King Marches Inflicted Upon Me

There is no piece that is least useful in most games as the king-unless all other pieces have been traded off. However, is this a misperception by us? In reality, there are both defensive and offensive king marches that can inflict incredible damage upon your opponent's position. There are many books and chapters of books about king marches, but I will not go over them in this article. In this article, I will just show two very nice king marches from my games, in which I was on the losing side. Hopefully you find them instructive and useful!

Game 1

In this game I was up a piece in an endgame but had under 20 seconds with no increment. While I should have won easily, my opponent found a very nice plan.

What do you attempt as white here?

Very nice idea! As black's plan is to rush to the other side with the king to assist the pawn, white, while still losing, can attempt creating counterplay. Of course, black will have to be very stupid to allow something like this and not allow h6-which he was.

I slide back my rook to defend my pawn, but this only helps white make their entry to g7 all the better. At this point, my advantage is almost gone.

Just like that, engine says white is better, despite being down a piece.

White achieves their goal and has a deadly passed pawn ready to promote.

White was completely winning here but then messed up, but I flagged. The highlight was the king marching from g1 to f7 and achieving a winning position for white.

Game 2

The previous game was an offensive king march, while this one is rather defensive-with a very nice twist in the end! This next game started off with what seemed like an everyday middlegame position. However, the king started moving from b1 to b2...

However, a few moves later white was forced ahead another step.

It didn't end there! The king decided to go on to b3, and then b4.

But then suddenly, white decides that it ends. No longer will the king run to save his skin, but to win pawns!

White is pushed forward even more!

Finally, the king is forced all the way to d6, and where is black's killer blow? We always hear about forcing the king out to the open and mating, but where's the mate? Just give a check and force the king down further, then we'll find a mate-right?

But is this natural looking move a blunder?

Yes it is!

With one short leap of the king, white gains a victory by threatening both back rank mate and the king threatening the rook!! Black resigned a few moves later.

Conclusion

Hopefully you found those as enjoyable as I did! If you have any fun king march examples, reach out and let me know! If you want to have active pieces like those kings, check out this course Happy Pieces, where a GM helps you learn how to win games by having your pieces reach their maximum potential. See you all later!