Advice On Chess - End Game

by skorg

posted on 06/24/2009

Well begun is half done in chess and in the middle game you can tighten your position by the advice provided in the previous article. Once you establish your supremacy it is time to nail the coffin in the end game.

Passer Pawns
When you have more pawns than your opponent the idea is to create a passer pawn. A passer pawn is one that can go till row 8 (if white) and row 1 (if black) without having to tackle the opponent's pawn. In short a passer pawn will not have opponent pawns to deal with. Once it reaches the last row it can be promoted to any piece (in most cases Queens) thereby sealing the game.

Connected Pawns
Connected pawns are such that they have support of an adjacent pawn (obviously of their army). They are not left alone to be defended only by pieces. Connected pawns are useful in end games as there are not many pieces on the board and any pawn that is isolated is an easy prey. If you have a couple of connected passer pawns then nothing like that. You have a great setup to win the game

Double pawns
A double pawn is a headache in an end game. Double pawns are those pawns of the same army (white or black) that are in the same column one above the other. There are difficult to save since they are mostly isolated and can't be easily protected by other pieces. A triple pawn is a sure recipe for disaster in end game where you have stacked up three pawns one above the other

King
Once the pieces are out, the King becomes a great control of power in the center. Any king that can occupy the center while the other king is still back in the ranks has a definite advantage in killing the opponent's pawns and making passer pawns of its own

No Pawns
Sometimes the situation is that there are no pawns to deal with. Only king against a king and a piece (or a combination of pieces). In those cases the king without piece can try to force a draw if it plays well. A king with a queen can win easily against a king alone. A king with a rook can win against a solo king quite easily (not as easy as in the queen's case). If you have a pair of them (2 rooks or rook and a queen) then it becomes damn easy. However if you have a Knight and a bishop against a king it becomes a bit difficult and unless you know the tactics you will end up with a draw instead of a win. Finally a king against a king and a bishop or against a king and a knight is draw. We will look at the draw combination and its special case in the next article

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