King Opposition
In my End Game studies I have been looking at "King Opposition" this week. I figured I would share what I have found.
Opposition defined, as by IM Silman, The fight between Kings to determine which one is stronger.
Here we see that both Kings would like to advance but are prevented by the opposing King. In this position it is better to move second as the first to move gives up control of one of the squares and allows the other side to advance. Look at the board first the try a move for White to see the example.
As you can see what ever White does Black can gain headway into White's area.
Distant Opposition is when the two Kings are farther apart. The rules for this are.
- The side to move if there are an ODD number of squares between Kings DOES NOT have Opposition.
- The side to move if there is an EVEN numbers of squares between Kings DOES have Opposition.
This means that whoever has the move, will have the Opposition, if they continue walking towards each other. (diagram 1)
Here we see that the same rules apply on the diagonal.
Ok so by now you should be able to figure out who has Opposition if the Kings are on the same Rank, File or Diagonal. But, how about if they do not connect at all?
In this situation the Rule is - Move the King to a position that makes a square or rectangle in which each corner is the same color.
But what good is this? Well later on I will be posting on Outflanking and why Opposition is important to know.
