There are three stages in a game of chess: The Opening, The Middle game and The Endgame.
the opening as the name suggests is the first stage of a chess game. It is the initial moves made by both players that sets the game in motion.
The middle game is the second stage of the game. the main objective of this stage is the protection of one's king, attacking the opponent's king, winning the exchanges that occur frequently in this stage, etc. Sometimes the game is decided in the middle game in which case the game won't even have and endgame!
Finally, the endgame is the third and last part of a chess game. The line between the middle game and endgame is a blurred one. one cannot pinpoint a definite point in the game when the middle game ends and endgame begins.
Generally it can be said that endgame is when few pieces are left on the board, but how few is 'few'?
10 pieces? 15 pieces? or 5?
What is certain is that in endgame the king becomes much more active and in middle game as a result of the significantly reduced chance of a checkmate. So whereas in the opening and middle game the king has to be protected and kept in the corners, in the endgame it can actively join the game and even be a part of attacks.
Pawns also increase significantly in value in the endgame because much of this stage is spent trying to promote the pawns (usually to queens) in order to gain the upper hand.
Why is Endgame important?
As said in the previous section, the endgame is the last stage of a chess game and when few pieces are left on the board. Every decision made, every move performed is fundamental to the outcome of the game. If one does not employ the correct strategy to deal with the endgame, one is sure to lose the game. It must be noted that unlike the opening, there is no general strategy for the endgame as it differs for every instances of the game and it is this aspect of endgame that makes it so challenging for both human players and chess programs.
Even the most powerful chess engines sometimes face with difficulties in the endgame. They would play a strong opening and middle game but as soon as the game enters its final stage, the engines make less 'smart' moves and sometimes they make moves that even a beginner would no better than to make. Why is that?
One reason could be that the strategies needed in the endgame are vastly different from the other two stages of the game and as said before the values of the pieces - especially pawns, and kings - changes in the endgame along with their roles. The pawns play a much more important role than before, for instance. These and other factors should be taken into consideration when deciding on a move in the endgame and that's where chess programs have difficulties. How then should we go about fixing this problem?
That is precisely the question I set out to answer in my project!
Learn more about my project in the 'The Project' section of my blog.
Thank you for bearing with me this far!
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