Chess Endgames for Kids
Jordan sinking a buzzer-beating jumpshot in game six of the 1998 NBA Finals. Messi leading Argentina to victory in the title match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. How an athlete shows up in the closing stages of a competition can make or break the way they’re remembered by fans and peers alike.
"Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it." - Michael Jordan
Greatness often comes down to the ability to perform when pressure is at its peak. Whoever can stay calm and execute when everything is on the line will often go on to take the win, especially if their opponent crumbles under the weight of the moment.
This is just as true in chess. It’s incredibly painful to see children get into a strong position with good opening strategy and capture pieces with smart middlegame chess tactics, then throw it all away because they don’t know what to do in the endgame.
Chess endgames are complicated but crucial elements of strong play. So what is an endgame, why is it an important topic for your child to study, and how can newer players improve the closing phases of their games? Let’s explore some common endgame tactics for beginners.
What is an Endgame in Chess?
A chess game is normally divided into three phases: the opening, middlegame, and endgame. The endgame is reached when only a few pieces remain on the board, like the kings, some pawns, and maybe an extra piece like a rook or bishop.
Why Does the Endgame Matter?
The endgame is just as complicated as the other two sections, if not more so. Sometimes, a kid doesn’t know how to complete a checkmate with the pieces they have left and flails around in frustration; other times, a kid in a winning position comes close to doing a checkmate, only to make one mistake and end up with a tie or even a loss. Some kids don’t even realize they’re winning despite having many more pieces than their opponent!
We have all seen our kids fail at crucial moments. Perhaps your child was about to score a soccer goal but tripped and fell. Perhaps they practiced hard for a piano recital but froze up on stage. These painful moments can happen in a chess endgame as well, but they can be avoided with practice.
Having fewer pieces on the board does not mean the endgame is easier than the opening or middlegame. It only means that there's less margin for error, so every move must be thoroughly examined. A good chess player must learn how to execute in the endgame, just like an athlete must learn how to execute in the clutch.
The expert coaches at our online Academy program can help your child gain the skills and confidence they need to master the endgame and start getting more checkmates. Sign up for a $5 trial chess class today.
Chess Endgames: The Biggest Priorities
Now that we know how important the endgame is, the next question is: what are we supposed to do when we reach this phase? Let’s look at this position:
“Pawns are the soul of chess.” – Philidor
It is possible to get a checkmate using just the king and the rook, but that checkmate can be rather tricky. Instead, the main goal at the end of the game is to take any pawns you have left and promote them by getting them to the other side.
However, you might have noticed that the black pawns are in the way of the white pawns, stopping them from reaching the back rank. You could use your pawns to knock out the other pawns, but in this position, it’s best to use the rook instead.
Use extra pieces to clear a path for your pawns.
In this position, we could do something like this:
By bringing the rook to this square, we can attack the pawn above it. Pawns are strongest when they stick together. Isolated pawns – pawns that are by themselves, like black’s pawn on the a-file – can easily be taken out.
After taking out the isolated pawn, we can march the pawn farthest to the left (normally called the a-pawn) to the other side. A pawn which cannot be stopped by any opposing pawns is called a passed pawn.
However, black can try to use the king to cut off the pawn like this:
We know the king should sit in the back and not fight for most of the game. But in the endgame, it is very important to get the king out.
Remember, the big risk with bringing the king out most of the time is that he can be chased and attacked. But if your opponent does not have many pieces left, the risk is now smaller. When so few pieces are on the board, your king might need to take that risk and provide the additional help that will decide the game.
Does this mean white’s a-pawn will not be able to reach the other side?
Of course not! But it can’t do it by itself. Do not have a pawn attempt to charge to the other side on its own. While this can work in some positions, most of the time, a pawn that attempts to run to the other side without support will get captured.
Instead, pawns should have a buddy who escorts them to the other side.
Sometimes, pawns will work together as a team to get to the other side; other times, it will be your king who shepherds the pawn along.
In this position, the shepherd is the rook. We can do something like this:
Move to one of the four blue spots.
By getting the rook to one of the four blue spots, it can prevent the king from catching up to the pawn. The king will probably try to chase the rook around, but he’ll never be able to catch up. Eventually, that a-pawn will reach the other side and turn into a queen.
You might decide to have the rook and the new queen help other pawns reach the other side. While making new queens is certainly fun, do not make more than three.
With three queens, you will almost certainly win the game, so adding more will not significantly improve your chances of winning. But it can significantly raise your chances of getting a stalemate and thus undoing your hard work.
A common scenario is that a kid will think a position is not a stalemate because it looks like the king can still move to one square. However, it turns out the kid has missed that queen #5 is cutting off said square. When four or more queens are on the board, it can become too difficult to calculate which squares each queen is cutting off.
Instead, after making two or maybe three queens, focus on trapping and checkmating the king.
Chess Endgames for Beginners
It should be noted that this was a very simple endgame position where white had a clear advantage. What do you do if the advantage is much smaller, or if there is no advantage at all? And how do you get the checkmate once the pawn reaches the other side?
In these cases, concepts like “the rule of the square,” "opposition,” and “zugzwang” can play a big role. While they aren't relevant to the above position, they're important ideas to study if you want to master the endgame and all of its intricacies.
At Silver Knights, we help players of all levels practice their endgames. Our online chess Academy program features eight class levels where different elements of endgame play are taught. In our advanced levels, a quarter of our lessons are focused on the endgame.
Focusing on the king and pawns and escorting the pawns to the other side are basic but incredibly important endgame concepts to master. Sign up for our online Academy program to learn more about endgame play, or check back in for part two of this series, where we’ll discuss how to do some basic endgame checkmates!
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