Such positions as Diagram 56 are also reached when there are several pawns on each wing. The stronger side exchanges pawns on the wing where there is a majority until the extra pawn is passed.
The winning process is not quite so simple when all the pawns are on the same wing, because exchanges are of no use unless the King can assume the opposition in front of the last remaining pawn (compare notes to Diagram 53).
In Diagram 57, for instance, White must not play P-B4. Therefore he can only win by gaining the Knight’s Pawn,
Diag. 57
that is, by bringing his King to B5. This he achieves by forcing the Black King to relinquish the opposition with 1. P-B3.
1. … K-B3; 2. K-K5, K-Kt2; 3. K-Q6, K-Kt3; 4. K-Q5, K-Kt2; 5. K-B5, K-R3; 6. K-B6, and wins, as Black must abandon the pawn.
This position, being of frequent occurrence, is most important, and I recommend it as a valuable study in the use of the opposition.
Before I discuss positions of greater complexity, in which the only way to win is by sacrificing the extra pawn, I shall treat of end-games in which positional advantages ensure the victory although the pawns are equal. Here we shall find simple cases in which pawn manœuvres bring about the win, and more intricate ones in which King moves are the deciding factor.
Of the former the most important type is the end-game with the “distant passed pawn.” A typical example is the position in Diagram 58, in which Black wins.