Know How in the Pawn Endgames (3)

Let us see now how know-how will help us win points:

[Event "Snowdrops vs Oldhands"]
[Site "Podebrady CZE"]
[Date "2012.12.13"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Uhlmann, Wolfgang"]
[Black "Tania, Sachdev"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2319"]
[BlackElo "2400"]
[Annotator "www.chesstoday.net"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/p3k2p/P1p2p1P/3p1K2/3P4/4PP2/8 w - - 0 47"]
[PlyCount "6"]
[EventDate "2012.12.08"]
[EventType "schev"]
[EventRounds "8"]
[EventCountry "CZE"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.12.16"]

{Diagram [#]} {The legendary German player Wolfgang Uhlmann won the East
German championships eleven times and was a world championship contender in
his best years. At the time that this game is played though he is 77 (!)
years old. This is the main reason why in a very complex position he
blundered with:} 47. e3 $4 {This allowed a break-through:} c4 $1 48. dxc4 d3
49. Kf3 Ke5 {And White resigned due to the zugzwang-} (49... Ke5 50. e4 f4 51.
c5 Ke6 $19) 0-1

As it was pointed out in Chess Today, Uhlmann missed a win.

[Event "Snowdrops vs Oldhands"]
[Site "Podebrady CZE"]
[Date "2012.12.13"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Uhlmann, Wolfgang"]
[Black "Tania, Sachdev"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2319"]
[BlackElo "2400"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/p3k2p/P1p2p1P/3p1K2/3P4/4PP2/8 w - - 0 47"]
[PlyCount "33"]
[EventDate "2012.12.08"]
[EventType "schev"]
[EventRounds "8"]
[EventCountry "CZE"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.12.16"]

{Diagram [#]} {Things should have ended differently:} 47. e4 $1 dxe3 (47... c4
48. dxc4) 48. fxe3 Kf6 49. e4 $1 {[%cal Gh4h5,Ga4a5] White wants to trade the
central pawns to reach a theoretically won endgame.} fxe4 50. dxe4 c4 51. e5+
Ke6 52. Ke4 c3 53. Kd3 Kxe5 ({Nothing changes:} 53... Kf5 54. Kxc3 Kxe5 55. Kc4
Kd6 56. Kd4 $18) 54. Kxc3 $1 {[%cal Rh4h5,Ra4a5] Diagram [#] Yet another case
of a bishop opposition! The space advantage and the geometry of the board
work in White's favour and he wins no matter which pawn Black will go for-} Kd5
(54... Kf5 55. Kc4 Kg5 56. Kc5 Kxh5 57. Kb6 Kg4 58. Kxa6 h5 59. Kb6 h4 60. a6
h3 61. a7 h2 62. a8=Q $18 {[%csl Rh1][%cal Ra8h1]}) 55. Kd3 Kc5 56. Ke4 Kb5 57.
Kf5 Kxa5 58. Kg6 Kb4 59. Kxh6 a5 60. Kg6 a4 61. h6 a3 62. h7 a2 63. h8=Q $18
1-0

How could Uhlmann calculate that deep during the game? He did not have to. All he needed to do was to remember the following study:

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1927.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Grigoriev"]
[Black "Space, geometry"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator ",bojkov"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/p6p/P3k2P/8/8/2K5/8 w - - 0 0"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2009.03.11"]

{[%csl Ra5,Ya6,Rh5,Yh6] Diagram [#]} 1. Kc3 $1 {[%csl Rc3,Re5][%cal Re5d4,
Rc3d4]} (1. Kd3 $2 Kd5 $11 {[%cal Rd5e4,Rd5d4,Rd5c4]}) 1... Kd5 (1... Kf5 2.
Kc4 Kg5 3. Kc5 Kxh5 4. Kb6 Kg4 5. Kxa6 h5 6. Kb6 h4 7. a6 h3 8. a7 h2 9. a8=Q
$18 {[%csl Rh1][%cal Ra8h1]}) (1... Ke6 2. Kc4 {[%csl Ra6,Rc4,Re6][%cal Rc4d5,
Re6d5,Rc4c5,Rc5b6,Rb6a6]}) 2. Kd3 Kc5 3. Ke4 Kb5 4. Kf5 Kxa5 5. Kg6 Kb4 6. Kxh6
a5 7. Kg6 a4 8. h6 a3 9. h7 a2 10. h8=Q {[%csl Ra1][%cal Rh8a1]} 1-0

The solution of the problem would be the proper equipment with a base of knowledge. You do not need to know every single endgame by heart. It is hardly possible (except perhaps for a genius like Ivanchuk) but more importantly it is not worth memorizing countless endgames which are very unlikely to happen.
On the other hand each player should owe an existence minimum of exact positions in every major endgame (pawns above all but also knight/bishop/rook/queen) endgames. This will help the players a chance to orientate in most of the situations, will suggest them which pieces to trade and which to keep and naturally will support the calculation.
Best of luck in building your own memory library!
You can also check the complete article on the FIDE Trainer's site.

Space in the Pawn Endgames

The EICC in Armenia produced plenty of quality chess. One interesting endgame attracted my attention:

[Event "EICC 2014"]
[Site "Yerevan"]
[Date "2014.03.12"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Golod, Vitali"]
[Black "Cheparinov, Ivan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E92"]
[WhiteElo "2573"]
[BlackElo "2681"]
[Annotator "Dejan Bojkov"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/2p5/1p3k1p/1Pp5/6KP/1P6/P7/8 w - - 0 50"]
[PlyCount "140"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[EventCountry "ARM"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2009.03.11"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

{White has two major advantages. One of them is obvious- he has more active
king. The second one is a bit less obvious. It is the extra space. In pawn
endgames the latter is often the reason for a faster passer and a timely
promotion.} 50. a4 $4 {[%csl Rb3][%cal Yf6e5,Ye5d4,Yd4c3,Rc3b3] A hasty
decision which will cost White more than a half point! The b3 pawn is
discovered in a moment when the black king is close to the center.} ({Vitali
Golod should have improved his king first with:} 50. Kh5 $1 {thus keeping the
black king passive. Only after:} Kg7 {White should proceed with:} 51. a4 {
Which grabs extra space on the queen's side. The game then will follow:} Kh7
52. Kg4 Kg6 {and here one more space winner is the move:} 53. h5+ $1 {Both
candidates on b5 and h5 are very close to the promotional squares. The logical
sequence of moves leads to zugzwang after:} {Black cannot escape neither in
case of:} Kg7 (53... Kf6 54. Kf4 Ke6 55. Ke4 $1 {[%csl Rb5,Yb6,Rh5,Yh6][%cal
Ge4f5,Gf5g6,Gg6h6,Ge4d5,Gd5c6,Gc6c7,Rb5b6,Rh5h6] Which gives Black a sad
choice which pawn to abandon:} Kf6 ({Or:} 55... Kd6 56. Kf5 Kd5 57. Kg6 Kd4 58.
Kxh6 Kc3 59. Kg6 Kxb3 60. h6 c4 61. h7 c3 62. h8=Q $18 {and the extra space
counts.}) 56. Kd5 Kg5 57. Kc6 Kxh5 58. Kxc7 Kg4 59. Kxb6 h5 60. a5 h4 61. a6 h3
62. a7 h2 63. a8=Q $18 {[%cal Ra8h1] Just in time. White uses his advantage in
space.}) 54. Kf5 Kf7 55. Ke5 Ke7 56. Kd5 Kd7 57. a5 $1 bxa5 58. Kxc5 Kc8 59. b6
$18 {as the pawn on a5 falls. Please note, that in this line the white pawn on
h5 secures a clear deflection of the black king on the queen's side and
deprives the second player from the rook pawn draw resources.}) ({There is a
second winning attempt. It is the straightforward march for the queen's side
pawns with:} 50. Kf4 {but it fails to-} Ke6 51. Ke4 ({White cannot repeat the
position as after-} 51. Kg4 c6 $1 {Cheparinov can create a passed pawn in time-
} 52. bxc6 ({Or:} 52. a4 cxb5 53. axb5 Ke5 54. Kh5 Kd4 55. Kxh6 Kc3 56. Kg6
Kxb3 57. h5 c4 {In comparison to the line from above White misses his two
extra tempos and the queens are promoted simultaniously-} 58. h6 c3 59. h7 c2
60. h8=Q c1=Q $11) 52... Kd6 53. Kh5 b5 $11 {as} 54. Kxh6 $4 {even loses-} c4
55. bxc4 bxc4 56. Kg6 c3 57. h5 c2 58. h6 c1=Q) 51... Kd6 52. h5 c6 53. bxc6
Kxc6 54. a4 b5 $11 {when Black gets timely counterplay on the queen's flank.})
50... Ke5 51. Kh5 Kd4 52. Kxh6 Kc3 53. h5 Kxb3 54. Kg7 c4 55. h6 c3 56. h7 c2
57. h8=Q {White succeeded to promote first but is in trouble as his pawns on
the queen's flank will be lost.} c1=Q $17 58. Qa8 Qa1+ 59. Kg6 Qxa4 60. Qf3+
Kb4 61. Qf4+ Kxb5 62. Qxc7 Qe4+ {The tables have turned and even though this
position is defendable and Golod managed to keep the balance for a while he
succumbed to the pressure at the end. Indeed, fatigue and frustration did not
cheer his fighting spirit.} 63. Kg7 Qd4+ 64. Kh7 Kb4 65. Qc2 b5 66. Qb1+ Kc5
67. Qf5+ Qd5 68. Qf2+ Kc6 69. Qe1 Kd7 70. Qa5 Qc5 71. Kg6 Ke6 72. Qa6+ Ke5 73.
Qf6+ Ke4 74. Qh4+ Kd3 75. Qh3+ Kc2 76. Qg2+ Kb1 77. Kf7 b4 78. Qe4+ Kb2 79.
Qe2+ Qc2 80. Qe5+ Qc3 81. Qe2+ Ka3 82. Qa6+ Kb3 83. Kf8 Qc5+ 84. Ke8 Qc4 85.
Qg6 Ka4 86. Kf8 b3 87. Qe8+ Qb5 88. Qa8+ Kb4 89. Qe4+ Ka3 90. Qe3 Qb4+ 91. Kg7
Ka2 92. Qe6 Qc3+ 93. Kg8 Qd3 94. Qf7 Qd8+ 95. Kh7 Qd4 96. Qe6 Ka3 97. Qa6+ Kb4
98. Qb7+ Kc3 99. Qc7+ Kd2 100. Qh2+ Kc1 101. Qc7+ Kd1 102. Qg3 b2 103. Qf3+ Kd2
104. Qg2+ Kc3 105. Qc6+ Qc4 106. Qf6+ Kc2 107. Qf2+ Kb1 108. Qe1+ Qc1 109. Qb4
Qc7+ 110. Kg8 Qg3+ 111. Kh7 Qd3+ 112. Kg8 Ka2 113. Qa5+ Qa3 114. Qd2 Qg3+ 115.
Kh7 Qh4+ 116. Kg8 Qg4+ 117. Kh7 Qe4+ 118. Kg8 Kb3 119. Qd1+ Kc3 0-1