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Subject: Re: Endgame improvement

Author: Robert Hyatt

Date: 08:55:22 06/11/01

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On June 11, 2001 at 11:27:18, Bas Hamstra wrote:

>Can anyone point me to an endgame suite that is better than Fine? I have a Fine
>suite with 48 positions, of which Tao solves 42 or so. Still, in games against
>YACE and Crafty it gets killed because if has no idea of outside passers and
>majorities. And no table bases, but I think that is no big deal. And hardly a
>KPK evaluator.
>
>I made a first start, in giving passers boni proportional with filedistance from
>the enemy king in a pawn endgames. Is there more to it?
>
>
>
>Best regards,
>Bas.


there are lots of things to think about.

where is the passer?  Other pawns?  IE a passer on the a file is easier to win
with (pawns on say g and h files too) than if the passer is on the e file with
pawns on g and h files.  (distant passer).  Ditto for candidate passers if you
don't have passers.  Their value should go up as pieces come off, the value
should not be "static".

If this is a king and pawn ending, then "split passers" are far better
than connected passers (many totally overlook this...  I did too until a
GM pointed it out one day a year or so ago).  IE make a position with one
side having two pawns on the d/e files, the other side having pawns on
the b/g files.  Which side do you prefer?  If you prefer the d/e files, you
have tuning to do. :)

Another important issue is "where does the king belong"?  This is pretty hard
to answer with simple tests, so go for getting it right, rather than worrying
about the cost.  If you have all pawns on the queenside, your king can't be
on the kingside...

You can't just do "pawn-count = majority" either.  You need to recognize
a majority that is immobolized.  IE you are black with pawns on a7, b6 and
c5, with your opponent having pawns on b5 and c4.  To use that majority will
require help from your king, which might take it away from where it is
needed.

It is complex.  But not impossible to do at all...



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