How to Win King and Pawn Endgames: Opposition
· Endgames
To win a king and pawn endgame, march your king in front of the pawn, reach one of its key squares, and use the opposition to push the enemy king aside. The pawn alone cannot win. The king wins the game, and the pawn is only what it escorts to the last rank. A pawn up is not always enough, and the same position can be won or drawn depending on whose turn it is.
This ending decides many games, because trading every other piece is a common way to simplify. Knowing three ideas, king in front, key squares and opposition, tells you at once whether to go for it. You can also try the positions against Stockfish in Practice as you read.
Rule 1: the king goes in front of the pawn
A king standing behind its pawn guards nothing in front of it. The enemy king simply stands on the pawn's path and waits. Here White has an extra pawn and the move, but the king is behind it and Black draws.
White to move cannot win: the black king blocks the pawn and the white king is too far back to help.
Now put the white king in front of the pawn, on the sixth rank, and the result flips. With the king on e6 and the pawn on e5 White wins whoever is to move. For example, 1.Kd6 Kd8 2.e6 Ke8 3.e7 Kf7 4.Kd7 and the pawn queens.
White wins, with either side to move. The king in front of its pawn leads it home.
Rule 2: reach a key square
A key square is a square that wins if your king gets there, almost whatever the opponent does. For a pawn on its fourth rank, such as e4, the key squares are the three squares two ranks ahead of it: d6, e6 and f6. Once the white king stands on one of them, the pawn queens by force, unless the black king can capture the pawn at once.
Check the position below. The white king is on d6, a key square for the e4-pawn, and White wins whether it is his move or Black's.
The king on d6 is on a key square of the e4-pawn. White wins with either side to move.
So the plan in every king and pawn ending is the same: count how many moves your king needs to reach a key square, and how many the defender needs to stop you. The defender's job is to meet your king on that path, and this is where the opposition matters.
Rule 3: take the opposition
Two kings stand in opposition when they are on the same file with exactly one square between them. The player who is *not* to move has the opposition, because the other king must step aside and give way. The same idea works on a rank or a diagonal.
In the diagram White has king e5, pawn e4 and Black has king e7, so the kings are in opposition. If it is Black to move, he has to give way, and White reaches a key square and wins. If it is White to move, the same position is only a draw.
Black to move loses, for example 1...Kd7 2.Kf6 reaches a key square of the pawn. With White to move this is a draw.
The draw with White to move goes like this: 1.Kd5 Kd7 2.e5 Ke7 3.e6 Ke8 4.Kd6 Kd8 5.e7+ Ke8 6.Ke6. Black has no legal move and is not in check, so it is stalemate. White got as far as he could, but had to give up the opposition by moving first.
That is why king and pawn endings are about tempo. Moving the pawn costs you a tempo, and when the kings face each other, spending one is often a mistake. If you cannot take the opposition, look for a move that loses a tempo elsewhere, such as a spare pawn move on the other wing, so that the opponent is the one who runs out of useful moves.
The king on the sixth rank
One more pattern is worth learning. If your king reaches the sixth rank in front of a pawn on the fifth, and the enemy king is in front on the back rank, you win whichever side is to move. It is the position from Rule 1: once your king is that far forward, the opposition no longer matters.
Compare this with the similar position in which the pawn is on e5, the white king on f5 and the black king on e7. With Black to move, he holds the draw by keeping the opposition. You can practise that defence in Hold the draw with the opposition, and the winning side in King on the sixth rank.
The edge pawn is different
A pawn on the a- or h-file has only one side to escape to, so the defender has a new resource: hiding in the corner. If the defending king reaches the corner in front of the pawn, the attacker often cannot make progress. And there is a stalemate trick that works even when the pawn is already on the fifth rank.
A draw, whoever is to move. For example 1.h6 Kg8 2.h7+ Kh8 3.Kh6 is stalemate.
So with a rook's pawn, do not assume that getting your king in front of the pawn is enough. Before you trade down into such an ending, check where the defending king can hide.
A checklist for the endgame
- Activate your king as soon as the queens are off. In the endgame it is a strong piece, not one to hide.
- Put the king in front of the pawn, never behind it.
- Count the route to the pawn's key squares for both kings.
- Take the opposition when the kings face each other, and remember it belongs to the player who is not to move.
- Watch for stalemate when your opponent's king is on the edge, and with a rook's pawn.
- Do not rush the pawn. Every pawn move costs a tempo, so push it only when it helps.
These ideas also help before the endgame. Knowing which king and pawn endings win tells you which trades to accept in the middlegame, which is why activity matters even in the opening. To practise the technique after the pawns run out, learn the basic mates, such as checkmate with king and rook, and then try the endgame positions against the computer.