Talk:King and pawn versus king endgame

Colors reversed
At King and pawn versus king endgame, who had the pawn, White or Black? If it was White as in the diagram, the colors are reversed at the end of the paragraph. That is, "Any other move allows Black to reach the key square,..." should be "Any other move allows White to reach the key square,...", "1. Kd8 or 1. Kd7" should be "1...Kd8 or 1. ...Kd7", and so on to the end of the paragraph. Similarly, if Black had the pawn, then the first half of the paragraph needs a similar color reversal, and so does the diagram. Art LaPella 16:27, 10 September 2007 (UTC)


 * That was indeed wrong, thanks for pointing it out. Gligoric (white) had the pawn.  I've fixed that and taken out some redundancy that wasn't needed.  Bubba73 (talk), 17:06, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Reti Example Wrong
In the discussion of the Reti example in the Square of the Pawn section, if white plays ke7, black plays kxp. Something is wrong here. 71.112.24.59 (talk) 16:13, 13 June 2010 (UTC)ATBS
 * "If Black moves 2. ... h3 then 3. Ke7 and White supports his own pawn, and they queen together, resulting in a draw." In this line Black has moved his pawn (2...h3) rather than his king.  The Black king is still on h6 so 4...Kxc6 is not possible.  Try it on a chessboard (or in a computer chess program) and I think you will see it. Quale (talk) 20:46, 13 June 2010 (UTC)


 * And see Réti endgame study for more discussion. Bubba73 (You talkin' to me?), 00:45, 14 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Aside: When I first saw this study (many years ago), I could tell that the theme would be to move the king diagonally, to try to support the pawn or capture the other. But it sure looked like it was one tempo short of succeeding. Bubba73 (You talkin' to me?), 07:00, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

two pawns on the same file
I have six references that support Mednis' statement:

Averbach, Comprehensive Chess Endings, vol 4, p 16: "And advantage of two pawns normally ensures an easy win. A draw is possible only in exceptional positions... ... A bad blunder, making the second pawn worthless [would be advancing the pawn to the fifth rank behind the other pawn]."

Fine and Benko, Basic Chess Endings (revised edition), P 15, "This is a win unless ..." "doubled pass pawns should not both be advanced. The extra pawn is decisive only because it furnishes a vital tempo at the critical moment. ... When the pawns are on the fifth and sixth ranks a win cannot be forced."

Muller and Lamprecht, Fundamental Chess Endings, p. 27, "Even doubled pawns win very often..."

Muller and Lamprecht, Secrets of Pawn Endings, p. 22, "even doubled pawns usually win"

Keres, Practical Chess Endings, p. 37, "... is usually won without difficulty. There are, however, a few exceptions ..."

Nunn, Understanding Chess Endgames, p. 16, "even if the pawns are doubled, the win is usually simple, provided the pawns are supported by the king. The normal technique is to play with just the front pawn, using the rear pawn for a tempo if necessary when the front pawn reaches the sixth rank.  ... Problems may arrive if both pawns are far advanced..." Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 00:12, 26 May 2019 (UTC)

A "normal" position is one that is not one of the rare exceptions, not one of the ones covered under "unless". Normal positions are covered under "very often" and "usually win". I will try to expand and clarify in a few days, with references. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 04:01, 26 May 2019 (UTC)

Wrong statement(s) about key squares
It is written: "A key square is a square such that if White's king occupies it, White can force the pawn to promotion, regardless of where the black king is and regardless of which side is to move, and against any defense." This is obviously false. If the white king is on a key square and the black king is next to the pawn, then black can take the pawn and draw. The phrase must be corrected. &mdash; MFH:Talk 13:54, 29 October 2021 (UTC)

White wins with black king on f8 and h-pawn
In https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_and_pawn_versus_king_endgame#Rook_pawn, in the second diagram, White also wins by playing 1. h7 if their king is on f6 instead of g6. 202.86.32.122 (talk) 06:21, 27 March 2023 (UTC)