From Chess Fundamentals by José Raúl Capablanca (1921), Chapter 1 — First Principles, Example 5 (Pawn Promotion) · Beginner · about 4 minutes.
King and pawn against king is NOT always a win — and every chess player must know both halves of that sentence. Here White's king stands beside its pawn, not in front of it, and Black defends with one rule: keep your king directly in front of the pawn, and when the enemy king blocks that, stand directly in front of the enemy king instead. Played correctly, White never gets anywhere. Capablanca said he could not stress this position's importance too much — the winning method in the next lesson only makes sense once you've seen why this one is a draw.
Starting position (FEN): 8/8/8/8/4k3/8/3KP3/8 w - - 0 1
Defending king-and-pawn down: stay in front of the pawn; when you can't, stand in front of the enemy king, and retreat straight back on the pawn's file. If the attacker's king can never get in front of its own pawn, the game is drawn — remember this before you resign that ending.
Play this lesson move by move on the interactive board at https://www.brilliantknight.com/lessons/chess-fundamentals-first-principles/the-defenders-draw-king-and-pawn · All lessons