Theoretical endgames - the 10 endgames you

should know

Martin Burrows, 31 January 2025

Part three: Some other key endgames

7. Queen v Pawn: The winning technique

A pawn race often leads to a situation where one side has a Queen and the other has a pawn on the 7th rank. The position is winning against a centre or knight pawn.

8. Queen v Pawn: Rook and Bishop pawns draw

Unless the white King is close enough to assist in a mating attack, these positons are drawn due to stalemate ideas. Firstly, we consider the Rook pawn. The defence with the bishop pawn uses a similar stalemate idea.

9. Bishops of opposite colours

Usually, two extra pawns are sufficient to win an endgame. However when the bishops are on opposite colours there are more chances of a draw due to the possibility of setting up an unbreakable blockade. The example below shows how to draw against 2 connected passed pawns.

10. Rook pawn with a bishop

In the example on the left the bishop controls the queening square and the positon is easily winning. However, somewhat surprisingly, the position on the right is a draw. Black just shuffles his King around the corner g7/g8/h7/h8 and there is no way to shift it. The best white can do is force a stalemate.