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Endgame Essentials · Kapilash Chess Academy

King and Pawn against King

The square and the key squares

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2.1 The Rule of the Square

When a pawn runs and the enemy king is far away, you do not need to count every move. Draw an imaginary square: from the pawn to the promotion square, and the same distance to the side. If the defending king can step into this square, it catches the pawn. If not, the pawn queens.

Diagram 2.1White to move

Example 2.1 · Outside the square

White to move. After 1.h5 the square of the pawn is e5–e8–h8–h5. The black king on c6 needs two moves to get into it.

Black is always one step too slow. A pawn on its starting square can move two squares, so for a pawn on the second rank draw the square as if it already stood on the third.

Diagram 2.2Black to move

Example 2.2 · Inside the square

The same position, but now Black is to move. The square of the h4-pawn is d4–d8–h8–h4.

1...♔d5 steps into the square and the king arrives in time. One tempo decides everything in a pawn ending, so always check who is to move.

2.2 Key Squares

When the defending king is in front of the pawn, the rule of the square does not help. Now what matters is where the attacking king stands. Every pawn has key squares: if the attacking king reaches one of them, the pawn queens whatever the defender does.

1. For a pawn on the 2nd, 3rd or 4th rank, the key squares are the three squares two ranks in front of the pawn. For a pawn on e4: d6, e6 and f6.
2. For a pawn on the 5th or 6th rank, the key squares are the three squares directly in front and the three squares two ranks in front. For a pawn on e5: d6, e6, f6, d7, e7 and f7.
3. A rook pawn (a- or h-pawn) is different: its key squares are next to the promotion square — b7 and b8 for an a-pawn — and the defender can usually hold the corner.

Diagram 2.3White to move

Example 2.3 · Reaching a key square

The white king can step onto d6, a key square of the e4-pawn.

Once the king is on d6, the pawn can move forward, and after 3.♔e6! the white king takes the opposition again and steps to f7 to escort the pawn. Notice the order: the king leads, the pawn follows. Pushing the pawn early, before the king has reached a key square, is the most common way to throw away a won position.

Diagram 2.4Black to move

Example 2.4 · King on the sixth rank

White's king is on e6, in front of its pawn. Black to move.

With the king on the sixth rank in front of a pawn (not a rook pawn), White wins whoever is to move. Here the king steps aside with 2.♔d7 and the pawn marches to e8.

Diagram 2.5White to move

Example 2.5 · The rook pawn

The black king has reached the corner in front of the h-pawn.

White cannot drive the king out of the corner. If the white king stands on g6 or g7 with the pawn on h7, it is stalemate; if it moves away, the black king comes out to g8. With a rook pawn, the defender draws whenever the king reaches the corner in front of the pawn.