Triangulation - chess Triangulation is a tactic used in chess to put one's opponent in zugzwang. That is, it is a tactic, the goal of which is to return to the initial position in such a way that one's opponent is then forced to move first in the position, when it is a disadvantage for that player to move, e.g. he must abandon a blockade and let the other player penetrate his position. Triangulation is also called losing a tempo or losing a move. Triangulation occurs most commonly in endgames with only kings and pawns when one king can maneuver on three adjacent squares in the shape of a triangle and maintain the basic position while the opposing king only has two such squares. Thus, if one king triangulates by using three moves to return to the original square and the opposing king cannot do the same, he has lost a crucial tempo and reached the same position with the other player to move. Triangulation can occur in other endgames and even in some middlegames (Flear 2004:15).
Triangulation in chess is an endgame related tactic to put the opponent in zugzwang by explicitly losing a tempo. Triangulation performs an artificial null move, a piece (except pawn and knight) uses three moves to return to its original square, while the defending side is not able to do so. Most often triangulation occurs with the king in pawn endings to "win" the opposition. Queen-triangulation is a theme in KQKR, as demonstrated in Philidor's KQKR position [2], while rook-triangulation [3] is a motive in rook endgames, and bishop-triangulation happens rarely in bishop versus knight endings [4]. In blocked pawn endgames, triangulation and opposition is incorporated in the general concept of corresponding squares. Triangulation, like any other zugzwang related motives, requires some care in search using null move pruning. Most programs either disable null move pruning completely in such late endgames, or at least perform a verification search.