EndgamesPlay as White

Réti's King March

Hold a pawn race that looks lost: march the king down the long diagonal so that every step chases Black's passed pawn and supports your own at the same time.

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Introduction

Richard Réti published this study in 1921: White to move and draw. It looks impossible. Black's h-pawn runs to h1 and your king on h8 is two tempi too slow to catch it. Your own c-pawn is five files from your king, and Black's king is close enough to attack it. The answer lies in how a king measures distance. A diagonal step costs the same as a straight one: from h8 the king reaches e5 in three moves, exactly as it reaches h5 or e8. So a king on the diagonal h8–e5 loses no time against the h-pawn and no time on the way to the c-pawn. It follows two routes at once, and Black has only one move per turn to answer both.

Lesson Content

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1. ♔︎g7

Your king is too far away to catch the h-pawn and too far away to help the c-pawn — find the one step that brings it closer to both.

♔︎g7 is the only move that holds. It is one rank closer to the h-pawn's path and one file closer to your c-pawn — the same step serves both. On its own, neither chase works: the h-pawn is still out of reach and the c-pawn is still unsupported. Together they will force Black to spend moves on the king instead of the pawn.

Pawn RacePiece Activity

Alternative Moves

♔︎h7 — ♔︎h7 runs straight after the pawn and stays two tempi behind it: after h4 ♔︎g6 h3 ♔︎g5 h2 the pawn queens next move, and your c-pawn is too far from your king to answer with a queen of your own.

c7 — c7 pushes the pawn where your king cannot help it: ♔︎b7 stops it and ♔︎xc7 takes it, and then nothing slows the h-pawn on its way to a queen.

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1. ..h4

h4 starts the race. Black sees no reason to worry: your king is outside the square of the h-pawn, so it cannot stop the pawn from queening by running after it. If Black plays ♔︎b6 first and pushes the pawn a move later, the same position arises — the order does not matter.

Pawn RacePassed Pawn

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2. ♔︎f6

The h-pawn is still out of reach. Keep following it, and at the same time come within range of your own pawn.

♔︎f6 continues along the diagonal and creates the first real threat: one more step and your king is close enough to escort the c-pawn to c8. If Black ignores that and pushes, h3 ♔︎e7 h2 c7 follows: your king is in time to support its pawn, and both sides get a queen. The king has not caught the h-pawn, but it has lost no ground to it either. Every other move loses.

Pawn RaceThreat

Alternative Moves

♔︎g6 — ♔︎g6 chases the pawn alone, and a straight chase is too slow: after h3 ♔︎g5 h2 Black queens next move, and you have nothing on the other wing to answer with.

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2. ..♔︎b6

♔︎b6 attacks your c-pawn — and it is the first move Black has spent on the king instead of the h-pawn. Pushing at once would let your king reach its pawn in time, as you just saw. So Black tries to remove your pawn first and win the race afterwards.

ThreatTempo

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3. ♔︎e5

Your pawn is attacked and the h-pawn is still running. Find the king move that keeps an answer ready on both wings.

♔︎e5 is the point of the study. From e5 your king is one step from d6, where it guards the c-pawn's road to c8, and one step from f4, where it would stand inside the square of the h-pawn once Black spends a move taking on c6. Black can stop one of the two but not both, so the game can no longer be won. No other move draws.

Pawn RaceThreatKey Squares

Alternative Moves

♔︎e6 — ♔︎e6 heads toward the c-pawn only, and Black simply takes it: after ♔︎xc6 ♔︎f5 h3 ♔︎g4 h2 your king is one step short and the h-pawn queens.

♔︎g5 — ♔︎g5 goes after the h-pawn only, and it is still out of reach: after h3 ♔︎g4 h2 the pawn queens next move, while your c-pawn has no king near it.

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3. ..h3

h3 keeps the pawn ahead of your king and leaves the c-pawn alone. Taking it instead costs Black a second king move, and that is exactly what you were short of: after ♔︎xc6 ♔︎f4 h3 ♔︎g3 h2 ♔︎xh2 only the two kings remain. Two tempi missing at the start, two king moves by Black — the diagonal collected them.

Pawn RaceTempo

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4. ♔︎d6

Black pushed the pawn and left yours on the board. One of your two plans no longer works — switch to the other.

♔︎d6 changes direction, because the h-pawn has moved out of reach again and the c-pawn is now the stronger hand. The king guards c7 and stands ready to guard c8, so your pawn can run with support. Both pawns are now two moves from queening.

Pawn RacePassed Pawn

Alternative Moves

♔︎f4 — ♔︎f4 is one move too late for the h-pawn: after h2 ♔︎g3 h1=♕︎ Black has a queen, and your c-pawn is lost because your king has walked away from it.

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4. ..h2

h2 brings the pawn one step from a queen. Black is still a move ahead in the race, so the question is no longer who queens first. It is whether your pawn queens at all — and whether it does so safely.

Pawn RacePassed Pawn

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5. c7

Black queens next move. Make sure you can do the same.

c7 puts your pawn one step from a queen too, and with your king beside it Black cannot take it. If Black queens at once with h1=♕︎, you answer c8=♕︎ and each side has a queen — a draw. There is no time for another king move here.

Pawn RacePassed Pawn

Alternative Moves

♔︎d7 — ♔︎d7 wastes the one move you had: after h1=♕︎ c7 ♕︎b7 the new queen pins your pawn to your king, takes it next move, and Black wins with queen against bare king.

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5. ..♔︎b7

♔︎b7 is Black's last try. The king covers c8, so a pawn that promotes now is simply captured, and Black's own pawn still queens next move. Black has spent a second king move to set this up, and that gives you time for one more move of your own.

ThreatTempo

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6. ♔︎d7

Black's king covers the square where your pawn wants to queen. Take control of that square back.

♔︎d7 takes c8 back: your king now guards that square, so Black's king can no longer capture what arrives there. This is why the king went to d6 and not after the h-pawn: it arrives beside its pawn at the last possible moment. Any other move loses.

Pawn RaceKey Squares

Alternative Moves

c8=♕︎+ — c8=♕︎+ promotes on a square only Black controls: ♔︎xc8 takes the queen for nothing, and after ♔︎c6 h1=♕︎+ Black is a queen up and wins.

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6. ..h1=♕︎

h1=♕︎ gives Black the queen first, after a race Black led from the first move. But the new queen gives no check, and your pawn is one step from c8 with your king guarding that square. You have exactly one move to use it.

Pawn Race

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7. c8=♕︎+

Black has a queen. Level the material at once.

c8=♕︎+ promotes with check, so Black must move the king before the new queen can do anything. Queen against queen with no pawns is a draw, and the tablebase confirms it here. Your king started two tempi behind a passed pawn, and you still queened one move after Black did.

Pawn RacePassed Pawn

Alternative Moves

♔︎d8 — ♔︎d8 gives the queen a free move: after ♕︎d5+ ♔︎e7 ♔︎xc7 your pawn is gone, and Black wins with queen against bare king.

Key Takeaways

A king's diagonal step counts the same as a straight one, so a diagonal route can follow two targets without losing time against either
A threat is worth a tempo: every move Black spends on the king to answer it is a move the passed pawn does not make
Keep both plans alive for as long as you can, and commit to one only when Black has dealt with the other
In a pawn race, count the kings' moves as well as the pawns' — the side that queens second still draws if it queens safely

Now play it through

Step through every move on a real board, try the wrong ones, and ask Knighty why they fail.

Practice Interactively

Related Lessons

Rook and Pawn vs Bishop

Two Pawns vs One

Shouldering (Body Check)

Summary

You drew a pawn race that a straight count says is lost. The king went ♔︎g7, ♔︎f6, ♔︎e5 — along the diagonal, where each step came closer to the h-pawn and to the c-pawn alike. That left Black a choice with no good answer: take your pawn and let the king catch the h-pawn, or keep running and let your pawn queen with the king's support. Black ran, so the king turned to d6 and d7, and both sides queened.

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Next in this course

Lasker's Manoeuvre: The Stepladder

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