Endgames

The organized body of positions, methods, and results used to play the final phase of a chess game correctly.

An ending with few pieces and no pawns, often decided by mating ability, fortresses, and piece coordination.

A king that contributes usefully by attacking, defending, supporting pawns, or controlling important squares.

A relationship between the kings that uses their spacing and the move order to make one king yield an important square.

A position in which the kings share a horizontal row or vertical column with exactly one empty square between them.

A relationship in which aligned kings are separated by an odd number of empty squares greater than one.

A relationship in which the kings stand on the same diagonal with one empty square between them.

A square that lets the attacking king force promotion in a king-and-pawn versus king ending when it is occupied.

A square whose occupation forces a concrete goal, such as promoting a pawn or winning material.

Paired squares where occupying one requires a precise king response on the other to preserve the position.

A king maneuver that goes around the opposing king to penetrate from the side or reach a decisive square.

A king technique that controls the opposing king's route and forces it to take a longer path.

A saved waiting move, usually a pawn move, that transfers the critical obligation to move to the opponent.

A maneuver that returns to an equivalent position with the move transferred to the opponent.

A position in which every legal move makes the situation worse for the player whose turn it is.

A position in which either side would be disadvantaged if it were that side's turn to move.

A pair of king squares where entering first allows a matching reply that creates zugzwang or decisive penetration.

A reciprocal-zugzwang pawn position where the player to move must abandon a pawn and loses.

A stable defensive setup where a side with fewer or less valuable pieces prevents all decisive progress.

A defensive idea that forces or threatens stalemate to save a position that would otherwise be lost.

An ending in which only the two kings and one or more pawns in total remain.

A three-piece ending in which a king and pawn try to promote against a lone defending king.

An imaginary area showing whether a king has enough moves to catch a pawn before it promotes.

A visual test for whether a king can catch an unsupported pawn before it promotes.

An ending situation where both sides advance passed pawns and compete to reach the last rank first or stop the opposing pawn.

A forcing sequence of pawn advances and sacrifices that creates a passed pawn able to reach the last rank.

A diagonal king route that pursues two goals at once, usually supporting a friendly pawn while catching an enemy pawn.

A geometric rule for evaluating certain endings with two blocked rook pawns and one distant passed pawn.

An ending in which rooks are the main remaining pieces, usually together with both kings and several pawns.

A rook placed on the opponent's second rank, where it often attacks pawns and restricts the king.

Restricting the opposing king with a controlled line, usually a rook's rank or file, to keep it away from the action.

The principle that a rook usually belongs behind a passed pawn, whether the pawn is friendly or hostile.

The separation a rook needs to give repeated checks without being attacked or blocked with gain of time.

A pawn that shelters the king from side or rear checks, especially in rook endings.

A five-piece ending in which a king, rook, and pawn try to defeat a king and rook.

A winning rook-and-pawn versus rook setup where the attacking king occupies the promotion square and builds shelter from checks.

A winning rook-and-pawn method in which the rook shelters its king from side checks.

A drawing rook-and-pawn versus rook method that blocks the attacking king with a rook barrier, then checks from behind.

A drawing defense against rook and rook pawn where the defending rook attacks from the side and gives lateral checks.

A drawing method in rook and pawn versus rook: the king blocks the pawn while the rook waits on the row nearest its own side.

A concrete drawing method where the defending rook maneuvers along the promotion rank against a highly advanced pawn.

A drawing method in rook versus rook and pawn where the defending rook stands in front of the pawn and checks the king head-on.

A rook and pawn versus rook drawing method that places the king on the short side and rook on the long side.

A defensive rule requiring at least three horizontal rows of checking distance in certain rook and pawn endings.

A practical rule estimating whether a protected pawn wins when the rook cuts off the defending king by files.

An ending in which a rook and two pawns try to defeat a lone opposing rook.

An ending where one side has a king and rook while the other tries to bring a lone pawn to the last rank with help from its king.

An endgame study where a pawn defeats a rook by promoting to a rook and avoiding a stalemate resource.

An ending where a rook faces a bishop or knight, either with pawns or without them.

An imbalanced ending where two bishops, bishop and knight, or two knights face a rook.

A pawnless ending that is usually drawn with correct defense, although the rook and bishop create difficult practical problems.

A theoretical winning rook and bishop versus rook position built on coordinated mating threats near the edge.

A drawing method in rook versus rook and bishop that pins the bishop in front of its king and keeps the kings apart.

A passive rook versus rook and bishop defense that keeps the king and rook one line from the board edge.

A drawing formation in rook against rook and bishop, recognized by the L-shaped relationship between the kings.

A pawnless ending that is normally drawn, but poor placement of the king or rook can allow a forced win.

An ending in which bishops or knights are the main remaining pieces, with no queens or rooks.

An ending in which bishops are the main remaining pieces, normally together with kings and pawns.

A position where both sides' bishops travel on squares of the same color.

A position where each side has a bishop that travels on a different color of squares.

An ending with king, bishop, and pawn against king and bishop, whose result depends on precise geometry.

A test for whether the defender can hold certain same-colored bishop endings while one pawn down.

A bishop that cannot control the square color required for a specific endgame task.

An edge-file pawn whose promotion square cannot be controlled by the bishop supporting it.

An ending in which knights are the main remaining pieces, normally together with kings and pawns.

The principle that knight endings resemble pawn endings, although concrete knight tactics still matter.

An ending where king, knight, and pawn try to overcome a defending king and knight blockade.

An ending where two knights may use the enemy pawn to force a mate they could not force against a lone king.

A theoretical boundary used to judge when king and two knights can force mate against king and a securely blockaded pawn.

A refined theoretical boundary for winning with two knights against a pawn within the practical fifty-move limit.

An ending in which one side has a bishop and the other has a knight, usually with kings and pawns still on the board.

An ending where king, bishop, and pawn try to overcome king and knight, with the result highly sensitive to position and move.

An ending where king, knight, and pawn try to promote against a defending king and bishop.

An ending in which queens are the main remaining pieces, normally together with kings and pawns.

A five-piece ending in which a queen and pawn try to defeat a defending queen.

An ending in which the queen usually stops the pawn and wins, with important exceptions when the pawn is one step from promotion.

A pawnless ending in which a king and queen try to defeat a king and rook.

A closely balanced ending that is usually drawn, but can swing according to king safety and the coordination of the rooks.

A normally balanced pawnless ending in which the rook and a bishop or knight must coordinate against the queen's double attacks.

A pawnless ending in which the queen normally wins, although exceptional defensive coordination can create a drawing fortress.

A specific king, bishop, and knight formation that can draw against a queen by blocking the opposing king's entry.