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The endgame everything boils down to
King and pawn vs king — the foundation.
Trade enough pieces and almost every game funnels into a king-and-pawn ending. Knowing whether one extra pawn wins — and HOW to convert it — is the difference between drawing won games and winning them.
The golden rule: lead with your KING, not the pawn. The king must go in front of the pawn to clear a path. The tool that forces the path through is the OPPOSITION: when the two kings stand on the same line with one square between them, whoever does NOT have to move 'has the opposition' and forces the other king to give way. In the diagram, White's king already leads in front of its pawn — the winning setup.
- Lead with the king — the pawn follows behind.
- The opposition: kings facing with one square between; the side NOT to move wins the standoff.
- Get your king to the 'key squares' in front of the pawn and the win is automatic.
Kings on e6 and e8 with e7 between them, and it's White (on e6) to move. Who has the opposition?