Chess lessons › Chess endgames
Opposition
Face the enemy king with one square between: whoever has to move gives way.
The idea
Kings face to face, a square apart: the side to move must give way.
- Your king steps in front of the black king, with a square between.
- Now Black has to move, so its king must give way.
- Your king gets past, and the pawn walks through to queen.
In a game: When the kings face each other in a pawn ending, look at whose move it is.
The lesson
A lone king defends a pawn ending by standing in front of the pawn. Kings can never touch, so each king guards the squares around it.
Here the two kings face each other with one empty square between them. This is the opposition. It is Black’s move, so Black has to step aside and give way. Play through the moves and watch what it costs.
- 1... Kd7 Black has to move. Every king move gives White a way past.
- 2. Kf6 White’s king steps past Black’s and gets ahead of its own pawn.
- 2... Kd8 3. Kf7 White’s king guards the squares in front of the pawn, so the pawn can march.
- 3... Kc7 4. e5 Kb6 5. e6 Kb5 6. e7 Kc4 7. e8=Q The pawn becomes a queen, and White wins.
A question
Now the same position with one difference: it is White’s move. Can White win?
Show the answer
No. It is a draw, because Black has the opposition.
Right. White has to move and give way. The player who has to move loses the opposition. Same kings, same pawn, and the result has changed from a win to a draw.
Find the move
White to move. White’s king is on d4 and Black’s is on e7. Only one move wins. Take the opposition.
A hint
Put your king on the same file as Black’s, with one square between.
Show the answer
1. Ke5
Ke5 takes the opposition: the kings face each other with e6 between them, and it is Black’s move. This is the position you started with. Black has to give way, and White’s king steps past.
Find the move
The kings face each other again, but this time it is White’s move, so White does not have the opposition. White still wins. A pawn move can hand the move over. Find it.
A hint
Do not move the king. The pawn on e3 can step forward.
Show the answer
1. e4
e4 keeps the pawn safe, because the king on d5 protects it, and it hands the move to Black. Now the kings face each other with Black to move, so Black has to give way. A spare move like this is called a tempo.
Find the move
Now you defend. You are Black, with your king on d5, and it is your move. White’s king and pawn stand together on the e-file. Hold the draw.
A hint
Put your king in front of the pawn, on the same file as the white king.
Show the answer
1... Ke5
Ke5 takes the opposition. Your king stands in front of the pawn and faces the white king, and it is White’s move, so White has to give way. It is the only move that holds the draw.
Play it out
Now play it out yourself. The kings face each other and it is White’s move, so White does not have the opposition. The pawn on e2 can step to e3, though. Use that move to hand the move to Black, then walk the pawn home. Your opponent defends perfectly.
In the lesson you play this out on the board, against the endgame tablebase’s best defence.
Practise
Now some pawn endings from real games. Before you move, look at where the two kings stand.
In the lesson, 5 rated puzzles on this theme come from the puzzle bank, chosen near your rating.
In numbers
In the puzzle bank
1,803 puzzles in GreyChess’s bank practise it. Half of them are rated between 1,075 and 2,532.
The piece that makes the first move of the answer: pawn 55%, king 45%, in puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database.
Positions to practise
120 positions in the study, every result proved by the tablebase: 41 are wins, 59 draws and 20 losses for the side to move, with best play on both sides.