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Home » Chess Strategy » 5 Chess Endgame Principles To Master (For Beginners)

5 Chess Endgame Principles To Master (For Beginners)

Editorial Staff by Editorial Staff
in Chess Strategy

Many Chess players usually focus on the opening and middlegame phase of chess and neglect the importance of chess endgames. For a lot of chess players including beginners as well as chess masters, this could be a challenge.

In the chess endgame, fewer pieces remain on the chess players, and mastering these positions will surely take your chess skills as well as your thinking process to the next level.

To solve all your problems regarding the chess endings, I have come up with another guide on chess endgames. In this guide, I will tell you about the 10 Most Important Chess Endgame Principles that you should read to improve your chess skills.

The most common problem that people are facing is

If you are still looking for some best chess endgame books, then you should read our chess guide:

Let’s Start With the Best chess principles that you should follow while playing the chess endings.

  1. Master The Basic Checkmates: Basically with a Piece and a King
  2. Centralize Your King As Soon As Possible: Use it as your main weapon
  3. When You Up In Pawns Exchange The Pieces: To get favorable pawn endings
  4. Obtain An Opposition: To clear the way in pawn endings
  5. Create A Passed Pawn: To promote it to a stronger piece

The purpose of these principles is to help you achieve the main goal of the endgame, which is to attack your opponents king.

Page Navigation

  • Main Goals In The Endgame
  • 1. Master the Basic Checkmates
  • 2. Centralize Your King As Soon As Possible
  • 3. Trade Pieces When You Have More Pawns
  • 4. Obtain An Opposition
  • 5. Create A Passed Pawn
  • How To Calculate In The Endgame
  • Final Thoughts

Main Goals In The Endgame

There are three main goals in the chess endgames that you should keep in mind while playing chess and even making your chess endgame strategies. Achieving these goals will not definitely give you win but at least increase your chances to win in the endings:

  1. Checkmating the opponent’s king
  2. Dominate the activity of the opponent’s pieces.
  3. Finishing the game by promoting a pawn to a strong piece

Let’s learn the endgame principles to achieve these goals in the chess endings.

1. Master the Basic Checkmates

Firstly, you have to master the basic checkmates in chess because to win any of the positions in chess, You have to checkmate the opponent king. If you master the basic checkmates, then you would have more confidence your opponent that hasn’t mastered them yet since you’ll be able to finish with a bang.

Here are the basic checkmates that must be mastered.

  • King and Queen vs King – The most common chess position that you will get is the king and pawn ending and that’s why you have to face the King and Queen vs King position and mastering it will help you a lot in the final stages of chess.
  • Two Rooks vs King– This is known as the most easiest checkmating material and it came the maximum in the match against the beginners and mastering this will give a lot of fun.
  • King and Rook vs King– You have to learn King and Rook vs King endings because many Rook and Pawn endings end up with Rook vs Pawn in the final standings and if you don’t Know how to mate with a Rook and a King, then you can’t win that match.
  • King and Two Bishops vs King – Endings to outrank the endings.
  • King and Knight & Bishop vs King – This is the most rare position that you will get before the level of 1600 ELO, that’s why can afford to leave it but better to recognize these patterns also.

These are the most common checkmate patterns seen in endgames.

2. Centralize Your King As Soon As Possible

This is the most important chess endgame principle that makes the fundamentals of chess endings. The thing that surprises us a lot in the positions is the King Play. Many of the advanced chess players also neglect the importance of active King in the endings and miss this opportunity to conquer the most critical situation of the game and often lose that game.

In the endgame positions you have to start you thought process with first question that: How can you centralize your king quickly and efficiently, then you can think of the passed pawns.

But the major question that came in our minds that when should we start activating our King in the game. The Answer in very simple that as when the queens got exchanged and one or two pieces are remaining on the board any there is no threat on your King based on the situations, then you can start a king walk.

To know more about this principle, you can refer to the games explained in the book Fundamental Chess Endings by Karsten Muller and Frank Lamprecht.

The bottom line is, your king is a piece, use it.

3. Trade Pieces When You Have More Pawns

If you’re up a pawn in the ending position, then you could shape your strategy in such a way that you will get a position in which you can end up with a pawn up and dive straight into the pawn endings. You can just exchange all the chess pieces that will led you to a winning pawn ending.

Note: Understanding the middlegame principles will help you better understand this principle.

4. Obtain An Opposition

The opposition in chess is the most powerful and widely used endgame technique in chess where you can force the opponent king to either leave that file or go back. This is most commonly used to clear up the key squares for the pawns to push them forward with an attacking move.

The primary objective in endings is to gain the opposition if you get the opposition then you can win/draw the match respectively.

5. Create A Passed Pawn

This is a major goal and one of our priorities in the endgame part. A passed pawn has a greater value of the pieces as it could be promoted to the piece with greater value and power. You almost always try to create a passed pawn on the pawn majority side.

If you watch Grandmasters play, you’ll often find that one simple passed pawn makes the difference in choosing whether or not to resign.

How To Calculate In The Endgame

You should calculate not only the moves and squares in the endgame, but should also give the importance to recognize the plans and patterns with respect to the pieces of both the players, you as well as your opponent.

Final Thoughts

That concludes the basic endgame principles in chess that will enable you to play well in the majority of your endgames.

  • tactics
  • positional play
  • attacking skills
  • endgame technique
  • classical games analysis
  • psychological preparation
  • and much more

I hope this guide on the endgame principles helped you.

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