Pawn Sacrifice to Reach the Key Squares
White to play and draw, after Mattison
PlayYour two pawns are lost and the black king will own the ground in front of the f7 pawn. The only rescue is to hand both pawns over on purpose, so that the surviving black pawn ends up somewhere your king can actually reach.
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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
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 just 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 3.Kg1 reaches them easily while the black king is far away on h5.
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)