CHESS – ENDGAME STUDY
Basic Principles
Prepared by:
LIRA L. DEGALA
Coach
POTOTAN NCHS
https://chessfox.com/chess-endgame-principles/
Why Endgame in CHESS?
Jose Raul Capablanca
World Chess Champion (1921-1927)
When do we reach the
endgame? When does
the middle-game become
endgame?
The answer to this question is
not cast in stone – but usually a
position can be viewed as an
endgame position when it is safe for
the king to join the other active
pieces.
The main chess endgame
principles:
1. Get your king close to the action | The RULE,
ROLE and ROLL of the King – ideally in front of
your own pawns.
2. Cut the enemy king off from the action when you
can.
3. Rooks should be placed behind passed pawns –
your pawns or your opponent’s pawns.
4. Advance your good pawns to increase your
chances of creating a passed pawn.
5. Attack your opponents weak pawns to force your
opponent’s pieces into defensive positions.
The main chess endgame
principles:
6. Place your pieces on squares where they restrict
the mobility of your opponents pieces.
7. If you have a material advantage, it is good to
exchange pieces but keep pawns. Exchanging
pawns increases your opponent’s drawing
chances. The less pieces there are on the board,
the more important the pawns become.
8. If you have an advantage, you should leave
pawns on both sides of the board so that your
opponent will be forced to defend on both sides of
the board.
The main chess endgame
principles:
9. If you have one bishop, put your pawns on the
opposite colour squares – this way you can
control squares with your pawns which the bishop
can’t control.
10. The bishop pair (two bishops) are usually very
powerful in the endgame, possibly worth at least
an extra pawn.
11. The best piece to block a pawn with is a knight.
This is because the knight also attacks the squares
from where other pawns can protect the blocked
pawn.
The main chess endgame
principles:
12. Passed pawns should be pushed forward and
supported by all your pieces. Remember – promoting
a pawn can often be as good as checkmate since
you will be able to force a win with a new queen.
13. Passed pawns on the edge of the board is a key
advantage since you can use it to distract your
opponent’s pieces (or king) away from other targets.
14. A bishop is usually slightly better than a
knight when the action is on both sides of the board.
However, when the pawns are only on one side of the
board, the knight can be more useful since it can
reach both the light and dark squares.
The main chess endgame
principles:
15. Bishops on opposite colour squares tends to
often lead to a draw even when one player has an
extra pawn or two.
16. Create threats on both sides of the board. This
may cause your opponent’s pieces to become
overloaded with defensive tasks and give you an
opportunity to promote a pawn by a tactical
combination.
What are the main goals in the endgame?
There are 3 main goals (tasks) that you
should always keep in mind for the
endgame. Achieving these goals will
increase your chances to win the game:
1. Get your king into an active position.
2. Create a passed pawn.
3. Dominate the activity of the
opponents pieces.
Getting your king into an active
position:
The attacking value of a king is surprisingly high.
Unfortunately, the king can mostly not be used as an
attacking piece since he is a vulnerable target. However,
when the opponent do not have enough pieces to actively
attack the king, it becomes possible to use the king as an
attacking piece. Activating the king to the best square is
essential to improve your position for the endgame. The
attacking value of the king can even be slightly more than that
of the knight or bishop. The estimated point value of the king
is about 4 points – more than a knight or bishop, but less than
a rook. Certainly the value of all pieces depends on other
factors in the position but the fact remains that it is essential
for the king to help the remaining pieces and pawns during
the endgame.
Getting your king into an active
position:
Creating a passed pawn:
Promoting a pawn to a new queen in the endgame
usually leads to your opponent resigning the game. Even
if a passed pawn can not immediately be promoted, it
can often tie down an enemy piece which needs to keep
watch and prevent the passed pawn from slipping
through. This means that your opponent often have to
play on other parts of the board with one less piece and
can give you the opportunity to create another weakness
to exploit. Often the opponent needs to sacrifice a piece
in order to prevent promotion of a passed pawn. Playing
with an extra piece in the endgame is usually an easy
win for the player with the extra piece.
Getting your king into an active
position:
Dominating the activity of the
opponents pieces:
Restricting or dominating the mobility of the
enemy pieces is important in the middle-game as
well as during the endgame. In the endgame there
are only a few remaining pieces, if any – this means
that every piece should play an important role
since there are not many other supporting pieces in
the endgame. If you can restrict the mobility of your
opponent’s pieces it can bring you an advantage and
the chance to see if you can convert your more
active position into a more concrete winning
chances.
Getting your king into an active
position:
https://thechessworld.com/articles/endgame/
7-ways-to-improve-your-endgame-play/
Endgame Play: 7 Ways to Improve It
Endgame Play is thought of by many chess
players as something unpleasant, boring and
unfavorable to start with. That’s why oftentimes,
even if they have a won ending they shy away from it
and prefer settling things down in the Middlegame.
That happens because chess players nowadays
don’t have a depth understanding of the
endgames which leads to drawing or even losing an
otherwise equal position. The goal of this topic is to
change that. Here are the 7 ways to improve your
endgame play.
Endgame Play: 7 Ways to Improve It
1. Dedicate enough time to studying endings
2. Study practical positions
3. Use the “easy-to-hard” approach
4. Endgame Play should not intimidate you
5. Practice the most common Endgame Play with
a partner
6. Analyze important Endgame Play that GMs
play
7. Track your Endgame Play statistics
GENERALIZATION
The endgame in chess is the
phase of the game that occurs after
most of the pieces have been
exchanged—the stage of the game
that happens at the end. Not every
game of chess reaches the endgame,
as some games are decided in the
middlegame (or even by early
checkmates in the opening). However,
most games do reach the endgame
stage.
GENERALIZATION
In general, endgames have
different strategic goals than other
phases. One main goal in the opening
is to develop your pieces, while in the
middlegame your goal could be to
attack an enemy king or to protect your
own king—but in the endgame, main
goals are to get your king into an
active position, dominate the activity of
the opponents pieces and try to push a
pawn into promotion.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
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