Step 2: Each Move Becomes More Valuable in the Endgame

The importance of a single move changes completely from the opening to the endgame.

As the game progresses, both players accumulate pieces in hand and promoted pieces on the board, which means the endgame enables a continuous stream of powerful attacking moves. The ideal endgame scenario is one where you keep landing powerful attacking blows while your opponent can only scramble to defend and never gets a turn to attack.

Conversely, in the endgame, moves that merely run away to avoid capture, or passive defensive moves that would have been natural in the opening, have very low value. Spending a move on these breaks the momentum of your attack and gives your opponent time to regroup.

Whether you spent your endgame moves on attacking or not is very often what decides the outcome.

That is exactly why it is so important to build a good formation in the opening and middlegame, and to fix any weaknesses before the endgame begins.

Use the opening and middlegame to "prepare for the endgame"

To keep attacking in the endgame, you need to build the foundation for it earlier. Try keeping these points in mind:

• Don't leave bad formations: Isolated or immobile pieces can become liabilities in the endgame
• Advance your attacking pieces: Get them into positions where they can be effective when the endgame arrives
• Think about how you spend each move: Every purely defensive move you make is one fewer attacking move available in the endgame

Each move in the opening and middlegame is a small deposit into your "attacking fund" for the endgame. Once this thinking becomes natural, you will find yourself automatically aiming for better formations.