The Elegant Beauty of the Endgame Multiple Choice Quiz | Hobbies

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The most basic endgame is king and pawn vs. lone king. The general rule here is that the lone king can draw if he can get his king in front of the advancing pawn, otherwise he loses. However, it is not automatic, he must still play correctly. In the simple position with White king on e5, White pawn on f6, and Black king on f7, which of Black's four possible moves must he play to ensure the draw?

Answer: King to f8

The rule here is that the king must go straight back; if he moves diagonally, he loses. For example, if Black plays 1...Ke8, then White wins with 2 Ke6 Kf8 3 f7 Kg7 4 Ke7 and White's pawn will queen next move. Even the simplest-looking positions in chess can be tricky!

2. Perhaps the most frequently occurring endgame is that of rook and pawn vs. rook. There are two general types of this endgame; one is when the weak side's king blocks the pawn's advance, and the other when the strong side's rook has the weak side's king cut off by a file from the pawn. This latter situation, with the strong side's pawn on the 7th rank, has come to be known as the _________ Position.

Answer: Lucena

Th winning method is called "building a bridge". Say White has king on f8, pawn on f7, and rook on e2, while Black has king on d8 and rook on g1. White's task here is to extricate his king without allowing Black to capture his pawn. Play continues 1 Rd2ch Kc7 2 Rd4! (the key move, preparing to build the bridge) Rg2 3 Ke7 Rg2ch 4 Kf6 Rf2ch 5 Ke6 Re2ch 6 Kf5 Rf2ch 7 Rf4! and the White pawn will queen.

3. When the Black king blocks the pawn in the rook and pawn vs. rook endgame, then it is called the Philidor Position. Take the position White king on f5, pawn on f6 and rook on h7; Black king on f8 and rook on a6. Which of the following statements is true about this position?

Answer: White to move wins, Black to move draws.

If White is on move, he wins easily with 1 Kg6. Black to move plays 1...Ra1, following the Philidor Position rule that Black should keep his Rook on his third rank until the White king threatens to go to his 6th rank, and then play to his 8th rank. In the given position, the White King is threatening to go to the 6th rank, hence Black must play his Rook to his 8th, and then if 2 Kg6 Black simply checks the King with 2...Rg1ch and continues checking, since the White king has no safe harbor.

4. The ending of queen vs. pawn on the 7th rank is frequently seen, usually after one side has won the race to queen a pawn, leaving the other to try to follow suit. Assuming the Black king is protecting his pawn, that the White king is far away from the action, and that both sides play correctly, which of the following statements is correct about this endgame?

Answer: White wins unless Black's pawn is a rook's pawn or bishop's pawn.

When Black's pawn is a center pawn or a knight's pawn, White checks until Black's King must block his own pawn's advance, and then White uses his free move to bring his king closer. He continues in this fashion until his king is close enough to mate Black.

However, in the case of the rook's pawn or bishop's pawn, the possibility of stalemate salvages the draw for Black. Consider the position with White queen on b3 and king far away on h8, and Black king on b1 and pawn on c2. With a center pawn Black would have to now block his pawn's advance by going in front of it. However, since he has the bishop's pawn, he has the resource of moving into the corner, the point being that if White now captures the pawn, it is stalemate! White thus can never get the free moves he needs to bring his king closer, and the result is a draw.

5. Assuming best play by both sides, a lone king will always lose against an opponent with a king, bishop, and pawn, regardless of which file the pawn is on.

Answer: false

The lone king will *almost* always lose, but there is an important exception. When the strong side's pawn is a rook's pawn, and her bishop is on the opposite colored square from her pawn's queening square, then the weak side will draw (assuming of course the weak side's king blocks the pawn's advance).

6. You have only a light-squared bishop and your opponent has only a dark-squared bishop and a pawn on the fifth rank. On which file should your opponent's pawn be in order for you to be able to force3 a draw?

Answer: It doesn't matter, it will always be a draw regardless of the file.

This is the notoriously drawn bishops-of-opposite-colors ending. All you have to do to achieve the draw is capture the pawn when it goes to a light square, and your opponent then will not be able to mate you with just a bishop. Note that your king position is irrelevant here, as the bishop can force the draw by itself.

7. You have a king, knight, and pawn, while your opponent has only a king and knight. On which file would you prefer your pawn to be in order to give you maximum winning chances?

Answer: Rook's file (a or h files).

The Rook file is much the preferred file on which to have your pawn. The reason is that your opponent's knight can only harass your Rook's Pawn from one side, so it is easier to keep her knight at bay. By the same reasoning, with a bishop's or center pawn the bare knight can almost always draw, since the knight can operate freely on both sides of the pawn. With a knight's pawn the strong side has "some winning chances", according to "A Guide to Chess Endings", by Max Euwe and David Hooper, but the authors state that the rook's pawn is "much the strongest pawn".

8. Consider the position with White's king at a4 and White pawn at d3, and Black with a bare king at a6. With best play, if it is White's turn he only draws, but if it is Black's turn in this position Black will lose. Which endgame principle does this position illustrate?

Answer: the opposition

The opposition is the most important concept in King and Pawn endgames. Whichever player gets to move second in this position is said to "have the opposition". Whichever player has to move first is said to be in "zugzwang", meaning he would prefer not to move; however, "passing" is not allowed in chess!

If Black has to move then White wins with 1...Kb6 2 Kb4 Kc6 3 Kc4 Kd6 (Here Black has gotten his king in front of White's pawn, but because he lacks the opposition he will have to immediately give way.) 4 Kd4 Ke6 5 Kc5 Kd7 6 Kd5 (Keeping the opposition; not 6 d4? Kc7 and Black has stolen the opposition from White) 6...Ke7 7 Kc6 Kd8 8 Kd6 Ke8 9 d4 Kd8 10 d5 Ke8 11 Kc7 and White's Pawn will queen.

The wrong answers are all tactical concepts used in the middlegame, not endgame concepts.

9. Consider the position with White pawns at a5 and c6 and White king at d5. Black has a pawn on a6 and king on c8. If it were Black to move Black would lose in straightforward fashion. But with White to move it is not so simple. What maneuver must White execute with his king in order to secure the win?

Answer: triangulation

Which must gain the opposition, and to do this he must "lose a move". He does this through triangulation: 1 Kc4 Kb8 2 Kd4 Kc8 3 Kd5 and now we have the same position, but with Black to move. Note that this maneuver is possible because Black's king is denied access to certain squares by White's pawn.

10. Finally, let us consider another king and pawn position. White's pawn is on a6 and his King on f7, while Black's pawn is on a7 and his king on c2. Obviously both Kings want to get to where the pawns are. If it is White to move, what maneuver must he use to ensure the win?

Answer: the diagonal march

If White mundanely moves over to the pawns traveling solely on the 7th rank, Black will get his king to c7, which will draw. White wins by moving, not on the hypotenuse, but on the two sides of a right triangle: 1 Ke6! Kc3 2 Kd5! Kb4 3 Kc6 Ka5 4 Kb7 Kb5 5 Kxa7 Kc6 6 Kb8 and White's pawn will now queen. Note that White gets his king over to take Black's pawn in the same number of moves as going in a straight line, but by traveling via d5 he shuts out the Black king from getting to c7.

But the really nifty thing about this position is that Black's drawing resource also involves a diagonal march! If play proceeds 1 Ke7 Kc3 2 Kd7 Kc5? 3 Kc3!, Black will now lose because he can't get his King to c7. Correct, therefore, is the diagonal march starting with 2...Kd4! (Traveling diagonally on the dark squares) 3 Kc6 Ke4! 4 Kb7 Kd6 5 Kxa7 Kc7 drawn. Now *that* is chess art!

Source: Author chessart

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ozzz2002 before going online.
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The Elegant Beauty of the Endgame Quiz

Philidor said the pawn is "the soul of chess", while Nimzowich talked about the passed pawn's "lust to expand". All of these questions involve one side's attempt to queen a pawn, and the other side's attempts to prevent that.

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