ChessPivot

Essential endgames

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Mixed training: random positions across every type — just like a real game, you won’t know what’s coming.

Basic mates

The endings you must know how to win before any other: one method per mate, played out to the end.

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Queen mate: the knight’s moveDeliver mate

King and queen against a lone king: with the move, it is won from any position, in 10 moves at most. The queen drives the enemy king to an edge and locks him there, then your king comes to help deliver mate. Two ways to throw it away: stalemate, and a queen left en prise.

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Ladder mate: the two rooksDeliver mate

Two rooks against a lone king: with the move, it is won from any position, in 7 moves at most. One rook holds the line behind the enemy king, the other checks along his line: he steps back one line, and the rooks swap roles all the way to the edge.

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Rook mate: the advancing wallDeliver mate

King and rook against a lone king: with the move, it is won from any position, in 16 moves at most. The rook builds a wall between the two kings. Each time the kings face each other, a check forces the enemy king back one line and the wall moves up. On the edge, that check is mate.

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Two bishops mateDeliver mate

Two bishops mate the lone king in any corner. Build a wall on adjacent diagonals, march your king up, and drive the enemy king into a corner.

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Bishop and knight mateDeliver mate

The hardest basic mate: mate can only be forced in a corner of the bishop’s color. Drive it to the right corner with the knight’s W-manoeuvre, king and bishop helping.

Pawn endings

The king does everything: opposition, key squares, the square. From the simplest rule to the fine manoeuvres, in the order you learn them.

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Rule of the squareWin or hold

Draw the square of the pawn: one side runs straight from the pawn to its promotion square, the other sides complete it towards the defending king. If the pawn runs alone and that king can step into the square on his move, he catches it. Otherwise, do not chase — push your own pawn.

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The opposition: kings face to faceWin or hold

Two kings facing each other on a file or a rank, a single square between them: the side that does NOT have the move has the opposition, and the other must step aside. With your king in front of your pawn and his still in front of you (not a rook pawn), having it is enough to win. With your king beside your pawn or behind it, it is not always enough.

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Rook pawn: the drawn cornerHold the draw

A rook pawn (a- or h-file) does not win if the defending king reaches its promotion corner: the attacker has no room to bring his own king out. Run to the corner and hold the draw.

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Two connected pawns against the kingWin

Two pawns linked on a diagonal look after themselves: the rear one protects the front one, and if the enemy king takes the rear one, the other runs through to queen. With the move it is always won: your king has all the time it needs to arrive.

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The distant and diagonal oppositionWin or hold

The opposition is not only taken from close up. Draw the rectangle with the two kings on opposite corners: if its four corners are the same colour, it is an opposition, and it belongs to the side that does NOT have the move. On a file, that means 1, 3 or 5 squares between the kings.

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OutflankingWin

His king blocks your way? Go round the side where he is not. Your king walks round the flank opposite to his, settles in front of your pawn, then steps diagonally forward each time his king moves aside.

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The pawn’s key squaresWin or hold

Every pawn (except a rook pawn) has its key squares: if your king stands on one and your pawn is not en prise, it is won whoever is to move. Pawn on ranks 2 to 4: the three squares two ranks ahead of it; from the 5th rank on: the three squares right in front. One exception only: a knight pawn on the 6th with the enemy king in the corner and to move is stalemate.

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The outside passed pawnWin

The passed pawn furthest from the action is not there to promote: it is there to drag the defending king away. While the defender runs to stop it, your king crosses over, collects the pawn left alone and wins the race.

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The trébuchet and mined squaresWin or hold

Two pawns blocking each other, each king next to the enemy pawn: whoever has to move loses his pawn, then the game. That is the trébuchet. The square from which your king attacks his pawn while defending yours is your mined square: if you step on it first and his king can step onto his own, you lose.

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The pawn breakthroughWin

Pawns facing pawns, kings too far away: give up two pawns so the third one runs through. A breakthrough is not counted in material but in tempi — the only pawn that matters is the one that queens first.

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ShoulderingWin or hold

A king needs the same number of moves to go from one square to another in a straight line or in a zigzag. Between two routes of the same length, take the one that crosses the enemy king’s path: your king shoulders him away, and he has to go round.

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TriangulationWin

Some positions are only won when it is the opponent’s move. Your king owns one more safe square than theirs: take a side step — three tempi where the defender only has two — and the same position returns with the defender to move. Zugzwang does the rest.

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Réti’s manoeuvreHold the draw

Your king is too far to catch his pawn, and yours looks lost. By walking DIAGONALLY, your king approaches both at once. His king must choose: deal with your pawn and let you into the square of his, or push his own and let you support yours.

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The spare tempoWin

With equal structure, the move decides — and the move can be manufactured. A pawn kept back is a tempo in the bank: its push hands the opposition over at the moment of your choosing, and zugzwang switches sides on a single move.

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Corresponding and mined squaresWin or hold

Blocked pawns, bare kings: every attacking square has its answering square. The king that enters on the right squares wins a pawn; the defender who answers square for square holds. And on mined squares, whoever steps in first loses — unless the enemy king already stands on his, or cannot step onto it next move.

Rook endings

The most frequent in real games. Lucena to win, Philidor to hold, then the defences to know when the basic plan is no longer enough.

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Philidor defenseHold the draw

Keep your rook on your third rank — the rank the enemy pawn will have to cross — until that pawn reaches it: the attacking king cannot make progress. The moment the pawn steps onto that rank, swing your rook to the far back for perpetual checks from behind.

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Rook behind the passed pawnWin or hold

Tarrasch’s rule: the rook belongs behind the passed pawn, yours and your opponent’s alike. Behind its own passer a rook gains activity with every push; placed in front, it blocks its own road and ends up chased away.

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Lucena: building the bridgeWin

Pawn on the 7th with your king in front of it: build the bridge. Put the rook on your 4th rank (counting from your own back rank — three ranks behind your pawn on the 7th), walk the king out, then block the checks by interposing the rook.

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Rook vs pawnWin or hold

Rook against pawn is a race between the two kings. Your king on the pawn’s path: it is won, bar a handful of stalemates. Your king far away and his next to an advanced pawn: it is usually a draw, whatever the file. Cut the pawn’s road, then bring your king back as fast as you can.

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Passive and short-side defenseHold the draw

Your king stands in front of the pawn but the Philidor setup is out of reach? Two defenses still hold: the passive one (king on the promotion square, rook on the back rank) against rook and knight pawns; the short side (king on the narrow side, distant checks down the long file) against the rest.

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Rook pawn: winning despite the rook in frontWin

Your rook sits in front of your own a7-pawn: against a defense in good order that is a draw. But when the defending king is far away the win exists — a deflecting check drives its king off, the rook steps aside, and the pawn queens.

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Rook versus bishopWin or hold

Rook versus bishop, no pawns: a book draw — provided the defending king reaches the corner opposite in color to its own bishop, with the bishop free to roam. A bishop reduced to interposing gets pinned and lost.

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Rook versus knightHold the draw

Rook versus knight: a draw as long as the knight stays under its king’s wing — the fork guards every approach. Cut off from its king, the knight gets hunted to the edge and trapped.

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The Vancura defenseHold the draw

An enemy rook pawn on the 5th or 6th with its rook in front: do not wait behind it. Your rook attacks the pawn from the side, along its rank — the enemy rook stays chained to guard duty, and when the king comes to relieve it, your side checks send it straight back.

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Checking distanceHold the draw

Rook and pawn against rook, your king cut off from the pawn: your rook goes IN FRONT of the pawn, right at the back of your camp, and checks from the front as soon as his king steps out. It all depends on the distance: against a pawn on its 2nd or 3rd rank the defence nearly always holds, on the 4th usually, on the 5th half the time, and on the 6th rarely.

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Rook and two pawns versus rookWin or hold

Rook and two pawns against rook: two connected pawns advance together and win; f- and h-pawns do not beat the correct defense — king in front, rook active. That is the whole boundary: with the rook passive on the back rank, the same position is lost.

Bishops and knights

What decides with a minor piece: the bishop’s colour, the promotion corner, the extra piece to convert.

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Wrong-colored bishopHold the draw

Bishop and rook pawn: when the bishop does not control the promotion corner, the defending king simply runs to that corner and can never be evicted. Head for the corner — it is a fortress.

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Opposite-colored bishops: the drawHold the draw

With opposite-colored bishops, even a pawn or two down the defender usually holds: blockade on squares of your own bishop’s color, which the enemy bishop can never touch.

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Knight against pawn: the square in frontHold the draw

A lone knight stops a pawn: once it stands on the square right in front of it, and is not en prise, it is a draw wherever the kings are. One exception only: a rook pawn that has reached the 7th, with the knight in the corner. The whole job is to reach that square in time.

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Converting the extra pieceWin

An extra piece in the endgame means two jobs: the piece shuts down the enemy pawn, the king escorts your own. At club level nearly one contested endgame in five is decided exactly here — the single most profitable conversion to learn.

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Same-coloured bishops: the king in front of the pawnHold the draw

Bishop and pawn against a bishop of the same colour: if your king stands in front of the pawn, on a square of the OTHER colour than the bishops, it is nearly always a draw — the enemy bishop cannot drive it away.

Queen endings

The queen against an advanced pawn, against a rook, against a fortress: winning without allowing stalemate or perpetual check.

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Queen vs pawn on the 7thWin or hold

Against a central pawn or a knight pawn on the 7th, zigzag checks force the king in front of its own pawn — each forced block wins a tempo to bring your king closer. Against a rook pawn or a bishop pawn, stalemate often saves the defender: with your king far away it is frequently a draw. Know the difference.

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Queen against bishop or knightWin

Queen against bishop, queen against knight, no pawns: with the move, not in check and with the queen not en prise, it is won in every position. King and queen advance together, drive the enemy king to an edge, and the piece falls or mate arrives.

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Fortress: rook and pawn versus queenHold the draw

Queen against rook and pawn: there is a wall no queen can breach — a knight pawn, the king in touch, the rook on a square the pawn protects. The same wall with a bishop pawn is no longer guaranteed: check the pawn’s file before relying on it.

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Queen versus rookWin

Queen against rook is won, but it is the longest of the basic endings: up to 35 moves, and hard even for a strong player. The win is made on the edge: king and queen drive the enemy king there, the rook eventually has to leave it, and a fork picks it up.

The only move, by material

Positions taken from the endgame tablebases, where a single move keeps the result. No lesson: this is the exam, served at your rating.

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The only move: basic mates and piece duelsWin or hold

Only one move wins, or saves the draw: every other move lets the result slip. Find it, then keep going, because your opponent picks the defence that leaves you the fewest choices. Every position is proven by endgame tablebases, and any move that keeps the result is accepted.

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The only move: king and pawnsWin or hold

Only one move wins, or saves the draw: every other move lets the result slip. Find it, then keep going, because your opponent picks the defence that leaves you the fewest choices. Every position is proven by endgame tablebases, and any move that keeps the result is accepted.

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The only move: knight and pawnsWin or hold

Only one move wins, or saves the draw: every other move lets the result slip. Find it, then keep going, because your opponent picks the defence that leaves you the fewest choices. Every position is proven by endgame tablebases, and any move that keeps the result is accepted.

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The only move: bishop and pawnsWin or hold

Only one move wins, or saves the draw: every other move lets the result slip. Find it, then keep going, because your opponent picks the defence that leaves you the fewest choices. Every position is proven by endgame tablebases, and any move that keeps the result is accepted.

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The only move: rook and pawnsWin or hold

Only one move wins, or saves the draw: every other move lets the result slip. Find it, then keep going, because your opponent picks the defence that leaves you the fewest choices. Every position is proven by endgame tablebases, and any move that keeps the result is accepted.

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The only move: bishop versus knightWin or hold

Only one move wins, or saves the draw: every other move lets the result slip. Find it, then keep going, because your opponent picks the defence that leaves you the fewest choices. Every position is proven by endgame tablebases, and any move that keeps the result is accepted.

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The only move: rook versus minor pieceWin or hold

Only one move wins, or saves the draw: every other move lets the result slip. Find it, then keep going, because your opponent picks the defence that leaves you the fewest choices. Every position is proven by endgame tablebases, and any move that keeps the result is accepted.

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The only move: the queenWin or hold

Only one move wins, or saves the draw: every other move lets the result slip. Find it, then keep going, because your opponent picks the defence that leaves you the fewest choices. Every position is proven by endgame tablebases, and any move that keeps the result is accepted.

Practice banks

Thousands of endings from real games, for volume: find the winning continuation.

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Rook endgames in practiceWin

Verified positions from real games: find the move that wins the endgame. The theory above is exactly what these positions reward.

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Bishop endgames in practiceWin

Verified positions from real games: find the move that wins the endgame. The theory above is exactly what these positions reward.

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Knight endgames in practiceWin

Verified positions from real games: find the move that wins the endgame. The theory above is exactly what these positions reward.

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Queen endgames in practiceWin

Verified positions from real games: find the move that wins the endgame. The theory above is exactly what these positions reward.

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Pawn endings in practice10,000 pawn endings taken from real games — races, opposition and zugzwang — and your own misplayed endings.Open the bank

Add your account and the whole exercise bank opens up, for free. Import my games

The idea

Most endgames funnel into a handful of canonical positions, and rook endgames alone account for roughly half of them. Knowing six patterns — opposition and key squares, the rule of the square, the Lucena bridge, the Philidor defense, queen against a far-advanced pawn and the wrong-colored bishop — converts wins you would have drawn and saves draws you would have lost. Every exercise here is verified: play the position out against best defense, and any move that keeps the win (or holds the draw) is accepted — judged by the endgame tablebases, the exact truth up to 7 pieces, with the engine taking over beyond their reach.