Five Endgame Ideas Worth Learning First
Endgames are where half-points are won and thrown away, and where a small amount of exact knowledge goes a very long way. You don't need to memorise a book. These five ideas cover the positions that turn up most often.
Why endgames deserve early attention
Two reasons. First, endgames are decided by exact knowledge more than by general principles: a position is either won or drawn, and one tempo can be the difference. Second, they are where advantages get converted. In the three RookSac sample reports (300 real games; see the sample report), 112 games reached a recognisable endgame, and in 89 of them (79%) rooks were still on the board. If you only learn one family of endgames, it should be rook endings and the pawn endings that arise from them.
1. Activate your king
In the middlegame the king hides. In the endgame it is a strong piece, worth roughly a minor piece in attacking power, and the side whose king gets to the centre first often wins the game. As soon as queens are off, and often before the last rooks come off, bring the king toward the action: toward the pawns you want to attack or defend, or toward the centre.
2. The opposition
Two kings face each other with one square between them: whoever must move has to give way. Getting the opposition means the other king cannot advance and yours can. The same position can be a win or a draw depending only on whose turn it is. Here White has a king and a pawn against a king:
The engine confirms both verdicts. The practical rule: when you are the stronger side, try to make your opponent move first in a position like this; when you are the weaker side, avoid stepping into it with the wrong turn. Tempo moves elsewhere, a spare pawn move for example, are what flip the result.
3. Key squares
For every pawn there are key squares: if the attacking king reaches one of them, the pawn queens by force whoever is to move. For a pawn on e5 they are d6, e6 and f6 (and the squares beyond them). Here the white king already stands on one of them:
For a pawn on the fifth rank the rule is simple: get the king to the sixth rank in front of the pawn, and it is won. A rook’s pawn is the exception. On the a- or h-file a lone defending king can often reach the corner in time, and many of these endings are draws.
4. The Lucena position: how to win
In rook endings, the most valuable winning technique is the Lucena position. You have a rook and a pawn on the seventh rank, your king is in front of the pawn on the eighth rank, and the enemy king is cut off. The problem is to get the king out of the way of its own pawn. The solution is the "bridge":
The winning sequence is 1.Rd1+ Ke7 2.Rd4 Ra1 3.Kc7 Rc1+ 4.Kb6 Rb1+ 5.Kc6 Rc1+ 6.Kb5 Rb1+ 7.Rb4, and the rook shields the king from the last check. It is one of the few sequences worth memorising move for move, because it decides so many games. Stockfish rates the starting position at more than +12.
5. The Philidor position: how to draw
The defender's counterpart is the Philidor position. Here the defender has a rook against rook and pawn and needs to keep the game a draw. The technique: keep your rook on the sixth rank so the enemy king cannot advance, wait until the pawn moves to the sixth rank, and only then put the rook behind the pawn to give checks from behind.
Many players lose this ending by attacking too early or by pushing the wrong pawn. Learn both positions, the Lucena to win and the Philidor to draw, and you will convert and save a surprising number of half-points.
A rule that helps everywhere: rooks behind passed pawns
Tarrasch's rule says that rooks belong behind passed pawns, whether they are yours or your opponent's. Behind your own pawn the rook protects it all the way to the queening square and gains power as the pawn advances. Behind the enemy pawn it attacks the pawn from the rear and is as active as it can be while the pawn advances. A rook in front of a passed pawn loses power as the pawn moves forward. There are exceptions, but it is right far more often than not.
How to practise
- Set the positions up on a board (any analysis board or an engine) and play them out against the computer from both sides. Win the Lucena and hold the Philidor until it is automatic.
- Learn the basic mates, king and queen against king and king and rook against king, so you never fail to finish a won game.
- Check your conversion. How often do you win the games in which you reached a clearly winning position? Your reports show this, and each game that got away shows the ending you should practise (see reviewing many games).
- Practise from your own games. The endgame positions where you misplayed a win or a draw make the best exercises.