Minor-piece ending

A minor piece is a bishop or a knight. A minor-piece ending is therefore a position in which those pieces are the main forces left besides the kings and pawns, while queens and rooks are gone. Minor is a traditional classification based on relative power; it does not mean that the pieces are unimportant.

There is no single plan for the whole category. The first step is to identify the remaining matchup:

• Knight versus knight: the limited speed of both pieces makes king activity and pawn races especially important.
• Same-colored bishop versus bishop: both pieces can contest the same diagonals and attack the same targets.
• Opposite-colored bishops: each bishop controls squares the other can never touch, which enables certain defensive blockades.
• Bishop versus knight: the bishop often benefits from an open board and pawns on both sides of the board, while the knight may excel with a stable blockade and closely grouped pawns that protect one another.

Next compare king activity, passed pawns, meaning pawns with no enemy pawns ahead in their vertical column or the neighboring columns, useful squares for each piece, and the possibility of exchanging the opposing minor piece. An exchange may lead to a pawn ending, so the resulting pawn ending must be calculated before the exchange is accepted.

Bishop ending and knight ending name specific subgroups. Minor-piece ending is the broader category that also includes bishop versus knight.