Guidelines
From Mednis| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
Edmar Mednis gave these guidelines:
- The rook pawn is the worst pawn to have. The defending king draws if it can get in front of the pawn or reach the square diagonally adjacent to the promotion square.
- For other pawns, the position on the right is the key position. White to move draws; Black to move loses (rule 2, parts b and c above).
- It is always an advantage to have the opposition.
- If the attacking king is on the sixth rank in front of the pawn it always wins (rule 2, parts a and c).
- It is always an advantage to have the king in front of its pawn. Otherwise, the key is whether or not the king can get in front of the pawn in an advantageous position.
- If the attacking king is on the third, fourth, or fifth rank in front of the pawn he wins if he has the opposition (rule 2, parts a and b).
- A king and doubled pawns win in all normal circumstances. The extra pawn is used only to make a tempo move to gain the opposition (Mednis 1978:253–69).
Read more about this topic: King And Pawn Versus King Endgame