WHITE TO MOVE

This position should be drawn. But keep in mind that just about everyone sucks at the endgame, and the blunders that these two Experts uncork should let lower rated players lose all respect for their higher rated brethren.

In other words, when you reach an endgame, don't fear anyone -- they are more than likely to hack the position to bits. This means that if you learn to play the endgame in a competent fashion, you'll get an enormous boost in both results and rating.

1.Ne2

White is about to play Nc3 and take aim at both b5 and d5. Black reacts in classic fashion: he panics!

1...b4??

Black feels the heat, but this move just makes it worse.

1...a4? 2.Nc3 b4 3.axb4 Nxb4+ 4.Kc4 is unpleasant for Black, but the correct 1...Bd8! puts out the flames: 2.Bxd8 (2.Bc5 Be7) 2...Nxd8 3.Nc3 Nb7! (the saving idea)

4.b4 (Bailing out. Better for Black is 4.Nxb5 Nc5+ followed by 5...Nxe4.) 4...axb4 5.axb4, =.

2.a4

Fixing the edible target on a5 and intending to approach it with the King via Kd3-c4-b5. Also possible was 2.axb4 axb4 3.Kc4 Nb8 4.f3 when further King penetrations and/or Nc1-d3 will put Black under tremendous pressure.

2...Kd6?!

This makes things a bit too easy for White. Like it or not, he had to give 2...Bd8 a try. Of course, this doesn't mean that Black will be happy with the resulting positions: 3.Bxd8 Nxd8 4.Kc4 f3 (Both 4...Kd6 5.Kb5 and 4...Nb7 5.f3 Kd6 6.Kb5 promise Black nothing but suffering) 5.Ng1 Nb7 6.Nxf3 Nd6+ 7.Kd3 Nb7!

Though things are indeed grim, Black is still fighting and might confuse his opponent. An example (which I can confidently say isn't anywhere near best play): 8.Nxg5+ Kf6 9.Nf3 (9.Nh3!?) 9...Nc5+ 10.Kc4 Nxe4 11.g5+? (11.Kd5 seems to be very strong) 11...Nxg5 12.Nxg5 Kxg5 13.Kb5 Kf4 14.Kxa5 Kf3 15.Kxb4 Kxf2 16.a5 e4 17.a6 e3 18.a7 e2 19.a8=Q e1=Q+ with a draw due to the absolutely horrible placement of White's Queen.

3.Kc4 Bd8 4.Bxd8

Quite good, but I would prefer keeping Black bound a bit longer with 4.Bc5+ Ke6 5.Kb5 Nb8 6.Nc1 heading for either b3 or d3, depending on what Black does.

4...Nxd8

5.Nc1??

5.Kb5! was a dead win.

5...Nc6??

Now Black misses an obvious draw: 5...Kc6! 6.Nd3 (6.Nb3 Nb7 idea 7...Nd6+) 6...Nf7 7.f3 (And not 7.b3 Nf7 mate!) 7...Nd6+ 8.Kb3 Nf7, =.

6.Nb3

Black's busted. Any Knight move hangs the a-pawn, and any King move fails to address the problem of White's threatened Kb5.

Another way for White to get the victory (without the tricks he runs into with 6.Nb3) is 6.Kb5 f3 7.Nd3.

6...f3

A good try! Now White can win with both 7.Nc5 and 7.Kd3 followed by 8.Ke3 and 9.Kxf3 (note that this involves zero risk). Instead, he turns an easy win into an agonizing defeat by stepping into a King and pawn endgame and the complications that such an ending often brings.

7.Kb5??

White saw the upcoming King and pawn endgame and thought it was just winning. And White was right, the King and pawn endgame IS winning, but for Black!

7...Nd4+ 8.Nxd4

There's no going back: 8.Kc4 Nxb3 9.Kxb3 Kc5 10.Kc2 Kd4, 0-1.

8...exd4 9.Kc4 Ke5 10.Kd3 b3

GAG! Now Black has the opposition and White has to jettison the e-pawn.

11.Kc4 Kxe4 12.Kxb3 Kd3!

Icing the (lucky) victory. Instead, the hasty 12...d3?? loses: 13.Kc3 Kf4 14.Kxd3 Kxg4 15.b4 axb4 16.a5.

13.Ka3 Kc2, 0-1.

In my new book, SILMAN'S COMPLETE ENDGAME COURSE, I have a chapter in the Master section titled, KING AND PAWN ENDGAMES ARE CONFUSING! I was trying to beat home the point that King and pawn endgames can be incredibly complicated and the slightest miscalculation can turn a winning game into a mind rending defeat.

The lesson? Only enter a King and pawn endgame if you are completely sure you know what's going on, or if you have no other choice. If there is a promising and safe alternative, go for that every time!

Our next example illustrates a proper transition into a King and pawn endgame. Pure calculation was necessary to assure Black that he was making the right decision (if he wasn't able to make that calculation, then he should avoid the King and pawn endgame), but in this case he proved up to the task.

1...Kd4!, 0-1.

It looks like this lets White trade Rooks and promote his pawn first. The resulting Queen endgame doesn't look easy at all (even if it is an easy win, one usually tries -- if at all possible -- to avoid Queen endgames in favor of simpler solutions). Surely Black had better than this?

However, if this is true, we're left wondering why White resigned after 1...Kd4. Clearly, there's more going on than meets the eye!

The obvious point of 1...Kd4 is that his c-pawn is free to advance. Also, White can't push his own passed pawn due to Rxb6. So the only chance White has is to go for that Queen endgame:

2.Rxe6 fxe6 3.a6 c3 4.a7 c2 5.a8=Q c1=Q+

So far, neither side has had any choices to make. However, now that we've reached this position we can see that the game ends abruptly in favor of Black.

6.Kf3