Endgames.What I know about them would fill a thimble. Almost.
And most of what I know concerns endings featuring Rook pawns. See "One good blunder deserves another" and "All's well that ends well". Mickey Mouse stuff.
So why do I keep running into that stuff in my games??
Case in point: the following position comes from a recent typical FICS blitz game where I am getting destroyed by a much better player.
Ho-hum. White has only to play 58.Qa1, blocking my pawn, and then find the inevitable mate-in-ten-(or whatever)-moves that follows.
Instead, my opponent shows an unfamiliarity with another odd Rook-pawn ending, playing the Queen check 58.Qb8+.
Alas for him, it turns out that this allows a crucial tempo for Black to get his King to the second rank, 58...Kc2 and now the game is drawn.*
The usual strategy in Queen + Rook vs an advanced King + pawn-on-the-seventh/second rank is for the Queen to approach the enemy king by making a zig-zagging series of checks while threatening to win the pawn.
Eventually the defending monarch (dodging the checks and protecting the pawn) will need to step in front of his pawn, blocking its promotion. At that point, the White King can make a move toward where the action is.
The Black King will then move and unblock his pawn – but the White Queen will check him back there, using the found tempo to then move her King another step closer.
This takes a bit of time, but it is as relentless as the tides. Eventually the pawn will be captured, or the White King checkmated.
Unless the pawn is a Rook pawn or a Bishop pawn. Then, there is the possibility of a stalemate.
59.Qc7+ Kb1 60.Qb6+ Ka1
61.Qg1+ Kb2 62.Qf2+ Kb1 63.Qe1+ Kb2 64.Qd2+ 
Hoping for 64...Ka1 Qc1 checkmate!
Frustrating, isn't it?
66.Qc3+ Kb1 67.Qb3+ Ka1 
But for a tempo!
68.Qa3 Kb1 69.Kf5 a1Q 70.Qxa1+ Kxa1 draw
(*This was a 3 0 blitz game, and my opponent had an advantage in time by move 60. Had he been more familiar with this endgame and simply played out his moves quickly – despite being aware that such a strategy would lead to no advantage – he would likely have won the game on time. I considered his 69th move a sporting, gentlemanly gesture.)
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