Endgames for beginners #1

Are you a beginner (under 1000) and want to learn endgames but they just seem way too difficult? Well, you've come to the right place! Today, we will be starting at the very beginning.

     Have you ever been in a position where you want to promote your pawn but are not sure if the opposing king will get there in time? Well, let me show you an easy method to do so, called "The Box". It goes like this:

So let's say you're white. One of the variations you analyze gets to this position. If you just run the pawn up the board, will the King on c3 get there in time, or be fashionably late? To find this out you can do the old "I go here, (s)he goes here,etc" but what if you have 10 seconds on your clock! Here is what you do. You draw, in your head, a box from h3, where the pawn is, and go diagonally forward to c8. Now include c3 and h8 and you have a box. If black can manage to get into the box then he can draw the game, but if white can promote, it is a win. ( I will show you that in my next post.) You move 1.h4. Can Black get into the new box?

yes, he can! this is a draw.      Here are some more positions to practice on.