Pawn Endgames

"Pawns are the soul of chess" (Danican Andre Philidor 1726-1795). Centuries later, his words still ring true. The ultimate goal in pawn endgames is to promote a pawn. It is here that the foot soldier can realize its ultimate promotion to power as a "social climber" sufficient to support checkmate. It is interesting that these endgames present the lowest draw rate and the lowest number of important theoretical positions.

King activity is extremely important in pawn endings and it is for this very reason that the king takes center stage as a fighting entity.

According to de la Villa, king and two pawns vs. king and pawn is the most common scenario in pawn endings. A population of over 4 million games revealed that 0.46% or a little over 18,000 games involved this ending. Therefore it is of great practical interest to the tournament player and will be the primary focus of our study involving pawn endgames.

On the other hand, king vs. king and pawn endgames are relatively uncommon and therefore not covered in the present work. However, it is essential that the reader be fully acquainted with such concepts as the opposition, critical squares, square of the pawn, and the theory of corresponding squares, which embody the fundamental cornerstones characterizing the exclusive domain of monarchical combat. If you have any doubt in your knowledge or technique concerning these areas, I strongly suggest you consult additional endgame sources of which there are many in order to avoid unnecessary frustration in solving these examples.

We begin our study of pawn endings with king and pawn vs. king and pawn which occur quite frequently and are likely to crop up in your games.

King and Pawn vs. King and Pawn

Aside from simple pawn races brought about by both pawns being passed, the real question surrounding this ending is whether or not a pawn can be won. If a pawn drops, the assessment of the resulting position, which has now transposed into one of king and pawn vs. king, hinges upon who owns the opposition. If one side gives up his pawn but can take the opposition, the position is always drawn unless the stronger side's pawn is on the 5th rank. In fact, a blocked pawn on the 5th rank or greater wins if the enemy pawn can be captured, unless the blocked pawns are rook pawns.

Blocked Pawns and the Acquisition of Key Squares

When two pawns block each other, the key squares of each pawn are on the same rank as the pawn; three squares on either side of it. The king who manages to occupy one of the key squares of the enemy pawn will capture it but not necessarily win the game since that depends on who owns the opposition. This is a very important point to remember. Resist the temptation to resign just because your pawn will be lost since by taking the opposition in return for the pawn you salvage a draw.

1. Kg3! Kb7 2. Kf4 Kc7 3. Ke5 Kd7 4. Kd5 Kc7 5. Ke6 Kc8 6. Kd6 Kb7 7. Kd7 Kb8 8. Kc6 Ka7 9. Kc7 Ka8 10. Kxb6 wins.

1. Ka5! (1. Kb5? Kb7 is equal) 1…Kb7 2. Kb5 Kc7 3. Kc5 Kd7 4. Kd5 Ke7 5. Ke5 (5. Kc6?? Ke6!) 5…Kf7 6. Kd6 and the pawn will promote shortly.

Our next example introduces the concept of trebuchet:

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Both kings need to approach the pawns, but the path to pawn prey is quite treacherous. 1. Kd7! (1. Kd6? Kf5 and now white's compulsion to move courts fatality) 1…Kf5 2. Kd6 setting up a favorable trebuchet and forcing the move on black. 2…Kg6 3. Kxe6 Kg7 4. Kd7 Kf7 5. e6+ Kf8 6. e7+ Kf7 7. e8=Q+ and black can resign.

I promise you that before the end of this book, the name Nikolai Dmitrievich Grigoriev will be forever indelibly etched in your mind. And, for good reason. His work and ideas on many different types of endgames have become enchanting masterpieces of chess art. The next example, which harkens back to 1931, is one of my personal favorites and a cornerstone in the understanding of blocked pawn endgames:

1. Kg3!! White cannot directly capture the black pawn and begins an indirect path to it. Even if he makes it to c7, black has ... Ka6 setting up a trebuchet.

If 1. Kg4? Kc2! and now there are two courses the game could take:

a) 2. Kf3 Kd3! 3. Kf2 Kc4 4. Kd6 Kb5! 5. Kc7 Ka6!;

b) 2. Kf4 Kd3! 3. Ke5 Kc4 4. Kd6 Kb5 5. Kc7 Ka6.

1 ... Kc2 2. Kf2 Kd2 3. Kf1 Kd1 4. Kf2 Kd2 5. Kf1 Kd3 6. Ke1 Kc4 7. Kd2 Kb5 8. Kc3 Kc5 9. Kb3 Kxb6 10. Kb4 drawn.

Always remember that the loss of a pawn may be disguised as a sacrifice in consideration for taking the opposition, which often becomes a saving grace.

1. f4! forcing the black king to capture the pawn which is not on a critical square. (1. Kf2? f4! the black pawn now occupies the 5th rank. Hence, when the king captures the white pawn he will already occupy one of the critical squares.) 1 ... Ke4 2. Kg2! Kxf4 3. Kf2 Ke4 4. Ke2 f4 5. Kf2 f3 6. Kf1 Ke3

7. Ke1 f2+ 8. Kf1 Kf3 drawn. This concept can be applied to situations where there are more pawns on the board. Whenever the base of a pawn chain is blocked by an enemy pawn, the king can capture it if he occupies any one of the key squares of that pawn. When both kings can occupy key squares for their enemy pawn, a mutual zugzwang may arise. However, bear in mind that the first king to attack the enemy pawn must reserve a tempo in order to capture it.

Pawns on Adjacent Files

The concept here is to sacrifice your pawn in order to change the critical squares reaching a drawn king vs. king and pawn ending.

1 ... Kb4! Since black's pawn can no longer be defended, he correctly decides to attack. (If 1 ... Kb6? 2. Kd6! Kb5 3. Ke7! wins for white) 2. Kd6 (2. Kd4 Kb3 is equal) 2 ... Kc4 3. Ke7 Kd5 4. Kf6 Ke4 5. Kxf7 Kxe5.

1. d6! (1. Kb3? Kc5! 2. d6 Kxd6! [2 ... cxd6? 3. Kc3!] 3. Kc4 Kc6! or 2. Kc3 Kxd5!) 1 ... cxd6 2. Kb3! Kc5 3. Kc3!

1. e5! By sacrificing the pawn, white manages to change the key squares to d3, e3, and f3. Since black cannot reach the key squares, the result is a draw : 1 ... fxe5 2. Kg2 Kf4 3. Kf2 drawn.

Passed Pawns – Dual-Purpose King Maneuvers

The concept in this situation is to support your own pawn and simultaneously step into the square of the enemy pawn. The two famous compositions by Duras (1905) and Reti (1921) clearly illustrate this concept:

1. Kc5! White has two objectives: the white king must remain inside the square of the enemy pawn and at the same time shoulder the enemy king away from his own pawn. 1 ... Kg6. Although the king blocks his own pawn, the black king must also remain in the square of the enemy pawn (1.g5 2. b4 g4 3. Kd4 and white wins since the black king cannot enter the square of the pawn, while the white king has managed to do so). 2. b4 Kf7 3. b5 Ke7 4. Kc6! The consequence of white's first move is now apparent: the white king is able to shoulder the black king away from the white pawn. 4 ... Kd8 5. Kb7! g5 6. b6 g4 7. Ka7 g3 8. b7 g2 9. b8=Q+ The tempo white lost obstructing his pawn with 5. Kb7! is regained by queening with check.

1. Kg7! Once again, the white king has two objectives: to enter the square of the enemy pawn and to support his own...