Thursday Chess Club

Raleigh wins the chess clock with his cookie dough sales.  Congratulations, Raleigh.  Thank you to all the members that worked hard to sell and raise money for the club.  Also, thank you all cookie dough purchasers.

Here is an end game scenerio that I wanted to work on with the kids for king pawn endings.

                    This should be a win                                                           This should be a draw

The Idea:

If you have the pawn:  try to get your king in front of the pawn and move to control the squares where you want to promote.  For example, pawn on d2 get your king in front and try to control e7 or c7 so you can advance the pawn.

If you don't have the pawn:  try to keep your king in front of the pawn, stay on the side of the pawn where the opposition king is, and try to prevent the opposition king from controlling key squares.  For example, pawn on d2 - try to prevent opposition king from getting in front of pawn, try to prevent opposition king from getting to e7 or c7.

In the above diagram, if it is white to move, then it is a win with d7 allowing the king to win e7 and protect the pawn for promotion.  If it is black to move, then it is a draw with Ke8 (always keep the kings on the same side of the pawn). If the white king moves to e5 or d5, then the black king must move to d7 or d8.  To keep dancing around the pawn with the kings will also draw by three move repetition.  It is bad manners to do this in the hopes that your opponent will blunder the e7 or c7 square away.

Video link for more thorough explanation or go here for interactive practice.