Pawn endgames: More specific ideas and positions

The general ideas I talked about in the previous lesson can be generally applied with pawn endgames. However, there are still specific positions you have to know. I will try not to bombard you with a huge number of positions to memorise and byheart, but rather just explain some of the key ideas in a few ideas that make them so special. This way you can apply understanding in endgames similar to these to get the desired outcome rather than searching in your memory to find these positions when you are low on time.

The Rook Pawn 

The Rook Pawn is clearly a special pawn as it only has one other file to its side:

This significantly increases the drawing chances of the defending side if they are in front of the pawn, even if they don't have the opposition!

As you can see, this position was guaranteed a draw (black didn't even need the opposition as there wasn't any neighbouring file to go to). Even if the black King isn't infront of the pawn (which is guaranteed a draw), they can still force a draw by trapping the King on the Rook-file (which leads to a stalemate if the stronger side tries to make progress). Even here, having the opposition isn't needed:

If the weaker side's King is in front of this pawn, or stops the stronger side's King from ever escaping, these rook pawn positions (without any other pawns on the board) is a dead draw.

The Deep Freeze 

This is a very effective technique which especially makes distraction passed pawns so useful. Essentially what you do is stop at least 2 pawns with 1!

This structure is generally called a backwards pawn (for black in this case) where this pawn cannot move forward. In endgames, this especially becomes more important in pawn endgames. Imagine you have this position below:

As you can see, as I mentioned in the previous position, a Rook pawn is a guaranteed draw if there are no other pawns on the board and the King is in time to reach this pawn. But who said this pawn had to only stop 2 pawns? Why not 3?

As you can see, deepfreezes are very powerful weapons, so try to avoid these in pawn endgames or create these against your opponent. The key to a good deepfreeze is the inability of the pawns to move. Some deepfreezes look like a deepfreeze, but are not:

So here is now what I will say: Be sure that the deepfreeze is truly a deepfreeze before trying to distract the enemy King with a passed pawn. This idea you have just seen where the deepfreeze fails is called a breakthrough, as we will cover next:

The Breakthrough

Imagine you have this position below:

The breakthrough idea white missed had cost him the game. But what is the only move to stop this promotion (and for this DO NOT PREMOVE):

As you can see, it is very important to stop breakthroughs from occuring when you have the distraction passed pawn, as these can lead to their own distant passed pawns. Of course, if you are playing as the weaker side, looking for these opportunities is very important.

Two Pawns

For the first few scenarios, we will look at what will happen when the King is not there to support these pawns (maybe perhaps because it has stopped a passed pawn):

This is a very easy win where bringing the King closer helps you to win. It gets a little trickier when bringing the King all the way immediately when one of these pawns is a Rook pawn can lead to a stalemate:

Now, let's look at what happens when the pawns are one file apart:

The barrier in between the pawns hinder the King and force it to take a long route to attack the pawns. So what if the pawns are 2 files apart? Well this time it is actually drawn (if your King is far away from the pawns):

The King caught both pawns, because the barrier between the pawns was broken. But even so it was a very tense race. In fact, if the both pawns were up just one row at the start, it is a win for white because the King cannot enter the square of the pawn at the very end:

It just shows how being up 2 pawns can give you so many winning possibilites. If the pawns were 3 files apart, it is just an easy win:

This also applies for all distances between pawns greater than 2 files because the pawns are way too far for the King to stop one pawn while moving to attack the other.

Doubled pawns, however, are easy draws if the King is too far away as the King can easily capture both:

But if they are protected by the King, they can win easily (you use the behind pawn as a reserve tempo to force the King to move at the very end):

But do not push both pawns at the same time (doing so can cause some unnecessary difficulty):

So when promoting one of the doubled pawns, focus on promoting one pawn rather than both.

Zugzwangs

What is this term? Well, what it means is when a player in the game must make a move, even if they don't want to (because all options are bad). These are especially common in pawn endgames, and the opposition is an example of a zugzwang! There are still other types of zugzwangs in pawn endgames, such as the trebuchet position:

Neither side wants to make the move, as they will be forced away from the pawns and will lose their pawn (and the game). Well, at first this seems to be a position that appears by chance, but it can also be prepared for by the person with the first move:

If the Kings began 2 files away from the trebuchet pawns, it would be a drawn position due to opposition (and avoiding the typical trebuchet):

There are other zugzwangs which can occur, but this is the main zugzwang (other than opposition) which can occur in a pawn endgame and the ideas of this zugwzang can be transferred to others.

Great lesson! However I know almost everything here. I studied a few pawn endings.

I am building up in complexity

That's a great way of teaching.

Very nice lesson, thank you!