Chess lessons › Chess strategy
Trading into a won endgame
When the pawn ending is won, trade the last pieces: check it first, because there is no way back.
The idea
Trade the last pieces when the pawn ending is surely won.
- The queens stand side by side on a7 and b7.
- Qxb7+ Kxb7 leaves only kings and pawns.
- White’s king is beside the pawns, and Black’s king is far away.
In a game: Before trading into a pawn ending, count whose king reaches the pawns first.
How the lesson begins
Sometimes the quickest way to win is to trade everything into a pawn ending: only kings and pawns. A pawn ending is often easy to win with an extra pawn, but it is final: if it is only a draw, no piece is left to try again. So you count before you trade.
This is Gersz Rotlewi against Aaron Nimzovich, Karlsbad 1911. White is a pawn up, and the queens stand side by side. Black’s king is on c8, far from the kingside pawns.
Find the move
White to move. Trade into the pawn ending.
A hint
The queens face each other. Take first, with check.
Show the answer
49. Qxb7+ Kxb7
Qxb7+ Kxb7 leaves only kings and pawns. The tablebase, a list of the perfect result of every position with few pieces, says White wins. White’s king is much closer to the pawns than Black’s.
In numbers
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.