Chess endgames

With few pieces left, the king becomes a fighter and one pawn can decide the game. Every result on this page was checked with the lichess Syzygy tablebase, which knows the outcome of every position with seven pieces or fewer.

Use your king

In the middlegame the king hides. Once the queens are gone, a mating attack is much less likely: walk the king towards the centre and the pawns.

King and pawn: the opposition

Kings can never stand side by side. When they face each other with one square between them, the side that does not have to move holds the opposition — the other king must give way.

Below, White's pawn is on e4 and the kings face each other on e5 and e7. If the white king reaches d6, e6 or f6, the pawn promotes.

Black to move.Black must step aside, and the white king walks onto d6, e6 or f6. White wins.

White to move.The same position with White to move. The pawn cannot help because its own king blocks it, so Black keeps the opposition. A draw.

The only difference between the two is whose turn it is.

The rule of the square

Can the king catch a passed pawn? Picture a square from the pawn to its promotion rank. If the defending king can step inside it on its move, it catches the pawn.

Black to move.The a4 pawn's square runs from a4 to e8. Black steps in with …Ke5, …Ke6 or …Ke7 and catches it. A draw.

Black to move.If White moves first, a5 shrinks the square to a5–d8. The king on f6 cannot get in, and the pawn promotes.

A pawn still on its starting square can move two, so draw its square as if it already stood one rank further up.

Rook endings: building a bridge (Lucena)

White's pawn is on g7 with the king in front of it. The black rook on the h-file stops the king stepping out that way, and White's rook on e1 keeps the black king away on the d-file.

White to move.Re4 wins. The rook will later block the checks on g4.

The main line runs 1.Re4 Rh1 2.Kf7 Rf1+ 3.Kg6 Rg1+ 4.Kf6 Rf1+ 5.Kg5 Rg1+ 6.Rg4. The checks stop, and the pawn promotes.

Rook endings: the Philidor defence

The defending king stands in front of the pawn. Keep the rook on the rank in front of the enemy pawn — here the sixth — so the white king cannot come forward.

Black to move.Shown from Black's side. Black keeps the rook on the sixth rank and draws.

Once White plays e6, the white king has no cover in front of it any more. Now drop the rook to the first rank, for example …Rb1, and check from behind.

White to move.Black's rook went back to its own back rank too soon. Kf6, the only winning move, lets the white king in.

Watch for stalemate

When you are winning, check before each move that the losing king will still have a move. Checkmate patterns shows how one wrong queen move turns a win into a draw.

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