Endgames- I suck, what to do?

How the heck do you guys study endgames with any success at all? I lose 90% of my games that go into endgames, despite studying from Silman's books, Youtube etc, simply because they only show the model positions that virtually never occur in real games! It's always just 'this passed pawn against this piece is a draw/win, that piece endgame is a guaranteed draw, etc etc, now you are a pro, go win some endgames.' Idk if this if just because I haven't studied piece endgames other than Lucena and Philidor rook endgames, but I have studied the basic pawn endgames (and some more, like queen v pawn, rook v pawn etc), but people say that at my level (1100 chess.com) that should be enough, and it just isn't!!

For example, I know that in a basic king + pawn endgame, the king with the opposition wins/draws (except for rook pawns), but I never really get the exact king-pawn position in my games, y'know? Rook endgames are supposed to have a basic philosophy to them: rooks should be active, king should be active, no hanging pawns. But it's never that simple! I always think 'okay, my rooks are on open files, my pawns are defended, my king is active, I'm good', but then my opponent just seems to somehow create chances, pick on some pawn that is weak, takes the pawn, takes another pawn, and the game falls apart.

Pawn endgames are almost worse, because I manage to lose them even when I'm 2 pawns up! How?! I mean, I just try to go by the principles, opposition, outflanking, play on the side where you have a majority, but somehow the other king gets in, or I misjudge the position, the other side pawns are too advanced, and the opponent makes a queen. How? I studied the basics, but the basics never prepare you for real games, or is it just me?

To finish up, I know it's a 'me' problem, I'm not blaming anyone, my question is, how do I improve? Do I just study more and more, or practice positions, or what? My foundations are clear, I can solve a basic king-pawn endgame or lucena/philidor fine, but make it even slightly more complex and my brain turns into spaghetti Any advice? Can anyone relate?

Some basic principles: In both K&p endgames and rook and pawn endgames. where only 1 pawn remains, the King should lead the pawn to promotion because it covers more squares than the pawn. Second principle: If the defending King is forced off the pawns promotion file, choose the short side of the board instead the the long side. Why? Because a common drawing tactic is moving your defending rook to the long side to check the enemy King from the flank. If your King is on the long side, this resource does not work.

@TheNameofNames hits the core issue. You will never be a better endgame player than you are a game player. You need all the patience, logic and calculations of the game in the endgame as well. You can't all learn it by heart by studying endgame books. As you said, those positions never occur exactly - well until you played thousands of serious games and know how to force your opponents into those situations or face even worse penalties. Once you hit the 2000 mark, to your surprise you will find that you play a much better endgame too! Obviously you will have to or you won't get there in the first place

I simply did not studied any endgames but I played and I can say im good at it.

So I recomend you to analyze your game, and see as example what happened when you were up for 2 pawns and then you lost it. Look what was the last error.

It is pretty common for intermediate players to advance the pawns without any consideration as they think they will reach and then to promote easily but that is the trick and why endgames are hard.

Learn more about endings. I hope that helps. Good luck.

Same for me. There's articles & blogs on here about "endgame roadmaps". They are very informative. That alone should help.

@TheNameofNames wanted a game where I blundered, here it is:

HOW?! The position was equal, I was fine, the opponent king was cut out, and all of a sudden ..Kb5 is losing?!?! Its looks obvious when I analyse with Stockfish, but how tf do I avoid these moves in actual games?? At the time, Kb5 looked... obvious, kind of. I get closer to the opponent pawns, the white can't follow, and all of a sudden the guy plays f4 and breaks it all up? How do I avoid these?

Bro, please refer the game I have posted. The opposition honestly didn't help at all. This is how virtually every one of my endgames goes; I somehow make an imoercetible blunder, and out of the blue the opponent has an advanced pawn. Looks obvious when I analyse it, but.. in the moment, the move just looks SO obvious, thats the problem really. Like, in the middlegame, I can identify blunders when I see that the opponent has some tactic in response, but the endgame is really just a dry slog; no tactics, just strategy, manouvering etc. Any suggestions?

Personally i watched daniel naroditskys endgame course on youtube and I actually win almost every endgame that i would have normally drawn or blundered and lost after watching it. I feel like reviewing it will help keep all the concepts fresh in your mind though because there are a LOT of concepts and i honestly forgot a lot of them. But even if i only watched them once i improved my endgame significantly. I would suggest you do the same but they are hour long videos so set aside some free time first.

One book I liked was Capablanca's Best Endings by Chernev. 60 complete games, with focus on the endings. Chernev is just deep enough to teach the average player without being overwhelming with detail.

Another book I am going through now is Practical Endgame Tips by Mednis. This is more improvement oriented, focusing on endgame planning and common mistakes players make. All the chess books by Mednis are worthwhile.

Check out my best underpromotion endgame compilation thread!

How the heck do you guys study endgames with any success at all? I lose 90% of my games that go into endgames, despite studying from Silman's books, Youtube etc, simply because they only show the model positions that virtually never occur in real games! It's always just 'this passed pawn against this piece is a draw/win, that piece endgame is a guaranteed draw, etc etc, now you are a pro, go win some endgames.' Idk if this if just because I haven't studied piece endgames other than Lucena and Philidor rook endgames, but I have studied the basic pawn endgames (and some more, like queen v pawn, rook v pawn etc), but people say that at my level (1100 chess.com) that should be enough, and it just isn't!!

For example, I know that in a basic king + pawn endgame, the king with the opposition wins/draws (except for rook pawns), but I never really get the exact king-pawn position in my games, y'know? Rook endgames are supposed to have a basic philosophy to them: rooks should be active, king should be active, no hanging pawns. But it's never that simple! I always think 'okay, my rooks are on open files, my pawns are defended, my king is active, I'm good', but then my opponent just seems to somehow create chances, pick on some pawn that is weak, takes the pawn, takes another pawn, and the game falls apart.

Pawn endgames are almost worse, because I manage to lose them even when I'm 2 pawns up! How?! I mean, I just try to go by the principles, opposition, outflanking, play on the side where you have a majority, but somehow the other king gets in, or I misjudge the position, the other side pawns are too advanced, and the opponent makes a queen. How? I studied the basics, but the basics never prepare you for real games, or is it just me?

To finish up, I know it's a 'me' problem, I'm not blaming anyone, my question is, how do I improve? Do I just study more and more, or practice positions, or what? My foundations are clear, I can solve a basic king-pawn endgame or lucena/philidor fine, but make it even slightly more complex and my brain turns into spaghetti Any advice? Can anyone relate?

Use cheat engine lol.

Hello, Hans

Yeah, thats the problem: His playlist is great for learning the endgames, but I already know the theoretical endgames; It's applying those principles in real games that's the problem :-(

Search for strong players games which have lasted long say 50+ moves, are commeted and study the end games there. Then you will se what kind of situations occur in real games and how to solve them.

You definitely have a point, although one could memorize plenty of theoretical endgames there's still plenty that you'll have to think for yourself in. And admittedly it is rare that you find an exact position where you'll win from Opposition or Gap Tooth Pawns or some other terminology that they only show you example games of. I personally think that the real way to be able to use this knowledge better is to actively aim some of your attention in the middlegame towards creating a theoretical endgame you know how to win with, and to basically use your superior knowledge to threaten to create one of these endgames as a way of freezing your opponent. And it probably also comes with experience, too.

Then again, I am just some random 1300, so I might not know what I'm talking about.

WHat endgame collection books would you recommend? Capa's best endings?

Doesn't work :-( That's what I always try, but somehow it just slips out.. I'm stuck defending, or I find a 'better' move (even though its not actually better) or something like that.

Maybe link it here? But underpromotion, as flashy as it looks and as rewarding as it is, doesn't occur in 99% of games. I'd still love to see it tho..