The title of the video I have linked to is “You’ll Never Improve Unless You Learn Endgames.”
My opinion is that the title becomes increasingly true once a player reaches a certain intermediate standard.
For a complete beginner, however, I would put something else first. Beginner players often lose pieces carelessly, overlook simple threats or fail to notice that a piece is being attacked. Surely that has to be the first thing to improve.
There is little point studying sophisticated King and Pawn endings if you are regularly losing a Queen, Rook or piece in the middlegame.
Once those basic mistakes become less frequent, though, the endgame becomes enormously important.
I would definitely say that learning endgames is far more important than trying to become an expert on an opening such as the Ruy Lopez, for example.
The Ruy Lopez is sometimes nicknamed the Spanish Torture, and there is a reason for that. There are an enormous number of variations, plans and possible move orders. Even very strong players do not all choose the same variations.
A developing player could spend hours memorising opening theory and still find that an opponent plays something unexpected after only a few moves.
Endgame knowledge is different.
The ideas you learn in endgames occur again and again in completely different games.
Understanding how to use your King, create a passed pawn, activate a Rook or calculate a pawn race can remain useful throughout your entire chess career.
One of the most important differences between the opening and the endgame is the role of the King.
During the opening and middlegame, we are usually concerned with King safety. We castle, keep pawns around the King and try not to expose it unnecessarily.
In the endgame, the situation can be almost the opposite.
Once many of the major attacking pieces have disappeared, the King becomes a very powerful piece and should normally become active.
A King that remains hidden on the back rank while the opponent’s King moves towards the centre can put you at a serious disadvantage.
In many King and Pawn endings, moving the King only one square closer can make the difference between winning and drawing.
So one important endgame principle is:
Activate your King.
Another fundamental idea is the passed pawn.
A passed pawn is a pawn that has no opposing pawn directly in front of it or on neighbouring files capable of stopping its advance.
In the middlegame, a passed pawn may not immediately look particularly dangerous.
In an endgame, it can become the most important feature of the entire position.
As pieces disappear, the possibility of promoting a pawn becomes more realistic. A passed pawn can force the opponent’s King or pieces into defensive positions and may create opportunities elsewhere on the board.
This is why creating a passed pawn — and stopping your opponent from creating one — is such an important endgame skill.
Rook endings occur frequently, so learning some basic Rook endgame ideas is particularly worthwhile.
A passive Rook can be a terrible piece.
Rooks usually want open files, activity and the ability to attack pawns from the side or behind.
One useful principle is that Rooks often belong behind passed pawns, whether the passed pawn belongs to you or your opponent.
If it is your pawn, the Rook can support its advance.
If it is your opponent’s pawn, the Rook can attack it from behind while remaining active.
As always in Chess, there are exceptions, but learning the principle gives a player something sensible to think about instead of making moves without a plan.
King and Pawn endings may look simple because there are so few pieces on the board.
They are often anything but simple.
One square can completely change the result.
Ideas such as opposition, key squares and pawn races become extremely important. Sometimes you have to calculate all the way to promotion before making what appears to be a very ordinary King move.
This makes simple pawn endings excellent training for calculation.
There is nowhere for an inaccurate move to hide.
This is another reason I think endgame study is so valuable.
Learning endgames does not only help once the endgame has actually arrived.
It can improve decisions earlier in the game.
Suppose you have the opportunity to exchange Queens and several pieces. Should you do it?
That depends partly on whether the resulting endgame is favourable.
A player with good endgame understanding can look ahead and think:
Will my King be more active?
Do I have a better pawn structure?
Can I create a passed pawn?
Is the resulting Rook ending favourable?
Without some endgame knowledge, exchanges can easily be made almost automatically.
Understanding the likely endgame gives those decisions much more purpose.
A common mistake is to assume that exchanging pieces is always sensible when you are ahead.
It often is useful, particularly if you are ahead in material, because fewer pieces can reduce your opponent’s attacking possibilities.
But exchanges should still be considered carefully.
You do not want to exchange into a pawn ending that is drawn — or even lost — simply because you were ahead beforehand.
Again, endgame knowledge tells you which exchanges actually help you.
This is perhaps what I find most valuable about studying them.
Opening study can sometimes become heavily dependent on remembering moves.
Endgames force you to understand.
You need to know why the King belongs on a certain square, why a Rook should become active, when a pawn can safely advance and whether an exchange helps or hurts you.
That makes endgame study particularly valuable for developing independent chess thinking.
I would still make an important distinction between a complete beginner and an improving intermediate player.
For the beginner, the priorities should include:
Once these skills become more reliable, endgame study should become increasingly important.
A player certainly does not need to memorise every complicated theoretical ending immediately.
Starting with King and Pawn endings, opposition, passed pawns, basic Rook activity and simple checkmates already gives a very useful foundation.
The endgame should not really be thought of as an isolated final stage that only matters after everything else has happened.
What we know about the endgame affects how we play the middlegame, which exchanges we choose and which pawn structures we are willing to enter.
That is why, once a player reaches a reasonable standard, I agree strongly with the main message of the video.
There is certainly a place for opening study. Openings are interesting, and understanding their ideas is important.
But becoming an expert in endless opening variations while neglecting fundamental endings is unlikely to be the most efficient way to improve.
For a developing player, understanding what to do when fewer pieces remain on the board can ultimately be much more valuable than knowing another ten moves of opening theory.