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Guided lesson · Beginner · Endgames

King and two pawns against a lone king

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You reach an endgame with two pawns and your opponent only has the king. This wins, and it wins without any theory — but it's worth knowing the method, because there's more than one way to throw it away and one of them is surprisingly easy to find. The healthy technique has an order: first you bring the king up, then the pawns advance, and never the other way round. And then there's the exception, which is what really justifies this lesson: if your two pawns are on the same file — doubled — and that file is a rook's file, the defending king tucks itself into the corner and there is no human way to get it out. Two pawns up and a draw.

The key idea

Two connected pawns defend each other and advance on their own: when one is attacked, the other protects it. The king escorts, it doesn't push. The exception to memorise: doubled rook's pawns don't win if the defending king reaches the corner.

Example 1 · Two connected pawns: the king first

Pawns on c3 and d3 against the black king. The correct technique starts where nobody looks: with the white king.

  1. Kf2 The king, before anything else. The temptation is to push the pawns straight away, and that's exactly the mistake: pawns that advance without their king end up being captured one after another. Here the king is still miles away, so the first job is bringing him to the party.
  2. Kc5 The black king comes over to blockade. It's the only thing he can do, and even so we have to do our part properly.
  3. Ke2 I keep walking. No hurry at all: as long as my two pawns are side by side, they defend each other and there's nothing to fear.
  4. Kd6 The black king stands in front of the pawns, which is his best square.
  5. c4 Now the first advance — and with the king already on his way. Notice the detail that makes these endgames easy: if the black king captures on c4, the d3 pawn recaptures and I'm left with a pawn supported by my king. Connected pawns cover themselves.
  6. Kc6 The black king keeps getting in the way, without being able to touch anything.
  7. d4 And the second pawn draws level with the first. This is the formation you want: both pawns on the same rank, defending one another, with the king behind them pushing.
  8. Kd7 Black can only retreat. From here it's a matter of repeating the mechanism — king in front, pawns behind — until you queen. Not one move in this sequence was difficult: what's difficult is remembering the order.

Example 2 · The exception: doubled and on the rook's file

Two white pawns on the a-file, one behind the other, and the black king on a8. There's no win here by any route.

  1. Kd2 Two pawns up and this is a draw. Both flaws come together here: they're on the same file, so they can't defend each other, and that file is the rook's file, so the queening square is in the corner.
  2. Ka7 The black king settles down to live in the corner, and from there he's untouchable. All he needs is to stay on a7 and a8.
  3. Kc3 I bring the king up anyway, though we already know how this ends. Try picturing the finish: to queen on a8 I'd have to evict the black king from there, and for that my king would have to occupy b6 or b7 with his forced to move.
  4. Kb7 And there's the problem. When my king reaches b6, his will be on b8 or a8; if I push a pawn to a6 I'm not giving check and not taking any useful square away, and if my king takes every square away from him without giving check, the game is an immediate STALEMATE draw.
  5. Kb3 I keep coming closer, just to see it with the pieces on the board.
  6. Kb8 The black king shuttles between a7, a8 and b8 and nobody can do a thing. A draw confirmed by the engine: eleven centipawns with two extra pawns. Memorise the picture, because it comes up more than you'd think — doubled rook's pawns and a defending king that reaches the corner. If you see yourself heading there, change plan earlier: one pawn that queens is worth more than two that don't.

Practice

Two connected pawns against the lone king. It wins without difficulty if you respect the order: one thing first, then the other. Resist the urge to push.

  1. King first. Pawns that advance without their king end up captured one after another. Don't touch the pawns yet. Start bringing up the piece that's furthest from the action.
  2. No hurry. As long as your pawns are side by side, they defend themselves and there's nothing to fear. Keep walking the king towards the centre.
  3. Now, and with the king already on his way. If his king takes on c4, the other pawn recaptures: connected pawns cover each other. With the king on his way, push one of the two pawns.
  4. And the second draws level. That's the formation you want: both on the same rank, with the king behind them pushing. Bring the other pawn up to the same height as its partner.

Two connected pawns and a king win with no mystery, as long as you respect the order: king first, pawns after, and both pawns level so they defend each other. And keep example 2's exception, which is what saves you half a point from the other side: doubled and on the rook's file, with the defending king in the corner, they never win. It's one of the few endgames where it pays to know the result before you start playing it.