Opposition
A king endgame concept in which kings face each other with an odd number of squares between them, giving the player NOT to move an advantage.
Holding the opposition often decides pawn endgames outright, because the side forced to move their king first may have to yield critical ground, such as a key square needed to stop a pawn.
Etymology
The word entered English in the late 14th century, and its original English sense was astrological — “the situation of two heavenly bodies exactly across from one another” — which is precisely the chess image: two kings standing directly across from each other on the same line. The term is already routine in Studies of Chess (London, 1803 and 1810), and Pearson's Chess Exemplified (London, 1842) runs a whole section headed “Kings in Opposition.” Staunton's 1847 glossary gives the settled definition, and Capablanca devoted chapter 13 of Chess Fundamentals (1921) to it, distinguishing frontal, diagonal, lateral and distant opposition.
First documented: 1803 — Studies of Chess (London, 1803)
Translations
| Language | Term | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic | المعارضة (al-mu'arada) | |
| Dutch | oppositie | |
| French | opposition | |
| German | Opposition | |
| Italian | opposizione | |
| Polish | opozycja | |
| Portuguese | oposição | |
| Russian | оппозиция (oppozitsiya) | |
| Spanish | oposición | |
| Turkish | oppozisyon |