Here's an endgame position discussed in Garry Kasparov's latest book, Kasparov on Kasparov 1975-85. The game is Kasparov-Smyslov, Candidates Final, Round 9, black to move. What jumps out at me about this position (and I don't think I'm alone in this) is that first glance suggests some sort of equality or maybe even a slight plus for black. Let's do the typical head count. Material is equal. White has the two bishops, but it seems like that should be at least counter-balanced by the doubled pawns and the fact that black has a clean passed pawn. Neither king has castled, but that shouldn't really matter here. The interesting thing is that white has a significant, if not decisive advantage! So, how can this be? Well, it turns out that black will struggle to unwind on the queenside. The b-pawn can easily come under fire on the open file. Black cannot simply push b6 because here the c-pawn falls. The b8 square is under observation by the f4 bishop, so black cannot play Rb8 to advance the pawn. Some configuration involving Ke7 and Nd6 in order to release the Bc8 comes to mind, but this would be intolerably clumsy. Moreover, white will soon threaten to push a5-a6, winning the c-pawn and nullifying any play that black might have hoped to gain from it. Add up all of these concrete, dynamic factors, and it turns out that black has serious issues!
Play proceeded:
16. ... 0-0
17. f3 Nf6
18. e4 Re8
19. Kf2
And now came the critical moment of decision for the 61-year old former champion.
19. ... a6
In one move, Smyslov abandons all hope of utilizing his queenside majority! If we, the casual observers, had anticipated this move back at the initial diagram, I imagine that many more of us would have condemned black's chances, so, what in the world was the great positional player thinking? Well, it turns out that the alternative is just as grim: 19. ... Bd7 20. Rb1 b6 21. Ba6
And it transpires that black must grovel with Bc8, as otherwise, his rook becomes trapped after Bb7! Misery; pure misery.
20. Be2 Be6
21. Rb1 Re7
22. Rhd1 Rae8
23. Rb2 Bc8
24. Rbd2 Rd7
25. Rxd7 Nxd7
26. g4
Black remains very passive, but how should white make progress?
26. ... Nc5
27. Be3 Nd7
Heading back, but Kasparov points out the interesting resource 27. ... Nb3!? 28. Bb6 c5 29. Bc4 Be6 30. Bxe6 fxe6 31. Rd7 Rc8 32. Bc7 c4 by which black might have gained active counterplay! Still it was probably not sufficient, but it would have been very nervy:
A good lesson to us--stay active in the endgame if at all possible!
28. g5 Ne5
29. Bd4 Ng6
30. Kg3 Nf8
31. h4 Rd8
32. f4
And now the point of Garry's play begins to come clear:
Having consigned black's queenside pawns to passivity, he moves to advance his own pawn majority in the interest of creating his own passer. The e-pawn will eventually tell.
32. ... Be6
33. Bc3
Here Kasparov points out a simple mistake he could have made: 34. f5?! allowing 34. ... Bb3 34. Rd2 c5! when the bishop must retreat to defend the rook 35. Bc3 Rxd2 36. Bxd2 Nd7 and again we see that black obtains counter chances through active play-- as soon as the c-pawn may be mobilised to cause mischief, black is back in the game.
33. ... Rxd1
34. Bxd1 Nd7
The critical difference between this variation and the previous one is that the b3 square is no longer available to black, so the bishop will be forced to c4 instead, blocking the advance of the c-pawn.
35. f5 Bc4
36. h5 h6
37. gxh6 gxh6
38. e5
and finally the white position begins to look formidable.
38. ... Nc5
39. Kf4 Bd5
40. Bc2 f6
41. e6 Kg7
42. Bb4 Nb3
Even here I might pause to wonder how to make progress...
The most obvious way of making progress is to maneuver the king toward the queenside pawns, observing the rule of two weaknesses, and going after the b and a-pawns while leaving the black king to monitor the passed e-pawn. However, the black knight is very annoying in its ability to control squares and keep the king out. Moreover, a quick glance demonstrates that the sort of patzer-obvious approach 43. Ke3 Bc4 44. Bxb3 Bxb3 45. Kd3 Ba2 46. Kd4 Bc1 47. Kc5 Bxf5 48. e7 Kf7 actually loses white all of his advantage! Instead, it transpires that 43. Ke3 Bc4 gets clobbered by the odd-looking move 44. Bc3! This is where endgame tactics play in. The threat of Bxf6 is very real, as after e7 Kf7, the black king will be unable to recapture on f6 due to e8=Q. Hence Bc3, completely ties black down.
43. Ke3 c5
44. Bc3!
And now Smyslov sealed the move Kf8 but resigned without resuming.
The lesson from this position is very dramatic and worthy of serious study--one must WORK to win an endgame, no less than in the middlegame or opening.
Here, black obviously cannot play something like 44. ... Bc4 45. Be4 winning the b-pawn. What about a move like 44. ... c4. Then 45. Be4 Bxe4 46.Kxe4 Nc5+ 47. Kd5 is obviously toast, so 45. Be4 Bc6 46. Bxc6 bxc6 47. Ke4 and black is in zugzwang! 47... c5 allows Kd5, any knight move allows Kd4 and any king move allows Bxf6!
On a simpler conceptual level, the key was forcing off the white squared bishops instead of ever considering shifting into an opposite colored bishop endgame by swapping off the knight.
Sometimes, in spite of the reduced material, I think that endgames are actually a lot more complicated than openings!
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