Chess endgame trainer: judge the result, find the winning move
Endgames are where won games are thrown away. With few pieces left every move counts, and the right one often depends on a single idea: the opposition, the square of the pawn, the wrong bishop, a rook behind a passed pawn. OptiChess trains endgames in the order a good player thinks about them: first the result, then the move, then the technique.
The only winning move is 1.Ke5, taking the opposition. Black has to give way, and White's king reaches a key square in front of the pawn. Every other move, 1.e5 included, lets Black's king hold the draw. It's the most important idea in king and pawn endings, and it decides far more games than it should.
Three kinds of question
- Won, drawn or lost? Judge the result with best play before you calculate. It's how strong players decide whether to trade into an ending.
- Play to win: find the winning move.
- Play it out: keep finding winning moves against the best defence until the win is clear.
Every answer is checked against the tablebase or the engine, and any move that keeps the win counts.
What you'll meet at each level
- Around 800: basic mates; queening a pawn with the queen safe.
- Around 1100: rook against a bare king; the square of the pawn.
- Around 1400: the opposition, key squares, a rook or minor piece against a pawn.
- Around 1700: the wrong bishop; defending rook endings.
- 2000 and up: long technical wins with few winning moves.
Why practise them
Endgame knowledge is the most reliable part of chess: an idea learned once works in every game it comes up in. And a player who knows which endings are won can simplify with confidence, while one who doesn't avoids trades they should make. Read more in Won, drawn or lost?, or train the blunder check that keeps the advantage you've earned.
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Try it. Real positions, set at your level, every answer checked against the board. No account needed to start.
Start training