Only Chess
07 Oct 10
13 Oct 10
1 edit
Originally posted by Paul Leggettthat probably applies to a lot of amateur endings with a piece (or two) down as well. people simply resign after losing a piece.
Usually they agree to draw or one person resigns before they actually get there, because both players see it coming.
one of the most shocking initial endgame study revelations to me, was how non-trivial winning them a piece up really is. like learning rook endings and running into 'a forced win' with queening a pawn against a rook, over and over again, then suddenly realizing: "wait, I can't mate with Q vs R?!?" (-then I of course went and taught myself just that)
13 Oct 10
I think the endgame imbalances are highly indicative of the opening you choose. I have often gotten R+B v R and never had KBN v K -.
Outside maybe 1 or 2 blitz games I have never gotten KBB v K
The only interesting ending I have recently is Q+ pawn v RB where we both had 2 pawns on the otherside of the board allowing me to break the fortress.
The only caveat to that is that in OTB I wont hesitate to sac a minor piece to have a won pawn endame-