Chess endgames

The endgame is when only a few pieces are left. Plenty of players know their openings by heart and still turn a won endgame into a draw. Here are the 14 endgames that come up most, and every "win or draw" verdict has been checked against a tablebase — a database where a computer has solved every position. Read one, then try it when you play chess online.

Openings and middlegames branch endlessly, but endgames often have a "right answer": the same pieces in the same places are won or drawn the same way every time. Know a few basic endgames and you'll know which trades to aim for in the middlegame.

Endgames have one more twist: the king becomes a fighting piece. In the opening you hide it; in the endgame you march it to the center.

How to checkmate a lone king. Learn these first:

• Queen mateKing and queen against a lone king always wins. Shrink the "box" step by step, and watch out for stalemate at the end.
• Rook mateKing and rook against a lone king always wins. The rook cuts the king off, your king walks up, and you check when the kings face each other.
• Two bishops mateKing and two bishops against a lone king always wins. Side by side, the bishops form a wall that drives the king into a corner for mate.
• Bishop and knight mateKing, bishop and knight against a lone king is a win, but only in a corner the same color as the bishop. Use the "W" maneuver to drive the king from the wrong corner to the right one.

Just kings and pawns. They look simple, but a single tempo decides everything:

• King and pawn vs kingOne extra pawn may or may not win. It depends on where the king stands. Learn the key squares: king first, pawn second.
• OppositionWhen two kings face each other with one square between them, the side to move has to give way. Pawn endgames are often decided by who has the opposition.
• Rule of the squareNo need to count move by move: draw a square from the pawn to the last rank. If the enemy king can step into it, it catches the pawn.
• TriangulationWhen you want the same position but with your opponent to move, walk your king around three squares to lose a tempo. An advanced pawn-endgame technique.
• ZugzwangEvery move makes your position worse, but in chess you can't pass. The idea that decides more endgames than any other.

The endgames you'll meet most often in real games. These two positions are the foundation:

• Lucena positionThe most important winning position in rook and pawn vs rook. When your king can't escape the rook checks, block them with your own rook. That's called "building a bridge".
• Philidor positionThe standard drawing method in rook and pawn vs rook. Keep the rook on your 6th rank, and once the pawn advances, swing it behind and check from there.

• Wrong bishopBishop and a- or h-pawn: if the bishop can't control the color of the promotion square, the defending king just hides in the corner and it's a draw.
• Opposite-colored bishopsEach side has one bishop left, one on light squares and one on dark squares. The defender blockades the squares of one color with king and bishop, and can often draw even two pawns down.
• Queen vs pawnA queen against a pawn on the 7th rank supported by its king. Center and knight pawns usually lose; bishop and rook pawns are often a draw.

1. Bring your king out: in the endgame the king is a strong piece. Head for the center.
2. Push passed pawns: a pawn with no enemy pawns in its way gets more valuable the closer it gets to promotion.
3. Count before you move: one tempo is the difference between a win and a draw. Count the squares every move.

The draw rules (stalemate, insufficient material) are in Check, checkmate and draws.

Take what you learn into a real game: open free online chess, play the computer and trade down into an endgame to practise. For other lessons, head back to the chess home page.

Practise in a game