The King Paradox

The story of the king in chess is one like no other. He starts as a liability, being protected and shoved in a corner, never to be let out. But when most pieces fall, he rises—becoming one of the most important pieces on the board. This is the King Paradox. 

The Start

The game revolves around the King. When he is put into danger with no squares left, you lose the game. For this reason, he starts as a vulnerable piece that needs to be castled as soon as possible and protected at all costs from the 15 pieces of the other side that want him gone.

This is why castling exists—to get him out of the dangerous center as soon as possible and to get him behind a wall of pawns and protected by his rook. 

Beginners learn that he should never be let out, but there is a point where that statement becomes false.

The Transformation

Once the endgame begins, the King is no longer in as much danger to powerful pieces hunting him down with coordinated attacks, instead only from a few remaining pieces that are rarely able to trap him. The King is now no longer vulnerable, meaning he can come out of the shadows and become a powerful warrior like the rest of the pieces. The endgame is usually defined as when the queens fall off of the board, but the beginning of an endgame should not be defined by the number of pieces left, but by how safe your King would be in the center of the board. Now this is not a dictionary definition, but a rule of thumb to understand if your position is an endgame or not. Endgames usually have no queens and 0-2 minor pieces left.

An active King in the endgame is very important to the game’s outcome. Although a King moves very slowly, he is useful in the defense of your own pawns and important squares while also being useful for attacking the opponent’s pieces. He can also restrict the enemy King with a tool called opposition that occurs when the Kings have 1 empty square between them, stopping the advance of the other King.

A King is most powerful in the endgame when he is placed in the center; here he has easy access to every area of the board. But if the rest of the pieces are in one area, the King should be brought there immediately unless it puts him in immediate danger. The more active King in the endgame will almost always have an advantage and a higher likelihood to be the winner of the game.

The Greatest King Walk in History

Nothing illustrates the King Paradox better than a King Walk. A King Walk is where you deliberately march your King up the board for it to be used as an attacking piece.

A King Walk should only be done under specific circumstances and will most likely never happen in your chess career but remains a clear demonstration of the King Paradox. A good King Walk occurs when the King is completely safe from any checks from enemy pieces and has a clear path toward the area of the board where he can contribute to the attack. The greatest King Walk in history was performed by Nigel Short against Jan Timman in 1991 in Tilburg. The following is the legendary game:

In this game, Short marches his King all the way from g1 to g5, using it as a strong attacker that helps the Queen control g7. In this situation, he had no dark-squared bishop to control the square, leaving the King as the only piece to help. Short recognized this and used the King as an attacker, creating an unstoppable checkmate threat that caused Timman to resign.

The King as a Pawn Escort

The King is the best piece for escorting a pawn, and a pawn escort occurs in almost every high-level endgame. A King escort almost always occurs with a passed pawn.

A passed pawn is a pawn that is blocked by no other pawns in the row it stands on or on either adjacent row.

In the middlegame, pawns are protected by other pawns, rooks, bishops, queens, or knights. In the endgame, that is sometimes impossible and the pawn needs to be protected by the King—who is always on the board. The King not only protects the pawn but also stops any pieces from standing in front of the pawn. The best example of this is when the King is on the 7th (or 2nd depending on which side you are playing) row to the left or right of the pawn. This is known as rolling out the red carpet since the enemy King is unable to get in front of the pawn, giving a clear path for it to promote.

Another important concept that is used to promote a pawn in the endgame is the rule of the square. This rule is a simple way to know if the enemy King can catch your passed pawn in time. To figure this out, count the number of squares from your pawn to the promotion square (for teaching purposes, I will call this s). Now, go s squares towards the center of the board and draw the square in your head. If the enemy King is inside this square, then it can catch your pawn before it promotes. If not, then your King will be able to get to the pawn first.

Here’s a quick puzzle to help you understand: Can your pawn promote?

How about in this position?

Most King and pawn endgames are decided by the principle of using the King as a pawn escort, so it is a very useful tip to know if you ever get into one of these types of endgames!

The Lesson

The King Paradox is truly one of the most profound lessons chess has to offer. It is useful on the board and also teaches you a useful lesson for life: something that needed protection at the start can rise from the shadows and become a weapon like the ones who once protected him.