Pawnless chess endgame
A pawnless chess endgame is a chess endgame in which only a few pieces remain and none of them is a pawn. The basic checkmates are types of pawnless endgames. Endgames without pawns do not occur very often in practice except for the basic checkmates of king and queen versus king, king and rook versus king, and queen versus rook. Other cases that occur occasionally are a rook and versus a rook and a rook versus a minor piece, especially if the minor piece is a bishop.
The study of some pawnless endgames goes back centuries by players such as François-André Danican Philidor and Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani. On the other hand, many of the details and recent results are due to the construction of endgame tablebases. Grandmaster John Nunn wrote a book summarizing the research of endgame tablebases for several types of pawnless endings.
The assessment of endgame positions assumes optimal play by both sides. In some cases, one side of these endgames can ; in other cases, the game is a draw.
Terminology
- are queens and rooks. are knights and bishops.
- A is a row of squares on the chessboard. A is a column of squares on the board.
- If a player has two bishops, they are assumed to be on opposite colors unless stated otherwise.
Basic checkmates
Checkmate can be forced against a lone king with a king plus a queen, a rook, two bishops, or a bishop and a knight. See Checkmate for more details. Checkmate is possible with two knights, but it cannot be forced.Queen versus rook
A queen wins against a lone rook, unless there is an immediate draw by stalemate or due to perpetual check . Normally the winning process involves the queen first winning the rook by a fork and then checkmating with the king and queen, but forced checkmates with the rook still on the board are possible in some positions or against incorrect defense. With perfect play, in the worst winning position, the queen can win the rook or checkmate within 31 moves.The "third rank defense" by the rook is difficult for a human to crack. The "third rank defense" is when the rook is on the third rank or from the edge of the board, his king is closer to the edge and the enemy king is on the other side. For example, the winning move in the position shown is the counterintuitive withdrawal of the queen from the seventh rank to a more central location, 1. Qf4, so the queen can make checking maneuvers to win the rook with a fork if it moves along the third rank. If the black king emerges from the back rank, 1... Kd7, then 2. Qa4+ Kc7; 3. Qa7+ forces Black into a second-rank defense after 3... Rb7. This position is a standard win, with White heading for the Philidor position with a queen versus rook. In 1895 Edward Freeborough edited an entire 130-page book of analysis of this endgame, The Chess Ending, King & Queen against King & Rook. A possible continuation: 4. Qc5+ Kb8 5. Kd6 Rg7 6. Qe5 Rc7 7. Qf4 Kc8 8. Qf5+ Kb8 9. Qe5 Rb7 10. Kc6+ Ka8 11. Qd5 Kb8 12. Qa5 .
Example from game
In this 2001 game between Boris Gelfand and Peter Svidler, the player with the queen should win, but the game was drawn because of the fifty-move rule after he was unable to find the winning maneuvers to fork and capture the rook.The same position but with colors reversed occurred in a 2006 game between Alexander Morozevich and Dmitry Jakovenko – it was also drawn. At the end of that game the rook became a desperado and the game ended in stalemate after the rook was captured.
Browne versus BELLE
Queen versus rook was one of the first endgames completely solved by computers constructing an endgame tablebase. A challenge was issued to Grandmaster Walter Browne in 1978 where Browne would have the queen in a difficult position, defended by BELLE using the queen versus rook tablebase. Browne could have won the rook or checkmated in 31 moves with perfect play. After 45 moves, Browne realized that he would not be able to win within 50 moves, according to the fifty-move rule. Browne studied the position, and later in the month played another match, from a different starting position. This time he won by capturing the rook on the 50th move.Queen versus two minor pieces
Defensive fortresses exist for any of the two minor pieces versus the queen. However, except in the case of two knights, the fortress usually cannot be reached against optimal play.- Queen versus bishop and knight: A queen normally wins against a bishop and knight, but there is one drawing fortress position forming a barrier against the enemy king's approach. Another position given by Ponziani in 1782 is more artificial: the queen's king is confined in a corner by the bishop and knight which are protected by their king.
- Queen versus two bishops: A queen has a theoretical forced win against two bishops in most positions, but the win may require up to seventy-one moves ; there is one drawing fortress position for the two bishops.
- Queen versus two knights: Two knights can generally draw against a queen if the king is near its knights and they are in a reasonable position by setting up a fortress..
Common pawnless endings (rook and minor pieces)
- Rook versus a bishop: this is usually a draw. The main exception is when the defending king is trapped in a corner that is of the same color square as his bishop . If the defending king is trapped in a corner that is the opposite color as his bishop, he draws. See the game of Veselin Topalov versus Judit Polgar, where Topalov defended and drew the game to clinch a win of their 2008 Dos Hermanas match.
- Rook versus a knight: this is usually a draw. There are two main exceptions: the knight is separated from the king and may be trapped and won or the king and knight are poorly placed. Kamsky vs Bacrot, 2006 is an example of a rook vs knight ending which resulted in a win. In this game, Black underpromoted a pawn to a knight to avoid a checkmate and eventually lost the game after allowing his knight to be separated from the king.
- Rook and a bishop versus a rook: this is one of the most common pawnless endgames and is usually a theoretical draw. However, the rook and bishop have good winning chances in practice because the defence is difficult. There are some winning positions such as the Philidor position, which occurs relatively often. There are two main defensive methods: the Cochrane Defense and the "second rank defense". Forced wins require up to 59 moves. As a result, FIDE extended the fifty-move rule to 100 moves and then to 75 moves for this endgame, before returning to fifty moves. See rook and bishop versus rook endgame for more information.
- Rook and a knight versus a rook: This is usually a simple draw with few winning positions. The winning positions require the defending king to be badly placed near a corner; this can not be forced in general. The Cochrane Defense can be used.
Miscellaneous pawnless endings
The fifty-move rule is not taken into account, and it would often be applicable in practice. When one side has two bishops, they are assumed to be on opposite colored squares, unless otherwise stated. When each side has one bishop, the result often depends on whether or not the bishops are on the same color, so their colors will always be stated.
Queens only
- Queen versus queen: usually a draw, but the side to move first wins in 41.75% of the positions. There are some wins when one queen is in the corner, e.g. as a result of promoting a rook pawn or bishop pawn.
- Two queens versus one queen: Almost always a win. A cross-check may be necessary, see cross-check#Two queens versus one for an example. A draw is possible in a few exceptional positions if the weaker side has an immediate perpetual check, e.g. with a white king on a1 and white queens on a2 and b1, the black king on e8, and the black queen giving check on d4. Black has as an unlimited supply of checks on d4, a4, and d1, and the white king cannot escape the corner.
- Two queens versus two queens: The first to move wins in 83% of the positions. Wins require up to 44 moves,.
Major pieces only
- Queen versus two rooks: this is usually a draw, but either side may have a win.
- Queen versus three rooks: this is nearly always a win for the rooks. This is rare in serious play, and occurs when promoting to a queen would give stalemate, but three rooks versus a queen is usually a straightforward win, especially when the defending king must be quite well confined for stalemate to be an issue for QRR v Q.
- Queen and a rook versus a queen and a rook: Despite the equality of, the player to move first wins in 83% of the positions.
- Queen and rook versus a queen: this is a win.
- Two rooks versus a rook: this is usually a win because the attacking king can usually escape checks by the opposing rook .
- Rook versus rook: this is normally a draw, but a win is possible in some positions where one of the kings is in the corner or on the edge of the board and threatened with checkmate.
Queens and rooks with minor pieces
- Queen versus a rook and a : this is usually a draw. The queen has good winning chances if the king and rook are near one edge and the minor piece is near the opposite edge. In the case of the knight, the queen can trap it on the edge; then the king assists in winning it. Against the bishop, the queen makes moves eventually forcing the bishop onto a square where it can be won.
- Two rooks and a minor piece versus a queen: this is usually a win for the three pieces, but it can take more than fifty moves.
- Queen and a minor piece versus a rook and minor piece: this is normally a win for the queen.
- Rook and two minor pieces versus a queen: draw.
- Queen and a minor piece versus two rooks: this is usually a draw for a knight and a win for a bishop, although the win takes up to eighty-five moves. The best method of defense is to double the rooks on the third rank with the opposing king on the other side and keep the king behind the rooks. This case with a bishop and queen versus rooks is unusual in that such a small advantage forces a win. It was thought to be a draw by human analysis, but computer analysis revealed a long forced win,.
- Queen and a minor piece versus a rook and two minor pieces: In a typical stable position, queen and knight win against rook, bishop, and knight, but mating requires up to 545 moves. Other piece combinations are a draw, except that a queen and a minor piece win against a rook and a same colored bishop pair. The KQN v KRBN win is surprising since the difference in material is only one point, and a queen and a minor piece draw against a queen. However, compared to KQ, KRBN is vulnerable to fork and capture by the opposing queen, and KRBN is slowly outmaneuvered by KQN, until KQN wins a piece or a rook–knight exchange. Also, while in most open endgames, a knight is weaker than a bishop, a queen and a knight make a strong attacking combination. Also, two knights make a strong defense if the superior side does not have an extra piece that can be exchanged for the two knights, and we have KQ v KNN draw despite KRB v KNN win.
Queens and minor pieces
- Queen versus one minor piece: a win for the queen.
- Queen versus three minor pieces: draw except for a queen versus three bishops all on the same color, which in many positions is a win for the queen.
- Four minor pieces versus a queen: a win for the pieces if they are the usual four minor pieces ,. Alexey Troitsky showed that four knights win against a queen.
- Queen and a minor piece versus a queen: this is usually a draw unless the stronger side can quickly win . With a knight, however, the stronger side has good winning chances in practice because the knight can create non-linear threats to fork the opponent's pieces and very accurate play is required from the defender to hold the position. There are 38 positions of reciprocal zugzwang and the longest win takes 35 moves until the knight forks the queen and king.
Examples from games
If 1...Kxh5 then 2.Qg6+ Kh4 3.Qh6+ skewers the black queen.
If 6...Kf1 then 7.Qe2+ Kg1 8.Qe1+ Kh2 9.Qf2+ Qg2 10.Qxg2#.
White could have won more quickly by 1.Qg8+ Kh4 2.Qg3+ Kxh5 3.Qg6+ Kh4 4.Qh6+ and White skewers the black queen.
The second position is from a 1982 game between former world champion Boris Spassky and then world champion Anatoly Karpov. The position is a theoretical draw but Karpov later blundered in time trouble and resigned on move 84.
Example from a study
In this 1967 study by Vitaly Halberstadt, White wins. The solution is:Not 2.Qxf7 stalemate.
Rooks and minor pieces
- Two rooks versus two minor pieces: this is normally a win for the rooks. Henri Rinck discovered more than 100 positions that are exceptions.
- Two bishops and a knight versus a rook: this is usually a win for the three pieces but it takes up to sixty-eight moves. Howard Staunton analyzed a position of this type in 1847, and correctly concluded that the normal result of this ending is a win for the three minor pieces.
- A bishop and two knights versus a rook: this is usually a draw, but there are some wins for the three pieces requiring up to forty-nine moves. Staunton in 1847 correctly concluded that the normal result of this endgame is a draw. Bernhard Horwitz and Josef Kling gave the same appraisal in 1851. During adjournment of the Karpov versus Kasparov game, Kasparov analyzed that a successful defense is having the king near a corner that the bishop does not control, keeping the rook far away to prevent forks, and threatening to sacrifice it. Tablebases show that it is usually a draw, no matter which corner the defending king is in. Curiously, Grandmaster James Plaskett also had an adjournment of a London league game at the same time, versus David Okike; the last week of October 1991. After resumption it quickly resolved itself into the same pawnless ending. That game, too, was drawn.
- Rook and a bishop versus two knights: this is usually a win for the rook and bishop but it takes up to 223 moves. The result of this endgame was unknown until computer analysis proved the forced win.
- Rook and a knight versus two knights: this is usually a draw but there are some wins that take up to 243 moves.
- Rook and a knight versus a bishop and knight: this is normally a draw.
- Rook and a bishop versus a bishop and knight: this is usually a draw if the bishops are on the same color. It is usually a win if the bishops are on opposite colors, but takes up to ninety-eight moves. Magnus Carlsen successfully converted this configuration with opposite-coloured bishops within the 50-move limit against Francisco Vallejo Pons in 2019. Even with best play from the starting RB v BN position, the stronger side would have won a piece well within 50 moves.
- Rook and a bishop versus two bishops: this is usually a draw, but there are some long wins if the defending bishops are on the same color.
- Rook versus two minor pieces: this is normally a draw.
- Two rooks versus three minor pieces: this is normally a draw.
- Rook and two minor pieces versus a rook: a win for the three pieces. With two knights, White must not exchange rooks and avoid losing a knight, but the three pieces have great checkmating power.
- Rook and two minor pieces versus rook and one minor piece: see [|§ Examples with an extra minor piece] below.
- Two rooks and a minor piece versus two rooks: this is normally a draw, but some very long wins exist.
Minor pieces only
- Two minor pieces versus one minor piece:
- * Two bishops versus a knight: this is a win, but it can take up to 66 moves.. See Effect of tablebases on endgame theory, Fortress #A semi-fortress and see the example from the Botvinnik versus Tal game below.
- * Other cases: this is normally a draw in all other cases,. Edmar Mednis considered the difficulty of defending these positions:
- ** Two bishops versus one bishop: The easiest for the defender to draw, unless the king is caught in a corner.
- ** Two knights versus one bishop: any normal position is an easy draw.
- ** Two knights versus one knight: an easy draw if the king is not trapped on the edge. However, if the king is trapped on the edge, there may be a win similar to the two knights versus a pawn endgame.
- ** Bishop and knight versus a bishop on the same color: may be lost if the king is on the edge; otherwise an easy draw.
- ** Bishop and knight versus a bishop on the opposite color: normally a draw but the defense may be difficult if the defending king is confined near a corner that the attacking bishop controls.
- ** Bishop and knight versus a knight: best winning chances. The difficulty of defense is not clear and the knight can be lost if it is separated from its king.
- Three knights and a king can force checkmate against a lone king within 20 moves, but this can only happen if the attacking side has underpromoted a pawn to a knight..
- Three minor pieces versus one minor piece: a win except in some unusual situations involving an underpromotion to a bishop on the same color as a player's existing bishop. More than fifty moves may be required to win. Three knights win against one knight.
- Three minor pieces versus two minor pieces: if neither player has a pair of same-colored bishops, this is a draw except in the cases of two bishops and a knight versus two knights, and two bishops and a knight versus bishop and knight, which are wins. There are also wins in some unusual situations where underpromotion has resulted in one player having two bishops travelling on the same colors.
- Two minor pieces:
- * Two bishops is a basic checkmate
- * A bishop and knight is a basic checkmate, see bishop and knight checkmate
- * Two knights cannot force checkmate, see two knights endgame
- Trivial cases: These are all trivial draws in general: bishop only, knight only, bishop versus knight, bishop versus bishop, knight versus knight.
Example from game
White to move may draw in this position: 1.Nb7+ Kd5 2.Kc7 Bd2 3.Kb6 Bf4 4.Nd8 Be3+ 5.Kc7. White gets his knight to b7 with his king next to it to form a long-term fortress.
The game might continue 84.Kd7 Kb6 85.Nb3 Be3, followed by...Bd1 and...Bd4 , for example 86.Kd6 Bd1 87.Na1 Bd4 88.Kd5 Bxa1.
Examples with an extra minor piece
An extra minor piece on one side with a queen versus queen endgame or rook versus rook endgame is normally a theoretical draw. An endgame with two minor pieces versus one is also drawn, except in the case of two bishops versus a knight. But a rook and two minor pieces versus a rook and one minor piece is different. In these two examples from games, the extra minor piece is enough to win.In this position, if the bishops were on the same color, White might have a chance to exchange bishops and reach an easily drawn position. Black wins:
In this position, if White could exchange bishops he would reach a drawn position. However, Black has a winning attack:
Speelman gave these conclusions:
- Rook and two bishops versus rook and bishop – thought to be a win
- Rook, bishop, and knight versus rook and bishop – good winning chances, probably a win if the bishops are on opposite colors
- Rook, bishop, and knight versus rook and knight – thought to be a win.
Summary
| Attacker | Defender | Status | Assessment |
| Win | Difficult | ||
| Draw | Easy, if defender goes to the correct corner | ||
| Draw | Easy | ||
| Draw | Easy, if the Cochrane Defense is used | ||
| Draw | Easy | ||
| Draw | Easy, but use care | ||
| Win | Easy | ||
| Draw | Easy for the defender | ||
| Draw | Difficult for the defender | ||
| Draw | Easy |
Fine's rule
In his landmark 1941 book Basic Chess Endings, Reuben Fine inaccurately stated, "Without pawns one must be at least a Rook ahead in order to be able to mate. The only exceptions to this that hold in all cases are that the double exchange wins and that a Queen cannot successfully defend against four minor pieces." Kenneth Harkness also stated this "rule". Fine also stated "There is a basic rule that in endings without pawns one must be at least a rook ahead to be able to win in general." This inaccurate statement was repeated in the 2003 edition revised by Grandmaster Pal Benko. However, Fine recognized elsewhere in his book that a queen wins against a rook and that a queen normally beats a knight and a bishop . The advantage of a rook corresponds to a five-point advantage using the traditional relative value of the pieces. It turns out that there are several more exceptions, but they are endgames that rarely occur in actual games. Fine's statement has been superseded by computer analysis.A four-point material advantage is often enough to win in some endings without pawns. For example, a queen wins versus a rook ; as well as when there is matching additional material on both sides, i.e.: a queen and any versus a rook and any minor piece; a queen and a rook versus two rooks; and two queens versus a queen and a rook. Another type of win with a four-point material advantage is the double exchange – two rooks versus any two minor pieces. There are some other endgames with four-point material differences that are generally long theoretical wins. In practice, the fifty-move rule comes into play because more than fifty moves are often required to either checkmate or reduce the endgame to a simpler case: two bishops and a knight versus a rook ; and two rooks and a minor piece versus a queen.
A three-point material advantage can also result in a forced win, in some cases. For instance, some of the cases of a queen versus two minor piece are such positions. In addition, the four minor pieces win against a queen. Two bishops win against a knight, but it takes up to 66 moves if a bishop is initially trapped in a corner.
There are some long general theoretical wins with only a two- or three-point material advantage but the fifty-move rule usually comes into play because of the number of moves required: two bishops versus a knight ; a queen and bishop versus two rooks ; a rook and bishop versus a bishop on the opposite color and a knight ; and a rook and bishop versus two knights .
Finally, there are some other unusual exceptions to Fine's rule involving underpromotions. Some of these are a queen wins against three bishops of the same color, up to 51 moves are required; a rook and knight win against two bishops on the same color, up to 140 moves are needed; and three bishops win against a rook, requiring up to 69 moves, and four knights win against a queen. This was proved by computer in 2005 and was the first ending with seven pieces that was completely solved.
General remarks on these endings
Many of these endings are listed as a win in a certain number of moves. That assumes perfect play by both sides, which is rarely achieved if the number of moves is large. Also, finding the right moves may be exceedingly difficult for one or both sides. When a forced win is more than fifty moves long, some positions can be won within the fifty move limit and others cannot. Also, generally all of the combinations of pieces that are usually a theoretical draw have some non-trivial positions that are a win for one side. Similarly, combinations that are generally a win for one side often have non-trivial positions which result in draws.Tables
This a table listing several pawnless endings, the number of moves in the longest win, and the winning percentage for the first player. The winning percentage can be misleading – it is the percentage of wins out of all possible positions, even if a piece can immediately be captured or won by a skewer, pin, or fork. The largest number of moves to a win is the number of moves until either checkmate or transformation to a simpler position due to winning a piece. Also, the fifty-move rule is not taken into account.| Attacking pieces | Defending pieces | Longest win | Winning % |
| — | 10 | 100 | |
| — | 16 | 100 | |
| 10 | 42 | ||
| 31 | 99 | ||
| 18 | 35 | ||
| 27 | 48 | ||
| — | 19 | 99.97 | |
| — | 33 | 99.5 | |
| 30 | 94 | ||
| 67 | 92.1 | ||
| 33 | 53.4 | ||
| 41 | 48.4 | ||
| 71 | 92.1 | ||
| 42 | 93.1 | ||
| 63 | 89.7 | ||
| 59 | 40.1 | ||
| 33 | 35.9 | ||
| 66 | 91.8 |
This table shows six-piece endgames.
| Attacking pieces | Defending pieces | Longest win | Winning % |
| 243 | 78 | ||
| 223 | 96 | ||
| 190 | 72 | ||
| 153 | 86 | ||
| 140 | 77 | ||
| 101 | 94 | ||
| 99 | 69 | ||
| 98 | 87 | ||
| 92 | 86 | ||
| 92 | 83 | ||
| 86 | 94 | ||
| 85 | 92 | ||
| 82 | 96 | ||
| 75 | 72 | ||
| 73 | 87 | ||
| 73 | 81 | ||
| 72 | 94 | ||
| 71 | 90 | ||
| 69 | 80 | ||
| 68 | 95 | ||
| 65 | 98 | ||
| 63 | 85 | ||
| 54 | 73 | ||
| 52 | 65 | ||
| 51 | 82 | ||
| 49 | 53 | ||
| 48 | 92 | ||
| 46 | 66 | ||
| 44 | 83 | ||
| 44 | 75 | ||
| 38 | 63 | ||
| 37 | 94 | ||
| 36 | 68 | ||
| 35 | 75 | ||
| 32 | 62 | ||
| 32 | 61 | ||
| 31 | 99 | ||
| 29 | 63 | ||
| 27 | 57 | ||
| 18 | 67 | ||
| 12 | 62 |
This table shows seven-piece endgames.
- Many of the combinations listed involve single piece capture and transposition into six-piece territory almost immediately from the starting position.
| Attacking pieces | Defending pieces | Longest win | Winning % |
| 545 | 62.79 | ||
| 304 | ? | ||
| 262 | ? | ||
| 262 | ? | ||
| 246 | ? | ||
| 246 | ? | ||
| 238 | ? | ||
| 232 | ? | ||
| 229 | ? | ||
| 212 | ? | ||
| 210 | ? | ||
| 197 | ? | ||
| 195 | ? | ||
| 192 | ? | ||
| 182 | ? | ||
| 176 | ? | ||
| 176 | ? | ||
| 169 | ? | ||
| 154 | ? | ||
| 152 | ? | ||
| 150 | ? | ||
| 149 | ? | ||
| 140 | ? | ||
| 136 | ? | ||
| 134 | ? | ||
| 122 | ? | ||
| 120 | ? | ||
| 117 | ? | ||
| 115 | ? | ||
| 112 | ? | ||
| 106 | ? | ||
| 105 | ? | ||
| 102 | ? | ||
| 98 | ? | ||
| 88 | ? | ||
| 86 | ? | ||
| 77 | ? | ||
| 70 | ? |