Endgame
Specialized terminology for the final phase of the game, including several techniques and positions named after the players who first documented them.
Equipment & Setup (20)
Openings & Basic Rules (32)
Tactics (36)
Strategy (36)
Endgame (22)
Arbiter & Tournament (22)
Slang & Culture (32)
A king that participates directly in the fight, rather than staying passive, typically in the endgame once mating dangers have receded.
English (from Latin via Old French)
A pawn sacrifice or maneuver that creates a passed pawn by forcing open a path through an opposing pawn structure.
A theory of paired squares in king endgames where, if one king occupies its square, the other king must occupy its paired square to hold the position.
French (the theory's classic formulation; the English term is a calque)
A form of the opposition in king-and-pawn endgames in which the two kings face each other on the same file, rank, or diagonal separated by an odd number of squares greater than one.
English (from Latin via Old French)
A defensive setup in which a side with fewer or weaker pieces creates an impenetrable position, securing a draw despite material disadvantage.
French (Old French, via Medieval Latin and Latin)
A critical square in pawn endgames that, if occupied by the defending king in time, prevents the pawn from promoting.
A fundamental type of endgame involving only kings and pawns, where precise calculation of king activity, opposition, and pawn races determines the result.
English (descriptive)
A classic fortress-style drawing setup in bishop-and-rook-pawn versus rook endgames.
German (double eponym)
A fundamental winning technique in rook-and-pawn endgames using a maneuver called "building a bridge" to shield the king and promote the pawn.
Spanish (eponym)
A pawn move made specifically to give a castled king an escape square, preventing back-rank mate threats.
German
A fundamental drawing technique in rook-and-pawn endgames, where the defending king and rook hold a specific third-rank defense.
French (eponym)
An endgame studying whether a lone queen can stop an advanced enemy pawn, usually on the seventh rank, from promoting, given the defending king's position.
English (descriptive)
A famous king-and-pawn endgame study demonstrating how a king can simultaneously approach two distant targets along a diagonal path.
Czech/Austro-Hungarian (eponym)
A quick visual method for determining whether a king can catch an enemy passed pawn before it promotes.
A celebrated endgame study in which a rook pawn promotes to a rook, rather than a queen, in order to avoid immediate stalemate and still force a win.
Spanish (eponym)
An endgame technique in which one king uses its own body to block the opposing king from approaching a key area of the board.
English
A general endgame guideline stating that rooks belong behind passed pawns, whether one's own or the opponent's.
German (eponym)
A position that has been analyzed and proven to be drawn with correct play by both sides, regardless of any material imbalance on the surface.
English (theoretical from Greek via Latin theoria; draw from English)
A pawn endgame position of extreme mutual zugzwang, in which whichever side is compelled to move first loses.
French (via the medieval siege weapon)
A king-and-pawn endgame technique of maneuvering the king in a triangular path to lose a tempo and pass the move obligation to the opponent.
French (via Medieval Latin / Latin)
A key defensive technique in rook-and-pawn endgames that allows the defending side to draw against a far-advanced passed pawn despite being a pawn down.
Czech (eponym)
In certain endgames, a bishop that controls the wrong color of squares to assist in promoting a rook pawn, often leading to a draw despite extra material.