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- #5
- It is vital to understand the concept
- of king opposition to
- understand king and pawn endgames.
- Suppose in this example that it
- was White's move and that he had a
- strong desire to reach the 8th rank.
- How would he get there?
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- He would have to try to go around the
- enemy king.
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- But the enemy king can
- oppose his progress.
- He is going to make one more
- attempt ...
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- ... to get around the enemy king.
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- But the black king can always act as
- a blockade and no progress can be
- made.
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- #5
- When two kings are faced off such as
- this, whoever doesn't
- have the move is said to have the
- opposition. In this
- position if it is Black's move
- (giving White the opposition) then
- the result is quite different.
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- The king must give ground.
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- The White king can advance.
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- The Black king is not in a position
- where he can immediately grab the
- opposition. If instead he could
- have moved to f4 then he would have
- the opposition because it would be
- White's turn.
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- By moving here White has the
- opposition again because it is now
- Black's turn to move. This is a
- repeat of the starting position
- except that the kings are now moved
- one row up. White only has to
- repeat this process until he reaches
- the 8th rank. (If you are unsure
- about this concept then I suggest
- practicing it with a couple of kings
- on a chess board.)
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- #6
- Opposition almost always makes a
- difference in king and pawn endgames.
- In this position if White has to
- move (meaning that Black has the
- opposition) then his king has no
- choice but to retreat. But if it
- is Black has the move then he will
- move his king left or right ...
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- ... and ...
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- ... the White king can advance
- in the other direction. Here
- he wins a pawn and will win the
- game.
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