It's time for another lesson about King and Pawn against King.

If you haven't done the earlier lesson on this subject, or if you're not sure you've remembered it, go back and do it now, before you start on this lesson.

This is a position from a game in which Bobby Fischer, one of the greatest players of all time, had the Black pieces.

It's Black to move. He has five possible moves.

Only one of them draws - the other four lose.

Bobby found the right move: could you?

Before you decide on our answer you need to do a bit of revision.

Tell me, what's happening in this position.

White's winning
White can only draw
White can win, but only if it's his move
White can win, but only if it's Black's move


Let's go through the position quickly.

If it's BLACK's move he has to give way. If he moves to c7, the White King comes to a6. And if he moves to a7, the White King comes to c6. In either case, White wins by coming round the side.

But if it's WHITE's move he can't make progress. Whichever way he moves, Black can draw by following him.

So if White moves to c5, Black MUST move to c7 to draw. And if White moves to a5, Black MUST move to a7 to draw.

So: White to move draws, but Black to move loses.

So, given what you've just learned, if, in this position, Black played Kc8-b7, what would White play?


That's right - if you move TWO SQUARES AWAY from the Black King you win - we call this TAKING THE OPPOSITION.

Likewise, if Black, in this position, played Kc8-c7, what should White play?


The same idea again - TAKE THE OPPOSITION by moving two squares away.

If Black instead played Kc8-d7 here, White would have TWO winning moves. Can you find either of them?


After Kc8-d7, White can win by TAKING THE OPPOSITION and playing Kc4-d5.

Or he can win more quickly by playing Kc4-b5, TAKING THE DIAGONAL OPPOSITION, and next move COMING ROUND THE SIDE with Kb5-a6.

The King will then be able to shepherd home the pawn.

Black could also try Kc8-d8, after which White would only have ONE winning move.

Again, can you find it?


After Kc8-d8, White's ONLY move to win is Kc4-b5, followed next move by Kb5-a6, going round the side.

So Black's only move to draw is Kc8-b8, the move which Bobby Fischer, of course, found.

Surprising, if you haven't seen it before, isn't it?

Black must be ready to TAKE THE OPPOSITION if the White King advances, so must stay within reach of both b7 and c7.

Here's the position after Bobby's move. In fact his opponent, Svetozar Gligoric of Yugoslavia, agreed a draw here.

But, tell me again, if White played Kc4-c5 here, how would Black reply?


Yes, if White plays Kc4-c5, Black must take the OPPOSITION with Kb8-c7. Everything else loses.

And if White plays Kc4-b5 instead, what then?


By now you should be well used to the idea of moving two squares away from the enemy king - TAKING THE OPPOSITION.

If you're still not happy about it play out the position against a computer (or a strong player) trying different moves with both White and Black and see what happens.

You really do have to understand this idea to play King and Pawn endings.

Now we want you to take the White pieces and draw this position.

Don't forget about the OPPOSITION. If you can move two squares away from the Black King, then do so. Otherwise, make sure he can't move two squares away from you.

Right, what would you play here?


Yes, Kd1-e1 is the only move to draw. Now if White moved his King to d4, you'd go to d2, or if he moved to e4, you'd go to e2.

But instead he played Kd5-e5, giving this position. Now what?


Again, Ke1-f1 is the only move to draw.

Now Black tried Ke5-d4. The position's on your left - can you find the only move to draw here?


White has to take the DIAGONAL OPPOSITION. Again the only move - Kf1-e2 would have lost after Kd4-e4.

Black still played Kd4-e4 - what's the only drawing move here?


Again there was no choice. White had to take the OPPOSITION to prevent the King advancing.

Now Black decided to move his pawn: f5-f4. Here's the position. What now for White?


Once again it's a forced move - White cannot allow Black in front of the pawn.

Now we reach THE MOST IMPORTANT POSITION IN CHESS!!


I trust you got that question right!!

In this position you MUST play Kf1-e1: the ONLY move to draw. Then if Ke4-e3, you must play Kf1-e1, NOT Kf1-g1 to achieve the draw.

Did you manage to solve the last six questions? If not, try again tomorrow until you really understand them.

Now let's see how good you are at queening pawns.

In this position Black has only ONE winning move. Can you find it?


Yes, the only move to win here is Kc6-c5.

If Kc6-d5, White can take the OPPOSITION with Ke2-d3 and draw.

If d6-d5, White again draws with Ke2-d3 and Black can no longer take the OPPOSITION.

In the game, White played Ke2-d3 anyway.

How can Black now win the game?


Yes, Black wins, not by advancing the pawn, but by TAKING THE OPPOSITION.

But what if White had played Ke2-e3 instead, giving this position.

What would Black play then?


Yes, in this position Kc5-d5 only DRAWS because White can take the OPPOSITION.

Pushing the pawn - d6-d5 also still only DRAWS.

Instead, Black wins by coming round the side with Kc5-c4.

If you don't believe me, play these variations out for yourself.

Now let's have a look at Rook's Pawns.

This is a very common situation. Can White get back in time to stop Black promoting his Pawn?

In fact there's only one way to do it - can you find it?


The only way to draw is to play Kd3-e2. Next move the King will go to f1 and Black will be unable to promote the pawn.

Again, play it through yourself to make sure you agree.

But in the game White erred by playing his King to e3 instead, giving this position.

Now Black has just ONE way to win. Can you find it?


Yes, once again you win by taking the OPPOSITION.

This time it's the SIDEWAYS OPPOSITION!

White will probably move his King to e2. Then pushing the pawn will only draw after White moves to f1.

Instead, Black keeps the OPPOSITION by going to g2. Then White can never reach the f1 square and Black will get a new Queen in four moves time.

You may think we've spent quite a long time on positions with King and Pawn against King.

There are three reasons for this.

Number one, they happen quite often, and kids nearly always get them wrong!

Number two, you're learning the skill of THINKING AHEAD. If you can't think ahead with just three pieces on the board, how are you going to think ahead with 32 pieces?

Number three, you learn the concept of PATTERN RECOGNITION. You can often solve a position in a game because you've seen something similar before and remember the idea.

In later lessons you'll learn how to play positions with more pawns.

Congratulations!!

You have now completed the PAWN ENDINGS (2) assignment.