Piece Coordination

Endgames Without Pawns

" The value of coordinated action of more pieces may exceed a lot the sum of each individual piece's value." ~ Emanuel Lasker 

When trading-off pieces and pawns in an endgame, it is critical to know whether the resulting position will be easy to win or draw. Similarly, it is important to note that most positions without pawns are a theoretical draw. So you may sacrifice your minor piece for the last opponent’s pawn and reach an easy draw.

• Rook vs Bishop: Easy draw if the defending king runs to the correct corner.

• Rook vs Knight: Easy draw. Keep the knight near your king and you'll be safe.

• Rook & Bishop vs Rook: Easy draw if you know the key defensive position (Cochrane defense & 2nd rank defense).

• Rook & Knight vs Rook: Easy draw. This ending is worth playing if the weaker king is already near a corner.

• Queen vs Two Bishops: Easy draw, but handle with care. Set the bishops and your king next to each other.       

Queen vs Two Knights

An easy draw with the right set up. The defender must place the knights adjacent to each other and the king next to them. The stronger side can have serious winning chances when the knights merely protect each other (they tie each other up) as the queen can bring the defender king to stalemate forcing a knight to move and unprotect the other. 

Draw

One rare position where collaboration of the black king (trapped in the corner) with the queen cannot be established. The white king moves on g5, g6, f7, e7, e6, e5, etc. Notice that the queen cannot destroy the coordination between the white pieces.

Queen vs Bishop & Knight

An exceptional position where the bishop and knight built a 'fortress' against the attacking king.

A permanent barrier.

There is no way for Black to bring in his king and white will simply move Kh2, Kh1, Kg1 or his bishop to h1 & g2.

Two Bishops vs Bishop

Easy draw, as the black king can safely stay in the right corner. The defender bishop patrols the long diagonal preventing any mate threats. 

Fortress

The examples shown illustrated an important criterion with regards to the quality of the pieces: the value of pieces' coordinated action.