Endgame
Encyclopedia
In chess
and chess-like games, the endgame (or end game or ending) is the stage of the game when there are few piece
s left on the board.
The line between middlegame and endgame is often not clear, and may occur gradually or with the quick exchange
of a few pairs of pieces. The endgame, however, tends to have different characteristics from the middlegame, and the players have correspondingly different strategic concerns. In particular, pawn
s become more important; endgames often revolve around attempting to promote
a pawn by advancing it to the eighth rank. The king
, which has to be protected in the middlegame owing to the threat of checkmate
, becomes a strong piece in the endgame. It can be brought to the center of the board and be a useful attacking piece.
Many of the greatest players throughout history have considered the endgame to be of paramount importance because endgame theory is finite. Whereas chess opening theory changes frequently, giving way to middlegame positions that fall in and out of popularity, endgame theory always remains constant.
Many people have composed endgame studies
, endgame positions which are solved by finding a win for White when there is no obvious way of winning, or a draw
when it seems White must lose.
Usually in the endgame, the stronger side should try to exchange pieces (knights
, bishops
, rooks
, and queens
), while avoiding the exchange of pawns. This generally makes it easier for him to convert his advantage into a won game. The defending side should strive for the opposite.
Endgames can be classified according to the type of pieces that remain. Some common types of endgames are discussed below.
This article generally does not consider studies.
said "We cannot define when the middle game ends and the end-game starts" . With the usual system for chess piece relative value, Speelman considers that endgames are positions in which each player has thirteen or fewer points in material (not counting the king
). Alternatively, an endgame is a position in which the king can be used actively, but there are some famous exceptions to that . Minev characterizes endgames as positions having four or fewer pieces other than kings and pawns . Some authors consider endgames to be positions without queens (e.g. Fine, 1952) while others consider a position to be an endgame when each player has less than a queen
plus rook
in material. Flear considers an endgame to be where each player has at most one piece (other than kings and pawns) and positions with more material where each player has at most two pieces to be "Not Quite an Endgame" (NQE), pronounced "nuckie" .
Alburt and Krogius give three characteristics of an endgame:
Some problem composers consider that the endgame starts when the player who is about to move can force a win or a draw against any variation of moves .
Mednis
and Crouch address the question of what constitutes an endgame negatively. The game is still in the middlegame if middlegame elements still describe the position. The game is not in the endgame if these apply:
.
In the endgame, it is better for the player with more pawns to avoid too many pawn exchanges, because they should be won for nothing. Also, endings with pawns on both sides of the board are much easier to win. A king and pawn endgame with an outside passed pawn should be a far easier win than a middlegame a rook ahead.
With the recent growth of computer chess
, an interesting development has been the creation of endgame databases which are tables of stored positions calculated by retrograde analysis (such a database is called an endgame tablebase
). A program which incorporates knowledge from such a database is able to play perfect chess on reaching any position in the database.
Max Euwe
and Walter Meiden give these five generalizations:
the opposing king, with the pieces working together with their king. In conjunction with its king, a queen or a rook can easily checkmate
a lone king, but a single minor piece (a bishop
or knight
) cannot. See Wikibooks - Chess/The Endgame for a demonstration of these two checkmates. Two bishops (plus their king) can easily checkmate a lone king, provided that the bishops move on opposite color squares. (Two or more bishops on the same color can not checkmate.) A bishop and knight (plus their king) can also checkmate a lone king, although the checkmate procedure
is long (up to 33 moves with correct play) and is difficult for a player who does not know the correct technique.
Two knights cannot force checkmate against a lone king (see Two knights endgame), but if the weaker side also has a pawn, checkmate is sometimes possible, because positions which would be stalemate
without the pawn are not stalemate with the additional pawn. If the pawn is blocked by a knight on or behind the Troitzky line, the knights have a long theoretical win. There are some other positions when the pawn is past the Troitzky line in which the knights can force checkmate, but the procedure is long and difficult. In either case, in competition the fifty-move rule will often result in the game being drawn first. (While there is a board position that allows two knights to checkmate a lone king, such requires a careless move by the weaker side to execute; he cannot be driven into the corner.)
and pawns
on one or both sides. International Master Cecil Purdy
said "Pawn endings are to chess as putting is to golf." Any endgame with pieces and pawns has the possibility of simplifying into a pawn ending .
In king and pawn endings, an extra pawn is decisive in more than 90 percent of the cases . Getting a passed pawn
is crucial (a passed pawn is one which does not have an opposing pawn on its file or on adjacent files on its way to promotion). Nimzovich
once said that a passed pawn has a "lust to expand". An outside passed pawn is particularly deadly. The point of this is a decoy – while the defending king is preventing it from queening, the attacking king wins pawns on the other side.
Opposition
is an important technique that is used to gain an advantage. When two kings are in opposition, they are on the same file (or rank) with an empty square separating them. The player having the move loses the opposition. He must move his king and allow the opponent's king to advance. Note however that the opposition is a means to an end, which is penetration into the enemy position. If the attacker can penetrate without the opposition, he should do so. The tactics of triangulation
and zugzwang
as well as the theory of corresponding squares
are often decisive.
to a queen or rook, and checkmate can be achieved. A rook pawn is an exception because the king may not be able to get out of the way of its pawn.
Unlike most positions, king and pawn endgames can usually be analyzed to a definite conclusion, given enough skill and time. An error in a king and pawn endgame almost always turns a win into a draw or a draw into a loss – there is little chance for recovery. Accuracy is most important in these endgames. There are three fundamental ideas in these endgames: opposition
, triangulation
, and the Réti manoeuvre
.
and pawn endgames feature clever maneuvering by the knights to capture opponent pawns. While a knight is poor at chasing a passed pawn, it is the ideal piece to block a passed pawn. Knights cannot lose a tempo
, so knight and pawn endgames have much in common with king and pawn endgames. As a result, Mikhail Botvinnik
stated that “a knight ending is really a pawn ending.”
An outside passed pawn can outweigh a protected passed
central pawn, unlike king and pawn endgames. A knight blockading a protected passed pawn attacks the protector, while the knight blockading an outside passed pawn is somewhat out of action.
and wins. In this position, White to move wins: 1. b6 Nb7! 2. Ne6! Na5 3. Kc8! N-any 4. Nc7#. Black to move draws starting with 1... Nc4 because White cannot gain a tempo
.
and pawn endgames come in two distinctly different variants. If the opposing bishops go on the same color of square, the mobility of the bishops is a crucial factor. A bad bishop is one that is hemmed in by pawns of its own color, and has the burden of defending them.
The diagram on the right, from Molnar-Nagy, Hungary 1966, illustrates the concepts of good bishop versus bad bishop, opposition, zugzwang
, and outside passed pawn. White wins with 1.e6! (vacating e5 for his king) Bxe6 2.Bc2! Bf7 3.Be4! Be8 4.Ke5! Seizing the opposition (i.e. the kings are two orthogonal squares apart, with the other player on move) and placing Black in zugzwang—he must either move his king, allowing White's king to penetrate, or his bishop, allowing a decisive incursion by White's bishop. 4...Bd7 5.Bxg6!
The position in the second diagram shows a winning position for White, although it requires accurate play. A knight pawn always wins if the defending bishop only has one long diagonal available .
This position was reached in a game from the 1965 Candidates Tournament
between Lajos Portisch
and former World Champion Mikhail Tal
. White must defend accurately and utilize reciprocal zugzwang. Often he has only one or two moves that avoid a losing position. Black was unable to make any progress and the game was drawn on move 83 .
.
is that bishops are better than knights about 60 percent of the time, in the middlegame and endgame. The more symmetrical the pawns are (i.e. Black's pawns are on the same files as White's pawns), the better it is for the knight. The knight is best suited at an outpost in the center whereas the bishop is strongest when it can attack targets on both sides of the board or a series of squares of the same color .
Fine and Benko give four conclusions:
Three rules of thumb regarding rooks are worth noting:
An important winning position in the rook and pawn versus rook endgame is the so-called Lucena position
. If the side with the pawn can reach the Lucena position, he wins. However, there are several important drawing techniques such as the Philidor position
, the back rank defense (rook on the first rank, for rook pawns and knight pawns only), the frontal defense, and the short side defense. A general rule is that if the weaker side's king can get to the queening square of the pawn, the game is a draw and otherwise it is a win, but there are many exceptions.
), otherwise the attacker usually wins (if it is not a rook pawn) (see Lucena position
) . The winning procedure can be very difficult and some positions require up to sixty moves to win . 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 (with a few exceptions) . The rook and pawn versus rook is the most common of the "piece and pawn versus piece" endgames .
The most difficult case of a rook and pawn versus a rook is when the attacking rook is one file over from the pawn and the defending king is cut off on the other side. Siegbert Tarrasch
gave the following rules for this case: "For a player defending against a pawn on the fifth or even sixth ranks to obtain a draw, even after his king has been forced off the queening square, the following conditions must obtain: The file on which the pawn stands divides the board into two unequal parts. The defending rook must stand in the longer part and give checks from the flank at the greatest possible distance from the attacking king. Nothing less than a distance of three files makes it possible for the rook to keep on giving check. Otherwise it would ultimately be attacked by the king. The defending king must stand on the smaller part of the board." See the short side defense at Rook and pawn versus rook endgame.
The context of this quote shows it is a comment on the fact that a small advantage in a rook and pawn endgame is less likely to be converted into a win. Mark Dvoretsky
said that the statement is "semi-joking, semi-serious" . This quotation has variously been attributed to Savielly Tartakower
and to Siegbert Tarrasch
. Writers Victor Korchnoi , John Emms , and James Howell attribute the quote to Tartakower, whereas Dvoretsky , Andy Soltis
, Karsten Müller
,, and Kaufeld & Kern attribute it to Tarrasch. John Watson
attributed to Tarrasch "by legend" and says that statistics do not support the statement . Benko
wonders if it was due to Vasily Smyslov
. Attributing the quote to Tarrasch may be a result of confusion between this quote and the Tarrasch rule
concerning rooks. The source of the quote is currently unresolved. Benko noted that although the saying is usually said with tongue in cheek, it is truer in practice than one might think .
and pawn endings, passed pawns have paramount importance, because the queen can escort it to the queening square alone. The advancement of the passed pawn outweighs the number of pawns. The defender must resort to perpetual check
. These endings are frequently extremely long affairs. For an example of a Queen and pawn endgame see Kasparov versus the World
– Kasparov won although he had fewer pawns because his was more advanced. For the ending with a queen versus a pawn, see Queen versus pawn endgame.
s . This combination is a win less frequently than the equivalent ending with rooks.
If both sides have pawns, the result essentially depends on how many pawns the minor piece has for the exchange:
is important. The two pieces have the advantage if the opponent's pawns are weak. Initiative
is more important in this endgame than any other. The general outcome can be broken down by the number of pawns.
draw, but the defense is difficult and there are winning positions (see rook and bishop versus rook endgame).
However, with rooks on the board, the bishop often outweighs the pawns. This is because the bishop defends against enemy rook attacks, while the bishop's own rook attacks enemy pawns and reduces the enemy rook to passivity. This relates to Rule 2 with rooks (above).
A bishop is usually worth more than a knight. A bishop is especially valuable when there are pawns on both wings of the board, since it can intercept them quickly.
s have made some minor corrections to historical endgame analysis, but they have made some more significant changes to endgame theory too. (The fifty-move rule is not taken into account in these studies.) Major changes to endgame theory as a result of tablebases include :
It should be noted that such endgames do not necessarily represent strictly optimal play from both sides, as Black may delay checkmate by allowing an earlier conversion or White may accelerate it by delaying a conversion (or not making one at all). For example, for the earlier position found by Stiller, if Black plays to delay conversion as long as possible and White plays to convert as soon as possible, White captures a knight on the 243rd move and checkmates on the 246th move. However, if Black and White play, respectively, to maximize and minimize the distance to checkmate, White captures the first knight on the 242nd move, but only checkmates on move 262. Since space limitations make the computation of seven-man tablebases using the distance-to-mate metric impractical, the six-man position discovered by Stiller continues to be the longest forced checkmate discovered by computer (although longer forced checkmates have been constructed).
The fifty-move rule is ignored in the calculation of these results and lengths.
For example, if White has a king and pawn, and Black has only a king, the endgame is classified KPK. If White has bishop and knight, and Black has a rook, the endgame is classified KBNKR. Note that KNBKR would be incorrect; bishops come before knights.
In positions with two or more bishops on the board, a "bishop signature" may be added to clarify the relationship between the bishops. Two methods have been used. The informal method is to designate one color of squares as "x" and the other color as "y". An endgame of KBPKB can be written KBPKB x-y if the bishops are opposite-colored, or KBPKB x-x if the bishops are same-colored. The more formal method is to use a four digit suffix of the form abcd:
Thus, the aforementioned endgame can be written KBPKB_1001 for opposite-color bishops, and KBPKB_1010 for same-color bishops.
GBR code
is an alternative method of endgame classification.
The Encyclopedia of Chess Endings had a different classification scheme, somewhat similar to the ECO codes
, but it is not widely used. The full system is a 53-page index that was contained in the book The Best Endings of Capablanca and Fischer. The code starts with a letter representing the most powerful piece on the board, not counting kings. The order is queen, rook, bishop, knight, and then pawn. (Figurines are used to stand for the pieces.) Each of these has up to 100 subclassifications, for instance R00 through R99. The first digit is a code for the pieces. For instance, R0 contains all endgames with a rook versus pawns and a rook versus a lone king, R8 contains the double rook endgames, and R9 contains the endings with more than four pieces. The second digit is a classification for the number of pawns. For instance, R30 contains endgames with a rook versus a rook without pawns or with one pawn and R38 are rook versus rook endings in which one player has two extra pawns.
Endgame topics
Specific endgames
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
and chess-like games, the endgame (or end game or ending) is the stage of the game when there are few piece
Chess piece
Chess pieces or chessmen are the pieces deployed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. The pieces vary in abilities, giving them different values in the game...
s left on the board.
The line between middlegame and endgame is often not clear, and may occur gradually or with the quick exchange
Exchange (chess)
In the tactics and strategy in the board game of chess, an exchange or trade of chess pieces is series of closely related moves, typically sequential, in which the two players capture each others pieces. Any types of pieces except the kings may possibly be exchanged, i. e. captured in an...
of a few pairs of pieces. The endgame, however, tends to have different characteristics from the middlegame, and the players have correspondingly different strategic concerns. In particular, pawn
Pawn (chess)
The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...
s become more important; endgames often revolve around attempting to promote
Promotion (chess)
Promotion is a chess rule describing the transformation of a pawn that reaches its eighth rank into the player's choice of a queen, knight, rook, or bishop of the same color . The new piece replaces the pawn on the same square and is part of the move. Promotion is not limited to pieces that have...
a pawn by advancing it to the eighth rank. The king
King (chess)
In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be...
, which has to be protected in the middlegame owing to the threat of checkmate
Checkmate
Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
, becomes a strong piece in the endgame. It can be brought to the center of the board and be a useful attacking piece.
Many of the greatest players throughout history have considered the endgame to be of paramount importance because endgame theory is finite. Whereas chess opening theory changes frequently, giving way to middlegame positions that fall in and out of popularity, endgame theory always remains constant.
Many people have composed endgame studies
Endgame study
An endgame study, or just study, is a composed chess position—that is, one that has been made up rather than one from an actual game—presented as a sort of puzzle, in which the aim of the solver is to find a way for one side to win or draw, as stipulated, against any moves the other side...
, endgame positions which are solved by finding a win for White when there is no obvious way of winning, or a draw
Draw (chess)
In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...
when it seems White must lose.
Usually in the endgame, the stronger side should try to exchange pieces (knights
Knight (chess)
The knight is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight . It is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, one square from the corner...
, bishops
Bishop (chess)
A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...
, rooks
Rook (chess)
A rook is a piece in the strategy board game of chess. Formerly the piece was called the castle, tower, marquess, rector, and comes...
, and queens
Queen (chess)
The queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king. With the chessboard oriented correctly, the white queen starts...
), while avoiding the exchange of pawns. This generally makes it easier for him to convert his advantage into a won game. The defending side should strive for the opposite.
Endgames can be classified according to the type of pieces that remain. Some common types of endgames are discussed below.
Categories
Endgames can be divided into three categories:- Theoretical endgames – positions where the correct line of play is generally known and well-analyzed, so the solution is a matter of technique
- Practical endgames – positions arising in actual games, where skillful play should transform it into a theoretical endgame position
- Artistic endgames (studiesEndgame studyAn endgame study, or just study, is a composed chess position—that is, one that has been made up rather than one from an actual game—presented as a sort of puzzle, in which the aim of the solver is to find a way for one side to win or draw, as stipulated, against any moves the other side...
) – contrived positions which contain a theoretical endgame hidden by problematic complications .
This article generally does not consider studies.
The start of the endgame
An endgame is when there are only a few pieces left. There is no strict criterion for when an endgame begins and different experts have different opinions . Alexander AlekhineAlexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
said "We cannot define when the middle game ends and the end-game starts" . With the usual system for chess piece relative value, Speelman considers that endgames are positions in which each player has thirteen or fewer points in material (not counting the king
King (chess)
In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be...
). Alternatively, an endgame is a position in which the king can be used actively, but there are some famous exceptions to that . Minev characterizes endgames as positions having four or fewer pieces other than kings and pawns . Some authors consider endgames to be positions without queens (e.g. Fine, 1952) while others consider a position to be an endgame when each player has less than a queen
Queen (chess)
The queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king. With the chessboard oriented correctly, the white queen starts...
plus rook
Rook (chess)
A rook is a piece in the strategy board game of chess. Formerly the piece was called the castle, tower, marquess, rector, and comes...
in material. Flear considers an endgame to be where each player has at most one piece (other than kings and pawns) and positions with more material where each player has at most two pieces to be "Not Quite an Endgame" (NQE), pronounced "nuckie" .
Alburt and Krogius give three characteristics of an endgame:
- Endgames favor an aggressive king
- Passed pawnPassed pawnIn chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth rank, i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on the same file nor on an adjacent file. A passed pawn is sometimes colloquially called a passer...
s increase greatly in importance - ZugzwangZugzwangZugzwang is a term usually used in chess which also applies to various other games. The term finds its formal definition in combinatorial game theory, and it describes a situation where one player is put at a disadvantage because he has to make a move when he would prefer to pass and make no move...
is often a factor in endgames and rarely in other stages of the game.
Some problem composers consider that the endgame starts when the player who is about to move can force a win or a draw against any variation of moves .
Mednis
Edmar Mednis
Edmar John Mednis was an American International Grandmaster of chess born in Riga, Latvia. He was also a popular and respected chess writer.-Biography:...
and Crouch address the question of what constitutes an endgame negatively. The game is still in the middlegame if middlegame elements still describe the position. The game is not in the endgame if these apply:
- better development
- open files for attacking
- vulnerable king position
- misplaced pieces .
General considerations
In endgames with pieces and pawns, an extra pawn is a winning advantage in 50 to 60 percent of the cases. It becomes more decisive if the stronger side has a positional advantage . In general, the player with a material advantage tries to exchange pieces and reach the endgame. In the endgame, the player with a material advantage should usually try to exchange pieces but avoid the exchange of pawns . There are some exceptions to this: (1) endings in which both sides have two rooks plus pawns – the player with more pawns has better winning chances if a pair of rooks are not exchanged, and (2) bishops on opposite color with other pieces – the stronger side should avoid exchanging the other pieces. Also when all of the pawns are on the same side of the board, often the stronger side must exchange pawns to try to create a passed pawnPassed pawn
In chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth rank, i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on the same file nor on an adjacent file. A passed pawn is sometimes colloquially called a passer...
.
In the endgame, it is better for the player with more pawns to avoid too many pawn exchanges, because they should be won for nothing. Also, endings with pawns on both sides of the board are much easier to win. A king and pawn endgame with an outside passed pawn should be a far easier win than a middlegame a rook ahead.
With the recent growth of computer chess
Computer chess
Computer chess is computer architecture encompassing hardware and software capable of playing chess autonomously without human guidance. Computer chess acts as solo entertainment , as aids to chess analysis, for computer chess competitions, and as research to provide insights into human...
, an interesting development has been the creation of endgame databases which are tables of stored positions calculated by retrograde analysis (such a database is called an endgame tablebase
Endgame tablebase
An endgame tablebase is a computerized database that contains precalculated exhaustive analysis of a chess endgame position. It is typically used by a computer chess engine during play, or by a human or computer that is retrospectively analysing a game that has already been played.The tablebase...
). A program which incorporates knowledge from such a database is able to play perfect chess on reaching any position in the database.
Max Euwe
Max Euwe
Machgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...
and Walter Meiden give these five generalizations:
- In kingKing (chess)In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be...
and pawnPawn (chess)The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...
endings, an extra pawn is decisive in more than 90 percent of the cases - In endgames with pieces and pawns, an extra pawn is a winning advantage in 50 to 60 percent of the cases. It becomes more decisive if the stronger side has a positional advantage
- The king plays an important role in the endgame
- InitiativeInitiative (chess)Initiative in a chess position belongs to the player who can make threats that cannot be ignored. He thus puts his opponent in the position of having to use his turns responding to threats rather than making his own. A player with the initiative will often seek to maneuver his pieces into more and...
is more important in the endgame than in other phases of the game. In rookRook (chess)A rook is a piece in the strategy board game of chess. Formerly the piece was called the castle, tower, marquess, rector, and comes...
endgames the initiative is usually worth at least a pawn - Two connectedConnected pawnsIn chess, connected pawns are two or more pawns of the same color on adjacent files, as distinct from isolated pawns. These pawns are instrumental in creating pawn structure because, when diagonally adjacent, like the two rightmost white pawns, they form a pawn chain, a chain where the one behind...
passed pawnPassed pawnIn chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth rank, i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on the same file nor on an adjacent file. A passed pawn is sometimes colloquially called a passer...
s are very strong. If they reach their sixth rank they are generally as powerful as a rook .
Basic checkmates
These are positions in which one side has only a king and the other side has one or two pieces and can checkmateCheckmate
Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
the opposing king, with the pieces working together with their king. In conjunction with its king, a queen or a rook can easily checkmate
Checkmate
Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
a lone king, but a single minor piece (a bishop
Bishop (chess)
A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...
or knight
Knight (chess)
The knight is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight . It is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, one square from the corner...
) cannot. See Wikibooks - Chess/The Endgame for a demonstration of these two checkmates. Two bishops (plus their king) can easily checkmate a lone king, provided that the bishops move on opposite color squares. (Two or more bishops on the same color can not checkmate.) A bishop and knight (plus their king) can also checkmate a lone king, although the checkmate procedure
Bishop and knight checkmate
The bishop and knight checkmate in chess is the checkmate of a lone king which can be forced by a bishop, knight, and king. With the stronger side to move and with perfect play, checkmate can be forced in at most thirty-three moves from any starting position where the defender cannot quickly win...
is long (up to 33 moves with correct play) and is difficult for a player who does not know the correct technique.
Two knights cannot force checkmate against a lone king (see Two knights endgame), but if the weaker side also has a pawn, checkmate is sometimes possible, because positions which would be stalemate
Stalemate
Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. A stalemate ends the game in a draw. Stalemate is covered in the rules of chess....
without the pawn are not stalemate with the additional pawn. If the pawn is blocked by a knight on or behind the Troitzky line, the knights have a long theoretical win. There are some other positions when the pawn is past the Troitzky line in which the knights can force checkmate, but the procedure is long and difficult. In either case, in competition the fifty-move rule will often result in the game being drawn first. (While there is a board position that allows two knights to checkmate a lone king, such requires a careless move by the weaker side to execute; he cannot be driven into the corner.)
King and pawn endings
King and pawn endgames involve only kingsKing (chess)
In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be...
and pawns
Pawn (chess)
The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...
on one or both sides. International Master Cecil Purdy
Cecil Purdy
Cecil John Seddon Purdy was an Australian chess International Master and inaugural World Correspondence Chess champion. Purdy earned the Grandmaster title at Correspondence Chess in 1953...
said "Pawn endings are to chess as putting is to golf." Any endgame with pieces and pawns has the possibility of simplifying into a pawn ending .
In king and pawn endings, an extra pawn is decisive in more than 90 percent of the cases . Getting a passed pawn
Passed pawn
In chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth rank, i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on the same file nor on an adjacent file. A passed pawn is sometimes colloquially called a passer...
is crucial (a passed pawn is one which does not have an opposing pawn on its file or on adjacent files on its way to promotion). Nimzovich
Aron Nimzowitsch
Aron Nimzowitsch was a Russian-born Danish unofficial chess grandmaster and a very influential chess writer...
once said that a passed pawn has a "lust to expand". An outside passed pawn is particularly deadly. The point of this is a decoy – while the defending king is preventing it from queening, the attacking king wins pawns on the other side.
Opposition
Opposition (chess)
In chess, opposition is the situation occurring when two kings face each other on a rank or file, with only one square in between them. In such a situation, the player not having to move is said to "have the opposition" . It is a special type of zugzwang and most often occurs in endgames with...
is an important technique that is used to gain an advantage. When two kings are in opposition, they are on the same file (or rank) with an empty square separating them. The player having the move loses the opposition. He must move his king and allow the opponent's king to advance. Note however that the opposition is a means to an end, which is penetration into the enemy position. If the attacker can penetrate without the opposition, he should do so. The tactics of triangulation
Triangulation (chess)
Triangulation is a tactic used in chess to put one's opponent in zugzwang. That is, it gets to the same position with the other player to move, when it is a disadvantage for that player to move, e.g. he has to give up a blockade and let the other player penetrate his position...
and zugzwang
Zugzwang
Zugzwang is a term usually used in chess which also applies to various other games. The term finds its formal definition in combinatorial game theory, and it describes a situation where one player is put at a disadvantage because he has to make a move when he would prefer to pass and make no move...
as well as the theory of corresponding squares
Corresponding squares
Corresponding squares in chess occur in some chess endgames, usually ones that are mostly blocked. If squares x and y are corresponding squares, it means that if one player moves to x then the other player must move to y in order to hold his position...
are often decisive.
King and pawn versus king
This is one of the most basic endgames. A draw results if the defending king can reach the square in front of the pawn or the square in front of that (or capture the pawn). If the attacking king can prevent that, the king will assist the pawn in being promotedPromotion (chess)
Promotion is a chess rule describing the transformation of a pawn that reaches its eighth rank into the player's choice of a queen, knight, rook, or bishop of the same color . The new piece replaces the pawn on the same square and is part of the move. Promotion is not limited to pieces that have...
to a queen or rook, and checkmate can be achieved. A rook pawn is an exception because the king may not be able to get out of the way of its pawn.
Unlike most positions, king and pawn endgames can usually be analyzed to a definite conclusion, given enough skill and time. An error in a king and pawn endgame almost always turns a win into a draw or a draw into a loss – there is little chance for recovery. Accuracy is most important in these endgames. There are three fundamental ideas in these endgames: opposition
Opposition (chess)
In chess, opposition is the situation occurring when two kings face each other on a rank or file, with only one square in between them. In such a situation, the player not having to move is said to "have the opposition" . It is a special type of zugzwang and most often occurs in endgames with...
, triangulation
Triangulation (chess)
Triangulation is a tactic used in chess to put one's opponent in zugzwang. That is, it gets to the same position with the other player to move, when it is a disadvantage for that player to move, e.g. he has to give up a blockade and let the other player penetrate his position...
, and the Réti manoeuvre
Réti endgame study
The Réti endgame study is a chess endgame study by Richard Réti. It was published in 1921 in Kagans Neueste Schachnachrichten. It demonstrates how a king can make multiple threats and how it can take more than one path to a given location, using the same number of moves...
.
Knight and pawn endings
KnightKnight (chess)
The knight is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight . It is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, one square from the corner...
and pawn endgames feature clever maneuvering by the knights to capture opponent pawns. While a knight is poor at chasing a passed pawn, it is the ideal piece to block a passed pawn. Knights cannot lose a tempo
Tempo (chess)
In chess, tempo refers to a "turn" or single move. When a player achieves a desired result in one fewer move, he "gains a tempo" and conversely when he takes one more move than necessary he "loses a tempo"...
, so knight and pawn endgames have much in common with king and pawn endgames. As a result, Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
stated that “a knight ending is really a pawn ending.”
An outside passed pawn can outweigh a protected passed
Passed pawn
In chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth rank, i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on the same file nor on an adjacent file. A passed pawn is sometimes colloquially called a passer...
central pawn, unlike king and pawn endgames. A knight blockading a protected passed pawn attacks the protector, while the knight blockading an outside passed pawn is somewhat out of action.
Knight and pawn versus knight
This is generally a draw since the knight can be sacrificed for the pawn, however the king and knight must be covering squares in the pawn's path. If the pawn reaches the seventh rank and is supported by its king and knight, it usually promotesPromotion (chess)
Promotion is a chess rule describing the transformation of a pawn that reaches its eighth rank into the player's choice of a queen, knight, rook, or bishop of the same color . The new piece replaces the pawn on the same square and is part of the move. Promotion is not limited to pieces that have...
and wins. In this position, White to move wins: 1. b6 Nb7! 2. Ne6! Na5 3. Kc8! N-any 4. Nc7#. Black to move draws starting with 1... Nc4 because White cannot gain a tempo
Tempo (chess)
In chess, tempo refers to a "turn" or single move. When a player achieves a desired result in one fewer move, he "gains a tempo" and conversely when he takes one more move than necessary he "loses a tempo"...
.
Bishop and pawn endings
BishopBishop (chess)
A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...
and pawn endgames come in two distinctly different variants. If the opposing bishops go on the same color of square, the mobility of the bishops is a crucial factor. A bad bishop is one that is hemmed in by pawns of its own color, and has the burden of defending them.
The diagram on the right, from Molnar-Nagy, Hungary 1966, illustrates the concepts of good bishop versus bad bishop, opposition, zugzwang
Zugzwang
Zugzwang is a term usually used in chess which also applies to various other games. The term finds its formal definition in combinatorial game theory, and it describes a situation where one player is put at a disadvantage because he has to make a move when he would prefer to pass and make no move...
, and outside passed pawn. White wins with 1.e6! (vacating e5 for his king) Bxe6 2.Bc2! Bf7 3.Be4! Be8 4.Ke5! Seizing the opposition (i.e. the kings are two orthogonal squares apart, with the other player on move) and placing Black in zugzwang—he must either move his king, allowing White's king to penetrate, or his bishop, allowing a decisive incursion by White's bishop. 4...Bd7 5.Bxg6!
Bishop and pawn versus bishop on the same color
Two rules given by Luigi Centurini in the 19th century apply:- The 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 bishops travel on.
- 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 . This is the case for central pawns and the bishop pawn whose promotion square is not the same color as the bishop .
The position in the second diagram shows a winning position for White, although it requires accurate play. A knight pawn always wins if the defending bishop only has one long diagonal available .
This position was reached in a game from the 1965 Candidates Tournament
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
between Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik"...
and former World Champion Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
. White must defend accurately and utilize reciprocal zugzwang. Often he has only one or two moves that avoid a losing position. Black was unable to make any progress and the game was drawn on move 83 .
Bishops on opposite colors
Endings with bishops of opposite color, meaning that one bishop works on the light squares, the other one working on dark squares, are notorious for their drawish character. Many players in a poor position have saved themselves from a loss by trading down to such an endgame. They 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. Interestingly, the weaker side should often try to make his bishop bad by placing his pawns on the same color of his bishop in order to defend his remaining pawns, thereby creating an impregnable fortressFortress (chess)
In chess, the fortress is an endgame drawing technique in which the side behind in material sets up a zone of protection around their king that cannot be penetrated by the opponent. This only works when the opponent does not have a passed pawn or cannot create one, unless that pawn can be stopped...
.
Bishop versus knight endings (with pawns)
Current theoryChess theory
The game of chess is commonly divided into three phases: the opening, middlegame, and endgame. As to each of these phases, especially the opening and endgame, there is a large body of theory as how the game should be played...
is that bishops are better than knights about 60 percent of the time, in the middlegame and endgame. The more symmetrical the pawns are (i.e. Black's pawns are on the same files as White's pawns), the better it is for the knight. The knight is best suited at an outpost in the center whereas the bishop is strongest when it can attack targets on both sides of the board or a series of squares of the same color .
Fine and Benko give four conclusions:
- In general the bishop is better than the knight.
- When there is a material advantage, the difference between the bishop and knight is not very important. However, the bishop usually wins more easily than the knight.
- If the material is even, the position should be drawn. However, the bishop can exploit positional advantages more efficiently.
- When most of the pawns are on the same color as the bishop (i.e. a bad bishop), the knight is better.
Bishop and pawn versus knight
This is a draw if the defending king is in front of the pawn or 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. Otherwise the attacker can win .Knight and pawn versus bishop
This 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. Otherwise the attacker can win .Rook and pawn endings
Rook and pawn endgames are often drawn in spite of one side having an extra pawn. (In some cases, two extra pawns are not enough to win.) An extra pawn is harder to convert to a win in a rook and pawn endgame than any other type of endgame except a bishop endgame with bishops on opposite colors. Rook endings are probably the deepest and most well studied endgames. They are a common type of endgame in practice, occurring in about 10 percent of all games (including ones that do not reach an endgame) . These endgames occur frequently because rooks are often the last pieces to be exchanged. The ability to play these endgames well is a major factor distinguishing masters from amateurs . When both sides have two rooks and pawns, the stronger side usually has more winning chances than if each had only one rook .Three rules of thumb regarding rooks are worth noting:
- Rooks should almost always be placed behind passed pawns, whether one's own or the opponent's (the Tarrasch ruleTarrasch ruleThe Tarrasch rule is a general principle that applies in the majority of chess middlegames and endgames. Siegbert Tarrasch stated the "rule" that rooks should be placed behind passed pawns – either yours or your opponent's...
). A notable exception is in the ending of a rook and pawn versus a rook, if the pawn is not too far advanced. In that case, the best place for the opposing rook is in front of the pawn. - Rooks are very poor defenders relative to their attacking strength. So it is often good to sacrifice a pawn for activity.
- A rook on the seventh rank can wreak mayhem among the opponent's pawns. The power of a rook on the seventh rank is not confined to the endgame. The classic example is Capablanca–Tartakower, New York 1924 (see annotated game without diagrams or Java board)
An important winning position in the rook and pawn versus rook endgame is the so-called Lucena position
Lucena position
The Lucena position is one of the most famous and important positions in chess endgame theory, where one side has a rook and a pawn and the defender has a rook. It is fundamental in the rook and pawn versus rook endgame. If the side with the pawn can reach this type of position, he can forcibly...
. If the side with the pawn can reach the Lucena position, he wins. However, there are several important drawing techniques such as the Philidor position
Philidor position
The Philidor position usually refers to an important chess endgame which illustrates a drawing technique when the defender has a king and rook versus a king, rook, and a pawn. It is also known as the third rank defense, because of the importance of the rook on the third rank cutting off the...
, the back rank defense (rook on the first rank, for rook pawns and knight pawns only), the frontal defense, and the short side defense. A general rule is that if the weaker side's king can get to the queening square of the pawn, the game is a draw and otherwise it is a win, but there are many exceptions.
Rook and pawn versus rook
Generally (but not always), if the defending king can reach the queening square of the pawn the game is a draw (see Philidor positionPhilidor position
The Philidor position usually refers to an important chess endgame which illustrates a drawing technique when the defender has a king and rook versus a king, rook, and a pawn. It is also known as the third rank defense, because of the importance of the rook on the third rank cutting off the...
), otherwise the attacker usually wins (if it is not a rook pawn) (see Lucena position
Lucena position
The Lucena position is one of the most famous and important positions in chess endgame theory, where one side has a rook and a pawn and the defender has a rook. It is fundamental in the rook and pawn versus rook endgame. If the side with the pawn can reach this type of position, he can forcibly...
) . The winning procedure can be very difficult and some positions require up to sixty moves to win . 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 (with a few exceptions) . The rook and pawn versus rook is the most common of the "piece and pawn versus piece" endgames .
The most difficult case of a rook and pawn versus a rook is when the attacking rook is one file over from the pawn and the defending king is cut off on the other side. Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century....
gave the following rules for this case: "For a player defending against a pawn on the fifth or even sixth ranks to obtain a draw, even after his king has been forced off the queening square, the following conditions must obtain: The file on which the pawn stands divides the board into two unequal parts. The defending rook must stand in the longer part and give checks from the flank at the greatest possible distance from the attacking king. Nothing less than a distance of three files makes it possible for the rook to keep on giving check. Otherwise it would ultimately be attacked by the king. The defending king must stand on the smaller part of the board." See the short side defense at Rook and pawn versus rook endgame.
Quotation
- "All rook and pawn endings are drawn."
The context of this quote shows it is a comment on the fact that a small advantage in a rook and pawn endgame is less likely to be converted into a win. Mark Dvoretsky
Mark Dvoretsky
Mark Izrailovich Dvoretsky is a world-renowned Russian chess trainer, writer and International Master.He was awarded the International Master title in 1975 and for a while, was widely regarded as the strongest IM in the world...
said that the statement is "semi-joking, semi-serious" . This quotation has variously been attributed to Savielly Tartakower
Savielly Tartakower
Ksawery Tartakower was a leading Polish and French chess Grandmaster. He was also a leading chess journalist of the 1920s and 30s...
and to Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century....
. Writers Victor Korchnoi , John Emms , and James Howell attribute the quote to Tartakower, whereas Dvoretsky , Andy Soltis
Andrew Soltis
Andrew Eden Soltis is a chess Grandmaster, author and columnist.He won at Reggio Emilia 1971–72 and was equal first at New York 1977. He was awarded the International Master title in 1974 and became a Grandmaster in 1980...
, Karsten Müller
Karsten Müller
Dr. Karsten Müller was born November 23, 1970 in Hamburg, West Germany. He is a German chess Grandmaster. He earned the Grandmaster title in 1998 and a PhD in mathematics in 2002 at the University of Hamburg. He placed third in the 1996 German championship and second in the 1997 German...
,, and Kaufeld & Kern attribute it to Tarrasch. John Watson
John L. Watson
John Leonard Watson is a chess International Master and author.Watson was born in Milwaukee and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. He was educated at Brownell-Talbot, Harvard, and the University of California at San Diego, where he took his degree in engineering...
attributed to Tarrasch "by legend" and says that statistics do not support the statement . Benko
Pál Benko
Pal Benko is a chess grandmaster, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems.- Early life :Benko was born in France but was raised in Hungary. He was Hungarian champion by age 20. He emigrated to the United States in 1958, after defecting following the World Student Team...
wonders if it was due to Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...
. Attributing the quote to Tarrasch may be a result of confusion between this quote and the Tarrasch rule
Tarrasch rule
The Tarrasch rule is a general principle that applies in the majority of chess middlegames and endgames. Siegbert Tarrasch stated the "rule" that rooks should be placed behind passed pawns – either yours or your opponent's...
concerning rooks. The source of the quote is currently unresolved. Benko noted that although the saying is usually said with tongue in cheek, it is truer in practice than one might think .
Queen and pawn endings
In QueenQueen (chess)
The queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king. With the chessboard oriented correctly, the white queen starts...
and pawn endings, passed pawns have paramount importance, because the queen can escort it to the queening square alone. The advancement of the passed pawn outweighs the number of pawns. The defender must resort to perpetual check
Perpetual check
In the game of chess, perpetual check is a situation in which one player can force a draw by an unending series of checks. Such a situation typically arises when the player who is checking cannot deliver checkmate; while failing to continue the series of checks gives the opponent at least a chance...
. These endings are frequently extremely long affairs. For an example of a Queen and pawn endgame see Kasparov versus the World
Kasparov versus The World
Kasparov versus the World was a game of chess played in 1999 over the Internet. Conducting the white pieces, Garry Kasparov faced the rest of the world in consultation, with the World Team moves to be decided by plurality vote. Over 50,000 individuals from more than 75 countries participated in the...
– Kasparov won although he had fewer pawns because his was more advanced. For the ending with a queen versus a pawn, see Queen versus pawn endgame.
Queen and pawn versus queen
The queen and pawn versus queen endgame is the second most common of the "piece and pawn versus piece" endgames, after rook and pawn versus rook. It is very complicated and difficult to play. Human analysts were not able to make a complete analysis before the advent of endgame tablebaseEndgame tablebase
An endgame tablebase is a computerized database that contains precalculated exhaustive analysis of a chess endgame position. It is typically used by a computer chess engine during play, or by a human or computer that is retrospectively analysing a game that has already been played.The tablebase...
s . This combination is a win less frequently than the equivalent ending with rooks.
Rook versus a minor piece
The difference in material between a rook and a minor piece is about two points or a little less, the equivalent of two pawns.- A rook and a pawn versus a minor piece: normally a win for the rook but there are some draws. In particular, if the pawn is on its sixth 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 . See wrong bishopWrong bishopThe wrong bishop is a situation in chess endgame when a bishop on the other color of square of the chessboard would either win a game instead of draw or salvage a draw from an inferior position...
. - A rook versus a minor piece: normally a draw but in some cases the rook wins, see pawnless chess endgame.
- A rook versus a minor piece and one pawn: usually a draw but the rook may win.
- A rook versus a minor piece and two pawns: usually a draw but the minor piece may win.
- A rook versus a minor piece and three pawns: a win for the minor piece.
If both sides have pawns, the result essentially depends on how many pawns the minor piece has for the exchange:
- No pawns for the exchange (i.e. same number of pawns on each side): the rook usually wins.
- One pawn for the exchange (i.e. minor piece has one more pawn): the rook usually wins, but it is technically difficult. If all of the pawns are on one side of the board it is usually a draw.
- Two pawns for the exchange: this is normally a draw. With a bishop either side may have winning chances. With a knight, the rook may have winning chances and the defense is difficult for the knight if the pawns are scattered.
- Three pawns for the exchange: this is normally a win for the minor piece .
Two minor pieces versus a rook
In an endgame, two minor pieces are approximately equivalent to a rook plus one pawn. The pawn structurePawn structure
In chess, the pawn structure is the configuration of pawns on the chessboard. Since pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus largely determines the strategic nature of the position.-General observations:Weaknesses in the pawn structure, such...
is important. The two pieces have the advantage if the opponent's pawns are weak. Initiative
Initiative (chess)
Initiative in a chess position belongs to the player who can make threats that cannot be ignored. He thus puts his opponent in the position of having to use his turns responding to threats rather than making his own. A player with the initiative will often seek to maneuver his pieces into more and...
is more important in this endgame than any other. The general outcome can be broken down by the number of pawns.
- The two pieces have one or more extra pawns: always a win for the pieces.
- Same number of pawns: usually a draw but the two pieces win more often than the rook.
- The rook has one extra pawn: usually a draw but either side may have winning chances, depending on positional factors.
- The rook has two additional pawns: normally a win for the rook .
Queen versus two rooks
Without pawns this is normally drawn but either side wins in some positions. A queen and pawn are normally equivalent to two rooks, which is usually a draw if both sides have an equal number of additional pawns. Two rooks plus one pawn versus a queen is also generally drawn. Otherwise, if either side has an additional pawn, that side normally wins .Queen versus rook and minor piece
If there are no pawns, the position is usually drawn, but either side wins in some positions. A queen is equivalent to a rook and bishop plus one pawn. If the queen has an additional pawn it wins, but with difficulty. A rook and bishop plus two pawns win over a queen .Queen versus rook
- Without pawns, the queen normally wins but it can be difficult and there are some drawn positions (see Philidor position#Queen versus rook).
- If the rook has one pawn drawing positions are possible, depending on the pawn and the proximity of the rook and king. See fortress (chess)#Rook and pawn versus queen. Otherwise the queen wins.
- If the rook has two connected pawnsConnected pawnsIn chess, connected pawns are two or more pawns of the same color on adjacent files, as distinct from isolated pawns. These pawns are instrumental in creating pawn structure because, when diagonally adjacent, like the two rightmost white pawns, they form a pawn chain, a chain where the one behind...
the position is usually a draw. For any other two pawns, the queen wins except in the positions where a fortress with one pawn can be reached. - If the rook has three or more pawns the position is usually a draw but there are cases in which the queen wins and some in which the rook wins.
- If the queen also has a pawn or pawns it wins except in unusual positions .
Piece versus pawns
There are many cases for a lone piece versus pawns. The position of the pawns is critical.- Minor piece versus pawns: A minor piece versus one or two pawns is normally a draw, unless the pawns are advanced. Three pawns either draw or win, depending on how advanced they are. Three connected pawns win against a bishop if they all get past their fourth rank . A knight can draw against three connected pawns if none are beyond their fourth rank .
- Rook versus pawns: If the rook's king is not near, one pawn draws and two pawns win. If the rook's king is near, the rook wins over one or two pawns and draws against three. Four pawns usually win but the rook may be able to draw, depending on their position. More than four pawns win against the rook .
- Queen versus pawns: A queen can win against any number of pawns, depending on how advanced they are. The queen would win against eight pawns on the second rank but a pawn on the seventh rank may draw (see Queen versus pawn endgame) and two advanced pawns may win .
Endings with no pawns
Besides the basic checkmates, there are other endings with no pawns. They do not occur very often in practice. Two of the most common pawnless endgames (when the defense has a piece in addition to the king) are (1) a queen versus a rook and (2) a rook and bishop versus a rook. A queen wins against a rook, see pawnless chess endgame#Queen versus rook. A rook and bishop versus a rook is generally a theoreticalChess theory
The game of chess is commonly divided into three phases: the opening, middlegame, and endgame. As to each of these phases, especially the opening and endgame, there is a large body of theory as how the game should be played...
draw, but the defense is difficult and there are winning positions (see rook and bishop versus rook endgame).
Positions with a material imbalance
A rook is worth roughly two pawns plus a bishop or a knight. A bishop and knight are worth roughly a rook and a pawn, and a queen is worth a rook, a minor piece (bishop or knight) and a pawn (see chess piece relative value). Three pawns are often enough to win against a minor piece, but two pawns rarely are.However, with rooks on the board, the bishop often outweighs the pawns. This is because the bishop defends against enemy rook attacks, while the bishop's own rook attacks enemy pawns and reduces the enemy rook to passivity. This relates to Rule 2 with rooks (above).
A bishop is usually worth more than a knight. A bishop is especially valuable when there are pawns on both wings of the board, since it can intercept them quickly.
Effect of tablebases on endgame theory
Endgame tablebaseEndgame tablebase
An endgame tablebase is a computerized database that contains precalculated exhaustive analysis of a chess endgame position. It is typically used by a computer chess engine during play, or by a human or computer that is retrospectively analysing a game that has already been played.The tablebase...
s have made some minor corrections to historical endgame analysis, but they have made some more significant changes to endgame theory too. (The fifty-move rule is not taken into account in these studies.) Major changes to endgame theory as a result of tablebases include :
- Queen versus rook (see Philidor position#Queen versus rook). There are two changes here enabling the rook to put up a better defense, but the queen still wins. (a) People usually opt for a second-rank defense with the rook on the second rank and the king behind it (or symmetrical positions on the other edges of the board). Tablebases show that a third-rank defense takes a while to breach, which is difficult for a human to do. (b) People had assumed that the rook needs to stay as close to the king for as long as possible, but tablebases show that it is best to move the rook away from the king at some earlier point .
- Queen and pawn versus queen. Tablebases have shown that this can be won in many more positions than was thought, but the logic of the moves is presently beyond human understanding .
- Queen versus two bishops. This was thought to be a draw due to the existence of a drawing fortressFortress (chess)In chess, the fortress is an endgame drawing technique in which the side behind in material sets up a zone of protection around their king that cannot be penetrated by the opponent. This only works when the opponent does not have a passed pawn or cannot create one, unless that pawn can be stopped...
position, but the queen can win most of the time by preventing the bishops from getting to the fortress. However, it can take up to 71 moves to force a win .
- Queen versus two knights. This was thought to be a draw and generally it is, but the queen has more winning positions than was previously thought. Also, many analysts gave a position (see diagram) that they thought was a draw but it is actually a win for the queen . In the diagram, White checkmates in 43 moves, starting with 1. Qc7 (the only winning move). Note that Nunn says "The general result is undoubtedly a draw, but there are many losing positions, some of them very lengthy." On the other hand, Batsford Chess Endings states that 89.7 percent of the starting positions are wins for the queen . However, these percentages can be misleading, and most "general results" are based on the analysis of grandmastersInternational GrandmasterThe title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
using the tablebase data , . For instance, although nearly 90 percent of all of these positions are wins for the queen, it is generally a draw if the king is not separated from the knights and they are on reasonable squares .
- Two bishops versus a knight. This was thought to be a draw but the bishops generally win. However, it takes up to 66 moves. The position in the diagram was thought to be a draw for over one hundred years, but tablebases show that White wins in 45 moves. All of the long wins go through this type of semi-fortress position. It takes several moves to force Black out of the temporary fortress in the corner; then precise play with the bishops prevents Black from forming the temporary fortress in another corner . Before computer analysis, Speelman listed this position as unresolved, but "probably a draw" .
- Queen and bishop versus two rooks. This was thought to be a draw but the queen and bishop usually win. It takes up to 84 moves .
- Rook and bishop versus bishop and knight, bishops on opposite colors. This was thought to be a draw but the rook and bishop generally win. It takes up to 98 moves .
Longest forced win
In October 2005, Marc Bourzutschky and Yakov Konoval announced that a position in the ending of a king, two rooks and a knight versus a king and two rooks requires 290 moves to convert to a simpler winning endgame. This type of ending is thought to be a draw in general. The old record was 243 moves from a position in a rook and knight versus two knights endgame, discovered by Lewis Stiller in 1991 (Endings of a rook and knight versus two knights are generally draws.) On March 10, 2006 Marc Bourzutschky and Yakov Konoval announced a new record for the longest endgame, requiring 330 moves to conversion to a simpler ending. In May 2006 a record-shattering 517-move endgame was announced. Mark Bourzutschky found it using a program written by Yakov Konoval. Black's first move is 1. ... Rd7+ and White wins the rook in 517 moves (see diagram).It should be noted that such endgames do not necessarily represent strictly optimal play from both sides, as Black may delay checkmate by allowing an earlier conversion or White may accelerate it by delaying a conversion (or not making one at all). For example, for the earlier position found by Stiller, if Black plays to delay conversion as long as possible and White plays to convert as soon as possible, White captures a knight on the 243rd move and checkmates on the 246th move. However, if Black and White play, respectively, to maximize and minimize the distance to checkmate, White captures the first knight on the 242nd move, but only checkmates on move 262. Since space limitations make the computation of seven-man tablebases using the distance-to-mate metric impractical, the six-man position discovered by Stiller continues to be the longest forced checkmate discovered by computer (although longer forced checkmates have been constructed).
The fifty-move rule is ignored in the calculation of these results and lengths.
Endgame classification
Endgames can be classified by the material on the board. The standard classification system lists each player's material, including the kings, in the following order: king, queen, bishops, knights, rooks, pawn. Each piece is designated by its algebraic symbol.For example, if White has a king and pawn, and Black has only a king, the endgame is classified KPK. If White has bishop and knight, and Black has a rook, the endgame is classified KBNKR. Note that KNBKR would be incorrect; bishops come before knights.
In positions with two or more bishops on the board, a "bishop signature" may be added to clarify the relationship between the bishops. Two methods have been used. The informal method is to designate one color of squares as "x" and the other color as "y". An endgame of KBPKB can be written KBPKB x-y if the bishops are opposite-colored, or KBPKB x-x if the bishops are same-colored. The more formal method is to use a four digit suffix of the form abcd:
- a = number of White light-squared bishops
- b = number of White dark-squared bishops
- c = number of Black light squared bishops
- d = number of Black dark-squared bishops
Thus, the aforementioned endgame can be written KBPKB_1001 for opposite-color bishops, and KBPKB_1010 for same-color bishops.
GBR code
GBR code
The GBR code or Guy-Blandford-Roycroft code is a system of representing the pieces on the board in a chess position. Publications such as EG use it to classify endgame types and to index endgame studies....
is an alternative method of endgame classification.
The Encyclopedia of Chess Endings had a different classification scheme, somewhat similar to the ECO codes
Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings is a classification system for the opening moves in a game of chess. It is presented as a five volume book collection describing chess openings...
, but it is not widely used. The full system is a 53-page index that was contained in the book The Best Endings of Capablanca and Fischer. The code starts with a letter representing the most powerful piece on the board, not counting kings. The order is queen, rook, bishop, knight, and then pawn. (Figurines are used to stand for the pieces.) Each of these has up to 100 subclassifications, for instance R00 through R99. The first digit is a code for the pieces. For instance, R0 contains all endgames with a rook versus pawns and a rook versus a lone king, R8 contains the double rook endgames, and R9 contains the endings with more than four pieces. The second digit is a classification for the number of pawns. For instance, R30 contains endgames with a rook versus a rook without pawns or with one pawn and R38 are rook versus rook endings in which one player has two extra pawns.
Frequency table
The table below lists the most common endings in actual games by percentage (percentage of games, not percentage of endings. Generally pawns go along with the pieces.)| Percent | Pieces | Pieces |
|---|---|---|
| 8.45 | rook | rook |
| 6.76 | rook & bishop | rook & knight |
| 3.45 | two rooks | two rooks |
| 3.37 | rook & bishop | rook & bishop (same color) |
| 3.29 | bishop | knight |
| 3.09 | rook & knight | rook & knight |
| 2.87 | king & pawns | king (and pawns) |
| 1.92 | rook & bishop | rook & bishop (opposite color) |
| 1.87 | queen | queen |
| 1.77 | rook & bishop | rook |
| 1.65 | bishop | bishop (same color) |
| 1.56 | knight | knight |
| 1.51 | rook | bishop |
| 1.42 | rook & knight | rook |
| 1.11 | bishop | bishop (opposite color) |
| 1.01 | bishop | pawns |
| 0.97 | rook | knight |
| 0.92 | knight | pawns |
| 0.90 | queen & minor piece | queen |
| 0.81 | rook | two minor pieces |
| 0.75 | rook | pawns |
| 0.69 | queen | rook & minor piece |
| 0.67 | rook & pawn | rook |
| 0.56 | rook & two pawns | rook |
| 0.42 | queen | pawns |
| 0.40 | queen | rook |
| 0.31 | queen | two rooks |
| 0.23 | king & one pawn | king |
| 0.17 | queen | minor piece |
| 0.09 | queen & one pawn | queen |
| 0.08 | queen | two minor pieces |
| 0.02 | bishop & knight | king |
| 0.01 | queen | three minor pieces |
Quotations
- "[I]n order to improve your game you must study the endgame before anything else; for, whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middlegame and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame." (Emphasis in original.)
- "... the endgame is as important as the opening and middlegame ... three of the five losses sustained by BronsteinDavid BronsteinDavid Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
in his drawn ... match with BotvinnikMikhail BotvinnikMikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
in 1951 were caused by weak endgame play." - "Studying the openingChess openingA chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
is just memorizing moves and hoping for traps, but studying the endgame is chess." - Joshua WaitzkinJoshua WaitzkinJoshua Waitzkin is an American chess player, martial arts competitor, and author. As a child, he was recognized as a prodigy, and won the U.S. Junior Chess championship in 1993 and 1994. He is the only person to have won the National Primary, Elementary, Junior High School, High School, U.S.... - "The hardest thing in chess is to win a won game." - Frank Marshall
See also
- Outline of chess: Endgame topics
- CheckmateCheckmateCheckmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
- Chess middlegame
- Chess openingChess openingA chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
- Chess terminologyChess terminologyThis page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. Some of these have their own pages, like fork and pin. For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see chess problem terminology; for a list of chess related...
Endgame topics
- Chess endgame literatureChess endgame literatureChess endgame literature refers to books and magazines about chess endgames. A bibliography of endgame books is below.Many chess writers have contributed to the theory of endgames over the centuries, including Ruy López de Segura, François-André Philidor, Josef Kling and Bernhard Horwitz, Johann...
- Corresponding squaresCorresponding squaresCorresponding squares in chess occur in some chess endgames, usually ones that are mostly blocked. If squares x and y are corresponding squares, it means that if one player moves to x then the other player must move to y in order to hold his position...
- Endgame studyEndgame studyAn endgame study, or just study, is a composed chess position—that is, one that has been made up rather than one from an actual game—presented as a sort of puzzle, in which the aim of the solver is to find a way for one side to win or draw, as stipulated, against any moves the other side...
- Endgame tablebaseEndgame tablebaseAn endgame tablebase is a computerized database that contains precalculated exhaustive analysis of a chess endgame position. It is typically used by a computer chess engine during play, or by a human or computer that is retrospectively analysing a game that has already been played.The tablebase...
- Endgame theory
- Fortress (chess)Fortress (chess)In chess, the fortress is an endgame drawing technique in which the side behind in material sets up a zone of protection around their king that cannot be penetrated by the opponent. This only works when the opponent does not have a passed pawn or cannot create one, unless that pawn can be stopped...
- OppositionOppositionOpposition may mean or refer to:* Opposition , a term describing the position of a celestial body* Opposition , a term describing the position of the kings relative to each other...
- Pawnless chess endgame
- Prokeš maneuverProkeš maneuverThe Prokeš maneuver is a tactic in chess that enables a rook to draw against two advanced pawns in a chess endgame. Ladislav Prokeš composed an endgame study in 1939 which illustrated the Prokeš maneuver for the first time. The solution begins...
- Tarrasch ruleTarrasch ruleThe Tarrasch rule is a general principle that applies in the majority of chess middlegames and endgames. Siegbert Tarrasch stated the "rule" that rooks should be placed behind passed pawns – either yours or your opponent's...
- Triangulation (chess)Triangulation (chess)Triangulation is a tactic used in chess to put one's opponent in zugzwang. That is, it gets to the same position with the other player to move, when it is a disadvantage for that player to move, e.g. he has to give up a blockade and let the other player penetrate his position...
- Wrong bishopWrong bishopThe wrong bishop is a situation in chess endgame when a bishop on the other color of square of the chessboard would either win a game instead of draw or salvage a draw from an inferior position...
- Wrong rook pawnWrong rook pawnIn chess endgames with a bishop, a pawn that is a rook pawn may be the wrong rook pawn. With a single bishop, the result of a position may depend on whether or not the bishop controls the square on the chessboard on which the pawn would promote. Since a side's rook pawns promote on...
- ZugzwangZugzwangZugzwang is a term usually used in chess which also applies to various other games. The term finds its formal definition in combinatorial game theory, and it describes a situation where one player is put at a disadvantage because he has to make a move when he would prefer to pass and make no move...
Specific endgames
- Bishop and knight checkmateBishop and knight checkmateThe bishop and knight checkmate in chess is the checkmate of a lone king which can be forced by a bishop, knight, and king. With the stronger side to move and with perfect play, checkmate can be forced in at most thirty-three moves from any starting position where the defender cannot quickly win...
- King and pawn versus king endgame
- Lucena positionLucena positionThe Lucena position is one of the most famous and important positions in chess endgame theory, where one side has a rook and a pawn and the defender has a rook. It is fundamental in the rook and pawn versus rook endgame. If the side with the pawn can reach this type of position, he can forcibly...
- Opposite-colored bishops endgame
- Philidor positionPhilidor positionThe Philidor position usually refers to an important chess endgame which illustrates a drawing technique when the defender has a king and rook versus a king, rook, and a pawn. It is also known as the third rank defense, because of the importance of the rook on the third rank cutting off the...
- Queen and pawn versus queen endgameQueen and pawn versus queen endgameThe queen and pawn versus queen endgame is a chess endgame in which both sides have a queen and one side has a pawn, which he is trying to promote. It is very complicated and difficult to play. Cross-checks are often used as a device to win the game by forcing the exchange of queens...
- Queen versus pawn endgame
- Réti endgame studyRéti endgame studyThe Réti endgame study is a chess endgame study by Richard Réti. It was published in 1921 in Kagans Neueste Schachnachrichten. It demonstrates how a king can make multiple threats and how it can take more than one path to a given location, using the same number of moves...
- Rook and bishop versus rook endgame
- Rook and pawn versus rook endgame
- Saavedra positionSaavedra positionThe Saavedra position is one of the best known chess endgame studies. It is named after the Spanish priest Rev. Fernando Saavedra , who, while living in Glasgow in the late 19th century, spotted a win in a position previously thought to have been a draw...
- Two knights endgame
External links
- Interactive Endgame Simulator
- endgame lessons
- Stiller's monsters
- 128 Wins with K+N+P vs. K+N+P Endgames
- 1650 Wins with K+P vs. K+P Endgames
- 227 Wins with KQP vs. KQP Endgames
- 1798 Wins with K+R+P vs. K+R+P Endgames
- 65 Wins with K+B+P vs. K+B+P Endgames
- 330 move endgame
- 517 move endgame
- Item 316 is the 517 move endgame
- Basic Endgame Mates