How to get better at endgames as a beginner
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Hi, i have only been playing chess for 2 weeks now 🫣 i know i still have a lot more to learn and study, but so far, i think i've gotten somewhat of a hang of openings, but i blunder my endgames. even at an advantage during an endgame (say with 2 queens, or a queen & rook) i have difficulty finding the checkmate move even after checking the opponent's king multiple times 😢
can anyone suggest how to improve on this, especially as a beginner. how do you get better at identifying the move/strategy that will help you deliver checkmate?
Jun 17, 2025
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#2
Chess.com has a section for learning endgames. It's got lessons and also allow you to practice basic (and not so basic) checkmating patterns.
Jun 17, 2025
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#3
Second the chess.com practice suggestion. It sounds like you could also benefit from doing some puzzles as help test your ability to see the steps for checkmate
Jun 17, 2025
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#4
How do you guys think I can get better I am 453 right now and I want to be better can you please help me
Jun 17, 2025
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#5
eBug10 wrote:
How do you guys think I can get better I am 453 right now and I want to be better can you please help me
Play more games against human opponents. In the past year you played 11 games that weren't against bots.
Checkmate practice King and Queen vs King, King and Rook vs King, King Queen and Rook vs King and King and pawn vs King from both sides. This is the foundation of endgame learning. When the queens are off the board move the king into the centre of the board, take all the pawns of the other player/trade off all the pieces, and push your most advanced pawn to promotion (stop their's if they are closer to promotion). If you practice these things you will do well. Endgame is often a counting excercise for king and pawn moves. One short cut is, can the king catch a pawn? Imagine a square, if the king is as far away in files to the pawn as the pawn is in rank moves to promotion, or less then the king is in the square and will catch the pawn. Anyway good luck with your practice.
I just want to say, practicing all the available endgames/checkmate patterns will give you an improved understanding of how the pieces work in isolation and together with each other. It will improve your whole game and after that you can work on tactics. Once you have this your building blocks will be very strong and your rating will skyrocket. Then you can work on opening and middlegame theory. Right now you know how the pieces move but not how to use them well so the endgame first and tactics second will be best. Endgames will feel like second nature and as pieces come off the board you will feel stronger.
Thank you everyone for the suggestions i really appreciate it!! time to do more endgame puzzles and practice ❤️
Jun 18, 2025
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#10
To both ebug and work, in addition to the above advice, which is quite good, I would add studying the simple check mate patterns, of which there are quite a few, this will increase your awareness of when check mate maybe possible ( such as a Back Rank or Greek Gift pattern),and then completing simple checkmate exercises ,primarily of 1-ply , with a smaller number of 3-ply problems. Chess.com has more than enough material covering this, and there's more online if you search for it. If you can ,invest in A.J.Gillam's book, Simple Checkmates; Larry Evans also has an exercise book of simple checkmates. Whatever source of checkmate exercises you use, work through the books over and over,10 or more times until you can spot the answer in 3 or 4 seconds. If you understand the preconditions for checkmate, recognize the most common patterns, and do checkmate in 1 or 3 ply problems until you can spot the answer in seconds, your chess skill and rating will probably double. Good luck and good hunting!