Pawn Sacrifice to Reach the Key Squares
White to play and draw, after Mattison
PlayBoth your pawns are lost, and if his last pawn stays on f7, his king escorts it home. The rule: give your pawns away so that his pawn is pulled forward, toward your king. A pawn further forward has its key squares closer to your king, and those you can still guard.
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Give Both Pawns Away to Save the Game
White to play and draw · Hold the draw against perfect play
Waking the engine…
The theory
Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.
Count first. The key squares of the f7 pawn are e5, f5 and g5, and his king on h5 is already next to g5. Kg1, Kg2, Kh2 and f5 all lose. One move holds.
Not every pawn ending is a race or a blockade. Sometimes the only way out is to give material away so that the surviving enemy pawn stands somewhere your king can handle.
Key squares travel with the pawn. The squares that decide a king and pawn race sit two ranks in front of the pawn, and they move as the pawn moves. Advance the pawn and you drag the decisive zone toward the other side of the board.
The decoy. In this study by Mattison (1918) White is losing both pawns anyway. 1.g6! fxg6 2.f5! gxf5 throws them away deliberately, and it pulls Black's pawn from f7 to f5. Now the squares that matter are e3, f3 and g3, and only 3.Kg1 holds. Black still owns the distant opposition and can never cash it in: 3...Kg5 is met by 4.Kf1 and 3...Kg4 by 4.Kg2, each time the only move.
In this drill the attacker never lets up. Every quiet king move loses. Find the giveaway.
Keep going
Corresponding Squares: One Move Holds, Six Lose
Black to play and draw
Grigoriev 1920: Two Spare Tempi and a Stalemate
White to play and draw
Killing the Reserve Tempo: f and h vs the h-Pawn
Black to play and win
All 68 king & pawn positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)