Seven endgames every club player should know

Endgames have a reputation for being dry. In practice they are where many club games are decided, often after both players have made several mistakes. The good news is that a small set of positions and rules covers a huge share of what comes up. Learn these well enough to play them without thinking, and you will convert more wins and save more draws.

1. Checkmate with king and queen, and king and rook

You must be able to deliver these mates quickly and without stalemating.

King and queen against king. Use the queen to cut the enemy king into a smaller and smaller box, staying a knight's move away from it, then bring your own king up to help. Watch out for stalemate: when the enemy king has only a few squares left, check that it still has a legal move after yours.

King and rook against king. This takes longer. The rook cuts off a rank or file, and your king walks towards the enemy king. When the kings face each other with one square between them, a rook check along the edge pushes the enemy king back a line. Practise until you can mate from any starting position well within the fifty-move limit.

2. The opposition

In king and pawn endings, the kings often face each other with one square in between. The side that does not have to move is said to have the opposition, and it usually decides who gets to advance. With a king and pawn against a lone king, having the opposition in front of your pawn is often the difference between promoting and a draw.

The core rule for the defender: stay in front of the pawn, and when the attacking king comes forward, take the opposition. For the attacker: get your king in front of the pawn, ideally two squares ahead of it, rather than pushing the pawn early.

3. The square of the pawn

A quick way to see whether a king can catch a passed pawn with no help from other pieces. Imagine a square with one side running from the pawn to its promotion square. If the defending king can step inside that square (on its move), it catches the pawn. If not, the pawn promotes. Remember that a pawn on its starting square can move two squares at once, so measure from where it would land.

This saves a lot of calculation in pawn races.

4. Rook pawns and the wrong bishop

Some material advantages are not enough. The classic example: king, bishop and a rook's pawn (on the a- or h-file) against a lone king. If the bishop does not control the promotion square, and the defending king reaches the corner, the game is a draw. The bishop can never drive the king out of the corner.

Rook pawns are special in other endings too. King and rook pawn against king is drawn much more often than the same ending with a central pawn, because the defending king has an easier time blocking. When you are winning, be aware of which trades leave you with only a rook pawn.

5. The Lucena position: building a bridge

This is the most important winning technique in rook endings. You have king, rook and pawn against king and rook; your pawn is on the seventh rank, your king is on the promotion square in front of it, and the enemy king is cut off on a file away from the pawn. Your problem is getting your king out without being checked forever.

The solution is called building a bridge. Bring your rook to the fourth rank (from your side). Step your king out; when the checks come, walk your king towards your rook, and at the right moment interpose the rook to block the check. Then the pawn promotes. It is much easier to understand by playing it on a board than by reading it, and once learned it wins many endings that look complicated.

6. The Philidor position: the drawing method

The defensive partner of the Lucena. You have king and rook against king, rook and pawn, and your king is in front of the pawn. The defence:

1. Keep your rook on your third rank (counting from your side), stopping the enemy king from advancing.
2. When the pawn advances to that rank, your rook drops back to give checks from behind. The enemy king has no shelter from the checks because the pawn has moved past it.

Knowing this position alone saves a surprising number of half-points. Many players lose it simply because they let the rook become passive on the back rank too early.

7. Rooks belong behind passed pawns

A general rule, often attributed to Tarrasch: rooks belong behind passed pawns, whether the pawn is yours or your opponent's. Behind your own passed pawn, the rook supports it all the way and gains scope as the pawn advances. Behind the opponent's passed pawn, it slows the pawn down while staying active. A rook in front of a pawn becomes a passive blocker.

There are exceptions, but in club games following this rule is usually right.

How to study these

Reading about endgames is a start, but they only stick when you play them:

• Set up each position and play it against an engine, from both sides. Win the winning positions and hold the drawn ones until you can do it reliably.
• Use spaced repetition. Come back to each position after a few days, then a week, then a month. The same method that works for openings works here.
• Watch for them in your games. When one of these endings comes up in a game, review it carefully afterwards, using a routine like the one in learning from your own games.

Endgame knowledge also changes your middlegame. Once you know that a rook ending with an extra pawn is often only a draw, or that a king and pawn ending is a win, you make better decisions about which pieces to trade.