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Endgame studies for imagination

Level: Class A (1800–2000)Topic: Calculation40 minutes

In short

Composed studies show ideas in their purest form: a king that chases two goals at once, under-promotion to avoid stalemate, a quiet move that creates zugzwang. Solving them trains imagination and precise calculation.

By the end you can

The lesson

Composed studies show ideas in their purest form: a king that chases two goals at once, under-promotion to avoid stalemate, a quiet move that creates zugzwang. Solving them trains imagination and precise calculation.

Two classics every player should know: Réti’s king, which walks diagonally to catch a pawn and support its own at the same time, and the Saavedra position, where promoting to a queen draws but promoting to a rook wins.

Key points to remember

Examples

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Example 1 (White to move). Réti (1921): White draws. How can the king catch the h-pawn?
Show the solution

1. Kg7

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Example 2 (White to move). Saavedra (1895): White to play and win. First move?
Show the solution

1. c7

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Example 3. The famous main line: the rook promotion avoids a stalemate trick.
Show the moves

1. c7 Rd6+ 2. Kb5 Rd5+ 3. Kb4 Rd4+ 4. Kb3 Rd3+ 5. Kc2 Rd4 6. c8=R Ra4 7. Kb3

Practise it

Solve puzzles on this idea: underpromotion puzzles, zugzwang puzzles.

Homework

Solve one study a day from the Endings-from-games set.

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