Endgames can look like a vast subject, with thick books full of rook endings. But a small number of them come up again and again, and knowing them changes how you play the whole game: you will trade into an ending you know is won, and avoid one you know is drawn. Here they are, in the order worth learning them.
1. Mate with the queen
King and queen against a lone king is the first one to master. The method:
- Use the queen to shrink the box the enemy king can move in, a knight's move away from it.
- Watch for stalemate: when the enemy king has only a few squares left, check that it always has a move.
- Bring your own king up, then give mate on the edge with the queen protected by the king.
Practise it until you can do it quickly, from any position, without thinking.
2. Mate with the rook
King and rook against king takes a little longer, but never more than sixteen moves with best play. The rook cuts the enemy king off along a rank or file, your king walks up to face it, and the rook gives check when the kings stand opposite each other. Each time the enemy king steps away, the rook takes another rank. GreyChess has a free lesson on mating with the rook.
3. The rule of the square
When a pawn runs for promotion with no king to help it, can the defending king catch it? Draw a square from the pawn to its promotion square, with that distance as its side. If the defending king can step into the square, it catches the pawn; if not, the pawn promotes. Count it in seconds rather than calculating every move. See the rule of the square lesson.
4. King and pawn against king: the opposition
This is the most important ending of all, because every pawn ending can turn into it.
The kings stand in opposition when they face each other on a file, rank or diagonal with one square between them. The side that does not have to move "has the opposition": the other king must give way. In king and pawn endings, the opposition often decides whether the pawn promotes or the game is drawn.
A useful rule: with a pawn on e4, if White's king reaches d6, e6 or f6, the pawn promotes whatever Black does. These are the pawn's key squares. Learn both ideas with the opposition and key squares lessons.
Two exceptions to remember: a rook's pawn (on the a- or h-file) is usually a draw if the defending king reaches the corner, and a king in front of its own pawn wins far more often than a king behind it.
5. Two rook endings by name
Rook endings are the most common endings in practice. Two positions are worth knowing by heart:
- The Lucena position: the stronger side has a rook and a pawn on the seventh rank, with the king in front of the pawn. The winning method is often called "building a bridge": the rook shelters the king from checks so it can step out and let the pawn promote.
- The Philidor position: the defender keeps the rook on its third rank, stopping the attacking king from coming forward. When the pawn advances, the rook goes to the back and checks from behind. With this, many rook and pawn against rook endings are drawn.
Both have their own lessons: the Lucena position and the Philidor defence.
How to study them
- Play them out. Set the position up and play both sides, or play against an engine until you win every time.
- A little, often. One ending a week, revised the week after, is enough to build a solid base in a few months.
- Look for them in your games. When one of your games reaches an ending, check afterwards which of these it was.
GreyChess's endgame training has lessons on these endings and puzzles on endgame themes, so you can practise them on a board.