Contents
Preface vi
1, Basie Theory and Terminology )
2. King and Pawn against King "
3. King and To Pawns against King 6
4. Pawn against Pawn 2»
41. Pawns onthe came fle x
42 Pans on seheent ee 5
41 Bothpnene penis B
5, Two Pawns against One 40
Connected pawes »
S11 Al nae posed 2
512 One passed pase, pane Hlocket a
S13. One passed pan, pane mobile &
SIM No putes pate poms blocked 2
51S. No passed pen pawns male 7
52 oled paws 8
S22 One pused pawn 7
531. No pased nen 3
$3. Do
SAD Allpawns
abled ps >
7 »
532 Pawnenadhucent fe 10:
S38 Pawns onthe same Ale tes
6. Two Pawns against Two Mm
61 Endings with passed pawns m
612 One pased pawn Hs
182 Endings witht passed pans rs
631 "Connected pawns against connected Bs
(622 Connected pains aginst outed 53
6625 Ipolated pawns agains Solated
7. Three Pawns against Two or Three Pawns
1 Endings with passed pans
2 Ending without passed pans
T3Allpawens none wing
732 Sepdeata prem on both wings
72) Seatered pawns&
9,
10.
Contents
Endings with Several Pawns (material advantage)
Endings with Several Pasins (positional advantage)
9.4 Outside passcd pawn
52. More éangesos passed pawns
35. Protected passed pawn
54 Breskibroush
5 Defects nthe pawn formation
56 Reserve erat
57 fiter king postion
‘The Theory of Corresponding Square Systems
ot Eight square sem
102 Quadrave ester
13. Quadratic system with nonsunombiguoes rear
a Triangular system
fos. Two stems
TO. Sipseuate (etanaulee oyster
to) Taysiem
LOR Multesgoure systems
10.9. Irvezuler systers
{tuto Second-order sssters
LM Certain complicated 5
Index of Players and Analysts
198
216
26
zm
2»
236
En
23
263
263
Pa
0
m
2
re
x
te
Es
a
2931.
Jefore beginning a study of pawn endings, it
will be useful for the reader to make the
‘acquaintance of its basic theory, and also of
its basic concepts and definitions. But we
‘must straight away point out that the termin:
logy of pawn endings is as yet insufficiently
developed; among the authors of works on
these endings there is no unity, and consider
‘able confusion exists over concepts and defin-
Some theorists use only the concept of
critical squares, while others talk of key
squares, when by this they frequently mean
fone and the same thing, Some try to manage
altogether without these terms, There arc
some old-fashioned authors who regard
teaching about the opposition to be the main
thing, while others regard corresponding
squares a6 the most important. Without
‘especially wishing to criticize, we have tried
to generalize the concepts and definitions
used by theorists, and, using the study of key
squares asa basis, present the modern state of
pawn endgame theory.
To the informed reader, certain of the
conclusions drawn by us may seem trivial,
‘but one should not be surprised by this. First,
they are, as it were, finks in the chain of our
reasoning, and, second, without them the
understanding of more complex examples
may prove difficult.
It is well known that the aim in the end=
game, and in a pawn endgame in particular, is
to promote a pawn to a queen. To start with,
using elementary examples, we will try t0
disclose the conditions under which this aim
can be achieved, The first condition is the
presence of a passed pawn. But this is not
‘enough. There is also a second condition —it
Basic Theory and Terminology
fs necessary that the opponent's king should
not be able to stop the pawn,
el
1. Heres a typical elementary position, in
‘which the pawn inexorably becomes a queen
Irrespective of where the opponent's king is
placed, itis powerless to prevent this, Note
the position of the white king—from ¢7 i
simultaneously both defends the pawn and
controls its promotion square. Incidentally.
the e7 and d7 squares have the same prop:
erty, although the latter is an intermediate
fone: in order to make way for the pawn, all
the same the king will have to move cither 10
7, or to-c?,
‘As we see, the seizure by the king of one of
these squares is very important: by this the
aim of the endgame is automatically
achieved—the pawn promotes to a queen.
Tnendgame theory the three squares infront
‘of @ pawn on the 6th rank are colled the key
squares of this paren.
First conclusion: in order that a passn shouldBasle Theory and Terminology
promote to a queen, itis sufficient 1o occupy
fone of its Key squares with the king.
Tis natural that the defending side should
ty to prevent their seizure. Consider another
simple pos
2. Here everything depends on whe itis to
move. Ifitis White, he plays 147 and puts his
‘opponent in zugzwang, and after the forced 1
Ke? 2 Ke7, seizing one of the key squares,
‘White wins.
tis a quite different matter if it is Black’s
move. He, of course, plays 1... Ke8, main-
taining control over c7. Now 2 d7+ no
longer wins: after 2... Ka& White himself is
jn zugewang, and the forced 3 Kd6 leads to
stalemate
‘Second conclusion: in such situations the
struggle for the achievement of the ultimate
tim-the queening of the paxn—reduces 10 a
struggle for the key squares. The player with
the pawn will ry to invade with his king on one
of these squares: the defender, by manoewsring
with his king elose 10 the key squares, will aim
not to allow the opponent's king onto them.
In the next chapter we will make a detailed
acquaintance of the entire system of key
squares of a passed pawn, but now we will
examine a schematic position, where a king
attacks the opponent's passed pawn,
3
dots indicate the critical squares
4, So thatthe attack should be successful,
the hing must attack the pawn from the front
or From the side. If thee is no obstacle in the
pawn’s path, the attack ftom the rear is
Senseless, since the pan wil simply run awey
from its attacker
Thus the king ean attack the pawn from
three surrounding squares—in this case from
6, a5 and e6, If the black king is some
distance away, the penetcation of the white
king onto any one ofthese squares may place
Black ina ential position since it wil ead to
the loss of the paw. Such squares around a
pawn, from which the opponent’ king can
tack itis logical to eal erica
‘ie abtain a third conclusion: a passed
a definite system of squares sur
Some of thee are key squares: if
{can each any one ofthese, the
twsen. Others are critical squares
"of the opponents king onto
lead to the toss of the pawn,
"an elementary example,
ved pans
vasists of fo stages.
Sponent’s pawn, and
pas
pawn wis
the penetr.
these squares
Let us nowt.
where there are &
4, White's plan
First he must win the
then try to queen his 0: +. It is obvious that
after winning the pawn his “isk wall reduce to
one considered carlier—to che struggle for
the key squares.
‘White's king has already pes ‘rated ontoBasic Theory and Terminology
cone of the critical squares ofthe enemy pawn,
tis not difficult co see that here this factor is
decisive: if it is Black's turn to move, be
immediately loses his pawn, While if it is
White's move, he maintains the zogeweng
situation by 1 Ke7. It is easy to show that,
compared with a passed pawn, the system of
Critical squares for a blocked pawn is
expanded. In the given case the critical
squares of the d& pawn will be e6 and e7, the
symmetric squares c6 and c7, and the inter
‘mediate square ¢7.
[
[
a
obede toh
‘As we have established, the occupation by
the king of one of these critical squares must
lead to the achieving of the intermediate
goal~to the winning of the pawn, but this
means, in tur, that (from White's point of
view) the critical squares of the black pawn
here can also be called the key squares.
Fourtk conclusion: @ pawn, be tt passed or
Blocked, has @ definite system of key squares,
the seizure of which by the king plays an
Important role, since it normally leads to the
achieving of a definite goal—the queening of
the pan, oF 10 its 10s.
‘We have considered an instance where one
side attacked a pawn, and the other side was
forced to defend it. But it is quite possible to
hhave a situation where a king not only
defends, but is also able in turn to attack the
‘opponent's pawn.
s
+142
‘5, White's king is threatening to attack the
‘opponent’s pawn, but its opposite number is
intending to do exactly the same. What then
should happen here? It turns out that the
diect invasion of the critical &6 square is a
terrible mistake, After | Ke6? Kc5 we reach a
position of mutual zugawang, in which the
side to play first (White) loses, It is correct
first to step onto the other critical square~
e7. After 1 Ke?! KeS 2 Ke6 it is Black who
ends up in zugzwang,
Butifit is Black to move, he wins in similar
fashion: I... Kea! 2 Ke6 KeS, and itis White
who is in zugzwang.
Fifth conclusion: critical squares do not
always become key squares for the other side.
This depends on the relative placing of the
kings, and on the turn to move. In other words,
to determine whether a critical square is a key
square, in certain cases a preliminary caleula-
tion is needed, in order to ascertain the result-
ing positions of mutual zugzang.
6. If White begins, he can immediately
attack the opponent's pawn, but such activity
is incorrect and leads to defeat. On 1 KbS?
there follows 1... Ka7, when White ends up
in augewang and loses bis pawn. Therefore
‘White plays 1 Kb4, Now itis Black who must
not attack the pawa: after 1 ...Ka7?2KbS
be himself ends up in zugnwang. The correct
continvation is 1... Kb8 2 Ked Ka8! with a
draw.Basie Theory and Terminology
7
I=
Pawns such as those we have just been
examining are picturesquely termed
‘untouchable’ pawns! whoever is the frst to
attack such a pavin—he loses, As we will see
later, in positions with ‘untouchable’ pawns
an exact calculation of the reserve moves is
‘ery important since inthe resulting position
of mutual zugzwang every tempo counts,
Our conclusions regarding Key squares
have been deduced from positions with a
rainimal number of pawns, but in principle
these conclusions are also applicable to posi-
tions with @ greater number. In each case,
however the pawns are deployed, both the
critical and the key squares can ‘be estab-
lished. At this point I should ike to empha-
size that these squares are _not_ simply
theoretical concepts. With their help it is
easier to analyze many complex endings.
‘They enable the correct plan of play to be
quickly and faultlessly found
And another important conclusion. The
basic device in the struggle for key or critical
squares is the ereation ofa ug-wang postion,
in which one of the sides is forced 0 take
unfavourable action. In double-edged situa-
tions the zugzwang may’ be mutual, and then
everything will depend on whose turn itis 10
Let us now examine in more detail how the
struggle forthe key squares proceeds.
7. We know that g6 is 2 key square, and
therefore Black must not allow the oppo-
nent’s king onto it. But it turns out that hé
will also be a key square: by reaching it, the
white king aso penetrates by force 10 86. This
‘means that Black has two moves which main=
fain the balance—T ... Kg7 and 1... Kh,
defending both key squares.
Now let us move the position two files to
the let
8, Here, apart from the familiar squares e6
and f, the g6 square also turns out to be a
key one. In fact, if Black plays 1... Ke7,
there follows 2 Kg6 Ke8 3 KI6 Kd7 4 KI7
Ka8 § Ke6 Ke? 6 Ke?, and White wins.
‘The correct method of defenceis 1... KE7!,Basie Theory and Terminology
‘sianding opposite the opponent's king, so as
hot to let onto any of the three squares €6,
fo and g6. Such 2 placing of the kings is
galled the opposition. In the given instance it
is vertieal opposition.
The following example
harizontal opposition.
demonstrates
9
oh
|
9, Black maintains the balance by J ..-
KT, placing his king in horizontal opposition
and then retaining it. E.g. 2 Kh6 KY6! The
‘opposition is a well known term in the theory
‘of pawn endings. Here we should mention
that the opposition Is the only means of
surugele for three adjoining Key squares, situe
‘ated on a rank or on 0 file
OF course the kings can also be deployed
‘opposite each other along a diagonal, but itis
important to emphasize that such an oppos-
ition is a transitional one, and it can always
‘be transformed into horizontal or vertical
opposition
Jn our example White can continue 3 KhS,
soason 3... Kg to have the decisive reply 4
K@5. In this case Black is saved by 3... KIT,
standing in opposition along the diagonal
‘Then if 4 KeS Ke, transposing into vertical
opposition, while if 4 Kh6 Kf6, reverting to
horizontal opposition.
So that for the moment we don’t have to g0
carefully into the subsleties associated with
specific pawn arrangement, we will exarnine &
schematic position, in which the struggle for
three key squares along a file takes place on
an empty board.
10
Crosses indicate the key: squares
10, In defending the key squares, Black's
king must cach time stand in opposition to
the opponent's king: 1 KE7 Kd7 2 Kf6 Kd6 3
KIS KAS, This is clear. Iris important to note,
however, that the main opposition will
nevertheless be Kl6/K.d6, Why? Because only
inthis case, when the opponent concedes the
‘opposition, can White's king. break im-
‘mediately onto one of the key squares by a
by-pass manoeuvre. Eg. ifitis Black to move
in the position Kf7/Ka7: 1... Kd6 2 KE6!
(out not-2 Ke8, since then Black maintains
the balance by transposing into vertical op-
position by 2... Ke6t) 2... KdS (or 2.
Ka? 3 Ke5) 3 Ke7, and the aim is achieved
Conclusion: the’ main, decisive opposition
will be that om the middle line.
Let us now move the kings to h8 and b&
respectively, and see how they approach each,
other in the struggle for the key squares.
11, Suppose that itis Black to move: 1
KeT 2 Kg! Ko6 3 Kg6! Ke5 4 KIT! Kas 5 K6,
and the white king inevitably reaches one of
the key squares. Ifon 3g6 Black had replied
3... Ke7, there would have followed 4 KfS
Kd6 5 KF6. This distinctive king manoeuvre,Basie Theory and Terminology
u
o be de tok
Crosses indicate the key squares
making a ‘herring-bone pattern’ in creating
the threat of a by-pass, is typical of the
struggle for three key squares, and will be
Frequently encountered.
But if it is White to move, then, by main-
taining a symmetric king position with res-
pect to the efile, Black succeeds in not allow~
ing the penetration of the opponent's king
‘onto the key squares. E.g. 1 Kh7 Kb7 2 Kg6
Ke6 3 KpS Ke54 KES K4S, or 1 Kg? Ke7 2KE7
Ka? ete, Such a placing is also essentially an
‘opposition, only itis called distant opposition
{but distant opposition can always be trans-
Formed into close opposition)
‘A broader concept than opposition is that
of corresponding squares.
Grigoriew, 1921
a
12, Let us begin by determining the key
squares, The frst of these is easily found—it
is b3, the critical square of the black pawn.
But here there are also two other key
squares-—e2 and f2. On reaching there, White
easily drives back the opponent's king, ad-
vances his ¢-pawn, and wins the opponent's
pawn. Black saves the game, only if he does
not allow the white king onto any of these
squares.
TCs very tempting to stand in opposition
by playing 1 ... Ke3, but itis precisely this
move that is @ mistake. After 2 Kdl Kf
(alas, control must be maintained over the ¢2
square) 3 Kel Ke3 4 KbI Kd 5 Ka? KeS 6
Kb3 White achieves his aim. The correct
continuation is 1... K(3! 2 Kdl Ke3 3 Ket
Kad 4 Kbl Ke5 5 Ka2 Kb4, and the black king
arrives in time. 2 KfT Ke3 3 Kg2 also achieves
nothing due to 3... Ka2 4 d4 Kxe2, when
the queeas appear sinmultancously.
Let us investigate what is happening. As
the white king moves from e1 to a2, by a
series of specific moves the black king sue-
ceeds in passing from £3 to bé and in not
allowing the seizure of the key squares. The
routes of the kings are as though linked. To
each move of the white king there is a single
corresponding move of the black king, It can
be said the square corresponding to el is £3,
that to dl is €3, el-d4, bI-c5, and a2-b4. Jn
the theory of pawn endings, such a mutual
‘connection of squares is called correspondence,
‘and the squares themselves have received the
name of corresponding squares.
$0 as not to allow White to seize any of the
key squares, the black king must move precis-
ly along the corresponding squares.
‘Conclusion: correspondence is the most
‘general means of struggle for key squares.
Tn the above example the black king
‘managed to maintain the correspondence,
fand the ending was a draw. This is by no
means always the result. The following ex-
ample shows that, if the correspondence can-
not be maintained, defeat is unavoidable.Basie Theory and Terminology
13, White has an extra pawn, and for it to
bye promoted to a queen, his king must break
through to d7—the key square of this pawn,
There is also another way—to win the 26
pawn, for which he must take his king to b6—
the critical square of this pawn. At fist sight
it appears impossible to win: ow 1 Kes, with
the threat of penetrating to b6, Black has a
single but adequate reply in I... Ke7, while if
1 Kd6 Kas,
Te is not difficult to guess that we again
have here a case of corresponding squares:
-c7, 46-8 and dS-<8.
We come to the conclusion that, on the
approaches to the key squares. Black suc
ceeds in maintaining the correspondence. Let
us now try stepping back with the king, say,
to 44, exploiting the fact that the black king is
restricted in its movements by the edge of the
board, Tt is clear that he cannot play |...
KeT due to 2 KeS. This means that he must
play 1... KaB or 1... Kb8, i, corresponding
to d4 there are two squares—b8 and d8. But
what if a further waiting move, 2 Ke4,
made? Corresponding to this square, which i
adjacent to 5 and dS, ate the same two
squares—b8 and d8. But here’s the trouble—
‘the king cannot jump from one of these to the
other. That means that in this ease Black can
no longer maintain the correspondence: 2..
KeB is decisively met by 3 Kas! Kas 4 Ka6,
and 2... Ke7 by 3 Kes.
‘You have made the acquaintance of onc of
the simplest cases of corresponding squares,
so-called triangulation (45, of, 44). By
manoeuvring with his king in this triangle,
White breaks the correspondence to his ad-
vantage. In order to make two steps forward,
the white king first takes one step back.
Grigoriev, 1920
uu
14, In its time this study was the first
‘example in literature employing the method
of corresponding squares to such endings.
Tis easy to see that | 4 leads immediately
toa draw: Black replies 1... Ked 2. Ke3 KIS!
3Ka3 Kf 4!, and White has no way of streng
thening his position. Since itis unfavourable
to advance the pawn straight away, White
must manoeuvre with his king. Let us try
‘approaching this position from the viewpoint
of the theory of key squares and correspond-
ing squares. Suppose that the black king is at
f4, Then White can play 1 Ke2 KeS 2 Ke3
Kd5 3 dd Ket 4 Ket Kxb4 5.d5 Ke5 (5.
Ka3 6 a5 b4 7 d7 b3 8 d8= 0,015... KaS6d6
K}6 7 KeS 54 8 Ke6 b3 9 d?, winning) 6 Ke5
ba 7 d6 Ke6 8 Ke6 b3 9 d7 b2 10 d3=Q
bL=Q, The queens have appeared simulta-
neously, but now comes 11 Qe8+ Kb6 12
Qb8-+, and the black queen is lost.
‘This means that e2 will be the first keyBasic Theory and Terminology
square. It isnot hard to guess that the second
key square is d; if his king reaches there,
White wins very simply.
Now let us try to find the corresponding
squares. If the white king moves to ¢3, Black
has only one reply—I ... Ke3. This’ means
that the square corresponding to c3 is ¢3. If
the king goes to €2, Black again has only one
reply which enables him to maintain the
balance~I ... Kf, so that the square corres
ponding to €2 is F4,
Let us now consider the next adjacent
squates—suppose that from c2. the king
moves to B2. This squares adjacent to c2 and
3, hence the squate corresponding to it will
bef.
But what square corresponds to 63? It, like
the previous one, borders upon ¢2 and c3, but
Black has no such second square like (3. This
means that, if the white king manoeuvres
between b2 and b3, Black will inevitably lose
the correspondence.
Now White's plan is clear: 1 Ke2! Kf4 2
Kb2 (or 2 Kb3) 2... KE3 3 Kb3! Kfd 4 Ke2!
Ke5 (totally bad is 4... K3 SKA2K(46 Ke2
ete.) § Kal!
The play still requires accuracy. 5 Kd2
would be pointless because of 5... Kd,
when the king does best to retrace its steps,
since after 6 Ke2? Ke3 Black breaks through
to the eritical squares of the bd pawn, and the
game ends in a draw.
5... Kd5 6 Ke2 Ka 7 Kd2! KeS 8 Ke3, and
White wins.
Doesn't it seem to you that the winning
method employed in this study isin some way
similar to that which we saw in example 13?
Yes, itis that same ‘triangulation’ Only, itis
turned through 90%, and the squares which
come into it are c2, b2 and b3, Forall the lack
of similarity between positions 13 and 14, the
winning methods in them turn out to be
identical.
We will meet more complex systems of
costesponding squares in chapter 10, but now
let us consider certain peculiarities of the
geometry of the chess board,
i 7
15, The squares ef and aS are situated on
the same diagonal, and from el the king can
reach a5 in 4 moves. It is easy to see that the
diagonal path will be the shortest ofall those
possible,
‘The squares el and e8 are situated on the
same straight line—the e-file. Moving along.
this file, the king reaches e8 in 7 moves. Tis
clear that other routes ate also possible, but
the reader will undoubtedly be surprised to
Jearn that, apart from the path indicated,
there are a further 392() routes which enable
the king to reach e8 in the same 7 moves. The
king can move there, tracing out the most
fantastic figures, provided only that they are
within the area depicted in the diagram
(which encloses the shortest distances along
diagonals), and that each time the king moves,
from one rank onto the next,
Thus the moverment of the king in a straight
ine (along a file or rank) can in case of
necessity be replaced by movement in a broken
Tine.
‘A practical illustration of this rule is pro-
vided by the following example.
16. If White begins, he can win the a7
pawn. In order to save the game, Black must
reach e7 with his king at the moment when
White captures the pawn.
‘White can approach the opponemt’s pawn
in one and the same number of moves by
various paths. Eg. Kf7-e7-d7-c7-b7, orBasic Theory and Terminology
Maizeis, 1921
+
7 es
elt 4
- j
al el S|
sf |
2 a E
1 oa |
° BS coe ts h
Ki7-6-d6-6-67, of KF7-<6-45-<6-67.
‘The following is also possible: Kf7-c8-d7
BOT
‘Alegitimate question arises: can’t the king,
in heading for the pawn, simultancously
hinder the black king's movements towards
the 7 square? It turns out that such a combi-
nation of tasks can be carried out, After 1
Ke6 Ke3 2 Kd5! White’s king as though
‘pushes away the black king. The latter is
forced to move aside, and can no longer reach
cTintime, eg, 2... Kb43 Ke6 KaS 4 Kb7 KbS
5K2xa7 Ke6 6 Kb8, and the pawn queens
‘This king manoeuvre, which has received
the name of ‘shoulder-charging’, is frequently
employed in pawn endings.
Its useful to make the acquaintance of
another typical manoeuvre
17. The first impression is that things are
ad for Black: he cannot get to the white
‘pawn, and the fate of his own pawn is settled.
But nevertheless: 1... Kb2! Black is appar-
ently intending to support the advance of his
pawn, and threatens 2... a3. Therefore
‘White replies 2 Ka, but then comes 2
Wed 314 Ka, and Black succeeds in stopping
the pawn. By this ‘feint—a deceptive move-
ment of the king to the left, in order then to
dart to the right—Black managed to gain the
pecessary tempo,
‘And, in conclusion, a rule which enables
Yates-Marshall
Carlsbad, 1929
cone quickly and without calculation to deter-
‘mine whether or nota king can catch a pawn:
“the rule of the square’
és
6
a
TE
nowseore
_
18, The result depends on who it is to
move. Jf White begins, he queens his pawn: 1
bS KES 2.b6 Ke5 37 Kd64b8=Q +. Burifit
is Black to move, he succeeds in stopping it: 1
ses Kfd 2 BS KeS 3 b6 Kd6 4 67 Ke7. The