{DwDwDwDw} important to advance them in the right
way. In the first example, we start a bit
{wDwDwgwD} earlier:
{DpDkDwDw}
{wGwDwDwD}
{DwDKDwDw}
vllllllllV
Black to move and win

145