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Teaching Endgames by Bill Wall In chess, the endgame is perhaps perhaps the most mysterious mysterious part of chess. It is the stage of the game when few pieces are left left on the board. It is the last stage of of chess, and arguably the most most important. The line between the middlegame middlegame and endgame is not very well defined. defined. Usually, there are fewer pieces, perhaps the queens are off the board, and the pawns become very important. important. Endgames often revolve around trying to promote a pawn to a queen (or any other piece) by advancing it to the eighth rank. rank. In the endgame, passed pawns become become very important. Theoretical endgames are positions where the correct line of play is generally known and well-analyzed, so so the solution is a matter matter of technique. Artistic endgames, or endgame studies, are contrived positions which contain a theoretical endgame endgame hidden by problematic complications. complications. Practical endgames endgames are positions arising from actual games, where skillful play should transform it into a theoretical endgame position with a known outcome (win or draw). The conventional thinking is you teach endgames end games first, then tactics, then openings. But if you can’t play a reasonable opening, you lose. And if you see combinations and tactics better than your opponent, then you may never get to an endgame. If you do, it is so overwhelming that you don’t need to study endgames. So practically speaking, how how valuable knows the endgame? Well, it is most valuable over the the long run. You would have probably beaten a weak opponent on any opening. But as you face stronger opponents, opponents, you are more likely to get into endgames, and more likely to lose if you never studied the endgame basics. If you lack endgame knowledge, knowledge, then it is very hard to study the other parts of the game. game. A coach or trainer should start start to teach basic endgames endgames to his students as soon soon as possible. At least start teaching teaching endgames when you notice that your student is losing in the endgame. You can’t give opening or middlegame advice of when to trade queens if the student does not have some knowledge of endgames. endgames. The biggest compelling reason reason for studying endgames is the practical one: after a long struggle how heart-breaking is it to not win a game because of poor endgame play. I have written on endgame tips and endgame book references. references. I have referenced several endgame sites on the Internet, such as the 6-man Endgame Nalimov
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Tablebases, Reuben Fine’s Basic Chess Endings errata, Chess Endgame Simulator,chessending.com for practical chess endgames, and over 50 endgame pgn files (just do a search on endgames on my chess site). But I have also written on openings and opening traps. It is easy to conclude that the openings should be studied first. It does come first, then the middlegame, finally the endgame. Every game has an opening, and most openings have opening traps. Endgames come last, and not every game has an endgame, nor are there a lot of endgames in the games of beginners, at least very little close endgames where you had to know the technique and all the right moves. Usually beginner games reach endgames being a queen or rook or two ahead. Even if you succeed in the opening and the middlegame, not knowing the skills to turn the resulting endgame into a checkmate can cost you many wi ns, turning won positions into draws or draws into losses. I know. It has happened to me more times than I want to count, missing draws or wins against such grandmasters as Walter Browne or Larry Christiansen, or missing 1 st place or missing some prize money for misplaying the endgame in the final round. When it comes to chess study and preparation, the endgame is the most neglected part of the game among amateurs. However, if you learn the most important basic endgame ideas, they will go a long way in helping you in almost every endgame position you reach. You need to know how likely the ending is a win, draw, or loss before going into it. Many of the decisions you make in the middlegame are likely to depend on your knowledge of endgame patterns. For example, should you trade queens and go into the ending, or keep the queens on the board and look for counter-play and some sort of attack? The problem with teaching endgames is that it is boring to the beginner and it must be analyzed thoroughly before proceeding. He/she wants to learn opening traps and tactics and combinations with lots of pieces on the board. But in the long run, it is the endgame that is the most exciting and the surest way to win. Beginners have a hard time understanding endgames, they don’ t see it as often, and they are not knowledgeable enough to decide what is good for them in studying endgames. Besides, when starting out, many of the early beginner games end in checkmate in the middlegame, so they do not have very much experience playing endgames. Or the student just says he never gets to any endgame, so why study it. And sometimes it is just too hard to teach someone
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endgame concepts when they are still learning not to hang pieces or fall for elementary opening traps. It is hard to convince a player to study endgames when they are focused on tactics, combinations, and opening traps, which usually boost their rating more easily than endgames they will hardly reach. Amateurs probably get into an endgame they need to know in 1 out of 50 games. Besides, tactics and opening traps are more rewarding aesthetically than endgame technique. And you will more likely get your games published if they are shorter than a much longer game won in the endgame. In the opening and middlegame, sudden tactical variations soon become possible and they often determine the outcome of the game. But if the game makes it to the endgame, you need strategic understanding to find the win (or draw). That is why a majority of chess players do not know what to do in an endgame and cannot find the best moves. Another problem is that an amateur will try to get the best endorsed endgame books available, such as those written by Dvoretsky, Mueller, Nunn, Alburt, Smyslov, or Fine/Benko. However, trying to study from these advance books is very hard. They are usually written for the chess master/advanced player and not for a beginner or low-rated amateur. They are complex, with computer aided upto-date analysis that is just too deep for the amateur. He/she will start to study a few random positions, go through reams of variations (you need at least two chess sets to go over the main moves and variations), understand almost nothing, and give up, putting the book up forever. It is very difficult to get beyond the first few chapters and a determined player must start reading an endgame book many times before absorbing any material. Chess books for beginners have the problem of being too vague and general. There is additional confusion in endgame principles that are different than opening and middlegame principles that the beginner is just learning. In the opening, it is king safety right away that is important. But in the endgame, the king must get out and become active. In the opening, pawns race to become the strongest piece on the board. In the endgame, losing a move can lead to victory. In the opening, you want all your pieces out and attacking. In the endgame, you want to trade all your pieces when you are ahead a pawn or more. In the opening, you can play on intuition and put the pieces on the squares where you think it may have the most good. In the endgame, there is no
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guessing. You have to calculate more often and deeper than ever before. In the opening, the king stays away from the center and behind the pawns. In the endgame, the king needs to be close to the action, most likely in the center of the board, and in front of his pawns. In the opening, proficiency depends on the memory of what moves are good or bad. In the endgame, proficiency depends on methodical study. Openings, such as gambits, are tactical in character. Endings are predominantly positional in character, although combinative and tactical maneuvering is possible. Openings usually follow trends and opening books can be outdated and opening variations can be busted. Endgames will not become dated. The final word is known about most endgames, and you can study endgames knowing they will never become outdated. Classic teachers such Jose Capablanca and Siegbert Tarrach always recommended studying the endgame before the opening. Their reasoning was that endgames showed the power of the pieces in its simplest form, that endgame concepts go to the heart of many other chess ideas, endgame positions are easier to grasp and recall than openings, and that endgame study keeps us focused on the ultimate goal – checkmate of the enemy king. Here are some quotes by famous masters about the endgame. “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.” - Jose Capablanca (source: Capablanca’s Best Chess Endings , by Chernev, 1978, page v) “Endgame study is an important, maybe the most important, tool in teaching kids and beginners. It will help them to learn the abilities and limitations of each piece. It will make them do their first plans and do their first calculation exercises. The studies should start from very easy and gradually increase in difficulty. Don’t underestimate the value of the simple endgame studies as they highlight the necessity not only to think ahead but also to execute a plan through a series of accurate moves that have a purpose.” - Vasily Smyslov, 1969 “You should start with the endgame instead of the opening. Studying positions of reduced complexity you can gain an early understanding of certain deep principles that would be impossible to feel in complex middlegame
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positions. Then, once we understand the principle, we can apply it to much more complex positions.” – IM Josh Waitzkin “It is a well -known phenomenon that the same amateur who can conduct the middle game quite creditably, is usually perfectly helpless in the end game. One of the principal requisites of good chess is the ability to treat both the middle and end game equally well.” - Aaron Nimzowitsch
All of the famous endgame masters such as Capablanca, Tarrasch, Smyslov, Karpov, Kramnik, and Carlsen all have a crystal-clear caliber of playing the whole game. They all almost never make mistakes. They all almost never lose games in the opening. They steer their games into an ending and win. Their deep strategic understanding from studying endgames prevents them from making mistakes. The attained this understanding while perfecting their endgame skills. In teaching endgames, it is important to know the most basic endgames and some endgame principles. You should know how to checkmate with king and queen against king, and with king and rook against king, and king and two bishops against king (king, bishop, and knight versus king is a forced win, but too difficult to be considered a basic mate – I have only seen it twice over-the-board in my lifetime). The ability to win a chess game is based on whether or not you can mate your opponent without getting into a stalemate situation or going beyond 50 moves without an exchange or pawn push. It is also good to remember that a single minor piece (bishop or knight) or two knights cannot force a checkmate against a long enemy king. The next most basic endgame is king and pawn against king. You need to know how to promote a pawn to a queen (or rook) to win. With this type of endgame, you learn about opposition, triangulation, and outflanking. In chess, just one wrong move can change the outcome of the game. In the endgame, you don’t want to make any mistakes. If you have a won endgame, you must make sure there is no stalemate (draw) or perpetual check (draw) or the 50 move rule where 50 moves were made without an exchange or pawn move, leading to a draw. In many basic endgames, a teacher need not lecture or explain in general terms what the endgame is about. You simply let the student play the endgame out, as White and as Black, and see if he/she can discover the winning (or drawing)
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method for himself/herself. The student should play the winning side first, and the teacher should play the correct defense to any mistakes. If there is no success, try again and allow the teacher to give hints when necessary. Soon, the student will learn on his own and figure out the winning (or drawing) method. Remember, many endgames are just too hard that it cannot be figured out unless you have seen the method before. Take this basic endgame, as an example, and set up the White king on e1, the White pawn on e2, and the Black king on e8. If it is White’s move, most beginners will start out the move 1.e4 (or 1.e3), which is a mistake, and leads to a draw with best play by Black (1…Ke7). Here, the student learns about opposition and the instructor demonstrates the correct method of winning by getting the White king in front of the pawn (after 1.Kd2 or 1.Kf2) and trying to gain opposition of kings. White should not move the pawn until the White king is far ahead of his pawn and has the opposition of kings (opposing each other with an odd number of unoccupied squares between the two). Play it out with the student until stalemate is reached and try again, with a better hint. The next iteration may be 1.Kd2 Ne7 2.Kd3 Ke6 3.e3? (draws – White had to play 3.Ke4 to gain opposition) 3…Kd5. From the original position, if it is Black’s move, then it is a draw (1…Kd7 2.Kd2 Kd6 3.Kd3 Kd5 and Black denies White the opposition). Now set up the White king on e5, the White pawn on e6, and the Black king on e7 and let the beginner play defense, with Black to move. Sooner or later, they will discover that 1…Ke8 is the only drawing move. 1…Kf8?? (or 1…Kd8) loses to 2.Kf6 Ke8 3.e7 Kd7 4.Kf7 and White Queens and wins. But after 1…Ke8 2.Kf6 Kf8 3.e7+ Ke8 4.Ke6 is stalemate and a draw. Black is not in check and cannot move. Black draws by getting into position that when White’s king advances, Black’s king is in position to “take the opposition” and prevent further progress. Once the above position is mastered, a more practical endgame situation can be set up. Put the White king on f2, the White pawn on e4, and the Black king on h8. Allow the student to play White, the teacher play Black and make the best defensive move. White must discover that 1.Ke3 is the only move that wins. 1.Kf3?? draws after 1…Kg7 2.Kf4 Kf6. After 1.Kf3 Kg7 2.Kd4 is the only move that wins. Black plays 2…Kf6, and then 3.Kd5 is the only move that wins. After 3…Ke7 4.Ke5 (White has the opposition) is the only move that wins. Now 4…Kd7 5.Kf6 (only move that wins) Ke8 6.Ke6 and White has the
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opposition and a winning position. The game would continue 6…Kd8 7.Kd6 (or 7.e5) 7…Ke8 8.e5 Kd8 9.e6 Ke8 10.e7 (you want to get the pawn on the 7th without checking the king, otherwise a stalemate) 10…Kf7 11.Kd7 and White will Queen the pawn. I mentioned the problem with the advanced endgame chess books. A coach is the best trainer for endgames, but beyond that, there are videos (some players learn best from videos) and chess software that specializes in endgames and don’t require much effort by the student. And don’t throw out your endgame books. Endgame study should be adapted to your playing strength. Learn the basic endgames first. Move on to simple pawn endgames. Study some more complex pawn endgames after that. Then look at simple rook and pawn endgames (rook endings are the most common endings in master play), then move on to more complex rook and pawn endgames with more pawns or more pieces that are later exchanged for a simpler endgame. Then you have complex endgames with knights and bishops, then queen endgames. But chunk it up a little bit at a time and slowly until you grasp the fundamentals and can move on. You want to learn the idea behind the endgame, not trying to memorize a lot of positions. Look for endgame books broken down for beginners, intermediate, advanced, and master level if possible. A recent concept in studying endgames is to use a chess engine. It used to be that chess computers were weak in the endgame. Not anymore. There are chess programs that have solved 7-piece endgames. If you have a chess engine (lots of free chess engines online), you can take a chess endgame problem from one of your games or a chess book, or a diagram online, and set up and display the problem in the computer board. Then play the position against the computer. Let the computer play the side that is trying to win (or draw) and try to defend against it. After a few tries and grasping the winning (or drawing line), switch sides and see if you can win or draw the position. You may also want to try different engines at different strengths so that you can react to some moves with different variations. In endgames with pieces and pawns, an extra pawn is usually a winning advantage 60% of the time. It becomes more decisive if the stronger side has a positional advantage (more space and better developed pieces). In king and pawn endings, the extra pawn is decisive over 90% of the time.
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Players need to master the basic checkmates and a few practical endgames with rook and pawn(s). They need to know them cold. Too many amateurs and intermediate players will struggle with basic checkmates and walk into stalemates that are easily avoided or waste moves when a simple path to mate is available. Although some grandmasters may say they study openings more than the endgame, don’t be fooled. They have already done their homework in studying endgames. The number of important theoretical endgames is much smaller than the field of openings and opening variations. But these top players have already mastered the endgame play and can now devote more time in the openings without fear of losing unnecessary point in the endgame during match and tournament play. Mark Dvoretsky, perhaps the best known endgame instructor among grandmasters, recommended that one should study relatively few endgame positions, the most important and most probable, but study and understand them perfectly. One should not have to remember long and perplexing analysis. The basic endgame theoretical knowledge should be easy to remember and comprehend. Study of certain endgame types can be reduced to absorbing ideas (general principles, standard methods and evaluations) rather than to memorizing precise positions. The best method of absorbing endgame ideas is to study practical games. It is also good to look at examples of grave errors committed by strong masters and grandmasters in endgame play. The examples are excellent warnings against ignoring endgame theory. Endgame study never ends. Not even for Grandmasters. The positions just get more advanced with deeper calculation needed. A Grandmaster’s greater understanding of chess is more clearly noticeable in the endgame than any other part of the game. It is not accidental that the greatest grandmasters of chess have also been the greatest masters of the endgame. That’s way the best chess player in the world, Magnus Carlsen, is the best endgame player in the world. He has made complex endings the basis of his #1 rating and his road to the World Chess Championship. And one of the world’s best blitz players, Hikaru Nakamura, can grind any player down in the endgame. When he plays blitz against other top world players, they know the openings as well as he does, play equal middlegames, but as the pieces come off the board, over and over again these
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top rated titled opponents go from dead even to dead lost. In the endgames, Nakamura and Carlsen are kings. If you are interested in the longest possible line of defense in an endgame, here are some statistics: King and two rooks vs. king: longest win is mate in 7 moves King and queen vs. king: longest win is mate in 10 moves King and rook vs. king: longest win is mate in 16 moves King and queen vs. king and bishop: longest win in 17 moves King and two bishops vs. king: longest win is mate in 19 moves King and queen vs. king and knight: longest win is mate in 21 moves King and rooks vs. king and bishop: longest win is 29 moves King, bishop, and knight vs. king: longest win is mate in 33 moves King and queen vs. king and rook: longest win is mate in 35 moves King and rook vs. king and knight: longest win is 40 moves Here is a list of the most frequent endgames, from most likely to least likely in master play: Rook vs.rook Rook & bishop vs. rook & knight Two rooks vs. two rooks Rook & bishop vs. rook and bishop (same color) Bishop vs. knight Rook & knight vs. rook & knight King and pawns vs. king (and pawns) Rook & bishop vs. rook and bishop (opposite color) Queen vs. queen Rook & bishop vs. rook Bishop vs. bishop (same color) Knight vs. knight Rook vs. bishop Rook & knight vs. rook Bishop vs. bishop (opposite color) Bishop vs. pawns Rook vs. knight
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Knight vs. pawns Queen and minor piece vs. queen Rook vs. two minor pieces Rook vs. pawns Queen vs. rook & minor pieces Rook & pawn vs. rook Rook and two pawns vs. rook Queen vs. pawns Queen vs. rook Queen vs. two rooks King and one pawn vs. king Queen vs. minor piece Queen and one pawn vs. queen Queen vs. two minor pieces Bishop & knight vs. king Queen vs. three minor pieces Also see the table of theoretical statistics for chess endgames with up to five pieces. Some endgame books that can be previewed or its entire book is on the Internet: Blake, Chess Endings for Beginners Chernev, Capablanca’s Best Chess Endings Chernev, Practical Chess Endings Cunnington, Selected Chess Endings De la Villa, 100 Endgames You Musk Know Dvoretsky, Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual Euwe & Hooper, A Guide to Chess Endings Freeborough, Analysis of the Chess Ending King and Queen Against King and Rook Freeborough, Chess Endings Freeborough, Select Chess End-Games, from Actual Play Kling & Horowitz, Chess Studies; or Endings of Games Minev, A Practical Guide to Rook Endgames Pandolfini, Pandolfini’s Chess Challenges: 111 winning endgames Pandolfini, Pandolfini’s Endgame Course Schiller, Of Kings and Pawns: Chess Strategy in the Endgame
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Van Perlo, Endgame Tactics Wiseman, Chess: The Endgame Znosko-Borovsky, How to Play Chess Endings Endgame tips The endgame is the stage of the chess game when few pieces are left on the chess board. Theoretical endgames are positions where the cor rect line of play is generally known and well-analyzed, so the solution is a matter of technique. Practical endgames are positions arising in actual games, where skillful play should transform it into a theoretical endgame position. Trade pieces, not pawns, when ahead in mate rial. Material advantage wins in endgames. Hold on to your material. Try to gain tempi whenever possible – but without giving up material. In the endgame, take your time to calculate more often and deeper than before. Endgames requires more knowledge of specific positions and patterns. Get your king close to the action and in front of your pawns is possible. Endgames favor an aggressive king. Cut the enemy king off from the action when you can. It is usually a good idea to trade down into a pawn up endgame. As pawns advance, they get more difficult to protect. Try to kee p pawns connected. The fewer the pieces, the more important are pawns. Advance your good pawns to increase your chances of creating a passed pawn (a passed pawn is one which does not have an opposing pawn on its file or adjacent files on its way to promotion on the 8th rank). If you have an advantage, try to leave pawns on both sides of the board. Endings with pawns on both sides of the board are much easier to win. In king and pawn endings, it is vital to understand opposition and distant opposition. When two kings are in opposition, they are on the same rank or file, with an empty square separating them. The player having the move loses the opposition. Have a flexible and sound pawn formation. Avoid doubled, isolated, and blockaded pawns. Passed pawns must be pushed. The outside passed pawn is an advantage. In K+P endgames it is usually a decisive advantage. Connected passed pawns are usually best if pushed together. Connected passed pawns on the 6 th rank beat a rook. If two connected passed pawns reach their sixth rank, they are generally as powerful as a rook. Wing pawns are often more valuable then center pawns as they are easier to queen. With rook pawns, the bishop must be of t he same color as the queening square. Rook pawns with the bishop not covering the queening square draws. In endgames with pieces and pawns, an extra pawn is a winning advantage in 50-60% of the cases. In king and pawn endings, an extra pawn is decisive in more than 90% of the cases. When all of the pawns are on the same side of the board, the stronger side should try to ex change pawns to try to create a passed pawn. It is usually better for the player with more pawns to avoid too many pawn ex changes, because winning chances are reduced if too few pawns remain. A knight works better with a bishop than another knight.
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The knight is the best piece to block a passed pawn, followed by the bishop. The knight is superior to the bishop in blocked positions or when the bishop is hemmed in by pawns on the same color squares as the bishop. Knights are short range pieces and are unable to stop pawns from afar. Two knights cannot force checkmate against a lone king, but if the weaker side also has a pawn, checkmate is sometimes possible. A knight and pawn versus knight is generally a draw, since the lone knight can be sacrificed for the pawn. A knight and pawn versus bishop is a draw if the defending king is in front of the pawn or sufficiently near. The bishop is kept on a diagonal that the pawn must cross and the knight cannot both block the bishop and drive the defending king away. A knight can draw against three connected pawns if none are beyond the fourth rank.
If you only have one bishop, put your pawns on its opposite color. Bishops are worth more that knights ex cept when they are pinned in. If you have one bishop, put your pawns on the opposite color squares. Two bishops, plus their king, can easily checkmate a lone enemy king, provided that the bishops move on opposite color squares. A bad bishop is one that is hemmed in by pawns of its own color, and has the burden of defending them. For bishop and pawn versus bishop of the same color, t he game is a draw if the defending king can reach any square in front of the pawn that is opposite in color to the squares the bishop travel on. For bishop and pawn versus bishop of the same color, if the defending king is behind the pawn and the attacking king is near the pawn, the defender can draw only if his king is attacking the pawn, he has the opposition, and his bishop can move on two diagonals that each have at least two squares available (other than the square it is on). For bishop and pawn versus bishop of the same color, a knight pawn always wins if the defending bishop only has one long diagonal available. Bishops of opposite colors have the greatest chance of drawing. These endgames are often drawn even when one side has a two-pawn advantage, since the weaker side can create a blockade on the squares which his bishop operates on. A pair of bishops is stronger than a pair of knights. Bishops are better than knights in about 60% of the time in the endgame. The more symmetrical the pawn structure, the better it is for the knight. A bishop and a knight, plus their king, c an checkmate a lone enemy king, although the checkmate procedure may take up to 33 moves with correct play. For bishop versus knight endings, with pawns, if the mate rial is even, the position should be drawn. For bishop versus knight endings, with pawns, when most of the pawns are on the same color as the bishop, the knight is better. A bishop and pawn versus knight is a draw if the defending king is in front of the pawn of sufficiently close. The defending king can occupy a square in front of the pawn of the opposite color as the bishop and cannot be driven away. Three connected pawns win against a bishop if t hey all get past the fourth rank. Two bishops versus a knight wins for the bishops, but it takes up to 66 moves. A minor piece (bishop or knight) versus one or two pawns is normally a draw, unless the pawns are advanced. Three pawns are often enough to win against a minor piece.
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Put your rooks behind passed pawns, whether one’s own o r the opponent’s (the Tarrasch rule). In an ending of a rook and pawn versus a rook, if the pawn is not too far advanced, the best place for the opposing rook is in front of the pawn. Study rook and pawn endgames. They are the most frequent endgames. A rook on the 7th rank is worth a pawn. When both sides have a pair of rooks, the player with more pawns has better winning chances if the pair of rooks is not exchanged. Rook and pawn endgames are often drawn, despite an extra pawn or two. Rook and pawn endgames occur in about 10% of all games. When both sides have two rooks and pawns, the stronger side usually has more winning chances than if each had only one rook. The rook and pawn versus rook is the most common of the “piece and pawn versus pieces” e ndgames. In rook and pawn versus rook, in gener al, if the weaker side’s king can get to the queening square of the pawn, the game is a draw; otherwise it is a win. In rook and pawn versus rook, if the attacking rook is two files from the pawn and the defending king is cut off on the other side, the attacker normally wins. A rook and pawn versus a minor piece is normally a win for the rook. For a rook and pawn versus a minor piece ending, if the pawn is on the 6th rank and is a bishop pawn or rook pawn, and the bishop does not control the pawn’s promotion square, the position is a draw. In a rook versus minor piece and three pawns ending, it is a win for the minor piece side. In a rook versus two minor pieces and a pawn ending, it is a win for the minor piece side. In rook versus pawn, it the rook’s king is not near, the game is drawn. In rook versus two pawns, it the rook’s king is not near, the game is won by the side with the pawns. If the rook’s king is near, the rook wins over one or two pawns. If the rook’s king is near, the rook draws against three pawns. If the rook’s king is near, the rook loses to four or more pawns. A rook and bishop versus rook should draw. The queen and pawn versus queen endgame is t he second most common of the “piece and pawn v ersus piece” endgame. A queen and knights are usually stronger that a queen and bishop. A queen versus two rooks is normally drawn. A queen versus a rook normally wins for the queen side. A queen versus rook and minor piece is normally drawn. A rook and bishop plus two pawns win over a queen. A queen versus rook with two connected pawns is usually a draw. In queen versus two bishops, the queen wins, but it could take up to 71 moves to force a win. A queen versus two knights is ge nerally a draw. Queen and bishop versus two rooks wins for the queen and bishop side, but it takes up to 84 moves. Endgame References By Bill Wall
Here is a reference list of endgame books and sources.
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Alburt & Krogius, Just the Facts! Winning Endgame Knowledge, 2000 Angos, You Move…I win!: A Lesson in Zugzwang, 2005 Aplin & Karolyi, Endgame Virtuoso Anatoly Karpov, 2007 Avchaloumov, Fischer’s Endings, 1992 Averbakh, Bishop Endings, 1977 Averbakh, Bishop v. Knight Endings, 1976 Averbakh, Chess Endgames - Pawns Averbakh, Chess Endgames – Queens, 1982 Averbakh, Chess Endgames – Rooks Averbakh, Chess Endings – Essential Knowledge, 1999 Averbakh, Comprehensive Chess Endings, vol 1- Bishop & Knight Endings, 1983 Averbakh, Comprehensive Chess Endings, vol 2 – Bishop vs Knight, Rook vs Minor Piece, 1985 Averbakh, Comprehensive Chess Endings, vol 3 – Queen Endings Averbakh, Comprehensive Chess Endings, vol 4 – Pawn Endings, 1987 Averbakh, Comprehensive Chess Endings, vol 5 – Rook Endings, 1987 Averbakh, Queen & Pawn Endings, 1975 Averbakh, Queen vs Rook/Mino Piece Endings, 1978 Averbakh, Rook vs Minor Piece Endings, 1978 Averbakh, What is Necessary to be known in the Endgame, 1960 Averbakh & Chekhover, Knight Endings, 1977 Averbakh & Maizelis, Pawn Endings, 1973 Averbakh & Chekhover & Henkin, Queen vs Rook-Minor Piece Endings Balashov & Prandstetter, Basic Endgames, 1992 Beasley, Truth and Beauty – The Chess Endgame Studies of Ar thur Mandler, 2003 Beasley & Whitworth, Endgame Magic, 1966 Beliavsky & Mikhalchishin, Winning Endgame Strategy, 2000 Beliavsky & Mikhalchishin, Winning Endgame Technique, 1996 Benko, Pal Benko’s Endgame Laboratory, 2007 Benko & Fine, Basic Chess Endings, 2003 Berger, Theory and Practice of the Endgame, 1891 and 1922 and 1933 Blake, Chess Endings for Beginners, 1902 Bonderenko, Evolution of the Endgame Study, 1982 Bonderenko, Structure of the Endgame Study, 1980 Bonderenko, Triumph of the Soviet Endgame Study, 1984 Botvinnik, Botvinnik on the Endgame, 1985 Chernev, 200 Brilliant Endgames, 1989 Chernev, Capablanca’s Best Chess Endings, 1978 Chernev, Chessboard Magic! – 160 Endings, 1960 Cheron, Lehr- und Handbuch der Endspiel, 1952 (4 v olumes) Cheron, Traite Complet d’Echecs Cheron, Nouveau Traite Complet d’Echecs Chess Café, Endgame Corner Chess Café, Endgame Study Chess Digest, Unusual Endings, 1980 Chess Informant, 2611 Chess Endings, Chess Informant 5 -110 Chess Informant, Classification of Che ss Endings – Capablanca and Fischer, 1978 Chess Informant, Encyclopedia of Chess Endings – Minor Piece, 1993 Chess Informant, Encyclopedia of Chess Endings – Pawn Endings, 1982 and 2012
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