how to play chess endgames book

5 Thinking in Schemes
I know at sight what a position contains. What
could happen? What is going to happen? You
figure it out. I know it!
JOSE RAUL CAPABLANCA
Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to
victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before
defeat.
SUNTZU
On the one hand, chess is a very concrete game,
in which even the smallest alteration to a position
can have important repercussions; on the
other hand it would be hardly possible for humans
to master the game if they could not make
use of certain schemes and rules of thumb. In
the endgame, a schematic way of thinking is
particularly appropriate. By this we mean the
ability to recognize desirable positions and
piece set-ups, and then work out a plan to reach
them. If you ask a grandmaster about the assessment
of an endgame position, you won't
generally hear any concrete variations at first,
but rather phrases such as "If White succeeds in
exchanging the rooks he should win" or "If
Black manages to put his bishop on the long diagonal,
he has a certain draw".
Typical themes and issues that lend themselves
to schematic thinking are, for example:
• how to match the pieces with the pawn-structure
• optimal deployment of the pieces or improving
the piece set-up
• consideration of the right exchange
• fortresses
• weak squares
• knight outposts
• pure opposite-coloured bishop endings
Of course, when applying this way of thinking,
it is absolutely essential not to think about
the position in too static a manner - on no account
should you neglect the dynamic factors.
A) Target Positions
If you have everything under control, but are at
a loss how to make progress. it is sometimes
beneficial just to visualize desirable target positions
and only then to examine whether and
how you can achieve them.
5.01
M.Karttunen - V.Rasik
Rethym11011 ECC 2003
In view of the wrong rook's pawn, White
cannot allow his knight to be exchanged. But
then how can he win? If you try to find a win
here by concrete calculation alone, you wilJ immediately
realize that this is by no means easy.
Instead of wasting time on difficult computations,
it is much more sensible here for White to
think about the best possible arrangement for
the pieces. Black's bishop is already restricted
as much as possible; the knight will need to
support promotion threats, so the idea comes of
sticking the king on b5 and the knight on d5. In
fact, once this set-up has been achieved, the win
is quite easy.
I...'i:tla8 2 'i:tldS 'i:tlb73 .ii.d4@a8 4 logs 'i:tlb7
5 loe6 i.h2 6 'i:tlc4 .ii.g3 7 'i:tlbS .ii.h2 8 i.b6