7 endgames every club player must know

Why endgame = knowledge

Endgame is the only phase of chess where pure knowledge decides everything. In the opening you can play “by feel,” in the middlegame by general principles. In the endgame there are positions where you either know the right plan or you don’t: a win turns into a draw, a draw into a loss.

And the worst part: those positions are the same at every level. A grandmaster mates with two bishops in a minute. A 1300 player may not know the technique at all — and quietly draw a game with an extra bishop.

The seven positions below are the minimum set up to 1700. Not “the entire endgame theory” — concrete positions that show up in your games every month.

1. Opposition and the rule of the square

The rule of the square is the simplest: for the king to catch a passed pawn, it must enter the square the pawn forms with its promotion square. If it enters — it catches it; if not — the pawn promotes.

Simple example: pawn on h4. To h8 it needs 4 moves. The opponent’s king must be ≤4 moves from h8. Build the square from h4 to h8 and toward the king — if the king is inside, it catches up.

In both cases the pawn’s square is the same — d4–h8 with side 4. Only the king’s route changes: from d4 a diagonal works, from d8 you have to drop to the 7th rank to avoid the h7 check.

Opposition — kings on the same line (file, rank, diagonal) at an odd number of squares apart. The side not to move has the advantage — the opponent has to give way with the king.

Example: white king e4, black king e6, Black to move. Black has no good move — wherever the king goes, White breaks through. That’s opposition in White’s favour.

Learn the rule, solve 30 puzzles on opposition and the square — and you’ll stop throwing away pawn endgames.

Train: pawn endgames

2. King and pawn vs king

The most common endgame in your games. Wrong about half the time at club level.

Main rule: the strong side’s king has to be in front of the pawn. If the king holds the pawn from behind — it’s often a draw. If it leads the way — it wins.

Key squares: for a non-rook pawn on the 2nd–4th ranks the key squares are three squares on the rank two ranks ahead of the pawn. If the strong side’s king stands on any of them — the pawn promotes, regardless of whose move it is.

Example: pawn on e2 → key squares d4, e4, f4. White king on any of these — pawn reaches e8.

Special case — rook pawn (a/h). Almost always a draw if the defending king reaches the corner: it can’t be evicted, even with the strong side a pawn up.

3. Lucena position (“building the bridge”)

The most important winning position in rook endings. Huge gap: those who know it win; those who don’t hand over a draw.

Position: strong side’s king on the pawn’s promotion square (say d8), pawn on the 7th rank (d7), rook behind the pawn (d1). Defending king cut off on the next file (say the f-file). Defending rook checks from the side, stopping the king from coming out.

Idea — “build the bridge”:

1. Rook to the 4th rank (Rd4 in our example) — that’s the future “bridge.”
2. King steps off the promotion square, clearing the pawn’s path.
3. When the defender starts checking with the rook, your rook on d4 shields the king from the side — that’s the “bridge.”

With the bridge built, White promotes and mates within 6–8 moves.

If you don’t know it — draw. If you do — win. This is the first thing taught in rook endings.

Train: rook endgames

4. Philidor position (“active rook”)

The crucial drawing position in rook endings. The defender’s answer to Lucena.

Position: your king on the opponent’s promotion square, opponent’s rook supports the pawn, the pawn is heading to promote. Your rook — on your third rank from your side (defending as Black, that’s the 6th rank by board numbering).

Idea:

1. Hold the rook on that 3rd rank (from your side) until the opponent’s pawn reaches it (vs White, until the pawn plays d6).
2. The moment the pawn moves up — swing the rook to the back and start checking from behind.
3. The strong side’s king has nowhere to hide from the checks: there are no pieces between it and your rook to block with.

Philidor’s defence turns many seemingly lost rook endings into ironclad draws. Especially valuable when you’re the weaker side — which happens a lot.

5. Basic rook endgames

Half of all rook endgames really are drawn with correct play. You need the general principles:

• Active rook. The rook works behind enemy lines, not in defence. Better to drop a pawn and activate the rook than to keep a passive rook on a1.
• Rook behind the passer — yours or theirs. Yours supports your passer from behind. Theirs blockades their passer (also from behind). Tarrasch’s classic rule: “rook behind the passed pawn.”
• The king fights too. In the endgame the king is an active piece. March it to the centre or to the passer.
• Don’t rush to take the pawn. Often it’s better to keep the pressure and bring the king up than to swap right away.

These principles solve 70% of rook endings at your level.

6. Mate with two bishops

Comes up rarely, but if it does, you must mate within 50 moves.

Idea: drive the opponent’s king into a corner. The bishops control diagonals; your king comes up and gradually squeezes the defender to the edge.

Don’t try to mate by feel — learn the technique. 30 minutes of study plus playing it out by hand five times will cover you for life.

Train: bishop endgames

7. Bishop and knight mate (brief note)

The hardest “must-know” mate. Comes up once in 100 games, but when it does, you need the correct-coloured corner. The bishop controls one colour; the king has to be driven to a corner of that colour.

Realistic plan: learn the idea, play it out once for understanding. Don’t spend hours polishing the technique — at your level it’s overrated.

Train: knight endgames

How to train endgames

Endgames aren’t trained with puzzles in the usual sense. They’re positions you play out by hand:

1. Set the position up (Lucena, say) on a board or in analysis.
2. Play it against yourself — both sides, try both to win and to save.
3. Check against the engine: where did you slip?
4. Repeat in a week.
5. Then again a month later.

Three spaced repetitions and the position stays in your head for years.

Extra sets: pawn endgames, rook endgames, zugzwang.

Related

• How to grow from 1300 to 1700 — overall plan, with endgame at 15% of study time.
• Common chess mistakes by level — the endgame mistakes most common at 1300–1700.
• Game analysis — play positions out and verify against the engine.