Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina  My weakness is the end game. I need to learn how to achieve checkmate with different kinds of pieces. |
Okay. First let's start with White King & Queen, vs Black King, on an otherwise empty chessboard.
There are quicker ways, and slower ways to do this, but for convenience, think of it this way. For a checkmate to be achieved:
1. the Black King must always be forced to the first/last ranks/files of the board;
2. the White King must be involved in the process. In other words, in the final checkmate position, the White King is always just two squares away from the Black King.
Now, you may not realise this, but the Queen is so powerful that just by moving the Queen
alone, and without checking the Black King
at all; and without moving your own W King at all, you can force the Black King to the first rank, last rank, a-file or h-file.
Try it.
(This is not the most efficient way to checkmate the King, but it's good for learning purposes - to understand how to cut off lines and squares that the Kign can escape to.).
Eg suppose the Black King is on e5 (middle of the board). And the White Queen is on h1 (right hand corner). And the White King is on a1 (left hand corner)
1. Qf3
(Notice that the Black King cannot cross to the left-hand side of the board anymore - that is, it cannot go to f6, f5 or f4)
1..... Ke6
2. Qf4
(Notice that if the Queen moves up one little square to f4, the K cannot cross the fourth rank and therefore cannot reach the third, second or first ranks).
2 ....Kd5
3. Qe3
(Now K cannot cross the e-file or the 3rd rank)
3. ... Kd6
4. Qe4
(Now K cannot cross the e-file or 4th rank.
4 .....Kd7
5. Qg6 (Now K cannot cross 6th rank)
5 ....... Ke7
6. Qc6 (K still cannot cross 6th rank and cannot go to d7),
6 .... Kf7
7. Qd6 (K still cannot cross 6th rank and now cannot get to e7).
7 ...... Ke8
8. Qc7 (K is now stuck on the back rank)
8 .... Kf8
9. Qd7 (by now you no doubt can see the "net" closing in on the B King)
9 ... Kg8
10. Qe7
Right now, the B King can only move back and forth between h8 and g8. Effectively, you used your Queen (and your Queen alone) to push the B King to a little corner.
Now, walk your White King all the way from a1 to f6. Then checkmate by moving your queen to g7.