100 ENDGAMES YOU MUST KNOW

KING VS PAWN

black to move is a draw, but you should be able to make defensive

moves with confidence if white tries different king positions here.

1…Kg8

2 Kg5 Kf7! 3 Kf5 Kf8! 4 Kf5 Kf7 5 Kf5 Kf8 6 Ke6 Ke8 7 Kd5 Kf7 8 Ke5 Kf8 9 Kf5 Kf7 etc.

THE SAFEST WAY IS TO STAY ON ONE OF TWO SQUARES IN FRONT OF THE PAWN.

White to move wins: 1 Ka6 Kb8 2 Kb6 Ka8 3 Kc7!

 Most mistakes in this endgame are in this position. White
wins no matter whose move it is. White regains opposition by playing 1 Kf5! Black cannot maintain
opposition.

KING VS PAWN – KNIGHT PAWN.

white is saved here by 1 Kh1!

KING VS PAWN – PAWN ON 5TH RANK AND KEY SQUARES

 if the strong king occupies any of the strong squares here, white wins,
no matter whose turn it is. The strong squares for the pawn on the 5th rank are the three squares
immediately ahead.

- SPECIAL CASE – knight pawn.

1 Kg6 and the king occupies a strong square of the pawn and thus white
wins. 1 Kf6 does not lead to a draw, but white will have to return to the starting position. 1…Kg8 2 Kh6
Kh8 3 g6

WITH KNIGHT’S PAWN, AIM TO HAVE THE KING ON THE EDGE OF THE BOARD TO ASSIST
PROMOTION.

KEY SQUARES WITH THE PAWN BEFORE THE 5TH RANK

- The key squares for a pawn not yet on the 5th rank are the three squares that are two ranks
ahead of the pawn (so the key squares for a pawn on 4th rank are the same squares as for the
pawn on the 5th rank). If the king occupies one, pawn promotes.
 1 Kd5! This guarantees one of the key squares for the king. 1 d5?? Is a
draw with …Ke7. Black to move is a draw – 1…Ke8 DISTANT OPPOSITION (2 d5 Kd7).

RESERVE MOVE

black has opposition, but white can use his reserve move to gain it back.

ROOK’S PAWN

- Special situation. Rook’s pawn is the hardest to promote. Our previous rules do not apply.

draw, no matter whose turn it is.

- RULE: WITH THE ROOK’S PAWN, IF THE DEFENDING KING IS IN THE WAY OF THE PAWN, IT IS A
DRAW, even if there are doubled or tripled pawns on the rook’s file.
 white’s turn is a draw: 1 Kc1! Heading for the corner. 1…Ka2 2 Kc2! And
now the black king is imprisoned on the edge of the board. 2…a4 3 Kc1 a3 4 Kc2 Ka1 5 Kc1.

Even if we double pawns on the a-file, this is a draw.

ROOK VS BISHOP

- Usually a draw. But the defender must play correctly – he must head for the right corner!

1) WRONG CORNER (ENDGAME 6)

white wins. Black king cannot move away from the wrong corner!

1 Rf1 threatens the bishop and wins tempo to threaten checkmate. (1 Rb7?? Draw. 1…Kf8 and the king
cannot be forced back to the corner.)

1…Bh2 2 Rh1 Bg3 (2…Bb8 3 Rc1! Kf8 4 Rc8+ fork) 3 Rg1 Bh2 4 Rg2 rook took the two safe
squares of the bishop. 4…Bd6 now in the open the bishop will be caught due to mate threat 5 Rd2 Be7 6
Rc2 threatens mate (MUST NOT PLAY Rd7 here – a draw!!!) Bf8 (6…Kf8 Rc8) 7 Rc8
 1…Bd4 2 Rd1 Bb6 3 Rb1 Bc7 4 Rc1 and it’s bishop or mate TB IMPORTANT PATTERN

SF PLAYED THIS DIFFERENTLY (making use of potential discovered check):

1. Rf4 Bh2 2. Rh4 Bg1 3. Rg4 Bh2 (3... Bb6 4. Rb4 Bc7 5. Rc4 Bd8 6. Rc8) 4. Kf6+ Kf8 5. Rh4

2) RIGHT CORNER (ENDGAME 7)

here the black king is in the right corner! Draw. Black bishop interposes
any checks and if the rook tries to stay on the king’s rank it’s a stalemate.

THE ONLY DANGER: bishop needs enough distance to check the enemy king from b1-h7 diagonal if
needed. E.g. 1 Ra8 Bg8 2 Ra7 Bb3 3 Kg6 Bc4 but if 3…Be6?? Black loses due to 4 Rh7+ Kg8 5 Re7 – black
bishop did not have an option to check the white king.

4 Rh7 Kg8 5 Rc7 Bd3+ 6 Kh6 Be4 =

ROOK VS KNIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE BOARD

- Most positions of rook vs knight are drawn.

- HERE THE KEY IS TO KEEP THE KNIGHT CLOSE TO THE KING! Otherwise the knight can be lost,
although trapping the knight can present tactical difficulties – the attacker needs to restrict the
knight as well as exploit double threats and pins to close the trap successfully.

draw. 1 Nf2+ Ke3 2 Nd1 (keeping the knight close to the king, although a
check on g4 here does not lose either) …Kf3

Option 1: 3 Nc3 Rc2 4 Nd1 Re2 5 Kf1 Rh2 6 Ke1 Rc2 7 Kf1 =
 WHAT HAPPENS IF THE KNIGHT SEPARATES FROM THE KING?: 4 Nd5?? Rc4 removing b4
from the knight. The knight has to go further, while the king has no moves due to checkmate or
fork. 5 Nb6 Rb4 (5 Nf6 Rd4 6 Nh7 Kf4 7 Nf8 Kf5) 6 Nc8 Rb7! (6 Nd5 Re4 7 Kf1 Rd4 8 Nc3 Rd3
checkmate or lost knight) 7 Kd2 Kf4 (7 Nd6 Re7 8 Kf1 Rd7) and the black king moves to capture
the knight. 8 Ke2 Ke5 black wins.

Option 2: 3 Kf1 Re2 4 Nc3 and either the king or the knight return on the next move. This is the
only case when the two pieces separate for a moment.

ROOK VS KNIGHT IN THE CORNER

- No matter which piece is in the corner, the position is lost. Even with the knight on g2-square
(and corresponding other squares – the so called knight’s ‘dumb square’) the position is mostly
lost.

All lost positions for white.

KNIGHT VS PAWN

- Understanding these positions allows us to be able to calculate simplifications, as well as handle

similar scenarios with more pieces on the board.

KNIGHT VS 7TH RANK PAWN

 1 Nd1 the only move. If the king attacks the knight, it will jump between
the two sides and the king cannot reach it. Draw.

IF THE KNIGHT MANAGES TO STAND IN FRONT OF THE PAWN, THE POSITION IS DRAW FOR ANY PAWN
ON THE 4 CENTRAL FILES, EVEN IF THE PAWN HAS REACHED 7TH RANK.

here the knight is not in front of the pawn, but can control the
promotion square. Should white play Ne2 or Nd3? One is losing, one is winning!

THE KNIGHT SHOULD CONTROL THE PAWN FROM THE SIDE RATHER THAN FROM THE REAR! The knight
needs to enter two circuits – in our case here – e2-c3-a2 or e2-d4-b3-c1.

1 Ne2+! Kd2 (1…Kd1 2 Nc3 Kd2 3 Na2=) 2 Nd4 c1Q 3 Nb3 fork

1 Nd3+?? Kd2! 2 Nc5 a classic calculation mistake – relying on fork – but: …Kc3! 3 Ne4 Kd3 4 Nc5 Kc4
pawn promotes
KNIGHT VS KNIGHT’S PAWN

- Proximity of the edge and corner plays a role, limiting knight’s movement on the sides of the
pawn.

1…b2! Knowing the knight cannot succeed against a 7th rank pawn
unless in front of the pawn.

1…b2! 2 Nd2+ Kc1! The point! Against a knight’s pawn, there is no good square on the other side of the
pawn. 3 Nb3+ Kd1 pawn promotes.

1…Kc2? Is a common mistake. A player tries to prevent knight’s approach. 2 Nd6! Threatens fork if the
pawn moves! 2…Kc3 (2…b2 3 Nc4= and 2…Kd3 3 Nb5 then Na3 draw) 3 Ne4+ Kd4 (3…Kc2 repetition) 4
Nd2 b2 5 Nb1 knight is in front of the pawn and succeeds.

6th RANK ROOK PAWN VS THE KNIGHT

- Most dangerous pawn for the knight.

- If the knight can stand in front of the pawn, no problem. But if the knight just controls a square
in the pawn’s path, it must find the correct circuit to save the game.

here the correct circuit to save the game is g4-e3-f1-h2

1 Ng4+! Kg3 2 Ne3 Kf3 3 Nf1 Kf2 4 Nh2 the knight stays in the circuit.
(1 Nc4 draws as well due to tactics – 1…Kg2 (1…Kg1 2 Ne5! The point – the pawn cannot advance and
the knight reaches g4 square 2…Kf1 3 Ng4! = and 1…Kg3 2 Ne3 =) 2 Ne3+=

1 Nf3+? Fails. The knight enters wrong circuit and is expelled eventually. 1…Kg2 2 Nh4+ Kf2 (2 Ne1 Kg3)
pawn promotes.

the correct circuit visualization

Tb NOTE: CAREFUL – THIS IS NOT AS SIMPLE AS STAYING ON THE RIGHT CIRCUIT – YOU STILL NEED TO
THINK and POTENTIALLY USE OWN KING TO WASTE TEMPO:

here I played Ng4 to check and stay on the circuit – but black plays
Kg1 and now if white plays Ne3 the pawn promotes! White should have wasted a move with the king as
the knight is not threatened and the pawn cannot move!

ROOK’S PAWN ON 7TH RANK VS KNIGHT

- Drawing chances depend on the knight getting help from the king.
 Draw, despite the white king being far away.

1 Ng3! H2 (1…Ke3 2 Nf1+ and the knight makes it to h2) 2 Kb7

THE KNIGHT HAS SET UP A BARRIER:

the marked squares represent the barrier of white knight. Both routes
around the barrier allow the white king to approach.

2…Kd4 3 Kc6 Ke5 4 Kc5 (4 Nh1 Ke4 5 Kc5 =) 4…Kf4 5 Nh1 Kf3 6 Kd4 Kg2 7 Ke3! Just in time. White king
can occupy f2.

2…Kc2 3 Kc6 Kd1 4 Kd5 Ke1 5 Ke4 Kf2 6 Kf4 =

TB, BASICALLY, CONTROL THE PROMOTION SQUARE, LATER BLOCKADE THE PAWN WHEN THE
ATTACKING KING GETS CLOSER, AND ALWAYS FOLLOW THE ATTACKING KING WITH OWN KING SO HE
CAN LOCK HIM IN THE CORNER WHEN HE TAKES THE BLOCKADING KNIGHT.

ANOTHER BARRIER:
1…Kc2 anticipating barrier, the king goes around. but the white king will come to defend the knight from
f4 square. 2 Ng3! Kd1 3 Kd6 Ke1 4 Ke5 Kf2 5 Kf4=

another barrier example – from the previous diagram if the king goes
1…Kd4 white plays Nf2 to create a barrier.

EXCEPTIONAL POSITIONS:

- KNIGHT AND KING CHECKMATE

o Can happen when the king is stuck in front of its 6th or 7th rank rook pawn. One should
beware of stalemate.
 1 Nc1! A2 2 Nb2#

- THE KNIGHT’S DUMB SQUARE

o This is the second square of the longest diagonals. The knight here is powerless against a
threatening rook pawn.

the knight has the worst possible square. It cannot stop the pawn and
also blocks own king from doing so!

QUEEN VS PAWN

- Usually a result of pawn race. Common ending. Do not underestimate it – it has rich subtleties.

What is the winning procedure? White needs to keep checking the king
to prevent pawn promotion.
1 Qf4 Ke2 2 Qg3! Kf1 3 Qf3 the king must go in front of the pawn …Kg1 4 Kg7 white king has time to
approach. …Kh2 5 Qf2 Kh1 6 Qh4 Kg1 7 Kg6 Kf1 8 Qf4 Ke2 9 Qg3! Same again. Once the king comes
closer, white uses mating pattern.

- TWO SPECIAL CASES

o QUEEN HINDERED BY OWN KING
o STALEMATE THEMES – rook and bishop pawns.

THE ATTACKING KING OBSTRUCTS! White cannot win! There is no

check. So, keep an eye on this situation when in a pawn race.

- QUEEN VS 7TH RANK ROOK PAWN

bringing the king in front of his pawn is useless as white will be

stalemated. TB: THE DEFFENDING KING SIMPLY USES THE THREE CORNER SQUARES.

WITH THE KING CLOSER THE ATTACKER CAN WIN BY MATE. HOW CLOSE?
 here black wins with one of two standard procedures:

1…Qd7 2 Kg6 Qe6 3 Kg7 Qe7 – you need to know this line as if the king was on another square, e.g. d6,
then this would be the only way. (3…Qf6 4 Kg8 Ke6 black wins, the king is a step away from the key
square f7. White must promote to a knight to avoid mate) 4 Kg8 (4 Kg6 Qf8 -+) …Kf6! Here black
approaches the second key square – g6, which he must occupy immediately after white promotes. 5
h8Q Kg6 black wins.

- QUEEN VS 7TH RANK BISHOP PAWN

o Depends on which side of the pawn the king is.

Scenario 1 – the attacking king is far away.

1 Ke7! Qe5 2 Kd7 Qf6 3 Ke8 Qe6 4 Kf8 this allows the attacking king approach. …Kc4 5 Kg7! The white
king made it to the other side of the pawn! White can no longer win tempi to bring the king nearer! …
Qe7 6 Kg8 Qg5 7 Kh8 Qf6 8 Kg8 Qg6 9 Kh8! Black uses stalemate to draw the game.

TB: WATCH OUT ALSO FOR THE DIAGONAL POSITION (Queen-pawn-king) WHEN THE PAWN IS ALSO
PINNED AND THE ATTACKER WINS TEMPO. Basically, head for the corner every time you can, and avoid
having the pawn pinned.
 - IF THE QUEEN IS UNABLE TO CHECK IN THE STARTING POSITION, A ROOK’S OR BISHOP’S PAWN
COULD DRAW EVEN ON THE 6TH RANK. In practice, this only applies to the bishop’s pawn.
- Since stalemate is the only saving tool, the defender has no chances if he has another pawn.

- WINNING ZONE FOR THE KING AND DEFENDING ON THE RIGHT SIDE
o How near must the attacking king be to win? This depends on whether the defending
king is on the right or wrong side.
o With the defending king on the right side, the winning zone is smaller that with the
rook’s pawn.
o With the defending king on the wrong side, the winning zone is much larger than against
a rook’s pawn. There are two mating patterns. One involves the king defending the
queen from d7 square and the other involves forcing the defending king to the other
side and reaching the position as with the king on the right side, when the attacking king
goes to g6.

King on the right side.

1…Qa7! 2 Kh8 (or 2 Kg8) Kg6 3 f8Q Qh7# The attacking king has another winning position, when it can
hinder promotion with one move – i.e. here from e7 square.
 king on the wrong side.

1…Qa7 2 Ke8 Qb8 3 Ke7 Qe5 4 Kd7 Qf6 5 Ke8 Qe6 6 Kf8 Kg5! Black gained a tempo and the king uses it
to head to g6. 7 Kg7 Qe7 8 Kg8 Kg6 and checkmate after promotion.

here the attacking king is on the other side of the board. Black must play
carefully, to prevent the defending king from reaching the right side, and winning tempi to approach d7
square. The attacker may not be able to approach the king even when the defending king is behind the
pawn, in order to prevent the defending king from reaching the other side. So careful!

1…Qa3! (other checks can also win but accuracy is needed) 2 Ke8 Qa8 3 Ke7 Qe4 4 Kf8 (4 Kf6 Qd4 5 Ke7
Qg7 6 Ke8 Kc6 -+) white is trying to get to the other side. 4…Qh7! Black does not use the tempo to bring
the king closer! 5 Ke8 now the king is on the fatal square and black can reach d7 in one move, so it is
time to bring the king closer! 5…Kc6 6 f8Q Qd7#

TB USE DIAGONALS TO PREVENT THE DEFENDING KING FROM GOING TO THE RIGHT SIDE. If the king is
on e7, check on the a3-f8 diagonal so he cannot enter it. If the king runs to f6, check from d4 so he has
no access to g7.

TRICKS
 drawn game. But watch out for tricks.

1 Qb3 Ka1 2 Qe3 Kb1 3 Qe4 Kb2 4 Qe2 here one has to be careful!

4…Ka1! Correct move

4…Kb1?? 5 Kc4!! C1Q 6 Kb3 white wins by checkmate.

4…Kc3?? 5 Qe5! King is forced to the wrong side and the attacking king is now inside the new
winning zone.

SAME TRICK ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PAWN

- Here defence is even harder and must be accurate.

drawn game but defence must not fall for tricks.

1 Qb2 Kd1 2 Qb3 Kd2 3 Qa2!? Setting the trap.

3…Kc3! Awkward, but the only move! 4 Qa1 Kd2 =

3…Kd1?? Natural looking move fails! 4 Kd4! C1Q 5 Kd3 white wins.

3…Kd3?? 4 Qb2 and black will have to allow a pin to avoid Qc1, so 4…Kd2 5 Ke4 now the king is
in the winning zone.

QUEEN VS QUEEN

- Often the result of a pawn race

- Mating chances still exist
 a perfect study of these types of positions.

1 Qc5+!

1…Ka2 best answer. Main line. 2 Qc4! (not 2 Qa7? Kb1 =) Ka3 3 Qa6 Kb2 4 Qb5 Ka3 (4…Kc1 5
Qc4 Kb2 6 Qb4 same position again) 5 Qa5 Kb2 6 Qb4 Ka2 (6…Kc1 7 Qd2 Kb1 8 Qc2#) 7 Kc2! Winning.

1…Ka4?! 2 Qa7

1…Kb3 2 Qb5 Ka3 3 Qa5 Kb2 4 Qb4 leads to main line

1…Kb2 2 Qb4 shortens main line.

ROOK VS PAWN

- Very common. Complex regardless of which rank the pawn is on. If we know the themes and
subtleties of this ending, we can accurately calculate it.

ENDGAME 21: KINGS NOT PUSHING, JUST COUNTING TEMPI

- The first method is counting tempi – for the attacker how many tempi it takes for BOTH the king
and the rook to control the promotion square, and for the defender how many tempi it takes to
promote the pawn safely guarded by the king.
o But this method only works if there are no special circumstances, but most of the times
there are! E.g. a king can block the path of the other king.

no special circumstances – the kings are on opposite sides so they will

not meet. Black needs 5 tempi to promote (2 with the king, 3 with the pawn), white needs 5 tempi to
control the promotion square (1 with the rook, 4 with the king) – so white to move, white wins. black to
move, draw. BUT white must be careful with the first move!

BUT!!! White must not play 1 Rc8?? Black can respond 1…Kc3!

easy to solve. Count the tempi. Euwe stated that here white only draws
if the king is on any of the marked squares. White needs 5 tempi here to control promotion (tb all with
the king, the rook is in position already), while black needs 4 tempi to secure it. That means white wins if
it is his turn.

1 Ke6 e3 2 Kd5 e2 3 Kd4 Kf3 4 Kd3 Kf2 5 Kd2 1-0

ENDGAME 22: DEFENDING KING ON 3RD RANK, CUT OFF ALONG A RANK

- When the king and his pawn have not crossed the middle line of the board, cutting the king off is
a very important resource.
- Cutting off is very useful when the defending king is on the 3rd rank, and it wins right away with
the rook pawn, or if the king and the pawn are separated. Otherwise, the defending king would
walk around the pawn to avoid rook cutoff, although that costs a lot of time and often the game.

1 Rg5! White wins. The king is cut off. Since the white king is so far, cut
off is the only way to win here! Once the pawn reaches a3, white plays Rg3 and the pawn is gone. This
also shows why it needs to be the 3rd rank where the king is cut off, as any closer and the king steps in to
protect its pawn once the pawn is threatened by the rook on the 3rd rank.
ENDGAME 23: STRONG KING BEHIND THE PAWN

- Strong king shoulders the defending king from the rear, while the rook occupies SIDE ATTACK
position.
- Here the main defence is UNDERPROMOTION TO KNIGHT, and the main attack GOING AROUND.

White to move. Black king is blocking white king’s way. There is no time
to go around the pawn, so the only way to make progress is a combination of checks and moving the
king forward.

1 Rh4+ Kc3 2 Kc5 b3 (white king has not enough tempi to go around the pawn: 2 Kb5 b3 3 Ka4 b2 white
king lacks one tempo) 3 Rh3+ Kc2 4 Kc4 b2 5 Rh2+ Kc1 (this is the only move with central pawn, but with
the knight pawn there is an easier way to draw here – using stalemate – 5…Kb1! 6 Kb3 Ka1! 7 Rxb2= this
is an important motif) 6 Kc3 white thinks he wins due to checkmate threat preventing promotion but …
b1N+! UNDERPROMOTION! THE ONLY MOVE, AND THE GAME IS DRAWN. This works with any other
pawn except for rook pawns.

7 Kd3 Na3 8 Kc3 Nb1 9 Kb3 Nd2 10 Kc3 Nb1 11 Kd3 Na3 12 Ra2 Nb1 13 Rc2 Kd1 14 Rg2 Kc1 =
We saw here that pushing the king leads to nothing when the attacking king is behind the pawn. Instead,
he must outflank the opponent’s king to succeed.

OUTFLANKING

- We have seen that pushing the king from behind brings nothing. To succeed, outflanking must
be employed.

the position moved back by one rank – white king has outflanking
option here. Black to move the game is drawn due to bad position of the rook. (1…c4! 2 Rh5+ Kd4 3 Kc6
c3 4 Rh4+ Kd3 (4 Kb5 c2 5 Rh1 Kc3 6 Ka4 Kb2=) 5 Kd5 c2= IF THE ROOK OCCUPIED ONE OF THE TWO
MARKED SQUARES, HE WOULD BE WINNING, EVEN WITH BLACK TO MOVE!!!

1 Rh5+ Kd4 2 Kc6! The white king starts outflanking to the other side. 2…c4 3 Kb5 (other moves also win)
3…c3 4 Kb4 c2 5 Rc5 (Rh1 also wins) Kd3 6 Kb3 the pawn is lost.
 with rook in the corner (h8 or h1) white wins even with black to
move.

1... c4 2. Rc8 Kd4 3. Kc6 c3 4. Kb5 Kd3 5. Ka4 c2 6. Kb3

With Rook on H1 white will place the rook on c1 and bring the king in to control promotion square.

SOME EXTRA POSITIONS WITH KINGS OPPOSED AT THE REAR OF THE PAWN

STRONGER KING ON ONE SIDE

- SHOULDER CHARGING
o The stronger king needs to help the rook stop the pawn, so shouldering can be critical.
o The aim is to put kings into opposition and then use checks to disadvantage the
defending king.
 1 Kg4! (not the only way to win – 1 Kh4! Also works – white king just
needs an opposition on e3 and g3 and then black cannot escape checks) the white king is trying to get to
g3 and then push the black king. Threat is Re1+ which forces the black king into disadvantaged position.

1…Ke3 2 Kg3! D3 3 Re1+ Kd2 (3…Kd4 4 Kf2 d2 5 Rd1 Kd3 6 Kf3 or any rook move on 1 st rank also
wins) 4 Kf2 white wins

1…d3?! 2 Re1+ Kd4 3 Kf3 d2 4 Rd1 Kd3 5 Kf2 white wins

TIME GAINING CHECK and SHOULDERING

typical scenario, with strong king coming from one side of the pawn.

Black king is in ideal position for securing promotion.

ATTACKER: DO NOT DELIVER CHECK IF IT ALLOWS THE KING TO TAKE A BETTER POSITION.

DEFENDER: DO NOT ADVANCE THE KING IN FRONT OF THE PAWN.

1 Rf8+! Winning move. It forces black king away from ideal position.

1…Ke2 2 Rg8! 2 Rg8 Kf3 3 Kd3 shouldering …g3 4 Rf8+ Kg2 5 Ke2 white wins
 kings are on the same side. White uses shouldering and check.

1 Ra2+! Evicting the king from the ideal position. Kf3 2 Ra8 e3 (tb 2…Kf2 then white comes from behind
with the rook – 3 Ra8 e3 4 Rf8 Ke4 5 Kg3 e2 6 Kf2) 3 3 Rf8+ Ke2 4 Kg2 white wins.

ENDGAME 25: ROOK IN FRONT OF THE PAWN

- Zugzwang in rook endgames is very rare, but here plays a decisive role.

Famous Reti composition.

- 1 Re2! (Re3!) e4 2 Re1! This is a mutual zugzwang, black cannot keep opposition! …Ke5 3 Ke7!
Black king has to allow outflanking! …Kf4 4 Kd6 Kf3 5 Kd5 e3 6 Kd4 white wins
- 1 Re1? Allows the pawn to advance, and any check just helps black advance the king. 1…e4!
o 2 Ke7 trying to outflank does not work …Ke5! Maintaining the opposition! 3 Kd7 Kd5! =
o 2 Rf1+ Kg4! 3 Ke6 e3 4 Ke5 e2 5 Ra1 Kf3 6 Kd4 Kf2 =

KNIGHT’S PAWN SPECIAL THEMES

 - There are stalemate motifs, and also if the king steps to the edge next to the pawn, he is easily
forced in front of his pawn.

a study demonstrating the special features of knight’s pawn.

1 Rc7+! Tempo gaining check, as the king can only worsen his position.

- 1…Kb3 2 Kd7 b4
o 3 Kd6! THE POINT: the white king approaches, but at the same time hinders the black
king’s way out to the right side of the knight pawn. 3…Ka2 4 Kc5! (4 Kd5 is also winning
and even 4 Ra7 wins)
 4…b3 5 Kb4! B2 6 Ra7 – with any other pawn black king would go left, but here
can’t. 6…Kb1 7 Kb3! Kc1 8 Rc7 Kb1
 9 Rb7 Kc1 10 Ka2 white wins.
 9 Rc8 Ka1 10 Ra8+ Kc1 11 Ra2 +- now there is no stalemate in the
corner.
 9 Rc2?? Ka1 STALEMATE!!!
o 3 Kc6? An easy mistake to make! 3…Kc4! Shouldering. 4 Kb6 Kd3 and black draws due to
more tempi.
- 1…Kd3 fails to 2 Rb7 Kc4 3 Kc7 b4 4 Kb6! Outflanking …b3 5 Ka5 Kc3 6 Ka4 b2 7 Ka3
- 1…Kd4 2 Rb7 Kc4 transposes to above

ROOK’S PAWN

- King’s pressure from behind is a very effective weapon here. Promotion to a knight does not
help.
 white wins. 1 Rh4+! Kb3 2 Kb5 a3 3 Rh3+ Kb2 4 Kb4 a2 5 Rh2+ Kb1 6
Kb3! A1N 7 Kc3+-

- The defender can try for stalemate chances!

1 Rb8+ Ka1! 2 Ra8 Kb2 3 Rb8 Ka1 4 Rc8 Kb2 =

EXTREME POSITION

- THIS POSITION YOU NEED TO LEARN BY HEART!

LEARN THIS BY HEART! White to move wins, black to move draws.

 - Black to move:
o 1…Kb2! 2 Rb8 Kc1! 3 Kc3 a2 4 Ra8 Kb1 5 Rb8 Kc1! =
o 1…a2?? 2 Rb8 Ka3 3 Kc2 knight in the corner is always lost.
- White to move
o 1. Rb8+ Ka4 (1... Ka2 2. Kc3 Ka1 3. Ra8 a2 4. Rd8 Kb1 5. Rd1#) 2. Kc4 Ka5 3. Kb3 a2

- The statements are correct also if we move the whole position to the right one file, although
some defensive moves are different.

PAWN BEATS THE ROOK

with black to move, there are only two squares on the board from
which the rook loses – f5 and b5 here.

1…Rf6 2 Kd5 (2 Kd7?? Rf1 draw) Rf5+ 3 Kd4 (3 Kc3?? Rf1 draw) …Rf4+ 4 Kd3 Rf3 5 Kc2 Rf2 6 Kb3! And
now the king will move to hide on b7! Rf3 7 Kb4 Rf4 8 Kb5 Rf5 9 Kb6 Rf6 10 Kb7 1-0
Tb: Why does the king have to march down to the second rank before turning back? Because otherwise
rook will drop to the first rank and attack the pawn and the black king will have time to come and attack
it also, before promotion.

With rook on b5, the sequence is similar.

ROOK VS TWO PAWNS

- Defence is clear – pushing the pawns, but attacking options are less obvious.
- With connected pawns, there are three scenarios (fourth one is too obvious):
o Kings play no part
o Both kings play a part
o Only the defensive king plays a part

KINGS PLAYING NO PART

- The rook normally captures the pawns, unless they are too advanced.

white to move wins, black to move wins.

White to move – put both pawns on the 6th rank and they cannot be stopped.

Black to move: transfer the rook BEHIND THE MORE ADVANCED PAWN. Then move ‘inside’ the two
(here Ra5) and both pawns fall.

-ROOK IN FRONT OF PAWNS

- Suppose in the previous example the rook is on g8. If the pawns are to move, they win as they
get to the 6th rank. With black to move, STOP THE PAWNS BY PUTTING THE ROOK IN FRONT OF
THE MORE ADVANCED PAWN (Ra8) and then THE KING RACE IS DECISIVE.

-BOTH KINGS PLAY A PART

- STRONGER KING IN FRONT OF PAWNS

 o With the stronger king in front, the strong side wins in all scenarios.

easy win for black. 1 Ke5 Ra1 2 Kd5 Re1 3 d7+ Ke7

- STRONGER KING ON THE SIDE OF PAWNS

o More complicated. Zugzwang often plays a role.

1 Ra1! Waiting move. …Kc3 2 Ke3 Kc2 3 Rh1 another zugzwang …Kc3 4 Rc1+ Kb2 5 Kd2 +-

But moving this position to the left changes the situation.

In the middle diagram, black will promote the c-pawn, then push b-pawn, then put the king in the corner
after Rc2 pinning the pawn to the king. 1 Rg1 c1Q 2 Rxc1 b2 3 Rc2 Ka1 =

- ONLY DEFENDING KING PLAYING A PART

o King in contact with the less advanced pawn
 Pawns can win, but rook does have resources, more than is commonly believed.

- The side with pawns will try to sacrifice one pawn and promote the other. The rook side will try
to get the king closer, sacrifice the rook and capture the other pawn with the king.

1…Rf3! Great resource, black prevents the king from moving to g7 to push the f-pawn, which is closer to
the black king.

If 1…Rg3 2 Kg7! ‘changing the leader’ method. White wins. 2…Kf4 3 f6 Ke5 4 f7 Rf3 5 f8Q

If 1…Kd4 2 Kg7! Same idea, with more elaborate execution.

2 g7 Rg3 (2 Ke6 Rg3! And neither pawn can advance. 2 Ke5 looks nonsensical but there is a hidden idea –
with 2…Rg3! 3 f6!? And now if rook captures the g-pawn, the f-pawn advances and wins, so 3…Rg5! Is
needed for a draw (3…Rxg6?? 4 f7)) 3 Kf7 Kd4 4 f6 Ke5 =

this is the resulting position and the position that black aimed for in the
previous example. Immediate draw. Dvoretsky calls this ‘tailhook’ – rook controls the more advanced
pawn, king the less advanced pawn.

- SERIES OF CHECKS
 white seems hopeless, but a series of checks will enable the tailhook by
the king.

1…h4

2 Rg7+ (Ke7 also draws but this shows the idea of checks better) Kf4 3 Rf7+ Kg3 4 Kg7 h3 5 Kg6!
Important to leave the h-file open in case Rh7 is needed.

5…Kh2 6 Kg5 g3 7 Kh4 g2 8 Rg7 =

5…h2 6 Rh7 Kg2 7 Kg5 g3 8 Kg4 =

2 Ke7 h3 3 Ke6 Kf4 4 Kd5 Kg3 5 Ke4 Kh2 6 Rg7 g3 7 Kf3 g2 8 Kf2 Kh1 9 Rg6 h2 10 Rxg2 =

1…g3

2 Ke7 (or 2 Rg7+) h4 3 Ke6 Kg4 and now the resulting position is interesting:

4 Ke5? Looks like a logical move but is wrong – black will put both pawns on 6th rank and win. White
should have delivered a check and bring the king closer to the backward pawn.

TB FROM MY GAMES

Rook vs pawn
 Black to move.

1…Rxd5?? Game is drawn.

1…Rh4 correct! Black will sacrifice the rook for the d-pawn trying to promote, while protecting own a-
pawn, and with the king attacking the white a-pawn.

1... Ra5 2. Kf6 Kc2 3. e5 Kd3 4. e6 Ke4 5. Kf7 Rf5+ 6. Kg6 Re5 7. Kf7 Kf4 8. Kf6 Re1 9. e7 Kg4 10. Kf7 Kxh4
11. e8=Q Rxe8 12. Kxe8 Kg5

The game is drawn. White is checked, where should he go?

1…Ka3?? White lost.

1…Ka4?? White lost.

1…Kc4! (or Kc3) Draw. Nothing black can do. White must never step in front of its pawn.

1. Kf6 Rh2 2. Kg5 Rg2+ 3. Kf6 Rh2 4. Kg5 Rg2+

SAME COLORED BISHOPS

BISHOP AND PAWN VS BISHOP

- Many players ignore an essential defensive method – rear opposition. It is not intuitive, so it
needs to be learned and remembered. Even strong players have resigned in drawn endgames.
- If the defending king stands in front of the pawn on a color opposite to the bishop, then this is
an obvious draw.
DRIVING OFF DEFENDING BISHOP

scenario one – stronger king near the pawn, ready to offer bishop
trade, and the defending king far away.

1 Bf3 white understands that bishop should be traded where it does not interfere with the advance of
the pawn. Here, aiming for Bd7, black has an option of relocating the bishop to the other diagonal.

1…Ba4 2 Bc6 white wins.

scenario 2 – defending king at the rear of the pawn.

Here the attacker cannot offer exchange of bishops without obstructing the pawn.

1 Bd7 Bf1 2 Bg4 Bb4 3 Bd7 Be2 4 Bc6 Bg4 draw.

But the diagonal must be long enough!

 Scenario 3 – diagonal too short. Anything less than 4 squares is a short
diagonal.

1 Bc8 – step one is to get the defending bishop off the long diagonal. 1…Be4 2 Bb7 Bd3 (2…Bf5 3 Bf3 Bc8
4 Be2 zugzwang) 3 Bf3 Ba6 4 Bg4! Zugzwang! If …Kb5 then Bf1+ and win the bishop.

White controls all squares of the short diagonal – king controls two squares, bishop one.

- AN APPARENT EXCEPTION – 3-SQUARE DIAGONAL, ATTACKING KING CONTROLLING JUST ONE

SQUARE.

which side should the white king go to? To the one where he controls
more squares of the short diagonal

1 Kg8! Kg6 2 Bf8 and white wins in the same way as above.

1 Ke8? Ke6 short opposition.

2 Bf8 Bf4 3 Bb4 Bh6 4 Bd2 Bg7 5 Be3 Kd6 6 Bd2 Ke6 7 Bc3 Bh6 draw. king controls only one
square of the diagonal so white cannot win.

- FRONTAL DEFENCE
 Scenario 4 – frontal defence.

The example is extended here, we start far ahead of the key moment, just for demonstration.

Here the best defence is 1…Kd5! 2 Kg6 Ke4 3 Bc7 Kf3 4 Bd8 Kg4 draw – black king made it to the rear of
the pawn. Black will avoid bishop trade by switching diagonals.

1…Kd7?! The player does not know the basic drawing procedure and makes life hard for himself. 2 Kg6
Ke8! There was no time to get to g4 for the black king, so he has to try another, less known drawing
procedure. King here will head to g8.

3 Bf4

3…Bd4? 4 Bh6! White wins.

4…Ke7 5 Bg7 Bc5 6 f6

4…Bc3 5 Bg7 Bb4 6 f6

3…Kf8! The second defence method. 4 Bh6+ Kg8! The key point is that while the king is here,
white cannot offer exchange of bishops on g5 since that leads to a drawn endgame. (5 Bg5 Bd4 6 Bf6 Bf2
7 Be5 Bh4 8 Bf4 Bd8 9 Bg5 Bxg5 19 Kxg5 Kf7 or Kg7 =). As usual, if the attacking side offers bishop
exchange in front of the pawn, the defender just switches to another diagonal.

REVISION OF SOME THEMES

 1 Bh5!? The only attempt to win – if white allows Ke8 then there is no
stopping Ke8 with immediate draw. There are two possibilities for white to try to win, and black has to
be careful. Otherwise it is a draw.

1…Bh3

2 Ke5!? The most dangerous winning attempt. Black has to know correct defence – transferring
the king behind the pawn. White plan is to take the king to c7, and black’s only chance is to get the king
to c5. 2…Kg7!

2 Kg6!? White tries to win by trading bishops on f5. But black has defence – 2…Bd7! The only
move. With a knight’s pawn, the position would be even more dangerous – leading to zugzwang as the
bishop would not be able to go to the short diagonal.

3 Bf5 Ke8 =

BISHOP VS KNIGHT WITH ONE PAWN

- Very common endgame.

- These endings are either easy to solve, or it is hard to give rules to solution.
- There are lots of tactical possibilities.

KNIGHT AND PAWN VS BISHOP

- Most interesting case.

A CASE WITH A CENTRAL PAWN. (IF THE KING WAS ON A8 INSTEAD OF

B8, HE WOULD BE ONE STEP TOO FAR AND LOSE!)
 - The bishop has two sufficiently long diagonals and should be able to draw even with the king far
away.
- RULE: if the two diagonals are 5 squares long then the king support is not needed.
- The bishop can’t lose unless its own king is the obstacle.
- If one diagonal is less than 4 squares long, the attacking king can manoeuvre with the knight to
dominate that diagonal. Then the bishop needs king’s support, but that is doable even with the
king far away. The shorter the diagonals, the greater the winning chances for the knight.

1 Bc5+! Bishop moves to the longest diagonal, with check. If the bishop went to the shorter diagonal on
h4, it would be evicted before the king could help, using the knight and the king (getting the knight to d3
to cover two bottom squares of the diagonal, and the king the remaining ones!), so it would be a losing
move.

1…Ke2 2 Bg1! Complicated computer move! The aim is to bring the king is via c7 quickly, which could
otherwise not be done due to tactics (2 Kc7? Nd5+ 3 Kd6 Ne3 black wins by blocking the bishop with the
knight!!!) 2…Nd1 this is necessary, to drive the bishop off the long diagonal – the knight’s target is f2
square!

3 Kc7! Nf2 4 Bh2! Absolutely necessary. From here the bishop will choose the best diagonal depending
on where the knight goes. If white moved the king, he would lose, as black would place the knight on d3
to dominate two squares of the short diagonal, and get the bishop with the king.

4…Kf1 king moving to the other side of the pawn. 5 Be5! Strange move! But necessary! Black
king controls e3, so the bishop gets ready to return to the longer diagonal. Any other move does not
work, as the knight would drive the bishop off! 5…Ng4 6 Bd4 Ke2 7 Bg1! DRAW t

4…Ng4 5 Bg1! Returning to the long diagonal!

4…Nh3 5 Bg3! Nf4 6 Kd6 Nh5 7 Bh4 Ng7 8 Ke5 draw, preventing the lethal Nf5. This is why if the
white king was originally on a8 instead, he would lose by one tempo!

ROOK PAWN
 - black wants to put the king on g1 and the knight on g2 to block the
bishop. But white has a hidden resource.

1 Bd7! The key is to force the pawn onto the 7th rank.

1…h2 2 Bc6+ Kg1 3 Bh1! Kxh1 4 Kf2! Since the knight is unable to waste tempo, black king is
trapped in the corner. 4…Nf3 5 Kf1 Nd2+ 6 Kf2 Ne4+ 7 Kf1 =

- This trick only works if the defending king is close enough.

here the defending king is further away. This endgame is less known yet
very important. Black can trap the bishop without white king reaching drawing position.

1…Nd3 threatening Nb2 to block out bishop 2 Ba1 Nb2 same as above, but now white king is too far to
trap black king in the corner.

3 Ke1 Na4! 4 Ke2 Kc1 losing a tempo to keep black pieces on ideal squares – king next to b1, and
knight one step away from b2. 5 Ke1 Nc5! 6 Ke2 Kb1 7 Kd1 Nd3 8 Kd2 Nb2 zz 9 Kc3 Kxa1 10 Kc2 Nd3
black wins.

3 Ke3 Na4! 4 Kd4 Kb1 …

BISHOP+PAWN VS KNIGHT
 - Scenario one – the defending king manages to block the pawn on square opposite to the color
of the bishop – dead draw unless the knight is trapped. If the king cannot block, then the knight
has to, and the king will need to come for support. No examples needed here.
- Scenario two – both the king and the knight control a square opposite to the bishop color, to
stop the pawn. This is a good setup, but there are some zz positions with the pawn on 7th and
sometimes on 6th rank.
- Scenario three – the knight controls one square, with the support of the king, but the blockade
is not solid. The attacker usually has to force a zz.

PAWN ON THE 7TH RANK

1Kc7! Nd8 2 Bd5 zz +-

 1Bb3+ Kc5 2 Ba2 Kc6 3 Ke6 Nh7 4 Bd5+ Kc5 5 Ke7 Nf6 6 Bf3 Ng8+ 7 Ke6
Nf6 8 Be4! Zz and white wins. No rules can be established here and correct calculation and searching for
zz positions is crucial.

OPPOSITE BISHOPS, BISHOP VS BISHOP WITH 2 PAWNS

- This chapter and rook ending chapter are the two most important ones! This is a common
ending and requires knowledge of the technique.

PART ONE – CONNECTED PAWNS

PAWNS ON 6TH RANK

Pawns on 6th rank usually win (one exception is edge pawns with
defending bishop on the long diagonal). But the technique should be known, though it is relatively easy.

Here, neither pawn can advance – advancing e-pawn would have black give up the bishop for two
pawns, advancing the f-pawn would mean both pawns are blockaded on the color favorable to the
opponent’s bishop.

The WINNING PLAN has TWO STAGES – a bishop check to force the defending king to pick a direction,
and then outflanking the king.

1 Bb5

1…Kd8 2 Kf5 Bc5 3 Kg6 Bb4 4 Kf7 Bc5 5 e7+

1…Kf8 2 Kd5 Ba3 3 Kc6 Bb4 4 Kd7 Bc5 5 e7+

here the bishop is in front of the pawns – this is a good defensive

resource when the pawns are on 5th rank due to attack on the f-pawn, but here it is not enough for a
draw due to zz.

1 Bb5+ Kf8 2 Kf5! Zz next move will be e7.

EDGE PAWNS
 This is the only exception to connected pawns on the 6th with opposite
bishops – here it is a draw. the defending bishop is on the long diagonal.

1…Kf8! 2 Ke6 Bb2 black just waits. Draw.

1…Kh8?? 2 Ke6 Bb2 3 Kf7 white wins

PAWNS ON THE 5TH RANK OR FURTHER FROM PROMOTION

- WINNING PROCEDURE (defence is below)

HERE THE BLACK BISHOP IS ON THE WRONG DIAGONAL AND WHITE

WILL USE A WINNING PROCEDURE – He will check the king first to see which side he moves to and then
use outflanking.

1 Bg5+!

1…Kd7 2 Kf4 Ba2 3 Bh4 Bf7 4 Kg5 Ke7 5 Kh6+ Kd7 6 Kg7 Bd5 7 Kf6 Bb3 8 e6+ Ke8 9 Ke5 followed
by f5-6 and two six-rank pawns win.

1…Kf7 2 Kd4 Ba2 3 Kc5 Bb3 4 Kd6 Ba2 5 e6 Ke8 6 f6 white wins

- DEFENSIVE PROCEDURE
 The defender attacks one of the pawns, thus tying the opponent’s king
and limiting his mobility and preventing outflanking.

1 Bg5+ Kf7! Maintains double eye on e6. 2 Kf4 Bd7 white cannot make progress.

PAWNS ON 4TH RANK

- The drawing is the same as pawns on 5th – defending king stands in front of pawns, bishop is also
in front, attacking one pawn and preventing the other one from moving forward.

the defender has options here – he can reach defensive position when
the pawns are on 4 rank, or on 5th. Sometimes this may not be possible.
th

1…Bc4! Only move! Here black cannot achieve the defensive setup with pawns on 4 th as the bishop
would have to be on c6 or b7 for that. So he has to defend with pawns on 5th. The key squares for bishop
are f7 and g8 and hence this move.

2 Bg3+ Kc6! Black has to stop pawn advance until bishop is on f7 or g8.
SPECIAL PAIR OF PAWNS – THE CAGE

- In this position, white has a forced win, with pawns still on the 2nd rank! Black lacks one tempo
to establish the defence. So, with these pawns, you need to be careful from the very start. This
applies to c-d pawn pair, or e-f pawn pair.
- 1 f4 Bf8 2 e4 Ke7 (2…Bd6 3 e5) 3 Bc4 Bg7 4 e5 black has reached the defensive setup against 5 th
rank pawns. But white will not push the pawns yet. Black bishop is in an awkward position. This
pawn structure always wins, no matter whose move it is, no matter where the bishops are!
White just needs the king to defend the pawns.

a kind of cage has been built, restricting bishop’s mobility. The bishop
has to stay in the cage, otherwise it cannot have correct defensive setup against 5 th rank pawns.
4…Bh6 trying to stop the white king. White will play a waiting move to counter this. 5 Bb3 ZZ Bg7 (5…Kf8
6 f5 wins) 6 Kg5 Bh8 7 Kg6 Kf8 8 Kh7 Bg7 9 Bc4 ZZ black has no move.

SEPARATED PAWNS – THREE DRAWING SCENARIOS

- The greater the pawn separation, the better the winning chances. But it’s hard to systematize all
cases. Here, we deal with three drawing cases first.
- DRAWING SCENARIO ONE: one of the pawns is wrong rook’s pawn. The defender then just
needs to bring the king to the corner of that pawn, and sacrifice the bishop for the other pawn.
- DRAWING SCENARIO TWO: pawns separated by one file. Remember the blockade position:

the drawing procedure is simple: the king just waits, and the bishop
moves back and forth controlling the pawn supported by the attacking king. If the attacking king walks
over to the other side, the defending bishop simply switches diagonal.

- DRAWING POSITION THREE – controlling pawns along the same diagonal:

black simply prevents any outflanking.

1 Kd5 Kf6! Black will prevent the white king from reaching e6.

2 Kc5 Ke7 3 Kb5 Bf4 4 Kb6 Kd8 draw.

If in the diagram the black pieces were swapped, white would win easily, with f3, f4 and Kf5.
PAWNS SEPARATED BY TWO FILES

- All endings here are won in the same way, so we use the simplest example to illustrate it:
o The king will try to penetrate to support the pawn which is blocked by the defending
bishop.
- Drawing chances rely on two resources – stopping the invading king, or supporting the bishop’s
blockade with the king.

1 f4 (Kf5 is also possible) white wants to get through the h2-b8 diagonal with the king …Bh4 2 Kd5 now
white intends the main part of the plan – try to penetrate to support the f-pawn. 2…Bd8 3 Ke6 Bh4 4 f5
Kd8 5 f6 Bg5 6 Kf5 Bh6 7 Kg6 Bf8 8 Kf7 Bh6 9 Kg8 1-0

KNIGHT’S AND CENTRAL PAWN

- DEFENDING BISHOP HAS CONTROL OVER THE PROMOTION SQUARE

this is the situation where despite the defending bishop not being able
to control the pawns on the same diagonal, the attacker does not win.
1 Ke2! The key is to cut off the attacking king from the central pawn. The knight’s pawn is less of a
threat. 1…b3 the only plan, since outflanking does not work. 2 Kd1! It is necessary to control c1 square,
to further restrict black king. 2…Kb4 3 Bh7 white bishop just waits until black king threatens to occupy
a1 square. 3…Ka3 4 Bg6 Kb2 (4…b2 threatens Ka2, 5 Bb1! Kb3 6 Ke2 =). This is the point in knight’s pawn
setup – the king does not have enough space to go round the pawn to relieve the blockade. 5 Bf7!

(If 4…Ka2 5 Bf7! Pins the pawn, but the position needs further attention! Many players make mistakes
here!)

5…Ka2 6 Be6 Ka3 threatening b2, forcing Bf5 which would allow Ka2 and b1. Critical moment. 7 Bf5! B2 8
Bb1! Draw.

- The ending is usually drawn even if the bishop cannot control the promotion square, but there
are exceptions.

-ATTACKING BISHOP WITH CONTROL OVER PROMOTION SQUARE

- Here the road to victory is long.

1…Bf1 2 Bc5 the bishop leaves the d6 square before the b-pawn moves, since later it will not be
possible. …Bc4 3 Be3 ZZ black has to allow advance of one of the pawns. It does not matter which one
moves first. If the black king was on e6, preventing the advance of the pawns, the game would be
drawn.

3…Bd5 the shorter win, but more instructive. 4 b5 Bc4 5 b6 Bd5 6 Bd2! Decisive. The bishop needs to go
to a5 to win. If the white bishop was on d6, black would play Kc6 and if Bc7, then Kd7 prevents white’s
maneuver. 6…Kc6 7 Ba5! Kd7 8 e6+! This shows the importance of the bishop on a5.
3…Bb5 4 e6+ Ke8 5 Ke5 threat is Kd6 …Ke7 6 Bg5+ Ke8 7 Kd6 Bc4 8 e7 Bd3 9 Kc5 Kd7 10 b5 Be2 11 b6 Bf3
12 Kd4 Ke8 13 Ke5 white threatens to occupy d6 …Kd7 14 Kf6 Bh5 15 Kg7 Kc6 16 Be3 Kd7 17 Kf8 Bg6 12
Bd2! Kc6 19 Ba5 Kd7 20 b7

- The winning chances are higher if the attacker’s bishop controls the promotion square, but this
does not mean such position is won. It depends.

CENTRAL AND ROOK’S PAWNS (still discussing pawns separated by two files)

- A little care should be enough for a draw.

white king aims to get to b7. No way on the left side due to edge of
board, and the space between the pawns is too narrow. So, just one route exists.

1 Kf5 Ke7! Black must not allow white to reach e8 (but even then defence is possible)

2 Ke5 Bb8+ 3 Kd4 Ba7+ 4 Kc4 Kd6 draw.

PAWNS SEPARATED BY THREE FILES

- Winning chances increase

BISHOP AND KNIGHT’S PAWN

- OUTFLANKING ON THE EDGE: The worst scenario for the attacker is a very advanced knight’s
pawn, as it obstructs own king. But when both pawns are on 7th rank, it is a simple win. When
the knight’s pawn is on 7th, and bishop pawn on 5th, the defender can setup an impregnable
blockade:
 both black pieces are doing their job well. But black must not allow
outflanking on the edge.

1 Kf3 Kg5!

(losing line is also instructive: 1…Bc7? 2 Kg4 Bb8 3 Kh5 Bf4 4 Bc8 ZZ …Bb8 (4…Kg7 5 Kg4 Bb8 6 Kg5 Be5 7
f6+ Bxf6 8 Kf5) 5 Kh6 Bf4+ 6 Kh7 Bb8 7 Kg8 Bd6 8 Be6 ZZ …Bb8 9 Kf8 Bd6 10 Ke8 Be5 11 Kd7 Bf4 12 Kc8
an amazing race = a common resource)

2 Ke4 Kf6 3 Kd5 Bg3 4 Kc6 Ke7 5 Kb6 Bb8! Draw. black pieces miraculously hold. The knight’s pawn is
very unfortunately placed on the 7th rank.

ATTACKING BISHOP CONTROLS THE PROMOTION SQUARE OF THE KNIGHT’S PAWN

- Most cases are won, but if the knight is on 6th or 7th rank, it’s too far and a blockade is possible.

white pawn is too far, black can hold the blockade.

1…Bb7 2 Kg3 Kf5 3 Kh4 Kg6! As usual, outflanking on the edge cannot be allowed. 4 Kg4 Bc8+ 5 Kf3 Bb7 6
Ke3 Kf5 7 Kd4 Ke6 8 Be5 Kf5 9 Kc5 Ke6 draw – blockade holds with minimal resources.

The KNIGHTS PAWN IS FURTHER BACK

- The knight’s pawn can become an obstacle for own king, so winning chances are better if the
pawn is further back.
 white king wants to penetrate with d4, and black king must stop him –
but then white will have outflanking on the edge as the other threat. White combines these two threats
to win. First, he improves his bishop.

1 Be7 Bd7

1…Ke6 fails. 2 Bd8 Kd5 3 b5 Bc8 (3…Bd7 4 b6 Bc8 5 f5 and two 6th rank pawns are an easy win) 4
Bc7 Ke6 (4…Bd7 5 b6 Bc8 6 f5 +-) 5 Kd4 and white king goes to support the b-pawn, even from the a7
square. Having the b-pawn less advanced proves important here – making the king’s task easier.

1…Bf5 2 b5! Bc8 3 Bd8 threatens Kf3-g4-h4 and outflanking is unavoidable 3…Ke6 blocks king’s
way to the edge but then allows central penetration: 4 Kd4 Kd6 5 Ke4 threatening f5 as well as Kf3-g3-
h4.

2 Bd8 strange move, intends to take the king to h5 without black winning a tempo by Ke6. 2…Kc4 3 Ba5!
Kd5 4 Kf3 white prepares outflanking. Black wants to win time by attacking the f-pawn. 4…Bc8 (4…Ke6 5
Kg4 secures outflanking) 5 Kg3 Ke4 the idea of black – white king can neither cross g4 nor lose f-pawn. 6
Bc7 Kf5 (6…Bd7 7 Kh4 Kf5 8 Kh5+-) 7 Kf3! White king changes route and gets to d4. 7…Bb7 8 Ke3 Bc6 8
Kd4 1-0

CENTRAL AND ROOK’S PAWN

- Easier for the attacking side. The attacking king has more space to penetrate on the wing.

here is a perfect example of edge outflanking. Another idea is king

penetration between the pawns but black has resources to stop that. Since there is so much space on
the right, white can play for outflanking.

1 Kd3 Bf4
 1…Bb6 fails. 2 Ke2 Ba7 3 Kf3 Bb6 4 Kg4 etc.

2 Ke2 Bb6 3 Kf1! Ba7 4 Kg2 Bb6 (4…Kg4 5 e5+-) 5 Kh3 Bf2 the first attempt at stopping white, but white
uses zugzwang: 6 Bb7 ZZ Kg5 (6…Bb6 Kh4 is easier for white) 7 Bc6 Kf4 8 Bd5 triangulation (now 8…Kg5
fails to 9 e5) …Be3 9 Kh4 Ke5 10 Kh5 Kf6 the second barrier. 11 Bb7 ZZ! Ba7 12 Kh6 Bb6 13 Kh7 Bd4 14
Kg8 Bc5 the third barrier. 15 Bd5 ZZ again …Ke5 16 Kf7 Kd6 (16…Ba7 17 Ke7 no more obstacles on the
way to b7 for the king) 17 Kf6 (17 Ke8 also wins) …Bd4 18 Kf5 Bb6 19 Ba8 Bd4 20 Bb7 ZZ! Bb6 21 e5+ Ke7
22 e6 Bd4 23 Bc8 Kd8 24 Bd7 Ke7 25 Ke4 Bb6 26 Kd5 1-0 king will reach b7.

Summary of important points from this section:

ROOK VS PAWN+ROOK

- Most complex. Study this in sections.

TWO MOST IMPORTANT POSITIONS

 - PHILIDOR POSITION

The default strategy is distant checks (DT).

- If the defending king is in the pawn’s path, the defender is already half way through. There are
several drawing systems but Philidor is the best and works for all pawns.

1…Rg6! The main defensive position when the defensive king stands in
front of the pawn. The rook will wait on the 3rd rank, stopping king’s progress.

If black makes a mistake – white wins: 1…Rg1?! 2 Kd6 Rd1+ 3 Ke6 threatens mate …Rd8? (king move is
better but also loses due to Lucena position) 4 Rh7 white wins

2 e6 black got what he wanted – pawn move. Now the defence is easy. THE KEY RULE WAS: KEEP ROOK
ON 3RD RANK UNTIL THE PAWN MOVES! if the rooks are exchanged on the 6th rank, the endgame is
always drawn (tb NONSENSE! Check below!)

2…Rg1! As soon as the pawn comes to 6th rank, we move to check from behind as the attacking king has
no more shield. 3 Kd6 Rd1+ 4 Ke5 Re1+ 5 Kf6 Rf1+

Does Philidor work with pawn on 4th or 5th rank? Yes, but books always show the more extreme
situation.
 tb: white played Kd5, and now Ra8+. Black has to be careful!
Kd7?? Game is lost! White will play e6+ and black cannot take with the rook as white’s Ra7 would win
the rook! Black has to play Ke7 or Kf7.

SO I GUESS ANOTHER RULE: WHEN CHECKED, DO NOT MOVE INTO OPPOSITION. OR PERHAPS, DO NOT
GO WHERE THE PAWN CAN CHECK YOU! (OR BOTH)

here white proposed an exchange. Black cannot take. Black

rd
has to play the rook away from the 3 rank! (Kd7 also loses). This contradicts what the book says above
– that if the rooks are exchanged on the 6th then it’s always a draw.

- PHILIDOR GOING WRONG (from Silman Endgame)

 white to move. Rg6! Preventing the key move of Philidor. …
Kd7, Ra6! Now the only reaction black has is …Rh1 to prevent check from the other side and taking of
the rook. Ra7+ Ke8, Kd6! Re1! (tb Ke6 Rh6+) Making it hard to advance the pawn (e6 Rd1+), Ra8+ Kf7,
Ra7+ Ke8, Ke6 Kf8! Preventing mate, and going to the short side, so that rook has more space for checks,
Ra8+ Kg7, Kd6 Kf7!, Ra7+ Ke8, Ke6 Kf8, Ra8+ Kg7, Re8 white tries a different idea …Ra1! Threatening
pure Philidor, Rd8 Re1! White cannot progress, draw.

LUCENA – THE BRIDGE

- This is the most frequent procedure to win, just like Philidor is the most common drawing
procedure. This happens if the defending king fails to stand in front of the pawn.
- Most rook vs rook and pawn endgames end in either Philidor or Lucena. The two are very
common and you must know them well.

the pawn has reached the 7th rank which is what the strong side wants if
the defender cannot apply defence. The defender’s only defensive technique will be to transfer the rook
to the long side for checks. If he cannot check from the long side, the ending is lost.

1…Rc2 the king cannot get out. White has three winning methods, but pay attention to main line as that
can be applied to any pawn except for rook pawn. 2 Rf1+ this is step one – to cut off the king by an extra
file.

2…Kg7! (2…Ke6 3 Ke8 +-) 3 Rf4! This is the second part – preparing the bridge. Rc1 4 Ke7 Re1 5
Kd6 Rd1 6 Ke6 Re1 7 Kd5 Rd1 8 Rd4
The second method: 3 Ra1 but does not work with knight’s pawns 3…Kf7 4 Ra8 Rc1 5 Rc8 Rd1 6 Kc7
Rc1+ 7 Kb6 Rb1+ 8 Ka5

The third method but it can lead to queen vs rook ending: 3 Rf5 a less elaborated bridge 3…Kg6 4 Ke7?!
Kxf5! 5 d8Q

white prepared the bridge and black started checks, but now
instead of continuing to check he plays 1…Kg6 2 Rc4! The plan is Rc5 and bridge (careful with 2 Rf5??
Which fails to Rxd7). We use the same technique if black just waits with the rook behind the pawn.

REMEMBER IF DEFENDER MOVES THE KING INSTEAD OR JUST WAITS WITH THE ROOK: WE CAN
TRANSFER OUR ROOK TO THE OTHER SIDE AND A RANK CLOSER TO OUR KING TO BUILD A SHORTER
BRIDGE.

ROOK ENDING SECTION 2: PAWN ON 5TH RANK OR LESS

- There are four essential positions where the pawn is at least on the 5th rank. Philidor, Kling &
Horowitz, Long Side and Lucena.

- Later you will understand this sentence better.

THE LONG SIDE ENDING

- We are now one step further from Lucena and Philidor. They are still essential.
 position related to Lucena. This is almost the only drawn position with
the pawn on 7th and supported by the king. With white to move, Rg1 and Lucena wins by building the
bridge. With the black to move, he needs checks from the long side, THE PAWN AND ROOK MUST BE
SEPARATED BY MINIMUM THREE FILES. Shorter distance does not allow continuing checks. THE
DEFENDING KING HAS TO BE ON THE SHORT SIDE. So, in your play, aim to get your king to the short side,
and rook to the long one – at least in most cases.

TO AVOID LUCENA AND LOSS, THE ONLY RELIABLE RESOURCE IS THE LONG SIDE!

1…Ra8 2 Kd7 Ra7 3 Kd8 Ra8 4 Kc7 Ra7 5 Kd6 Ra6 6 Kc5 Re6!=

KNIGHTS PAWN – FIRST RANK DEFENCE

- These are complementary defensive techniques to Philidor. Knight’s pawn and rook’s pawn
allow for alternative and more simple defensive techniques.

here the king will simply stand in front of the pawn while the rook just
stays on the first rank.

1 Ka6 Rc8! 2 b6 Rf8 3 Rb7 Ka8! (Kc8 would lose to Ka7) 4 Ra7 Kb8 5 Rh7 Rg8 white cannot make
progress.

CENTRAL AND BISHOP PAWNS – KLING AND HOROWITZ DEFENCE

- What about central pawns? Is Philidor the only way, so that if we cannot achieve it we lose? No,
but the defence is a bit more difficult than against a knight’s pawn.
- The main technique here is PLACING THE ROOK AT THE REAR OF THE PAWN.
o With central pawn, the technique works with defending king on either side
o With bishop pawns, the defending king must be on the short side
 - This technique DOES NOT WORK with knight’s pawn! Even some strong players mix up the
techniques!

black cannot reach Philidor here – the rook is placed unfortunately and
cannot come to the third rank!

1…Rf1 the rook – unable to reach Philidor – must prepare to get to the rear of the pawn. Here Rf2 would
work as well as long as the rook is able to get behind the pawn.

2 Kd6 threatens back-rank check followed by unstoppable promotion.

(2 Ke6!? Is annoying also but black has a forcing response: 2…Kf8! (wrong would be 2…Kd8? 3
Rh8+ Kc7 4 Ke7 and the rook cannot get behind the pawn) 3 Ra7 Re1! Back in main line)

2…Re1! This move is the only move, and hard to find! This is the K&H trademark. Rook prevents the
pawn advance (tb if it advances we have endless checks). (2…Rd1+? Is a logical mistake losing the game:
3 Ke6 threatens mate …Kf8 and our technique would now no longer work 4 Rf7+! Ke8 (4…Kg8 5 Rd7 Re1
6 Kf6 and the pawn advances, though the ending is still complicated) 5 Ra7 wins a vital tempo to
advance the pawn …Kf8 6 Ra8+ Kg7 7 Ke7 then advance the pawn – white rook occupies the important
a-file and black rook has no distant effectiveness. Black is lost)

3 Ke6 Kd8?! This is a mistake (but here it does not lose due to central pawn – it would lose with bishop
pawn). We include it to show faulty technique – rook on the short side, king on the long side. We always
want our king on the short side. (The correct move was 3…Kf8)

4 Rh8+ if white makes a waiting move, black rook also waits. If white moves the king, black can either
check or wait. (4 Ra7 Re2! And 4 Kf6 Ke8) 4…Kc7 now we see why we want the rook behind the pawn.
White cannot move Ke7 to advance the pawn.

5 Kf6 threatens to push the pawn. …Kd7! (5 Rh7 Kd8 repeating. 5 Ra8 Re2 waiting. 5 Re8 transposes to
main line here after move 9, black has only one move – 5…Rh1!) 6 Rh7 Ke8 7 Ke6 position after move 3.
7…Kd8 (again, correct is Kf8!) 8 Rh8+ Kc7 9 Re8!? Tricky try. Threat is Kf7 and advance of the pawn. 9…
Rh1 getting ready for checks – from the short side! This is the only move here! it works due to position
of the white rook. Of course this works better from the long side. With the bishop pawn the short side
checks would not work. This is why we need the king on the short side. 10 Rf8 Re1! White cannot
progress. (tb 11 Re8 Rh1 repeat but the if 12 Kf7 Rh7+ 13 Kg6 we can play …Kd7 or we also have 13…Rh2
(or h1) and then 14 e6 Kd6 we have endless checks and if 14 Kf6 then Rh6+ again)
It is instructive to see what happens if black just waits with 9…Re2? 10 Kf7! The black rook is in a bad
spot, and the pawn can advance. 10…Rh2 (10…Rf2+ too late. 11 Ke7 Rh2 12 Rf8 stops side checks, threat
is e5-e6 leading to lucena) 11 Rg8! (11 e6? Rh7 12 Kg6 Rh1 13 e7 Kd7=) 11…Rh7+ 12 Rg7 Rh8 13 Ke7 (13
e6? Kd6 14 e7 Kd7=) 13…Kc6 14 e6 Kc7 15 Kf6 (other winning moves also here) …Kd8 (15…Kc6 16 Rd7
leads to Lucena and 15…Kd6 16 Rd7 Kc6 17 Rd1 Rh6 18 Kf7 Rh7 19 Kg6 Rh2 20 e7 Re2 21 Kf7 Rf2 22 Ke8
also reaches lucena) 16 Kf7 Kc7 17 Rg1 Rh7 18 Kg6 Rh8 19 Kf7 lucena

CENTRAL 6TH RANK PAWN – ROOK WITH EFFECTIVENESS OF DISTANT CHECKS

- The following two are the most difficult endings in this chapter.
- Once the pawn has reached 5th, 6th, or 7th rank and the defending king cannot occupy a position
in the pawn’s path (enabling Philidor defence), the only effective method is to occupy the long
side with the rook. The less advanced the pawn, the better the chances. But positioning of rooks
plays a role here to decide whether the ending is winning or drawn.

we are down to the last defensive chance – defensive rook has to

occupy the long side. If the attacking rook is ready to cover the king from checks, black pieces have to
occupy ideal positions to save the game – the ideal position of the rook is the furthest possible file for
distant checks to be effective, and 8th rank – to prevent the attacking king getting there.

1 Rd8 white has to play this to prevent the defensive rook being on the 8th rank where it needs to be. (1
Kd6?! Allows …Kf8 and defending king will stand in front of the pawn)

1…Ra7+! Black uses tactics to hold white progress. (1…Ra1? Allows Lucena type of position with 2 Ke8
Kf6 3 e7 and 1…Ra6! Is the only move that also works because it prevents white king from reaching the
back rank)

2 Rd7 (2 Ke8 is desirable but here fails to 2…Kf6 winning the pawn. 2 Kd6 is answered by checks - …Ra6 3
Ke5 Ra5 4 Rd5 Ra8 5 Kd6 Kf8 Philidor and draw.)

2…Ra8 other moves along a-file also draw but this is the safest, keeping to our method. (2…Ra1 3 Ke8
Kf6! 4 e7 Ke6! Draw. this is an interesting and not very well-known drawing position with the pawn on
7th rank)

3 Rd6! Tricky attempt! Black is almost in zugzwang. Black cannot allow white king to come to the back
rank when white rook is so well placed, and on the other hand, black rook must not leave the a-file to
prevent check distance effectiveness. (3 Bb7 Kg6 4 Kd7 Kf6 5 e7 Kf7 draw)
 remember this position! white rook protects the pawn and if
we check the king the king will get to the 8th rank! (tb what if this position arises but with the black king
already on g6? Then Kg7)

3…Kg6! The only move! King waits as near to the pawn as possible. (3…Ra1? 4 Ke8! White wins. 4…Ra8 5
Rd8 Ra6 6 e7 Kf6 7 Kf8 and 3…Ra7? 4 Ke8 and 3…Kg8?? 4 Rd8 and 3…Rb8? 4 Rd8 black loses as the rook
has no effective distant checks (4 Rd7? Ra8!=)).

4 Rd7 back to starting position. (4 Kd7 Kf6 5 e7 Kf7 draw and SF 4 Rc6 Kg7 5 Rc7 Kg6 6 Ra1 distant checks
and if 6 Kd6 Ra6+ 7 Rc6 Ra8 with 7 Kd7 Ra8 8 Ke7 Ra6 9 Rc1 Ra7+ 10 Kd8 Kf6! The only move! 11 Re1
Ra8+ endless checks)

4…Kg7 5 Rc7 third try. Now black has a few options. 5…Kg6 draw. this is the easiest way. (5…Ra1 6 Rd7
Ra2 (6…Ra8! Simplest draw) 7 Ke8 Kf6 8 e7 Ke6 draw. and 5…Rb8? Leaves a-file, 6 Ra7 and rook lost
distant check effectiveness.

TB NOTES: remember, we want to prevent pawn advance and king coming to the 8 th. DO NOT GIVE
CHECKS IF THEY CAN BE BLOCKED BY THE ROOK. GO TO THE 6TH RANK WITH THE ROOK TO THREATEN
THE PAWN TO PREVENT THE ATTACKING KING GOING TO THE 8TH RANK – BUT WATCH OUT FOR
DISCOVERED CHECK. WHEN THE ATTACKING ROOK GOES TO THE FAR RANK TO CUT OUR KING OFF, GIVE
SIDE CHECKS. WATCH OUR FOR PROTECTED FORK. DO NOT GIVE A CHECK THAT ALLOWS THE
ATTACKING KING TO MOVE TO THE 8TH RANK WITH THE ROOK BEING ABLE TO COVER THE CHECK
(though then there may by king approaching the pawn as the only move). Remember these will
probably transpose to other endings already studied! If the king goes around to your king but only if he
blocked sidechecks with the rook.

Another technique I encountered: he tried to go around with the king, putting rook on d5, but then
returned with the king and used Rg5 check on my king when his king returned to e7, cutting off my king!
 I played Ra8 here and lost – white threatens Rg5 to cut off our
king!

1…Rb7 2 Rd7 Ra8

My SF game from the text position: [Event "Casual correspondence game"]

1. Rd6 Kg6 2. Rc6 Kg7 3. Rd6 Kg6 4. Rc6 Kg7 5. Rc7 Kg6 6. Kd6 Ra6+ 7. Kd7 Ra8 8. Ke7 Ra6 9. Rc2 Ra7+ 10.
Kd6 Ra6+ 11. Rc6 Ra8 12. Rc2 Ra6+ 13. Rc6 Ra8 14. Rc7 Ra6+ 15. Kd7 Ra8 16. Ke7 Ra6 17. Rd7 Ra8 18.
Rd6 Kg7 19. Rd2 Ra7+ 20. Rd7 Ra8 21. Rc7 Kg6 22. Rb7 Ra6 23. Rd7 Ra8 24. Rd6 Kg7 25. Rd3 Ra7+ 26.
Kd6 Ra6+ 27. Ke5 Ra5+ 28. Rd5 Ra1 29. Rd8 Ra5+ 30. Rd5 Ra1 31. Rd7+ Kf8 32. Rd8+ Ke7 33. Rd7+ Kf8
34. Rf7+ Ke8 35. Rf2 Ke7 36. Rf7+ Ke8 37. Rg7 Re1+ 38. Kf5 Rf1+ 39. Ke5 Re1+ 40. Kd6 Rd1+ 41. Kc6 Rc1+
42. Kd6 Rd1+ 43. Kc6 Rc1+ 44. Kd5 Rd1+ 45. Kc5 Rc1+ 46. Kd4 Rd1+ 47. Kc4 Rc1+ 48. Kd4 Rd1+ 49. Kc5
Rc1+ 50. Kb4 Rb1+ { The game is a draw. } 1/2-1/2

Some of my conclusions:

- Against the Rd6 remember Kg6, but then also the rook moves Rc6 and Rc7 can all be responded
to just with the king going between Kg6 and Kg7.
- The other basic moves are Ra6 and Ra8 – both prevent king from reaching the 8 th rank (one by
threatening the pawn which the king has to protect)
o These two moves – king moving between g6 and g7, and rook between a8 and a6 are
90% of the job until the attacker tries other last resort strategy.
o Even the discovered check on the 7th rank does not seem an issue as long as the rook is
doing its job.
- Remember if the attacking rook is able to protect the king from checks, do not check the king
when he is able to go to 8th rank and then protect himself there.
- Then it’s checks from the side.
- The moment rook tries to go away for check on our king from behind, we check his king from
the side, and the moment he covers our check with the rook, we return to Ra8 or Ra6.
- Then he will try to walk the king around the pawn with the rook on d-file – we check from the
side until he covers with the rook, then we go Ra1 to threaten from behind and he has to return.
 white is walking his king around – we check from the side until
he covers. 1…Ra5+ 2 Rd5 Ra1 but careful when he returns with the king – watch out for the threat of
Rg4+ - as above in the pasted position. do not allow that by checking the king from the side. 3 Rd7 Kf8
(or Kg6) 4 e7 Ke8 (4 Rd8+ Ke7)

here just to show that even discovered check on 7th is not an

issue: 1 Kd8 Kf6, 2 e7 Ra8+, 3 Rc8 Rxc8 draw (3 Kd7 Kf7 4 Rc1 Ra7+ and 4 Rb7 Re8)
 black just played Ra8. What if 1 e7: 1 e7 Kf7 2 Rb7 Re8 and 2
Rc1 Ra7 endless checks)

what if 1 Kd8 king on 8th rank, possible to cover check with

the rook: 1 Kd8 now Ra8+?? So be careful. Correct is 1…Kf6! 2 Re2 Ra8 we have endless checks unless
king approaches the rook then Re7!

1 e7 Kf7 (Kf6 also ok) 2 Kd7 Ra7 simple draw

CENTRAL 6TH RANK PAWN – ROOK WITHOUT DISTANT EFFECTIVENESS

 - With the pawn on 6th and no distant effectiveness for the defender, the ending is won. THE
WINNING SEQUENCE IS SO ACCURATE IT IS HARD TO FIND IT OVER THE BOARD! The margin
between a win and a draw is very small!

1 Kd6+! Step one – white needs to transfer the move to the opponent, as the black pieces occupy ideal
positions (except for distant effectiveness).

(a mistake would be Ra1? Rb7! 2 Kd8 Rb8 3 Kc7 Rb2 intends Kf8 or Kf6 4 Rf1 Ra2! The pawn
needs a tempo to reach 7th which the black rook uses to recover distant effectiveness and draw 5 e7
Ra7+ 6 Kd6 Ra6 7 Kc5 Re6)

(another mistake is 1 Kd7? Kf6 ZZ 2 e7 Kf7= and 2 Rc7 Ra8 distant effectiveness, and any rook
move on the a-file, e.g. 2 Ra5 Rb7 and endless checks or lose the pawn)

1…Kf6 (1…Kf8 2 Kd7 Kg7 3 Ke7 is the same) 2 Kd7 ZZ Kg7

(2…Rb1 3 e7 Rd1 4 Ke8 Lucena; 2…Kg6 3 Ra1 Rb7 4 Kc6 Rb2 5 Re1!)

3 Ke7 ZZ we have given the turn to black who has no useful moves. 3…Kg6

3…Rb1 4 Ra8 gaining the 8th rank. …Rb7 (4…Rb2 5 Ke8 Rh2 6 Ra7 Kf6 7 e7 Rh8 8 Kd7) 5 Kd6 Rb6
(5…Kf6 6 Rf8 Kg7 7 e7 win and 4…Kg6 5 Ke8 Rh1 6 Ra3 Kf6 7 e7 Re1 8 Kf8) 6 Kd7 Rb7 7 Kc6 Re7 8 Kd6
Rb7 9 e7 win

4 Ra1! Rb7+ 5 Kd8

(5 Kd6 Rb6 6 Kd7 Rb7 7 Kc6 Rb8 8 Kc7 is more practical, reaching the main line. This is longer but
easier. Text move illustrates another line worth knowing)

5…Rb8+

(5…Kf6 leads to a forceful sequence full of important tactical details. 6 e7! Rb8 (6…Rxe7?! 7 Rf1)
7 Kc7 Re8 8 Kd6! Rb8 9 Rf1 Kg7 10 Kc7 Ra8 11 Ra1! Re8 12 Kd7 win

6 Kc7 Rb2 7 Re1! Promotion is secure.

7…Rc2 8 Kd7 Rd2+ 9 Ke8 Ra2

(9…Kg7 10 e7 lucena)
10 e7 +- Lucena

SUMMARY OF SECTION TWO:

- This section deals with the pawns that have crossed midline and the defending king not being
able to reach philidor.
o If the defending king is in front of the pawn, there are drawing chances even without
philidor. But remember the rules for central and bishop pawns do not apply to knight
pawn.
 With the knight pawn, passive backrank defence is the only option.
 Against a central pawn, use K&H.
o If the defending king cannot stand in front of the pawn, then we revert to rook with long
side check effectiveness.
 Against a pawn on 7th, defending rook needs endless checks that cannot be
covered.
 Against a pawn on 6th, distant effectiveness is not enough. In some cases, the
rook must not leave the back rank.
 Against a pawn on 5th, the defender has more time to get distant effectiveness,
but this may be a problem if the attacker controls key file with the rook.
- Now you should understand the sentence from the beginning of this section.

SECTION THREE – CUTTING OFF THE KING ALONG FILES

- Here we study positions where the pawn has not passed the midline.
o The defending king must be cut off, along a file or a rank if the attacker wants winning
chances.
- CUT OFF ALONG A FILE
o The defending king has plenty of time to get in front of the pawn and reach Philidor.
Therefore, winning chances involve cutting the king off.
o For the defender – being cut off by one file from the pawn is ideal – but:
 THE DEFENDING ROOK MUST STAY ON THE BACK RANK
 KING MUST STAY ON 3RD OF 4TH RANK (tb from defenders view of the board)

1…Rc8 the rook restrains the pawn. This is the simplest way to draw.
 1…Rg8 any move of rook along the 8th rank is good enough as long as rook is not captured or
exchanged. 2 c5

2…Ke7! Intends Rd8 as now such move would not lose (in the starting position it would
lose) 3 Kc4 Rd8 =

2…Rg4! Draw. Accurate play is still needed. 3 c6 Ke7! 4 c7 Rg8=

1…Ke7? This prepares a rook swap, but here it is a losing one. 2 Kb4! Preparing Ka6 – two files
and two ranks ahead of the pawn. (2 c5? Rd8!= and 2 Rd2? Rd8! 3 Rxd8 Kxd8 4 Kb4 Kc8!=) 2…Rb8 black
does not want to swap rooks any more. 3 Kc5 Rc8+ 4 Kb5 Rb8+ 5 Ka6 Rc8 6 Rd4! The point. Black king is
far from e5 and cannot attack the white rook in time. 6…Ke6 7 Kb7 Rc5 8 Kb6 Rc8 9 c5 white pawn is on
5th and black has no side checks from the long side.

1…Rb8?! Not a logical move, as it allows the pawn advance, but here it also draws. 2 c5!? Ke7!
Black manages to propose a favorable rook swap. 3 Kc4 Rd8!

1…Ke5? Cutting the white king off along a rank is not enough here. This is the right move when
the black rook is on c8. 2 c5 Rh4 3 Rd8 Rg4 4 Kb3 avoiding check on c-file. 4…Rh4 5 c6 Rh6 (5…Rh7 6 Kc4)
6 c7 +-

2 Kb4 Rb8+ black has a new resource here – frontal checks to restrain the pawn. Frontal checks need the
pawn and the rook need to have minimum three files between them for the checks to be effective.

3 Kc5 Rc8+ 4 Kb5 Rb8+ 5 Ka6

5 Ka5!? Is a good trick. 5…Ra8+? (5…Rc8! Is the only chance, stopping the pawn and the king) 6
Kb6! And distant effectiveness is gone. 6…Rb8+ (6…Rc8 7 c5+-) 7 Kc7 and the pawn marches.

5…Rc8! Too many checks would fail.

5…Ra8+? 6 Kb7 Ra2 7 c5+-

6 Rd4 Ke5! the point. The white rook cannot defend the pawn and cut the king off at the same time.

7 Rd5+ (7 Rh4 Rb8 =) Ke6 8 Kb5 Rb8+! 9 Ka4 Rc8 10 Kb4 Rb8+ 11 Rb5 Rh8 black prepares to get the king
into the drawing zone and reach Philidor position.

12 Rb7!? Trying to cut the king off along the rank. (12 Rd5 Rb8 =) …Kd6 13 Kb5 Rh5 14 Kb6 Rc5! 15 Rd7
Kxd7 16 Kxc5 Kc7 =

DEFENDING KING CUT-OFF BY TWO FILES. GRIGORIEV’S COMBINED METHOD.

- Bishop or central pawns mean a win, using Grigoriev method. It does not work with a knight’s
pawn. You need to LEARN THIS MANEUVRE.
1 Kb4 Rb8+ 2 Ka5 Rc8!?

2…Ra8+ 3 Kb6 Rb8 4 Kc7 quick win

3 Kb5 Rb8+ 4 Ka6! White king reaches ideal position – he assists the pawn and can disturb the black
rook from the b7 square. This is the FIRST STAGE OF THE METHOD.

4…Rc8

4…Ra8+ 5 Kb7 and the pawn marches

5 Rc1! Once the king has reached the 6th rank, the rook goes behind the pawn for support. THIS IS THE
SECOND STAGE. The defending king is not in time. Note that 5 Re4 also wins, but the procedure is more
difficult (5 Re4 Kf5 6 Rh4 Ke6 7 Kb7 Rc5 8 Kb6 Rc8 9 c5 win)

5…Ke7 6 Kb7 Rc5 7 Kb6 Rh5

7…Rc8 8 c5 win as the pawn has reached 5th rank and the defending king cannot stand in front of
it. Lucena position arises.

8 c5 Kd8 hopeless attempt to reach Philidor.

9 Rd1+ Kc8 10 Rg1! Black has neither lucena nor K&H.

10…Rh8

10…Rh6+ 11 c6

11 c6 Rf8 12 Ra1! THIS MOVE IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH THE KNIGHT PAWN. 12…Kb8 13 c7+ Kc8 14 Ra8+ win.

TB: STEP ONE: REACH A POSITION WITH THE KING TWO SQUARES DIAGONALLY FROM THE PAWN, ON
6TH RANK (hence not possible with knight pawn), AND WHEN THE DEFENDING ROOK ATTACKS THE
PAWN NOW DEFEND IT WITH YOUR ROOK.

STAGE TWO: AS THE ENEMY KING APPROACHES (THE ONLY TRY) MOVE THE KING TO ATTACK THE ROOK.

- IF THE ROOK COMES TO THE PAWN ON 5TH RANK, ATTACK IT AGAIN WITH THE KING.
o IF THE ROOK RETREATS BACK TO 8TH RANK, PUSH THE PAWN.
o IF THE ROOK GOES TO THE SIDE
  IF TO THE SIDE OF HIS KING, PUSH PAWN TO 5TH, AND IF KING APPROACHES,
CHECK HIM.
 AND IF KING STANDS ON 8TH BLOCKING THE PAWN, THEN ROOK TO THE
SIDE OF DEFENDING ROOK (actually, either side on the edge is also fine).
o IN CASE OF CHECK FROM THE SIDE, COVER WITH THE PAWN
 AND IF KING GOES BACK A FILE PUSH THE PAWN TO 6TH. THE ROOK WILL
PREPARE LONG CHECKS FROM BEHIND, PUSH KING TO 7TH – BUT ALSO
PUSHING THE PAWN TO 7TH WINS. BUILD A BRIDGE STARTING WITH
CHECK TO FORCE DEFENDING KING A FILE FURTHER.
 IF TO THE SIDE OF OUR KING THEN THERE IS ONLY ONE MOVE!!! ROOK ON THE
FILE BETWEEN OUR PAWN AND THE OPPONENT KING!
 NEXT, IF KING MOVES, PUSH THE PAWN
o IF CHECKED, ATTACK THE ROOK WITH THE KING ON 5TH.
 IF CHECK FROM THE SIDE, ATTACK THE ROOK FROM 5TH.
o NOW IF ROOK STANDS IN FRONT OF YOUR PAWN, ATTACK IT
WITH THE KING. WHEN IT RETREATS, PUSH THE PAWN ONTO
5TH.
Building a bridge may be needed.

KING CUT OFF ALONG TWO FILES VS. LONG SIDE. MATING THEMES.

- When the king is cut-off by two files, is the long side important? Yes, in terms of technique, but
it does not influence the result.

black rook will occupy the long side here. Grigoriev method does not
work here (due to checks from long side – but why did these long checks not work in the previous
example? I guess because his king was on the kingside. But this makes rules for these endgames even
more complicated – and should have been stated while teaching Grigoriev’s method above), but white
wins due to mating ideas.

1 Kc4! We do not follow Grigoriev method. White king heads for c6 square.

White wins no matter where the black king is. Let’s give the first move to black:

1…Ka5! 2 Rb2 we need to lose a tempo.

2…Ka4 3 Rb7 Ka5 4 Rb1 and now if 4…Ka4 5 d5! Mating trap!
 2…Ka6 see main line

1…Ka7 2 Kc4 Rc8 3 Kd5 Rd8 4 Kc5 Rc8 5 Kd6! Rd8 6 Kc7

1…Rc8+ 2 Kd5 Rd8 3 Kc6! Small trick ensuring pawn advance. 3…Rc8 4 Kd7 Rc2 5 d5 win. Build a bridge
if needed.

SECTION FOUR – CUTTING OFF THE KING ALONG RANKS.

- PERFECT CUT ALONG A RANK

black king is cut along the rank and cannot access the promotion area.
If the defending king was on the short side, the rook would be able to deliver checks from the long side,
and the cut along the rank would not be useful.

When the defending king is on the same rank as the pawn – we call this PERFECT CUT.

1…Ra8 prevents Ka4. (tb 1…Re8 2 Rh5 Rc8 3 b5 Rc5 4 Rh4+ Kd5 5 Kb4 Rc1 and now the key move 6 Rh6!
Paving the way and cutting off the king. 6 Rh5+?? Draw. 6…Rb1 7 Ka4)
2 Rc6 threatens b5 and Kb4. There are other ways, such as Rh5 followed by b5 and Kb4, also winning
(2…Rb8 (2…Rc8 3 b5 Rc5 4 Rh4+ Kd5 5 Kb4 Rc1 6 Rh6 Rb1+ 7 Ka5 Rb2 8 b6 Kc6 9 Ka6 Rb3 10 Kb7 Rf3 11
Kb1)) 3 b5 Rb7 4 Kb4 Rb8 5 Rh6 Kd5 6 b6 etc I LIKE THIS METHOD! And I prefer it due to going along the
same lines as 1…Re8 above))

2…Rb8 3 Ra6 and black cannot prevent Ka4 and b5.

3…Kd5 4 Ka4! Kc4 5 Rc6+ Kd5 6 b5 Ra8 7 Kb4 we have reached the starting position one rank further,
and we repeat it.

7…Rb8 8 Rc7 Kd6 9 Ra7 Kd5 10 Ka5 Kc5 11 Rc7+ Kd6 12 b6 Ra8+ 13 Kb5 Ra1 black will go for the rear
checks, but white has Lucena.

THE METHOD WORKS FOR KNIGHT PAWN EVEN IF IT IS ON 2ND OR 3RD RANK. TRY IT!

watch out – Kc7 the only move.

SAME PROCEDURE WORKS FOR BISHOP AND CENTRAL PAWNS. BUT IT DOES NOT WORK FOR 2 ND AND
3RD RANK CENTRAL PAWN!

3rd rank central pawn, the method does not work.

Black has a new defensive resource.

1…Ra8! 2 d4 (2. Kc3 Ra3 3 Kc2 Ra8 =) 2…Kg3 3 Rh5 (3 Rh7 Kf4 4 Re7 Kf5 5 Kd3 Kf6 and 3 Rh6 Ra3 (3…Kf4
also draws 4 Kd3 Kf5 5 Kc4 Ra4 6 Kc5 Ra5 7 Kb4) 4 Re6 Kf4 =)
3…Kg4 4 Re5 Ra3! It is the defender who cuts off our king! 5 d5 Kf4 6 Re8 this defense fails if the pawn is
on the 4th as then the pawn would reach 7th rank. 6…Ra5 =

tb note: when the attacker pushes the pawn finally in desperate attempt, protected by the rook from
behind, make sure when the pawn reaches 6th you place your rook on the last rank to control promotion
square. When the king attacks our rook, we can just shuffle to the other side of the rank.

IMPERFECT CUT ALONG A RANK

when the defending king is cut along a rank but is a rank ahead of the
pawn = imperfect cut. White to move win, black to move draw. the attack and defence techniques are
simple.

White threatens to win with Rb6.

1…Rb8! White cannot progress anymore. Any other move is losing. 2 Rg6 Rb7! 3 c5 Kd5 =. Same
technique works for knight’s pawn, and with central pawns, although with central pawns there are more
defensive options.

Tb notes: this is not easy! I can’t defend against stockfish!

if the attacking rook cuts us from the pawn on a file, here the d-file, we put the rook in
front of the pawn.

If the attacking rook checks us from the side, we advance towards pawn’s promotion
square! Either a file closer or on the same file.

At some point you will need to employ distant checks.

If white was to move:

1 Rb6! Securing the file to secure advance of pawn to 5th. 1…Rc7 2 Kb4! (the only move) 2…Rc8 (2…Kd4 3
Rd6 Ke5 4 c5 perfect cut) 3 c5 Kd5 4 Rd6+ Ke5 perfect cut. 5 Kb5 Rb8 6 Rb6+

APPARENT CUT ALONG A RANK

- Many people confuse the scenario of a cut with a long-side defence scenario. As we said before,
cutting the king off along a rank is not enough to win against long-side defence.
 here the cut is harmless. Black will have checks from the long side.

1…Ra8 2 Rc5

2 Kd4 Ra4+ 3 Ke5 Ra5+ 4 Kf6 Ra6 5 Kf7 Ra4 draw

2 Rf7 Ra3 3 Kd4 Ra4 4 Kd5 Ra5 5 Kd6 Ra6 6 Kc5 Ra5 draw

2…Rf5 Kg4 draw – white has to allow Kf5 or suffer checks.

Tb: again, stockfish has tricks. If white checks you from next to the pawn, step back but then
return as soon as possible. Otherwise the white king will walk around the pawn and then cover himself
with the pawn from sidechecks. Another hard one, I cannot defend against stockfish.

SECTION FIVE: ROOK PAWN

- These positions need theory. They arise frequently. Drawing chances are much higher.
- If the attacking rook is in front of its pawn, the pawn can always reach 7th rank and then it’s
either simple win or simple draw. the defender has two strategies – he can either reach the
pawn with the king to capture it, or if he can’t, he must move the king in the other direction and
stay on g7 or h7! (tb Vancura)
1…Kg7 the defender must stay on g7 or h7

1…Ra3?? 2 Rh8!

1…Ke6?? 2 Re8+!

1…Ke7? 2 Rh8!

Now white can only try to support the pawn with the king. But when he comes in contact with the pawn,
our rook will give endless checks.

Even with extra h or g pawn this is a draw.

Very easy! If the king ever comes to attack the rook, we just keep the rook on the same file, moving it
e.g. to a6. No complications, very straightforward!

66: PAWN ON 6TH RANK. VANCURA DEFENCE.

KEY KNOWLEDGE: the pawn should not reach the 7th rank if the defending king can stand on g7-h7. So,
the best procedure is to take it to the 6th rank. The defending king cannot come to capture it, as he
would have to leave the g7-h7 squares, and we would respond with a7 the moment he would be out of
reach of those two squares.

1 Ke7?? A7! 2 Kf7 Rh8

So we say that the e-file is mined for the defending king when the pawn is on 6 th rank.
The position was considered a win for a long time. Vancura in 1924 found the defence. White wants to
march the king to the pawn, and use it as a shield, with the rook coming out and promoting (e.g. Ka7
Kh7, Rb8 Ra1, Rb6 followed by Kb7, a7 and a8)

1…Kg7 black reaches safe square. 2 Kf3 Rf1+ this is the starting point of Vancura defence. Black has
other moves available, but here we just show the idea. The idea is that the rook will give checks
laterally, and the king cannot use the pawn as the shelter. The moment the pawn is pushed, threatening
rook check on g8 or h8, black rook will immediately return behind the pawn and draw. here are some
options and considerations: 3 Ke4 Rf6!!

4 Ke5 threatens Rg8 …Rb6 5 Kd5 Rf6 =

4 a7 Ra6 =

4 Kd5 Rb6 5 Kc5 Rf6 6 Kb5 Rf5+ series of checks 7 Kb6 Rf6+ 8 Ka7 Rf7+ 9 Kb6 Rf6+ 10 Kc5 Rf5+ 11 Kd4
Rf6 draw.

BUT! MANY TITLED PLAYERS HAVE LOST THIS ENDGAME!

- There are more tricks here.

position after the second move above.

How can we know with certainty whether the position is won or lost? The drawing zone is marked by
asterisks and is for rook on a1 and king on g7. But rather than memorizing this irregular shape, pay
attention to the ideas.

2…Ra5 not the best move but still draws (tb but this enables Ke4 winning square, no?) (the best is 2…
Rf1! 3 Ke4 Rf6 as per above)

3 Ke4 Rb5 4 Ra7+ Kg6! (the only move, as 4…Kf6 would allow white rook to reach h6 in
favorable conditions, and the back rank is prohibited due to the manoeuvre Rb7 and a7. 4…Kf6 5 Kd4
Rb6 6 Rh7 win …Kg6 7 a7 Ra6 8 Rc7 Ra1 9 Kc5) 5 Rb7 (5 Kd4 Rb6! 6 Kc5 Rf6 draw) 5…Ra5 ( 5…Rf5?? 6
Rg7+) 6 a7 Kf6!

7 Rh7!? Black has to be careful. 7…Kg6!! Paradoxical at first sight. Black rook
must not leave the 4th rank, due to Kd5-c6 etc. and 7…Ke6? 8 Rh6+! Kd7 9 Rh8! Win. 8
Rc7 Kf6 9 Kd4 Ke6 10 Kc4 Kd6 =. The variations are not exhaustive here. Just know the
main themes and support them by good calculation.
 7 Kd4 leads to the race 7…KE6 8 Kc4 Kd6 9 Kb4 Kc6 =

3 Ra7+ and there are options, the best is …Kg6 4 Ke4 Rb5 =

2…Ra4 also still draws, preventing the king from reaching the winning zone square e4. It is easier than
the mainline here – 3 Ke3 Rb4 4 Ra7 Kg6 5 Rb7 Ra4 6 a7 Kf5 and the black king wins the race to the
pawn

2…Ra2?? 3 Ke4! King enters the winning zone. If black tries to save the game and quickly get the rook to
the 3rd rank: 3…Ra5 (3…Re2+ 4 Kd5 white wins) 4 Kd4 Rb5 5 Ra7+ Kf6 (Kf8 only helps white, 5…Kf8?! 6
Rb7 Ra5 7 a7 win and 5…Kg6 6 Rb7 Ra5 7 a7 and it becomes a king race, white wins with 7…Kh6 8 Kc4
Ke6 9 Kb4 Ra1 10 Kc5) 6 Rh7! (6 Rb7? and black king manages to gain tempo in the race by attacking the
rook with 6…Ra5 7 a7 Ke6 8 Kc4 Kd6 9 Kb4 Kc6 =) 6…Ra5 7 a7 Ke6 8 Kc4 Kd6 9 Kb4 Ra1 10 Kb5! Win.

T: see my notes on Vancura defence.