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Chess For All Ages Marc Weeks
Chess For All Ages Marc Weeks
Chess For All Ages Marc Weeks
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The game has been fought hard, both players attacking and
defending on every move. At the critical moment, one player made a
small mistake and lost a Pawn.
Both players then followed the textbook strategies for the material
imbalance. The player with the extra Pawn exchanged pieces,
playing for a win, while the opponent exchanged Pawns, playing for a
draw.
Finally, the armies have been reduced to the bare minimum. Both
players have single pieces of equal value, while the extra Pawn is the
only Pawn on the board. What now?
This scenario occurs in many games. Endgames where one side has
an extra pawn are nearly always played out to a clear result -- no
lazy draws here.
BCE 10
Black uses the opposition to force White to advance the Pawn before
the White King advances.
1.d5+ Kd6 2.Kd4 Kd7 3.Ke5 Ke7 4.d6+ Kd7 5.Kd5 Kd8 This is the
key move. Black keeps the opposition.
In endgames with minor pieces, the strong side can neither force the
exchange of pieces nor force the other King to move. Here are two
examples.
BCE 170
After 1.Kd5 Bd8 2.Kd6 Bh4 3.Kd5 Bg3, White can make no progress.
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Black just moves the Bishop from one safe square to another.
BCE 216a
White would like to play 1.Kd5, but this allows 1...Nf6+ followed by
2...Nxe4 with a draw. If White takes the f6 square from the Knight
by 1.Bg5, Black plays 1...Ke6. White can never force the King to
leave the e6 square.
Minor pieces
BCE 125
1.Nb4 Kc7 Other King moves also lose. For example, after 1...Kc5
2.Nd3+ Kd6 3.Nf4 Ke7 4.Nd5+ Ke6 5.Nb6 Ne5, White plays 6.Ka8
Nc6 7.Nc8 and wins.
BCE 171
1.Bc6 Be2 2.Bd5 Bb5 3.Be6 Ke3 4.Bd7 Bf1 5.c6 Kd4 6.c7 Ba6 7.Kc6
Kc3 8.Kb6 and wins.
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BCE 217
In this position, the Knight prevents the Pawn from advancing. If the
White King captures the Knight, the Black King captures the Pawn.
White plays to force the Black King away from the Pawn.
1.Bc3 Kb6 2.Ba5+ Kb5 3.Bd8 Kc5 4.Bh4 Kb5 5.Bg5 Kc5 6.Be3+ Kd5
7.Bd4 Nd6 8.c7 and wins.
BCE 220
At first glance, it looks like Black can defend this position, but it's an
illusion. By offering a sacrifice which must be refused, White first
advances the King and Pawn to their most dangerous squares.
1.Ke7 Kh7 2.f7 Ba3+ 3.Ke8 Kg7. The Bishop is confined to the a3-f8
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Major pieces
In positions with major pieces, sacrificial drawing themes are not
possible. The defense is based instead on checking the unprotected
King. If the strong side can stop the checks, the win usually follows.
Major piece endgames often result in complicated play. Why are they
classified as elementary endgames? Elementary doesn't mean easy;
it means basic, in the sense that more complicated positions reduce
to these positions.
BCE 307
The White King is protected from checks by its Pawn. Watch how the
Rook takes over the job, at the same time keeping the Black King at
a safe distance.
1...Rh3 2.Rf4 Rh1 3.Re4+ Kd7 4.Kf7 Rf1+ 5.Kg6 Rg1+ 6.Kf6 Rf1+
7.Kg5 Rg1+ 8.Rg4 and wins.
BCE 558
1...Qc5+ 2.Ke8 Qb5 3.Qe6+ Kh2 4.Kf7 Qh5+ 5.Kg7 Qg5+ 6.Kh7
Qd8 7.Kg6 Kh1 8.Kf7 Kh2 9.Qe7 and wins.
***
The positions on this page are all taken from Reuben Fine's Basic
Chess Endings (BCE) and are numbered accordingly.
Related Resources
• Part 1 - Elementary endgames
• Part 2 - Pieces in combat, no Pawns
• Part 3a - Major piece without Pawns vs. Pawn without pieces
• Part 3b - Minor piece without Pawns vs. Pawn without pieces
• Part 4 - Piece plus Pawn vs. equivalent piece without Pawn
• Part 5 - King and Pawn
• Part 6 - Rook's Pawn
• Part 7 - Outside Passed Pawn
• Part 8 - Rook plus a lone Pawn vs. a Rook
• Part 9 - Strengths and weaknesses of the minor pieces
• Part 10 - Endgame Studies