6 Rook Endings You should study rook endings extremely care- fully as they occur very frequently in practice, The rook is a powerful long-range piece and should generally be used actively. The rook is not adept in passive defence and the blockade of enemy passed pawns. For this reason, the game may still be unclear even when one side has to sacrifice his rook, which leads us to the first of the three topics of this chapter, which are: 6.1: Rook vs Pawns 161 62: Rook vs Rook 177 6.3: Double-Rook Endings 249 6.1 Rook vs Pawns The statistics show that this type of ending oc- curs less often than the similar cases with a mi- nor piece, but due to its special importance in rook endings with passed pawns, a careful study of the themes and motifs is called for. Our topics are: A: — Rook vs One Pawn 161 B: Rook vs Two Pawns 164 C: Rook vs Three Pawns 169 D: Rook and Pawns vs Pawns 172 A) Rook vs One Pawn The rook’s winning chances depend very much on how close the attacking king is. Sometimes it is winning even when it is very far away (see following diagram): 1 Bgst “The rook cuts off Black's king, which is now unable to support the pawn, Black now has a choice between losing his pawn or allowing the white king to approach, with fatal consequences in either case. 1.03 1...skc6 2 &g7 +-. By cutting off the black king, White has bought himself unlimited time to bring his king into battle. 28 g3 2 &g7 c2 3 Mgl! dd5 4 Hcl! +~ also wins. mae aa = Y y g ae ee ae LU 5. vo a. a a Coo 6.01 +l= cutting off 2.1023 Be3 +—- “Cutting off" is a very important fighting method in various rook endings. The last chance for the cutting-off idea is on the rook’s Sth rank; if the pawn is further advanced it doesn’t work. If we move all the pieces a rank down the board, then you will see that Black could simply advance his pawn without losing it. Note that the initial position is also won with the pawn still on ¢5: _ JES YO aun — ane 8.82 se a ‘Then 1 Hg5! (1 &g7? allows the bodycheck 1...dee5!! =) is again the only winning move, as162 it will take Black too much time to bring his king up via the b-file: 1...d06 2 &g7 &b5 3 Bf6 tebd 4 eS +. An important resource in this type of ending is underpromotion to a knight: @ Y : Y ~ a y underpromotion 1:Bh2+ Bdl! 2 d3 cl D+! 2...c1W2? 3 Bhi#! 3&e3 3 c3 De2+! =. 3...b3! 4 Eb2 Dcl! = Note that the underpromotion motif doesn’t work with a rook’s pawn, because the knight is immediately lost. The next example shows an interesting fight against the knight's pawn: my 3 A.Vaulin — V.Gashimov Swidnica 1999 FUNDAMENTAL CHESS ENDINGS White has to act very carefully: 1 e6 $h2 2 Bh6+?! 2dbf5 g3 3 deed g2 4 Bho+! degl 5 dg3 Sl 6 Ef6+! gl 7 Ef8 (7 22? blows it as 7...@h1 8 Bxg2! is stalemate) 7...h1 8 Bh8+! &gl 9 Bh2! +. 2.uSeg? 3 £5? ‘You should always have the courage to take a bad move back: 3 Ef6!! g3 4 dee5! (4 $25? Sf3! 5 egS+ te? =) 4...2h2 5 fa! + (5 Bn6+? gl! 6 fd &f2! =). 3. E3! Blocking White’s king. 4 HaG g3! 5 Ba3+ Sf2! 6 gd g2! 7 Ba2+ egl!? The best way to draw, although a defence us- ing underpromotion is also sufficient: 7...2f1 8 $E3 giZ+! 9 he3 Dh3! 10 Bh2 Dgl! =. 8 Ha6 8 dg3 HhI! 9 Bxg? is stalemate. 8...8f2 9 Ha2+ dgi 10 eh3 Phi! 11 Kal+ glW 12 Bxglt! "2-4 6.034 K.Lerner — Y.Dorfman, Tashkent 1980 (wea8, Hh2; b#g7, Ags) features the same theme. Lerner found the amazing 1 £2! — hindering Black's king from making a body- check is the only way to win! 1,..82h6 2 &2b7 94 3 hc6 Hyg5 4 Sd5 g3 5 KES Syd 6 Led! 1-0. The following example is very important for the understanding of many rook vs pawn(s) endings: “an A, Wa Je a mm shouldering away White’s rook is excellently placed on the first rank, controlling the pawn’s queening squareROOK ENDINGS from a distance. If Black plays ...f3-f2 and ..g3-g2, White’s king will arrive at e2 just in time, winning the game. Black can do much better by shouldering away White's king, even though this involves blocking his own pawn: 1...883!! We also refer to this motif as a bodycheck. 1...£32 2 @e5! £2 3 ddd Lf3 4 a3! bg? 5 he2! +. 2 dS we3!! Not: 2...<€e2? 3 &d4! +-; 2...he4? 3 dog Be3 4 bc3! He2 (4...£3 5 Kel+! Hf2 6 Hd2 ++) 5 Bd4 £3 6 Ba2+! Wel 7 be3 +. 3 Ba34!? ‘The rook doesn't feel at home on the third rank, but it is worth a try, After 3 dd5 £3! 4 Ba3+ we2! 5 Wed £2! 6 Bad+ wel! 7 de3, the underpromotion 7...f12+! = saves Black (see 6.02). 3...dred! Not 3...8e2??, when White wins by 4 d4! £3 5 Ba2++-. 4 chc4 £3! 5 Ba8 f2= The next classic shows the battle of the kings from another angle: Ue 6.05 +f R.Réti Miinchener Neueste Nachrichten, 1928 1 2d2(1!) 1 Bd3(!!) also wins, However, the natural continuation | Ed1? d4! leaves White in zug- zwang: 2 Sd7 (after 2 Bd2 ded 3 Bd6 d3 4 Gc5 He3! = the attack on the rook secures the draw) 2...ded5! (2.84? 3 €d6 d3 4 Sc5! he3 5 hed! +~) 3 c7 (3 Bhi d3! =) 3.5! 4b7 shod =. 163 1d 1...8e4 2 d6 d4 3 &c5 is hopeless for Black. 2 Bait The real point: Black finds himself to move ina decisive zugzwang, 2.bd5 3 Bd! Not 3 &f6? ded! = After the text-move, Black is forced to chose one side; in reply White will choose the other side, so as to avoid a bodycheck. 3...cke4 4 ed6 d3 5 Le5! he3 6 Led! d27 Se3 +- Now we show one important attacking tech- nique to avoid the bodycheck: “ H.Hamdouchi - V.Topalov Cap d'Agde 1994 1...cedd? A grave error. Black has to win a tempo by forcing White’s king back to g5 first: 1...2g2+! 2 BFS Bh2!3 hg5 Sd4 4hs hes 5 Heb wes 6 h6 Bg2+ 7 &h7 SF7 8 Hh8 Ba2 9 h7 Hao 10 Bhs Bxnoe. 2h5! SeS 3 h6! web 4 eg7! 479? By2+! 5 dh6 Sf7! 6 h8@+ Sf6! 7 h7 Bgl +, 4S The alternative 4...€e7 also leads to a draw after 5 h7! Hg2+ 6 dh8! =. 5 $18! Bi2+ 6 deg] Bg2+ Ye-th We end our discussion of the case where the rook has the advantage with an example by the famous Russian trainer Mark Dvoretsky where very deep thought is required:164 ‘ae Wa M.Dvoretsky Technique for the Tournament Player, 1995 1...see5!! Black has to think in terms of ‘shouldering away’ right from the start. Instead: a) 1...a5?? 2 Bh5! +— wins by cutting off Black's king; this is analogous to 6.01. b) 1...&2b5? 2 @F7! a5 3 eb! od (3.04 4 @d5! +-) 4 Ba8 (this is the correct moment to improve the rook’s position; Black has to pro- tect the pawn, but can’t get nearer to the queen- ing square) 4...2b4 5 dd5 a4 6 ded4 Sb3 7 $03 a3 8 Mb8+ +. 287 2 Bhs+ hb4! 3 GE7 a5! 4 heb ad! 5 dS and now: a) 5...€2b3? 6 eS a3 7 Bh3+! wb2 8 kbd! (8 &c4? a2! 9 Bh2+ wa3!! =) 8...a2 9 Bh2+! bl 10 $b3! a+ (10..a1W 11 Zhi#!) 11 Bc3 +-. b) 5...a3! 6 edd a2 7 Bhl! db3! 8 ded3 seb2! 9 Bh2+ dbl 10 Bxa2 = (not 10 $32? alW+! 11 &b3 Wa8! —+; that trick works only with a queen!). 2...a51 3 Se6 ad! 4 SeS a3 5 Za8 Sh! 6 Sd4 Sb3! 7 Ld3 Sb2! Remember that with the rook’s pawn, 7...a2?? doesn’t work due to 8 Bb&+! #a3 9 dc2! +-. 8 Xb8+ Sel! = Not8...€al?9 c3 a2 10 Bh8 eb 11 Bhi#. The last example sees the pawn winning. You can find it in nearly every endgame book (see following diagram). Surprisingly, Black’s rook can’t stop the pawn, However, he has one resource left, which has made the position very famous: FUNDAMENTAL CHESS ENDINGS 6.08 += FSaavedra (correcting J.Barbier) Glasgow Weekly Citizen, 1895 1 c7! Bd6+ 2 wh5! d5+ 3 bs! Bdd+ 4 @ ea a a 0 a Y . ey oe King or rook — that is the question! J x08 in oe 7 lad GW gw j 'y y ET Un | 3 & oe Oa 7 It’s clearly time to take the d-pawn, but which piece should make the capture? A, . g Va, a, nee x 1 a nt. a | a ee ate etn E6.10 per Can you spot the mistakes in the following play? 1...d2d6 2 bd de6 3 ddd dd6 4 a6 Zal O-1.ROOK ENDINGS al pee Play proceeded 1..2ixg2 2 ¢7 He2 3 dd7 cehd 4 a5 Exh3 5 a6 g5 6 BW Hxc8 7 dx and the resulting queen ending was drawn. Can you find the errors? 4 Can you solve this 16th-century classic? 6.2 Rook vs Rook This subchapter on endings with rook + pawn(s) vs rook (+ pawns) is by far the largest of the whole book, since rook endings occur very fre- quently in practice. One possible explanation for this is that it usually takes a long time for the rooks to enter the game, since they start in the comers, and can only really become active once there are some open files. Therefore it is very likely that two of them will remain until the end- game. You should study this section carefully and you should know the basic positions, espe- cially the Philidor and Lucena positions, by heart. We divide the material as follows: ‘A: Rook and Pawn(s) vs Rook 177 177 B: Pawns on One Wing (no Passed Pawns) 205 C: Pawn Races 216 D: — One Side has a Passed Pawn 223 E: Pawns on Both Wings 233 F: Principles of Rook Endings 245 A) Rook and Pawn(s) vs Rook We consider the following cases: Al: Rook and Pawn vs Rook 177 A2:; Rook and Two Pawns vsRook ‘192 A1) Rook and Pawn vs Rook Our topics are now: Ala: Basics: Philidor and Lucena Position 177 Alb: The Defending King is Cut Off Along a File 182 Alc: The Defending King is Cut Off Along a Rank 184 Ald: Rook's Pawn 187 Ala) Basics: Philidor and Lucena Position We begin with the most important position in the whole book, because the motif can be ap- plied to the other pawns on the fifth or fourth rank as well: [= : yf” wre Vey . a. em mse | Philidor position, 1777 \\ Yj \ 6.33 += 1...8b6()) In fact any rook move on the b-file (except for 1...2b5? and 1...2b7??) draws, but 1...b6178 is clearly best, as the drawing method is com- pletely clear-cut. For 1...28b1?! see 6.37. 26 There is no other try. A rook exchange results in a drawn pawn ending and other ideas are an- swered by ...82f7 or waiting moves by the rook on the third rank. 2uuwElb1()) Once the pawn has advanced, White lacks a shield against checks from behind, and Black immediately exploits this. As a rule: if you want to give annoying checks, keep as much distance from the opponent’s king as possible! 3 chg6 Hgl+! 4 Sts Hfl+ 5 be6 Kel+! = With White to move, Black is lost: 1hg6! Not: 1 &f6? Eb6+! L.Xe8 Itis also too late for activity: bi 2 Ha8+! eT 3 16+! deb 4 Re8+ Sd7 5 £7 +. 2 £6 seg8!? (D) £6? Sbl =. 3 Bg7+ In order to play 2h7 with tempo! 3 Bh7?! 406 forces White to return. 3.888 3...82h8 4 Bh7+! deg 5 £741 +-. 4 Bh7! bg8 5 £74! +— It is important to know that a back-rank de- fence is only possible with a knight's or a rook’s pawn (see following diagram): 17+ @hs! 1...8f82? 2 Sh7! bl 3 Ar7+ Se8 4 Ses ++ reaches a Lucena-type position (see dia gram 6.35), FUNDAMENTAL CHESS ENDINGS w Wh 2 Eh7+ kgs = In order to win, White would now need there to be an i-file, If the attacker manages to cut the defending king off, the following basic winning moti which has been known for a very long time, plays a crucial role: ‘Lucena Position’ 11+ Bringing the rook to g8 (via hi and h8) is the alternative win, but for obvious reasons this method is not possible with a knight’s pawn and is therefore of less general importance: | Zhl &g3 2 Kh Kgl 3 Kes Sil 4 deg? Ryl+ 5 Bho Bhl+6 Gg5 Bgl+7 Gh4 Bhl+ 8 Hg3 Bgl+9 ef + L..ee7 Or: 1...e6 2 de +~; 1...,2c6 2 He7 (or 2 Bd4 cS 3 Rd7 Hc6 4 Se8 Ef2 5 Be7 +-)ROOK ENDINGS 2..e2+ 3 td8 B24 Hd7 Bl 5 wes HE2 6 He7 +-. 2Bd4 This manoeuvre is known as ‘building a bridge’, and it provides a successful exit for the white king. 2 e7?! Be2+ 3 &f6 Hf2+ 4 Sg6 Hg2+ 5 eh5 Hf2 gets White nowhere. 2..Hgl 3 ke7 Kel+ 4 Sf6 Efl+ 5 eo Hel+ 5...Bf2 6 Hd5 Hfl 7 BS +. 6 sets Bit 7 Bid +— ‘The point of 2 Hd4! In the Chess Cafe Holiday Quiz 2000 by Russell and Kingston the second question was “True or False: The Lucena position is so named because it first appeared in Lucena’s 1497 work on chess. Answer: False. The 1497 book by Lucena does not include the position that bears his name. The position first appears in Salvio's Hl puttino (1634).” It is also worth knowing how to reach a Lucena-type position: Reaching Lucena 1 £81? ‘The only way to make progress: | g6?? Ge7! =; 1 Ba5 (threatening £7) |...e8 2&7 Bgl+ and White has to return. 1.262 1... Bhi 2 &g7 Bgl+ 3 Sf7 Bhi 4 £6 Bh7+5 $6 Bhi 6 La8 Bgl+ 7 B17! +. 2 Sg7 Kg2+ 2...8e7 3 (6+ Heb 4 He8+! Gd7 (4.085 5 {7 Bg2+ 6 {8 6 7 Bas Rb2 8 Ba6+ +-) 5 fT+-. 179 3.bf7 Hi 4 £6 Eft 5 Ba8 B2 6 dg? Be2+ 7 &f8 £2 8 £7 Eg? 9 Had Kgl 10 Zad+ +— Note that 6.36 shifted to the left is only a draw: BW WY yy Wy, ley 1 Be8!? Bhi! 2 Sf7 2 He7+ ded8! 3 Bf7 de8 =. 2..h7+ 3 &g6 Ld7 4 exh7 dxe8! 5&6 eT! = (2.06) If the defending king manages to get to the short side of the pawn, the position is drawn since a Lucena-type position is out of reach: wit Li e Wa J M.Karstedt a 1..2f1 1. Zgl+?! is less accurate as White can pen- trate further with 2 &f6 €g8! 3 Ha8+ wh7 4 $f7, although this still isn’t sufficient to win. 2&6180 2 Ha8+ de7 and the f-pawn is stopped. 2...deg8! Always move the king to the short side, so that the took has more checking space on the long side. 2...&@e8? loses: 3 Ha8+ dd7 4 Bs +- (6.36). 3 Ha8+&h7 (D) ee yO i, ae & aM GO ae wa oe z.* a een oe “a The short-side defence sa i a _ — « z WS .. ean — a 6.374 4af8 4 be6 bg7 =. 4..al(!) 5 Be8 Mf 6 Hes sg8 = If the defender misses (or can’t reach) the Philidor position (6.33) or the short side-defence (6.37A), his last hope is the following set-up: . Demet ‘ Bee ou ee tena e 7 ee a 8 othe back-rank defence 1.8! 1...2h82? 2 Bbl +. 2 $d6 Bas! = FUNDAMENTAL CHESS ENDINGS Preparing side-checks is essential, as we can see from considering the alternatives: a) After 2...g8? the plan of regrouping the rook with 3 Rb4 decides: 3...Ha8 4 Bf4+! dg7 5 Bad! Bxad 6 es! +. b) 2...2h8? allows even 3 e8W++ dxe8 4 Host! +. c) 2...9f67 3 Bb3 Ha8 (3...Hxe7 4 B34! ++) 4 BP3+ hg 5 Ba3! +. Another drawing resource is the following, which again demonstrates the importance of the checking distance: m a a 6.39 +s The black rook’s checking distance is large enough: JnttaB+! 1...d1? 2 Bg2+ +-. 2 d7 Ba7+! 3 bd6 Ba6+! 3...21a8? 4 Ba?! + 4 d5 BaS+! 5 dc6 BaG+! 6 2b7 Heb! = The next position could also serve as an ex- ample of Tarrasch’s aphorism “Alll rook endings are drawn” (see following diagram): 1246 1 Bb7 and now: a) 1...dg8? 2 fo Bf8+ 3 Bf7 Bas 4 Be7+ &h8 5 Bgd +~ is a Lucena-type position. b) 1..Hal 2 £d7 Ba8! 3 e7 SE7! = (6.38). c) 1...dg6 2 Hd6 SF6 3 7 (3 Hf7+ Seo! 4 Bel Ba6+ =) 3...6f7! 4 dd7 Re8! =, and Black sets up a back-rank defence (6.38). 1...ceg6!! Not: 1.,.Ha7+? 2 Se8! Ha8+ 3 Hd8! Ba6 4 €7 Ha7 5 Bc8 bf6 6 He6+! dg7 7 d8 Ba8+ 8 Bc8! +-; 1...Hal? 2 Pe8! +— is similar,ROOK ENDINGS a gO aa e "a aw ae S.Tarrasch, 1906 | Yi a a 2 i aa sl= . 2 Ec6 tig?! 3 He7 dg6 4 Hb7 dg7 5 a7 26 = Not 5...2b8? 6 Bd8 (6 Ha7 &g6 7 Hal Xb7+ 8 ded6 Bb6+ 9 d7! Bb7+ 10 ko6 Hb8 11 c7 Hb2 12 Hel Bc2+ 13 hd7 Bd2+ 14 Se8 Ba? 157 +-)6...0b7+ 7 dd6 Bb6+ (7...€f6 8 B8+! dg7 9 e7 +) 8 ked7 Bb7+ 9 ec6 Be7 10 &d6! +. Surprisingly, 5...Bal 6 &e8+ Sf6! 7 e7 Geb! is also possible: 8 Lf8 (8 #d8 Ba8+! 9 c7 He8 =) 8..Rf1+! =, ‘We end this section with a complicated prac- tical example oe Z" Saunee eS AL R.Cifuentes - L.van Wely Dutch Ch (Rotterdam) 1999 1 bg3? L En e3 (1.03 2 Ha3+! Ge2 3 Ba2+ Sl 4:&13 2 5 Hb2 Hal 6 Hxe2! =) 2 Ba3+ (2 ad 181 ob f2 3 cbf 3 4 Ba3 =) 2...f2 3 fd e3 4 Bb3 2 5 Bf3+! dg? 6 Mp3+! (6 de? Mel! +) 6...8h2 7 2f3! Hal (7..Hfl+ 8 Sxe2! =) 8 Hg2+! dh3 9 xe2! = 1,..03! 2 &g2 2 Ba7 Melt! 3 Gf3 Mfl+! 4 dg? e2! -+. 2..fal 3 Hd7+ de2! 4 Bb7 ddl 5 Md7+ sel 6 Bh7 Ha2+ 7 del Bas 8 dg? e2 9 Hf3 Ba3+ 0-1 Exercises (Solutions on pages 378-9) —“ Bene / aa ee a “ne 2 How would you defend Black's position? E6.14 pe aa a Is there anything better than passive de- fence? Maw182 6.15 pe £6.16 Can Black draw? Alb) The Defending King is Cut Off Along a File If the defending king can’t get in front of the pawn, and the attacker can’t directly reach a Lucena Position, matters become much more complicated. In this section we consider the case where the king is cut off along a file, while the next section deals with positions where it is, cut off along a rank, Note that these two sec- tions only cover centre, bishop's and knight's pawns; in these three cases there are plenty of thematic similarities in the play, though some important differences too. Totally different prin- ciples apply to rook’s pawns, which are there- fore discussed separately, in section Ald. ‘Two points are worth noting to start with: 1) The rook defends best from in front, so that the attacking king can’t use its pawn as a shield. FUNDAMENTAL CHESS ENDINGS 2) As checking distance is crucial, it is of great importance whether the pawn can cross the middle of the board. We start with a bishop's pawn: If it is White’s move, he can use the a-file and the possibility of 2d4 to win: 1 @b4! Xb8+ 2 aS He8 3 &ebS Hb8+ 4 a6 Be8 5 Bd4 heb 6 Lh7 He5 (6...ke5 7 Bd5+ +) 7 SHO! He8 8 eS ++. The pawn has crossed the middle of the board and Black’s rook can’t hinder White from reaching a Lucena position, If Black is to move, he can even exchange rooks to reach the draw: 1...2d8 (1...8e6 =) 2 Exd8 dxd8! 3 dd Lec8! =. With Black’s king perfectly placed, White can’t win as the checking distance of Black's rook is large enough:ROOK ENDINGS 1gb4 1 c5 Be7 2 &c4 Bas! =. 1...2b8+! 2 a5 Be8! Not 2...28a8+? 3 &b6! Bb8+ 4 Sc7! and White manages to advance his pawn to c5. 3 debS Eb8+! 4 drab He8! 5 Rd4 Ges! 6 a5+ 6 &b7 dexdd 7 dexe8! Sxcd 6.8206! 7 SebS Bb8+! 8 Sic HeB+! 9 edd Ent Or 9...kkc7 10 Sd8 eT! 11 Bh8 Bc6!! =. If the defending king is cut off by two files, White wins regardless of whether the defend- ing king is on f6 or £7: 1 &b4 Ab8+ 2 das Bc8 2... Ha8+ loses more quickly: 3 6 Bb8+ 4 he7. 3&5 Bb8+ 4 tab Ke8 5 Kel 5 Bed f5 6 Bhd! de6 7 &b7 Bc5 8 Lb6! +. 5...8e7 6 &b7 eS 7 &b6! Bh5 7...%c8 8 5 +-. 8c5 S89 Bdl+ Sc8 10 gl Bh8 11 c6 + (6.33A) With a knight's pawn itis different as the at- tacking king doesn’t have enough space to pen- etrate (see following diagram). Even if the king is cut off by two files, it is still drawn with a pawn on the fourth rank and Black’s king on c6: 182 des! Not: {...2a8?2b5!+—; 1...&b7? 2 ded He7+ 3 &b5 Hb7+ 4 we5 He7+ 5 kb6 +-; 1...Be7? 2 Rad! deo 3 hed! (3 ead? Se5! 183 6.45 4 &b5! Bb8+ 5 deb Hc8+ 6 deb7 es 7 Bd7 Bed 8 bS! +~ 2Ea7 2 Hd3 eo! =. 2,86! 3 Bd eS! 4 ed BeB+! 5 bs Bb8+! 6 SeS He8+! 7 bo Sh8+! 8 kas Kase! 9 SbS Bb8+! 10 Wad Sa8+! 11 2b3 Eds! = If the defending king is cut off by three files, White wins even with the pawn on b3: With White to move it is relatively easy: 1 e3 Ec8+ 2 ddd Bd8+ 3 kc Ec8+ 4 d6 Rad8+ 5 he6 Abs (5...Hc8+ 6 Sb7 Hes 7 Sb6 He8 8 b4 Rb8+ 9 dc5 Hc8+ 10 Gd6 bs 11 Sibi +—) 6 Ebi! Eb4 7 Se5 Zb8 8 b4 wes 9 Be6 + With Black to move, matters are much more complicated: 1...02f6 2 He2!?184 Putting Black in zugzwang. 2uutbT Or: a) 2...8f7 3 Bed wf6 4 dec3 Rc8+ 5 dead Hb8 6 dod Wf5 7 Hel Bc8+ 8 ked5 Bd8+ 9 06 Hb8 10 Hb1! +-. b) 2...ef5 3 dc3 + wins in similar fashion to the White-to-play case. 3 he3 Be7+ 4 hdd Bb7 5 He3 Bb8 6 Ses He8+ 7 ted6 Hb8 8 Bf3+ dg6 9 de5 Be8+ 10 Sd4 Bb8 11 Sc3 Ac8+ 12 Lb2 Abs 13 Afi cbgS 14 dec3 Ee8+ 15 a4 Bb8 16 wed Be8+ 17 @d5 Bb8 18 Xbi + The situation with a central pawn is similar toa bishop’s pawn. The following position dem- onstrates how to overcome a defence based on checking from the long side (here the queen- side), which isn’t possible with a bishop’s pawn: WY 6.46 7 A.Chéron, 1926 With the king cut off on the b-file, White can use mating motifs: 1 Bg2!? First White transfers the move to Black as the black pieces occupy ideal squares and have no good move. A plan analogous to the one we saw in 6.42 doesn’t work here: | d4 Ed8+ 2 dec5 Re8 3 ddd RdB8+ 4 dec6 Hes 5 Bel? (5 bd5! +-) 5.296 6 kd7 Ba8 7 eS Ba7+ =. 1..dehd 2 Bg7 dhs 3 Bgl Now Black is in zugzwang. 3.88 3...@h4 4 e5 BxeS+ 5 Gf4! +-. 4e5 Had 5 e6 who 5...Ba6 6 &f4 Exe6 7 df5!+-. 6e7 Za8 7 fd Ze8 8 dS Bxe7 9 eho! +— FUNDAMENTAL CHESS ENDINGS Alc) The Defending King is Cut Off Along a Rank The winning chances are even higher if the king is cut off along a rank as the rook can help the advance of the pawn and shield the king better. With the defending king cut off along the fifth rank, the b-pawn is winning: B yy | Uy WY Yj 6 Yh 647 4/- S.Tarrasch Deutsche Schachzeitung, 1908 L..Be8 1...Ba8 2 b5 Hal 3 eb4 Hbl+ 4 sha5! Bal+ 5 6! +-. 2b5 2. Bg5 Bc7 3 dad +-. (c5 3 Bh4+! cds 4 bd Be8. 4...22d6! 5 Hh6+ +-. 5 Bho Zcl 6 aS Ral+ 7 deb6! Zb1 8 a6 Hal+ 9 &b7 Bgl 10 b6 deS 11 La + With the king cut off on the sixth rank it is different. White only wins if he moves first (see following diagram): 1 ad Or 1 Ba +-. 1...Ra8+ 1...dee4 and then: a) 2 Hh4+? dc3! 3 Bh3+ (with a bishop's pawn, c5 would win easily now, but here 3 b5?? ‘Ha8#! is unfortunate!) 3...d8c4! =. b) 2 He6+ dd5 3 bS +-. 2.debS! Bb8+ 3 was Ha8+ 4 Ba6 Sb8 5 bS + If Black is to move, he can, surprisingly, save himself: 1...2a8!1 (eliminating both winningROOK ENDINGS Ae W N S 6.48 J.Nunn Secrets of Rook Endings, 1992 moves!) 2 Bg6 Hal 3 b5 eS! 4 b6 Zb1+ = picking up the pawn. Even top players have difficulties in these endings: i | y [ 6.49 M.Taimanov - B.Larsen Palma de Mallorca IZ 1970 1..g8+! 2 GhS Bh8+! 3 Ses Ags! 4 #h4 we5? We already know from the previous example that this continuation is mistaken. Instead there were two ways for Black to draw: 4...2h8+ 5 #3 eS 6 Bao Hhl = (6.48) and 4..def4 5 Bad+ bf3! =. 5 Ha6! did 6 Ef6+ hes 7 g5 1-0 We now consider the situation with a centre pawn. 185 ja Y 6.50 == Itis clear that if Black is to move, he draws with 1,..2¢8. But with a centre pawn White can’t win even with the move: 1 ed Be8+! 2 Sd5 2 bb5 ded =. 2a! Here is the difference: Black’s rook has suf- ficient space for annoying checks. 3 de5 HaS+! 4 Sed 4 &c6?? Ba6+! + 4..Bad+! = We finish this section with two practical ex- amples: Wh Bag i : Ve 6.51 a P.Laveryd - U.Andersson Katrineholm 1999 1Xb1? You get only one chance! 1 de5? also loses, to 1...c6! 2 Hal (2 XbI Hed! 3 ded5 Bad! —+)186 2...Bc4! 3 ded5 bS! —+, but White can save the game with 1 #e4! bS 2 Ebl Hb6 3 de3! Vc5 (3..8d5 4 ded! =) 4 Eel+! =. 1..2d4!! It is with good reason that Andersson is fa- mous for his precise endgame play! 2dkeS Had 3 ded5 Lab! 4 deeb Bets! 5 hd5 bS 6 Zal+ &b6 7 Za? Hh4 8 Ha8 b4 9 Eb8+ a5 10 Sc5 wad! 11 Bg8 a3 12 Ba8+ b2 13 Had dc3 0-1 a w i" yy ae 2 6.52 A.Mikhalchishin - D.Losev Moscow 1974 1Sc2 Surprisingly, 1 &b2 (as played in the game) also wins: 1...f4 (1...Eb4+ 2 b3! Bhd 3 b6 h8 4 67 Eb8 5 ha3 +) and now: a) 2 23? (the game continuation) 2...¢e5! 3 a3 dd6! 4 b6 Sd7! 5 Bc7+ Sd8! 6 Beco d7! 7 Be7+ ded8! 8 Be Sd7 p-th, b) 2 He6?! df5 3 Be3! +. c) 2 Ha3!! ded 3 dac3! hes 4 Bus heb 5 Or2 €d3 +-. 2...2h5 3 b6 EbS 4 b7 &f5 5 &c3 LF6 6 Seca! Xb 7 Eh7 deo 8 He5! + Exercises (Solutions on page 379) The following positions will test your know!- edge of 2+4 vs 3, one of the most important fundamental endings from the practical point of, view. FUNDAMENTAL CHESS ENDINGS 1...Ha8 or 1...se6 — that is the question. Can you tell us which draws and why the other one loses? Analyse the following play: 1 Kel f5 2 Bilt Seo 3 el Has 4 de? 15 5 B+ Sed 6 Hel $47 Bfl+ g3 8 Rel B45 9 Nel+ St3 10 Bg5 Sf 11 ZhS Spd 12 h8 e4 13 Hc3 3 0-1 £6.19 een] ‘a I, wy G_ | White’s pieces are not on their best squares yet, but maybe he can still save himself, as the black pawn is far away from the queening square. Can you see a way? ba eeROOK ENDINGS £6.20 ee a aes You know how to draw this position, don’t you? Ald) Rook’s Pawn In rook endings a pawn at the edge is usually weaker than other pawns. There are two rea- sons for this: 1) Whilst a rook’s pawn may protect the king against vertical checks, it offers no protection against checks from the side. 2) The attacking king can easily get caged in front of the pawn, making its promotion im- possible. We consider the following situations: Aldl: King in Frontoof its Pawn 187 Ald2: Rook in Front of its Pawn 188 Ald3: Other Situations 189 Ald1) King in Front of its Pawn The first position is a prime example of the king trapped in front of its pawn: ae a | aan a o tee Y ca ee Me ae ‘ Oo "a 187 With other pawns this would be a Lucena win, but here White can’t do anything. There is simply no escape for the king on the left-hand side of the pawn. Note that such positions are also drawn if the pawn hasn't yet advanced to the seventh rank. 1 Bh7+ 1 Bg8 Hc2 =. 1...d2e8! After 1...8c6? White’s king escapes from the cage: 2 Sb8! Rbl+ 3 dc8) Hal 4 Bh6+ dacs 5 Sb7 Bbi+ 6 Sc7 Bal 7 Bh5+! +-. Insuch situations the defending king must be cut off by four files (along the e-file in the case of an a-pawn) in order to force a win: a" 2 “Be ame 6.54 + 1 Hel we7 2 He8! dot? More tenacious than 2...22d7 3 Xb8! a2 4 Bb7! Bb2+ 5 ha6! Ba2+ 6 kb6! Bb2+7 cs! + 3 Bb8! Ha2 4 eb7! Zb2+ 5 ded! After 5 a6?! 2a2+ 6 €b6 Hb2+ White has to return. 5..Hc2+ 6 ed8! Eh2 6... g27! 7 He8 deb 8 $18 +. 7 EBb6+! 7 Be82? Bh8+! 8 SF7 Hh7+! =, 7.85 8 Re6+!? &bS d5 9 Bab Hh8+ 10 dec7 Hh7+ 11 &b6! a If Black takes the rook, he will immediately lose his own: 8...exc6 9 a8W+! dec5 10 We8+ bd4 11 Wy4+!? ds 12 Wrs+ &c6 13 Weo+ £b7 14 We8+ a7 15 We7+ +. 9 Bc8 Hh8+ 10 de7! Bh7+ 11 bs! kde 12 a8 +188 In chess training groups 12. a8E?? Hb7#! is a popular joke. Note that if Black is to move, he can play: 1...21b3!? 2 He2!? £81? This forces White to win queen against rook. 3 Be2 de7 4 He8! dd6 5 Bb8! Ba3 6 Lb7! Eb3+ 7 de8! Bc3+ 8 dB! Bh3 9 Zb6+! dees 10 He6+ dxe6 11 a8+! Sd6!? Now White can’t win the rook by just deliv- ering checks and has to win the ending queen vs rook (see 10.03). This is the best practical chance to save the game. 11...c5?! 12 We8+ Sd4 13 Wxh3 is not very tenacious of course. 12 Wb8+ sed 13 Wh7+ wes 14 We7+ weed 15 Wdd+ +- Al1d2) Rook in Front of its Pawn The following diagram shows the general draw with the pawn already on the seventh rank: Black only needs to give a check when White threatens to free his rook: 12b6 1 Sb4 Bb1+ 2 kc3 Mal! (2...Ecl+? 3 &b2! Bc7 4 Bg8+ +-) 3 &b3 Bh7 = (moving the king closer to the pawn with 3.279? is fatal: 4 Eh8 Bxa7 5 Sh7+! +-; this skewer is an im- portant motif, and so Black’s king has to wait on g7 and h7). 1...2b1+! 2 a6 Bal+! 3 &b7 Sb1+! 4 c6 Hal = The defender can sometimes hide his king behind the opponent’s king. The following po- sition is critical FUNDAMENTAL CHESS ENDINGS 26 2 Am be 2 ml lot a ‘ee a ata! 1 Wf61 def4 2 Leo! Ged 3 a6! Lad 4 he! But not 4 $7? &c5! 5 Bc8 Hxa7+! 6 Sb8+ ¥b6! =, 4.8204 4...Hcl+ 5 &bS Rbl+ 6 a4 Hal+ 7 &b3 Bc5 8 He8+ +. 5 Hc8 Bxa7 6 deb6+! +— If Black is to move, he draws with 1...2a6+! 2 bf7 LES 3 tee7 weS 4 kd7 dS 5 eT cS! 6 Lh7 Ah6+! The situation is more complex when the pawn is further back. The next position is of great practical and theoretical importance: \ w a a” _ “e gy a anee 82 om “2 a | 657 J.Vanéura 28 Rijen, 1924 With the pawn still on the sixth rank, White's king has a possible shelter on a7. Black’s rook is therefore much better placed to the side, from where it can deliver annoying checks, thanROOK ENDINGS behind the pawn. The rook has to be on the same rank as White’s pawn, since this forces White’s rook to stay on the a-file. With the rook on the f-file, there is also the chance to give a defensive rook check on f7 if necessary. Thus with Black’s rook on g6 or h6 White (to move) would win with &b5-b6-b7 and Bc8. Black's king is happy on g7 since an advance of the pawn to a7 could be met by shifting the rook to the a-file (White has no Eh tricks). Note that a set-up with the black king on h7 and the rook on 26 is equally successful. 1 bbs White protects the pawn and threatens to win by Bc8. 1..Ef5+! 2 Gb6 Ef6+! 3 cS 3 &b7 BE7+! =. 3...B 65+ 3...@h7 = and 3...He6 = also hold the draw. However, Black must avoid 3...2g6? 4 &b5! Bg5+ 5 &b6 Hg6+ 6 Sb7 (Black's king is in the way of his own rook, so the white king is now able to support the pawn) 6...8h7 7 Hc8 +-. 4 cad Beet! 4... Bf44? 5 Be5! Bad (5.26 6 Bg8+ +-) 6 bd5 +~ is analysed in 6.58 5 Ba7+ dg6 6 deS Zb6 7 Bas seg7 8 ked5 2f6 9 a7 Ha6 = If the defender’s rook is behind the pawn, he should immediately try to reach the Vancura set-up (6.57): ZO 7 7 6.58 (£3 is also marked) After PRomanovsky Shakhmaty v SSSR, 1950 If Black is to move, he can only draw when the white king is on one of the marked squares. 189 Here 1..2f1+ 2 ed 61 is sufficient to reach the Vanéura draw. When White is to move, he can leave the drawing zone: 1 ded! Not: a) 1 e2? Bel (1...Ra5? 2 03! Hds+ 3 Hod! Bd6 4 debs HdS+ 5 deo Bas 6 &b6 +-) 2 Ba7+ &g6! 3 Bb7 Hal 4 a7 a3 5 hd? S16 b) 18f4? Has (1..f1+? 2 de5! +-) 2 ded Bc5 3 Ba7+ and now Black has to find 3...2g6!! = as 3...g8? 4 Eb7 +, 3.8167 4 Sd4 Bob (4...Ba5 5 Ba8! +-) 5 Bh7 +~ and 3...h6? 4 Bb7 Ha5 5 a7 +~ all fail. 1...HaS Or: a) 1..Bfl 2 Be5 Hal 3 Bd5 +-. b) 1.21 2 Ba7+! bf6 3 ded5 Rdl+ 4 206 Belt 5 ded7 Hdl+ 6 dc8 Mal (6...2d6 7 Bh7 4+) 7 Ba8 te7 8 deb7 Bbi+ 9 deco (9 a7? bd7 =) 9...cl+ 10 Sd5 Bdl+ 11 Se4 Belt 12 £3 Bal 13 a7! Se7 (13...f6 14 Bese! +) 14 Bhs! +— 2bd4 Ebs 2.5 3 Ha7+ dg6 4 Bb7 Ha5 5 a7 +— 3 Ba7+ def6 4 Bh7 Bas 5 a7 deo 6 Zh6+ Or 6 Bed +-. 6.847 7 Bh8 Bxa7 8 Bh7+! +— A1d3) Other Situations With the king and rook supporting the pawn, new motifs arise: With White to move, he can use his well- placed rook as a shield to block Black’s checks:190 1a6 Ebi+ 2 Xb6! Eel 3.a7 Bc7+ 4 da6! BcB 5 Eb8 +-. On the other hand, if Black is to move he has saving checks on the c-file: 1...Eb1+! 2 Xb6t Hel! 3 a6 Re7+! 4 db Bc8+! 5 a7 Hel 6 Bb2 &c7 =. Salov demonstrates the right way to handle the attacking rook with the defending king cut off vertically: 6. 60 alt J.Lautier - V.Salov Madrid 1993 1.23! Now the rook can shield Black's king against checks from the side and from behind, Not 1..h3? 2 Had+! degl 3 bf4 Bg? 4 Bal+ eh2 5 8+ S12! 3 Mas hat 4 a7 dy 2? 5 Ra2+ Sg3 6 Bxh2! =. 5 Bh7 Hg3 0-1 We end the discussion of the rook’s pawn with two very complicated cases: In the following diagram, Black can save the draw with extremely accurate play. 1...Sel+! 2 @d7 Or: a) 2 &bS Ebi+! 3 Wad BcS 4 He8+ Hd6 5 das Sd7 6 Bc4 Bal+! =. b) 2 &b7 Bbi+! 3 a7 &c5 4 Bb8 Bhi 5 &b7 Hh7+ (5...Hb1+ 6 &c7 Bhi =) 6 das! Sc6 7 a7 Hh1 8 Bc8+ Sd7 =. c) 2sed6 Bal! 3 a7 and now: cl) 3...Ha3? 4 06! Bc3+ 5 HbS! Bb3+ 6 bad! Bbl 7 Bc7 &d5 8 a7! Huo (8...Hal+ 9 &b5! d6 10 Bh7 Bbi+ 11 a6! Bal+ 12 FUNDAMENTAL CHESS ENDINGS fata" oma a ae = ye a a A.Chéron, 1955 an = “ cae a aa 6.61 b7! Hbi+ 13 dc! Bal 14 &b8 Bbl+ 15 Rb7+-) 9 Bc3 Bal+ 10 Ba3! +-. 2) 3...Ha2!! 4 a8 Bal! 5 a7 Ba6+! =. 2,.al! 3 bd6!? Ba2!! 4 6 Hc2+! 5 kbS Eb2+! 6 kad ded! Not 6...8a2+?, when White wins by 7 #3! Bal 8a7 +. 7803 7 Bc8+ Hd5! 8 Bc3 Ha2+! 9 SbS Sd6! = (9...Bb2+? 10 Sa5! Ha2+ 11 &b6! Hb2+ 12 Bc7! Ba2 13 Be6 +-). Juukib3+ 8 La2 Bb6 9 a7 He6! 10 a3 eeS 10...c7? 11 ad! ScS 12 aS! Sco 13 a6! +-. 11 ad &b6 = Even world champions are not immune to er- rors in such difficult endings: tate 8a a ae mee x2 2 e oo M.Euwe - A.Alekhine = 's Hertogenbosch Wch (16) 1935ROOK ENDINGS If Black were to move, he would win quite easily with 1...b2 2 Ha8 Bb4 3 de2 &b2 4 bd2 a3 -+. In the game it was Euwe’s move, and this en- abled him to create more serious problems for his opponent: 1 e312 Black's task is easier after other moves: 1 a8 a3 —+; 1 Be8+ ded? 2 Bd8+ dee? 3 Be8+ dl 4 Ba8 a3 5 de3 Hh2 -+. 1...2h2? (D) A year after the match Grigoriev showed the correct winning method: 1...a3, and now: a) 28+ deb2! 3 dd? bbl+! 4 ddl Bh2 5 Bb8+ Bb2! 6 Bc8 Hb4 7 Mel+ db2! 8 He2+ &b3! -+. b) 2 Ba8 Bal 3 Bc8+ (3 Wf2 deb2 4 Eb8+ a2 5 Se2 Bb! 6 Bak Bb4 7 Sd2 Sb2 -+) 3...dab4 4 Bb8+ de5 5 Be8+ &b6 6 Ba a2 7 bf2 Bhi -+. 3 Y ga ] UY), i "%Gaag me a eee ay a ae VY oe a a a a 7 2 Bc8+? Returning the favour. Instead 2 Ha8! Bhd 3 Ho8+ hb3 4 dd3 Bb4 (4...03 5 Eb8+! Bb 6 Exbd+! =) 5bd2 a3 6 Bc3+! ad 7 be2 Bb2+ 8 Sci! BbS 9 Be2! db3 10 Sbl! draws for White. 2..d2b2! Euwe gets no second chance. 3 Bb8+ cl 4 Be8+ 4 Ea8 03 —+. 4...b1 5 b8+ Hb26 Ha8 8b3+7 dad a3 8 ded Lb2 9 Eh8 Ze3+ 0-1 Reference work Secrets of Rook Endings, Nunn, Batsford 1992 (second edition, Gambit 1999) Exercises (Solutions on pages 379-80) a @ 56.21 fn ‘2 2 White to play and draw. 191