Pawns and kings only. First to promote wins.
Both sides have eight pawns and a king. Nothing else. The first player to promote a pawn wins; if a side has no legal move, the opponent wins.
Pawn Battle is the endgame you should have studied, played as a whole game. Opposition, the rule of the square, passed pawns and outside majorities are not concepts here — they are the entire game, and you will learn them in an afternoon.
Kings facing each other with one square between: whoever must move gives way. This decides the majority of Pawn Battles.
A passed pawn far from the kings drags the enemy king away, and your king eats everything on the other side.
Pawns cannot defend themselves. Every advance should be supported.
When both sides have a runner, count to the promotion square. One tempo decides it, every time.
Advanced pawns are weak pawns. Bring the king first.
Having no legal move loses here. Do not lock your own position.
Every trade changes the count. Calculate the resulting race before you take.
Opposition, the rule of the square, outside passed pawns, the tempo count. These are the four things that decide real endgames and Pawn Battle is nothing but them. An hour here is worth a chapter.
That is the argument for variants generally, and it is worth stating plainly: a variant removes part of chess so that what remains gets your full attention. Played casually they are a pleasant break. Played deliberately — naming the skill first, then going back to a standard game and finding the same idea — they are the most efficient training available, because you are practising one thing at a time instead of everything at once.
Every improving player, without exception. This is the fastest endgame training available and it does not feel like training.
You can play it right now on any device, in a browser, against a full engine — no download and no account. If you have never tried a variant before, give it three games rather than one: the first is spent learning the rules, and the second is where it starts being chess.
In the browser, against a real engine, no sign-up. One of twenty variants in the Grandmaster Gains Academy.
♔ Play Pawn BattleBoth sides have eight pawns and a king. Nothing else. The first player to promote a pawn wins; if a side has no legal move, the opponent wins.
The rules take about two minutes. Every improving player, without exception. This is the fastest endgame training available and it does not feel like training.
Learn the opposition and you win most games. Kings facing each other with one square between: whoever must move gives way. This decides the majority of Pawn Battles.
Grandmaster Gains has Pawn Battle playable in the browser against a full engine, free and with no sign-up, alongside nineteen other variants.
The endgame, faster than any book. Opposition, the rule of the square, outside passed pawns, the tempo count. These are the four things that decide real endgames and Pawn Battle is nothing but them. An hour here is worth a chapter.
Do not rush the pawns forward. Advanced pawns are weak pawns. Bring the king first.
Each variant isolates one skill and drills it harder than any exercise. The coach's guide to variants covers which one to use for what, or see the trainer classroom.