Chess Patterns   ❯   King Techniques   ❯   Opposition

  • Opposition strategy card with definition, diagram and tips - front
  • Opposition strategy card with definition, diagram and tips - back
  • Opposition chess icon
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Opposition

Opposition

The term Opposition refers to a specific positioning of Kings where they face each other directly with one square between them. This situation forces the player who must move to give way to the opponent's King, allowing it to advance. The player who does not have the move is said to "have the opposition". Having the opposition becomes especially important in pawn endgames where King placement is vital for promoting pawns or preventing the opponent from doing so.

In the diagram above, White gains the opposition with 1.Kd5, and Black is forced to let the opponent's King penetrate the position. The game may continue: 1...Ke7 2.Kc6 Kd8 3.Kxb6 and White soon promotes.

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Master the Opposition

When we started adding a playful touch to chess learning, we looked through thousands of videos and hundreds of books to find the best resources out there. Here's our curated selection of the best content we encountered on the concept of Opposition. We also included some smaller creators who are growing fast and we believe deserve your attention. Check out these resources if you want to master this important endgame technique.

 
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