how to play chess endgames book

3 Do Not Rush!
Insufficient patience is probably the most common
reason for a lost game.
BENT LARSEN
I reject the misconception that each move must
immediately achieve something; waiting moves
and quiet moves also have their right to exist.
ARON NJMZOWITSCH
In positions with a permanent advantage, in
which the opponent has no real counterplay and
you have everything well under control, good
endgame technique consists of not trying to
force matters prematurely. Committal decisions,
such as pawn moves or piece exchanges, should
always be delayed until you are completely
sure that you have strengthened your position
to the maximum in every respect. Innumerable
winning endgames are not in fact won. simply
because the side with the advantage wants to
force the win as quickly as possible and lacks
the necessary patience to strengthen the position
as much as possible before taking decisive
action.
This principle is also valid even if you cannot
calculate any concrete benefit from improving
your position in this manner. You never
know how useful a small improvement to your
position might be in the further course of the
game. However, such a leisurely way of proceeding
often brings other advantages along
with it: this way of playing often exerts psychological
pressure in particular, lulling the opponent's
vigilance, or disguising what is in fact
the only plan. Sometimes the opponent will
also lose patience and weaken himself voluntarily,
or mistakenly try to force matters himself.
However, we should caution you against
misunderstanding this principle. In every situation
you must be prepared to act energetically,
and in certain positions you should not wait for
too long, because the opponent will naturally try
to eliminate his weaknesses. Hence we should
like to emphasize once again that proceeding
according to the principle 'Do not rush' applies
first and foremost to less dynamic positions, in
which the opponent does not really have any
counterplay and in which his weaknesses are of
a permanent nature.
A) Preparatory Measures
The following position is easy to understand:
w
3.01
V.Anand - R. Ponomariov
Wijk aan Zee 2005
White has a clearly winning position. In addition
to being a protected passed pawn up,
White also has the more active pieces and the
possibility of creating a second passed pawn on
the queenside. It is clear that the decisive breakthrough
will come with the c4 advance. But
Anand would not be Anand if he did not effect
this advance in the best possible conditions.
With a beautiful technical manoeuvre he first of
all improves the position of his knight and only
then lands the winning blow: