The Chess Endgame

The chess endgame isn’t the end of the match but a stage that you may or may not reach. The board is much more open, due to previous captures and the removal of pieces. The king becomes especially active, since fewer pieces remain to threaten its safety.

Of primary importance in most end games is pawn promotion, in which a pawn can be promoted to a more powerful piece if it reaches the back rank (for more on pawn promotion, see Special Chess Moves). Since the board is relatively free of pieces by the end game, promoting pawns is easier at this stage of the game than at any other. You should hesitate to give your pawns away at any stage of the game, but be especially protective of them during the endgame. Two valuable tactics for achieving pawn promotion are the opposition and the square of queening.

The opposition refers to the placement of a king directly across from another king of the same rank or file, separated by one square. The opposition takes advantage of the fact that no player is allowed to skip a turn—you must make a move when it’s your turn, and the opposition can force the opposing team to back away or move to the side, even if that’s a bad move.

In the scenario shown, white’s goal is to promote the lone pawn. The winning sequence begins with white taking the opposition at d5, forcing the black king out of the way.

After setting up the opposition, white can successfully promote the pawn through the following sequence:

No moves by black can stop white’s pawn promotion.

If only kings and pawns remain, the king is often the only piece that can stop an enemy pawn from reaching the back rank and gaining promotion. The square of queening allows you to see if the king will be able to stop a pawn in time.

To visualize the square of queening, imagine a diagonal line running from the pawn to the back rank of the board. This line should be drawn toward the side (left or right) of the board occupied by the opposing king. The line is the diagonal line through the center of the square of queening.

Note that each time the pawn moves forward one space, the square of queening shrinks.

If the king is able to enter the square of queening, it will be able to stop the advancing pawn before the pawn reaches the back rank and is promoted to a more powerful piece.

In the first position shown above, white will be able to promote the pawn if it’s white’s turn to move—the square of queening will shrink when the white pawn moves forward, and the black king won’t be able to enter the square. If it’s black’s turn to move, however, the black king can enter the square of queening by playing Kb5. In this case, black will be able to stop the pawn in time.