Which Chess Endgames To Learn (and which to avoid)

[@KN-op3et]

How to avoid knight forks in an endgame and under time pressure: Keep the 2 pieces on opposing colors.

[@koolerstream921]

Thank you!

[@manishamanan7951]

@@koolerstream921 We say that after the game is finished.

[@theMosen]

That strategy also avoids bishop forks and pawn forks.

[@piguy314159]

I would say rook endings are most common because rooks don’t tend to come into the game until later

[@TheRealPaul_Morphy]

O

[@TheRealPaul_Morphy]

O

[@Fishboi123]

In most of my games they get traded off really quickly after they come out but sometimes I get rook endings

[@TheRealPaul_Morphy]

@Fishboi123 Yeah. I've worked through 100 end games you must know and only QVSP 1 square from promotion, and the rook ending where the rook is infront of the pawn, are the only endings that were really useful for me at the 1800-2k level

[@TheRealPaul_Morphy]

O

[@WhateverYouDoDontLikeThis]

you forgot to talk about the most common position among 600Elo games "5Queens vs 1King“

[@Go_Fore_Golf]

Haha true. Ends in stalemate.

[@Mimzovich]

Fr!

[@pops3212]

@@Go_Fore_Golf proof that chess is a draw with perfect play 🗿

[@ConradAdamsMrJUMBO]

9:50 Here is my calculation: I put the pathings to 4 groups: 1. King does not move up or down. 2. King moves 1 up and 1 down. 3. King moves 2 up and 2 down 4. King moves 3 up and 3 down So using combinatorics, the number of paths = 1 + (7C1 × 6C1) + (7C2 × 5C2) + (7C3 × 4C3) = 1 + 7×6 + 21×10 + 35×4 = 1 + 42 + 210 + 140 = 393.

[@asiamies9153]

what's your math elo

[@ConradAdamsMrJUMBO]

@asiamies9153 I can only say I'm in my 2nd year at Uni, studying maths. In terms of chess elo, my rapid rating is 1800, and my username is MrJUMBO720.

[@When_will_I_find_love]

​@@asiamies9153This is basic highschool math

[@SweetDream2346]

​@@asiamies9153His/her math elo is probably higher than Nelson's chess elo🎉

[@wyattthecatlover]

Also Nelson great video! I was literally coming to see if you made any new videos and realized I got gifted a membership!

[@0_0faizan]

Every monday - Rating climb video Every Thursday - Live stream Every Friday - Book club videos (endgame series currently)

[@MrDavePed]

Easiest way to avoid any fork is to keep your king on opposite color of your other piece. ..

[@tinamb5178]

If it's a knight threatening to fork.

[@MrDavePed]

@@tinamb5178 Yeah any knight fork. :)

[@6ARE8]

Hey! that’s very helpful, thanks.

[@tomrockefeller4620]

I remember you as a North Carolina Champion for 2005! I'll spread the word so some of your NC friends can check out your channel.

[@Raul_Reborn_Arc]

2:25 Pawns Only. Because me and opponents agreed to trade pieces resulting only lefting pawns and king.

[@roblodocus2539]

I like that this book has tests at the end of each part. Adds a fun interactive dimension to this one.

[@andrewbennett5911]

Another great video , good recap on checkmating material & esp endgame potential pawn trades ! Thanks again Nelson

[@marekmierzecki3868]

Hey, Nelson, I appreciate what you are doing for the chess community. I am a regular viewer of your channel, but I have one issue with the endgame videos. The thumbnail's bottom border is red, making it hard to see if I have already watched the video (since the watching progress bar at the bottom is red). Right now, it's not a big issue since I remember watching them both, but if all the thumbnails of this series are red, then it will be a mess when there are tens of them. I would greatly appreciate it if you could fix that. Keep up the excellent work, and thanks again!

[@Xartei]

i agree too

[@billyfarrington374]

Definitely the rook & pawn endgame. It's the reason why things like the Lucena position are important to know.

[@GlobalWarmingSkeptic]

My ranking without lookoing at comments: #1 -- Knight vs bishop #2 -- Rooks #3 -- King+Pawn #4 -- Opposite colored bishops #5 -- Knights #6 -- Queens #7 -- Same color bishops I was off on the bishops but at least I got the top 3 pretty close.

[@Petrochess]

*6) Rooks* - as rooks are normally the pieces being developped last, so usually at least one rook each side remains towards the end of the game.

[@chess26622]

Also quite often occur cases when you simply trade two rooks at once. Then it is no more rook endgame

[@mrsnrub3712]

I like these statistics, really helps narrow down the focus of what is important to learn for the casual player

[@paultzi3141]

guessing: pawns only question after seeing results: if we trade rooks isnt that become pawn only ending? So when exactly endgame appears?

[@nesthocker97]

my thoughts exactly!

[@King1Z7]

By that logic though, what happens if both players each promote a pawn to a queen, does a pawn endgame become a queen endgame? The clear distinction to be made is when exactly does the endgame beginn and once it has officially began it is to be categorized based on the setup on the initiation of the endgame, disregarding any future alternation of this one game. The obvious problem, however, then becomes the question of when exactly an endgame begins? This question does not have an official answer. Some say it begins the moment when, in consideration of the standard chess value assignment of pieces, both players' piece values reach 13 or fewer points. Others believe it happens once at most three mayor pieces are left in the game.

[@Amoeby]

My interpretation is that during the game you can have multiple types of endgame. However, it is a well-known fact that rook endgames are the most common. Also in most rook endgames you don't want to trade rooks because you can defend it even being a pawn down.

[@ariaden]

I guess most rook endgames do not progress to pawn endgames. The stronger party may promote to queen without exchanging rooks, or the weaker party may need to sacrifice the rook (or simply resign before that is needed).

[@h-fz2184]

I like what you did with the thumbnail, great video as always

[@ariaden]

17:41 True, dxc5 is one of two moves that do not win, due to 50-moves rule. And d5 is clearly the best practical option (and fastest maye). But if playing agains bots, be ready for troll winning moves like Nb4.

[@ScarletDeathweaverLegacy]

2:25 My answer is 6) Rooks. Rooks are usually about the last pieces to develop earlier in the game

[@kevinmorris4517]

Thanks for another great educational video. Really enjoyed your course, "Breaking 1500. " It was well worth the money!

[@kaidoChess]

1500-1600 here. Howdy Nelson

[@Grecks75]

I would expect no. 5, i.e. Knight vs Bishop plus pawns, is the most common one. But this is nothing more than a wild beginner's guess.

[@Kelly-i5z9g]

Thanks Nelson! I recently decided to touch up on my end game and glad you did a video on it. I have learned a lot from you my friend. You are a great teacher!

[@phreakyphoenix]

the crooked path concept explained at 12:00 is amazing.

[@JohnCristan-q5k]

NELSON: good video...trick that I learned when playing Queen is Knight. You mentioned to always check for FORKS. One way to avoid FORKS when playing against a knight, is to have your Queen on a different colored sq than your King. This trick will always avoid FORKS. Of course, you may need to sometimes place the Q & K on the same colored sq. only in these instances do you check for forks

[@haselhboss]

Really nice Nelson....been waiting for the next video in the endgame series ❤💙👌

[@ModernDayRenaissanceMan]

My games always end in rook endgames

[@joe0633]

Thank you for this! Your book club videos are my favourite ones❤

[@zorro5651]

One quick way to know you are out of danger of a knight fork is to not place your king and queen both on the same color as the knight. It's not a guarantee of a fork if you do, but if your king and queen are NOT on the same color, the knight cannot fork. And it also has to move to a square that's a different color from your king and queen in order to fork, so it must start from the same color as both the king and queen.

[@paweroman8724]

Amazing lesson, thanks!

[@Kenjitsuka]

Funny you use Silman's endgame book; I got the course based on it a week ago. Great video as always, thanks!!!

[@Santozhhhh01]

You have been a great teacher 🙏 thankyou

[@davidsmookler9730]

This is great! Thanks!

[@shamanhead8807]

Alot of great players out there Nelsi but YOU are the best teacher imo. I started playing chess 2 months ago, im already beaten a 1400 and 1500 rated player since then

[@letsclimb5828]

Great video Nelson, thanks

[@tominmo8865]

I am using both these books to up my endgame skills. I have made a six-month commitment that this will be almost my only chess study. I have been through the Silman book completely, and the first half of it several times, and have gotten 1/4 way through the de la Villa book so far. Both are excellent but the Silman book is better to start with.

[@chess26622]

I think, rook endings are the most common. Also, often occurs knight vs bishops endings, I would put them to the second place in these rankings. Also, if a player blundered while playing, then also often occur endgames like rook vs minor piece, or even queen vs rook. But it's a different story

[@knowledgefuncuriosity.]

Me suprised i got to watch a Members first video, now realizing i got gifted a membership

[@sureshgamer2171]

Awesome content, I always kinda made some blunders by time pressure ,now I can be careful before moving my pieces

[@6ARE8]

1) white 2) white 3) black 4) draw 5) white 6) black 7) white

[@brockway78]

Either kings and pawns or kings, pawns, and rooks. For me, it's usually the latter.

[@jacobgallimore8746]

Thank you for keeping up the great content Nelson! I am going to guess that the most common type of endgame would be King and Pawn endgames with a very close second being King + Rook endgames

[@fnbcarpenter6343]

So I said rook endings, and when you were going through it, I had almost a perfect order too of what I thought. I assumed queen end games were lower than some of the others, but everything else was in order. Happiest that I instantly thought it was rook end game, I then assumed knight vs bishop, and I also assumed that same happens more often than opposite. I assumed the same colored bishops were more common because most people actively avoid opposite colored bishop end games.

[@theMosen]

I'ma go with pawns only, since all other endgames can easily develop into that. At second I'd place knight vs bishop, since if you were to give each player a random minor piece, that scenario would statistically turn up the most. At third I'd say rooks, since they often come into play late.

[@Dexaan]

Pawns only, then rooks, then knight vs bishop, then sane color bishops, then opposite color bishops, finally queen and pawns

[@chess26622]

Do you meet in your games so often these endings with only pawns? I personally don't. Usually players are too scared to trade their last pieces, as the king & pawn endings are often unpredictable

[@FlashBites]

At 2:03 not sure but pawns as many people trade to reach endgame stypically done by the player in advantage to end the game faster but queens hould be second

[@PaddyMacDaddy101]

I am reading Silman's book at the moment, I never realised that 2 knights can't checkmate the king. I had never heard this as I am quite new to the game but it is a valuable piece of info.

[@tidianesimpson]

Either room ending or opposite bishops ending

[@GrahamGardner-pt8iv]

Nelson, superb video !

[@Fishboi123]

17:32 you can checkmate with two knights vs pawn but not with just two knights

[@enderyu]

20:40 If you keep your king and queen on different colored squares it is impossible to get forked (or pinned/skewered by a bishop)

[@balazskovacs5887]

My guess is knight vs. bishop as it means imbalance and imbalance means less chance for an agreed draw in the midgame. Second guess is rooks.

[@abberantgeck0]

Nelson, great video bro.

[@leerobinson1984]

just come across this channel and as the total noob that i am this is prob best channel for learning. i watched a lot of hikaru but he talks as fast as he thinks - even slowing down to half speed i have no idea what hes on about half the time! look forward to more videos!

[@richardknouse618]

The way to avoid a knight fork is to have your king and queen on opposite colors. Remember a knight can only move to its opposite color. So if your king and queen are on the same color and the opponents knight is also on that color, one move by the knight can potentially fork. This is why it is so important to see knight moves as two squares to opposite color rather than the L shaped pattern that is commonly taught.

[@ModernDayRenaissanceMan]

I will definitely step into a fork

[@sbpsychology1109]

excellent. Thanks!

[@adamgibbs6806]

Great video Nelson

[@danielyuan9862]

I think rooks are still "more effective" in the center because squares far away are more easily blocked and therefore are "less controlled". When the rook is at the center of the board, it can control more close-range squares. But usually this extra advantage is small and the fact that it can be easily chased around by pieces outweighs the benefits.

[@chess26622]

Often rooks are used only in the endgame, and all the pawns are at the edge of the board, so usually there's no rook in the centre needed

[@4magicboxes]

My guess is rooks. Two minutes in and I already know this video is going to be a treasure trove of great advice. Thanks Nelson!

[@williamsquires3070]

It should also be noted that - if there are other pawns on the board - you can sometimes force checkmate with two knights if the opponent’s pawn is on the a or h file; but this, like bishop and knight, is very difficult to find the win. Of course, if YOU have the extra pawn then it’s a lot easier! 😅

[@onuorahpromise7004]

Checkmate is possible (not necessarily logical but possible) with the lone bishop scenario...I can share a link regarding this if you care.

[@dwm53w1k6]

comment at 2:25 - You didn't list my initial thought, King + Pawns against King and one minor piece and fewer pawns than opponent

[@ArjanD78]

I really enjoy this series about endgames. I have a question which I think is really relevant in this topic: Which point in the game is considered to be the start of the endgame?

[@gentlemangoat]

You cover this in your course also :), which I love by the way

[@mcm248]

9:44 Nelson is in love😂

[@iancunningham2440]

Rooks only for me, since they can only penetrate one rank & file at a time and are therefore best used when pigs on the 7th & back rank checkmate become potentials.

[@Overkill9991]

at !7:57 I know you said it's impossible to checkmate but correct me if I am wrong but there is a very difficult mate with 2 knights vs a king and the opponent has a pawn. pretty sure the idea is that you don't have to worry about stalemate because they have a pawn on the board still.

[@brickh179]

I'd say king and pawns is most common but that depends on the definitions they use. Because a game with minor pieces can always decay into a king and pawns endgame but will the book count that as an instance. Whereas while it is possible to promote and get a piece back, at that point it's usually an instant resignation so nothing would be there to analyse

[@chess26622]

Most people are afraid of trading all their pieces, because the king & pawn endings are often unpredictable, and you can simpy make a mistake, and lose the game. That's why king & pawn endings are so rare. And when someone decides to trade their last piece, they usually know the exact method to win this endgame. No one is gonna mindlessly trade their last piece

[@kirkmason7079]

Your simple demonstration of the King’s movement was important. Until you showed how the king moves across the board in various patterns (393) to reach the same position is valuable and extremely important especially in the end game. Good lesson. Thanks

[@danhynes2]

I was way off since I guessed opposite color. I figured they would be harder to trade off.

[@DaDitka]

Concerning the "Crooked Path" of the king, I thought I read somewhere that the speed of the king, on some mathematical level, goes up considerably when it moves in a diagonal as opposed to a straight line, horizontal or vertical. Anyone out there heard of this?

[@GlorifiedTruth]

My first guess: rooks and pawns. Second guess: knight and pawns vs. bishop and pawns.

[@SviatikKitUkrajinomovnyj]

2:22 I think the most common are king and pawn endgame, or queen end game after pawn promotion

[@0_0faizan]

I just keep my queen and king on different color square to avoid getting forked in a queen vs knight. 😊

[@r.c.drummrboy2899]

Strangely enough, I had a Knight Bishop endgame yesterday that ended in a draw .

[@okolenmi7511]

Logically it wil be always endgame with Rooks as it's difficult to use them in early or middle game. But with my playstyle a lot of times I have a Knight + Rook endgame.

[@fahd2372]

About the two knights, actually there is a forced checkmate if the opponent has a pawn.

[@CatSurfer]

Depends where the pawn is

[@Sarah_Sutter]

Very Nice

[@ajtatosmano2]

I thought knight and bishop followed by rooks. My logic knight and bishop can arise from more combinations, because it's two sets of pieces. But rooks are treated carefully and usually one of them defends the king until the endgame. Overall, pretty close

[@alidemirbas3722]

Pawns only. Edit: I was wrong

[@GinoParra]

Crooked path idea broke my brain! 😱

[@MegaSchwarzesSchaf]

I think pawns only is the most common - any of the mentioned other endgames could theoretically trade down to it (in some cases more likely than others)

[@chess26622]

The problem is that no one is gonna mindlessly trade their last pieces, and if one side has fewer pawns, they will usually try to keep their pieces on the board. And if one side decides to trade their last pieces, they usually know that there is a clear win for them. I don't care about beginner plays as they don't know anything, and trade all they can at once

[@arminulrich2319]

2:00 6) Rooks

[@Rockstarrred]

I learned more in this video than I have in the last 10 years of watching chess content.

[@wallysullivan9315]

Im gonna guess rooks. Pawns is too easy of an answer, because technically a lot of these just end up transposing into a pawn endgame. Knights and bishops are activated very early in the game and in some cases immediately traded out of the opening. Queens are the most violent pieces in chess so the longer they go without being traded the more danger you're in of just getting checkmated and not making it out of the middlegame in the first place. So by process of elimination, Im guessing rooks

[@yyyyyk]

I KNEW that rook endgames are much more common! I love the way you revealed the percentages one by one. Your videos are always fun to watch! 😊

[@2000yearslaterrr]

My most common endgame is being up/down 22 points of material

[@Chunes3]

The fact that surprised me most is 80% of endgames have a piece imbalance. I wonder how many of those have enough pawns to compensate.

[@josh198282]

Hello Nelson, how to become a member? I see that the members viewed this video on 18th November. I am your subscriber for the breaking 1500 course. Thank you for being an amazing teacher.

[@EvgheniiIvanov]

I think the most common position is pawns only

[@NJDJ1986]

2 knights is hard to checkmate a lone king! Unless you promote 4 more pawns to knights & checkmate them with 6 knights like Hikaru did!

[@enderyu]

2:00 Pawns only. Any of those endgames could end up as a pawn endgame, so they revolve around that?

[@enderyu]

6:42 Rook

[@enderyu]

9:40 There are 3 directions the king could walk (⬈, ➞ or ⬊) To stay in line, #⬈ = #⬊, and he has to move 7 times. Any 7 arrow combination where #⬈ = #⬊ is a valid and unique king path. Examples: ➞➞⬈⬊➞⬈⬊ ⬊⬈➞➞➞➞➞ ⬈⬈⬈⬊⬊⬊➞, etc. If you step up [n = #⬈] times, you also have to go down [n = #⬊] times, and the remaining steps are all forwards. Let C(m, n) be the binomial coefficient: (m choose n) You can choose any of the C(7, 2*n) as diagonal steps, and from those arrange them as either ⬈ or ⬊ in C(2*n, n) distinct ways Thus the number of possible paths with 7 steps forwards is (in python code): sum(C(7, 2*n) * C(2*n, n) for n in range(3)) = 393

[@garzyfreestyle540]

Great vid. I'm around 1400 elo and lose so much games in equal or even winning endgames.

[@MichaelPeters-o4z]

Great! Now I am armed with some excellent endgame knowledge. Next step: somehow stop make miscalculations in the middle-game so that I can actually make it to an endgame 😋

[@rhc-weinkontore.k.7118]

2 bishops can only checkmate a king if they are of different field color

[@MrHam7166]

My guess is knight vs bishop. Followed by pawns only.

[@michaels4255]

Yes, you CAN force a mate with only two Knights *IF* your name is GM Stockfish. For a long time, this was believed to be impossible, but computers have solved the problem. BUT just because it is theoretically possible doesn't mean you can actually do it if you are a mere human.

[@extra...]

Fortresses are rare and underrated endgames

[@Redskies453]

OMG Nelson is doing Silman's! Are you doing the whole thing brother?