How to Draw King and Pawn vs King

Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.

Half of knowing king-and-pawn endings is knowing when the defender holds. This position is dead drawn, but only with exact play, and 'exact' is a shorter list than most players think.

The method. (1) Keep your king in front of the pawn, on its promotion square's file: once you are behind the pawn it is already too late. (2) When the kings face off, hold the opposition: if the attacker's king stands directly ahead with one square between, you must be the one NOT moving. When forced to retreat, step STRAIGHT back, never diagonally: the crooked retreat loses the opposition duel one move later.

The saving grace. If everything else fails and the pawn arrives on the seventh rank giving check, step straight in front of it, onto the promotion square: the attacker either delivers stalemate or abandons the pawn. Knowing this resource kills the panic.

Why it matters. Attackers at every level push the pawn too early. Defenders who know this method turn those mistakes into half-points, every time.