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Guided lesson · Improver · Endgames

King and pawn against king: winning and saving it

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Almost every pawn endgame gets reduced to this: king and pawn against king. And the result almost never depends on the pawn — it depends on the kings. The exact same position is a win or a draw depending on whose turn it is and where each king stands. Here you'll see both faces: the exact defense that saves the draw against an extra pawn, and the method that wins when the extra pawn is yours. Knowing how to defend this endgame saves half-points that are worth entire tournaments.

The key idea

Defending: stay in front of the pawn and, when its king advances, retreat STRAIGHT back to take the opposition. Attacking: your king always ahead of the pawn (with one exception you'll see: the rook pawn).

Example 1 · The defense that saves the draw

Black plays, and defends. Watch the key maneuver: retreating straight back to end up face to face every time the pawn advances.

  1. Ke7 First rule for the defender: the king plants itself in front of the pawn. As long as you're in its way, the pawn doesn't decide anything.
  2. Kd5 The white king tries to go around a side…
  3. Kd7 …and Black stands right opposite it: opposition. White moves and has no way to make progress there.
  4. e6+ White tries with the pawn, giving check.
  5. Ke7 The king goes back to its post: in front of the pawn.
  6. Ke5 The white king escorts the pawn from behind.
  7. Ke8 THE move that saves this endgame, and the one almost everyone gets wrong: retreat STRAIGHT back. No corners, no diagonals: straight, so you can take the opposition the moment its king advances.
  8. Kd6 White advances looking for a way through…
  9. Kd8 …and there's the opposition again. Face to face, and it's White to move. There's no way in.
  10. e7+ The pawn reaches the seventh WITH check. Note this signal: when this check arrives with your king in front, the draw is automatic.
  11. Ke8 The black king takes its place on the queening square.
  12. Ke6 And look at the board: the black king isn't in check and has NO legal move. Stalemate. Draw. The perfect defense ends exactly like this.

Example 2 · How you win: the king in front

Now the strong side does things right: the king advances IN FRONT of its pawn and gains the ground before pushing it.

  1. Ke4 The king comes out ahead of the pawn. Compare with Example 1: there the pawn went first and it ended in a draw. Order is everything.
  2. Kd6 The defender gives ground on one side.
  3. Kf5 The white king comes in on the other side. Classic outflanking.
  4. Ke7 Black rushes to block the way.
  5. Ke5 Opposition for White: Black has to move and gives way again.
  6. Kd7 To one side…
  7. Kf6 …and the white king is already stepping on the sixth rank, ahead of its pawn. Ground gained.
  8. Ke8 Last barrier.
  9. e4 And NOW the pawn marches. Look at the picture: the white king on the sixth, the pawn coming from behind. With this setup this endgame always wins — with a single exception: the rook pawn (a- and h-files), where the defender takes refuge in the corner and draws even so.
  10. Kd7 The defender can no longer cover everything.
  11. Kf7 The white king takes control of the queening square. The pawn will queen with nothing to stop it. King in front: victory.

Practice

You play Black and you're defending: your opponent has an extra pawn and wants to queen it. Apply the defense from Example 1 — in front of the pawn, and straight retreat to take the opposition — and scrape out the draw.

  1. Well planted: in front of the pawn. That's where every defense starts. Place your king in front of the pawn, cutting off its path to queening.
  2. Opposition: face to face and it's White to move. There's no way through. His king has stepped to one side. Stand right opposite it, face to face.
  3. Back to your post: in front of the pawn, always. The pawn advanced with check. Go back to standing in front of it.
  4. THE move. Straight retreat, no corners: that way you'll have the opposition ready when his king advances. His king is escorting the pawn from behind. Retreat STRAIGHT back, on the same file, without drifting.
  5. Opposition again, exactly when it was needed. His pawn can only reach the seventh by giving check — the sign of the draw. His king has come in from the side. Stand opposite it: king to b8.
  6. And that's it: your king occupies the queening square. His only way to protect the pawn is to stalemate you — a draw — and anything else loses the pawn. Half a point saved with an exact defense. The pawn's check pushes you to the queening square. Go there: it's the refuge of the draw.

You've just saved a draw that many people lose. This defense — in front of the pawn, straight retreat, opposition — turns 'lost' positions into half a point. And one note for the road: against a rook pawn (a- and h-files) the defense is even easier, because the corner always draws. Few things in chess give you so much for so little.