@gambitking The endgame can be tricky because if the pawns (opponents or yours) are positioned in a certain way along with your king then just one wrong move can turn a win into a draw, or a loss if the opponent really knows what they’re doing.
@Eggie If I had to give any advice here relating to mandatory endgame knowledge there are a few things that I would cover:
1. Learn how to queen a pawn with just your king vs the opponents lone king. Hint: Not every scenerio is winnable here, especially if the opponent knows what they’re doing.
2. Learn how to mate the opponents king with just your king and queen.
3. Learn how to mate the opponents king with just your king and rook.
4. Learn how to mate the opponents king with two bishops and your king. It is a rare ending scenerio but it will help you with your technique.
5. Learn how to mate the opponents king with a knight, bishop and your king. This, like the two bishop ending is a tougher one but mate can be forced here.
6. Learn how to queen a lone pawn with your lone king and a bishop that covers the same colored square as your lone pawns queening square, where the opponents king already has a headstart to the pawn’s queening square on you. (This can be forced)
As far as defense goes here are two important scenerios that you should be aware of:
1. Learn how to force a draw with your lone king vs the opponents king and lone pawn (when possible) via the 50 move rule.
2. Learn how to force a draw with your lone king vs the opponents king, lone pawn and lone bishop which does not cover the same color queening square that the pawn needs to reach via the 50 move rule. Your king needs to have a headstart with this one.
The best advice however is to think every move through and your strategy should be to make it difficult for your opponent to play their game (use their strategy) against you. A good beginning and middle game strategy will help you to avoid the endgame.
The endgame however in my opinion should be the first thing a chess player should know since it concentrates on the basics on each pieces/pawns moving ability. I can’t cover all of the endgame scenerios here but you can practice some of these strategies on this simulation.