Chess Endgames 11 - Rook against Bishop

The more reduced the material, the more important it is to correctly assess the potential of your own and the enemy pieces. This is particularly true in endgames with unbalanced material. On DVDs 9 and 10 of his endgame series Dr. Karsten Müller explored symmetrical material constellations with two pieces against two pieces, and this DVD begins with a discussion of asymmetrical material balances, including

• rook against bishop
• rook and knight against two bishops
• two rooks against rook and bishop
• queen and rook against queen and bishop
• rook and knight against bishop and knight
• rook against two bishops

These endgames allow one to study the important characteristics „coordination“ and „harmony of the pieces“ in detail and lead to interesting practical insights. For instance, Müller shows that rook and knight are markedly superior to bishop+knight whereas the two bishops cope much better. With the help of a large number of examples the internationally renowned endgame expert explains the pertinent winning motifs of the side with the rook, such as returning the exchange, opening lines for the rook and restricting the bishop. Another factor that is of great importance in converting one‘s advantage is the question when and when not to exchange“. 

• Video running time: 8 hours 26 min.

The grandmaster from Hamburg Dr. Karsten Mueller has been playing in the top division of the Bundesliga for the Hamburg Chess Club since 1988 and in 1996 and 1997 he came in third in the German Championship. An internationally recognised expert on the endgame, he writes the Endgame Column for ChessBase Magazine and the Endgame Corner on ChessCafe.com.

System requirements: Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard