Endgames are about planning, not about calculation and specific moves. Before you enter an endgame, you already have to know what you’re playing for.
Is it drawn or won? Are you defending? Do you want to trade pawns? Which pieces you you want to keep on the board? Where are the weaknesses? All of these questions and many more are what makes an endgame plan. As opposed to middlegames, where tactical ideas and specific variations have to be checked almost on every move, endgames are about long-term planning.
In this game I managed to misjudge the endgame I myself chose to enter. So I made a crucial mistake before the endgame started. I thought I was playing for a win because I was a pawn up. But I failed to understand my opponent’s resources and to recognize that my winning chances were imaginary. Instead of keeping pieces on the board and playing a position with the queens on in which I had a clear winning idea, I entered a drawn endgame and drew quickly. This is half a point lost due to lazyness and nothing else.
Machacek J. (1976) – Tomic S. (2001)
Caro-Kann, Two Knights
Liberec Open 2022, Round 5
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