In this companion volume to Fundamental Chess Endings Müller and Pajeken focus on the practical side of playing endgames. They cover all aspects of strategic endgames, with particular emphasis on thinking methods, and ways to create difficulties for opponents over the board.

Using hundreds of outstanding examples from modern practice, the authors explain not only how to conduct 'classical' endgame tasks, such as exploiting an extra pawn or more active pieces, but also how to handle the extremely unbalanced endings that often arise from the dynamic openings favoured nowadays. All varieties of endgames are covered, and there are more than 200 exercises for the reader, together with full solutions.

Major topics include:

• Basic Principles and Methods
• Activity
• Schematic Thinking
• The Fight for the Initiative
• Prophylaxis and Preventing Counterplay
• The Bishop-Pair in the Endgame
• Domination * The Art of Defence
• Typical Mistakes
• Rules of Thumb

Grandmaster Karsten Müller is a world-renowned expert on all aspects of endgame play. He is co-author (with Frank Lamprecht) of the acclaimed Secrets of Pawn Endings and Fundamental Chess Endings. He finished third in the German Championship in 1996, and was runner-up in 1997.

Wolfgang Pajeken is a FIDE Master from Hamburg who plays frequently in the German Bundesliga, and other team and individual championships. He is also a chess trainer, organizer and arbiter.

Content:
008 Foreword by John Nunn

010 Authors' Preface

012 Introduction

013 Symbols

015 1 Activity

015 A) King Activity

015 A1) An Endgame is Not a Middlegame

024 A2) Cutting Off the King

029 A3) Barriers

030 A4) The Bodycheck

032 A5) The Réti Manoeuvre

033 B) Rook Activity

036 C) Activity in General

039 2 The Art of Pawn Play

039 A) Passed Pawns

039 A1) Outside Passed Pawns

041 A2) Protected Passed Pawns

043 A3) Connected Passed Pawns

044 A4) Passed Pawns Must be Pushed!

045 A5) Blockade

048 B) Creating a Passed Pawn

048 B1) Mobilizing a Pawn-Majority

052 B2) Pawn Breakthrough

056 B3) Eliminating Enemy Pawns

057 C) The Minority Attack

059 D) Undermining

060 E) Pawn Power

065 3 Do Not Rush!

065 A) Preparatory Measures

067 B) Subtle Technical Moves

068 C) Repeating Moves

069 D) The Art of Manoeuvring

072 E) Playing with the Whole Army

073 F) Too Much of a Rush

076 4 The Right Exchange

076 A) The Importance of Exchanges in the Game of Chess

078 B) Critical Moments in the Endgame

082 C) Exchanging into a Pawn Ending

086 D) Exchanging into a Rook Ending

089 E) Exchanging a Pair of Rooks

089 E1) The Attacker Wants to Exchange a Pair of Rooks

091 E2) The Defender Wants to Exchange a Pair of Rooks

093 F) Simplification into an Endgame

096 G) The Defender Exchanges Pawns, the Attacker Pieces

097 H) Eliminating the Last Pawn

098 I) The Defender of a Weakness Must be Exchanged

100 J) Transformation

102 K) What is Important is What is Left on the Board, Not What Disappears

102 L) Avoiding an Unfavourable Exchange

106 5 Thinking in Schemes

106 A) Target Positions

107 B) Make a Wish!

108 C) Improving the Position of a Piece and Makogonov's Principle

110 D) Plans

114 6 Weaknesses

114 A) Pawn- and Square- Weaknesses

114 A1) Pawn Weaknesses

114 A1a) Isolated Pawns

115 A1b) Doubled Pawns

116 A1c) Backward Pawns

116 A1d) A Pawn that has Advanced Too Far

118 A2) Weak Squares

118 B) A Complex of Weak Squares

121 C) Creating and Fixing a Weakness

123 D) Manoeuvring

129 E) The Principle of the Second Weakness

131 F) The Exploitability of a Weakness

132 G) Fatal Passivity with Structural Weaknesses

135 7 The Fight for the Initiative

135 A) The Importance of the Initiative

137 B) Passed Pawns and the Initiative

138 C) Psychology

139 D) Sacrificing Structure for Initiative

140 E) Sacrificing Material for Initiative

141 F) Opposite-Coloured Bishops

141 G) When the Queen is in her Element

145 8 Prophylaxis and Prevention of Counterplay

145 A) Foiling the Opponent's Plans

147 B) Mysterious Rook Moves

148 C) Preventing Counterplay

151 9 The Bishop-Pair in the Endgame

151 A) Steinitz' s Method of Restriction

153 B) Transformation

155 C) Control

157 D) Opening the Position for the Bishops

160 E) Supporting Passed Pawns

161 F) Attack

163 G) Two Bishops against Rook and Minor Piece

166 H) The Bishop-Pair as a Drawing Weapon

168 I) Fighting against the Bishops

168 I1) Blockade

169 I2) Total Sealing of the Position

171 I3) Support-Points for the Knight

173 10 Zugzwang

173 A) A Powerful Endgame Weapon

177 B) Theoretically Important Endings

179 C) Reciprocal Zugzwang

180 D) Triangulation and Spare Moves

183 11 Fortresses

183 A) Elementary Fortresses

190 B) A Secure Camp

190 B1) Fortresses against a Bishop

190 B1a) Averbakh's Barrier

191 B1b) The Bishops Inhabit Different Worlds

192 B1c) The Well-Entrenched Knight

194 B2) Fortresses against a Rook

194 B2a) The Knight Fights Well in a Confined Space

196 B2b) Typical Drawing Fortresses with Bishop against Rook

199 B3) Fortresses against the Queen

200 C) Pawn-Barriers

204 D) Incarcerating Pieces

204 D1) An Incarcerated King

208 D2) Pieces Shut Out of Play

210 E) Tied and Pinned Pieces

210 E1) Tied to a Pawn

210 E2) Tying

211 E3) A Dangerous Passed Pawn

212 E4) Pinning

213 F) A Typical Mistake

216 12 Stalemate

216 A) The Last Chance

217 B) Theoretically Important Stalemate Positions

219 C) Desperado

219 D) Underpromotion to Avoid Stalemate

222 13 Mate

222 A) An Incarcerated King

223 B) The All-Important First Check

225 C) Rooks in Seventh Heaven

227 D) Attacking with Opposite-Coloured Bishops

231 E) The Knight in the Attack

233 F) Long-Term Mating Attacks

235 14 Domination

235 A) Total Domination

237 B) Theoretically Important Endings

238 C) Methods of Restriction

238 C1) Restricting a Bishop

239 C2) Restricting a Knight

241 C3) Restricting the Whole Enemy Force

242 C4) Incarcerating a Piece

245 15 Converting an Advantage

245 A) Transforming One Advantage into Another

246 A1) Bishops are Generally Easier to Exchange

246 A2) Transforming a Static Advantage into a Dynamic One

248 A3) Returning Material

249 A4) Basic Considerations

250 B) Practical Examples

250 B1) Space Advantage

254 B1a) Widening the Operational Front

255 B2) Material Advantage

255 B2a) An Extra Pawn

256 B2b) Converting the Advantage of the Exchange

259 16 The Art of Defence

259 A) Defend Actively

260 B) Prophylaxis in Defence

260 C) Maintaining a Blockade

261 D) Defensive Sacrifices

262 E) Fight to the Death

265 17 Typical Mistakes

265 A) Deficient Knowledge of Endgame Theory

270 B) Carelessness / Loss of Concentration

273 C) Playing to the Gallery

274 D) Premature Resignation

275 D1) Trusting the Opponent / Shock after an Unexpected Move

275 E) Passivity

276 F) Inappropriate Activity

277 G) Don't Play on the Wing where Your Opponent has the Advantage

277 H) Unnecessarily Giving up Material

278 I) Greed

280 J) Following Rules of Thumb Too Mechanically

281 18 Rules of Thumb

281 A) 20 Golden Rules of the Endgame

281 B) Rules of Thumb

284 Solutions to the Exercises

345 Bibliography

347 Index