The Chess Mind

The following position is offered as a little puzzle on the ChessBase news site.



It's Black to move in the game Litwak-Savchenko, played a couple of weeks ago in an under-tournament at Dortmund, and after 53...Kc5 54.Kf2 Kd6 the players agreed to a draw. Was anything better available to either player? You'll find the answer here, by endgame maven GM Karsten Müller.

And not just any opposite-colored bishop ending, but the one I presented as an analysis project on the blog about a month ago. There are undoubtedly many ways for White to proceed, but the key is to grasp the right methods and principles. Once one understands them, the job becomes a lot easier, so I've structured my presentation along those lines. It is my hope that once you've finished watching this video, you'll have a good grasp of several key elements of opposite-colored bishop endings, which you will be able to successfully apply in your own games.

Have a look, here, and let me know what you conclude. The video is free (free registration is required), and will be available to you on-demand for about the next month or so.

One of the most common imbalances in chess is that of bishop vs. knight. In the abstract, the pieces are of approximately equal value, but when we look at real positions it's often the case that one piece or the other confers a real advantage to its owner. It's probably true that bishops are more often advantageous, but again, specifics rule here. As all of you have surely noticed, there are many times when the knight is the better piece, and in this week's ChessVideos show you'll see two such cases.

In both, there's a situation where the side with the bishop has all its pawns on the same color square as the bishop, and gets dominated on the opposite color complex. The knight has all the fun there, but turning it into a win often takes some doing. The value of this week's presentation is that it will help us figure out how to win such positions, and there's the further benefit that once one grasps some of the main ideas, they will work in a great many cases. So invest a little time (but no money) now, and enjoy the dividends later!

The show is here, free (but registration is required), and available on demand for about the next month or so.