Endings With several Pawns
Calculating the positions when there is only one pawn and king vs king is quite easy, but it will get more complicated to know if your king is able to stop a pawn before it queens if there are more pawns in the game. The attacking side must try to block the way of the king and will do very good if he can use its own pieces to do so. For example in the below game there is a way for the black pawn to promote to queen.
l.Ke5
Looks like white can stop the passed pawn because, after all, the king is within the square. However, Black has a way to trick and block the White king’s path. Then:
1…. c3! 2. dxc3 a4 3. Kd4 a3
After that series of moves, the board will look like the below:
Too bad for the white player, the black pawn will queen for sure. This is where the importance of blocking the way is noticed. The more you can block the way for the king, the easier for you to move your pieces. Of course it is easier to block the way with its own pieces as it is not able to capture them.
There are also some rules for you to win a pawn up. If the defending king plays efficiently, the game will end up in a draw, unless the pawn is a rook’s pawn. To avoid this, the attacking player must bear in mind 3 techniques:
1: If you can choose, you must move the king in front of your own pawn, once you have done it you will win the game as it is impossible for the enemy king to block the way to your king.
2: If you got your king in front of your pawn (no matter if it is directly in front or diagonally) you always win unless the defending king has opposition. To have opposition means to stand in the path of the other king with just one square of difference and it is the counterpart’s turn to move. This position is called direct or close opposition
3; If you got your king on the sixth rank and you are in front of your pawn, there is no opposition possible and you will win the game no matter who is going to move next. It is wise to try to get to this position if you are the attacking player and to avoid it if you are the defending player.