how to play chess endgames book

15 Converting an Advantage
Nothing is harder than winning a won game.
SAVIELLY T ARTAKOWER
As with many of his now famous aphorisms,
Tartakower was of course consciously exaggerating
when he said this. Nevertheless there is
more than a grain of truth in his words, since
converting an advantage is indisputably one of
the most difficult themes in chess. We can all
cite dozens of examples in which we have ruined
a favourable endgame and only drawn.
To understand better how to convert an advantage
in a masterly and technically clean
manner, it is first of all necessary to consider
why so many so-called 'won endings' are in
practice not won. At this point let us hand over
to two other chess writers.
In his book Practical Endgame Lessons,
Edmar Mednis gives five golden rules to ensure
that you do not win your won games. Here is
his slightly tongue-in-cheek list:
• Be careless. Don't expect your opponent to
have any tactical threats.
• Go for the prettiest continuation - it is bound
to win.
• Don't worry or work too hard -the game will
win itself.
• Change your plan as often as you like.
• Give up material.
In his book Technique for the Tournament
Player, Mark Dvoretsky dealt with the principles
for converting an advantage. He gave the
following typical sources of error as the causes
of problems in converting an advantage:
• Exhaustion towards the end the game
• Failure to keep your nerve
• Time-trouble
• Inadequate knowledge of endgame theory
• Poor technique (allowing unnecessary counterplay,
rushing, wrong exchanges)
• Unfocused activity at the critical moment
• Problems with the transformation of an advantage
Now please compare these lists with the contents
of this book. You will notice that we have
actually attached such great importance to all
these aspects of converting an advantage that we
have devoted whole sections to many of them.
You simply must master the following techniques
and principles if your 'won positions'
are truly going to be won:
• prophylactic thinking and preventing counterplay
(Chapter 8)
• the application of the principle 'Do not rush!'
(Chapter 3)
• the right exchange ( Chapter 4)
• the principle of the second weakness (Chapter
6)
• the avoidance of typical mistakes (Chapter
17)
In this chapter we are now going to deal with
aspects of the conversion of an advantage that
we have not already covered elsewhere, such as
transformation of one advantage into another,
space advantage, widening the operational front
and material advantage.
A) Transforming One
Advantage into Another
This is a very important aspect of the conversion
of an advantage. In the higher sense, the
whole game of chess can be regarded as the
transformation of one advantage or equilibrium
into another. From the point of view of the attacker,
it is above all a question of being able to
make progress. You cannot just obstinately sit
on an advantage but must always keep an eye
open for possible transformations.