King-pawn mate

This might be somewhat novice, but only having a king and a pawn against a lone king, is that always a mate? If so, what is the successful concepts? Especially against a computer who does not blunder!

It is not always a mate. The concept is opposition. If the kings are one square apart then the side who is not to move has opposition. If the side with the pawn has the opposition then it is a win. If the side without the pawn has it it's a draw. There are many sites around which can explain the concept in more detail.

Originally posted by XanthosNZ
It is not always a mate. The concept is opposition. If the kings are one square apart then the side who is not to move has opposition. If the side with the pawn has the opposition then it is a win. If the side without the pawn has it it's a draw. There are many sites around which can explain the concept in more detail.

Here is a site I found which explains it rather well. I am sure there are lots of others.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/danheisman/Articles/zzkingandpawn.htm

Originally posted by Firesword
Just because you have the opposition its not a win. Picture this position, with black to move:

White: Kf5, e5
Black: Kf7

White has the opposition but its still a draw after Ke7.

There is a certain technique to win with king+pawn against king, but its rather hard to explain in text.

just promote pawn to Queen and corner other king... Do not promote to Bishop or Knight because I believe it is impossible to actually win the game then.

the only thing you need to worry about in a king+pawn vs. king ending is covering the queening square with your king (ie king f7 pawn g5 wins if white to move). A technique for black that helps draw these endings is by maneuvering the king so that it remains directly in front of the black king with one space between them on white's turn. Each turn if you move back in front of him you'll be fine. If the pawn moves, or you cannot move sideways to get in front, move backward, still remaining in front of him. It's like a basketball player trying to get by the defender to the hoop. "How to Reassess your Chess" by Jeremy Silman explains these concepts really well.