The complete endgame reference — every essential ending explained and mapped by a grandmaster.
GM Mauricio Flores teaches the queen checkmate: the box method, the knight-distance shortcut, and the two stalemate traps that rob beginners of the win.
The rook checkmate from a grandmaster: the box method, the waiting move that wins the opposition, and how to finish in under twenty moves every time.
The ladder (lawnmower) mate explained by a GM: how two rooks checkmate without the king, the one trick that delays it, and when to give a rook back.
A grandmaster teaches the two-bishop mate: driving the king to a corner with the bishop barrier, the king-shepherding pattern, and the stalemate to avoid.
The hardest basic mate, mastered: a GM teaches the W-maneuver, the right corner, and the 33-move worst case — with every step machine-verified.
Two knights cannot force mate — but add an enemy pawn and the win returns. A grandmaster explains the paradox, the Troitsky line, and what to do over the board.
Queen versus rook is winning — and famously hard. A GM teaches the third-rank defense, the zugzwang transfer, and the fortress-breaking technique.
The foundation of all endgames, from a grandmaster: key squares, the opposition, the rook-pawn exception — when one pawn wins and when it never can.
The board's edge is the defender's best friend. A GM maps every a/h-pawn draw: the corner defense, the wrong bishop, and the tricks that still win games.
Connected, doubled, or split — a grandmaster shows which two-pawn endings win themselves, which need technique, and the doubled rook-pawn draw to know.
Blocked, passed, or racing — a GM sorts every pawn-vs-pawn ending: the mutual key squares, the fatal tempo, and the queening races that end in a skewer.
Both sides run — who wins? A grandmaster teaches race counting, the square rule, the first-check advantage, and the promoted-queen skewers that decide races.
Why the farthest passed pawn wins pawn endings: the decoy mechanism, counting the king detour, and when an outside passer beats even a protected one.
The classic three-vs-three sacrifice and its cousins: a GM shows how pawns break through alone, when the combination works, and how to defend against it.
Pawn endings are decided by who runs out of moves first. A grandmaster teaches reserve tempi: counting them, banking them, and burning them at the right moment.
Candidate first, no doubled dead ends, minority holds: a GM teaches the majority mobilization rules that turn a 3-vs-2 queenside into a winning passer.
King activity, key squares, tempo counting, and the passed-pawn hierarchy — a grandmaster distills pawn-endgame theory into the rules that win real games.
The most common endgame in chess, mapped by a GM: when it is a Lucena win, when a Philidor draw, and the defenses in between — with every claim tablebase-checked.
Sitting on the back rank draws against a knight-pawn or rook-pawn and loses against everything else. A GM explains the boundary and the escape plans.
Defending king to the short side, rook checks from the long side — a grandmaster teaches the rule that holds rook endings the Philidor cannot reach.
A rook needs three empty squares to check forever. A GM shows how checking distance decides rook endings and how attackers close it, defenders keep it.
A rook against a running pawn is a race with rules: a GM teaches the king cut-off, shouldering, underpromotion tricks, and exactly when the pawn holds.
Connected passers on the sixth beat a rook — a grandmaster maps the danger zones, the king-position rules, and the defensive setups that still draw.
Two extra pawns usually win — except the infamous f+h pair. A GM covers connected pawns, split pawns, and the defensive method for the drawn cases.
The endgame grandmasters reach every week: four pawns against three on one side. A GM teaches the drawing setup, the pressing plans, and the h-pawn lever.
With four rooks on board, the seventh rank and king safety dominate. A GM explains doubling, when to trade one pair, and why the defender wants both pairs on.
Activity above material, rooks behind passers, cut the king, never go passive — a grandmaster distills the rook-endgame rules that decide half your endings.
Open board and two wings favor the bishop; blocked pawns on one color favor the knight. A GM teaches the evaluation rules and the conversion technique.
One extra pawn, bishops on the same color: a grandmaster teaches the winning method, the bad-bishop factor, and the blockade squares that decide the draw.
Two pawns up and still drawn — a GM explains the blockade logic, the fortress patterns, and the two-wings exception that keeps winning chances alive.
Same-colored bishops, one pawn: the defense blockades or gives the bishop for the pawn. A GM maps the winning zones and the drawing diagonals.
A knight blockades forever if it reaches the square — a GM teaches when the extra pawn wins, the rook-pawn exception, and the knight-trick draws.
One knight against one runner: a grandmaster teaches the catching rules, the rook-pawn corner problem, and the knight-check ladders that gain the tempo.
A bishop halts pawns from across the board — usually. A GM covers the wrong-bishop corner, connected passers, and when the defender must give the bishop.
Botvinnik's rule explained: why knight endings follow pawn-ending logic, the outside-passer paradox, and the knight-specific drawing tricks a GM relies on.
A queen against a pawn one step from queening: center and knight pawns lose, rook and bishop pawns draw. A GM teaches the approach method and the stalemates.
Hundreds of checks stand between the pawn and the queening square. A grandmaster explains the shelter technique, the cross-check weapon, and the drawn zones.
Queen endings obey their own laws: the passed pawn outranks material, centralization beats greed, and perpetual check is always one slip away. A GM explains.
Pawnless rook vs bishop is a draw — in the safe corner. A grandmaster shows the fortress, the wrong-corner loss, and the rook-vs-bishop endings with pawns.
Knight beside its king draws; knight cut off in a corner loses. A GM teaches the defensive rules, the domination traps, and the with-pawns evaluations.
Theoretically drawn, practically brutal: a grandmaster teaches the Cochrane pin and second-rank defenses — and the Philidor position every attacker aims for.
What changes when the queens come off: king activity, passed pawns, the defender-trades rule — a grandmaster maps all endgame theory and where to start.
In the endgame the king is worth a rook — if you use it. A GM teaches centralization timing, king marches, and the activity edge that wins equal endings.
One weakness can be defended forever; two collapse. A grandmaster explains how converting technique is really the art of opening the second front.
Repeating moves, improving every piece, advancing only when nothing improves — a GM explains the old Soviet maxim and the psychology behind it.
Strong endgame players imagine the winning setup first and calculate last. A grandmaster teaches thinking in schemes with classic winning configurations.
When every square a piece can reach is covered, material falls without tactics. A GM explains domination patterns from knight corners to bishop nets.