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AN ENDGAME EXPERT
by GM Igor Smirnov
Lesson 5: The Material Factor

Hi again, we are now at the 5th lesson: “The Material Factor”.

In the previous lesson we’ve been discussing every piece’s properties. In this lesson we will talk
about coordination between different pieces and about different material correlations.

I’d like to remind you that we are still learning the 2nd step of endgame planning:

“How to use your pieces to realize a certain plan?”

Here we go. Here is the 1st principle:

In an endgame a harmony of your pieces becomes very important.

Since you have only a few pieces, it is very important to use them maximally effectively. You
should keep a good coordination of your pieces and focus them on a certain target. This is the only
way to create an effective attack with a scanty quantity of the pieces.

Now we come to the next question: “How to make your pieces harmonic?”
There are 2 principles here:

Ø Your pieces should supplement each other (not redundant).

Ø You should keep your pieces closely to each other.

Let’s analyze the first idea: your pieces should supplement each other. What does it mean?

Let’s start right from a beginning. When you need to evaluate a power of a piece, you calculate the
quantity of squares under its control. This is how we know that a rook is stronger than a bishop for
instance.

Therefore when you need to evaluate a power of 2 pieces, you should calculate the quantity of
squares under their control.

White: Qe4, Bd4.

In this position the white’s pieces are controlling 40 squares.

If we replace the queen to e5, then they will control only 32 squares, because now the bishop is
doubling the queen. Therefore the previous position was better for white.

“An Endgame Expert” by GM Igor Smirnov. http://chess-teacher.com All rights reserved.

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Of course you will not calculate squares in a real game. However, it’s intuitively obvious when your
pieces supplement each other.

Later, I’ll give you some practical examples.

Now let’s analyze the second idea:

You should keep your pieces closely to each other. Of course, this is a little simplification of the
things. However, it is a practical rule and it often works.

When you have only a few pieces, they should attack in one direction. In this case they’ll be able to
do something real. This usually happens, when they stand closely to each other.

Womacka M. – Gurevich M.

White: Kg1, Rd1, Bd3, pawns: a3, b2, g3, g2, h2.
Black: Kg8, Re8, Nf6, pawns: a7, b7, d5, g7, h7.

It’s Black’s Turn

Black certainly has an advantage because of the d5 passed pawn. However, it seems difficult to
realize it. White has a powerful bishop, controls the “d” file, can bring the king into a center and so
on.

Black needs to focus all the pieces in a center to support the passed pawn’s advance. Let’s see
how black did it in the game.

27…Kf7 First, black is transferring the least active piece in a center.

28.h3 covering the g4 square. 28…Ke7 29.Kf2-Kd6. 30.Kf3. Now black has all the pieces in a center
and he starts pushing the pawn. 30…d4 31.Bb1-Re3 32.Kf4 White is trying to go forward. 32…Nd5
33.Kg4-Ke5.

Black got an ideal and harmonious position. His pieces are united around the passed pawn; they
supplement and support each other.
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Now white can’t take the h7 pawn 34.Bh7, because of 34…Nf6 fork.

By the way, black is suddenly threating mate! If white plays something like 34.Ba2, then after
34…Nf6 35.Kh4-h6 white has no defense against 36…g5 checkmate!

Even few pieces can create a powerful attack, when they are in a good harmony.

34.h4 It is the only move to prevent a checkmate. Here black has a powerful move 34…h5!
White can’t take the pawn 35.Kh5, because after 35…Rg3 he will be mated by Nf6 or Nf4 move.

After the only move 35.Kh3 black has another powerful continuation 35…d3! White can’t take the
pawn again (36.Rd3). This time black will answer 36…Nf4 fork.

Everything goes REALLY well for black. This is a power of good coordinated pieces. After 36.Kh2
black will answer 36…Kd4 and he is keeping an ideal harmonic position. Next black will play Nf6-e4
and this concentrated force looks really frightening.

The white’s separate pieces can’t do anything; while black can make whatever he wants. Now you
can assess a value of a harmony in an endgame.

Let’s discuss the next endgame principle.

In an endgame a value of bishops and pawns goes up.

This idea is much more profound than it looks. It will help you to understand easily most of the
positions with unequal material. Here I’d like to clarify that a material ratio is different in a
middlegame and in an endgame.

We’ve been talking a lot about an importance of a pawn structure in an endgame. I won’t dwell at
length on this question. In an endgame pawns have good chances to be promoted into a
queen.That’s why their value raises in an endgame.

Let’s talk about bishops in greater details. In the middlegame a bishop can’t show its full power,
because a position is often closed with pawns and other pieces. In an endgame a centralized
bishop controls the whole board and becomes very powerful.

Azmaiparashvili Z. – Carlsen M.

White: Kc2, Bd3, pawns: a2, b2, f2, g2, h2.

Black: Kh6, Ne8, pawns: a6, b7, c5, g6, h7.
It’s White’s Turn
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In this standard position, white has a bishop against a knight. It determines white’s advantage.
30.Kc3-Nc7 31.Kc4 attacking the pawn. 31…b6 32.a4 White is provoking black to move a pawn. I
hope that you remember this idea from the lesson about the 1st endgame plan.

32…a5. Now black has a lot of weaknesses on the queen-side, which has been fixed already.
33.f4. White starts realizing the 2nd endgame plan. He uses his pawn majority on the king-side and
is moving the pawn without a counterpart.

33…Kg7 34.g4-Kf6 35.h4 White is also ready to play g5 to fix the black’s weaknesses on the king-
side. 35…h6 36.Be4. Black is totally paralyzed and can’t do anything. The white’s bishop controls
both sides of the board, while the black’s knight controls only a queen-side.

It means that the white’s bishop is 2 times stronger!

36…Kg7 37.Kd3-Kf7 38.Ke3. A king should be centralized in an endgame.

38…Kf6 39.g5. This fixes the black’s weak pawn on g6. 39…Kg7 40.Bd3-Nd5 41.Ke4-Nb4 42.Bb1
Black tried to activate his knight, but it still does nothing. Here white uses a powerful idea:

When You Keep 2 Squares Between Your Bishop And An Opponent’s Knight,
It Cuts Off The Knight!

42…hg 43.hg-Kf8 44.Ke5-Kf7 45.Be4.

This position shows clearly a power of a bishop in an endgame. It controls the whole board, while
the knight controls only a local area. By the way, white is using the same idea again: there are 2
squares between the bishop and the knight and it cuts off the knight.

After 45…Kg7 46.Kd6 White got a winning position. He will play Kc7 and black has nothing to
oppose. Here we may arrive to an important conclusion.

A bishop is generally stronger than a knight. In an endgame a bishop is MUCH stronger.

This advantage is often enough for a win.

Let’s look again at 2 main ideas about a material in an endgame:

ü A harmony of your pieces becomes very important.

ü A value of bishops and pawns goes up.

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These are very profound ideas. We may make a lot of useful conclusions based on them. First, I should say
that you do NOT need to memorize all these consequences. You need to understand them. When you know
the base principles, you will easy understand their logical consequences.

• Ok, here is the first idea. 3 pawns are approximately equal to a minor piece in general. In
a middlegame a minor piece often stronger than 3 pawns. In an endgame 3 pawns often
stronger. (It is because the pawns’ value goes up in an endgame).

• A rook and 2 pawns are approximately equal to the 2 minor pieces. In a middlegame 2
minor pieces are often stronger; in an endgame a rook with pawns often stronger.

• A minor piece with 2 pawns is about equal to a rook. In an endgame a minor piece with
pawns is often stronger. (The reason is still the same: the pawns’ value goes up).

• In an endgame a bishop’s value goes up. It becomes closer to a rook’s value than to a
knight’s one.

• A bishop with 2 pawns fights better against a rook than a knight with 2 pawns (it is a
logical consequence of the previous principle).

• A bishop is often stronger than 3 pawns; a knight rarely can be stronger. (A bishop is
stronger than a knight and also a bishop works well with pawns. We’ve discussed it in the
previous lesson).

• A rook with a bishop is stronger than a rook with a knight.

• A queen with a knight may be stronger than a queen with a bishop.

Let’s analyze the last 2 items in more details, because they are very practical.

Kramnik V.-Ulybin M.

White: Kf1, Rc1, Rd1, Bb2, Bg2, pawns: a2, b3, c4, e3, f2, g3, h2.
Black: Kg8, Rd8, Re7, Nd7, Ne4, pawns: a5, b6, c7, d6, f7, g7, h6.

It’s White’s Turn

White has 2 bishops with rooks, while black has the knights. Let’s see how the game will continue.

White played 1.Ke2 bringing the king into a center. 1…Rde8 2.g4 The active and attacking side
should push pawns in an endgame. 2…Re6 3.h4-R6e7 It is quite difficult to find any active plan for
black.
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4.Bf3-Ndc5 5.Rd5 White is preparing g5. 5…Na6 Black tries a separate tactical idea, but of course it
can’t change the situation.

6.a3 preventing Nb4. 6…Nac5 7.b4-ab 8.ab-Na6 9.b5 These are all the forcing moves. 9…Nac5
10.Ra1 After all white got the new open file. The white’s rooks and bishops are controlling most of
the territory.

10…Nf6 11.Rdd1-Nfe4 Black is still waiting. 12.Ra7-Kf8. And here white started a direct attack by
playing 13.g5! As we know rooks and bishops need to have open lines. So such a sacrifice is very
natural for white. 13…hg 14.hg-Ng5 15.Bc6-Rc8 16.Rh1. White was able to develop a strong attack
even in an endgame.

16…Kg8 17.Raa1. The rook is going to the king-side. 17…Nce6 18.Rh4-f6 19.Rg1 All the white’s
pieces take part into the attack and supplement each other. 19…Kf7 20.Bd5.

Let’s stop here. The white’s position is totally winning. White is threatening f4-f5 and many other
things and black can’t stop it.

Why the white’s attack was so easy and effective? You can see that rooks and bishops are in a
good harmony. They both need open lines to be active. They both are long-range pieces and can
easily cooperate to attack something. For example, the b2 bishop and the g1 rook are attacking
the black’s king-side.

At the same time rooks and bishops are not doubling each other (rooks control lines, while bishops
– diagonals).

It is more difficult to consolidate a rook with a knight, because they work on different trajectories.

We may arrive at some conclusions:

A bishop is stronger than a knight in an endgame.

A rook with a bishop has better harmony than a rook with a knight.

Therefore R+B is often MUCH stronger than R+N!

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Jansa V. – Hennings A.

White: Kh2, Qf4, Nc5, pawns: a2, b4, e4, f2, g2, h3.
Black: Kg8, Qe7, Bc8, pawns: a6, c6, d4, f7, g6, h5.

It’s Black’s Turn

Who is better now? It seems like an unclear position: black has some weaknesses, but he also has
a passed pawn d4 and a bishop against a knight.

Let’s see what happened then.

44…Be6 attacking the a2 pawn. What should white do now? An attacker side should avoid pawn
exchanges in an endgame. That’s why white doesn’t want to trade the pawns a2 and a6.
45.a3-Bc4 46.e5 The d4 pawn is under an attack. 46…Qd8 47.Ne4.

Let’s look at this position more thoroughly. White has a lot of threats: Nd6 following with Qd4;
Nf6; Qh6 and then Ng5 or Nf6. You see that a queen and a knight both create a lot of tactical
motifs and they supplement each other well. A queen and a knight can both make a lot of sudden
attacking moves and it makes this bunch very dangerous for an opponent.

We may conclude that a queen with a knight has a good harmony.

For example, in the current position black can’t stop all the white’s threats. He played 47…Kh7 to
prevent Qh6 move, but white goes from another side: 48.Nd6-Bd5 49.Nf7 Black cannot take the
knight, because the “e” pawn will go forward.

49…Qf8 50.Ng5-Kg7 51.Qd4 White won the second pawn and the attack on the black’s king is
going strong. After a next few moves black resigned.

Let’s make some conclusions.

“An Endgame Expert” by GM Igor Smirnov. http://chess-teacher.com All rights reserved.

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A bishop is stronger than a knight generally.

At the same time a queen with a knight has a good harmony.

That’s why the situation is ambiguous.

That’s why Q+N are often equal to the Q+B and sometimes can be even stronger.

The next aspect I’d like to discuss in this lesson is an exchange in an endgame.

There are only a few guideline ideas here:

Ø The defensive side should exchange pawns.

Ø It also implies that the attacking side should avoid pawn exchanges.

The 2 main attacking endgame plans are closely connected to a pawn structure. When a defender
trades his pawns, an opponent will not be able to attack them anymore. When a defender
exchanges opponent’s pawns, an attacker will not be able to push them forward anymore.

Also most of positions without pawns are a theoretical draw. So you may sacrifice your minor
piece for the last opponent’s pawn and reach a draw easily.

A Pawn Exchange Is One Of The Main Defensive Ideas In An Endgame

Dvoirys S. – Malakhov V.

White: Kd3, Bg6, pawns: d5, c4.

Black: Ke5, Nh3, pawns: d6, f4.

It’s White’s Turn

Black has an advantage: he may try to push the passed pawn forward; he can transfer the knight
to c5 and attack the white’s pawns then, and so on.

A defensive side should exchange pawns and white played 104.c5-dc 105.d6 deflecting the king
105…Kd6 106.Ke4 White is threatening to play Bf5 and to take the f4 pawn then. After that white
will sacrifice a bishop for the black’s last pawn and will reach a draw.

After 106…c4 107.Bf5-c3 108.Kd3 White realized his plan successfully.

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Azmaiparashvili Z. – Tukmakov V.

White: Ke1, Rc1, Rh1, Nb1, pawns: a2, b3, e3, f2, g2, h2.
Black: Kg8, Rb8, Rd3, Be5, pawns: a7, c7, f7, g6, h6.

It’s Black’s Turn

White is a pawn up while black has some weaknesses that look significant. White is going to play
Ke2, Rhd1 and he will get an easily winning position.

What should black do to try to save a game? He should trade pawns.

He played 21…a5 with an idea a4. 22.Ke2-Rd5 23.Rhd1-Rd1 24.Rd1-a4 Black realized his idea in
time. White should not take the pawn now (25.ba), because after 25…Rb2 black will take back the
a2 pawn and probably the a4 pawn as well. 25.Rd3-ab 26.ab-Ra8 Black wants to play Ra2 to attack
the white’s king-side pawns. 27.f4-Ra2 28.Kf3-Bd6 29.Nc3-Rb2 Black is always hunting for the
white’s pawns. 30.Nb5-h5.

Black is consistent in realizing his plan. Now he is going to play h4-h3 and then take the h2 pawn.
31.Nd6-cd 32.h3 white tries to stop the h5 pawn. 32…h4.

White has nothing to do really, and he played 33.Kg4. Of course it is good for black, because this is
another pawn exchange. 33…Rg2 34.Kh4-Rb2. Black has traded a lot of pawns and now it is very
difficult for white to get any tangible advantage. The game ended in draw afterwards. An idea of
the pawn exchanges was the guideline of the black’s defense.

Let’s go to the next rules about an exchange in an endgame.

Ø A side with a material advantage should exchange pieces.

Ø A defensive side should try to leave unequal pieces.

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These rules are not about a chess strategy, BUT they are practical rules.
When you have a material advantage, you want to simplify a realization of this advantage and to
prevent an opponent’s counterplay. Thus you want to win a game easily and without any risk.
That’s why you need to exchange pieces.

A defensive side should complicate a position to trip the opponent. That’s why a defender should
imbalance piece exchanges. You may exchange your bishop on an opponent’s knight, or your rook
with pawns for an opponent’s minor pieces or something like that. So you need to create an
unbalanced position.

These are all the main ideas about a material in an endgame.

THE CONCLUSIONS

v In an endgame a harmony of your pieces becomes very important:

1. Your pieces should supplement each other (not double).

2. You should keep your pieces closely to each other.

v In an endgame a value of bishops and pawns goes up. This helps you to understand easily
most of the positions with unequal material.

v What to exchange in an endgame?

1. A side with a material advantage should exchange pieces.

2. A defensive side should exchange pawns; an attacker side should avoid pawn exchanges.
3. A defensive side should try to leave unequal pieces.

Thanks for your attention. See you in the next lesson.

“An Endgame Expert” by GM Igor Smirnov. http://chess-teacher.com All rights reserved.