Step 05 · Endgames
Convert what you have earned.
Essential technical endgames played out against Stockfish, in your browser, until they stick. 3 are free to play here.
- King + Queen vs King Free Mate in 12 moves or fewer · you play white The most common mating pattern in chess. The queen alone cannot mate, but she can box the enemy king into a corner or edge; the king then walks up and the queen delivers mate. Beware of stalemate at the very end.
- King + Rook vs King Free Mate in 18 moves or fewer · you play white The rook cuts the board into a box and shrinks it rank by rank while your king supports it. When the kings stand opposite each other, a rook check drives the enemy king back, until it is mated on the edge.
- King + Pawn vs King: the opposition Free Win within 16 moves · you play white With the king in front of its pawn, White wins if it can gain the opposition: the kings face each other with one square between them and the opponent to move. The pawn is used as a tempo move to hand the move over at the right moment.
- Lucena position Pro Win within 14 moves · you play white The most important winning position in rook endgames: the attacking king stands in front of its pawn on the 7th rank and the defending king is cut off. White escapes the checks by "building a bridge" with the rook.
- Philidor position Pro Hold the draw for 16 moves · you play black The most important drawing method in rook endgames. The defending rook sits on the third rank (from the attacker’s view) and stops the enemy king from advancing. Once the pawn advances, the rook drops back and checks from behind.
- King + 2 Bishops vs King Pro Mate in 24 moves or fewer · you play white Two bishops side by side form a wall of diagonals no king can cross. Push the enemy king to the edge, then into a corner, and mate with the bishops on adjacent diagonals while your king takes away the escape squares.
- Queen vs pawn on the 7th Pro Win within 18 moves · you play white A queen against a pawn one step from promotion is usually winning, but only through the right technique: keep checking until the enemy king is forced in front of its pawn, then use that tempo to bring your king closer. Against a bishop or rook pawn this trick fails, so knowing when it works is essential.
- Rook + pawn vs rook: defend from the short side Pro Hold the draw for 16 moves · you play black When the Philidor set-up is no longer available, the defending king goes to the short side of the pawn so the rook can check from the long side without being disturbed. A rook check from far away is worth more than a passive king.
- Opposite-coloured bishops: the draw Pro Hold the draw for 20 moves · you play black Bishops of opposite colour are the great drawing weapon: even two extra pawns are often not enough. The defending king blockades the pawn the bishop cannot stop, and the bishop is given up for the other pawn only when the remaining pawn cannot win.
- Pawn endings: the outside passed pawn Pro Win within 18 moves · you play white A passed pawn far from the other pawns is a decoy. The enemy king has to walk over to stop it, and meanwhile your king eats the pawns on the other side of the board.
- King activity: centralise the king Pro Win within 20 moves · you play white In the endgame the king becomes a fighting piece. Rush it to the centre and towards the enemy weaknesses; the side whose king arrives first wins pawns and the game.
- Rook behind the passed pawn (Tarrasch rule) Pro Win within 14 moves · you play white Rooks belong behind passed pawns: your own, to support them, and the opponent’s, to stop them. Behind the pawn the rook gains scope with every step the pawn takes, while a rook in front of the pawn only loses it.
- Queen vs Rook Pro Win within 20 moves · you play white Queen against rook is a win, but the rook can hide next to its king for a long time. The key is the Philidor position: when the rook is forced away from its king, the queen wins it with a fork or a skewer.
- King + Pawn vs King: defending Pro Hold the draw for 16 moves · you play black The other side of the opposition. A lone king draws against king and pawn if it stays in front of the pawn and answers every king move by facing the enemy king again. One wrong step sideways and the pawn walks through.
- Pawn breakthrough: three against three Pro Win within 8 moves · you play white Three pawns facing three pawns look locked, yet the side whose pawns are further up can force a queen. Sacrifice the middle pawn, then the outside one, and whichever pawn Black cannot capture runs through.
- Rook pawn and the wrong bishop Pro Hold the draw for 16 moves · you play black A bishop and a rook pawn are a whole piece and a pawn up, yet it is a draw when the bishop cannot control the queening square and the defending king reaches the corner. The race to the corner is the whole defence.
- The Réti manoeuvre Pro Hold the draw for 8 moves · you play white A king that looks hopelessly behind an enemy pawn catches it by walking along a diagonal that threatens two things at once: to chase the pawn and to support its own. A diagonal king walk is as fast as a straight one.
- Triangulation: losing a move to win Pro Win within 24 moves · you play white When the position you want is this one with the opponent to move, walk your king round a triangle of squares. You spend three moves, the defending king can only spend two, and the turn passes to him.
- Rook vs pawn: bring the king Pro Win within 10 moves · you play white A rook beats a lone pawn only when its king arrives in time. Count the moves for both sides and bring your king first. Rook checks that only push the enemy king next to its pawn waste the moves you need.
- Vancura position Pro Hold the draw for 20 moves · you play black The standard draw with a rook against rook and rook pawn when the attacking rook stands in front of its pawn. The defending rook attacks the pawn from the side, the king stays on g7 and h7, and the white rook never gets free.
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