The endgame is where club players leave the most points on the table. You've outplayed your opponent for 40 moves, reached a winning position, and then... draw. Or worse, lose.
After analyzing thousands of games from players rated 1200-2000, five endgame patterns show up as consistent mistakes over and over. Fix these, and you'll convert significantly more wins.
1. The Lucena Position (and Not Knowing It)
The Lucena position is the single most important theoretical endgame position. It's a rook and pawn vs. rook ending where the attacking side has their pawn on the 7th rank with the king in front of it.
The pattern: Your rook is behind the pawn, your king is on the queening square, and you need to get your king out of the way while promoting the pawn.
What club players do wrong: They try to just push the pawn, or they shuffle their rook around aimlessly. Without knowing the "bridge" technique, they often stumble into a draw.
The bridge technique:
- Move your rook to the 4th rank (creating a "bridge")
- Bring your king out to the side
- When the opponent's rook gives checks, block with your own rook on the 4th rank
- Promote the pawn
This concept has been known for centuries, but a surprising number of 1500-1800 rated players haven't internalized it. Learn the Lucena, and you'll convert every standard rook ending where you reach this position.
2. King Activity in Pawn Endings
In king and pawn endings, the king transforms from a piece that hides in the corner to the most powerful piece on the board. Yet club players routinely keep their king passive when it needs to be marching forward.
The pattern: Both sides have 2-3 pawns each, queens are off the board, and the endgame is about whose king reaches the critical squares first.
What club players do wrong:
- Moving pawns forward instead of king forward
- Keeping the king near their own pawns defensively instead of invading the opponent's position
- Not understanding the concept of "opposition"
Key principle: In most pawn endings, centralize your king first, push pawns second. A king on e5 controlling the center is worth more than a pawn on the 5th rank with a king on g1.
The opposition rule: When two kings face each other with one square between them, the player who does NOT have to move has the "opposition" — a critical advantage in king and pawn endings. If you don't know this concept, you're losing drawn endings and drawing won endings constantly.
3. Rook Behind Passed Pawns (Tarrasch's Rule)
Siegbert Tarrasch stated it over 100 years ago: "Rooks belong behind passed pawns." This applies to both your own passed pawns and your opponent's.
The pattern: A rook endgame with passed pawns on the board.
What club players do wrong: They place their rook in front of their own passed pawn (blocking it) or in front of the opponent's passed pawn (where it's passively tied to defense).
Why behind is better:
- Behind your own passed pawn: as the pawn advances, your rook's influence increases (more open file)
- Behind the opponent's passed pawn: as their pawn advances, it walks toward your rook, and your rook still controls the whole file
The mistake in practice:
Your opponent has a passed d-pawn on d5. You put your rook on d1, blocking it. But now your rook is stuck babysitting. If instead you get your rook to d8 (behind their pawn), you're both stopping the pawn and keeping your rook active.
4. The Wrong Bishop
This one sounds simple but catches club players constantly. If you have a bishop and a rook pawn (a-pawn or h-pawn), and your bishop doesn't control the promotion square, it's a draw.
The pattern: You're up a bishop and an a-pawn (or h-pawn). The opponent has only a king.
The trap: If your bishop is the wrong color (doesn't control the corner square where the pawn promotes), the opponent's king just sits in the corner and you can never push it away. Bishop + wrong rook pawn vs. lone king = drawn, no matter what you do.
What club players do wrong:
- They trade into this ending thinking they're winning
- They spend 30 moves trying to promote before realizing it's a draw
- They trade their good bishop, keeping the wrong one
How to avoid it: Before trading down, check whether your remaining bishop controls your pawn's promotion square. If not, keep more material on the board or find a different plan.
5. Not Creating a Passed Pawn
In rook endings with multiple pawns, the side that creates a passed pawn first usually wins. Yet club players often just trade pawns symmetrically or advance them timidly without a clear plan.
The pattern: Rook ending, each side has 3 pawns on the kingside, equal material.
What club players do wrong:
- They trade pawns when they should keep tension
- They advance all pawns in a line instead of creating an asymmetry
- They don't know how to use a pawn majority to create a passed pawn
The technique: If you have a 3-2 pawn majority on one side:
- Advance the unopposed pawn first (the "candidate")
- Use the other pawns to support exchanges that clear the way
- Trade pawns to create one unstoppable passed pawn
A passed pawn in a rook ending is like having an extra piece. It ties the opponent's rook to defense while your rook stays active. Even one passed pawn often decides the game.
How to Fix These Weaknesses
Study Targeted Positions
Don't try to learn all endgame theory at once. Focus on these five patterns:
- Lucena position — practice the bridge technique 10 times
- King activity — play through 5 king and pawn endings focusing on king centralization
- Rook placement — analyze your own rook endings for misplaced rooks
- Wrong bishop — simply memorize the rule and check for it before trading
- Passed pawns — practice the pawn majority technique
Scan Your Games
Use an endgame scanner to find your actual endgame mistakes across many games. Seeing the same pattern repeated in your own games is far more impactful than studying abstract positions.
FireChess has a dedicated endgame scanning mode that identifies your worst endgame positions and shows you what you should have played. It's the fastest way to find which of these five patterns is costing you the most points.
Play More Endgames
Sounds obvious, but many players resign or agree to draws too early. Play out your endgames, even when they look drawn. The practice is invaluable, and you'll be surprised how many "drawn" endgames are actually winning for one side.
The Bottom Line
Endgame knowledge has the highest improvement-per-hour-studied of any chess area. These five patterns appear in thousands of games. Learn them, look for them in your own games, and you'll convert significantly more wins from positions you used to draw or lose.