Passed Pawns!

Discover how passed pawns can give you the winning edge in an endgame.

Your Move

(You play white)

White has one passed pawn in this position – find it and move it forward two squares now!

Complete

Very good. The c-pawn is White’s only passed pawn. There is no black pawn directly opposing it on the c-file, nor next to it on the b- or d-file. Thus the pawn has a free run down to the queening square.

Having a distant passed pawn is a huge advantage. Passed pawns must be stopped by other pieces (in this case the black king). This diverts those pieces, allowing the attacker to break through elsewhere.

White begins by pushing the a-pawn. The black king can catch it, but that will require it to leave the defense of the kingside pawns. White could have also started by bringing up the king, e.g. Ke4.

If he doesn’t want to allow the pawn to queen, Black must divert his king to the queenside.

White continues pushing the a-pawn. The pawn will eventually get taken, but in the meantime White will win the kingside pawns. Again, it was possible to bring the king up by Ke4 as well.

Black has no choice. If the king didn’t come closer, then a7 on the next move would make the pawn unstoppable.

Driving the black king even further away.

Your Move

(You play white)

Black is just in time to catch the pawn (we will learn about the “square” soon), but the king has been driven far away.
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Now show that you understand why we pushed the a-pawn forward to his doom. He was a decoy! It’s time to use the…

Correct!

King! Now the king comes up and around – approaching the pawns from behind.

Your Move

(You play white)

Black must eliminate this pawn before the king can try to return to defend the kingside.
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Keep going! What is White’s plan of attack against the black pawns? You must go fast before the black king gets back.

Correct!

Now the king is headed for e7.

Your Move

(You play white)

Black hurries back, since the pawns cannot guard themselves.
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One more critical move! Get to the key point before Black’s king does!

Correct!

Yes! You got to the right square and the king will now win Black’s kingside pawns easily. Here we see that the white king, as a result of the passed pawn, has become the more active one.

Due to the strong position of the white king, the black one cannot approach.
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Keep going towards the pawns!

Now the king goes to attack the pawns.

Black’s pawns try their best to run away, but without the support of the king, it is hopeless.
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Obviously we have to go after those pawns until we win them, right? 

White continues attacking the pawns. Eventually one will be left behind, and that pawn will fall.

If instead …g5, Kf6! attacks both the f- and g-pawns.
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Keep going!

The base on h7 is under attack, but if it moves White will win the g6-pawn followed by capturing the other pawns.

The black king tries to come closer, but – having been diverted by White’s passed pawn – its is hopelessly far away.
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Now we finally get to take a pawn.

The base of the pawn chain – the one pawn which is not protected by other pawns – falls.

Your Move

(You play white)

Otherwise White just captures the g6-pawn as well.
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Now finish the job off in the most accurate way. How can you get the rest of the pawns before Black’s king gets back?

Complete

Now both of Black’s remaining pawns are under attack. They will both fall, and White will be left three pawns up. The white king could have achieved none of this had the black king not first been diverted by the outside passed pawn.