Basic chess endgames: the checkmates you need to know
Winning material is no use if you can’t deliver mate afterwards. These basic endgames come up again and again, and a couple of simple techniques win them every time. You’ll also see the trap that gives away the most half points: stalemate.
· 3 min read
Play Chess1. King and queen against king
This is the easiest mate and worth knowing by heart. The idea is to use the queen to box the enemy king into a smaller and smaller rectangle, pushing it towards an edge of the board.
Put your queen a knight’s move away from the enemy king: that takes away squares without giving check. Each time the king moves, move the queen to keep that distance and shrink its area. Once the king is on the edge, bring your own king up to protect the queen, and mate on the edge rank.
2. King and rook against king
With a rook it takes more moves, but the technique is similar: the rook cuts the enemy king off in part of the board (a rank or file it can’t cross) and your king comes closer to help.
The key moment is the opposition: when the two kings face each other with one square between them, a rook check from the side forces the enemy king back one rank. Repeat that until it reaches the edge, where the same check is mate. If the enemy king dodges the opposition, make a waiting move with the rook along its rank.
3. King and pawn: the opposition
With king and pawn against king, whether the pawn queens depends on where the kings are. The rule of thumb: your king should be in front of the pawn, not behind it.
If your king reaches a square in front of the pawn and has the opposition (kings facing each other with the opponent to move), the defender must give way and the pawn queens. If it’s the other way round, the defender plants itself in front of the pawn and the game is a draw. That’s why in these endgames the best move is sometimes a waiting move that hands the turn to your opponent.
4. Watch out for stalemate
The most expensive mistake in a won endgame: leaving the enemy king with no legal moves while it is not in check. That’s stalemate, and the game is a draw even if you are a queen up.
It happens mostly with the queen, which takes away a lot of squares. When the enemy king is in a corner, count its free squares before every move. If the answer is “none” and it isn’t check, find another move.
5. Other draws in the endgame
Vexply’s chess uses the official rules for draws, and in endgames they are easy to run into:
- Insufficient material: with king against king, or king and bishop or king and knight against king, nobody can mate and the game ends by itself.
- Fifty-move rule: if fifty moves by each side go by with no capture and no pawn move, it’s a draw. Practise the mates until you can deliver them with moves to spare.
- Threefold repetition: if the same position occurs three times, it’s a draw too. If you are winning, change your plan before you repeat.