King and pawn endgames notoriously straight forward. Almost always, one side can win by force or the sides will draw…no fighting for an advantage. Basically, the point that I am trying to make is that you should never go into a king and pawn endgame unless you know you are wining or drawn (and you want a draw) or you are much worse in the endgame and trading to a K&P (king and pawn) endgame messes things up more and might give you some chances to not lose.
To be successful in these types of endgames, you must be able to evaluate them very well and a lot of these endgames are winning, drawn or losing, because of triangulation and zugzwang. That is right, all of it comes down to your ability, or your opponent’s ability to lose a move. This is, of course, only speaking of the endgames that are seemingly close to drawn, some endgames are just plain pawn races while others are just winning by many moves. The close, or hard to evaluate, ones often come down to triangulation or zugzwang. This means you must be able to spot these really hard waiting moves to accurately evaluate the position. You may think you are winning because at the critical moment he has to step back, but in reality, he could use triangulation at an earlier moment on you, and you are the one who ends up having to back up and you end up losing. It is very important that you know what these are, how to find them, and how to use them.
Definitions:
Triangulation is where you attempt to lose a move. You “dance around the square you started at twice when your opponent can only reach one square from his goal square, and so you move away, he moves away, you move to the side, he moves back, and you move back, now it is his move in the original position and you have accomplished almost always, giving him a zugzwang position. Zugzwang is where the side that is in zugzwang has no good moves to make and because he has to move, he ends up losing ground and often the game.
How to Find and How to Use Triangulation and Zugzwang:
This is not easy, it takes lots of practice and hard work. I know that is not what you want to hear, but to be honest, triangulation and zugzwang can come about in so many different ways, that to say, look for the kings and pawns to be in this position, then be wary for a triangulation, is useless. However, there are some pointers to be on the lookout for. First, watch out for pawns on the same row three files apart, especially when that is the case for both sides. This means there is one hole that one side gets, and when they get there, they win (see example below). Very often both sides have very nasty tricks up there sleeve to use to trick you into giving them that square.
As you can see, both sides had good chances to make headway and to win, however, both sides had to be at their best to not fall into destruction. Check out my YouTube video at the top of the page if you have not yet to see three more examples of triangulation and zugzwang that will cement these two critical endgame themes into your brains!
I have created a video that goes along with this topic, make sure to check it out for a much more in depth look at our topic today!
youtube.com/watch?v=zjSjFQWpYX8
King and pawn endgames notoriously straight forward. Almost always, one side can win by force or the sides will draw…no fighting for an advantage. Basically, the point that I am trying to make is that you should never go into a king and pawn endgame unless you know you are wining or drawn (and you want a draw) or you are much worse in the endgame and trading to a K&P (king and pawn) endgame messes things up more and might give you some chances to not lose.
To be successful in these types of endgames, you must be able to evaluate them very well and a lot of these endgames are winning, drawn or losing, because of triangulation and zugzwang. That is right, all of it comes down to your ability, or your opponent’s ability to lose a move. This is, of course, only speaking of the endgames that are seemingly close to drawn, some endgames are just plain pawn races while others are just winning by many moves. The close, or hard to evaluate, ones often come down to triangulation or zugzwang. This means you must be able to spot these really hard waiting moves to accurately evaluate the position. You may think you are winning because at the critical moment he has to step back, but in reality, he could use triangulation at an earlier moment on you, and you are the one who ends up having to back up and you end up losing. It is very important that you know what these are, how to find them, and how to use them.
Definitions:
Triangulation is where you attempt to lose a move. You “dance around the square you started at twice when your opponent can only reach one square from his goal square, and so you move away, he moves away, you move to the side, he moves back, and you move back, now it is his move in the original position and you have accomplished almost always, giving him a zugzwang position. Zugzwang is where the side that is in zugzwang has no good moves to make and because he has to move, he ends up losing ground and often the game.
How to Find and How to Use Triangulation and Zugzwang:
This is not easy, it takes lots of practice and hard work. I know that is not what you want to hear, but to be honest, triangulation and zugzwang can come about in so many different ways, that to say, look for the kings and pawns to be in this position, then be wary for a triangulation, is useless. However, there are some pointers to be on the lookout for. First, watch out for pawns on the same row three files apart, especially when that is the case for both sides. This means there is one hole that one side gets, and when they get there, they win (see example below). Very often both sides have very nasty tricks up there sleeve to use to trick you into giving them that square.
As you can see, both sides had good chances to make headway and to win, however, both sides had to be at their best to not fall into destruction. Check out my YouTube video at the top of the page if you have not yet to see three more examples of triangulation and zugzwang that will cement these two critical endgame themes into your brains!
Thanks for your time and comments! All the best!
J. Rasberry