Three Basic Endings
Having more pieces than your opponent is great, but it will be pointless unless you know how to execute a checkmate. In this blog post, we will go over the three basic types of endings:
1) Rook and king vs king
2) Rook and rook vs king
3) Queen vs king
To start with, we need to understand the concept of all three checkmates. In order to checkmate your opponent, you need to trap your opponent’s king and then check them. The way to do this is to slowly corner them off to a single file or rank and then bring in your king in order to accompany your checkmate.
Let’s start with the rook and king vs the king. Take a look at the below position. The black king is restricted to the rectangle.
Our goal now should be to further restrict the king to an even smaller rectangle. After a few moves, we can get to this position.
As you can see, we have restricted the king even further. You may wonder what to do if your rook is under attack by the opponent king. This is where your own king will come in handy. By having your king be ready to defend your rook, you will not have to worry about expanding your rectangle. After restricting the king even further, we can be in this position.
The rectangle is becoming very small now. Our ultimate goal is to be able to trap the king to one file or rank. Let’s go a few more moves ahead.
At last, we have trapped the king to two squares, and the king is defending the rook. Now, in order to checkmate, we can move the rook down the sixth rank anywhere, and once the black king goes to the only square it can go to, a8, Ra6 will be checkmate.
Now let’s look at Rook and Rook vs King. This is comparatively easier than with just a rook and king. The first step in executing this checkmate is to trap the king to a certain section of the chessboard. Let’s assume that the below position is the starting position.
Now, there are two different ways white can cut off the black king. One is to play Rh5 and another is to play Rd3 (with either rook). This constricts the black king to either just the 5-8th ranks or to the a-d files. We’ll go with Rh5 for this explanation, but Rd3 works just as fine.
In this position, black can has to move his king, and let’s assume he plays Ke6. Now we can bring the other rook into the game in order to push the king even further. What could this move from white be? The correct answer is Rb6+.
As seen in the above position, the black king is now forced to retreat to the 7th rank. Now, we can bring the rook from h5 to h7 to check the black king. This forces the king to go to the 8th rank. Finally, we can checkmate the black king by moving the rook from b6 to b8 to checkmate.
Now let’s take a look at Queen vs King endings. Queen vs king endings are similar to rook vs king endings except that since the queen cannot ever be attacked by a king, it is much easier.
Let’s assume this is the starting position.
Our goal in a queen and king ending, just like any other ending, is to restrict the king to a smallest amount of squares. In a queen and king ending, this can be done by moving the queen to a square in which it is a “knight” away from the king. This means that if the queen were a knight, it would be checking the opponent’s king. So, in the above position, where should the queen move to next?
If you said Qe6, that’s correct!
Now let’s assume the black king decides to move to f4. In this case, the white queen can now reduce the size of the rectangle by checking the black king with the help of the queen. The best move to do this would be Qe5+. Now, let’s say the king moves to g4. In this case, the white queen is already a “knight” away from the black king, so let’s bring our white king closer.
Notice that now, the black king can only go to two squares and both squares are on the h file meaning that we can now trap the king to one file. Also notice that the white queen cannot now move to a square in which it is a “knight” away from the black king. So, we will need to improvise and try to block off the king as much as possible. Try to find a good move for white.
If you said Qg7, great job! Now, the black king can go to two squares, but let us assume that the king moves away from the queen to h3. Now, what should white play?
The answer is Kf3. By playing Kf3, it forces a checkmate. This is because black is now forced to play Kh4 or Kh2, and either way, he will get checkmated by Qg4# or Qg2# respectively.
Great work! Now you know three basic endings. Now, all you need to do is practice. Take out a chessboard or open one online and practice doing these three checkmates.
Author: Saharsh Satheesh
