HiveChess Lecture: Endgame Tip 1

Hello everyone,

It is my pleasure to have you in yet another Hivechess lecture where I share some chess insights and learn as well in the process. On my blog, you will find a series of articles I have written about chess, sharing my knowledge, and you will find it useful. I will attach a couple of links to them at the end of this article.

In this post, I will be starting an endgame series, where I will be sharing an endgame tip in each post, starting with this one.

Tip 1: Activate your King

If you are conversant with my Hivechess lectures on my blog, I know I have said it a couple of times, in the early stage of the game, castle your king to safety as fast as possible, and now I am telling you, activate the same king. It can be tricky and a bit confusing for a chess beginner, but here is something you have to bear in mind when playing chess: a single move on the chessboard can change the dynamics of the entire game. At the beginning of the game, it is ideal to take your king into safety or protect it by castling, but now it is the endgame stage, where there are fewer pieces on the board.

This is because with the king active at the center, you can attack your opponent's pieces and even protect a pawn of yours on its way to promotion. DO not forget that in an endgame, for instance, an endgame with only pawns and kings, the king is less likely to get checkmated, and if you leave it sitting at the back, you are more likely to lose the game faster than you think. Since endgames require fewer pieces, a simple mistake or one-move error can be hard to rectify later on.

Let us look at a classic from one of the oldest chess grandmasters, considered to be one of the best at endgame play, José Capablanca.

1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 3. c4 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. O-O Qe8

The game opens with a Horwitz Defense: Other variations, but I will not dwell so much on the opening or middlegame since it is an endgame series. My main focus will be on the endgame.

35. Kg3

The endgame tip of activating your king for Capablanca was when he moved his king to g3. Gradually, he begins to activate his king despite the hanging pawn on c3 because he calculates that after the capture of the c3 pawn takes place, he will have a4 and then pawn push, and in time, he will get his king to protect the g-file pawn and his rook attacking as well.

39. Kf6

With this move, white has gotten a huge advantage. Threatening a checkmate, and he has a passed pawn. This shows that in a rook endgame, the side with the active king is the deciding factor in the game. At this point in the game, there is a +5 advantage. It was not hard for Capablanca to convert the advantage.

If there is one tip you should take from this lesson, it is that when the board has fewer pieces, that is the endgame stage, start activating your king as quickly as possible; that might just be the deciding factor for you to get that chess win.

Here is a link to view the entire game used in the lecture:
Game Link

And here is the game PGN

[Event "New York"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1924.03.23"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Jose Raul Capablanca"]
[Black "Savielly Tartakower"]
[Result "1-0"]
[GameId "Gq1MsQFL"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "-"]
[ECO "A40"]
[Opening "Horwitz Defense"]
[Termination "Unknown"]

1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 3. c4 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. O-O Qe8 9. Qe2 Ne4 10. Bxe7 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Qxe7 12. a4 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Nc6 14. Rfb1 Rae8 15. Qh3 Rf6 16. f4 Na5 17. Qf3 d6 18. Re1 Qd7 19. e4 fxe4 20. Qxe4 g6 21. g3 Kf8 22. Kg2 Rf7 23. h4 d5 24. cxd5 exd5 25. Qxe8+ Qxe8 26. Rxe8+ Kxe8 27. h5 Rf6 28. hxg6 hxg6 29. Rh1 Kf8 30. Rh7 Rc6 31. g4 Nc4 32. g5 Ne3+ 33. Kf3 Nf5 34. Bxf5 gxf5 35. Kg3 Rxc3+ 36. Kh4 Rf3 37. g6 Rxf4+ 38. Kg5 Re4 39. Kf6 Kg8 40. Rg7+ Kh8 41. Rxc7 Re8 42. Kxf5 Re4 43. Kf6 Rf4+ 44. Ke5 Rg4 45. g7+ Kg8 46. Rxa7 Rg1 47. Kxd5 Rc1 48. Kd6 Rc2 49. d5 Rc1 50. Rc7 Ra1 51. Kc6 Rxa4 52. d6 Rc4+ 53. Kb7 1-0