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Essential Chess Endgames

Many games between new players are decided long after one side has won material, because the winning side doesn't know how to finish. A queen up becomes a draw by stalemate; a pawn up becomes a draw because the king arrives one move too late. The endgames in this guide come up again and again, and each one takes only a few minutes to learn. Once you know them, you'll also know which trades to make in the middlegame, because you'll know which endings are won.

The king becomes a fighting piece

In the opening and middlegame the king hides. In the endgame, with queens off the board, it is too valuable to leave on the side: a king is worth roughly a minor piece in the fight. The first rule of endgames is simple — bring your king towards the centre and the pawns as soon as the danger of mate has gone.

Checkmate with king and queen

The queen alone can't mate; she needs her king. The method is to use the queen to shrink the box the enemy king lives in, a knight's move away from it, until the king is on the edge of the board. Then bring your own king up and deliver mate.

Checkmate: the queen on b7 is protected by the king and covers every escape square.♚︎♛︎♚︎a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1
Checkmate: the queen on b7 is protected by the king and covers every escape square.
Stalemate! Black to move is not in check but has no legal move. This is the most common way to throw away a won game.♚︎♛︎♚︎a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1
Stalemate! Black to move is not in check but has no legal move. This is the most common way to throw away a won game.

The difference between the two diagrams is a single square. When the enemy king is on the edge with only one or two squares left, slow down: before each queen move, check that the king still has a move — or that your move is check.

Checkmate with king and rook

The rook mate works the same way but takes longer. Use the rook to cut the king off along a rank or file, bring your king to face the enemy king (the kings stand opposite each other with one square in between), and then give check along the edge.

Ra8# — the white king covers d7, e7 and f7, and the rook covers the whole back rank.♚︎♚︎♜︎a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1
Ra8# — the white king covers d7, e7 and f7, and the rook covers the whole back rank.

If the enemy king steps away from facing your king, don't chase it with checks. Make a quiet "waiting" move with the rook along the cut-off line, and the king will be forced back into position.

King and pawn endings

With only kings and pawns left, every tempo counts. Two ideas decide most of these endings: the rule of the square and the opposition.

The rule of the square

Can the defending king catch a passed pawn on its own? Draw an imaginary square from the pawn to its promotion rank, with the same width as height. If the defending king is inside the square — or can step into it with its move — it catches the pawn. If not, the pawn queens.

The square of the c4 pawn is c4–g4–g8–c8. With Black to move, …Kg5 enters it and the king catches the pawn. With White to move, c5 shrinks the square and the pawn can't be stopped.♚︎♟︎♚︎a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1
The square of the c4 pawn is c4–g4–g8–c8. With Black to move, …Kg5 enters it and the king catches the pawn. With White to move, c5 shrinks the square and the pawn can't be stopped.

Remember that a pawn on its starting square can move two squares at once, so for a pawn on the second rank, draw the square as if it were already on the third.

The opposition

When two kings stand on the same file with one square between them, the side that has just moved "has the opposition" — the other king must give way. In king and pawn endings, this often decides whether the pawn promotes.

White to move: this is a draw, because any king move lets Black take the opposition. Black to move: White wins, because the black king must step aside and the white king reaches the key square e6 or d6/f6.♚︎♚︎♟︎a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1
White to move: this is a draw, because any king move lets Black take the opposition. Black to move: White wins, because the black king must step aside and the white king reaches the key square e6 or d6/f6.

The practical rule for the attacker: get your king in front of the pawn, not behind it. For the defender: keep your king directly in front of the pawn and, when the attacking king approaches, step into the opposition.

A king on the sixth rank in front of its pawn wins whoever is to move (except with a rook's pawn on the a- or h-file). For example, 1.Kd6 Kd8 2.e6 Ke8 3.e7 Kf7 4.Kd7 and the pawn queens.♚︎♚︎♟︎a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1
A king on the sixth rank in front of its pawn wins whoever is to move (except with a rook's pawn on the a- or h-file). For example, 1.Kd6 Kd8 2.e6 Ke8 3.e7 Kf7 4.Kd7 and the pawn queens.

Rook endings: the Philidor defence

Rook endings are the most common endings in chess, and the most important one to know is how to hold a draw a pawn down. In the Philidor position, the defending king stands on the pawn's promotion square and the defending rook guards the third rank from its own side (the sixth rank for Black), keeping the attacking king out.

Black holds by keeping the rook on the sixth rank. The white king can't step onto the sixth rank. If White pushes e6, the rook drops to the first rank and checks from behind — the white king has nowhere to hide.♚︎♜︎♜︎♟︎♚︎a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1
Black holds by keeping the rook on the sixth rank. The white king can't step onto the sixth rank. If White pushes e6, the rook drops to the first rank and checks from behind — the white king has nowhere to hide.

The whole defence is two moves long in your memory: rook on the third rank until the pawn advances, then rook to the back and check from behind. Beginners often lose these positions by putting the rook passively on their own back rank from the start, which lets the attacking king walk up to the sixth rank.

Three rules of thumb for rook endings

  • Rooks belong behind passed pawns — behind your own to push them, behind your opponent's to stop them.
  • An active rook is worth a pawn. A rook that attacks is often better than one that passively guards.
  • Cut the king off. A king kept one or two files away from a passed pawn can't help defend it.

How to practise

Set up these positions against the bot and play them out from both sides until the technique is automatic. Endgame knowledge also changes your middlegame decisions: when you know that king and pawn endings are decided by the opposition, you'll know when trading into one wins and when it only draws.

Play chess against the bot

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