“In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else, for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame.” – José Raúl Capablanca
Key squares and the opposition are the basic rules in king and pawn endgames. This video is recapitulation of positions P-12, P-13 and P-14 from Basic Chess Endgames by GM Vlado Kovacevic.
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This is a study-like pawn endgame. The winning method is famous and that is one of very important motifs in pawn endgames and its name is shouldering or bodycheck! Event: German League 2018. White: Genov, Petar WhiteElo: 2428 Black: Stevic, Hrvoje BlackElo: 2588 Result: 1/2-1/2
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In more complex pawn endings sometimes it is important to know whether two isolated passed pawns can win without the support of the king. In this situation we are helped out by the rule of the “common square”, formulated by A. Studenecki in 1939. The “common square” is a square the length of the […]
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In the example 32, with Black to move, we understood a huge defending value of opposition. This very experience may serve as a landmark to win in a wonderful study by R. Reti from 1928. The white rook attacked, and after the forced 1.Rd1? d4 the position would be drawn since due to opposition […]
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Knowing the drawing area makes the decision making much easier. A quite instructive case, showing the crucial relevance of opposition and shouldering, which happened in the Amelung – Erler game, Riga 1887. Position evaluation depends on who is to move! ← Basic EndingsBasic Endings →
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The easiest win is, as a rule, with a rook’s pawn -the reason being that the shorter defensive diagonal is in most cases too short for the enemy bishop. However, we should avoid the premature advance of the pawn on the seventh rank since this gives rise to an exceptional drawn position. White to […]
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On the basis of the foregoing conclusion about the necessary available squares on the shorter defensive diagonal, we can easily deduce that White cannot win in the following position analyzed by Centurini way back in 1856. In the analysis of the ending Kurajica – Markland we saw that White wins with a bishop’s pawn […]
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In order to defend correctly we should know that in positions with king behind the pawn, the weaker side can draw only with the aid of the vertical opposition; the reason being that for salvation is indispensable dual control of the critical square “above” the enemy king. The proof for this assertion can be […]
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