What is Opposition in chess?
A king-and-pawn endgame technique of facing kings with one square between them.
Having the opposition - when it's the opponent's move and the kings face off - lets your king gain ground. It's the key idea behind winning many pawn endgames.
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- Promotion (queening)A pawn reaching the far rank becomes any piece, almost always a queen.
- Passed pawnA pawn with no enemy pawns able to block or capture it on its way to promotion.
- Isolated pawnA pawn with no friendly pawns on the adjacent files.
- Doubled pawnsTwo friendly pawns stacked on the same file.
- OutpostA square (often supported by a pawn) that an enemy pawn can never attack.
- BatteryTwo pieces lined up on the same file, rank, or diagonal to multiply their force.