Active king and triangulation
In short
When queens leave the board, the king becomes a strong piece. Bring it to the centre early — often even before trading the last pieces.
By the end you can
- Activate the king early in the endgame
- Use triangulation to lose a tempo
The lesson
When queens leave the board, the king becomes a strong piece. Bring it to the centre early — often even before trading the last pieces.
Triangulation is a king manoeuvre over three squares that loses a tempo, so the opponent is the one to move in a mutual zugzwang. It decides many pawn endings.
Key points to remember
- Endgame: king to the centre
- Kings fight for key squares
- Triangulate to pass the move
Examples
Show the solution
48... Kf4 49. Ke2 e4 50. fxe4 Kxe4 51. Kd2 Kd4
Practise it
Solve puzzles on this idea: pawn endgame puzzles.
Homework
Win the triangulation practice position against the engine.
Free further reading
- Chess Fundamentals, José Raúl Capablanca (1921, public domain)
More endgames lessons
- Mini-games: pawn wars and queen vs pawns (Foundation)
- Can the king catch the pawn? The rule of the square (Novice)
- King and pawn vs king: opposition (Class F)
- Passed pawns and promotion races (Class F)
- The Lucena position: building a bridge (Class E)
- The Philidor defence: holding rook endings (Class E)