YOUR SHORTCUT TO ROOK &

PAWN VS. ROOK ENDGAMES

Lars Bo Hansen

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Master Chess
Lesson 5

Text copyright © 2015 Lars Bo Hansen
All Rights Reserved
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
How to read & study this lesson
The Philidor Position: Sixth rank defense
The Lucena Position: Building a bridge on the fourth rank
Rook on the long side, King on the short side
Capablanca’s Trap and the special case of the knight pawn
The Kling and Horwitz Defense: Attacking the pawn from behind
The Stalemate trick
The Vertical Barrier
The Horizontal barrier
The Vancura position
Zugzwang
The Saavedra Maneuver
The Lasker Maneuver
The Advanced Lucena
Exercises
Tips for self-improvement
Master another chess topic
Introduction
Rook endgames are probably the most common type of endgames. At first
sight, they might seem simple: the material is very limited; all lines seem
pretty straightforward.
Don’t fall for that ILLUSION!
As we shall see, even world-class Grandmasters can slip up in these
deceptively simple positions. Rook endgames require careful study. There is
no way around it if you want to succeed in chess.
The most basic rook endgames are those where one side has Rook and Pawn
and the other side just a Rook. Such endgames eventually occur as all other
pawns are traded. Some of them are won for the side with the extra pawn,
others are drawn. Knowing which basic Rook and Pawn vs. Rook endgames
to enter – and which to try to avoid – is an essential skill for all competitive
players.
That’s the bad news – unless you, like me, actually enjoy studying
endgames. I find this part of the game fascinating. But for some reason, few
chess players seem to share this interest!
The good news is that at this very moment, the SHORTCUT for survival in
almost all Rook and Pawn vs. Rook endgames is right in your hands. This
lesson is your survival guide. I have compiled and outlined the 13 most
fundamental principles for how to play endgames of the type Rook and
Pawn vs. Rook. The time spent on studying the 10 principles presented in
the following pages is well invested. Every time you enter this type of
endgame in the future you will do so with greater confidence, and naturally,
with better results.
The 13 principles are:
- The Philidor Position: Sixth rank defense
- The Lucena Position: Building a bridge on the fourth rank
- Rook on the long side, king on the short side
- Capablanca’s Trap and the special case of the knight pawn
- The Kling and Horwitz Defense: Attacking the pawn from behind
- The stalemate trick
- The vertical barrier
- The horizontal barrier
- The Vancura Position
- Zugzwang
- The Saavedra Maneuver
- The Lasker Maneuver
- The Advanced Lucena
How to read & study this lesson
Let me start with the obvious: do the first chapters first. The Philidor and
Lucena positions are the most basic Rook Endgame positions. As you
advance through the subsequent chapters, you’ll notice comments referring
back to Philidor or Lucena. That’s inevitable. So, learn them. Train them.
Make sure you know them to such an extent that you are able to play them
correctly even in a blitz game. Going over the next chapters you might catch
yourself thinking: “… I need to prevent Black from building a Lucena”. That’s
your reward! It shows that you are well on your way to mastering those
tricky endgames!
The next important question for you is: do you need a chess board? If you
decide to go over the endgames without using a chess board it can take you
a little bit more time. However, I would recommend this way of studying as
it will definitely strengthen your calculation ability. Don’t worry about
missing an important point: all key positions are illustrated by diagrams.
Later on, you can put your reading device aside and demonstrate what
you’ve learned on a chess board. For example, it is very useful to play some
practice endgames against a friend.
Almost all examples are from Grandmaster games played within the last few
years. This hopefully helps you identify with the players’ struggles at the
board – maybe some of your favorite players are among the featured. It also
goes to show that the principles outlined here, although some of them
hundreds of years old, are still very useful for modern competitive chess.
Moreover, as we shall see, even the World’s greatest chess players from
time to time find these endgames difficult to master in the tension of a
tournament situation. This underlines the need for a thorough study of the
principles.
Enjoy the lesson!
Lars Bo Hansen
The Philidor Position: Sixth rank defense
The critical issue in rook and pawn vs. rook positions is who has his king in
front of the pawn. The king is needed to help stop or promote the pawn,
respectively. If the defending side blocks the pawn with his king – and the
king cannot be dislodged through checks – the position is an elementary
draw. This is known as The Philidor Position. If, on the other hand, the
attacking side’s king is in front of the pawn, the position is usually – but not
always, as we shall see – won. The prime example of this is The Lucena
Position, as we shall see in the next section.
The defense mechanism in the Philidor Position is straightforward:
The king blockades the pawn, usually on the 7th rank, while the rook cuts
off the attacking king horizontally on the 6th rank. As soon as the pawn
advances to the 6th rank – but not before – the rook shifts to the first rank
and starts giving checks from behind.
The attacking king has nowhere to hide and the draw is inevitable.
Remember though that the defensive side only shifts his rook from the 6th
to the first rank when the pawn advances to the 6th rank – not before!
Otherwise the king would be able to hide in front of the pawn once the
defender starts giving check from behind, and that is exactly what needs to
be avoided!
Let’s see these principles in action in a game between the two best players
in the US. Gata Kamsky is a former World Championship Challenger; in 1996
he lost a World Championship match against the legendary Anatoly Karpov.
Hikaru Nakamura, the younger of the two (born 1987; Kamsky 1974), is
currently (July 2013) ranked 7th in the World, Kamsky 11th. Any game
between the two comes with a lot of prestige at stake. Here Kamsky survives
an unpleasant position by exploiting the Philidor Position.
Nakamura – Kamsky
Zug 2013
White has the more active king and Black has some problems holding on to
his f5-pawn. But Kamsky of course knows his “rook ending ABC” and simply
gives up the pawn to reach the theoretical drawn Philidor Position:
62…Ra6+! 63 Kxf5 Kf7!
The Philidor Position has been reached. The king is placed in front of the
pawn, securely blockading its path on either f7 or f8 and preventing any
chance of the pawn promoting! The rook is placed on the 6th rank,
prohibiting White’s king from advancing.
64 Rb7+ Kf8 65 Kg5 Rc6! 66 f5 Ra6!

As long as the pawn has not yet advanced to the 6th rank, Black just waits,
cutting White’s king off horizontally.
67 Rb8+ Kf7 68 Rb7+ Kf8 69 Rb8+ Kf7 70 Rb7+ Kf8 ½–½
Nakamura did not bother to try 71 f6, threatening 72 Kg6 – of course
Kamsky would know the drawing move 71…Ra1!
Now that the pawn has advanced to the 6th rank, White’s king has no shelter
from Black’s checks from behind. A draw is inevitable.
The Lucena Position: Building a bridge on the fourth
rank
The Lucena Position is one of the oldest theoretical concepts in chess. There
is some dispute as to the exact origin of the concept – some attribute it to
Lucena’s famous book on chess from 1497, Repeticion de amores y arte de
axedres (Repetition of Love and the Art of Playing Chess), others instead to
Salvio’s work from 1634.

But while the origin is in doubt, the concept itself is clear:

Having conquered the space in front of the pawn and with the defending
king cut off vertically, the attacking side builds a game-winning bridge on
the fourth rank to win.
The original Lucena Position looks like this:
Lucena, 1497
1 Rf4!
This maneuver is what characterizes the winning method in the Lucena
Position. White’s king has decisively conquered the space in front of the
pawn and helped push the pawn to the penultimate rank, but to allow the
pawn to queen the king needs to be freed from d8 while being shielded
from checks from Black’s rook. The rook lift to the 4th rank ensures this.
1…Rc1 2 Ke7 Re1+ 3 Kd6 Rd1+ 4 Ke6!

4…Re1+

This allows the bridge on the 4th rank, but the alternatives are not better:
4…Kg6 loses to 5 Rg4+ Kh5 6 Rg8 followed by 7 d8Q, while 4…Rd2 allows a
bridge on the 5th rank instead after 5 Rf5! and 6 Rd5.
5 Kd5! Rd1+ 6 Rd4!
The bridge is complete and the pawn queens. 1–0
The Lucena Position helped the current World Champion, the Indian Vishy
Anand, retain his title in the dramatic 2012 World Championship Match
against the Israeli Boris Gelfand. After the ordinary match finished 6-6, the
World Championship had to be decided in a four-game rapid tiebreak.
Anand won the only game – the other three tiebreak games were drawn
although, as we shall see, Gelfand missed a clear win in a different Rook and
Pawn vs. Rook position in game 3 – by using the Lucena Position.

Anand – Gelfand
World Championship Match, Rapid Tiebreak Game 2, Moscow 2012

Gelfand’s last move, 71…Rf7-f5, was a mistake which allowed Anand to

trade into a winning version of the Lucena Position:
72 Ne6+! Kc8 73 Nd4! Rf8 74 Nxf3 Rxf3
75 Kb6!
Brings the king in front of the pawn and prepares to reach the Lucena
Position. Black’s king cannot maintain the position in front of the pawn
because of the threat 76 Rg8+, smoking out the king.
75…Rb3
The only way to prevent 76 Rg8+ was 75…Rf8. This would be a better
practical attempt but White still wins after 76 Ka7! (threatens 77 Rc6+,
cutting off Black’s king) 76…Rf7+ 77 Ka8! Rf5 78 Rb6! (78 b6?? Ra5+ mate
would be embarrassing!) 78…Kc7 79 Ka7 (again threatens 80 Rc6+) 79…Rc5
80 Rb8, and the pawn advances, ultimately leading to the Lucena Position.
This line is very similar to the game Volokitin-Eljanov which we will examine
below but with one critical difference: the placement of Black’s king. Such
subtleties can be the difference between a win and a draw. The more such
endgames you have studied, the better are your chances of getting the little
details right.
76 Rg8+ Kd7
77 Rb8! 1–0

The last difficult move and a good maneuver to take to heart. The rook frees
the king to advancing, setting up the Lucena Position. Gelfand resigned as
there is no way he can prevent that from happening. A sample line is 77…
Rb1 78 Ka7! Ra1+ (78...Kc7 79 b6+ wins ) 79 Kb7 Rb1 80 b6 Rb2 81 Ra8 Rb1
82 Ra2 Rb3 83 Rd2+ Ke7 84 Ka7 Rb1 85 b7 Ra1+ 86 Kb8 Ra3 87 Rd4! (here
comes Lucena!) 87…Ra1 88 Kc7 Rc1+ 89 Kb6 Rb1+ 90 Kc6 Rc1+ (as we know,
90…Ke6 loses to 91 Re4+ Kf7 (91…Kf5 92 Re8) 92 Re5!, while 90…Rb2 is met
by 91 Re5! and 92 Rb5) 91 Kb5 and wins.
Rook on the long side, King on the short side
In Anand-Gelfand in the previous section, Black’s problem was not just that
his king was eventually smoked out of its blockading position in front of the
pawn – even worse, the king would end up on the wrong side of the pawn.
Not all positions where the defending king is forced away from the
promotion square are lost. In fact, quite some of them are drawn if the
defender manages to arrange his king and rook in the right way. What is the
right way?
To draw, the king must be on the short side of the pawn and the rook on
the long side.
Preferably, the rook should be all the way at the edge of the board, away
from the pawn. From that remote position, the rook can harass the
attacking king with disturbing side checks while hoping to bring his king back
to blockade the pawn. Let’s take a look at a game with this principle from
my own career. My opponent is my old friend Curt Hansen who in 1982
became European Junior Champion and in 1984 World Junior Champion. A
year later, he became Denmark’s second Grandmaster – following in the
footsteps of legendary Bent Larsen who earned the title in 1956. I became
the third Danish GM in 1990. At the height of his career, Curt was ranked
14th in the World. He has now retired from competitive chess.
Lars Bo Hansen – Curt Hansen
Skanderborg Samba Cup 2005
Black is to move and can check White’s king away from blockading the f-
pawn, but the position is still a draw because White will be able to arrange
the king on the short side and the rook on the long side of the pawn.
57…Rb2+ 58 Kg1! Kg3 59 Rg5+! Kf3
60 Ra5! Rb1+ 61 Kh2
There we have it – the king is on the short side of the pawn and the rook as
far off to the long side as possible, ready to give side checks.
61…Re1 62 Ra8 Rd1 63 Ra7 Ke2 64 Re7+ Kf2 65 Ra7 Rd2
66 Ra1!
A key part of the “king on short, rook on long” defensive strategy. By
covering the first rank, White prevents Black from building the Lucena
Position with the king on f1 and the pawn on f2.
66…f3 67 Kh3!
White just waits as Black cannot improve his position.
67…Rb2
67…Re1 68 Ra2+! Ke3 (68…Re2 69 Ra1 just repeats while 68…Kg1 69 Kg3 Rf1
70 Rb2 f2 71 Ra2 wins the pawn) 69 Ra3+ Kf4 70 Ra4+ Re4 71 Ra1 does not
help Black; White is ready to bring his king back to f1 via h2 and g1; if the
Black rook prevents that with 71…Re2 White resumes side checks with 72
Ra4+.
68 Kh2 Re2 69 Kh3 Rd2 70 Kh2 Ke3+
By using triangulation Black tries to lure White’s rook away from its optimal
position on the a-file but that does not matter – there is plenty of scope on
the long side of the pawn even on the b-or c-files.
71 Kg1 Ke2

72 Rb1! Rc2
After 72…Ra2 White simply stays put on the first rank with 73 Rc1, preparing
to give side checks if Black’s rook leaves the second or third rank. 72…f2+ 73
Kg2 Rc8 74 Rb2+ Ke1 75 Rb1+ draws – but not 75 Rxf2?? Rg8+, winning.
73 Ra1 Rb2 74 Rc1 Rb3
74…f2+ 75 Kg2 Rb8 76 Rc2+ Ke1 77 Rc1+ (again not 77 Rxf2?? Rg8+) 77…Kd2
78 Rf1 picks up the pawn and draws.
75 Rc2+ Ke3 76 Rc1!
Again taking possession of the first rank, preventing the Lucena setup.
76…Rb2 77 Rc3+ Ke2 78 Rc1 Rb8
The last attempt, Black threatens to decisively cut off White’s king with 79…
Rg8+. But White simply returns to the saving side checks strategy.
79 Rc2+ Ke1
79...Kd3 is simply met by 80 Ra2 and 81 Kf2 with a draw.
80 Rc1+ Ke2 81 Rc2+ Ke3 82 Rc3+ Kf4
83 Rc7! ½–½
The last important move – now it is the Philidor Position where Black has
advanced the pawn to the sixth rank! The White king now safely blocks the
pawn on f1 or f2 with an easy draw as in Nakamura-Kamsky above. Although
I was down to my last minute at this point, Curt therefore sportingly offered
a draw.
Capablanca’s Trap and the special case of the knight
pawn
As we saw above, the defender can usually hold with the king on the short
side and the rook on the long side. But there are some special cases that
need to be considered.
The first one is sometimes referred to as “Capablanca’s Trap”. No less a
player than the current World Number 1 Magnus Carlsen fell into that trap
early in his career. At the time the Norwegian prodigy was only 15 but
already a strong GM. His opponent, the Armenian Levon Aronian, is
currently ranked 2nd in the World after Carlsen and is a serious World
Championship contender.
Aronian – Carlsen
Moscow Tal Memorial 2006

The contours of the “king on short side, rook on long” defensive strategy are
clear but the position differs from my game against Curt Hansen in that
Black currently does not control the back rank. This gives White some hope
of reaching the Lucena Position.

71...Ra7+!
The correct move to regain control of the back rank. As 72 Ke8 (72 Kd6
Ra6+) 72…Kf6! is an immediate draw White has to relinquish control of the
back rank to Black.
72 Rd7 Ra8! 73 Rd6!?

This move is the one that characterizes Capablanca’s Trap! The rook has no
other business on d6 than setting a cunning trap which the young Carlsen
unexpectedly falls into.
73…Ra7+??
This is exactly what White was hoping for. With White’s rook on any other
square on the d-file (e.g. d1 or d8) the check would be correct, but here it
loses. Instead, Black could draw by the waiting move 73…Kg6! and only after
e.g. 74 Rd1 play 74…Ra7+ with the idea 75 Ke8 (75 Rd7 Ra8 changes
nothing) 75…Kf6! with a draw.

74 Ke8! 1–0
Now Carlsen realized what had happened and immediately resigned. White
will obtain the Lucena Position.
The problem is that if Black plays 74…Kf6 (which would draw with the
White rook on any other square on the d-file) then 75 e7+ comes with
discovered check. That is why the rook went to d6 – to set up this
discovered check by the advancing pawn.
That is Capablanca’s Trap. Then after 75…Kg7 the easiest win (of many) is
probably the Lucena concept of using the fourth rank by 76 Rd4! Kf6 77 Re4!
Ra8+ (otherwise 78 Kf8, winning) 78 Kd7 Ra7+ 79 Kd6 – the king escapes and
the pawn queens. 74…Ra8+ 75 Rd8 followed by 76 e7 also does not help
Black; White will eventually get the Lucena Position and win (you can try it
out for yourself!). Remember this trap; it is good to know from either side!
So far we have looked at positions where the stronger side had a central
pawn – either c, d, e, or f.
In these cases the defensive strategy of “King on Short, Rook on Long side”
applies.
But with b- or g-pawns this defensive method no longer works.
Why? Because the short side for the king will be too short – the king risks
getting trapped in a mating net at the edge of the board.

Fighting a knight pawn (b or g) therefore requires a different defensive

strategy. Fortunately there is one and ironically this one exploits the fact
that the short side is too short, only this time for the attacker.
Against b- and g-pawns a draw can be reached through passive defense on
the back rank.
----------
Alekseev – Matlakov
Russian Higher League 2013

In this position the game was drawn. White trusted that his opponent – a
2665 GM – knew the right drawing method – simply waiting passively on the
back rank:
68…Rf8!

By simply keeping the rook on the back rank Black draws against a knight
pawn. The problem for White is that he cannot dislodge the Black king
because the board is too small – for that he would need a check on the (non-
existing) i-file!
69 Rh7 Re8! 70 Rg7+ Kh8 71 Ra7 Kg8 72 Kh6 Rf8 73 g6 Rb8 74 Ra6
74 g7 Rb6+ 75 Kg5 Rc6 draws.
74…Re8 75 g7 Rd8
And White cannot make progress – if his rook leaves the sixth rank Black will
check White’s king away with a draw. And 76 Kg6 allows 76…Rd6+! 77 Rxd6
stalemate. As we shall see, stalemate is a survival mechanism that can be
used also in other circumstances. But beware! This passive defensive
strategy only works against a knight pawn (b or g), not against central
pawns! It also works against a rook pawn (a or h) but as we shall see, in
those cases the Vancura Position is the most common way to draw.
As mentioned, the reason the knight (and rook) pawns are different from
central pawns is the lack of space on the short side of the pawn. The
attacking king may even get in some trouble on the short side if he is not
careful.
----------
Volokitin – Eljanov
Ukrainian Championship, Kiev 2013
Black doesn’t have time to set up the passive back rank defense against the
b-pawn as 69…Rh8 70 Ka7 prevents 70…Kb8 and forces a transposition to
the game. But the position is still drawn because White’s king is not
comfortable at the edge of the board. Notice how the position resembles
Anand-Gelfand from earlier, but contrary to the World Champion, Volokitin
cannot reach the Lucena Position because Eljanov’s king is more active than
Gelfand’s.

69…Rh6+ 70 Ka7 Rh7+! 71 Ka8

The only way to play for a win; otherwise Black obtains either the Philidor
Position or the back rank defense.
71...Kc7!
Threatens 72…Kb6, so White’s reply is forced.
72 Rf6 Rh4! 73 Rf7+
73 b5 Ra4+ 74 Ra6 Rxa6+ 75 bxa6 Kb6 76 a7 Kc7 is another stalemate.
73…Kb6!
Eljanov has accurately calculated that this bold king maneuver draws as
White cannot get a Lucena Position because of the lack of space on the short
side of the pawn.
74 Rb7+ Ka6 75 b5+ Ka5

This is the position Black was aiming for. White cannot win as he is not able
to free his rook and obtain a Lucena Position.
76 Ka7
76 b6 Rh6 77 Ka7 Rg6 is similar to the game.
76…Rh5 77 b6 Rh6! 78 Rb8 Rg6!
This is drawn as 79 b7?? Ra6++ would be mate! White has no way to
improve his position.
79 Rc8 Rxb6 80 Rc5+ Rb5 81 Rxb5+ ½–½
The Kling and Horwitz Defense: Attacking the pawn
from behind
Sometimes it is not possible for the defender to obtain the “king on short,
rook on long side” constellation. But all is not lost even in this case. There is
a different drawing method that Black can revert to: The Kling and Horwitz
Defense, published as far back as 1851. This defensive strategy prescribes
that

The pawn must be attacked by the rook from behind.

The Kling and Horwitz Defense exists in different versions. Former World
Championship Challenger Viktor Korchnoi, who lost dramatic World
Championship matches to Karpov in 1978 and 1981, in his excellent Practical
Rook Endings gives this position to illustrate the principle:
Kling and Horwitz, 1851
1…Re1!
This is the only move that draws. It is the core of the Kling and Horwitz
Defense. The rook attacks the pawn from behind. Why this is so critical will
soon be clear.
2 Ra8+
2 e6 Rd1+ is the Philidor Position with an easy draw. More tricky is 2 Ke6 but
in this case Black saves himself by reverting to the “king on short, rook on
long” defense with 2…Kf8! 3 Ra8+ Kg7 4 Re8 (Anand’s idea from the game
against Gelfand – 4 Kd6 is calmly met by 4…Kf7! with a draw) 4…Ra1!, and
Black has managed to coordinate his pieces in the right way in time.
2…Kf7

This is the key position in the Kling and Horwitz Defense and also explains
why the rook belongs behind the pawn: together, the rook and the king
now prevent the pawn from advancing.
White has nothing better than 3 Ra7+ but this allows Black’s king to
blockade the promotion square with 3…Ke8 – draw.
The Kling and Horwitz Defense has the advantage that the defender can
sometimes hold even if his king is on the long side.
----------
Larsen – Tal
Candidates Match Bled 1965, game 9

Although I generally use modern games in this What Would a GM Do?

series, I decided to include this game because it – in addition to being an
excellent example of the Kling and Horwitz Defense –
potentially had a critical impact on chess history. In the second half of the
20th century only two Western players had a realistic chance of challenging
the Soviet stronghold on the World Championship in chess – The American
Bobby Fischer and my Danish countryman Bent Larsen. From Mikhail
Botvinnik won the title in 1948 and for the rest of the 20th century only
Soviet (later Russian after the fall of the Iron Curtain) players held the World
Championship title, apart from Fischer’s brief stint as World Champion from
1972 to 1975. Larsen never made it to a title match and in terms of the
World Championship many chess players seem to mainly remember the
Fischer-Larsen match in 1971 which Fischer sensationally won 6-0. But in
1965 – before Fischer made his run – Larsen was in fact close to forging his
way through the mass of Soviet Grandmasters to a match against World
Champion Tigran Petrosian. In his semifinal match of the Candidates
tournament against former World Champion Mikhail Tal, who held the title
1960-1961, the score was tied 4-4 with two games to go when Larsen
reached this winning position – only to allow Tal to escape with a draw.
Following this close call, Tal then won a highly dramatic last game, earning a
finals match against Boris Spassky. Had Larsen won this endgame, chess
history may have unfolded differently. Spassky would go on to win the finals
against Tal 7-4 when Tal collapsed and lost the last three games after initially
holding the lead. But Spassky then lost to Petrosian in 1966 before winning a
second World Championship match against the same opponent in 1969.
Enough of history, let’s see how the game progressed:
55 Ke6?
Oh no! White misses the win which was available with 55 Ke7! Rh3 56 Ra4!
Rh7+ 57 Kf6 Rh6+ 58 Kg7 Rh4 (58...Re6 59 Rd4!, and Black’s king is cut off in
a vertical barrier – a concept we will return to below) 59 Rd4! (vertical
barrier again!) 59...Kc7 60 Kf6 Kc6 61 Kg5 Rh8 (61...Kc5 62 Rd5+ wins) 62 e5,
and the pawn advances decisively. Notice that Black’s downfall is caused by
the fact that his king and rook are both on the wrong side – the king is on
the long side and the rook on the short; as we know it should be the other
way around!
55…Rh3 56 Ra8+ Kc7 57 Rf8
57…Re3!
The Kling and Horwitz Defense! The rook attacks the pawn from behind and
White can no longer win. Note that this defense holds even if the king is on
the long side.
58 e5 Re1! 59 Re8!

A good try, as we saw in Anand-Gelfand earlier. But here Black can still draw
because he can give side checks and bring his king closer.
59…Rh1!
Getting ready to switch to side checks if needed.
60 Ra8 Re1!
Back to hit the pawn from behind.

61 Ra7+
61 Kf6 Kd7! illustrates the basic idea of the Kling and Horwitz Defense – the
pawn cannot advance and 62 Ra7+ Ke8 is a draw.
61…Kd8 62 Ra2 Re3 63 Ra8+ Kc7 64 Ra6 Kd8 65 Ra8+ Kc7 66 Re8
66…Rb3?
This must be a relay error in the notation from the game. This loses to the
simple 67 Ke7 and White is well on his way to the Lucena Position. I am sure
that the drawing 66…Rh3! was in fact played, as on move 59 and later on
move 76.
67 Rf8 Re3 68 Rg8 Re1! 69 Rg2 Kd8 70 Ra2 Re3 71 Ra5 Re1 72 Rb5 Re2 73
Kf7 Rf2+ 74 Ke6 Re2 75 Rb8+ Kc7 76 Re8 Rh2! 77 Kf7 Rh7+!
Now the side checks draw as the king is brought in to blockade.
78 Kg6
78…Kd7! ½–½

The last precise move. 79 Kxh7 Kxe8 is obviously a drawn king and pawn
ending and otherwise Black obtains the Philidor position with his king
blocking the pawn.
The Stalemate trick
As we have seen earlier, a saving defense against a knight pawn is passively
waiting on the back rank. With central pawns this strategy does not work.
However, there is an additional trick that can save you in some
circumstances: stalemate. In one of the rapid tiebreak games at the US
Championships 2013, Gata Kamsky tried to make something of an extra
pawn in a rook endgame, but young Alejandro Ramirez – one of the hopes of
US chess – defended staunchly and secured a draw with a cunning stalemate
trick. Kamsky would go on to win the title anyway, though.
Ramirez – Kamsky
US Championships, rapid tiebreak game 2, St. Louis 2013

At first sight White appears to be in trouble as passive defense on the back

rank – which would work if Black had a g-pawn instead of the f-pawn – does
not save White here: 64 Ra1? Rb2 65 Rc1 Rg2+ 66 Kf1 Rh2 67 Kg1 f2+ 68 Kf1
Rh1+. But in fact White just needs one precise move to pocket the draw:
64 Rg2+! ½-½
64…fxg2 is stalemate and 64…Kf4 65 Rg8 leads to a Philidor draw.
The Vertical Barrier
The Lucena Position arises because the defending king is cut off along a file.
This is known as a vertical barrier. If the defender is not able to cross the
barrier in time to contest the advance of the pawn, his position is lost along
the Lucena lines.

But what if the pawn has not yet advanced to the 7th rank as in the original
Lucena Position? In that case the defender can sometimes break the vertical
barrier in time and earn a draw by rushing his king back to the defense,
aiming for one of the drawing mechanisms we have examined earlier.
The critical issue is how far advanced the pawn is and how far the king is cut
off. This type of position was analyzed closely by the French (although he
lived much of his life in Switzerland) Master André Chéron in the 1920s. The
variations are pretty complex and we will not go into the details here, but
the general conclusions are:
If the sum of the rank the pawn is on and the number of files the king is cut
off is equal to or less than five, the position is drawn. This is known as “The
Rule of Five”. The way to draw is to attack the rook that builds the vertical
barrier with the king while the defending rook in turn harasses the king
and pawn by a frontal attack.
A good example of this rule is the following position:
Chéron, 1923
The White pawn is on the 4th rank and Black’s king only cut off vertically by
one file. The sum is therefore five – small enough to hold the draw. The rook
is optimally placed to perform a frontal attack on the pawn, preventing
White’s king from advancing. The king too is on the best possible square –
from e6 it can move forward to e5 to harass a White rook on d4.
1 Kb4 Rb8+ 2 Ka5 Rc8!

This frontal attack on the pawn is the key drawing mechanism.

3 Kb5 Rb8+ 4 Ka6 Rc8! 5 Rd4
5…Ke5!
Breaks the vertical barrier. The king will retreat and block the pawn – White
has no winning chances.
6 Rh4 Kd6 ½–½
If, however, the vertical barrier is pushed one more file to the right, so that
the White rook is on the e-file and the Black king on the f-file, the position is
lost for Black. The Black king is too far away and the sum of the pawn’s rank
and the number of files the king is cut off rises to six – one too much.
While the theory of this type of ending is well established, playing it over the
board is difficult even for the World’s best players. India is an emerging
super power in chess, not just because Vishy Anand holds the World
Championship title but also because of a host of young talented
Grandmasters. One of these GMs is Krishnan Sasikiran who in this example
outfoxes the current World Number Two Levon Aronian in a tricky rook
endgame:
 ----------
Sasikiran – Aronian
Bursa World Team Championship 2010

The pawn is on the third rank and the king is cut off by two files – the sum is
five and Black should be able to draw. But it requires utmost precision and
after Aronian’s next inaccurate move the position is already lost.

53…Rg8+??
The decisive error! The only way to draw was 53...Kd5! The king must harass
the White rook in order to break the vertical barrier. The German GM and
endgame expert Karsten Müller gives this drawing line: 54 Kg6 (54 g4 Rg8+
55 Kf5 Rf8+ 56 Kg6 Rg8+ 57 Kh5 Rh8+ 58 Kg5 Rg8+ 59 Kh4 Rh8+ 60 Kg3 Rg8!
draws) 54...Rg8+ 55 Kf7 Rg4! 56 Kf6 Kd4! (using the king to break the barrier)
57 Kf5! (57 Ra3 Ke4 is a draw) 57...Rg8 58 Ra3 Rg8+ 59 Kg6 Ke4! (The barrier
was broken and Black draws!) 60 Ra4+ Kf3! 61 g4 Rg8+ 62 Kf5 Rf8+ 63 Kg6
(63 Ke6 Rf4!) 63...Rg8+ with a draw.
54 Kf6 Kd5 55 Re5+! Kd6
After 55…Kd4 it is a horizontal barrier which is even worse for Black (see
next section).

56 Re3 Kd5 57 Re5+ Kd6

58 Rg5!

After repeating the position once White gets back on track. By using both
vertical and horizontal barriers, White slowly advances his pawn and
eventually reaches the Lucena Position.
58…Rf8+ 59 Kg7 Rf3 60 g4 Rf4
60...Ke6 61 Ra5 followed by 62 g5 and 63 g6 wins as Black cannot prevent
White from reaching the Lucena Position. Notice that Black’s king is on the
wrong side of the pawn – the long side.
61 Kh6!
Clearing the way for the rook and the pawn.
61…Ke7 62 Rg7+ Kf8
Black is close to obtaining a draw by rushing his king back but won’t quite
make it in time.
63 g5 Rf1 64 Ra7!

If Black could now make two moves at once he would have a draw – Kg8 and
Rf8 with the well-known draw against the knight pawn. But after 64…Kg8 65
Ra8+ Rf8 (65…Kf7 66 g6+ and the pawn queens) 66 Rxf8+ Kxf8 67 Kh7, the
king and pawn ending is lost for Black.
64...Rg1 65 Kg6 Rg2 66 Ra8+ Ke7 67 Ra5
Threatens 68 Kg7 with an eventual Lucena Position coming up. Notice that
White is in no hurry here, a key principle in many endgames.
67…Kf8 68 Ra8+ Ke7
69 Rg8!
The same maneuver as in Anand-Gelfand above. Now White wins after e.g.
69...Kd6 70 Kh7 Rh1+ 71 Kg7 Rg1 72 g6 Ke7 73 Ra8 and 74 Ra4 with a Lucena
win.
69…Kd6 1–0
The Horizontal barrier
As mentioned in the notes to Sasikiran-Aronian above a horizontal barrier is
often even worse than a vertical barrier. The reason is that it cannot really
be broken.
A horizontal barrier is when the defending king is cut off on a rank (as
opposed to a file as in a vertical barrier) and thus cannot rush back to stop
the pawn.

Getz – O’Toole
Hastings 2009/2010

White is winning because of the possibility of building a horizontal barrier on

the fifth rank. Since the pawn is going forward, the Black king – cut off on
the fourth rank – will be helpless.
70…Rg8 71 Ra5 Re8+ 72 Kf5 Rf8+ 73 Kg5 Re8 74 Kf4 Rf8+ 75 Rf5!
Here is the problem for Black – his king is cut off horizontally on the wrong
side of the pawn.
75…Re8

76 Rf6!
White slowly moves the horizontal barrier forward, one step at a time. Black
is helpless against that.
76…Kd4 77 Rd6+ Kc5 78 e5!
The pawn advances and the black king remains fatally cut off horizontally.
78…Rf8+ 79 Rf6! Rd8 80 Kf5 Rd7 81 Ra6 Rf7+ 82 Kg6 Rf1 83 e6 Rg1+ 84 Kf7
Rf1+ 85 Ke8 Kb5 86 Rd6 Kc5 87 Kd7 Rf6 88 Rd1! Rh6 89 e7 Rh7 90 Kd8 1–0
The horizontal barrier concept is a tricky one and even the World’s best
player recently got it wrong. Magnus Carlsen is a natural talent and a
fabulous endgame player, but mainly excels in strategic endgames more
than technical ones of the type discussed here. Curiously, this is a trait that
he shares with another natural prodigy from chess history, former World
Champion (1921-1927) José Raul Capablanca of Cuba. Carlsen’s opponent in
this game, the Italian/American (dual citizenship but represents Italy
internationally) Fabiano Caruana, is another young prodigy who is already
rated 3rd in the World after Carlsen and Levon Aronian. Carlsen (born 1990),
Aronian (born 1982), and Caruana (born 1992) will certainly be in a fierce
and very interesting battle with other young stars like e.g. Sergey Karjakin
(born 1990), Hikaru Nakamura (born 1987), and Anish Giri (born 1994) for
the World Championship for years to come.
----------
Carlsen – Caruana
Moscow Tal Memorial 2013
The World Number 1 has been a pawn down since early in the game
following an uncharacteristic one-move blunder on move 17, but now he
has a draw within sight. But White’s next move loses as he underestimates
the power of a horizontal barrier.
49 Rf8?
Correct was 49 Rb8 with good drawing chances for White.

49…Rxh4 50 Rxf7+ Kg6 51 Rf6+ Kxg5 52 Rxb6

This was the position Carlsen was aiming for – but unfortunately it is lost as
his king is cut off on the wrong side of the horizontal barrier. The winning
path is not easy, though – no less than five times (on moves 53, 54, 57, 58,
and 61) Black needs to find an “only move” to win. Caruana solves this
technical task perfectly.
52…Ra4 53 Rb8 Kg4! 54 Rg8+ Kf3! 55 Rf8+ Kg3 56 Rg8+ Kh2
The position of the king has been optimized and the h-pawn is now ready to
advance. There is nothing White can do about it with his king cut off.
57 Kf5 h4 58 Rb8 h3!
59 Kg5!?
The best chance, although it does not save White. 59 Rb2+ Kg3 60 Rb3+ Kh4!
61 Rb2 Ra1 followed by Rf1+ wins for Black. With the cunning text move
Carlsen attempts to take away the h4-square from Black’s king and now
threatens drawing side checks. But Caruana is alert and does not let the win
slip away.
59...Re4! 60 Kf5
60 Rb2+ Kg1 61 Rb1+ Kf2 62 Rb2+ Re2! now wins for Black.
60…Re2 61 Rg8
61 Kf4 Kg2 62 Rg8+ Kf1 followed by 63…h2 doesn’t help White.
61…Rg2! 62 Rd8 Rf2+ 0–1
After 63 Kg4 Kg2 or 63 Ke4 Kg2 64 Rg8+ Kf1 65 Rh8 h2 66 Ke3 Kg1 the pawn
cannot be stopped.
The Vancura position
The Vancura position is one of the most famous theoretical concepts in rook
endgames. This is because this particular endgame was long misjudged in
the literature before Josef Vancura finally showed the correct way to draw in
1924.
The Vancura Position occurs when the attacking player has an extra a-pawn
(or conversely an h-pawn) and his rook is placed in front of the pawn.
Vancura showed that in such positions, a draw can be made by attacking
the pawn from the side, so that the rook cannot be freed. Importantly, the
king must be on g7 or h7 against a White a6-pawn (or b7 or a7 against an
h-pawn). Notice though that the Vancura Method only works against an
outside pawn on the edge of the board!
Vancura, 1924

This is the position which was initially misjudged. In his book on the World
Championship match Lasker-Tarrasch in 1908, Tarrasch evaluated this
position as winning for White. He demonstrated that the Black rook cannot
prevent White’s king from advancing, as White will simply bring his king to
b3 if Black tries to build a horizontal barrier with 1…Ra4. And Black can
never run his king to the queenside as 1…Kf7 2 Ke4 Ke7? loses to the well-
know shot 3 a7 Kd7 4 Rh8! Rxa7 5 Rh7+ and wins. This is the reason why the
king has to stay on g7 or h7: to avoid the skewer from behind on the 7th
rank. But in 1924 Vancura demonstrated the correct defensive method for
Black:
1…Rf1+! 2 Ke4 Rf6!

This is the Vancura Position. The rook attacks the pawn from the side,
freezing White’s rook. His king stays on g7 or h7, so that 3 a7 can be safely
met by 3…Ra6! – there is no skewer on the 7th rank. White cannot win.
3 Kd5 Rb6 4 Kc5 Rf6 5 Kb5
5…Rf5+!
An important check. Now that the White king “touches” the a-pawn, he
threatens to free his frozen rook – if White were to move, 6 Rc8 would win.
But Black is in time to check White’s king away from the pawn, one of the
key motifs in the Vancura Position.
6 Kb6 Rf6+
Because it is an a-pawn White’s king cannot find shelter on the other side of
the pawn. This is why the Vancura Method only works against an outside
pawn!
7 Kc5 Rf5+ 8 Kd4 Rf6! ½-½
We have already seen how the Lucena Position played a critical role in the
rapid tiebreak between World Champion Anand and his challenger Gelfand
in the 2012 World Championship match. That position helped Anand win
game 2 of the four-game tiebreak match and eventually decided the match.
But in game 3 Gelfand missed a chance to equalize as he misjudged a rook
endgame based on the Vancura Position:
 ----------
Gelfand – Anand
World Championship Match, Rapid Tiebreak Game 3, Moscow 2012

The contours of the Vancura Position are clear, but Black is not in time to
actually obtain the position with the rook on the sixth rank hitting the pawn
and the king safely tucked away at b7 or a7, preventing a skewer.
61 Rh7??
Misses the win which was so close. Probably Gelfand miscalculated in time
trouble and assumed Black would obtain the Vancura Position after 61 Kf3
Rf5+ (otherwise the king advances decisively, as Tarrasch demonstrated in
1908!) 62 Kg4 Rf6. But in this case White can win in not just one but two
ways: Either 63 h7 Rh6 64 Rc8+, when Black is a tempo short from safe-
guarding his king from checks or skewers with Kc6-b7; or 63 Kg5, when
White’s king “touches” the pawn with tempo and allows him to decisively
free his rook. Now, on the other hand, the position is drawn. Gelfand’s move
may appear as just waste of time but it does have logic to it: having
miscalculated and being under the false impression that the natural 61 Kf3
would allow Black to revert to the Vancura Position, Gelfand instead tries to
exploit the principle of a horizontal barrier. But since the rook now blocks its
own pawn Black has time to bring his king over.
61…Kd6! 62 Kg3
Black’s king arrives in time after 62 Rh8 Ke6! 63 h7 Kf7! 64 Ra8 Rxh7 65 Ra7+
Kg6 with a draw. Usually Black does not have time to bring his king to the
other side in the Vancura Position; this was only possible because White
wasted two tempi with 61 Rh7. If White’s rook was on h8 rather than h7, he
could win with 62 h7! Ke7 (or 62…Ke6 63 Re8+) 63 Ra8! Rxh7 64 Ra7+,
picking up the rook.
62…Ke6 63 Kg4 Rh1 ½–½

After 64 Rh8 Kf7 Black’s king is too close, and after 64 Kg5 Rg1+ the king
cannot escape the checks as White’s own rook blocks its path to h7. Finally,
64 Ra7!? Kf6! (not 64…Rxh6?? because of the skewer 65 Ra6+) 65 h7 Kg6
draws.
Zugzwang
It may be surprising given the open board, but a last important principle in
rook and pawn vs. rook endings is Zugzwang.
Zugzwang occurs when one of the sides cannot make a move without
jeopardizing his own position.
At the Chess Olympiad 2000 in Istanbul two interesting rook endgames
occurred in the last round match Denmark-Bulgaria. I successfully managed
to hold the typical rook endgame a pawn down with 3 vs. 3 on the kingside
and an extra a-pawn for White against Alexander Delchev, and my
teammate and namesake Curt Hansen (no relation – in this match, and
many others, Denmark fielded three unrelated “GM Hansen”; the third one
was Sune Berg Hansen) was only a whisker from saving another pawn-down
rook ending against the later FIDE World Champion (2005-2006) Veselin
Topalov. But in the end the future World Champion and World Number 1
crashed through by exploiting a cunning Zugzwang motif.
Topalov – Curt Hansen
Istanbul Olympiad 2000
63 Rf8!
This strong move puts Black in a lethal Zugzwang. If he moves his rook along
the 7th rank, e.g. 63…Ra7, White will eventually obtain a Lucena Position
after 64 Kf6.
63…Kxh6
This does not help either because of a clever mating idea. With the king on
the edge of the board such mating ideas often surface.
64 Kf6! Re6+
Anything else leads to the Lucena Position after f7 falls.
65 Kxf7 Rxe5
66 Kf6! 1-0
The mating threat on h8 costs Black his rook.
The Saavedra Maneuver
In my view, the most interesting studies in chess are the ones that have
practical relevance. One such study was invented in 1895 by the Spanish
priest Fernando Saavedra.
The Saavedra Maneuver is characterized by a battle between a rook and a
pawn close to promotion, supported by the king. Being unfortunately
placed on the adjacent file, the rook is not able to catch the pawn but has
to seek salvation in checks. But by approaching the rook in an accurate
way, the king and pawn eventually prevail.

Saavedra, 1895

1 c7 Rd6+
Black has no other way of catching the pawn.
2 Kb5!
The only square to win! Of course, 2 Ka7 or 2 Kb7 are met by 2…Rd7 with a
draw, 2 Ka5? even loses to 2…Rc6, and 2 Kc5 runs into 2…Rd1!

Now the rook catches the c-pawn from behind because of the skewer 3
c8Q? (3 Kb6 Rc1 4 Kb7 draws) 3…Rc1+, and Black wins. This skewer trick is
the defense White needs to bypass with the king march that is now known
as “Saavedra’s Maneuver”.
2…Rd5+
Black has nothing better than keep checking.
3 Kb4! Rd4+ 4 Kb3! Rd3+ 5 Kc2!
Finally the king can approach the rook and escape the checks, as there is no
skewer from behind.
5…Rd4!
The last chance – Black set a clever trap: The hasty 6 c8Q? misses the win…
…because of 6…Rc4+! 7 Qxc4 stalemate!
6 c8R!
Now there is no stalemate trick, but instead mate is threatened on a8.
Black’s reply is forced.
6…Ra4 7 Kb3! 1-0
The double threats 8 Rc1+ mate and 8 Kxa4 decide the game.
Saavedra’s Maneuver has since proven to be a powerful tool in rook
endgames. Here is a great example where Peter Svidler exploits Saavedra’s
idea to defeat then-FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov.
----------
Svidler – Topalov
Morelia/Linares 2006
 With the advanced f-pawn, White is clearly better in this endgame, coming
out of a Berlin Ruy Lopez. But the win is still not trivial. For example, in his
notes to the game Svidler gives the line 47 f7?! Rf8 48 Be5 49 Kd5 49 h5?!
(49 Kf3 or 49 Bf6 might still win) 49…gxh5+ 50 Kxh5 Bc1! 51 Bg7 Rxf7 52 Rxf7
Bxb2 53 Ra7 a3 54 Rxa5 Ke4!,
…and despite his extra rook White cannot prevent Kd3-c2-b1 followed by a2
and a1Q with a draw. Instead, the seven-time Russian Champion (tied with
the legendary former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik for the most
Championships in the Soviet Union/Russia, counting Botvinnik’s win in the
“Absolute Championship” in 1941) finds a clever forced win, based on the
Saavedra motif.
47 Bf4! Bxf4 48 Kxf4 Rh5!
Topalov finds the toughest defense, trying to cut White’s king off and
threatening to catch the f-pawn from behind with 49…Rf5+. 48…Rxh4+ loses
to the instructive line 49 Ke5 (49 Kg5 also wins, but bringing the king closer
to the queenside helps stifle Black’s potential counterplay with a4-a3 and
Kb5-a4) 49…Rh5+ 50 Ke6 Rh2 51 f7 Re2+ (51…Rxb2 52 Rc7+! Kxc7 53 f8Q
wins) 52 Kf6 Rxb2 53 Kg7 Rb8 (53…Rf2? 54 Re6+! Kb5 55 Rf6, and the pawn
queens) 54 Kxg6! (cleaner than 54 Re8 Rb7, although that would also win)
54…Rf8
55 Re2! (very instructive; before playing Kg7 and queening the pawn, White
first eliminates Black’s counterplay, making sure Black’s king cannot
advance) 55…a3 56 Ra2! Kd6 (56…Kb5 57 Rxa3, followed by 58 Kg7 wins) 57
Rxa3 Ke6 58 Rxa5 Rxf7 59 Ra6+, and the rook falls.
49 Re5!
Preventing 49…Rf5+ and forcing Black’s hand.
49…Rxh4+ 50 Kg5 Rh5+
51 Kxg6! Rxe5 52 f7
Now White wins with the Saavedra Maneuver. But because of the presence
of queenside pawns, some technical accuracy is still needed.
52…Re6+ 53 Kg5! Re5+ 54 Kg4! Re4+ 55 Kg3! Re3+ 56 Kf2!

Following Saavedra’s king maneuver, the f-pawn cannot be stopped. But

Topalov still has some tricks up his sleeve.
56…a3! 57 f8Q
57 bxa3 Rxc3 58 f8Q Rxa3 might be a win for White, but there is a risk of a
fortress that the queen would not be able to break down.
57…axb2
57…Rd3 58 bxa3 is hopeless, as 58…Rxc3 59 Qf6+ wins the rook. But 57…a2
was a serious alternative, where White would need to avoid a cunning trap
to win. 58 Qa8+? Kb5 59 Qh1 seems at first sight to be winning, as White
picks up the a2-pawn, but after 59…Rh3! 60 Qa1 a4 61 Qxa2 Black has 61…
Rh1!
…tying White’s queen to a2 and securing a positional draw. However, by a
more accurate series of checks White is able to maneuver his queen to a4 to
pick up the a2-pawn without having the queen imprisoned: 58 Qc8+! Kb6 59
Qd8+ Ka6 60 Qd6+ Kb5 61 Qd7+ Kb6 62 Qa4, winning.
58 Qc8+ Kb5 59 Qb7+ Ka4
With the king on the edge of the board and low on squares, White needs to
circumvent several stalemate traps to win. As we know from earlier,
stalemate is an important principle in all types of endgames. The first one to
avoid is 60 Qxb2? Rf3+!
60 Kxe3 Ka3
61 Qb5!
61 Kd2? a4! 62 Kc2 b1Q+ leads to another stalemate no matter how White
captures the new queen.
61…a4
Black could also try 61…Ka2, hoping for a different stalemate after 62 Qa4+
Kb1 63 Kd2?, but simply 63 Ke2 wins (63…Kc1 64 Qd1+ mate).
62 Qxc5+
Of course not 62 Kd2? b1Q, again with stalemate.
62…Kb3 63 Qb4+ Kc2 64 Qxa4+ Kxc3
64…Kc1 65 Qxc4 b1Q 66 Qf1+ wins.
65 Qa5+!
Avoids 65 Qd1? b1Q 66 Qxb1 stalemate.
65…Kc2 66 Qf5+ Kc1 67 Qf1+ 1-0
White picks up the c4-pawn and wins trivially after 67…Kc2 68 Qxc4+ Kb1 69
Kd1 Ka1 70 Qa4+ Kb1 71 Kc3 Kc1 72 Qc2+ mate.
The Lasker Maneuver
Another famous study with practical implications, albeit somewhat less
common, is that of former World Champion Emanuel Lasker. The German
mathematician and philosopher was World Champion from 1894 to 1921,
longer than anyone else in chess history. In 1890, four years before he
would go on to win the World Championship title from Wilhelm Steinitz, he
composed a beautiful study.

The Lasker Maneuver is a zigzag march by the king, systematically driving

the opponent’s king to an unfavorable square while supporting an
advanced passed pawn.
----------
Lasker, 1890

Strictly speaking, this principle, along with the next one (The Advanced
Lucena), goes beyond the others in that there is a pawn on both sides.
However, both principles feed off the original Lucena and add to the
understanding of such positions. In Lasker’s study, the contours of the
Lucena position are clearly visible – without the Black h2-pawn, it would be
a standard Lucena win. At first sight, the presence of this pawn appears to
secure Black a draw as White is not able to use his rook to build a bridge as
in the original Lucena. But Lasker showed that White can still win with a
clever king maneuver.
1 Kb8!
Threatens 2 c8Q+, so Black’s reply is forced.
1…Rb2+ 2 Ka8 Rc2

3 Rh6+! Ka5
Also forced as 3…Kb5? allows 4 Kb7, winning as the Black king blocks the
saving check on b2.
4 Kb7 Rb2+ 5 Ka7! Rc2
6 Rh5+!
Rank by rank, the Black king is being pushed back. Notice the White king’s
zigzag pattern – that is what characterizes Lasker’s Maneuver.
6…Ka4
Again the Black king cannot step onto the b-file as 6…Kb4? 7 Kb7 wins
immediately because of the lacking check on b2.
7 Kb7 Rb2+ 8 Ka6! Rc2 9 Rh4+!
You get the picture by now – but what is White’s objective? Driving Black’s
king all the way to the second rank, after which Rxh2! deflects Black’s rook.
9…Ka3 10 Kb6
For once White does not actually threaten to queen the c-pawn – but 11
Rxh2 is the threat, again leaving Black with no choice.
10…Rb2 11 Ka5! Rc2 12 Rh3+! Ka2
Mission accomplished, now the king has been pushed to an unfortunate
square, allowing White to deal the decisive blow.

13 Rxh2! Rxh2 14 c8Q 1-0

White still has a little work to do, as queen vs. rook is sometimes not so easy
to win if Black defends stoutly. But here it is a rather easy win because
Black’s king is already in the corner. The so-called chess tablebases, which
currently cover all positions with up to seven pieces on the board and
provide an “oracle answer” as to whether the position is a win or a draw
with best play from both sides, informs us that White wins in no more than
19 moves from here.
Lasker’s study was later expanded by Paul Keres, the Estonian Grandmaster
who finished second in four consecutive Candidates tournaments from 1953
to 1962, but never got to play a World Championship match. Already in
1938, after winning the super strong AVRO tournament (tied with the
American Grandmaster Reuben Fine but with better head-to-head) in the
Netherlands, Keres was in negotiations for a World Championship match
against the reigning World Champion Alexander Alekhine, but World War II
put an end to these efforts.
----------
Keres, 1947
The contours of Lasker’s original study are clearly visible, but White’s pawn
is one more file away from Black’s king, which adds an interesting twist to
the situation. Furthermore, Black’s rook is less active on a1 than on the
second rank in the original Lasker version. White’s king has to zigzag even
more, and once the pawn on a2 is conquered, the struggle is not yet over.
1 Ra3!
Working with Zugzwang to force Black’s king to a less favorable square,
setting up Lasker’s zigzag maneuver.
1…Kh4
As in Lasker’s study, the king has to stay on the edge of the board. 1…Kg4
loses to 2 Kf7 Rf1+ 3 Kg6! Re1 4 Ra4+ Kg3 (4…Kh3 leads to the main line) 5
Kf6 Rf1+ 6 Kg5 Re1 7 Ra3+, and the a2-pawn falls with check.
2 Ra5!
Zugzwang. Black has to allow White’s zigzag maneuver.
2…Kg4
2…Kh5 3 Kf7 eventually leads to the position after move 8 in the main line.
3 Kf7 Rf1+ 4 Kg6! Re1 5 Ra4+ Kh3
As before, 5...Kg3 6 Kf6 Rf1+ 7 Kg5 Re1 8 Ra3+ wins.
6 Kf6 Rf1+ 7 Kg5 Rg1+ 8 Kh5!
Setting up the check on the third rank that will eventually doom Black by
forcing his king to the second rank.
8…Re1 9 Ra3+! Kg2 10 Rxa2+ Kf3
With Lasker’s shrewd maneuver White won the a2-pawn, but the game is
not yet over as White’s king in the process drifted far away from the e7-
pawn. To win through the original Lucena pattern, the king has to return to
the pawn.
11 Ra7 Re6!
The best chance. Black attempts to cut White’s king off from the pawn. 11…
Kf4 12 Kg6 is trivial.
12 Kg5 Ke4 13 Rb7 Ke5
13…Kd5 14 Kf5 wins; Black is in Zugzwang and the king breaks through to the
pawn and sets up a Lucena win.
14 Rd7!
Again Zugzwang is the deciding factor.
14…Ke4 15 Rd1!
Threatens a skewer on e1, so Black cannot grab the pawn.
15…Kf3 16 Rf1+ Ke2
16…Ke4 17 Re1+ wins.
17 Rf7
Now Black cannot prevent White’s king from breaking the horizontal barrier
on the 6th rank, leading to the Lucena Position.
17…Ke3 18 Kf5 1-0
----------
As noted, Lasker’s Maneuver occurs comparatively rarely in tournament
practice. Levenfish and Smyslov, in their classic work on rook endgames,
provide an instructive example.
Gilg – Tartakower
Semmering 1926
This position should be drawn, but White’s next move is an instructive error
which Saviely Tartakower, one of the strongest and most entertaining
players of the day, finds a cunning way to take advantage of. His winning
method bears a strong resemblance to Lasker’s Maneuver.
86 Kh6?
Looks very natural, but turns out to be insufficient to draw. Correct was 86
Rg5! Rf3 87 Kg4, freeing the king and securing the draw.
86…e3 87 Rd5+ Ke4 88 Rd1 e2 89 Re1 Ke3 90 h5 Kf2
91 Ra1
91 Rxe2+ loses by one tempo after 91…Kxe2 92 Kh7 Kf3 93 h6 Kf4 94 Kh8 Kf5
95 h7 Kg6! 96 Kg8 Ra3!
97 h8N+ (only move to avoid mate) 97…Kf6 98 Kh7 Rd3 99 Kg8 Rd7!, and
wins. With 91 Ra1, White hopes to gain the tempo he needs to draw; 91…
e1Q? 92 Rxe1 Kxe1 93 Kh7 Kf2 94 h6 Kf3 95 Kh8 Kf4 96 h7 Kg5 (96…Kf5 is
stalemate) 97 Kg7 draws. But Black has better.
91…Rg1! 92 Ra2
92…Kf3!
A Lasker-like zigzag maneuver commences.
93 Ra3+ Kf4! 94 Ra4+ Kg3! 95 Ra3+
95 Re4 is still a tempo short after 95...e1Q 96 Rxe1 Rxe1 97 Kg7 Kg4 98 h6
Kg5 99 h7 Re7+ 100 Kg8 Kg6! 101 h8N+ Kf6, winning.
95…Kh4! 96 Ra4+ Rg4! 97 Ra1 Re4!
98 Rh1+
98 Re1 Re6+ 99 Kg7 Kxh5 wins.
98…Kg4 99 Rg1+ Kf5 100 Re1

100…Kf6!
Now Zugzwang decides. White will lose his h-pawn and the game.
101 Kh7 Kg5! 102 h6 Re7+! 0-1
Fittingly, the combination of a king maneuver and a rook check to force the
White king one further rank down provides the final blow.
The Advanced Lucena
The Advanced Lucena is my term for a position where the one side has
obtained the contours of the Lucena Position with a pawn on the 7th rank
and his king in front of it, but where the opponent also has a passed pawn
that has to be taken into account. In a sense, the Advanced Lucena is
therefore closely related to the Lasker Maneuver, but with different winning
methods.
In the Advanced Lucena, the winning method consists of first using the
rook to safeguard a file for the king to escape, and then at the right time
allowing both sides to queen, winning through an attack against the
opponent’s king with queen and rook.
Chernin – Drasko
Rubinstein Memorial, Polanica Zdroj 1988

White has the Lucena Position with the pawn on b7 and the king on b8, but
can he really win when Black has a passed pawn on g2 that requires
constant attention? Furthermore White is in a kind of Zugzwang and must
move his rook, leaving the e7-pawn en prise. But the Hungarian (he
relocated to Hungary from Ukraine in 1992) Grandmaster finds a brilliant
way of showing that White can nonetheless win. Chernin won the Soviet
Championship in 1985 (tied with Gavrikov and Mikhail Gurevich) and
qualified for the Candidates tournament in the same year, but in the new
millennium he has mainly been active as a coach with the current World No.
2 Fabiano Caruana as his most prominent student.
66 Rg4!
As we know from the original Lucena, the rook belongs on the fourth rank.
66…Rc2
At closer inspection it turns out that Black cannot capture the e7-pawn after
all, as his king will be poorly placed on that square, allowing White to win
with a kind of Lasker Maneuver: 66…Kxe7 67 Kc7 Rc2+ 68 Kb6 Rb2+ 69 Kc6!
Rc2+ 70 Kd5! Rd2+ 71 Kc4! Rb2
72 Rxg2! Rxb7 (72…Rb1 73 Rg8! Rxb7 74 Rg7+) 73 Rg7+!, and wins.

67 Re4! Ke8
Forced, as 67…g1Q 68 e8Q+ eventually leads to mate. This idea of
transposing into a queen + rook endgame with a subsequent decisive king
hunt is one of the key mechanisms in the Advanced Lucena.
68 Re1
68…Rf2
This allows Chernin to demonstrate another key point of the Advanced
Lucena with the following sequence, exploiting the a-file. Black had two
natural alternatives, but none of them work. 68…Ra2 (trying to keep the a-
file under control) loses to 69 Rc1! (exploiting the c-file instead) 69…Kd7 70
e8Q+! Kxe8 71 Kc7 wins, as does 68…Re2!? 69 Rc1 Rc2 (or 69…Kxe7 70 Kc8
Rc2+!? 71 Rxc2 g1Q 72 Rc7+ followed by 73 b8Q) 70 Ka7! Rxc1 (70…Ra2+ 71
Kb6 Rb2+ 72 Kc7) 71 b8Q+ Kxe7 72 Qe5+, picking up the rook or the g2-
pawn.
69 Ra1! Kxe7
69…Rf1 70 Kc7! g1Q (70…Rxa1 71 b8Q+ Kxe7 72 Qb4+ wins) 71 b8Q+ leads
to the familiar king hunt. White needs to be a bit accurate to finish Black off,
though: 71…Kxe7 72 Qd8+ Kf7 73 Qd7+ Kg8 (73…Kg6 74 Qe6+ Kg7 75 Qe7+
Kh6 76 Ra6+, winning)
74 Qe8+! (and not the hasty 74 Ra8+? Rf8!, and Black escapes with a draw)
74…Kg7 75 Qe7+ Kh6 (now 75…Kg8 76 Ra8+ obviously mates) 76 Ra6+, and
White wins.
70 Ka8! Rf1
71 Ra7! 1-0
The final point of the Advanced Lucena. Now Black cannot avoid the
emergence of a new queen on b8 with check, after which the king hunt
begins.
----------
The following final example highlights the benefits from a thorough study of
technical rook endgames. My familiarity with some of the motifs from the
Chernin – Drasko game helped me win a crucial game in the Danish
Championship in 1994.
Lars Bo Hansen – Steffen Pedersen
Danish Championship, Ålborg 1994

Despite the even material, Black is lost here. Compared to the previous
example, his queenside pawns haven’t even gotten started yet. To win,
White exploits some of the learning points from the Chernin – Drasko game.
63 g7 Rh3+ 64 Kg8
As in the original Lucena, White first hides his king in front of the passed
pawn, controlling the promotion square. The task at hand is now to free the
king by using the rook as a bridge, as taught by Lucena, while keeping Black’s
pawns under control.
64…c5
Black could try 64…b3 instead, in order to go after the b2-pawn when White
redirects his rook to act as a Lucena bridge. However, White wins with 65
Rf7+! Ke8 (65…Ke6 66 Kf8) 66 Rf6! Ke7 (66…c5 67 Re6+ Kd7 68 Kf7 Rf3+ 69
Rf6 wins) 67 Rxc6 Rh2 68 Rc3! Rxb2
69 Rh3!, and the threat 70 Kh8 decides (69…Rg2 70 Rxb3 leads to the
standard Lucena Position).
65 Rf5
As in the previous note, the intermediate check 65 Rf7+! was more precise,
but the text move also wins.
65…Rh2
The alternatives are no better: A) 65…c4 66 Rf4 Rb3 (66…c3 67 Rxb4 c2 (67…
cxb2 68 Rxb2 is Lucena) 68 Rc4 Rh2 69 b4, and wins) 67 Re4+! Kd6
68 Rg4!, Black has no defense against Kf7-g6 or Kh7-g6. His rook cannot
block both escape routes. B) 65…Kd6 66 Kf8 (or 66 Kf7 Rh7, leading to the
same thing) 66…Rg3 67 g8Q Rxg8+ 68 Kxg8 c4 69 Kf7
With his king cut off horizontally, Black’s pawns are not dangerous, e.g. 69…
c3 70 bxc3 bxc3 71 Rf3!, winning.
66 Rxc5 Rxb2
67 Rh5!
This and the next two moves decide the game by replicating Chernin’s
maneuver.
67…Rg2 68 Kh8 Kf7

69 Rh7! Ke6!
The only chance. Black hopes to sacrifice his rook on the g-pawn and then
bring his king to support the b-pawn to gain a draw.
70 Rh4!
The last accurate move. The hasty 70 g8Q+? Rxg8+ 71 Kxg8 Kd5! would only
be a draw.
70…Kd6
Now 70…b3 71 g8Q+ Rxg8 72 Kxg8 wins, as Black’s king is cut off
horizontally.
71 Rxb4
Appropriately, we are now back at one of our original core principles, the
Lucena Position.
71…Rh2+ 72 Kg8 Ke7 73 Re4+ 1-0
Exercises
This section contains two exercises with multiple sub-questions. Both are
from games by former World Champion Bobby Fischer, each highlighting
one or more of the 13 principles discussed above. Each exercise starts from
a strategic endgame position with several pawns on the board, and in the
continuation both sides have to make critical decisions about which
technical positions to strive for and which to avoid. In the exercises, I will ask
you to pause to consider specific questions or decisions. The questions and
the subsequent answers will be in italics. Take your time before deciding on
your answer and remember to use the 13 principles actively!
If you are working with a study partner, I recommend that you play out the
initial exercise position with 20-30 minutes on the clock. Notate the moves
and analyze the game together afterwards while going over the game and
the comments. Pay particular attention to which of the 13 principles are
used.
If you are working alone, I suggest you try to guess each move before
moving on. Take your time; the positions are not easy and even the
Grandmasters playing made mistakes!
----------
Exercise 1:
Gligoric – Fischer
Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates Tournament 1959

White is to move and will obviously win a pawn, transforming the game into
a rook and pawn vs. rook endgame.
Question 1a) Is the position after 48 Kxa6 Rxa3+ 49 Kxb5 a win or a draw?
Don’t just give an evaluation, also refer to one or more of the 13 principles
to support your evaluation!
48 Kxa6 Rxa3+ 49 Kb7!?
For the time being, Gligoric avoids grabbing the b5-pawn, because the
resulting position (answer to question 1a) would be a draw as Black can
reach the Philidor Position with 49 Kxb5 Kc7! 50 b4 Kb7 51 Rh1 Rg3 52 Rh7+
Kb8 53 Ka5
53…Rg6! Since White has a b-pawn, Black can also draw with 53…Rg8,
exploiting the Special Case of the Knight Pawn. But remember, this passive
defense only works with knight pawns. Gligoric’s move is a nice practical
attempt, but it does not alter the evaluation of the position, which remains
drawn. However, it does force the young Fischer – 16 years old at the time –
to solve some more problems before being able to escape into the safe
haven of a technically drawn position. White now threatens to cut off Black’s
king one more file with 50 Rd1+.
49…Kd6
49…b4 was also possible, but understandably Fischer did not like his king
being cut off another file with 50 Rd1+ as there is always a risk when being
on the wrong side of a vertical barrier. However, the position after 50…Ke7
51 Rd3 Ra1 would still be drawn.
50 Kb6
Gligoric renews the threat of cutting off Black’s king with 51 Rd1+. The
alternative was 50 b4, also threatening to cut off Black’s king with 51 Rd1+.
Question 1b) How can Black draw after 50 b4?
Answer to question 1b) Black has only two moves that draw in this position:
50…Rd3 or 50…Kd5. Both prevent White from cutting off the Black king. 50…
Rd3 aims to reach the Philidor Position after 51 Kb6 Rd4! 52 Kxb5 Kc7! 53
Ka6 (or 53 Rh1 Rd6! 54 Rh7+ Kb8=) 53…Kb8! (not 53…Rd6+?? 54 Ka7!, and
because White controls the b8-square he will eventually reach the Lucena
Position and win; as in Anand – Gelfand above) 54 b5 Rd6+ 55 b6 Rd2! and a
Philidor draw. 50…Kd5 is perhaps an even simpler draw after 51 Rc1 (51 Kb6
Kc4=) 51…Rb3! 52 Rc5+ Kd4! 53 Rxb5 Kc4 with a draw.
50…Kd7
Again Fischer prefers to steer towards a Philidor Position rather than
allowing his king to be cut off after 50…b4 51 Rd1+, although that would still
be drawn. Now 51 Kxb5 Kc7 will lead to Philidor, so again Gligoric tries to set
other problems for his young opponent.
51 b4
Question 1c) How can Black draw now?
51…Rh3!?
Answer to question 1c) Fischer prepares to set up one of two other drawing
mechanisms: Either the King on the Short Side, Rook on the Long Side or
Frontal Checks according to the Rule of Five. This is sufficient to draw. Black
had to other alternatives that also lead to a draw. The first is 51…Kc8, aiming
for either the Philidor Position, the Kling & Horwitz Defense of attacking the
b-pawn from behind or the Special Case of the Knight Pawn. After 51 Rc1+
Kb8 52 Rh1 Kc8 53 Rh8+ Kd7 55 Rh7+ Kc8 56 Kxb5…
…Black draws with 56…Rb3! (the Kling & Horwitz Defense; 56…Rg3?? would
lose, as after 57 Kb6 Rg6+ 58 Ka7! White takes control of the b8-square and
wins with the Lucena Maneuver as in Anand – Gelfand above) 57 Ka5 Kb8!
(again the only move, White’s king must be prevented access to a7) 58 b5
Rg3 59 Ka6 Rg6+ 60 b6…
…60…Rg8! with a draw according to the Special Case of the Knight Pawn.
Going back to the position after 51 b4, Black can also draw with 51…Rc3!,
preventing White from cutting off his king and preparing to set up a passive
defense on the back rank (the Special Case of the Knight Pawn again). Black
draws after 52 Kxb5 (52 Rh1 Rc2 53 Rh7+ Kc8 54 Rh8+ Kd7 55 Kxb5 Kc7=)
52…Kc7 53 Rh1 Kb7 54 Rh7+ Kb8 55 Ka5 Rc8!, with a draw.
52 Rc1!
White continues to set new problems for Black, again avoiding the Philidor
Position after 52 Kxb5 Kc7 53 Rg1 Kb7 54 Rg7+ Kb8.
Question 1d) How can Black draw now?
52…Rh8??
Answer to question 1d) Fischer goes for a Rule of Five draw with frontal
checks, but this is a blunder that should lose the game if White does not
capture the b-pawn immediately. Fischer’s idea is correct, but not in this
specific position. This highlights the importance of the need to adapt general
principles to specific positions. 52…Rh5! was the only move to draw here.
After 53 Rc7+ Kd8! is the only move to hold (53…Kd6? loses to 54 Rc5!, when
Black’s king will not be able to reach the back rank), e.g. 54 Rc5 Rxc5 55 Kxc5
(55 bxc5 b4 56 Kb7 b3 57 c6 b2 58 c7+ Ke7 59 c8Q b1Q+=) 55…Kc7! 56 Kxb5
Kb7!, with a draw as Black has the opposition.
Question 1e) How can White win in the following position?
53 Kxb5??
Answer to question 1e) This only draws, as Fischer can now exploit the Rule
of Five Defense with frontal checks. As we shall see, the path to victory is
narrow and requires utmost precision, but 53 Rc7+! wins. Black has two
options, but both lose. If he tries 53…Kd8, White wins with 54 Rc5 Kd7 55
Rxb5! (but not 55 Kxb5? Rb8+ 56 Ka4 (56 Kc4 Rc8!=) 56…Ra8+ and now
either 57 Ra5 Rb8= or 57 Kb3 Rc8!=, as in the game) 55…Kc8 56 Ka7! Rh7+
57 Ka8!, and White will eventually reach the Lucena Position and win as in
Anand – Gelfand earlier. If Black tries 53…Kd6 (instead of 53…Kd8) in
response to the check on c7, White wins with 54 Rc6+!
Again Black has two options, but both lose. After 54…Kd5 55 Kxb5 White
exploits the Horizontal Barrier Principle to win, e.g. 55…Rb8+ 56 Rb6 Rh8 57
Rb7! Kd4 58 Ka6! (not 58 Kb6? Kc4 59 b5 Kb4!=, as in Volokitin – Eljanov
above) 58…Rh6+ (58…Kc4 59 b5 Kb4 60 Rg7! wins, with the king on b6 Black
would draw here with 60…Rh6+)
59 Ka5!, and White wins. White has to be careful, though, as 59 Ka7? would
only be a draw, as Black can use the same maneuver as Eljanov in his game
against Volokitin above: 59…Kc4! 60 b5 Kb4! 61 b6 Ka5!,
…and White is in Zugzwang and cannot win. Going back to the diagram after
54 Rc6+, Black can also try 54…Kd7, but this also loses as in Anand – Gelfand
above: 55 Kxb5 Rb8+ 56 Rb6 Rh8 57 Rb7+ Kc8 58 Ka6 Rh6+ 59 Ka7 Rh1 60 b5
Rg1 61 Rh7 Ra1 62 Kb6 Rb1 63 Rh8+ Kd7
64 Rb8!, and in this position Gelfand resigned against Anand, as Black
cannot prevent White from obtaining the Lucena Position. Following this
reciprocal blunders from both sides, the position is now again a draw.
53…Rb8+ 54 Ka4 Ra8+ 55 Kb3
Question 1f) How can Black draw this position?
55…Rc8!
Answer to question 1f) Fischer finds the right way to secure the draw. This is
the point of the Rule of Five Defense. When the pawn is on the 4th rank and
the Black king only is cut off by one file (4+1=5), then it is a draw, and the
drawing mechanism is to go into a king and pawn ending at the right
moment.
56 Rxc8
After 56 Rh1 Kc7, Black can either draw with the Philidor or simply stay
passive on the back rank, exploiting the Special Case of the Knight Pawn.
56…Kxc8 57 Kc4
Question 1g) How should Black play now to draw?
57…Kb8! ½-½
Answer to question 1g) The key here is to make sure that Black gets the
opposition, and 57…Kb8 ascertains that. After 58 Kc5 Kc7 or 58 Kb5 Kb7, the
draw is inevitable.
Exercise 2:
Fischer – Portisch
Stockholm Interzonal Tournament 1962

Material is even here, but White is of course clearly better with more active
rook and king and a passed pawn on the f-file.
Question 2a) Are these advantages enough to secure the win for White, or
can Black draw?
52…bxc4?
Answer to question 2a) This natural move appears to be Black’s decisive
mistake. Despite White’s advantages, Black is still able to draw with accurate
defense. The drawing margin is quite wide in chess! The only move to draw
was 52…Rd3!, sacrificing a pawn but taking advantage of two key drawing
principles, Kling & Horwitz and Rook on the Long Side, King on the Short Side,
respectively. If you know your technical rook and pawn vs. rook endgames,
this is often a better defensive strategy than to passively hang on to
material! After 53 cxb5 axb5 54 Rxb5 Kf7 55 Rb7+ Kf8 56 Ke6 (56 Kf6 Rd6+
Philidor) and now...
56…Rf3!, using the Kling & Horwitz Defense, Black is able to hold. Now
neither 57 Rb8+ Kg7 nor 57 f6 Re3+ 58 Kd5 Rc3! helps White, so he seems to
have nothing better than 57 Kf6 Kg8! (of course the Black king goes to the
short side, according to the Rook on the Long Side, King on the Short Side
Defense) 58 Rb5 Kh7 59 Rxc5 Rxb3…
… and Black has obtained a standard Rook on the Long Side, King on the
Short Side draw.
53 bxc4 Rd4
The alternative was 53…a5, but this doesn’t save Black either, although
White’s winning path is narrow. The main line goes 54 Ra7 Ra1 55 Ke6 Re1+
(55…a4 loses to 56 Ra8+ Kh7 57 f6 Re1+ 58 Kf7 Ra1 59 Ke7 Re1+ 60 Kf8 Ra1
61 f7, and the threat 62 Ke7 is decisive) 56 Kd6 Ra1 (56…Rf1 57 Rxa5 Rxf5 58
Rxc5 wins; with a c-pawn Black’s king is now on the wrong (long) side!) 57
Kxc5 a4 58 Kb4 Rb1+ 59 Kc3.
Now Black has a choice – should he go after the f5-pawn or keep checking?
Question 2b) Is the position after 59…Rf1 60 Rxa4 Rxf5 61 Ra1 Kf7 62 Re1 a
win or a draw?
Answer to question 2b) This is a win according to the Rule of Five – with the
pawn on the 4th rank and the Black king cut off by two files; 4+2=6
If Black instead keeps checking with 59…Rc1+, a different situation arises: 60
Kd4 Rd1+ 61 Ke5 Re1+ 62 Kf6 Ra1 63 c5 a3 (63…Rc1 64 Rxa4 Rxc5 65 Kg6!
wins, Black is a tempo short to reach a Philidor draw) 64 c6 Rc1 65 c7 a2
Question 2c) Is this position a win or a draw, and how should White
continue?
Answer to question 2c) This is a win, but White has to be accurate. 66 c8Q+!
Rxc8 67 Kg6! wins.
The a2-pawn is picked up next, and Black is not in time to exploit any of the
defensive principles.
However, 66 Rxa2? (instead of 66 c8Q+!) would be too hasty and would
allow Black to draw.
Question 2d) How could Black draw in that case?
Answer to question 2d) Black can hold a draw with the Rook on the Long
Side, King on the Short Side Defense after 66…Rxc7 67 Ra8+ Kh7 68 Re8 Rc1
69 Kf7 Ra1! 70 f6 Ra7+ 71 Re7 Ra8!, with a draw by controlling the 8th rank.
Back to the game.
54 Ke6!
Question 2e) How does White win if Black now plays 54…Rxc4 ?
Answer to question 2e) White wins after 55 Rb8+ Kh7 56 f6 Re4+ 57 Kf5!
… as the checking distance is too short. The rook needs three free files or
ranks to be far enough away from the king when checking. Portisch instead
tried:
54…Re4+
Question 2f) Where should White go with his king and why?

55 Kd5!
Answer to question 2f) Fischer finds the right way! Going after the c5-pawn
is the right approach because a passed c-pawn is much better than a passed
f-pawn with Black’s king on the kingside. With a c-pawn the king is on the
long side, and as we know it has to be on the short side! Therefore 55 Kf6?
would have been inaccurate and allows Black to draw by taking advantage
of the Rook on the Long Side, King on the Short Side principle after 55…Rxc4
56 Rb8+ Kh7 57 Ke7 Re4+ 58 Kf7, and now…
58…Rb4!, and the rook gives saving side checks.
55…Rf4 56 Kxc5
Black now has a choice – should he capture the f5-pawn with the rook or try
to rush his king to the queenside?
Question 2g) Evaluate the position after 56…Kf8 and support your
evaluations with some key lines grounded in our 13 principles.
Answer to question 2g) It turns out that the position is lost for Black after
56…Kf8. Without White’s f5-pawn, 56…Kf8 would lead to a draw, but
unfortunately for Black his rook will be misplaced on f5 when he later has to
capture the f-pawn. White wins with 57 Ra7, when Black can choose
between two losing options. 57…Rxf5+ loses to 58 Kb6 Rf6+ 57 Kb7 Ke7 60
Rxa6 Rf4 61 Rc6! Rf1 62 c5 Rc1 (62…Rb1+ 63 Rb6 Rc1 64 c6 Kd6 65 Rb2!
wins) 63 Rc8!
… and White will eventually obtain the Lucena Position. 57…Ke8 (instead of
57…Rxf5+) loses to 58 Rxa6 Rxf5+ 59 Kc6! (Black is now lost because his king
is on the long side of the pawn) 59…Rf6+ (59…Rf1 60 c5 Rc1 61 Ra8+ Ke7
62 Rc8! is the familiar winning maneuver from Anand – Gelfand in the
section on the Lucena Position) 60 Kb5 Rf5+ (if 60…Rf1, White cuts Black’s
king off vertically with 63 Rd6!, winning) 61 c5 Kd7 62 Ra7+ Kb6 63 Kb6!
Here we see the impact of the misplaced Black rook on f5. If the rook instead
were on f1, Black could draw here with Kling & Horwitz’ 63…Rc1!, but as it is
here it is lost. Portisch instead tried his second alternative:
56…Rxf5+
Question 2h) Why is this position winning for White?
57 Kd6!
Answer to question 2h) White is winning because the checking distance for
Black’s rook is too short. Additionally, Black’s king is too far away and on the
long side.
57…Rf6+ 58 Ke5!
This is why a rook needs a checking distance of three files. With only two
files, the king can approach and harass the rook.
58…Rf7
58…Rf1 59 c5 is an easy win; the pawn just runs.
59 Rb6 Rc7
59…Ra7 60 c5 Kf7 (60…a5 61 c6, threatening 62 Rb8+ and 63 Rb7+, winning)
61 Kd6, and the c-pawn decides.
60 Kd5 Kf7 61 Rxa6
Now we have reached the pure rook and pawn vs. rook position which is the
main theme of this book.
Question 2i) Why is this position winning for White?

Answer to question 2i) This final question gives us one last chance to review
the drawing mechanisms for the defender in this type of endgame. In
general, Black has three possible drawing setups – the Philidor Position, the
Kling & Horwitz Defense, and the Rook on the Long Side, King on the Short
Side. Unfortunately for Black, none of these are possible here because his
king is too far away and on the wrong side while the rook is passive and
neither able to get behind the pawn nor on the long side.
61…Ke7
Trying to rush the king over, but it is too late, mainly because of the
unfortunate placement of Black’s rook.
62 Re6+ Kd8 63 Rd6+!
There we have it. The king and pawn endgames after 63…Rd7 64 Kc6 Rxd6+
65 Kxd6 or 63…Kc8 64 Rc6 are lost for Black, so he has to allow his king to be
cut off vertically.
63…Ke7 64 c5 Rc8 65 c6 Rc7
66 Rh6! Kd8 67 Rh8+ Ke7
68 Ra8! 1-0
Stalemating the rook on c7 and putting Black in a lethal Zugzwang – 68…Kf7
69 Kd6 wins.
Tips for self-improvement
The ability to play rook endgames is essential for any competitive chess
player. Apart from reading this book, how can you work at home on
improving this skill? Here are four tips for self-improvement.
Build a database of games with instructive rook endgames. Just as I
recommend that you build databases with all of your own games and your
openings, it is a good idea to build a database with rook endgames. This will
make it much easier for you to review these endgames from time to time to
keep your rook endgame ability current. You can start by putting all the
examples from this book into your rook endgame database, and then add
new games with instructive rook endgames every time you happen to see
such a game.
Use tablebases. Chess is currently in the process of being “solved” through
so-called retrograde analysis. Retrograde analysis is the process of working
backwards from checkmate positions with few pieces on the board to
determine the optimal play for both sides. At present, all positions with up
to seven pieces on the board have been solved through this process. You set
up the position and the tablebase can immediately tell you whether this is a
win or a draw and what optimal play for both sides is. Using this tool to
check rook endgames and to learn patterns of best play is very helpful. For
example, in preparing this lesson I have checked all positions in the
tablebases to make sure the lines and evaluations are accurate. Tablebases
can be bought in combination with commercial chess databases but are also
available for free on the internet – just search for “Nalimov Tablebases”,
named after the computer programmer Eugene Nalimov who has helped
pioneer development and use of tablebases for chess.
Play practice endgames with chess friends. The best learning from chess
study occurs when training emulates tournament conditions as much as
possible. To practice rook endgames, I recommend that you practice them
with a friend. For example, take some of the games from this book or other
games with rook endgames that you have added to your rook endgame
database, set the clock at maybe 10-15 minutes for both sides (as in
tournament practice rook endgames often occur late in the game where
both sides are low on time), and play out the position. Notate the moves
and afterwards compare your play to the examples in this book or use the
tablebases to see how close you were to “perfect play”.
Go over the examples in this lesson at least once a year. Some players seem
to believe that endgame study is something you just need to do once, but
that is not the case. You have to revisit the most critical technical endgames
from time to time to make sure you remember key ideas. Even
Grandmasters do so. Former World Champion Vishy Anand was asked about
how he gets ready for World Championship matches in the last few days or
weeks before the match, and he replied that among other things he checks
some critical rook endgames to make sure that he will be able to play them
accurately should they occur during the match. The knowledge of rook
endgames is critical for tournament players, even if the specific endgames
may never actually appear on the board in your games. The British
Grandmaster Luke McShane summarizes this point very well, so keep this
concluding quote in mind:
In my own experience, the main benefits are often realized when the
endgames you have studied never make it onto the board. Endgames often
arise in variations, and it’s important to develop a good ”feel” for which ones
are likely to pose practical problems for the opponent. Likewise, the
confidence to simplify into an inferior but tenable endgame safe in the
knowledge that you know how to handle it is invaluable.
Master another chess topic