Special squares ahead of a passed pawn.
Why it matters
Key squares are the squares in front of a pawn that win the game if your king reaches them, whoever is to move. They turn a vague plan — get the king forward — into a target you can count moves to.
For a pawn on the fourth rank or below, the key squares are the three squares two ranks ahead of it. Once you know that, king and pawn endgames become a race to a named square rather than a guess.
See it on a board
d6, c6 and e6 are the key squares for the pawn on d4. The white king reaches one of them, and the position is won whoever moves next.
Checked: the position really has the feature described.
How to play it
- Find the key squares: for a pawn short of the fifth rank, the three squares two ranks in front of it.
- Route the king towards them, taking the opposition on the way if the defending king contests them.
- Once the king stands on one, push the pawn — the win is automatic from there.
At each level
The same idea, said the way it is taught at each age.
Knight · ages 4–6
There are squares in front of your pawn that win if your king gets there. Aim for those, not for pushing the pawn.
Rook · ages 6–9
For a pawn on the fifth, sixth or seventh rank the key squares change. Learn the rule for each rank rather than one rule for all of them.
What goes wrong
- Pushing the pawn to the key square instead of putting the king there.
- Heading for the square in front of the pawn when the one beside it was the one that wins.
Questions people ask
- Do key squares work for rook's pawns?
- No. A rook's pawn has no key squares that win, because the defending king in the corner cannot be driven out. That is the one file where the rule does not apply.