user23713: Are there any resources with a list of short endgame facts and rules ? For instance : "2 connected pawns on the 6th rank always win against a rook" , "rook's pawn results often in a draw in KPvP endings".
Or do I have to necessarely go through an endgame manual to find this information ?

user16001: I think the book "100 endgames you must know" by GM Jesus de la Villa (sample pages) comes close to what you describe. The book is much more than just "facts", but it tries to summarize each of the titular 100 endgames with a short sentence which describe the situation. The second part, of what must be done, will be left for you to summarize, after you read the explanation.

user30316: The golden rules of converting a won endgame -



The Plan - schematic thinking. Creating step-by-step plans that lead to eventual success make playing the game easier. Apart from methodology, it has a great psychological effect because we don't concentrate on winning a difficult position but on something which is close at hand (e.g. creating a passed pawn).


Exchange - When there are not many pieces left on the board, every exchange counts. It's extremely important to consider your exchanges carefully as there's no time and possibility to obtain compensation. Consequences are severe!
Restricting your opponent's possibilities (to maximum) - Every single player should master the art of prophylactical thinking. Even the smallest sign of activity should be put down immediately. It's one of the most important rules.
No rush! - When redeeming the advantage, it's crucial to remain calm and play solid chess even if other possibilities are more tempting. We should consider all of the possible options and before undertaking any measures that drastically change the situation on the board, improve our own position at most. "No rush" doesn't mean unnecessary loss of time. On contrary, every single tempo counts.
Two weaknesses rule - If our opponent is pushed into defense, the play should be conducted on the whole board. Creating new weaknesses, problems and attacking them alternately.
Transformation of the advantage - It's a rare situation when there's only one type of an advantage during the endgame. Chess is a dynamic game and in most cases it's beneficial to change one type of the advantage to another one (e.g. sacrifice an exchange in order to queen the pawn).
These rules are for converting a won endgame, doesn't answer your question, but I hope it was helpful.


user3884: "Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual" is exactly one such book that contains a lot of these short facts. You can treat it similarly to an encyclopedia in that regard. Throughout, he writes these key tidbits of advice in italics like so:


I will caution you though that the actual meat of this book is incredibly involved and is most appropriate for players >2000 OTB. There are other books out there that contain the most simplified bits of advice. Shameless plug for my own set of lichess studies on the endgame that contains exactly those bits of info that I think are most relevant without the most complicated examples. I've linked to the study for advanced players, but there are also studies for beginners, studies for intermediate players, and studies specific to rook endgames linked throughout. I describe the "rules" of king and pawn endgame races as follows:

Finally I can address your exact question. The endgame is the portion of the game where one must calculate the most precisely. These general rules are helpful to help guide one's thoughts, but remember: nothing beats a good move. There are countless counterexamples to the general principles. Without an endgame manual or similar to show you how and why the general facts/rules work and fail, the rules are not so useful on their own. So yes you should necessarily go through guided material that presents the rules. No you should not just read the rules by themselves.

23713: <p>Are there any resources with a list of short endgame facts and rules ? For instance : &quot;2 connected pawns on the 6th rank always win against a rook&quot; , &quot;rook's pawn results often in a draw in KPvP endings&quot;.</p>
<p>Or do I have to necessarely go through an endgame manual to find this information ?</p>
 16001: <p>I think the book &quot;100 endgames you must know&quot; by GM Jesus de la Villa (<a href="https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9026.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">sample pages</a>) comes close to what you describe. The book is much more than just &quot;facts&quot;, but it tries to summarize each of the titular 100 endgames with a short sentence which describe the situation. The second part, of what must be done, will be left for you to summarize, after you read the explanation.</p>
 30316: <p>The golden rules of converting a won endgame -</p>
<ol>
<li>
<ol>
<li>The Plan - schematic thinking. Creating step-by-step plans that lead to eventual success make playing the game easier. Apart from methodology, it has a great psychological effect because we don't concentrate on winning a difficult position but on something which is close at hand (e.g. creating a passed pawn).</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Exchange - When there are not many pieces left on the board, every exchange counts. It's extremely important to consider your exchanges carefully as there's no time and possibility to obtain compensation. Consequences are severe!</li>
<li>Restricting your opponent's possibilities (to maximum) - Every single player should master the art of prophylactical thinking. Even the smallest sign of activity should be put down immediately. It's one of the most important rules.</li>
<li>No rush! - When redeeming the advantage, it's crucial to remain calm and play solid chess even if other possibilities are more tempting. We should consider all of the possible options and before undertaking any measures that drastically change the situation on the board, improve our own position at most. &quot;No rush&quot; doesn't mean unnecessary loss of time. On contrary, every single tempo counts.</li>
<li>Two weaknesses rule - If our opponent is pushed into defense, the play should be conducted on the whole board. Creating new weaknesses, problems and attacking them alternately.</li>
<li>Transformation of the advantage - It's a rare situation when there's only one type of an advantage during the endgame. Chess is a dynamic game and in most cases it's beneficial to change one type of the advantage to another one (e.g. sacrifice an exchange in order to queen the pawn).
These rules are for converting a won endgame, doesn't answer your question, but I hope it was helpful.</li>
</ol>
 3884: <p>&quot;Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual&quot; is exactly one such book that contains a lot of these short facts. You can treat it similarly to an encyclopedia in that regard. Throughout, he writes these key tidbits of advice in italics like so:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/F52QI.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/F52QI.png" alt="king and pawn endgame advice" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ezwOC.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ezwOC.png" alt="rook endgame advice" /></a></p>
<p>I will caution you though that the actual meat of this book is incredibly involved and is most appropriate for players &gt;2000 OTB. There are other books out there that contain the most simplified bits of advice. <a href="https://lichess.org/study/UO2zqigQ" rel="noreferrer">Shameless plug for my own set of lichess studies on the endgame</a> that contains exactly those bits of info that I think are most relevant without the most complicated examples. I've linked to the study for advanced players, but there are also studies for beginners, studies for intermediate players, and studies specific to rook endgames linked throughout. I describe the &quot;rules&quot; of king and pawn endgame races as follows:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/zxTR0.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/zxTR0.png" alt="from my study" /></a></p>
<p>Finally I can address your exact question. The endgame is the portion of the game where one must calculate the most precisely. These general rules are helpful to help guide one's thoughts, but remember: <em>nothing beats a good move.</em> There are countless counterexamples to the general principles. Without an endgame manual or similar to show you how and why the general facts/rules work <em>and fail</em>, the rules are not so useful on their own. So yes you should necessarily go through guided material that presents the rules. No you should not just read the rules by themselves.</p>
