Endgame
Once the queens are off and few pieces remain, the king turns from a burden into a strong piece, and an extra pawn often decides the game.
What you need to know
- Mate with queen or rook. With your king and queen (or rook) push the enemy king to the edge of the board, then into a corner. The king has to help — a rook cannot mate without it.
- King forward. In the endgame the king walks to the centre and attacks pawns itself.
- Opposition. The kings face each other with one square between them, and the opponent is to move — so he has to give way. This decides almost every king and pawn versus king ending.
- The rule of the square. Draw an imaginary square from a passed pawn to its promotion square. If the enemy king steps into the square on its move,it catches the pawn.
- Rook behind the passed pawn. Yours or the opponent's: behind the pawn the rook grows stronger with every step the pawn takes.
What does not win
A single knight or bishop cannot mate, and neither can two knights against a lone king. A rook ending with an extra pawn is often a draw — rooks defend very stubbornly.
Draws under the club's rules
- Stalemate. The most painful draw: the opponent has no moves but is not in check. With a queen against a lone king, check that you left him a move.
- Repetition and 50 moves. If a position has occurred three times, or 50 moves by each side have passed without a capture or a pawn move, you can claim a draw with the button at the table. After five repetitions or 75 moves the draw comes by itself.
- Time. If your flag falls but the opponent has nothing to mate with —say, only a bare king — the game is a draw, not a loss. Details are in therules.
Chess variants
In King of the Hill there is no draw for insufficient material: a king
that reaches the centre wins even on its own, so in the endgame count whose
king is closer to d4, e4, d5 and e5. In Three-check insufficient
material means only two bare kings, and even a minor piece can deliver the
missing checks.