The Frontal Defense was invented by Tarrasch. It's a method that a defender can use to draw a R+P vs R ending when his king is cut-off from the pawn. This technique is only effective if the pawn hasn't crossed the middle of the board. ... Read more »
This is one of the few ways to draw when you're two pawns down. I found an interesting resource on the Internet for mastering this ending: Rook endings with rook and bishop pawns In this free lesson Peter Joseph covers 32 R... Read more »
For players under 2100, Rook vs Bishop is won 40% of the time. The drawing technique is counter-intuitive, so if your opponent doesn't know it, you have chances to win. As usual, we begin by looking at the right moves. To ... Read more »
Queen vs Knight is a simple win, but when you reach it you may be tired and in time trouble. You also must watch out for forks! Below, a strong player blundered into a draw: Key Idea: Forks only work if your king, queen, and his knight are all on... Read more »
This article may be too simple for some readers, but in my Bishop and Pawn vs Bishop and Centurini Position articles I frequently said Q vs B is an easy win. Then I witnessed this tragicomedy, and thought maybe I should offer a couple tips! ... Read more »
A Centurini Position is one where one of the two diagonals in front of the pawn is less than four squares in length. These are almost always won. In this lesson we'll consider three Centurini Positions of increasing diffic... Read more »
If Knight endgames are about flashy tactics, Bishop endgames are about subtle finesse. First, the obvious cases. If the defender can put his king in front of the pawn, on a square that can't be attacked by the enemy bishop, it's a d... Read more »
Simba writes, Thanks for posting [Karpov-Hort, Budapest 1973] and your commentary which is very informative. Got one question: What does 'spare tempi in zugzwang situations' mean when white moved g5 in move 35? Zugzwang means... Read more »
This ending is a great example of how a bishop, knight, and king can work together. It's shamelessly stolen from Analysis on The ENDGAME by ugralitan, but his article didn't cover these lines. I hope you will find this annotated game enjoy... Read more »
Rook and Pawn vs Rook endings are the most common ending in practice, and they're more complex than most players realize. Rook Endings - [External] An introduction to Lucena and Philidor. Lucena, not so simple? - An average player believes he... Read more »
I love endings and helping others learn to play. I placed 5th in my section at the World Open, won a recent U1600 with a perfect score, and aim to one day be a chess master. :)