Improving your knowledge of theoretical endgames

Utilizing your pawns, knights, and bishops better

Simplifying correctly into winning or drawn endgames

This course is completely dedicated to the final stage of chess: the endgame. You will increase your Elo and overall chess strength by both saving bad positions and converting winning advantages. In a fun learning approach, we will teach you theoretical endgames, practical examples, and even the most common endgame mistakes.

Although endgames are usually not the first phase of the game people learn when they start playing chess, I am of the opinion that they should be studied much earlier than most do.
Endgame knowledge can bring great understanding of chess and win or draw you games from positions you would never think possible.

In Chapter 1 of Endgames Masterclass, we will go over the most common and basic endgames: king and pawn endgames.

Introduction to King and Pawn Endgames

Video Lesson 1 - The Square 

Video Lesson 2 - Opposition 

Video Lesson 3 - Distant Opposition

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Study 1: Using the Pawn Majority

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Study 2: Outside Passed Pawn Creation

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Study 3: Pawn Race 

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Study 4: The Backward Pawn

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Study 5: Triangulation

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Chapter 1: King and Pawn Endgames

This chapter alone can enhance your win rate by a wide margin. Knowing the positional nuances behind king and pawn endgames and realizing that the fate of the game often depends on one single move or tempo will give you an immense advantage against your opponents.

Finally, understanding different pawn structures, pawn majorities and passed pawns, as well as concepts like triangulation will put you on a whole level above your opponents.

I’ve won countless king and pawn endgames that were draws according to the computer.

Let’s talk about knight endgames in Chapter 2. Although they might not be as common as king and pawn endgames or rook endgames, they are as instructive as those.

In this chapter, we will learn how to maneuver your knight in the best way, when to trade knights with your opponent, combining this chapter and your knowledge from Chapter 1 and liquidating the position into a king and pawn endgame, and how knights are great assets when trying to draw the game.

After all, never resign when you’ve got a knight on the board!

Introduction to Knight Endgames

Video Lesson 1 - The Knight's Carousel

Study 1: Drawing is Easy in Knight Endgames

Study 2: Pawn Breaks and Attacking in Knight Endgames

Study 3: Drawing a 3000 in a Knight Endgame

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Chapter 2: Knight Endgames

Don’t ever discard the possibility of a fork when you’ve got a knight in the endgame! Anything can happen in a chess game.

Also, try to spot a certain square that your knight wants to be on and always calculate the route to it. Don’t just move without a plan (Connection to Chapter 12, as you’ll see).

Chapters 3 and 4 will be all about bishop endgames.

Contrary to the knight, the bishop is a long-range piece and can cover the whole board in one move, which is why a lot of players prefer them to the knights in the endgame.

However, the bishop can only move on one color complex, while the knight can cover all the squares on the board!

In this chapter, we’ll go over theoretical bishop endgames and through a few case studies explain how opposing bishops interact with each other, when you should expect a game to be decisive and when it is usually a draw.

Introduction to Bishop Endgames

Video Lesson 1 - Essential Bishop Endgames

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Study 1: Same Color Bishop Endgame - Win

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Study 2: Same Color Bishop Endgame - Draw

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Chapter 3: Theoretical Bishop Endgames

Before moving on to real life game analysis concerning the bishop endgames, knowing the basic theory we learned in this chapter is key.

Let’s now move on to Chapter 4 where you will see how the best grandmasters of the world combine this knowledge with a bit of creativity and a lot of technique.

Having learned some theory behind bishop endgames, let’s focus on practical examples in Chapter 4.

We will look at 4 different games played by the top players in the world in their respective era, and compare how they used bishops to either win or try to save the game.

We will also explain how with some creativity, the game doesn’t always have to be a draw when two bishops of opposite colors are on the board!

Introduction to Practical Bishop Endgames

Study 1: Carlsen vs Firouzja, 2021

Study 2: Yanofsky vs Pinkus, 1942

Study 3: Opposite Color Bishop Endgame - Win

Study 4: Kashdan vs Fine, 1936

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Chapter 4: Practical Bishop Endgames

Who better to learn endgames from than Carlsen and Capablanca, right? I think this chapter showed us that no matter how things may seem, there are always opportunities to win or draw in any position. If you’ve got an opposite color bishop endgame on your hands, don’t automatically think it will be a draw! Sometimes there might be tactics lurking or you can simply outplay your opponent.

In chess, you rarely know in what way the pieces are going to be traded throughout the middlegame and which endgame you will end up in.

That’s why knight vs bishop endgames are essential to learn, as you will often find yourself with one of those pieces against the other, and navigating positions could become tough.

As we’ve already mentioned, the advantage for the bishop lies in that it’s a long-range piece, while the knight can cover both color complexes on the board.

In Chapter 5, we will learn which types of positions in the endgame are more suitable for which piece, look at a real game played by Bobby Fischer and cover how one of the pieces can sometimes dominate the other, and finally combine this knowledge with endgame pawn play.

Introduction to Knight vs Bishop Endgames

Study 1: Knight vs Bishop

Study 2: The Bishop Dominates the Knight, Fischer - Taimanov 1971

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Study 3: Trying to Defend with a Worse Structure

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Study 4: Defending Against Passed Pawns

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Study 5: Trading into a Winning Position

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Chapter 5: Knight vs Bishop Endgames

No matter which piece you prefer, the bishop or the knight, don’t be discouraged to play out these endgames with either of the pieces. Look for more closed and maneuverable positions when you’ve got the knight, and more space and open positions when you’ve got the bishop. Of course, as in any of the chapters we go through, knowing how to combine this with endgame pawn play is essential.

It’s finally time to go start analyzing the types of endgames you will probably encounter the most apart from king and pawn endgames, which are rook endgames.

The basis for any rook endgame are certain theoretically solved positions that are either a win or a draw, like the Philidor or the Lucena position, and that’s what we will focus on in Chapter 6.

We will learn how to defend on the back rank, go through the two mentioned famous positions and explain the technique behind them, which is for sure to help you in any given position you find yourself in when playing on your own.

Introduction to Theoretical Rook Endgames

Video Lesson 1 - King and Rook vs King and Pawn

Study 1: Defending on the Back Rank - Kamsky vs Kramnik, 2006

Study 2: The Philidor - 3rd Rank Defense

Study 3: The Lucena Position - Carlsen vs Ivanchuk, 2013

Study 4: When Back Rank Defense Fails 

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Chapter 6: Theoretical Rook Endgames

Going back to the Philidor and Lucena positions and studying them multiple times is a great idea and one that I have absolutely implemented when I started learning about endgames. If you know them completely and understand the nuances behind them, your rook endgame skills will skyrocket.

Now that we are familiar with the basic rook endgames and the logic behind them, let’s cover some practical examples in Chapter 7.

First, we will introduce the power of the open file in rook endgames, how to navigate the positions when multiple files are open and how to know which one is better.

Then, we will focus on building an advantage in rook endgames in Study 2, while learning how to liquidate or simplify positions and go for an easy win in Study 3.

Finally, studies 4,5 and 6 will give us another angle on converting advantages in rook endgames, like knowing how to play against minor pieces with a rook or even sacrificing it for the win!

Introduction to Practical Rook Endgames 

Study 1: Which Open File is Better?

Study 2: Building a Big Advantage 

Study 3: Keeping an Eye on Winning Simplifications

Study 4: Grinding an Equal Rook + Minor Piece Endgame

Study 5: Converting An Advantage

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Study 6: Sacrificing the Rook to Queen

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Chapter 7: Practical Rook Endgames

Now you shouldn’t be afraid of any rook endgame that comes your way. However, practice is perfect! When playing online, try to transform positions into rook endgames so that you can play them out and practice. This will give you a much better feel of how to approach endgames as a whole.

Finally, we’ve reached one of the most complex endgames in chess: queen endgames!

When only the two queens and a couple of pawns are left on the board, the positions are often open and the queens’ power becomes limitless.

Chapter 8 will firstly teach us which positions are a draw and which aren’t when there is a queen on the board and the opposing side has a pawn.

Secondly, we will learn how and where to activate and optimize our queens in the endgame, what to target and what not to focus on.

We will also analyze the queen’s potential when combined with a minor piece, as well as its defensive powers in the endgame.

Introduction to Queen Endgames 

Video Lesson 1 - Queen vs Pawn

Study 1: A Bad Plan to Convert an Advantage

Study 2: Queen + Minor Pieces - Initiative is Key

Study 3: Creating Complications

Study 4: Saving a Draw Against Two Passed Pawns

Study 5: White Fails to Hold Down a Pawn

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Chapter 8: Queen Endgames

Queen endgames are extremely complicated in the sense that the positions can turn around in an instant, even faster than other endgame types.

One thing I would point out is, if you’ve got the pawn advantage in queen endgames, your opponents are going to try and achieve a perpetual check on your king. Always keep that king safe!

Not all endgames include a piece against the same piece. You will often times trade the rook for a few pieces, for example, and be left in an endgame where you have two pieces against the rook.

These endgame imbalances usually seek different approaches than in endgames with the same pieces, and that’s what Chapter 9 will be about.

We will go through three most common types of endgame imbalances: the rook against minor pieces, rook and a knight against a rook and a bishop, and two or more pieces against the queen!

Introduction to Imbalances 

Study 1: Minor Pieces vs Rook Imbalance

Study 2: Bishop vs Knight Imbalance

Study 3: Coordinating the Pieces vs The Queen

Chapter 9: Endgame Imbalances

Now your knowledge of endgames in the sense of piece balances or imbalances is complete.

Don’t be afraid to liquidate into endgames where you’ve got two pieces for a rook or the other way around, for example, if you think that’s beneficial. The point is to get comfortable with that.

Knowing how to defend in an endgame and save a lost position is as important as knowing how to attack and push.

This is where piece activity comes to light as well; active defense is sometimes the way to go, as we will see in the first study of this chapter.

Next, we’ll explain how to deal with positions where you are down a piece, and then we will analyze how you can even transform your active defense into counterplay or create a comeback!

Introduction to Defending

Study 1: The Usefulness of Active Defense

Study 2: Defending Down a Piece

Study 3: Counterplay and Down Material

Study 4: A Comeback After Active Defense

Chapter 10: Defending

Sometimes attack is the best defense, and I hope this chapter proved that to you. A lot of players you encounter won’t know how to deal with the pressure of sudden counterplay, thinking they had had the advantage the whole time.

That’s what makes concepts like active defense or counterplay even more powerful.

Sometimes having a material or a positional advantage is not enough in an endgame. Technique is often required to win!

Chapter 11 will focus on endgame conversion.
We will highlight the importance of passed pawns, when to push them, and cover how to liquidate pawn majorities into a win.

Sometimes a positional advantage will bring you the victory instead of a material edge, and that’s what the last study of the chapter will analyze.

Introduction to Converting Endgames 

Study 1: Converting With Pawn Majorities

Study 2: Passed Pawns Must Be Pushed! 

Study 3: Winning an Endgame as an Intermediate

Study 4: Turning a Positional Edge into a Win

Chapter 11: Endgame Conversion

I hope this chapter will improve not just your endgame conversion ideas, but also your overall understanding of endgames and where your benefits and weaknesses in different positions lie.

A winning position doesn’t mean much if we don’t know how to win it!

When learning about endgames and trying to implement your knowledge in online or live games, you will make a lot of mistakes. And that’s normal. However, locating what mistakes you’ve made and working on them is key to improvement.

Chapter 12 will point out some of the most common endgame mistakes, like realizing that you are going to need a plan when entering the endgame and during the endgame most of the time.

Or knowing what the most common blunders and tactics in endgames are and how to either avoid them or take advantage of them. All in all, this chapter should help you minimize those endgame mistakes in the long run.

Introduction to Endgame Mistakes 

Study 1: Playing Without a Plan = Losing

Study 2: Blinds Spots and How to Deal with Them

Study 3: Losing Simplifications

Study 4: Keeping an Eye on Loose Material 

Study 5: Cleansing our Play From Errors

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Chapter 12: Endgame Mistakes

Now that you have a better understanding of which mistakes to avoid and when, this signals the end of our course. I really hope that you have had fun learning about endgames and I’m sure outplaying your opponents in endgames will come as second nature to you now.

Good luck!