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Endgame theory

Endgame theory

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Openings are commonly known common endgames are less known I would like to discuss common endgame positions to improve my play and the play of others

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@bobdaniel09 said
Openings are commonly known common endgames are less known I would like to discuss common endgame positions to improve my play and the play of others
I don't know much about theory.I just wing it most of the time!.
Have you tried using the analyze feature on your games?
You can try out your move, what you think your opponent might do in response and go back and forth as often as you like before committing.
This is obviously no good for otb play but it's useful here and does help to avoid silly blunders.

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Two basic ones to know for King and pawn endings.

1) King on 5th rank, in front of pawn



Drawn if white to move
White wins if black to move

With black to move, white has the "opposition". Black has to give ground.



Here's how it goes with white to move:



2) King on 6th rank, in front of pawn

This one, white wins regardless of who is to move.

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@venda
I have tried it and it recently helped me win an endgame

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@BigDogg
How do you make boards like that I tried but I couldn't make one

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@bobdaniel09 said
Openings are commonly known common endgames are less known I would like to discuss common endgame positions to improve my play and the play of others
All I can suggest is to get familiar with the basic mates using King & Queen vs King, King & Rook vs King, King & 2 minor pieces vs King and the King vs pawn situations that BigDogg posted. Once done, you can then seek to trade down into these positions in your games and use your acquired theory to win.

Mastering "common" endgame situations such as Rook and Pawn, same-colored bishops, Queen vs 2 minor pieces, Rook vs 2 minor pieces Queen vs Rook + pawn(s) etc. are going to require many hours of study. It depends how deeply you want to go in your endgames.

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@bobdaniel09 said
@BigDogg
How do you make boards like that I tried but I couldn't make one
See FAQ on FEN and PGN:

FAQ

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@mchill said
All I can suggest is to get familiar with the basic mates using King & Queen vs King, King & Rook vs King, King & 2 minor pieces vs King and the King vs pawn situations that BigDogg posted. Once done, you can then seek to trade down into these positions in your games and use your acquired theory to win.

Mastering "common" endgame situations such as Rook and Pawn, same-colo ...[text shortened]... tc. are going to require many hours of study. It depends how deeply you want to go in your endgames.
I know the basic endgames but i am looking to learn some more advanced endgames

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@bobdaniel09 said
I know the basic endgames but i am looking to learn some more advanced endgames
Fundamental Chess Endings by Karsten Muller and Frank Lamprecht.

Don't let the title fool you. It's 350+ pages of in-depth, workman like endgame study. It includes many exercises, and an answer key. This will keep you occupied for a long time.

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@bobdaniel09 said
I know the basic endgames but i am looking to learn some more advanced endgames
Could you give us some examples of advanced endgames that have or could have arisen in your games.

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@FMDavidHLevin
None that I can think of but I have probably missed many like triangulation and the philador defense

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The US periodical Chess Life & Review used to carry a column called "The Practical Endgame" by Grandmaster Edmar Mednis. I don't recall the range of issues where it appeared, but it was definitely in the April 1972 issue. PDFs of back issues of that and some other publications can be downloaded for free at https://new.uschess.org/chess-life-digital-archives .

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@bobdaniel09 said
@FMDavidHLevin
None that I can think of but I have probably missed many like triangulation and the philador defense
Philidor technique is simple. In a position like this one:



Black keeps the Rook on the 6th rank, preventing white's King from moving up.

Then, once white moves the pawn up instead, Black moves the Rook down to the 1st rank to endlessly check the King. It can't step in front of the pawn for shelter anymore.

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Lucena position

White's K is in front of pawn
Black's K has been pushed to the side

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In BigDogg's post about the Lucena position, the following position was reached after 5.Kc6:



Imagine that instead of 5...Rc1+, Black plays 5...Rb2, reaching the following position:



How should White proceed? (The first hidden content is a hint; the second is the answer.)

Hint: build a different bridge.


Answer: 6.Rd5, intending to shortly play Rb5...

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