how to play chess endgames book

1 Activity
A young man has the genius of activity, a mature
one that for spending his powers wisely.
The one's strength lies in enterprise, the other's
in economy. He who wastes neither force nor
opportunity is the victor.
EMANUEL LASKER
When there are only a few pieces left on the
board, the activity of each piece acquires much
greater importance. Whereas in the middlegame
the unfavourable position of a piece can be
compensated by the activity of other pieces, in
the endgame there are simply not enough other
pieces available to make up for a badly-placed
colleague. For a better illustration of this rule,
picture the following: if a player on a soccer
team is sent off and can take no further part in
the game, then it is still possible that the rest of
his team can bring the game to a successful
conclusion by each playing harder. But if in a
doubles match in tennis one player had to retire
hurt, then his remaining team-mate would stand
no chance against the opposing pair. Thus the
old positional principle that one should always
improve the position of the worst-placed piece
is particularly applicable in the endgame. Here
there is also the rule of thumb that the strongest
piece should always be activated. And, in
marked contrast to the opening and middlegame,
the king should be fully involved. The order of
priority in which the pieces should be activated
is generally: queen> rook> king> minor piece.
Owing to its great practical importance, we
shall focus our discussion here on the activity
of the king and the rook. Both these pieces play
a special role in the endgame and it is frequently
worth sacrificing one or more pawns to
activate them. For examples of the activity of
the knight and the queen, see Chapter 7 ('The
Fight for the Initiative'). With these two pieces
it is generally less a question of which is the
more active than which is in the driving seat.
A) King Activity
In the middlegame the king is a mere extra; in
the endgame, on the other hand, one of the principals.
ARON NIMZOWITSCH
Al) An Endgame is Not a
Middlegame
In most endgames the position of the king is a
significant factor in the assessment of the position.
Whereas in the opening and the middlegame
the king generally has to hide from the
opposing pieces, as the number of pieces on the
board goes down the king gains in attacking
power and, since there is no danger of being
mated, it can often venture deep into the enemy
camp. There is the following rule of thumb: the
fewer the pieces on the board, the more important
is the position of the king for the evaluation
of the position. In pawn endings this can often
be the most important factor in the assessment
of the position. Therefore in your own endgames
always consider whether you can improve
the position of your king.
Now we shall illustrate the more active king
by means of some practical examples from actual
master play. It is truly amazing to see what a
mighty weapon the king can be in the endgame.
In the typical Griinfeld endgame on the following
page, Krarnnik shows excellent technique.
He no longer has any worries about king
safety and is able to assert his advantage in the
centre by means of a king-march.
1 ©f2!
The immediate l e5? fails to 1...~b4+.
l. .. es 2~c5!
"The exchange of bishops brings White
several advantages. The blockading bishop is
replaced by a less suitable piece (the rook) and