Endgame Drill - Pawn Endgame: Creating An Outside Passed Pawn

Hi guys, l'm working through some of the end game drills and l need a little help with this one:

https://www.chess.com/drills/practice/pawn-endgame-creating-an-outside-passed-pawn

Pawn Endgame: Creating An Outside Passed Pawn

Can anyone help me with a few rules or tips for how to complete this drill?

I can "beat" the computer maybe 50% of the time -- but when l do win l'm not quite sure how my strategy was any different form the times l've lost. I've used the "hint" feature to beat it but l can't seem to grasp the key theory that will let me win this position at will.

l get that you should create an outside passed pawn right away with:

1. a4 bxa4 2. bxa4

I then position my king with opposition with:

2... Kd7 3. Kd3 Kc6 4. Kc4 Kb6 5. Kb4

Here is usually where the computer does one of a few different moves -- typically pushing one of his pawns. Are there any general "rules of thumb" someone could share with me that'll help me complete this drill without fear of ever losing?

Here is a quick screen cap of the board (img: https://image.prntscr.com/image/WVZ62ZcKT_eWHpdj4PK5Nw.png)

Embed:

1. Play on the side of the board where you have the pawn majority.

2. Push the unopposed pawn.  

3. The king becomes a fighting piece in the endgame.

4. Pawns CANNOT move backwards.  Obvious, i know.  But this is forgotten so often.

If you want to get a really understanding of these types of endings, play over the games of Alekhine.  The man had an uncanny ability to pawn count, and see how a position would turn out many moves ahead.

 Hi FishEyedFools, thanks for the reply. These are all really very good basic "rules" -- but can you be a little more specific about the shared position? For example, it's not possible to "win" by simply pushing your pawn majority on the queenside. Eventually you have to use the outside passed pawn as a decoy and abandon it to gobble black's kingside pawns.

My issue is that sometimes the computer is able to trick me by pushing specific pawns on his kingside majority and turn the tables on me... but l'm missing the theory that would let me prevent that from happening.

Your passed a-pawn serves a decoy.  It forces the black king to stay close to it, while eventually having to push his kingside pawns.  At that point, the pawns become advanced (closer to your king) You can then sacrifice the a-pawn, and gobble the kingside gerbers.

You DO NOT push your pawns unless it achieves a certain goal like gaining more space, limiting the activity of your opponents pawn(s), creating a passed pawn, etc.  Just pushing pawns because you dont know what to do is a recipe for disaster.  This is why pawn counting is important to learn, and understand.  

Good advice Fish Eyes!

My above example is simply one example.  There are numerous other ways to play (both good and bad)

Please keep in mind that i am just a lowly class player, and im sure someone better would give us both better advice (I hope).

Hiya FishEyedFools, thank yo so much for providing your walkthrough of a go ... l'll keep practicing; and l'm getting better at it and starting to understand that stonewalling black's pawn advances on the kingside while gaining space and always maintaining the threat of promoting the passer on the queenside is the key.

I'm not sure how to paste in properly. Here's what I did to win a Q.

1.  a4 bxa4 2.  bxa4 Kd7 3.  Kd3 Kc6 4.  Kc4 Kb6 5.  f4 h6 6.  h4 g6 7.  g4 Ka5 8.  Kc5 Kxa4 9.  Kd6 f5 10.  gxf5 exf5 11.  Ke6 g5 12.  Kxf5 gxf4 13.  Kxf4 Kb5 14.  Kf5 h5 15.  Kg5 Kc5 16.  Kxh5 Kd6 17.  Kg6 Ke7 18.  Kg7 Kd6 19.  h5 Kc5 20.  h6 Kb4 21.  h7 Kc4 22.  h8=Q Kd3

I too struggle with this one, getting roughly 50% wins (on a good day!)

The actual winning line is thin and the difference between black and white is about 1 king move in the end. One wrong step may squander the win. Best to start with advancing your king to e5 if you can, otherwise d4. Next play f4 to stop ...e5. Only then advance your a-pawn and sacrifice it to the black king. Finally win by attacking the remaining black pawns with your king.

The basic problem seems to be deciding when it's safe (and when it's necessary) to abandon the a-pawn. The black pawns need to be properly held back (e.g. with Arisktotle's f4 idea) before moving to the kingside, but it is very easy to miss key moves.

Here is a typical disaster:

Why is f3 wrong?

Your king is overprotecting the a pawn. Lure the king to a then use your K to block it away from the work you need to do on the other side. 

How do you paste in a recorded game for playback like that?

Here is how you do it: