White King in d1, White pawn in d2, Black King in d8. White to move. Depending on your move, you could win, or simply draw.
This booklet is only about this fundamental pattern, where nothing is left to chance or sheer luck, only one move out of the possible moves wins, two pawn moves (one or two squares), and two King moves (1st or 2nd rank, right or left).
If you know the continuation and the reason why, just skip this book then, it will not be of any help to you. But if you don't, go on reading.
When directing blitz tournaments, I watch closely the players in zeitnot, say five percent of endgames are K+P vs. K; I see a lot of fancy moves, without any strategy.
The side with the Pawn can win, if able to occupy the critical squares and to mantain the opposition.
The side without the pawn can draw if the opponent does not know the technique of opposition and the location of critical squares.
Only knowledge is important, without that you are just playing "hope chess".
It's the analysis of pattern #29 of my book "Fundamental Chess Patterns", it's just King vs. King and Pawn, but easy only when you know the correct play.
J. Mason in The Art of Chess, 1913, asks: How could you play with 32 pieces on the board if you are not completely sure what to do when there are only 3?
What do you need to know before reading this book:
* How to use algebraic Chess Notation
* A visualization of at least 4 plies without a board
* The opportunity in an endgame to promote a pawn to win
* The necessity to aim for a stalemate if you are the player without the pawn
What will you learn in this book:
* Two chess laws: opposition and critical squares
* To rely on your knowledge
* Strategies to win and to draw
* The location of critical squares
What you will NOT get and why:
* The complete analysis of pawns endgames, for expert level exceeding 150 difficult pages
* Duchamp: We must therefore, stress the fact that opposition (orthodox or heterodox) as well as sister squares are almost always a necessary but never a sufficient condition to bring about a win
Notice: I apologize for possible grammatical errors, my native language is Italian. To ascertain that you will understand, simply look inside. However there's plenty of diagrams to take care of low visualization capability, and notation is algebraic with figurines. (A symbol of the moving piece appears instead of an abbreviating letter, so anyone can follow in any language)
Novice and intermediate players are the target of this book. Here you must not simply memorize, but you have to understand! Both knowledge and ability are important, they are complementary, one alone is not enough. If you do not know the proper procedure, you will just try, and you might promote, but only if your opponent does not know the correct defense. This booklet will not improve your ability, for that you must play, applying your knowledge. But it will try to increase your knowledge in this specific position.
It will not (and could not) be a replacement to the existing large choice of endgame books, but when you have finished reading them, maybe you will recall the few positions which struck your imagination: and over the board you will recall that in a similar position there's a winning sequence, but it does not come back to your mind. As when going out from the Metropolitan your mind will be confused, remembering just a couple of masterpieces.
But do you know and remember how to play this position? with White AND with Black? and the underlying reason also?
The step after Opposition is the Corresponding Squares, I included in this updated edition the standard Lasker-Reichhelm Position, where even CM have hard times. Giving indication of the books where the technique can be found, dated 1925 and 1932, ... not easy, not easy ...
Rodolfo Pardi, librarian, FSI (Italian Chess Federation) instructor and tournament director
As a bonus, a dozen games can be seen, free, on scacchi.vecchilibri.eu/partite/opposition.html
This booklet is only about this fundamental pattern, where nothing is left to chance or sheer luck, only one move out of the possible moves wins, two pawn moves (one or two squares), and two King moves (1st or 2nd rank, right or left).
If you know the continuation and the reason why, just skip this book then, it will not be of any help to you. But if you don't, go on reading.
When directing blitz tournaments, I watch closely the players in zeitnot, say five percent of endgames are K+P vs. K; I see a lot of fancy moves, without any strategy.
The side with the Pawn can win, if able to occupy the critical squares and to mantain the opposition.
The side without the pawn can draw if the opponent does not know the technique of opposition and the location of critical squares.
Only knowledge is important, without that you are just playing "hope chess".
It's the analysis of pattern #29 of my book "Fundamental Chess Patterns", it's just King vs. King and Pawn, but easy only when you know the correct play.
J. Mason in The Art of Chess, 1913, asks: How could you play with 32 pieces on the board if you are not completely sure what to do when there are only 3?
What do you need to know before reading this book:
* How to use algebraic Chess Notation
* A visualization of at least 4 plies without a board
* The opportunity in an endgame to promote a pawn to win
* The necessity to aim for a stalemate if you are the player without the pawn
What will you learn in this book:
* Two chess laws: opposition and critical squares
* To rely on your knowledge
* Strategies to win and to draw
* The location of critical squares
What you will NOT get and why:
* The complete analysis of pawns endgames, for expert level exceeding 150 difficult pages
* Duchamp: We must therefore, stress the fact that opposition (orthodox or heterodox) as well as sister squares are almost always a necessary but never a sufficient condition to bring about a win
Notice: I apologize for possible grammatical errors, my native language is Italian. To ascertain that you will understand, simply look inside. However there's plenty of diagrams to take care of low visualization capability, and notation is algebraic with figurines. (A symbol of the moving piece appears instead of an abbreviating letter, so anyone can follow in any language)
Novice and intermediate players are the target of this book. Here you must not simply memorize, but you have to understand! Both knowledge and ability are important, they are complementary, one alone is not enough. If you do not know the proper procedure, you will just try, and you might promote, but only if your opponent does not know the correct defense. This booklet will not improve your ability, for that you must play, applying your knowledge. But it will try to increase your knowledge in this specific position.
It will not (and could not) be a replacement to the existing large choice of endgame books, but when you have finished reading them, maybe you will recall the few positions which struck your imagination: and over the board you will recall that in a similar position there's a winning sequence, but it does not come back to your mind. As when going out from the Metropolitan your mind will be confused, remembering just a couple of masterpieces.
But do you know and remember how to play this position? with White AND with Black? and the underlying reason also?
The step after Opposition is the Corresponding Squares, I included in this updated edition the standard Lasker-Reichhelm Position, where even CM have hard times. Giving indication of the books where the technique can be found, dated 1925 and 1932, ... not easy, not easy ...
Rodolfo Pardi, librarian, FSI (Italian Chess Federation) instructor and tournament director
As a bonus, a dozen games can be seen, free, on scacchi.vecchilibri.eu/partite/opposition.html
