I've been playing casually for a few months and my midgame is okay, but whenever I get to an endgame I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't really want to memorize a bunch of theoretical positions - is there a practical way to just improve by playing, or do I need to actually sit down and study?
The advice about playing lots of endgames is solid, but I'd push back a bit on the "don't study" part. You don't need to memorize theory, but spending even 10 minutes a week learning basic principles (like king activity, opposition, pawn races) will save you from repeated mistakes way faster than just grinding games. The thing is, when you're new to endgames, you're basically solving the same problems over and over without realizing it - a quick look at why certain moves work gives you the mental framework to recognize those patterns when they show up again.
That said, the intentional play part is what actually matters. After you learn a few core ideas, deliberately stay in endgames when you're analyzing your games instead of skipping to the post-mortem. Ask yourself why you lost - was it a blunder, bad calculation, or just not understanding the position? That reflection plus some casual study will get you improving fast without feeling like you're memorizing.
I've been in that exact spot, and honestly the good news is you don't need to memorize anything - you just need to play a lot of endgames and think about what's happening. The key is being intentional about it. When you're in an endgame during a game, slow down and ask yourself basic questions: where do my pieces need to go, how do I stop the opponent's threats, am I closer to promoting a pawn than they are. After the game, if you lost an endgame, spend five minutes thinking through what went wrong. Not studying some grand theory - just "oh, I should've moved my king there instead" or "I pushed my pawn too early and got trapped."
Play a ton of endgame positions against the computer at a level that makes you think but doesn't crush you instantly. Set up positions where you're up material or have a passed pawn and try to convert them - this teaches you the patterns without drilling memorization. You can also do the reverse: put yourself in difficult positions and try to hold. After a few weeks of this, you'll start recognizing positions and the moves feel more natural. The theory will come eventually if you keep playing, but you're building intuition first, which is way more valuable when you're still casual.
One more thing: watch a few short videos on basic principles like "activate your king in the endgame" or "passed pawns should be pushed" - not deep theory, just the fundamentals. Then apply them in your games. It's way faster and more practical than sitting with a textbook.
Playing a ton of endgame positions is definitely the way to go, but make sure you're analyzing your losses afterward - even just 5 minutes thinking through where you went wrong beats mindless grinding. The patterns stick way better when you understand *why* a move failed instead of just memorizing some grandmaster line.
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