Did those songs you were hearing end? Would you like to hear them again?

The final stage of a chess game is known as the endgame (there are creative minds at work here). The queens have usually been exchanged and the pawns try to make all their hopes and dreams of becoming a queen come true.

The king reigns supreme in this phase of the chess game because there are few pieces left on the board which pose threat to him. The player which mobilizes his king the quickest can usually make short work of his opponent.

Make no mistake about it, however. Though there are few pieces left on the board this is quite a difficult phase of the game to master. Many complex themes are at work that will require some study if you wish your king to reign supreme in the endgame.

When Does the Endgame Begin?

A good question indeed if you wish to play it correctly! However, the answer is not an easy one. The endgame begins when materials on the board becomes scarce, sometimes only pawns remain. The endgame usually is marked by a trade of queens, though this is not always the case. Once the queens have been removed from the board, you can make use of your king by centralizing, immune to the fear you once had of the enemy queen. For the most part, you can tell if the endgame has begun in one of the following ways:

1. Enough material has been removed from the board that your king can be centralized without worry of attack from enemy pieces.
2. Either you or your opponent must promote a pawn in order to achieve mate.
3. Only minor pieces and pawns remain on the board (though this is not always the case, which we'll discuss).

The King Finally Sees Some Action!

Right off the starting block you typically keep your king well protected (... at least you should), usually accomplished through castling your king and hiding him behind a row of pawns. Throughout the middlegame the king stays buried in this position and hardly ever moves, unless forced to do so (usually a bad sign). However, in the endgame, those pieces which the king feared in the middlegame are no longer and he can roam the board free, immune to attack. This is a very important principle of the endgame.

Once the endgame begins, you must mobilize your king and use him like you would any other piece.

If you mobilize your king while your opponent does not, you have an agressive fighting piece to his pathetic piece of wood in the corner and should have a large advantage.

The Pawn Rules the Endgame (What a Change!)

The lowly pawn that is mocked by the other pieces' leaps and bounds to each side of the board while it slowly pushes on finally gets a chance to show it's worthy! As the other pieces laugh it the pawns' faces they march down the board, ever hoping to promote themselves and move to the top of the ranks as queens!

By the endgame, you'll probably have a few pawns which can reach the 8th rank unobstructed by enemy pawns. Such pawns are universally known as passed pawns. These queens-to-be are the major theme of most endgames. Sometimes a player is required to promote a pawn before they will be able to mate the enemy king. In the endgame you must make use of your passed pawns and attempt to promote them at all costs while at the same time assuring that your opponent doesn't do the same. It's a race of the footmen!

Later on, we will take a look at the passed pawn and its creation as well as how to take full advantage of your passed pawn, once you have one (or several).

The Opposition (Sorry, I Couldn't Think of a Witty Title)

Perhaps the best way to take a look at the promotion of a pawn is to look at the simplest possible position involving a passed pawn. This position would be one in which either side has a king and a pawn while the other has only a king. For simplicity's sake, white will always have the advantage in the positions which follow. Therefore, since black does not have any pawns which hinder the movement of white's pawn, the pawn is known as passed.

First, we must know that in order for white to win the game, he must capture control of the queening square, e8.

In order to understand how white is able to promote his pawn and, in turn, win the game with his queen (an ending which we will discuss later), we must understand a concept known as the Opposition. The Opposition is a technique involving the kings in which one king commands over the other king based on whose turn it is to move.

The tactical theme which this concept makes use of is based on the fact that kings can never move side by side due to the rule that kings cannot move into check. This means that if the kings face each other, the king whose turn it is to move is weaker than the other king:

If it is white to move then black has the opposition in the position above because black control the three squares marked by dots (the name is derived from the fact that the kings are said to be opposed when they face each other and only one square separates them). White is oblidged to move out of the way and black is permitted to make progress down the board (the basis of a technique known as outflanking which we will also discuss).

This means that whoever has the opposition is at an advantage. In endings such as the king and pawn ending above, if white is able to capture the opposition, his pawn will queen, as we'll look at, while if black is able to snag the opposition, the game will end in a draw because white cannot gain control of the queening square. Therefore, white's plan to winning this game is to capture the opposition, use it to obtain control of the e8 square and then force the promotion of the pawn. In order for us to accomplish, it's time we take a look at how the opposition is taken and exploited.

The position above shows an example of direct opposition, the easiest to understand because the stronger king is defined on the move. The opposition can be taken by moving your king so that it opposes the enemy king. Simple enough, but what happens if the kings are several squares apart?

In positions like these, you must take the distant opposition (how appropriately named ;). As a general rule, whoever has the privilege of moving has the opposition if there is an equal number of squares separating the kings. If there is an odd number, the opponent has the opposition. Therefore, in the above position, with white to move, we know that white has the opposition and thus an advantage. To prove this let us take a hypothetical variation: 1. Kc2 Kc7 2. Kc3 Kc6 3. Kc4. It now becomes clear that white has the opposition and black will be oblidged to give ground.

The same applies for diagonals. One square equates to a general opposition case while several diagonal squares between equates to the distant opposition. However, what happens when the kings to not lie in a straight line or diagonal? In these positions apply this simple rule:

Move your king so that if you were to imagine a square surrounding both kings, all the corners of the square would be the same colour.

Let's take a look at an example to clarify:

In this position, with white to move, white can snag the desired opposition with the move 1. Kd3 (or 1. Kf3, taking the direct opposition, but this moves the king further away from the enemy counterpart which is usually undesired). This means all the squares surrounded by our imaginary square are white:

Notice that on black's move he is unable to move to a square where the imaginary square's corners are all the same colour. This means that black is unable to take the opposition. To prove to yourself that white does indeed possess the opposition, play around with the position on a chess board to determine if black can steal it back. Remember the rules of taking the opposition that we have discussed so far.

Now, with all of this information that has been thrown at you, it's time to head back to our king-pawn endgame. How is white able to take the opposition and win the game? The answer is 1. Ke3. Black is forced to give up some ground and the pawn comes that much closer to queening.

Black plays 1. ... Kc5 (or 1. ... Ke5 with the same results). 2. Ke4 Kd6 3. Kd4 (continuing to steal the opposition). 3. ... Kc6 4. Ke5 Kd7 5. Kd5 Kc7 6. Ke6 Ke8. At this point white must be careful not to over-extend his king so that his pawn, way back on the 2nd rank is not undefended and gobbled up by the hungry black king. The correct move is therefore 7. d4. Notice how black can now take the opposition with 7. ... Ke8. This is true, however, white can gain it back with a move of his pawn: 8. d5 Kd8 9. Kd6 Kc8 10. Ke7. And now white's plan has been executed; control of the queening square has been obtained and the queening of the pawn is unstoppable. I strongly suggest that you run through this sequence many many times to help you to understand the underlying themes of opposition and taking it. Eventually your hands should move the pieces before you even think about it; the position will become reflex.

Note that if it were black to move he could take the opposition and continue retaking it until the pawn reached the 7th rank at which point we would arrive at this position (or something similar):

With black to move ... 1. ... Kd8 and white is forced to either part with his pawn or play a stalemate with 2. Kd6.

Just a quick word on an exception to the rule of opposition. That being with a rook pawn (on a- or h-file). In these position, whoever has the opposition, black can force a draw in one of two ways.

1. Fleeing to the queening square where he cannot be forced out.
2. Forcing the white king to the queening square and gaining to opposition. This means white's own king will block the promotion of the pawn.

Some Endgames You May Want to Know (They Will Come in Handy)

It's time to look at some specific endgames which may occur in your own games and how to win them. The first is one which would be brought about if you had a king and pawn and were able to promote the pawn to a queen. Now you have a king and queen to mate a lone king. How are you going to accomplish this?

The secret to mating a king with only a queen is to limit the area that the king can travel in using the queen:

Notice how black's king cannot move out of the imaginary box which extends from the queen because this area is influenced by the king. This is the key to mating him. First, you drive the king into the corner, contricting him to but two squares for him to travel back and froth between (beware you don't give stalemate by constricting too much!) and then truck your king over to the corner and mate him. This is the plan which we wish to execute.

... Sorry to leave you hanging but I'm tired! More on this next update!

lucky individuals have learned how to play better chess since this page hit the web on 06/28/97.