The Endgame

The Endgame of chess is the time when players look to protect their pieces and advance their kings and also prevent the occurrence of isolated pawns and look to create passers. A common mistake during this stage is that players advance their kings too late up the board. At this stage there aren't many pieces left on the board and getting into a strategic position with the following in mind: protect as many pawns as you can with your pieces and look for opportunities for a passer pawn. Another annoying scenario occurs when white and black have an equal number of pawns and opposite colored bishops. In this situation the opponent will place his pawns on squares of colors opposite to the color of your bishop squares. 80% of games end in draws when this occurs but since pawns usually get deadlocked and cannot move forward, the best thing to do is to move your king towards your opponent's king, moving on squares which the opponent's bishop cannot attack and try to force the king away into a corner and capture the root pawn of a chain of pawns, destroying the chain and winning the game. A root pawn is the unsupported pawn of a long pawn chain. Of course the above solution is hypothetical as the opponent will also do the same. Hence, most games like this end in a draw. A knight in the above situation would be perfect as it can maneuver through squares which other pieces can't. Rooks also tend to be the last pieces along with pawns on the board as they usually aren't captured earlier due to them being on the periphery of the board. In this situation make pawn chains which rooks cannot exploit and support the root pawns by keeping the rooks on that rank. Remember, a king surrounded by two or more pawns will triumph over a solitary opponent rook, so look for unlikely sacrifices. Also, pawns, though supported by rooks, if they are on the 'a' or 'h' file will probably not advance far if the opponent king is near it and the game will probably end in a stalemate. ONE pawn makes all the difference which is also the underlying principle for the middle game. Capture them earlier on when the opponent thinks it may be worthless so that you may have an advantage later on.....and also other free pieces.

                               
A typical endgame which is well poised and with pawns conflicting in their paths.                                        







                                                                                                                  Another well balanced game with black at a very slight advantage due to white's exposed king.