Table of Contents

Key To Symbols
Introduction
Editorial Preface
Chapter 1 - Rook against pawns (part 1)
Chapter 1 - Rook against pawns (part 2)
Chapter 2 - Basic Endings: Rooks with one pawn
Chapter 3 - Useful manoeuvres
Chapter 4 - Technical problems with the edge pawn
Chapter 5 - Rook against two pawns
Chapter 6 - Methods
Chapter 7 - Activity of the pieces: The multifunctional rook
Chapter 8 - Placement of the Rooks
Chapter 9 - Exploitation of the weakness
Chapter 10 - Different tactics
Chapter 11 - Stalemate
Chapter 12 - Zugzwang
Chapter 13 - Transition into pawn endings
Chapter 14 - Transition into rook endings
Chapter 15 - Mistakes(Part 1)
Chapter 15 - Mistakes (Part 2)

2
Table of Contents
Key To Symbols 5
Introduction 6
Editorial Preface 8
Chapter 1 - Rook against pawns (part 1) 9
Chapter 1 - Rook against pawns (part 2) 36
Chapter 2 - Basic Endings: Rooks with one pawn 64
Chapter 3 - Useful manoeuvres 93
Chapter 4 - Technical problems with the edge pawn 113
Chapter 5 - Rook against two pawns 152
Chapter 6 - Methods 198
Chapter 7 - Activity of the pieces: The multifunctional rook 238
Chapter 8 - Placement of the Rooks 274
Chapter 9 - Exploitation of the weakness 285
Chapter 10 - Different tactics 305
Chapter 11 - Stalemate 330
Chapter 15 - Mistakes(Part 1) 345
Chapter 15 - Mistakes (Part 2) 371

397
 Adrian Mikhalchishin

Mastering basic rook endgames

Cover designer
Piotr Pielach

Typesetting
Piotr Pielach ‹[Link]›

First edition 2018 by Chess Evolution

Mastering basic rook endgames

Copyright © 2018 Chess Evolution

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN 978-615-80713-5-2

All sales or enquiries should be directed to Chess Evolution

2040 Budaors, Nyar utca 16, Magyarorszag

3
e-mail: info@[Link]
website: [Link]

Printed in Hungary

4
Key to Symbols used!
! a good move
? a weak move
!! an excellent move
?? a blunder
!? an interesting move
?! a dubious move
□ only move
= equality
∞ unclear position
⩲ White stands slightly better
⩱ Black stands slightly better
± White has a serious advantage
∓ Black has a serious advantage
+- White has a decisive advantage
-+ Black has a decisive advantage
→ with an attack↑with an initiative
⇆ with counterplay
Δ with the idea of
⌓ better is
≤ worse is
N novelty
+ check
# mate
© with compensation for thesacrificed material

5
Introduction
Everybody knows that rook endings are the most frequently seen among all endgames. In fact we can
say that more than 60% of all endings are rook endings and the reason is simple: rooks generally enter
the game much later than other pieces.

In endgames we have two kinds of positions:

1. Theoretical or basic positions which we must study from the basic books. This knowledge is
essential; we simply must know them well. Of course at different stages players have to know different
amounts of basic positions. Lets say that in the early years it is enough to know the Philidor position
and basic rook against pawn positions. Ten every year a player has to constantly add new material to
his knowledge;

2. Complicated positions from which we have to transfer into basic positions using different methods
such as exchanges improvement of the king using the power of the passed pawns and so on.

Basics of Rook Endgames is a useful book as I'll try here to show the necessary mixture of basic
positions and different important manoeuvres which are typical for rook endings.

We have a few great masters of rook endings to help us in particular the likes of Akiba Rubinstein and
Vasily Smyslov. Throughout chess history many top specialists have developed the theory of rook
endings the great Lucena Philidor and Tarrasch for example all contributed to the basic work. In the
20th Century the specialists Andre Cheron Nikolay Grigoryev and Nikolay Kopaev all made crucial
researches to further their predecessors work. And this work is not yet complete we can mention great
analyses of the most typical endings with 3 pawns against 3 on one rank plus one passed pawn on the
other side.

In this series it is planned to publish a few other books on rook endings. There will be more detailed
analyses of rook endings with different pawn confgurations where we have special methods of both
realization of the win and fighting for a draw. In our opinion extremely interesting will be the book on
the Top Rook Ending Specialists best achievements. And the fnal book will be a selection of Great
Rook Studies which will include rook ending tests.

There have been some excellent books published on rook endgames already the classic Smyslov &
Levenfish book for example or Kopaevs book in the Averbakh series and more recently Dvoretskys
books. Plus we have the Encyclopaedia of Endgames where rook endings are selected and divided
scientifcally.

So here we will try not to repeat most of the material from other books and instead try to concentrate on
basic and practical knowledge. And we will try sometimes to entertain the reader with unusual and
brilliant solutions. In this frst book we will attempt to give the reader the basic ideas required to play
rook endgames and also introduce the most classical methods of play.

6
But there were a lot of mistakes committed even in the classics ! And these mistakes are extremely
instructive as it is necessary to understand the difference between right and wrong decisions. In
endgames we usually have two ways correct and incorrect and this is the main difference between the
endgame and the middlegame.

The main idea of our book was to produce some sort of practical guide to rook endings including some
necessary basic knowledge. We want to stress that with basic positions we dont study all of them at the
same time. In the frst year or so trainers usually just teach the Philidor method plus a few important
positions with a single pawn especially with rook pawns (a and h pawns) as well as pawns on the ffh or
sixth ranks. By the second year pupils have to know the Lucena position as well as some rook against
pawns manoeuvres. Then they have to study different methods and especially activity. So in practice
just step by step as it would be useless to study all the basic positions at the same time; it is necessary to
study them on demand. And the most complicated methods such as the Vancura method can be studied
by players around 1800 Elo strength.

I have to say that players dont study endgames very well because trainers dont teach the endgame
properly! Its not just that they dont care about the step by step method. As we know from school from
time to time it is necessary to refresh our knowledge and to repeat certain more difcult positions.
However players just endlessly repeat opening variations leaving the endgame out completely and this
is punished terribly by the modern shortened time control when players usually have just 30 seconds for
a move come the endgame. The sheer quantity of mistakes even among grandmasters is constantly
increasing proportional to the smaller amount of time which players spend on studying the endgame
books.

7
EDITORIAL PREFACE

In this series of eight endgame books, FIDE Senior Trainer Adrian Mikhalchishin, FIDE Senior Trainer
Efstratios Grivas and IGM Csaba Balogh combine their experience as trainers and as practical players
to create something very special.
The authors aim for very understandable explanations of every endgame position in each book.
The specification:
• 1st book — Queen and pawn endgames.
• 2–3 — Minor piece endgames (bishop and knight endgames).
• 4–5 — These will feature the fight between different material constellations.
• 6–8 — These books are going to focus on the most common endgames, which are of course rook
endings.
The main concept of each book is to provide theoretical knowledge which can be used in practical
games. It means the focus of the books will be on those positions which are most likely to occur — and
the practical playing of them.
That’s why you will firstly meet the theoretical part, and secondly the practical examples of how games
actually continued in a particular endgame.
Yes, you’re right, you won’t find too many very complicated studies, stunning manouevres or rarely-
appearing positions — and there is a simple reason why not!
How often do we see positions, for example two knights vs pawn where one knight is blocking the
pawn and the other one tries to get the king to the corner before releasing the second knight for the
mate? Or constellations with crazy material on the board? This might happen in one game out of 100!
You could spend hundreds of hours working on something that might bring you “only” a single point
more out of 100 games!
Our approach is quite different: let’s make more points in the other 99 games! And who knows, we
might also be lucky in the remaining one, but actually, statistically, it would almost not matter.
“The Modern Endgame Manual” will make an expert out of you in most of the endgames which are
going to appear in your long career as a chess player!

8
CHAPTER 1
ROOK AGAINST PAWNS

To start talking about rook endings we must consider endgames where only one rook is on the board.
The most typical rook endings are those with one passed pawn somewhere and an equal amount of
pawns on the other flank. The stronger side tries to promote the passed pawn and sacrifices all the other
pawns. He usually succeeds in promoting, and wins the opponent’s rook, but during this time the
opponent starts running with his own pawn or pawns. These endgames are very interesting and also
extremely tricky.
There are a few basic theoretical positions which everybody has to know. In these endings the basic
positions are achieved after a few moves but still matters are not so easy or obvious, as we will see
from the practical games in this book. The most important feature of this kind of endgame is the fight
between the kings, and the so-called ‘bodycheck’ method. We can say that this method comes from
pawn endings, and we can even find triangulations here among the rook endings. The most important
approach to fighting in such instances is the route of the king around forbidden squares; those which
are under the control of the opposing king.

1
Basic
The most basic things we must consider are positions with one pawn against rook. The side with the
rook must try to bring his king as close to the pawn as possible and the rook usually tries to cut-off the
opponent’s king, if it is possible. The weaker side must try to escape these dangers and to use a few
important basic ideas, such as stalemate.

1...Kb2!

9
Losing is 1...a2? resulting in a basic lost position 2.Rb8+ Ka3 3.Kc2 a1=N+ 4.Kc3 Ka2 5.Rb7 Ka3
6.Ra7#

1...Kb2! 2.Rb8+

2.Rh2+ Kb3 (2...Kc1?? 3.Kc3)

2...Kc1 3.Ra8 Kb2 4.Kd2 a2 5.Rb8+ Ka1!

Stalemate is the ‘classical’ defence here.

A loss results from entering the previously-seen basic
position: 5...Ka3? 6.Kc2 a1=N+ 7.Kc3 Ka2 8.Rb7

6.Kc2 1/2

2
M. Euwe, 1934

Here the king must run around the black king and pawn to avoid being bodychecked. This manoeuvre
of one king blocking the other’s approach is known by the ice hockey term BODY-CHECK.

1.Ke6! e3 2.Kd5 e2 3.Kd4 Kf3 4.Kd3 Kf2 5.Kd2 1–0

3
M. Euwe, 1934

10
Here White must establish coordination and cooperation between his king and rook to chase down the
black king and pawn.

1.Re5+ Kg4 2.Kg6 h4 3.Re4+ Kg3 4.Kg5 h3 5.Re3+ Kg2 6.Kg4 h2 7.Re2+ Kg1 8.Kg3 h1=N+
9.Kf3

Once again we reach the now-known basic position.

1–0

4
M. Euwe, Shakhmaty, 1934

11
1.Rf6+!

A very important and typical check, which forces the opponent’s king backwards and allows our own
king to win enough time to come around the pawn.
Wrong was 1.Kg6 g4 2.Kh5 g3 3.Kh4 g2 4.Rf6+ Ke2 5.Rg6 Kf2

1.Rf6+! Ke3 2.Rg6 Kf4 3.Kg7!

The king can enter the game only on the very narrow path of the h-file, once more avoiding the
‘bodycheck’ zone on the other side of the pawn.

3...g4 4.Kh6 g3 5.Kh5 Kf3 6.Kh4 g2 7.Kh3 1–0

5
V. Korchnoi
E. Kengis
Bern, 1996
Now let us demonstrate how these basic positions are achieved in grandmaster’s games.

12
1...Kf2 2.Rf8+!

Again the check is a very important tool, winning a tempo to come closer with the king.
Leading only to a draw was 2.Kd3? g3 3.Rf8+ Ke1=

2...Ke2 3.Rg8 Kf3 4.Kd3 g3 5.Rf8+ Kg2 6.Ke2 Kh2 7.Kf3

A quicker win was 7.Rg8 g2 8.Kf2 Kh1 9.Rh8#

7...g2 8.Rh8+ Kg1 9.Rg8 Kh1 10.Kf2!

Avoiding the stalemate option of 10.Rxg2??

10...Kh2 11.Rxg2+ 1–0

6
M. Botwinnik, 1941

13
The main problem in such endings is finding a way for the king to help in the fight against the passed
pawn.

1.Rb7! b4 2.Kc7

Now, because of the zugzwang, Black must allow the white king to come around the pawn, thereby
avoiding the bodycheck defence.

2...Kc4 3.Kb6

White successfully completed the mission and catches the pawn.

3...b3 4.Ka5 Kc3 5.Ka4 b2 6.Ka3 1–0

7
A. Eisenstadt, 1950

14
1.Rg6!

Once more showing how important it is to turn the opponent’s king back.

1...Kf4 2.Kg7!

To avoid the bodycheck it is necessary to choose a very long road. After this move the rest is easy.

2...g4 3.Kh6 g3 4.Kh5 Kf3 5.Kh4 g2 6.Kh3

and the pawn is finally caught.

1–0

8
R. Reti, 1928

15
Here it is necessary to see where Black’s king will go, and then White’s king will choose whichever
route avoids the bodycheck.

1.Rd2!

It was also possible to do it slightly differently: 1.Rd3 d4 2.Rd1.

1.Rd2! d4 2.Rd1!

White creates a decisive zugzwang.

2...Ke4

Heading to the other side does not work either:

2...Kd5 3.Kd7 Kc4 4.Ke6 d3 5.Ke5 Kc3 6.Ke4 d2 7.Ke3

3.Kd6+- 1–0

9
Basic

16
The main defensive idea is to avoid a bodycheck by the opponent’s king, and also to avoid being cut-
off by the rook!

1...Kc5

1...a5 2.Rh5! The classical ‘cutting’ of the king:

1...Kb5 2.Kf7 a5 3.Ke6 a4 4.Kd5 Kb4 5.Kd4 a3 6.Rb8+ Ka4 7.Kc3

1...Kc5 2.Kf7 a5 3.Ke6 a4 4.Ke5 a3 5.Ra8 Kb4 6.Kd4 Kb3 7.Kd3 Kb2 8.Rb8+

Stalemate helps out in the variation 8.Kd2 a2 9.Rb8+ Ka1

8...Kc1! 9.Kc3 a2 10.Ra8 Kb1 1/2

10
A. Vaulin
V. Gashimov
Swidnica Open, 1999

17
70.Kf5?

The only way to win was to prevent Black’s king coming to the f-file:
70.Rf6!! g3 71.Ke5 Kh2 72.Kf4 g2 73.Rh6+ Kg1 74.Kg3 Kf1 75.Rf6+ Kg1 76.Rf8 Kh1 77.Rh8+
Kg1 78.Rh2

70.Kf5? Kf3!

Bodycheck!
But not 70...g3?? 71.Kg4 Kf2 72.Rf6+

71.Ra6 g3 72.Ra3+ Kf2 73.Kg4 g2 74.Ra2+

18
74...Kg1!

Gashimov correctly does not want to suffer the rook against knight ending: 74...Kf1 75.Kf3 g1=N+
76.Ke3 Nh3 and instead correctly plays for stalemate.

75.Ra6 Kf2 76.Ra2+ Kg1 77.Kh3 Kh1 78.Ra1+

78.Rxg2

78...g1=Q 79.Rxg1+ 1/2

19
 11
Urmancheev
Podolsky
USSR, 1972

1.Kb6?

Automatic... and wrong! This allows his opponent’s king to come closer. The correct way was to block
it with 1.Kb4!! Blocking the Black King and winning time to advance his pawn. 1...Kd4 2.a6 Kd5 3.a7
Rh8 4.Kb5=

1.Kb6? Kc4 2.a6 Rh6+ 3.Kb7 Kb5 4.a7 Rh7+ 5.Kb8 Kb6 6.a8=N+ Kc6 7.Kc8 Rh8# 0–1

12
K. Lerner
J. Dorfman
Tashkent, 1980

20
The winning move is in reality a prophylactic — preventing the bodycheck from his opponent’s king.

19.Rf2!!

Wrong was immediately bringing the king back with 19.Kb7 Kf6 20.Kc6 Ke5! with bodycheck and a
theoretical draw. (20...g4? 21.Kd5 Kf5 22.Rf2+ Kg5 23.Ke4 g3 24.Rf8) 21.Re2+ Kf4 22.Kd5 g4
23.Kd4 g3 24.Kd3 (24.Re8 g2) 24...Kf3 25.Re8 g2

19.Rf2!! Kg6 20.Kb7 g4

Heading around the pawn is useless as White’s king travels very quickly: 20...Kh5 21.Kc6 Kh4
22.Kd5 g4 23.Rf8 g3 24.Rg8 Kh3 25.Ke4 g2 26.Kf3

21.Kc6 Kg5 22.Kd5 g3 23.Rf8 Kg4 24.Ke4 g2 25.Rg8+ Kh3 26.Kf3 1–0

13
A. Alekhine
E. Bogoljubow
Wch-GER\NLD, 1929

21
Even the greats from the ‘classics’ did not perform the bodycheck correctly!

70...Kg4?

The only drawing path was 70...Ke4! Black prepares for the bodycheck 71.b7 f5 72.b8=Q Rxb8
73.Rxb8 f4 74.Re8+ Kd4 75.Rf8 Ke3 76.Kd5 f3 77.Kc4 f2 78.Kc3 Ke2=

70...Kg4? 71.b7 f5 72.b8=Q Rxb8 73.Rxb8 f4 74.Kd5 f3 75.Ke4 f2 76.Rf8 Kg3 77.Ke3 1–0

14
I. Sipos
M. Stankovic
TCh-Hungary, 2017

22
55.Rg5??

White had two winning options and one drawing approach; unfortunately he chose the last of these!
One route to victory was to perform a ‘cutting’ as we have seen previously: 55.Rc7 Kb6 56.Rc8 b4
57.Kg7 Kb5 58.Kf6 b3 59.Ke5 Kb4 60.Kd4.
The second was to start running with the king: 55.Kh7 Ka5 56.Kg6 b4 57.Kf5 Ka4 58.Ke4 b3 59.Kd3
Ka3 60.Rb7 b2 61.Kc2

55.Rg5?? Ka5

After the huge mistake 55...b4?? Black’s king will be cut off forever.

23
56.Kg7 b3 57.Rg3! b2 58.Rb3 and the black king cannot support his own pawn.

56.Kg7

56...Ka4??

Black avoids blocking his pawn...and loses the game!

He should have played 56...Kb4! 57.Kf6 Kc4 keeping the enemy king at a distance — bodycheck!

57.Kf6 b4 58.Ke5 b3 59.Kd4 b2 60.Rg1 Kb3 61.Kd3 1–0

24
 15
A. Mikhalchishin
Z. Azmaiparashvili
Tbilisi, 1980

11.Ke6!

It is necessary to stop the opponent’s king at any price... and immediately!

Losing was the natural-looking 11.f6 Kd5 12.Kg8 Ra8+ 13.Kxh7 Ke6 14.Kg7 Ra7+ 15.Kg6 Rf7;
11.f6 Kd5 12.Kg7 (12.Kg8 Ra8+ 13.Kxh7 Ke6 14.Kg7 Ra7+ 15.Kg6 Rf7) 12...Ke6 13.f7 Ra7;
11.Kg7 Ra7+ 12.Kg8 Kd5 13.f6 Ke6

11.Ke6! Re1+

If the other check, 11...Ra6+, then 12.Ke5!= (12.Ke7? Kd5 13.f6 Ra7+ 14.Ke8 Ke6) 12...Ra8 13.f6

12.Kd6 Rf1 13.Ke6 1/2

16
F. Marshall
O. Duras
San Sebastian, 1912
Nobody is immune to mistakes, errors which are in any case very instructive. Even legends of the game
missed the correct procedure to fend off the opponent’s king.

25
53.Kd2??

The classical winning method is to win a tempo with a check, and it must be conducted immediately:
53.Rg5+ Kf3 54.Rh5 Kg3 55.Kd2 h3 56.Ke2 Kg2 57.Rg5+ Kh1 58.Kf3 Kh2 59.Ra5

53.Kd2?? h3 54.Ke2 h2 55.Rg5+ Kh1! 1/2

Now White has found himself in a basic — and for him wrong — position, where the opponent saves
the game with stalemate.

17
A. Mista
D. Navara
Czech Republic, 2012

26
52.Kf5?

Correct was to avoid losing the f7-pawn with 52.Kh3 Rf1 53.g6.

52.Kf5? Rf1+ 53.Ke6 Rxf7!

53...e4? 54.g6

54.Kxf7 e4 55.g6 Kf2 56.g7 e3 57.g8=Q e2

and we have reached a very special basic position from queen endings, where the unfortunate position
of White’s king prevents a check on the f-file.

58.Qe8 e1=Q 59.Qxe1+ Kxe1 1/2

18
V. Sveshnikov
E. Grinberg
Riga, 2017
In the endgame there are often two serious options, and the choice of the correct way is sometimes not
so easy.

27
90...Rd2??

The wrong use of the rook to cut off the opposing king.
Black could win simply with 90...Rd8! 91.Kg7 (91.g6 Kd5 92.g7 Ke6 93.Kh7 Kf7) 91...Kd5 92.Kf6
Kd6 93.g6 Rf8+ 94.Kg5 Ke7

90...Rd2?? 91.g6 Rh2+ 92.Kg5 Kd5 93.g7

Now the draw is inevitable.

93...Ke5 94.Kg6 Rg2+ 95.Kf7 Rxg7+ 96.Kxg7 1/2

19
A. Korolkov, 1950
When we talk about two pawns against rook there are cases which are very similar to the previous
examples featuring only one pawn. When the pawns are not connected it is much easier for the rook to
fight against them, but technically he must be very precise.

28
1.Kg8!

The seventh rank has to be free for operations by the rook.

1...f2

A very simple defence is seen after 1...h3 2.Rh7

2.Re7+ Kf3 3.Rf7+ Kg2 4.Rg7+ Kf1 5.Rh7!

and White stands his ground...

5...h3 6.Rxh3 Kg2 7.Rh7 f1=Q 8.Rg7+ Kh3 9.Rh7+ Kg4 10.Rg7+

and the king can only escape perpetual by allowing the trade of the rook for his queen.

1/2

20
B. Kukovec
B. Podlesnik
Bled Open, 2001
As we have mentioned, fighting by only using the rook is not always sufficient and it is always
preferable to run back with the king whenever possible.

29
53.Rxh3?

Correct here was not the materialism of the game move, but rather to escape from the bodycheck
defence: 53.Kc4 Ke4 54.Kc3 Ke3 55.Kc2 f3 56.Kd1 Kf2 57.Rxh3 Kg2 58.Rh8 f2 59.Rg8+ Kf1
60.Rf8 Kg2 61.Ke2+-

53.Rxh3? Ke4 54.Kc4 f3 55.Rh8 f2 56.Rf8 Ke3 1/2

21
F. Pancevski
P. Welz
Rijeka, 2010

30
57...Rf8?

The king must be brought closer as quickly as possible, at the same time preventing the opponent’s
king from helping its passed pawn.
57...Kd4! 58.Kf5 Kd5 59.Kf6 Kd6 60.b7 Rb8 61.Kg7 Ke7–+

57...Rf8? 58.Ke5 Rxf7 59.Kd5!

Bodycheck! Bodycheck!

59...Kc3 60.Kc6 1/2

22
S. Holuba
R. Boiselle
Wuerzburg Open, 1996

31
71.Rg8?

Materialism! It was necessary instead to start the king’s raid:

71.Kd5! Kb4 72.Kd4 g2 (72...a4 73.Rb8++-; 72...Kb3 73.Rc3++-) 73.Rc1! Kb3 74.Kd3 a4 75.Rb1+
Ka2 76.Rg1 a3 77.Rxg2+ Kb3 78.Rg8! a2 79.Rb8+ Ka3 80.Kc2! a1=N+ 81.Kc3 obtaining a basic
winning position.

71.Rg8? a4 72.Rxg3?

It was time to turn to the correct procedure:

72.Kd5 Kb4 73.Rg4+ Kb5 74.Rxg3 Kb4 75.Rg4+ Kb5 76.Kd4 Kb4 77.Rg8 Kb3 78.Kd3 a3 79.Rb8+

72...Kc4?

32
An easy and basic draw was available after the normal 72...Kb4.

73.Ke5?

Now it was possible to get a basic winning position by pressing the black king after it has lost
connection with its pawn:
73.Kc6! Kb4 74.Rg4+ Kb3 75.Kb5
Simple winning with the standard method.
75...a3 76.Rg3+ Kb2 77.Kb4 a2 78.Rg2+ Kb1 79.Kb3 a1=N+ 80.Kc3+-

73...Kb4 74.Kd4 a3 75.Rg8 a2 76.Ra8 Kb3 77.Kd3 Kb2 1/2

23
M. Bartel
O. Sulypa
Lviv, 2001

33
1...Ke7?

A very weak approach. Why not transfer into the basic position? It was necessary to force White’s king
into a similar situation as in the previous game.
1...Rh1 2.Kg6 Ke6 3.h7 Rg1+ 4.Kh6 Kf7 5.h8=N+ Kf6–+

1...Ke7? 2.h7 Rh1 3.Kg6 Rg1+ 4.Kf5!

The unexpected move — Black expected only the losing 4.Kh6? Kf7

4...Rh1 5.Kg6 Kf8 6.b4

Now it is a question of how to stop this remaining pawn? The king has to go over to deal with it, or the
rook can perform many checks, but... both result in a draw!

1/2

24
M. Percivaldi
O. Korneev
XTRACON GM Koge, 2015
There are cases, like the previous game and this one, when it is necessary to choose which side the rook
will attack from...

34
72.Rh6?

Here it was necessary to use a study-like idea, whereby the rook can control both pawns:
72.Rc7! Ka2 (72...h2 73.Rh7 Ka1 74.Ra7+ Kb1 75.Rh7=) 73.Ra7+ Kb3 74.Rb7+ Kc3 75.Rc7+ Kb4
76.Rb7+=

72.Rh6? Kc2 73.Rxh3 b1=Q 0–1

35
 25
J. Kristiansen
K. Hulak
World Seniors Ch, Rijeka, 2013

66...Rf8?

The draw could be easily held after cutting off the king, not allowing it to come to d6 so readily:
66...Rd8! 67.a7 Ke3 68.Kc6 Kf4 69.Kc7 Rf8 70.Kd6 Ra8! 71.Kxe6 Kg5!= 72.Kd6 Kg6 73.Kc6
(73.e6? Kg7) 73...Kxf7 74.Kb7=

66...Rf8? 67.a7+-

...and the king goes to e7.

1–0

26
D. Pirrot
E. Kaiser
Bad Wiessee, 2015
When the pawns do not form a clear structure when running forward, it is necessary to be very careful
with the rook’s position, whose function is in such cases to optimally stop the pawns.

36
51...Rh8??

This move is illogical.

Black had to play 51...Rc6 52.h6 gxh6 53.g6 Rc4+ 54.Kh5 (54.Kg3?? h5) 54...Rf4 55.g7 Rxf5+
56.Kxh6 Rf1=

51...Rh8?? 52.g6+- Rf8 53.Kg4! Kc2 54.h6 gxh6 55.g7 Rg8 56.f6 Kd3 57.Kh5 1–0

27
Cozio, 1766

37
In this old position we saw demonstrated one of the first correct ‘pat’ defences.

1.Kg7 Rc8 2.Kh6 Kf6 3.Kh7 Rb8 4.f8=Q+! Rxf8 5.g7 Rf7 6.Kh8 Rxg7

28
Basic

This is one of the most famous rook endgames from the category ’good to know’.

1...Rh2!

The only move to save the game!

It would be easy to go wrong with 1...Rb2? 2.Kd1!

38
Now by moving firstly towards the rook, then afterwards away from the rook, White is in time to win
an important tempo! 2...Kd3 3.Kc1 Kc3 (3...Rb6 4.a7 with an easy win for White.) 4.a7 White puts
both pawns on the 7th rank, which means game over for Black. 4...Rh2 5.Kd1 Kd3 6.Ke1 Ke3 7.Kf1
Kf3 8.Kg1 followed by queening one of the pawns.

1...Rh2! 2.Kf1

Now White is no longer in time to go to the other side: 2.Kd1 Kd3 3.Kc1 Kc3 4.Kb1 Rh1+ 5.Ka2
Rh2+ 6.Ka3 Rh6 7.Ka4 Rxa6+ 8.Kb5 Ra1 with a draw.

2...Kf3 3.Kg1 Rg2+!

Once again Black holds with only moves.

4.Kh1

39
4...Rg8!

After vertical checks, Black continues with horizontal ones.

5.a7

White has ‘almost’ won, but this time Black is in time:

5...Rh8+ 6.Kg1 Rg8+ 7.Kf1 Rh8 8.Ke1

As we can see the position is very forced.

8...Ke3 9.Kd1 Kd3 10.Kc1 Kc3 11.Kb1

It seems as though the white king has escaped, but...

11...Rh1+ 12.Ka2 Rh2+ 13.Ka3 Rh1!

The only move to save the game again!

14.Ka4 Kc4 15.Ka5 Kc5

And White has nothing better than to return with 16.Ka4, and a draw.

1/2

29
S. Smagin

40
 D. Bronstein
USSR, 1982

8.Kg4

Nothing is promised by 8.g6? Rg1

8.Kg4 Rh1!

A very precise preventive move, making White’s pawn advances very difficult.

9.g6

9.h6 did not work: 9...Kc3 10.Kf5 Kd4 11.Kg6 Ke5 12.Kh7 Kf4

9...Kc3!

Starting the king’s journey to the pawns, which seem to be very distant, but...

10.Kg5 Kd4! 11.g7

Or 11.h6 Ke5 12.h7 Rg1+ 13.Kh6 Rh1+ 14.Kg7 Kf5

11...Ke5! 12.Kg6 Rg1+ 13.Kf7 Rf1+ 14.Ke7 Rg1 15.h6

41
15...Rg6!

An active, multifunctional move, preparing checks and attacking the h6-pawn. Wrong was the passive
15...Rg2? 16.Kf7 Rf2+ 17.Kg8

16.Kf7 Rf6+ 17.Ke8 Re6+ 18.Kd8 Rd6+ 19.Kc8 Rc6+ 20.Kb7 Rg6!

and White’s pawns are stuck.

1/2

30
M. Abramciuc
P. Vorontsov
Gyor, 2014

42
63.Kf3 Kc3 64.Ke4!

The only chance here is to use the powerful weapon of the bodycheck.

64...Re1+ 65.Kf5 Kd4 66.h4 Kd5 67.h5

As we have seen, it is usually best to push the farthest-removed pawn.

67.g5 Kd6 68.Kf6 Rf1+!–+

67...Kd6 68.Kf6

43
68...Rf1+?

There were two possible checks and it was easy to miss the correct one: 68...Re6+! 69.Kf7 Re7+!
70.Kg6 (70.Kf6 Kd7) 70...Re4 71.Kf6 (71.g5 Ke7 72.Kg7 Re5!–+) 71...Rf4+ 72.Kg5 Rf1–+

69.Kg7 Ke7 70.h6! Rf7+ 71.Kg6

Not 71.Kg8 Kf6 72.h7 Rg7+ 73.Kh8 Ra7 74.g5+ Kg6 75.Kg8 Ra8#

71...Rf6+ 72.Kg7 Rf7+ 73.Kg6 Rf4 74.g5 Kf8 75.Kh7! Rf7+ 76.Kh8 Rf5 77.g6 Rg5 78.h7 Rxg6 1/2

31
V. Tukmakov
A. Shneider
Donetsk zt, 1998

44
56.a6

Losing was 56.b4 Kd7 57.Kb7 (57.b5 Kc8–+) 57...Rb2–+

56.a6 Rb2 57.a7?

This seems very natural, but the draw was possible only after 57.Kb7! Rxb3+ 58.Kc8 reaching a
‘basic’ position.

57...Rxb3+ 58.Ka6

Of no help is 58.Ka5 Kc7 59.a8=N+ Kb7–+

58...Kc7!

Now we have another basic position, but this time lost for White.

59.a8=N+

59.a8=Q Ra3+–+

59...Kc6 60.Ka7 Rb1‡

White is in zugzwang.
60...Rb1 61.Ka6 Ra1#

0–1

45
 32
C. Balogh
R. Kuczynski
Bundesliga, 2008
Any preparation to sacrifice the rook for the pawn has to be considered very seriously.

70...Ka3?

Here it was necessary to transfer correctly into king and rook against pawn. Don’t forget about the
bodycheck! 70...Kb5! 71.c7 Rc6 72.c8=Q Rxc8 73.Kxc8+ Kc4 74.Ra8 Kb4 75.Kd7 a4 76.Ke6 a3
77.Kd5 Kb3 78.Kd4 a2 79.Kd3 Kb2 and as always in chess, one tempo is missing!

70...Ka3? 71.c7 Rh7 72.Kb6 Rxc7 73.Kxc7 a4 74.Kc6 Ka2 75.Kc5 1–0

33
H. Melkumyan
D. Andreikin
Plovdiv, 2012

46
63...Kd4?

This looks to be active and logical, but winning required a smart move, making space for the rook to
protect both pawns! 63...Kd5 64.Rg1 Rd4 65.Ra1 c4 66.Kf2 Ke4

63...Kd4? 64.Rg1!

The pawn must be kept even at the price of a few important tempos.

64...c4 65.Kxg4 c3

47
66.Kf3?

Here the draw could be held after an unbelievable move, which could be found only after long and
logical reflection: 66.g3!! c2 67.Rc1 Kd3 68.Kf5 Rd1 69.Rxc2 Kxc2 70.g4 Rf1+ 71.Ke5 Rg1 72.Kf5
Kd3 73.g5 Kd4 74.g6 Kd5 75.Kf6 Kd6 76.g7 Kd7 77.Kf7

66...c2 67.Rc1

67...Kd3??

It was necessary to use the resource which we can name simply as ‘cut off the king!’ 67...Kc3 68.g4
Rd4!

68.g4 Rd1 69.Rxc2 Kxc2 70.Ke4

Now it is a draw

70...Rg1 71.Kf5 Kd3 72.g5 Kd4 73.g6 Kd5 74.Kf6 Kd6 75.g7 Kd7 76.Kf7 Rxg7+ 77.Kxg7 1/2

34
M. Oleksienko
S. Sagar
Al-Ain, 2014
With more pawns, of course, the defence is not so easy in situations where the king is not close to the
pawns.

48
55...f5?

It is difficult to find here the winning 55...g6! The point is that with the pawn on g6 White would have
to move his rook to a passive position on b1. 56.Kb6 g3 57.Kc5 g2 58.Rb1 Kf4 59.Kd4 f5-+

55...f5? 56.Kb6 g3 57.Kc5 Kf4 58.Rxg7 Kf3 59.Kd4 g2 60.Rxg2 Kxg2 61.Ke5 1/2

35
A. Muzychuk
T. Kosintseva
Ankara, 2012

49
47...f5??

It was necessary to sneak in with the king to support the h4-pawn:

47...Kf4 48.Rxf7+ Kg3 49.Kd4 h3 50.Ke4 h2 51.Rh7 Kg2 52.Kf5 Kxf3 53.Rxh2 g4 54.Ra2 g3
55.Ra3+ Kf2 56.Kf4 g2 57.Ra2+ Kf1 58.Kf3 g1=N+ 59.Ke3 Nh3 with a theoretical draw!

47...f5?? 48.Kc4 Kf4

Of no help is 48...h3 49.Kd3 h2 50.Rh8 Kf4 51.Ke2 Kg3 52.Rh5 g4 53.fxg4 fxg4 54.Kf1

49.Kd3 Kxf3 50.Rxf5+ Kg4 51.Rf8 Kg3 52.Ke2 g4 53.Kf1 Kh2 54.Rf4 h3 55.Rxg4 Kh1 56.Kf2 1–0

36
J. Rodgaard
J. Hjartarson
Runavik, 2016

50
Without a-pawns it should be a draw.

62...Rg1?!

Too clever. It was necessary to remember the main rule: bring the king over to the pawns as soon as
possible.
62...Kd3 63.g5 (63.Kh4 Ke4 64.Kg5 Ra1) 63...Ke4 64.h6 Kf5

62...Rg1?! 63.Kh4 a5?

Now it was necessary to find the only move, continuing the plan of bringing the king back. 63...Kd3
64.h6 Ke4 and now for example: 65.Kg5 Kf3 66.h7 Rxg4+ 67.Kf6 Rh4 68.Kg7 Ke3 69.h8=Q Rxh8
70.Kxh8 Kd4 71.Kg7 Kc3 72.Kf6 Kb2 73.a4 Kb3 74.a5 Kb4 75.Ke5 Kxa5 76.Kd4 Kb4 77.Kd3
Kb3 78.Kd2 Kb2-+

64.h6 a4

51
65.g5?

Here there was a great chance to save the game:

65.Kh5! Kb2 66.g5 Kxa2 67.g6 a3 68.g7 Kb1 69.h7=

65...Kb2?

Mistakes come from both sides. Here there was a technical check, which would paralyze both white
pawns: 65...Rh1+! 66.Kg4 Kb2

66.Kh5 Rh1+ 67.Kg4?

The wrong direction! Here the White player did not know the correct manoeuvre:
67.Kg6 Kxa2 68.Kh7! This is the manoeuvre! 68...a3 69.g6 Kb1 70.g7 a2 71.g8=Q a1=Q 72.Qb3+
Kc1 73.Qc4+ Kd2 74.Qd5+ Ke3 75.Qb3+=

67...Kxa2 68.Kf5 a3 69.g6 Rh5+!

Destroying White’s idea. White did not know this classical check.

0–1

37
S. Brunello
N. Khurtsidze
Gibraltar, 2012

52
Let’s observe the process of a transfer into the endgame of rook against pawn(s) in practice.

39...Kg7 40.b5 Rb3 41.b6 Kh6 42.Rb7 Rb5 43.Ke3 e5!

According to the rules, any reduction of the pawns on the other flank is useful. In addition, the e6-pawn
was a backward one.

44.fxe5 Rxe5+ 45.Kd4 Rb5 46.Kc4 Rb1 47.Kc5 Rc1+ 48.Kb5 Rb1+ 49.Kc6 Rc1+ 50.Kd7 Kh5?!

Much simpler was to restrict the opponent’s rook and king and only then start attacking the pawns:
50...Rb1 51.Rb8 Kh5 52.Kc6 Kg4

51.Ra7 Rb1 52.Kc7 Kg4 53.Ra3 f4 54.gxf4 Kxh4 55.b7 Kg4 56.Ra6

Preparing to play Rb6, which forces Black to finally sacrifice her rook for the passed pawn.

56...Rxb7+ 57.Kxb7 Kxf4 58.Kc6

53
58...g5?

Correct was to start with the farthest-away pawn: 58...h5 59.Ra1 h4 60.Kd5 h3 61.Rf1+ Kg3

59.Kd5 g4

Now it was late to use the h-pawn. 59...h5 60.Ra4+ Kf5 (60...Kg3 61.Ke4 h4 62.Ra3+ Kg4 (62...Kg2
63.Kf5 h3 64.Kg4 h2 65.Ra2+ Kg1 66.Kg3 h1=N+ 67.Kf3 g4+ 68.Kxg4 Nf2+ 69.Kf3 Nd3 70.Ra4
Nc5 71.Rd4 Kh2 72.Rd5) 63.Ke3 Kg3 64.Ke2+ Kg2 65.Ra4 Kg3 66.Kf1)

60.Kd4 h5 61.Kd3 Kf3 62.Rf6+ Kg2 63.Ke2 h4 64.Rf2+

54
64...Kh1

Other king retreats allows White to bring his king in to stop the pawns, e.g. 64...Kg3 65.Kf1 h3
66.Kg1

65.Rf1+ Kg2 66.Rf2+ Kh1 67.Rf1+ Kh2 68.Rf4 g3 69.Rxh4+ Kg1 70.Rg4 g2 71.Rg8 1–0

38
A. Shomoev
M. Kobalia
Tomsk, 2006
Here the situation at the start was somewhat similar.

55
50...Rf2 51.Re8 Kg4 52.Rg8+ Kh3 53.Rh8+ Kg4?!

Logical, but not so easy to find was the winning 53...Kg2 54.Rh4 Rf8 (54...Kf3 55.Rxb4 g2 56.Rb8
Rd2+! 57.Kxd2 g1=Q 58.Rf8+ Ke4 59.Ra8 and White has chances to set-up a fortress.) 55.Rxb4 Kf3
56.Rb7 g2 57.Rg7 Rf4 58.Rxg2 Kxg2 59.a4 Kf3 60.a5 Kg4 61.a6 Rf6 62.b4 Rxa6 63.Kc4 Kf5 64.b5
Ra1 65.Kd5 Rb1 66.Kc6 Ke6

54.Rg8+ Kf3 55.Kc4 Rh2 56.Rf8+ Ke2 57.Re8+ Kf2 58.Kxb4 Rh4+ 59.Ka5 Rg4 60.Rc8 g2 61.Rc1
g1=Q 62.Rxg1 Rxg1

After a long fight we come finally to our endgame...

56
63.b4?

Once more, it is correct to start with the farthest away pawn. This seems to be a rule!
63.a4 Ra1 64.Kb6 Ra3 65.a5 Rxb3+ 66.Kc6
By pushing the a-pawn, White also keeps the bodycheck.
66...Ra3 67.Kb6 Re3 68.a6=

63...Ke3 64.b5 Kd4 65.Kb6 Rg6+ 66.Ka7 Kc5 67.a4 Rg4

Or even 67...Rb6 68.Ka8 Kb4 69.Ka7 Ka5

0–1

39
A. Grischuk
P. Svidler
Le Zion, 2006

54...f5 55.gxf5?

A very calm win was guaranteed after 55.h3 Ke4 56.Ra3 f4 57.Kd6 f3 58.Kxe6 Kf4 59.Kf6

55...exf5 56.Rf1 Ke4?

The rule is always to push pawns as quickly as possible:

56...g4! 57.Re1+ Kf4 58.Kd4 Kf3!=

57
57.Re1+?

Here the only chance was to go around the bodycheck zone! 57.Kd6! g4 58.Ke6 f4 59.Kf6 f3 60.Kg5
g3 61.Kg4 g2 62.Re1++-

57...Kf3 58.Kd4 g4 59.Rf1+

59...Ke2??

A basic drawn position was achieved after a different king move: 59...Kg2 60.Rxf5 Kxh2= 61.Ke3 g3
62.Rg5 g2 63.Kf2 h3 64.Rg4 Kh1 65.Rg8 h2 66.Rxg2

60.Rxf5 g3 61.h3! g2 62.Rg5 Kf2 63.Ke4 g1=Q 64.Rxg1 Kxg1 65.Kf3

58
A final bodycheck, after which White wins the pawn on h4 without allowing the opposing king to
deliver his own bodycheck on f4.

1–0

40
A. Greet
J. Tan
Hinckley, 2014

64.Kf2 Kb5 65.Re5+ Kb4 66.Re4+ Kb3 67.Re3+ Kb2 68.Re4 Ra7 69.Kxf3 a4

59
Here White must prepare very precisely how he will sacrifice his rook for the pawn and then advance
his own pawn without allowing his king to be cut off.

70.Rb4+

Not the most precise way. Much simpler was the direct 70.g4! a3 71.Kf4 (71.g5 draws too, but then
White needs to be careful: 71...a2 72.Re2+ (72.Re1 Ra4!) 72...Kc3 73.Rxa2 Rxa2 74.Ke4!=) 71...a2
72.Re1

70...Kc3 71.Rb1 a3

60
72.g4??

In such cases it is necessary to ensure that the king will not be cut off, so: 72.Ke4! which was the only
move. Also losing was the natural 72.Kf4 a2 73.Ra1 Kb2 74.Rxa2+ Rxa2 75.g4 Kc3 76.Ke4 Rg2
77.Kf5 Kd4 78.g5 Kd5 79.Kf6 Kd6 80.g6 Rf2+

72...a2 73.Ra1 Kb2??

Black did not perform the easy ‘cutting-off’ manoeuvre 73...Ra4!–+ forcing the white king to go
around, thereby losing a lot of time. 74.Kg3 Kb2 75.Rxa2+ Kxa2 76.Kh4 Kb3 77.Kh5 Kc4 78.g5
Kd5 79.g6 Ke6

74.Rxa2+ Rxa2 75.Ke4! Kc3

76.Kf5??

Very illogical decision. Now White was very close to the draw, but did not keep his ‘bodycheck’
position and instead allowed his opponent’s king to come closer.
76.g5! Rg2 77.Kf5 Kd4 78.g6 Kd5 79.Kf6 Kd6 80.g7

76...Kd4 77.g5 Kd5 78.Kf6 Kd6 79.g6 Rf2+

Reaching a basic winning position.

80.Kg7 Ke7 0–1

41

61
 Comas L. Fabrego
J. Piket
Escaldes, 1998

66.Kg4

White wants to bring his king to f5 and then start running his g-pawn. Black must act quickly and
precisely.

66...Ke2?!

Very natural, but not the best.

There was an incredibly nice win available with 66...Re8! 67.Kf5 Rf8 Then Black wins the pawn
endgame arising after 68.Kg6 (68.g4 Ke2 69.g5 fxg5+ 70.Kxg5 Kf3 71.f5 Ke4 72.f6 Ke5) 68...f5
69.Kg7 Ke2 70.Kxf8 Kf3 71.Kf7 Kxg3 but it was practically impossible to find this in a modern game
with 30 second increments.

67.Kf5 Ra6?

Huh? Who gives up a pawn without a fight? But it was not easy to make the winning move:
Black had to play 67...Re8!

62
68.Kxf6 Kf3 69.f5 (or 69.Kf7 Ra8 70.f5 Ke4 71.f6 Ke5 72.g4 Ra7+ 73.Kg6 Ke6 74.g5 Rb7 75.Kh6
Kf5–+) 69...Ke4 70.g4 Ra8 71.Kg7 Ke5 72.f6 Ke6–+

68.g4 Kf3 69.g5 Ra5+ 70.Kxf6 Kxf4 71.g6 Ra6+ 72.Kf7 Kf5 73.g7 Ra7+

74.Kg8!

It’s also a draw after 74.Kf8 Kf6 75.g8=N+ but from a practical point of view White’s decision on
move 74 is better.

74...Kg6 75.Kh8 Rxg7 1/2

63
CHAPTER 2
BASIC ENDINGS: ROOKS WITH ONE PAWN

Here we will show the most necessary ‘basic’ positions, with the pawn on the 6th and 7th ranks to
begin with. The Philidor and Lucena positions, then more complicated situations with the pawn on the
fourth rank. Here we will explain the necessary methods of defence, the combination of frontal attack
and proper king positions. The pieces must work together and for this reason the endgame is the best
‘school’ for studying the coordination of pieces in their simplest form of cooperation.

1
Basic

With pawns from the c- to f-files, the win is very easy using a simple manoeuvre.

1.Rg7+ Kf8 2.Rh7 Kg8 3.f7+ Kf8 4.Rh8+

64
In contrast to the previous example, in the case of g- and h-pawns Black can hold the draw — even
with passive defence.

1.Rg7+ Kh8 2.Rh7+ Kg8

White’s only winning chance could be Ri7, however the chess board is not wide enough to make this
move. :-)

1/2

65
It is useful to know that if White has 2 g-pawns, and Black is forced to defend passively, then White
can convert his advantage into a win.

1.Ra6!

A very precise move, required to avoid stalemate! After 1.g7? Black would survive in a spectacular
way: 1...Rc6+ 2.g6 Rxg6+! 3.Kxg6 stalemate.

1.Ra6! Rb8 2.g7!

This time there is no danger of giving stalemate.

2...Rc8 3.Rf6! Rb8 4.Rf8+!

The 2nd g-pawn plays its role. This is the only way to win!

4...Rxf8 5.gxf8=Q+ Kxf8 6.Kh7 1–0

If Black has the chance to defend using the Philidor method, he holds the draw even against doubled
pawns. White could have doubled e- or f-pawns as well, but against the correct defence, he cannot win
the game.

1.g6 Rb1!

And, as we already know, Black holds the draw with vertical checks.

2.Kh6 Rh1+ 3.Kg5 Rb1 4.g7 Rb6 5.Kh5 Rc6 6.g5 Rb6 7.g6 Rb1

66
The funny thing is, White could have 5 pawns on the same file — against the Philidor defence, he
cannot win the game!

1/2

Very basic positions occur when White’s pawn has already reached the 7th rank and Black’s king is
squeezed out from behind the pawn.
As we will see, the defensive side can only hold the draw if his king stands on the ‘shorter’ side of the
board, and he gives checks with his rook from the ‘longer’ side.

1...Ra8+ 2.Kd7 Ra7+ 3.Kd6 Ra6+ 4.Kd5 Ra5+ 5.Kc6 Ra6+ 6.Kb7

White avoids the checks, but his king gets too far from the pawn.

6...Re6= 1/2

67
If the defensive side has not managed to set up the right defensive method, and his king is on the
‘longer’ side, then the ‘short’ side is not wide enough for the rook to give checks.

1...Rh8+ 2.Kf7 Rh7+ 3.Kf6 Rh8 4.Kg7 Ra8 5.Kf7+- 1–0

Black to move. Seemingly he has reached the ideal setup, but his rook stands only on the b-file —
which is not far enough afield for checks. We can say that such a rook is ‘too short’.

1...Rb8+

68
1...Ra2 2.Rf7+ Kg8 (2...Kg6 3.Kf8+-) 3.Rf8+ We often see that in rook endgames with a small number
of-pawns, occupying the 8th rank with the rook is the key to winning the game. 3...Kg7 4.Kd7 Ra7+
5.Kd6 Ra6+ 6.Kc5+-

1...Rb8+ 2.Kd7 Rb7+ 3.Kd6 Rb8

3...Rb6+ 4.Kc7 Re6 5.Kd7+-

4.Kc7 Ra8

5.Ra1!

A very important motif and the only way to win! White achieves his goal of making the rook leave the
‘long’ side.

5...Re8 6.Kd7 1–0

8
Lucena position

69
In the case where Black tries to cut the white king’s way out from behind the pawn, White wins the
game with the so-called ‘bridge building’ method.

1.Rf4!

We will see the idea of this great move soon!

Also possible is to start building the bridge differently: 1.Rg2+ Kh7 2.Rg4

1.Rf4! Rd2 2.Rg4+ Kh7

2...Kf6 3.Kf8+-

3.Kf7 Rf2+ 4.Ke6 Re2+ 5.Kf6 Rf2+ 6.Ke5 Re2+ 7.Re4 1–0

And the bridge has been built.

9
M. Euwe, 1931

70
There are few steps required to reach the basic position. First of all it is necessary to cut off the
opponent’s king.

1.Re2! Ra1 2.Kc6 Ra6+ 3.Kc7 Ra7+ 4.Kb6 Ra1

The rook is too ‘short’ and must turn back.

5.d6 Rb1+ 6.Kc7 Rc1+ 7.Kd8 Rd1 8.d7 Rc1 9.Rf2+ Kg7 10.Rf4

and now White transfers into the Lucena position.

1–0

10

71
In practice we will very often meet this endgame. Black’s king is now close enough to the corner and
White has no winning chances at all.

1.Rh2

Other tries change nothing: 1.Rd3 Rb2;

1.Rc2 Kd7

1.Rh2 Kd7 2.Rh8 Kc7 3.Rb8 Ra1

White has managed to send the rook away from the b-file, but Black’s king has just arrived and the
white king will remain squeezed into the corner.

1/2

11

72
In cases with a- or h-pawns, the defensive side has the greatest drawing chances. However, in this
example, Black’s king is too far removed, and White’s rook has enough time to rescue the king from
the corner. Black’s king should stay on e7 in order to make a draw, as we will see in the next diagram.

1.Rc2 Ke7 2.Rc8

This is the winning technique! The rook is heading to b8 after which the king is in time to escape from
the corner, but the rest still requires some technique.

2...Kd7

2...Kd6 3.Rb8 Ra1 4.Kb7 Rb1+ 5.Kc8 Rc1+ 6.Kd8 Rh1 Black’s trickiest try, but it does not save him.
7.Rb6+ Kc5

73
8.Rc6+! Kd5 (8...Kb5 9.Rc8 Rh8+ 10.Kc7 Rh7+ 11.Kb8+-) 9.Ra6 Rh8+ 10.Kc7+-

3.Rb8 Ra1 4.Kb7 Rb1+ 5.Ka6 Ra1+ 6.Kb6 Rb1+ 7.Kc5 1–0

12

With the a- or h-pawn, Black can hold the draw with the so called ‘frontal attack’, even if his king is cut
by 4 files from the pawn, due to the drawn pawn endgames.

1.Kb4 Re8! 2.Rd1 Ke7 3.a5 Rd8! 4.Rc1 Kd7 5.a6 Rc8! 6.Rd1+ Kc7

Just in time!

74
1/2

13

This is the so-called Vancura position. By attacking the pawn from the side, Black does not allow
White to escape from the corner and activate his rook. Whenever the white king tries to approach the
pawn, he can’t hide from the side-checks.

1.Kd5

If the pawn advances to the seventh rank, then the rook changes its defensive position to behind the
pawn. 1.a7 Ra6 2.Kd5 Ra1 When the pawn is pushed to a7, Black can hold the draw with vertical
checks if his king is on g7 or h7! 3.Kc6 Rc1+ 4.Kb6 Rb1+ 5.Kc7 Rc1+ 6.Kd6= (With the rook on b8
and pawn on b7, the outcome is the same)

1.Kd5 Rf5+ 2.Kc4 Rf6 3.Kb5 Rf5+ 4.Kc6 Rf6+ 5.Kb7 Rf7+

If White does not push his pawn to a7, and thereby keeps a square on a7 for his king against vertical
checks, Black holds the draw by giving horizontal checks.

1/2

14

75
White’s pawn has reached the 7th rank, but there is no time for vertical checks because of the bad
position of Black’s king.

1...Rg7+

1...Rd1+ 2.Kc6 Rc1+ 3.Kd5 Rd1+ 4.Ke4 Re1+ 5.Kd3 Rd1+ 6.Ke2 Ra1 7.Rh8++-

1...Rg7+ 2.Kc6 Kg5!!

Black hides behind his own rook from the threatened check!
2...Kh7? 3.Rh8++-

3.Kb6 Rg6+ 4.Kb5 Rg7 1/2

15
C. Balogh

76
Let’s now take a look at rook endgames in which the pawn has not yet crossed the middle of the board
(the 4th rank).
In practice we quite often meet such examples. I can even show you a game from my own experience,
one where I could successfully use the knowledge from the given diagrams. The rook keeps the black
king 2 files away from the pawn, so he cannot approach it. However, in this seemingly hopeless
position, Black can hold the draw thanks to the so-called ‘frontal attack’. In general in rook endgames,
both attacking and defensive sides should aim for active play and this means putting rooks behind the
pawn.
However, in this case, the only way to survive is the passive defence from in front of the pawn. I would
like to draw your attention to the position of the black king; it must stay on e6 or on e5! Let us see why
it is so!

1.Rd4

Defending the pawn, and in so doing preparing the march of his king. Without this move it was not
possible because the rook checks would have forced the king back behind the pawn, viz:
1.Kc4 Rc8+ 2.Kb5 Rb8+ 3.Kc5 Rc8+ 4.Kb6 Rb8+=

1.Rd4 Ke5!

This is why it is so important that in the starting position the Black king must stay on e6 or on e5, to be
able to attack the rook. In the initial position if Black king were on e7, we could see the win in the 2nd
diagram, and with the king on e4, in the 3rd diagram.

2.Kc3

2.Rd7 Ke6 3.Ra7 Kd6 4.Ka4 Kc6 The king arrives! 5.Ka5 Rb5+ 6.Ka4 Rb8=

77
2...Rc8+

White must let Black’s king approach the pawn.

3.Rc4

3.Kd3 Rb8=

3...Rb8 4.Rc6 Kd5

5.Ra6

White tries to prevent the king getting in front of the pawn from the 6th rank . However, with two very
strong moves, Black saves the game.

5...Rc8+! 6.Kb3 Rc6!

Forcing the rook to leave its good position, since the pawn endgames are drawn.

7.Ra7

7.Rxc6 Kxc6 8.Ka4 Kb6=;

7.b5 Rxa6 8.bxa6 Kc6=

7...Rb6 8.Rc7

8.Ka4 Kc6=

78
8...Kd6 9.Rc4 Rc6!

Thanks to the drawish pawn endgame, the black king gets in front of the pawn.

10.b5 Rxc4 11.Kxc4

11...Kc7

It is important to know that the ‘frontal attack’ works only if White has a- or b-pawns, and his king is
cut off by less than 3 files from the pawn!

1/2

16

79
This time Black’s king does not stand on the ideal e6 or e5 squares, and therefore he cannot hold the
draw.

1.Rd4!

White protects the pawn in order to let the king going forward.
1.Kc4 would lead nowhere: 1...Rc8+ 2.Kb5 Rb8+ 3.Kc5 Rc8+ 4.Kb6 Rb8+

1.Rd4! Ke6 2.Kc4

Finally the king can help the pawn as he need not worry about the checks.

2...Ke5

2...Rc8+ 3.Kb5 Rb8+ 4.Kc6+-

3.Rd5+ Ke6 4.b5

The pawn has crossed the middle of the board.

4...Rc8+ 5.Rc5 Kd7

80
Black is hoping for the usual drawn pawn endgame, but this time it is too late. Here there exists a very
important winning idea.
5...Rb8 6.Rc6+ Kd7 7.Kc5+-

6.b6!

and the pawn endgame is winning

6...Rxc5+ 7.Kxc5 Kc8 8.Kc6 Kb8 9.b7 Ka7 10.Kc7 1–0

17
C. Balogh
R. Kempinski
Warszawa, 2008

81
White cuts off the black king, but his king is also cut-off! The plan is to try to support his pawn by
placing the rook behind it.

1.Ka2 Rg3 2.Rd2

2.b5 Rg5=

2...Rg8??

Robert decides to defend with the ‘frontal attack’ but, as we already know, his king should have been
on e5 or e6. Let’s see how White can win in this case.
2...Rh3 3.b5 Rh5 4.Rb2 (4.b6 Ra5+ 5.Kb1 Ra8 and the pawn falls) 4...Kd5 5.b6 Rh8=

3.Kb3+- Rb8 4.Rd7!

This is the difference — Black has to be able to play ...Ke6 now for the draw!

4...Ke5 5.Kc4 Ke6

5...Rc8+ 6.Kb5 Ke6 (6...Rb8+ 7.Kc5 Rc8+ 8.Kb6 Rb8+ 9.Rb7 The usual method no longer works.)
7.Rb7+-

6.Rd4

82
And we already know this position from diagram number 3!

6...Rc8+

6...Ke5 7.Rd5+ Ke6 8.b5 Rc8+ 9.Rc5 Kd7 (9...Rb8 10.Rc6+ Kd7 11.Kc5+-) 10.b6!+-

7.Kb5 Ke5 8.Rd7 Ke6 9.Rb7+- Kd6 10.Ka6

From here, White will push his pawn to b7 — then he wins with the technique of ‘bridge building’

10...Rc1

10...Kc6 11.b5+ Kc5 12.b6 Kc6 13.Ka7+-

11.b5 Rh1 12.Rg7 Rh2 13.b6 Kc6 14.Rc7+ Kd6 15.Rc1

The king is successfully cut.

15...Kd7

83
16.b7

Black resigned, as he did not want to wait until the bridge is built.
16.b7 Ra2+ 17.Kb6 Rb2+ 18.Ka7 Ra2+ 19.Kb8 Ra3 20.Rd1+ Ke7 (20...Kc6 21.Kc8+-) 21.Rd4! Ra1
22.Kc7 Rc1+ 23.Kb6 Rb1+ 24.Kc6 Rc1+ 25.Kb5 Rb1+ 26.Rb4+-

1–0

18
K. Lagno
E. Tomilova
Sochi, 2016

84
The simplest Philidor method.

60.Ra3

The first step is to try to control the third rank, provoking the opponent’s pawn forward.

60...Kg4 61.Kf2 Rh2+ 62.Kf1 Rc2 63.Rb3 Ra2 64.Rc3

White just waits until Black advances his pawn.

64...f3 65.Rc8

Immediately transferring the rook to the back rank in order to be able to check from behind.

65...Ra1+ 66.Kf2 Ra2+ 67.Kf1 1/2

19
W. Boulton
D. Tunks
4NCL, 2008
Now for a practical example where the players treated basic knowledge incorrectly.

85
This is the most basic Philidor position. Waiting is the easiest way to draw — sometimes the only one
— although sometimes there are more complicated ways, as in this game.

77.Rh8

Simplest according to Philidor is 77.Rh3! Then White keeps the rook on the 3rd rank until Black plays
...d4-d3. After this White moves his rook to the 8th rank and attacks the enemy king which can no
longer use the pawn as a shield.

77.Rh8 Kc3 78.Rc8+

Once again White missed the best form of defence — the ‘sticking’ method 78.Rd8!

86
78...Kd3 79.Kc1 Ra1+ 80.Kb2 Rd1 81.Rh8 Re1 82.Rd8 Ke3 83.Kc2

78...Kd3 79.Kc1 Ra1+ 80.Kb2 Rd1 81.Rd8

The simplest recommendation here is to move the rook to the long side with 81.Rh8.

81...Ke2 82.Re8+ Kd2

83.Rh8

Finally!

87
83...Re1 84.Rh4 d3 85.Rh2+ Re2 86.Rh1 Rg2

87.Kb1??

There were two ways to draw here: 87.Rh3= and 87.Kb3=

87...Kc3 88.Kc1 Ra2

Almost anything is winning now, e.g. 88...Rg8! 89.Kb1 Rb8+ 90.Ka1 Kc2

89.Kb1 Rb2+ 90.Ka1 Rc2

90...d2?! 91.Rh3+ Kb4 92.Kxb2 d1=Q complicates things a bit, but 90...Rb4! wins easily.

91.Kb1

88
91...Kb3??

91...Rb2+ 92.Ka1 d2 (Very simple is 92...Rb8) 93.Rh3+ Kb4 94.Rh4+ Ka3 95.Rh1 Rb3! Protection
against checks. 96.Rd1 Re3 97.Kb1 Kb3 and there is no defence against ...Re1.

92.Rh3??

Correct was 92.Rh8 Kc3 93.Rc8+ Kd2 94.Rh8

92...Rc3??

The last available win here was with 92...Kc3!–+

93.Rh2 Kc4 94.Kb2 Rb3+ 95.Kc1 Kc3 96.Rc2+!

Very important stalemate idea.

96...dxc2 1/2

20
R. Fischer
J. Sherwin
Portoroz, 1958

89
78...Ke6??

The typical way to draw was preparation of the frontal attack here by 78...Ra8. Then 79.Kh4 (79.Rf4
Rf8) 79...Rh8+ 80.Kg5 Rg8+ 81.Kh5 Rh8+=

78...Ke6?? 79.Kh4 Ra8 80.g5 Rh8+ 81.Kg4 Ke7 82.g6 Rf8

83.Rf5!

This is a rarely known, but very important winning position

90
83...Rh8

The main point is that the pawn endgame is won after 83...Rxf5 84.Kxf5 Ke8 85.Ke6 Kf8 86.Kf6 Kg8
87.g7 Kh7 88.Kf7

84.Kg5 Rh1 85.Rf2 Rh3 86.g7 Rg3+ 87.Kh6 Rh3+ 88.Kg6 Rg3+ 89.Kh7 Rh3+ 90.Kg8 1–0

21
M. Taimanov
B. Larsen
Palma de Mallorca, 1970

55.Kf3

Wrong is 55.g4? Re6 when offering the transition to a drawn pawn endgame is the classical defence.

55.Kf3 Rf6+ 56.Kg4 Rf8 57.Kh5 Rh8+ 58.Kg6 Kd4 59.Ra3 Ke4 60.g4 Rg8+ 61.Kh5 Rh8+ 62.Kg5
Rg8+ 63.Kh4

91
63...Ke5?

There were two ways to draw:

63...Kf4 64.Ra4+ Kf3 65.Kh5 Rh8+ 66.Kg6 Rg8+ 67.Kf5 Rf8+ 68.Ke6 Rg8=;
and 63...Rh8+ 64.Kg3 Ke5 65.Ra5+ Kf6=

64.Ra6! Kf4

64...Rh8+ 65.Kg5 Rg8+ 66.Rg6 Rf8 67.Rg7

65.Rf6+ Ke5 66.g5 1–0

92
CHAPTER 3
USEFUL MANOEUVRES

As we explained at the beginning of the book, we cannot simply remember all the possible positions, so
we must study different typical methods, and how to use them in the proper way and in certain
positions.

1
Basic cut

The king is cut off by three files from the passed pawn, therefore the position is lost.

1.Kf4 Re8 2.Rb1 Kc5 3.Rc1+ Kd4 4.Rb1 Rb8

and there is no defence against the b-pawn’s advance.

2
M. Tal
I. Zaitsev
Riga, 1968
When the king is cut off it does not mean that the position is automatically lost: there are still methods
available to fight against it. The first one involves the transfer into a drawn pawn ending. The second is
the frontal attack against the pawn, if it has not crossed the middle of the board.

93
1.Kd3??

The main task here is to control the first rank in order to conduct the frontal attack properly. 1.Rb1! g5
2.Kd3 Re5 3.Kd4 Here is the difference: the king attacks the rook, whose function is to protect the
pawn on g5: 3...Re8 4.Rh1+ Kg6 5.Rg1 Now it is a theoretical draw.

1.Kd3?? Re1 2.Kd2 Re6 3.Rb1 g5 4.Rg1

A lost pawn ending results from: 4.Re1 Rxe1 5.Kxe1 Kh5 6.Kf2 Kh4

4...Kh5 5.Rh1+ Kg6 6.Rg1 Re5 7.Kd3 Kf5

94
8.Rf1+

8.Kd4 Re4+ 9.Kd3 g4 10.Rf1+ Rf4 11.Ke2 g3! Once more we encounter this ‘not well-known’
theoretical position.

8...Kg4 9.Kd4 Re2 10.Rg1+ Kf4 11.Rf1+ Kg3 12.Rg1+ Rg2 0–1

3
M. Lyell
T. Valgmae
Gibraltar, 2010
There are positions where it is necessary to be very careful with the ‘cut-off king’, especially when it
involves horizontal cuts. And frontal attacks must be conducted with a strong hand.

95
53.Rf1?

The best way to hold the draw here was 53.Ke5! Ra4 54.Rh2! not allowing Black’s king to come out.
(It is necessary to know when and how to start the frontal attack. 54.Rg1? Kh6–+)

53.Rf1? g5?

The horizontal cut of the king is the worst to defend against: 53...Ra5! Then the g-pawn and king
simply advance together.

54.Ke5 Re7+ 55.Kd4 Kg6

96
This is a very important theoretical position — White can hold it if he can prevent the advance of the
enemy pawn.

56.Kd3??

Allowing the pawn to advance. It was neccessary to use the frontal attack.
56.Rg1! Re8 57.Kd3

56...g4!–+

The pawn crosses the middle of the board, and such positions are — in most cases — won, as long as it
is not possible to defend using the afore-mentioned transfer into a drawn pawn endgame.

57.Kd2 Kg5 58.Re1 Rxe1 59.Kxe1 Kh4 60.Kf1 Kh3 0–1

4
B. Jobava
J. Cuartas
Turin, 2006
The method of cutting off the king looks to be very simple, but even Grandmasters perform it with
flaws!

97
56...Rf2?

Wrong. The win could be achieved with 56...Kh4 57.Rh1+ (57.Rd4+ Kg3 58.Rd5 Kf4 59.Rd4+ Re4
60.Rd1 g5 61.Kd3 Re3+ 62.Kd2 Re5 63.Rf1+ Kg3 64.Kd3 g4–+) 57...Kg3 58.Kd3 Rg2 59.Ke3 g5
60.Rh8 g4 and then performing the Lucena ‘bridge manoeuvre’.

56...Rf2? 57.Rg1+ Kf5 58.Kd3 g5 59.Ke3 Rf4 60.Rg2

Simpler here is 60.Ra1

60...g4

Now 60...Ra4 does not win in view of 61.Rg1 g4 62.Rf1+ Kg5 63.Kf2 Rf4+ 64.Kg2 Rxf1 65.Kxf1
Kh4 66.Kg2=

61.Rf2!

98
The main method of defence has been correctly prepared and performed.

61...Rxf2 62.Kxf2 Kf4 63.Kg2 g3 64.Kg1 Kf3 65.Kf1 g2+ 66.Kg1 Kg3 1/2

5
H. Fahrni
S. Alapin
Karlsbad, 1911
More complicated cases can be seen when we have a serious cutting off of the king, but the pawn is not
yet prepared for ‘full speed ahead’.

99
We can see again that the ‘classics’ had bad endgame knowledge too!

63...Re6?

The horizontal cut is much more effective than the vertical cut!
63...Rg4 64.Ra8 g5 65.Rf8+ Ke4 66.Rg8 Rg1 soon reaching a basic Lucena position.

63...Re6? 64.Kd4?

In such cases it is necessary to start attacking the opponent’s king before they have coordinated their
king, rook and pawn together for the final promotion: 64.Rf2+ Kg5 65.Rg2+ Kf6 66.Rf2+ Ke7 67.Kd4
Rf6 (67...g5 68.Rf5! Rg6 69.Ke3)

64...Re4+?

Once more helping the opponent! It was necessary to simply push the pawn: 64...g5

65.Kd3 Re7 66.Rf2+ Kg4 67.Rg2+ Kf3

68.Rg6?

It is necessary to keep the rook ready to check from long distance, so 68.Rg1

68...Rd7+ 69.Kc4 Ke4?

It is always technically correct to be ready to connect the king and the pawns.
The task was clear; to unblock the passed pawn, which can easily be achieved with 69...Kf4 70.Kc5

100
Kf5 71.Rg1 g5

70.Rg1!

At the last moment, White understood the importance of the strong and long rook!

70...Kf4 71.Rf1+ Kg3 72.Rg1+ Kf4

There is no point to 72...Kf2 73.Rg6

73.Rf1+ Ke4 74.Re1+ Kf5 75.Rf1+

And the powerful rook kicks the king far away, therefore...draw!

75...Ke6 76.Re1+ Kf7 77.Rf1+ Kg8 78.Rg1 Rd6 79.Kc5 Rd2 80.Kc4 Rf2 81.Kd4 Kf7 82.Ke3 Rf5
83.Ke4 g6 84.Rg4 Kg7 85.Rf4 Ra5 86.Kf3 Ra1 1/2

6
A. Rubinstein
O. Duras
Breslau, 1912

101
Let’s see how the great classicists treated similar positions.

99.Rc5+ Kb2 100.Kd2 Rb3 101.Rc2+

A different try was of no help either: 101.Rh5 b4 102.Rb5 Ka2 103.Rb6 Rb1 104.Ra6+ Kb2 with a
theoretically winning position.

101...Kb1 102.Rc1+ Ka2 103.Rc8 b4

104.Ra8+

102
Or 104.Kc2 Rb2+ 105.Kc1 Rb1+ 106.Kc2 b3+

104...Ra3 105.Rb8 b3 106.Kc3 Ra7

And the pawn cannot be taken, the promotion is inevitable.

0–1

7
R. Fischer
E. Geller
Curacao, 1962

66...Kf5!

Of course not thinking about the pawn endgame resulting from 66...Ra4+?? 67.Kd5 Rxe4 68.Kxe4=

66...Kf5! 67.Re8 Kg4

Even simpler was to cut the king off horizontally with 67...Ra3

68.Ke3 Kg3

and Fischer resigned, as he will find himself in the classical Lucena position in a few moves:
68...Kg3 69.Ke2 g4 70.Rg8 Rf5 71.Rg7 Kh3 72.Rg8 g3 73.Rg7 Kh2 74.Rh7+ Kg1 75.Rg7 g2 76.Ra7
(76.Rh7

103
76...Re5+ 77.Kd3 Kf2 78.Rf7+ Kg3 79.Rg7+ Kf3 80.Rf7+ Kg4 81.Rg7+ Rg5–+) 76...Rh5 77.Kf3
Kh1–+

0–1

8
S. Tejaswini
D. Nguyen
KL Open MAS, 2014

Even when the pawn has crossed the middle of the board, this first classical defensive method can work
very successfully. Different methods of defence can be used one after another sometimes...

104
47...g4??

Correct was to advance with the king first: 47...Kf4 48.Rf2+ Kg3 49.Rf8 g4–+

47...g4?? 48.Re2!

Offering the transfer into a drawn pawn ending. This allows the defending side to override the cutting
off of his king.

48...Rh7 49.Ke3

White chooses the stalemate method of saving the game.

He could achieve the same result with the prosaic 49.Rf2+ Kg5 50.Ke2= Rh1 51.Rf8 g3 52.Rg8+ Kf4
53.Rg6! Waiting time!

49...Kg5 50.Kf2 Rh2+

51.Kg3!

A very clever stalemate defence.

51...Rh3+

51...Rxe2=

52.Kg2 Ra3 53.Rb2 1/2

105
 V. Akopian
A. Panchenko
Rostov, 1993

Here we see a nice example of successful defence, the rook on g6 blocking his own king.

1...Rg1+ 2.Kh4 Rh1+ 3.Kg3 Rg1+ 4.Kh2

4.Kf2 Rg4 5.Kf3 Rg1 6.Ra6 Ke5=

4...Re1!

Wrong was 4...Rg4? 5.Kh3 Rg1 6.Ra6! Only this small tactic helps to set up a winning position.
6...Ke5 7.Kh4 Kf5 8.Rf6++-

5.Kh3 Rh1+ 6.Kg2 Re1 7.Ra6

Other rook moves promise nothing either: 7.Rf6? Re6!=; 7.Rg8 Re7! 8.Kg3 Ke6 9.Rf8 Rf7=

7...Re6!

This classical ‘uncutting’ method allows Black to draw. Wrong was

7...Re3? 8.g6 Re6 9.g7 Re8 10.Rg6 Rg8 11.Kf3 Ke5 12.Kg4+-

8.Ra5+ Kd6 9.Kf3

106
9.Kg3 Ke7 10.Rf5 Re4! 11.g6 Re6=

9...Re1!

But not 9...Ke7? 10.Rf5!+-

10.Kg4

A serious try was 10.Rf5 but 10...Rg1! (10...Ke6? 11.Rf6+ intending Kg4+-) 11.Kf4 Ke7! 12.Rf6
Rf1+=

10...Ke6 11.Ra7 Rh1!= 12.Rb7 Rh2 1/2

10
A. Mikhalchishin
D. Losev
Moscow, 1974
Let’s now follow the practical development of this game, from the initial position to the later position
which sees both kings cut off in different ways. The problems which arise in such situations are very
educational.

107
49...Kg4?

This looks very logical, but there was a rather unusual way to draw here:
49...Kf5! 50.b4 h4= Brilliant rook endgame tactics!

49...Kg4? 50.b4 h4

Black now realised that his plan does not work: 50...Rh3 51.Kd2! (51.b5 h4!=) 51...Rxg3 52.Rxg3+
Kxg3 53.b5 h4 54.b6 h3 55.b7 h2 56.b8=Q++-

51.gxh4 Kf5 52.b5 Rxh4

108
53.Kb2!?

Dvoretsky correctly pointed out another winning way: 53.Kc2! Rb4 (53...Kf4 54.Re7! Rh5 55.b6 Rb5
56.b7 Kf5 57.Kc3 Kf6 58.Kc4 Rb1 59.Rh7 Ke6 60.Kc5+-) 54.Rb3 Rc4+ 55.Kd3 Rc8 56.Rc3 Rb8
57.Rc5+ (57.Kc4!) 57...Ke6 58.Kc4 Kd7 59.Kb4 and in this theoretical position there is a way to win
the pawn ending: 59...Rc8 60.b6! Rxc5 61.Kxc5 Kd8 62.Kd6!

53...Kf4!

54.Rc3?

109
Also not enough for the full point was 54.Re7 Rh5 55.b6 Rb5+ but Dvoretsky has not commented on
the correct and winning method — to cut the white king off to the maximum: 54.Rd3! Ke5 (54...Ke4
55.Kc3 Rh5 56.Rd4+ Ke3 57.Rb4 Rc5+ 58.Kb3 Kd3 59.b6!) 55.Ka3 Ke6 56.b6+-

54...Ke5 55.Ka3 Kd6 56.b6 Kd7 57.Rc7+

The final try.

57...Kd8

Of course not 57...Kd6? when 58.Rc8 is winning

58.Rc6 Kd7 59.Rc7+ Kd8 60.Rc5 Kd7 1/2

11
V. Simagin
V. Tarasov
Sverdlovsk, 1957
Everything has already been tested in ‘classic’ games, and this knowledge would have been very useful
for the young player from the previous game!

110
72.b6?

The correct preparatory move was 72.Rd3!! Rg4 73.b6 Rg6 74.b7 Ra6+ 75.Kb2 Rb6+ 76.Rb3 winning.

72.b6? Rh6 73.Rb2

73...Rh8??

An easy draw was guaranteed by 73...Kd7 74.b7 Ra6+ 75.Kb3 Rb6+ 76.Kc3 Rxb2 77.Kxb2 Kc7

111
74.b7 Rb8 75.Ka4 Kd7 76.Ka5 Kc7 77.Ka6 Rh8 78.Ka7 1–0

112
CHAPTER 4
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS WITH THE EDGE PAWN

It is possible to consider specific situations with every pawn, but that is more the realm of the
‘Encyclopaedia of Endings’ rather than our book, in which we try instead to explain things from the
practical viewpoint.
The ‘edge’ — or rooks’ — pawns are easy to understand, and there are even some specific methods
involved which we don’t encounter with other pawns, such as the Vancura method, as well as the
‘hiding of the king’ manoeuvre.
The basic positions here are very clear, but the methods for winning some of them must be precisely
remembered. The most curious thing here is that we will see how many simple mistakes are committed
by Grandmasters in this type of rook endgame.

1
E. Kovalevskaya
Z. Peng
Ekaterinburg, 2006

89...Re1??

The draw would be easy after 89...Kf7 90.h6 Re5+= 91.Kg4 Re4+ 92.Kf3 Rh4 and now the king is
close enough to the pawn and the following famous tactic does not work: 93.h7 Rxh7 94.Rb7+ Kg6

89...Re1?? 90.h6 Rg1+ 91.Kf4 Rh1 92.h7! Rxh7 93.Rb7+ 1–0

113
 V. Smyslov
J. Donner
Palma de Mallorca, 1967

67...Ra2+!

The only winning manoeuvre! Other moves lead to a draw, e.g. 67...Rb1 68.Ra4 Rb2+ 69.Kg3 a2
70.Kf3 Kd5 71.Ke3 Kc5 72.Kd3 Kb5 73.Ra8 Kb4 74.Rb8+=;
67...Kd5 68.Rg3! Kc4 69.Rf3 Kb4 70.Rf4+=

67...Ra2+! 68.Kh3 Rb2 69.Ra4 a2 70.Kg3 Kd5

Now the king has an unstoppable run to b1, although first it is necessary to overcome the ‘horizontal
cut’ on the fourth rank.

71.Kf3 Kc5 72.Ke3 Kb5 73.Ra8 Kc4 0–1

3
F. Anquandah
M. Alberto
Kampala, 2016

114
81.Kf4??

This is a fatal mistake!

The white king is cut off from the a-pawn by four files, so simply keeping his rook on the b-file will not
do — White had to switch to the frontal attack with 81.Rb1! Ka4 82.Ra1+ Kb5 83.Rb1+ Kc4 84.Ra1
Ra8 85.Ke4 a5 86.Ke3 Kc3 87.Rc1+ Kb2 88.Rc7 a4 89.Rb7+=;
81.Rb2 is OK too.

81.Kf4?? Ka4 82.Rb1 a5 83.Ra1+ Kb4 84.Rb1+ Kc3 85.Rb7

85.Ra1 Ra8–+

85...a4 86.Rc7+ Kb3 87.Rb7+ Ka2 88.Kf3 a3

115
89.Rb6

It was better to cover the e1–square with 89.Kf2 but this would not have saved White: 89...Ka1 90.Rb6
a2 91.Rb7 Rc8 92.Ke2 Rc1 93.Kd3 Rb1 94.Ra7 Kb2 95.Rb7+ Kc1 96.Rc7+ Kd1 97.Rh7 Rb3+ 98.Kc4
Rc3+

89...Re1 90.Rb7 Ka1 91.Kf2 Rb1

The standard way to rescue the king from the corner.

92.Ra7 a2 93.Ke3 Kb2 94.Rb7+ Ka3 95.Ra7+ Kb2 96.Rb7+ Kc3 0–1

4
B. Gelfand
V. Anand
Moscow, 2012

116
What is correct winning procedure?

61.Rh7??

This spoils the win.

61.h7? Also fails after 61...Kb7 62.Kg3 Rh1=;
The most logical and the right way was to hurry with the king towards the pawn 61.Kg3! Rh1
(61...Kd6 62.h7 Ke7 63.Ra8+-) 62.Kg4 Rg1+ 63.Kf5 Rf1+ 64.Kg6 Rg1+ 65.Kh7 Kd7 66.Rg8 Rh1
67.Rg6 Ke7 68.Kg7+-

61.Rh7?? Kd6! 62.Kg3 Ke6 63.Kg4 Rh1 64.Ra7 Kf6 65.h7 Kg6 1/2

5
Zhao Xue
A. Stefanova
Khanty-Mansiysk, 2014

117
Initially at least, play proceeds naturally — the rook must be activated.

64.Ra6 Rf7+ 65.Kg6 Rf1 66.Ra7+

66...Kf8??

This appears logical, but the only drawing line was...

66...Ke6 67.h6 Rg1+ 68.Kh7 Rg2 69.Rg7 Rh2=

67.Ra8+ Ke7 68.h6 Rg1+ 69.Kf5 Rf1+ 70.Ke5 Rh1 71.h7!

118
Once more a typical tactical trick decides the game.

71...Rxh7 72.Ra7+ 1–0

6
D. Gurevich
I. Gurevich
Durango, 1992

76...Ra8?

The correct way was to fight with the king 76...Ke6! 77.Kg6 Ke5+ 78.Kg7 Ra7+ 79.Kh6 Kf5=

76...Ra8? 77.h6 Ke6

Not working either is 77...Rg8+ 78.Kh5 Rxg4 79.h7!+-

78.h7 Kf7 79.Ra4!!

A powerful tactical move!

1–0

7
I. Novikov
B. Lalic
Manila, 1992

119
A very difficult defence, brilliantly executed by Lalic.

84...Ke6

84...Rh8? 85.Re4!+-

84...Ke6 85.a5 Rh8!!

The only move! Wrong was 85...Kd6 86.Kb6 Rh8 87.Rd4+ Ke5 88.Rd7!+-

86.Kb7 Kd5! 87.Rg4

87.a6 Kc5 88.Rb1 Rh7+ 89.Kb8 Rh8+ 90.Ka7 Rh7+ 91.Rb7 Rh6=

87...Kc5 88.Rg7 Rh6! 89.a6 Rb6+ 90.Ka7 Rb1 91.Rb7 Ra1 1/2

8
A. Cherniaev
Arakhamia-K. Grant
London, 2015

120
73.Ra6?

73.Rg7! was the only way to victory. 73...Ke6 74.Ra7! Rg3+ 75.Kh4 Rg1 76.h7 Rh1+ 77.Kg5+-

73.Ra6? Rg3+ 74.Kh5 Rh3+?

Black returns the favour.

74...Kf5!=

75.Kg6 Rg3+ 76.Kf7 Kf5 77.Ra5+ Ke4 78.h7 Rh3 79.Kg6 1–0

9
L. Bensdorp
A. Sengupta
Dieren, 2007

121
1.Kd3

It was better to immediately create the basic position with 1.Rg8!

1.Kd3 Rg4 2.Ke3??

This is the decisive mistake. White should have played:

2.Ke2 Kg2 3.Rf8 h3 4.Rf2+ Kg3 5.Rf3+ Kh4 6.Rf8 h2 7.Kf2=

2...Kg2 3.Rd8

If 3.Rf8 now, the difference is 3...h3 4.Rf2+ Kg1! and there is no check on f1.

3...h3 4.Rd2+ Kg3 0–1

10
M. Gagunashvili
B. Michiels
Amsterdam, 2004

122
63...Ra1?

It was necessary to turn to the Vancura method of defence — using the rook from the side, and only
when the pawn advances to the seventh rank does the rook come from behind: 63...Re5+! 64.Kd3 Re6
65.a7 (No better is 65.Kc4 Rf6 66.Kb5 Rf5+ 67.Kb6 Rf6+ 68.Kb7 Rf7+ 69.Kc6 Rf6+ 70.Kd5 Rf5+
71.Ke4 Rf6) 65...Ra6

63...Ra1? 64.Kd3 Ra3+

Now the Vancura drawing method cannot be achieved: 64...Rd1+ 65.Kc4 Rd6 66.Kb5 Rd5+ 67.Kc6

65.Kc4 Ra1 66.Kb5 Rb1+ 67.Kc6 Rc1+ 68.Kb7 Rb1+ 69.Ka7 Kf6 70.Rb8 Rh1 71.Kb6

123
White decides on a more complicated winning method. Much simpler is to protect the b-file with
71.Rb5 Ke6 72.Kb6 Rh8 73.a7

71...Rb1+ 72.Kc7 Rc1+ 73.Kb7 Rb1+ 74.Ka8 Rh1 75.a7 Rh7 76.Rc8 Rh1 77.Rc6+ Ke5 78.Kb7 1–0

11
V. Bagirov
Y. Kraidman
Grieskirchen, 1998

14.Kd3 Rc5?

124
14...Kg5 15.Rb6 Rf4 16.a5 Kf5 17.a6 Ke5

15.Kd4 Rc1 16.Rf6+?

Winning was 16.a5! Ra1 17.Ra8

16...Kg5 17.Rb6 Ra1 18.Ra6!

18.Rb4 Kf6 19.Kd5 Ke7 20.Kc6 Kd8=

18...Kf5?

Transferring to the Vancura position was best: 18...Rf1

19.a5 Rd1+ 20.Kc5 Ra1 21.Kb5

21...Ke5

Also failing to save the game was 21...Rb1+ 22.Kc6 Rc1+ 23.Kb7 Ra1 24.Ra8 Rb1+ 25.Kc6 Rc1+
26.Kd6 Rd1+ 27.Kc5 Rc1+ 28.Kb4 Rb1+ 29.Kc3 Ra1 30.a6 Kf6 31.Kc4 Rc1+ 32.Kb5

22.Rh6!! Kd5 23.Kb6 Rb1+ 24.Kc7 Rc1+ 25.Kb7 Rb1+ 26.Rb6 Rh1 27.Rc6! Rh7+

27...Rb1+ 28.Kc7+-

28.Rc7 Rh1 29.a6 Rb1+ 30.Kc8 Kd6 31.a7 1–0

12

125
 O. Alexandrova
V. Cmilyte
Warsaw, 2013

47...Rg6+??

It was necessary — and good enough — to simply push the pawn: 47...a4 48.Rf3 Rg4 49.Kd5 Kb4
50.Rh3 a3–+

47...Rg6+?? 48.Kd5 Rg5+ 49.Kd6??

Returning the favour.

After 49.Kd4 Kb4 50.Kd3+ Kb3 51.Kd2 Kb2 52.Rf8 it is an easy draw. 52...Rd5+ 53.Ke2 Rb5 54.Ra8
Kb3 55.Kd2

49...a4 50.Rf3 Rg4 51.Kd5 Kb4 52.Rf8 a3 53.Ra8 Kb3 54.Kc5 a2 55.Rb8+ Ka3 0–1

13
V. Fedoseev
P. Smirnov
Khanty-Mansiysk, 2013

126
63.Kf4??

The logical move was 63.h5+- Black’s king is ‘horizontally cut’.

63.Kf4?? Kd5 64.Ra6 Rf2+ 65.Kg5 Rg2+??

The simple way to draw was 65...Ke5 66.h5 Rg2+ 67.Kh6 Kf5 68.Kh7 Rc2 69.Ra7 Kf6 70.h6 Rc8

66.Kf6 Rf2+ 67.Kg7 Rh2

127
68.h5!

For tactical reasons the h5-pawn cannot be taken, so there is no defence against h5-h6-h7.

68...Ke5 69.h6 Rg2+ 70.Rg6 Rb2 71.h7 1–0

14
T. Petrik
I. Saric
Pula Open, 2006

62...Rc6

Black’s main defensive idea is to uncut the king, as the pawn endgame is drawn. It is also possible to
draw with a different move and final method: 62...Rc7 63.a5 Rd7 64.Rc1 Kd6 65.Kb4 Rc7 66.Ra1 Kc6
67.a6 Ra7 68.Ka5 Kc7 69.Rb1 Kc8 70.Kb6 Kb8 71.Rh1 Rb7+!

62...Rc6 63.a5 Rd6 64.Ra1

128
64...Kd7?

A difficult moment. Also losing was 64...Ra6 65.Kb4 Kd7 66.Kb5 Ra8 67.a6 Kc7 68.Rc1+ Kd7
69.Rg1 Rb8+ 70.Ka5 Rb2 71.a7 Ra2+ 72.Kb6 Rb2+ 73.Kc5 Rc2+ 74.Kd4 Ra2 75.Rg8! But the draw
can be achieved with 64...Kd5! 65.a6 Rb6+ 66.Kc3 Rb8 67.a7 Ra8 68.Kb4 Kc6

65.a6 Rb6+ 66.Kc4 Rb8 67.a7 Ra8 68.Kb5 Kc7 69.Ka6 Rh8 70.Rc1+ 1–0

15
H. Nakamura
P. Leko
London, 2012

129
61.Rb7??

White had several winning moves. The best of them is 61.a6 Rc1+ 62.Kb6 Rb1+ 63.Kc7 Rc1+ 64.Kd7
Rd1+ 65.Kc8 Ra1 66.Ra8 Rc1+ (66...Ke6 67.Kb7 Rb1+ 68.Kc6 Rc1+ 69.Kb5 Rb1+ 70.Kc4 and White
will soon play a6-a7 and then R~8+ or Rh8.) 67.Kb7 Rb1+ 68.Ka7 Ke7 69.Rb8 Rc1 70.Kb7 Rb1+
71.Ka8 Rc1 72.a7 Kd6 73.Kb7 Rb1+ 74.Kc8 Rc1+ 75.Kd8 Rg1 76.Rb6+ Kc5 77.Rc6+ Kd5 78.Ra6+-;
Other winning moves are 61.Rc7+-;
61.Ra8+-;
and 61.Kc6

61.Rb7?? Ke6! 62.Rg7

There is also no win to be had after 62.a6 Rc1+ 63.Kb6 Kd6 64.Rb8 Rb1+ 65.Ka7 Ra1 66.Kb7 Rb1+
67.Ka8 Ra1 68.Rb6+ Kc7 69.Ka7 Rc1!

62...Rc1+ 63.Kb6

130
63...Kd6!

The only move. Much worse was 63...Rb1+ 64.Kc7 Ra1 65.Rg6+ (65.a6? Kf6!) 65...Kf5 66.Rh6 Kg5
67.Ra6+-

64.Kb7 Rb1+ 65.Kc8 Rh1 66.Rg6+ Kc5 67.Kb7

Or 67.a6 Kb5 68.a7 Rh8+ 69.Kb7 Rh7+ 70.Kb8 Rh8+ 71.Kc7 Rh7+ ‘sticking’ to the a7-pawn.

67...Kb5 68.Rg5+ Kb4 69.a6 Rh7+ 70.Kb6 Rh6+ 71.Kb7 Rh7+ 72.Kb6 Rh6+ 73.Kb7 Rh7+ 1/2

16
The Vancura Method

131
1...Ra5 2.Kf3 Rf5+!

Passive defence is useless: 2...Kh7?! 3.Ke4 Kg7? (There was still a last chance: 3...Rb5! 4.Ra7+ Kg6
5.Rb7 Ra5 6.a7 Kf6 7.Kd4 Ke6 8.Kc4 Kd6 9.Kb4 Ra1 10.Kb5 Rb1+; 3...Rc5!=) 4.Kd4 Kf7 5.Kc4
Ra1 6.Kb5 Rb1+ 7.Kc6 Rc1+ 8.Kb6 Rb1+ 9.Ka7 Ke7 10.Rb8 Ra1 11.Kb7 (11.Rb6) 11...Rb1+ 12.Ka8
Ra1 13.a7 Kd6 14.Kb7 Rb1+ 15.Kc8 Rc1+ 16.Kd8 Rh1 17.Rb6+ Kc5 18.Rc6+ Kb5 19.Rc8

3.Ke4 Rf6

Now Black targets the pawn from the side — and when the white king comes to b5, chases it away with
horizontal checks.

1/2

17
D. Howell
H. Nakamura
Gibraltar Masters, 2015
As in all other cases, there are times when any method must be used carefully, as there are only a few
options for the method to work in any given situation. Even with few options, sometimes even the
‘obvious ways’ are wrong...

132
63.Kb2?

White prepares the Vancura defensive system, but a better way was 63.Rd3+ Ke4 64.Rc3 h4 65.Rc4+
Kf3 66.Kb2

63.Kb2? h4 64.Rd4

64...Ke3?

The winning procedure was to come closer to the pawn:

133
64...Kg3 65.Rd3+ Kf2 66.Rd4 (66.Rd2+ Ke3 Now the rook can leave the h-file 67.Rd8 Rg1 68.Rh8
Rg4 69.Kc2 Kf2 70.Kd2 Kg2) 66...h3 67.Rd3 h2 68.Rh3 Kg2 69.Rh8 Rf1 70.Rg8+ Kf2 71.Rf8+ Ke2
72.Re8+ Kd3

65.Rc4 h3 66.Rc3+ Kd4 67.Rg3

Now it is a draw!

67...Rh2+ 68.Ka1 Rh1+ 1/2

18
N. Short
F. Amonatov
Bangkok, 2012

68...Kf6?!

Black could simply play 68...Kh6 69.a6 Rg6 with an ideal Vancura defence.

68...Kf6?! 69.a6 Ra5??

There is a ‘lost in space’ feeling to Black’s play!

He had only one move to hold the draw, the theoretical 69...Rd5! but to find such an ‘only’ move was
not easy.

70.Ra8 Ra4 71.Kd3 Kg7 72.Kc3 Rf4 73.Ra7+

134
73...Kg6

73...Kf6 74.Kb3!

74.Rb7 Ra4 75.a7 Kf6 76.Kb3 Ra1 77.Kc4 Ke6 78.Kc5 1–0

19
H. Melkumyan
A. Mikaelyan
Erevan, 2014

135
106...Ra4

Very simple was to use the Vancura method of attack from the side, 106...Re5 107.a6 Re6+ 108.Kb5
Re5+ 109.Kc4 Re6 and on 110.a7 Ra6 111.Kb5 Ra1 112.Kb6 Rb1+

106...Ra4 107.a6 Ra1

Leading to an easy draw was the ‘normal’ way: 107...Kg4 108.Kb6 g5 109.a7 Kf3 110.Rf8+ Ke3
(110...Kg2? 111.Rf5) 111.a8=Q Rxa8 112.Rxa8 g4 113.Kc5 g3 114.Rg8 Kf2 115.Kd4 g2

108.Kb6 Rb1+

To the same draw led 108...Kg4 109.a7 g5 110.Rf8 Rxa7 111.Kxa7 Kh3 112.Kb6 g4 113.Kc5 g3
114.Kd4 g2

109.Ka7 Kg4 110.Rb8 Ra1 111.Rb4+

111...Kh3?

The last chance for a draw was 111...Kf3 112.Rb5 Kf4 113.Kb6 Rxa6+ 114.Kxa6 g5

112.Rb5! Kh4 113.Kb6

136
113...g5

Now it is too late to play: 113...Rxa6+ 114.Kxa6 g5 115.Kb6 g4 116.Kc5 g3 117.Kd4 g2 118.Rb1
Kg3 119.Ke3

114.Ra5 Rb1+ 115.Kc7 Rc1+ 116.Kd7 Rd1+ 117.Ke7 Re1+ 118.Kf7 Rf1+ 119.Kg7 Rd1 120.a7 Rd8
121.a8=Q Rxa8 122.Rxa8 g4 1–0

20
V. Bologan
E. Berg
Dresden, 2008
Now let us consider cases where transpositions into ‘edge pawn’ situations occur.

137
59.g5 hxg5+ 60.Kxg5 Rxh3 61.Ra7+ Kf8 62.a6 Ra3 63.Ra8+ Kg7 64.Kf5

64...Rf3+?

The only way was to find the more complicated path to the Vancura position with 64...Ra5+! 65.Ke6
Rh5! 66.Kd6 Rh6+ 67.Kc7 Rf6! Just in time!

65.Ke5 Rh3 66.Ra7+ Kg6 67.Rc7 Ra3 68.a7 Ra6 69.Kd5 Kf5 70.Kc5 Ke5 71.Kb5 Ra1 72.Kc6 Ke6
73.Kb7 Kd6 74.Rc6+ Kd7 75.Rb6 1–0

138
 21
H. Pfleger
J. Nikolac
Amsterdam, 1978

59.Rg6

59.Rb4

59.Rg6 Ra1

59...Rf8+ 60.Rf6 Rh8 61.Kg5 Rg8+ 62.Rg6 Rf8 63.h5 Ke5 64.h6 Rf5+ 65.Kg4 Rf1

60.Rg2 Kd6 61.Kg6

61.Re2 Rf1+ 62.Kg6 Rg1+ 63.Kh7 Kd7

61...Ke7 62.Kg7 Rh1 63.Rg4 Ke6 64.Kg6 Ke7 65.Rf4 Rg1+ 66.Kh7 Rh1 67.Kh6 Rg1 68.h5 Rg2
69.Kh7 Rg1 70.h6 Ke8

139
71.Rf6 Re1?

71...Ke7 72.Rg6 Rf1 73.Rg7+ Kf6 74.Kg8 Ra1

72.Kg7 Re7+ 73.Kg8 1–0

22
L. Tipary
D. Bronstein
Moscow-Budapest, 1949

140
94...Rh4

Also possible was the quicker solution: 94...Rd4+ 95.Ke5 a4 96.Rh6 Rg4

94...Rh4 95.Rg6

No change in the method of play was offered by the alternative 95.Rc6+ Kb3 96.Rc1 a4 97.Rb1+ Ka2
98.Rb8 a3 99.Rf8 Kb3 100.Rf3+ Ka4 101.Rf2 Kb5 102.Ra2 Kb4 103.Rg2 Rc4

95...Kb3?

Winning was 95...a4 96.Rg3+ (96.Ra6 Kb3 97.Rb6+ Rb4 98.Rh6 a3 99.Rh3+ Ka4 100.Rh2 Rb2
101.Rh4+ Kb5 102.Rh7 a2 103.Ra7 Kb4 104.Kd4 Rh2 105.Ke3 Kb3) 96...Kb4 97.Rg2 a3 98.Rf2 Rc4
99.Rh2 Kb3

96.Kc5!

96...Rb4

Nothing is promised by 96...a4 97.Rg3+ Kb2 98.Rg2+ either.

97.Rg3+ Kb2 98.Rg2+ Ka3 99.Rg1 Ka2 100.Rg2+ 1/2

23
L. Portisch
I. Farago
Budapest, 1965

141
92.Rg5?

Natural, but wrong. Portisch himself gives the winning line: 92.Ke6+ Kc6 (92...Kd4 93.Rb5 (93.Rg5)
93...Ra1 94.Kf6 Ke4 95.h5 Kf4 96.Rb4+ Kf3 97.Rb6 Rh1 98.Kg6) 93.Rg5 Re1+ 94.Re5 Rh1 95.h5
Kc7 96.Rd5! Kc6 97.Rg5 and then the king comes to help the h-pawn.
Also very good was 92.Rf5

92.Rg5? Re1+ 93.Kf6+ Kd6 94.h5 Rf1+ 95.Kg7

The pawn ending is drawn after 95.Rf5 Rxf5+ 96.Kxf5 Ke7 97.Kg6 Kf8

95...Ke7 96.Re5+ Kd6! 97.Rg5 Ke7 98.h6 Rf7+ 99.Kg6 Rf6+ 100.Kh5

142
100...Kf7

100...Rf1 101.h7 Kf7

101.h7 Rf1 1/2

24
S. Mamedyarov
H. Nakamura
Paris, 2017

143
88...Rh6??

White’s king is cut off horizontally and an easy draw could be held by 88...Kh2

88...Rh6?? 89.Kf4 Kh4 90.Kf5 Rh5+ 91.Kg6 Kg4 92.Kf7+ 1–0

25
M. Abdulla
K. Shevchenko
Tarvisio, 2017
Just look what are our young and strong players are doing at the World Juniors!

137.Rh8

In such cases it is also possible to keep the king closed in his box with 137.Rf8

137.Rh8 Rg1 138.Re8 Rg2+ 139.Kf3

Simpler was 139.Kf1 Rg7 140.Rf8

139...Rg7 140.Re1+ Rg1 141.Re8 Rf1+ 142.Ke2 Ra1

144
143.Rg8??

How is it possible not to know the basics?

143.Kf2! keeps the opponent’s king in the box forever.

143...Rg1

Suddenly we are in the winning position.

144.Rb8 Kg2

and the king escapes the checks...

145.Rg8+ Kh3 146.Rh8+ Kg3 147.Rg8+ Kf4 0–1

26
A. Graf
M. Velcheva
Acropolis, 2008

145
56.Rg4 Re2+ 57.Kf6 Kd5 58.h4

58.Kxg6 Re8 59.h4 Rg8+ 60.Kf5 Rxg4 61.Kxg4 Ke6

58...Re6+ 59.Kf7 Ra6 60.Rxg6 Ra7+ 61.Kf6 Ke4 62.h5

62...Ra6+?

An incorrect check. The correct way to keep the draw was with 62...Kf4 63.h6 Ra6+ 64.Kg7 Ra7+
65.Kh8 Ra8+ 66.Kh7 Kf5 67.Rg7 Kf6

146
63.Kg5 Ra5+ 64.Kh6??

64.Kg4!

This is the only winning move! 64...Ra1 65.Re6+ Kd5 66.Re8 Rg1+ 67.Kf5 Rf1+ 68.Kg6 Rg1+
69.Kh7 with a theoretically-won position since the black king is cut off on the d-file.

64...Ra7

64...Ra1! 65.Kh7 Kf5 66.h6 Ra7+ 67.Rg7 Ra6=

65.Rf6!

Reaching one of our basic winning positions.

65...Ra1 66.Kg7 Rg1+ 67.Kf7 Ke5 68.h6 Rb1 69.Kg7 Rh1 70.Rg6 1–0

27
B. Jobava
S. Ernst
Vlissingen, 2015

147
White threatens to win the a-pawn and Black’s rook must become temporarily passive.

58...Ra7 59.Kc5 Rb7

59...Kf3 60.Kb6 Ra8 61.Rxa5 Rb8+ 62.Kc6 Rb4 63.Ra8

60.Kc6 Rb4 61.Rxa5 Rg4 62.Ra8

62...Kg3?

It was necessary to conduct the Vancura method correctly: 62...Rg6+ 63.Kc7 (63.Kd7?? Rg4 (63...Kf3

148
with a draw) 64.a5 Rg5 65.a6 Rg6 66.Ke7 Kg3 67.Kf7 Rb6 68.a7 Kf4 69.Rf8 Rb7+ 70.Ke6+)
63...Rg7+ (63...Kf3 64.a5 Ke4 65.a6 Rg7+ (65...Kd5 66.Rd8+ Kc5 67.a7+-) 66.Kb6 Rg6+ 67.Kc5
Rg5+ 68.Kc4+-) 64.Kd6 Rg6+ 65.Ke5 Rg5+ 66.Kf4 Rh5 67.a5 Kf2 68.a6 Ra5 69.a7 Ra1 70.Ke4 Ke2
71.Kd5 Kd3 72.Kc5 Kc3 73.Rc8 Rxa7 74.Kb6++-

63.Kb5 Rg5+ 64.Kb4 Rg4+ 65.Kb3

There is no check on the third rank, the king protects the pawn and the rook can now move from its
passive position on a8.

65...Kf4 66.Re8 Rg1 67.a5 Kf5 68.Kb4 Rb1+

69.Kc5

and Black cannot avoid White building the known basic position of king on a8, pawn at a7 and the
black king cut off by four files.

1–0

28
N. Zhukova
N. Pogonina
Plovdiv, 2008

149
48.Rd6!

the king must be cut off on the d-file!

48...Kc7 49.Rd1 Rg2+ 50.Kxh5 Rg3 51.Kh6

Now it is easy — the king comes to h8 followed by the rook manoeuvre Re1–e8-g8, and then the king
emerges.

51...Rg4 52.h5 Rg2 53.Kh7 Rg5 54.h6 Rg2 55.Kh8 Rg6 56.h7 Rg2 57.Ra1 Kd7 58.Ra8

150
58...Ke7

58...Ke6 59.Rg8 Ra2 60.Kg7 Rg2+ 61.Kf8 Rf2+ 62.Ke8 Ra2 63.Rg6+ Kf5

64.Rf6+! Only this tactic helps White to win! 64...Kg5 65.Rf8 Ra8+ 66.Kf7 Ra7+ 67.Kg8

59.Rg8 Rf2 60.Kg7 Rg2+ 61.Kh6 Rh2+ 62.Kg6 1–0

151
CHAPTER 5
ROOK AGAINST TWO PAWNS

There are two types of such endings — with connected pawns, and with pawns on different sides of the
board. A very special case concerns the f- and h- (or c-and a- on the opposite side) which occurs very
rarely in tournament games and tends to be full of mistakes. Two pawns don’t guarantee the stronger
side an easy win, and there are many methods of fighting against them, such as the blockade in the case
of connected pawns. Anyhow, it is necessary to play these positions very carefully.

1
L. Brunner
K. Hulak
Germany, 1990

60...Rf4+?

It is always necessary to try to get a theoretically won position, even at the price of a pawn! 60...Rb2!
61.Rxa6 g4+ 62.Kf4 Rf2+ 63.Ke3 g3

60...Rf4+? 61.Kg2 Rf6 62.Ra4+ g4 63.Ra5 Rc6 64.Ra2 Rb6 65.Kh2?

A decent plan was to wait with 65.Ra3

65...g3+ 66.Kg2 Rg6 67.Ra4+ Kh5

152
68.Ra5+

It was better to try to keep Black’s king cut off: 68.Ra3 Kh6 69.Ra5 Kg7 70.Rf5 Kg8 71.Rf4 Rg5
72.Rf6 a5 73.Rf4 Kg7 74.Rf1 Kh6 75.Ra1 Kg6 76.Rf1 Rg4 77.Ra1 a4 78.Rf1 Kg5 79.Rf7

68...Kg4 69.Re5 Kf4 70.Re8 Rg5 71.Re6 a5 72.Re8 Kf5 73.Re1 a4 74.Re8 Rg4 75.Re7 Re4 76.Ra7
Kf4 77.Rf7+

77...Ke3!

153
A decisive pawn sacrifice, transferring into a theoretically-winning position.

78.Kxg3 Kd2 79.Kf3 Re3+ 80.Kf2 a3 81.Rd7+ Rd3 0–1

2
G. Kasparov
N. Short
London, 1993

45.Ra1

Much simpler was to keep the rook working from the side: 45.Rh6+! Kc7 46.Rh4

45.Ra1 Ke5 46.e4??

It was correct to switch the rook to the side defence after either 46.Ke2 Ke4 47.Rf1 Ke5 48.Rf4 or
46.Ra2 Kf5 47.e4+ Ke5 48.Ke3 Ra8 49.a5 Rh8 50.Rf2

154
46...Ke6??

To reach a draw it was necessary to activate his rook 46...Rc5! 47.a5 (Black also has time to return with
the rook after 47.Ra3 Rc4 48.a5 Rxe4 49.a6 Rf4+ 50.Ke3 Rf8=) 47...Rc3+ 48.Ke2 Kxe4 49.a6 Rc8
50.a7 Ra8

47.Ke3 Kd6 48.Kd4 Kd7 49.Kc4 Kc6 50.Kb4 Re5 51.Rc1+ Kb6

52.Rc4!

155
And Black resigned, as White is ready to transfer his king to support the e4-pawn, which cannot be
stopped.

1–0

3
I. Miladinovic
V. Doncea
Cannes, 2008

61...Ke5 62.Re1+ Kd4

Practically the same was 62...Kd6 63.Rd1 Re5 64.Kf3 g5 65.Kg4 Kc5

63.Re6 Rf1!

Black is ready to sacrifice the g6-pawn to get a theoretical and easily-winning position.

64.Kg3 g5

Also possible was 64...Kd3 65.Kg2 Rf5 66.Rxg6 d4

65.Kg2 Rf5 66.Kg3 Re5

66...Kd3

67.Ra6 Kd3 68.Ra5 Ke4 69.Kf2 d4 70.Ra3

156
70...Rb5

70...d3 71.Ra4+ Kd5 72.Ra8 Kc4; 70...d3

71.Rg3 Rb2+ 72.Ke1 Kf4 73.Rd3 Rb4

Another nice option was 73...g4 74.Rxd4+ Ke3–+

74.Kf2 g4 75.Ra3 Rb2+ 76.Kf1 Rc2 77.Rd3 Rc1+ 78.Ke2 Rc4 79.Ra3 Rc2+

Or 79...g3 80.Rf3+ Kg4

80.Kf1 Rc3 81.Ra8 Kg3 82.Rd8 Rf3+ 83.Kg1 Rf4 84.Re8 Kf3 85.Kf1 Rf7 86.Re6

157
86...g3 87.Rg6 d3 88.Rd6 Ke3+ 89.Ke1 g2 90.Re6+ Kf3 91.Rg6 Rf4 0–1

4
B. Larsen
E. Torre
Leningrad, 1973

A famous game in which the great Bent Larsen did not realize the advantage of his two extra-pawns.

1.c6

158
There is no win after 1.Rc6 Kg6! (1...Re1? 2.Kf5) 2.Kf4 Re1! Cutting off the king. 3.Rd6 Rc1 4.c6
Re1=

1.c6 Kg6! 2.Kf3

2.Kf4 Re1 3.Kf3 Kf7

2...Re1 3.Kf4 Re2 4.Rd5

4...Rc2!

The only move!

Not 4...Kxf6? 5.Rc5 Re8 6.Rf5+ Kg6 (6...Ke7 7.Re5+ Kf7 8.Rxe8 Kxe8 9.Ke5 Ke7 10.Kd5+-) 7.Re5
Rc8 8.Re6+ Kf7 9.Ke5 Rd8 (9...Ra8 10.Kd6 Rd8+ 11.Kc7+-) 10.Rh6 Kg7 11.Rd6+-

5.Rd6

5.c7 Kxf6

5...Re2!

Once more cutting off the king.

6.f7+ Kxf7 7.Kf5 Ke7

7...Rf2+?? 8.Ke5 Ke7 9.Rd7+ Ke8 10.Kd6+-

159
8.Rd7+

8.Rh6 Kd8=

8...Ke8 9.Kf6 Re1 10.Rd5 Rc1

Avoiding 10...Re2? 11.Re5++-

11.Rd6 Rf1+ 12.Ke6 Re1+ 13.Kd5 Rd1+

14.Kc5 Rxd6!

Now the pawn endgame is drawn.

15.Kxd6 Kd8 1/2

5
A. Beliavsky
I. Sitnik
Bled, 1996

160
Black is forced to transfer into a rook ending.

6...Qe2+ 7.Qc4+ Qxc4+ 8.bxc4 Rb2+ 9.Kc6

9...Re2

Leading to a theoretically-won position was 9...Kxc4 10.f5+ Kd3 11.Kd5+- and the king is cut off
horizontally.

10.Kd6 Kxc4 11.f5+ Kb5 12.f6 1–0

161
 6
M. Kozakov
A. Mikhalchishin
Ptuj, 2000

44.f5

White wins a pawn, but Black finds a great drawn setup!

44...Kg5! 45.fxg6 Kh6! 46.Rb6 Rc4

and if White wants to ‘uncut’ the king, it will be necessary to sacrifice his g6-pawn, which will lead to
a clear draw.

1/2

7
B. Lindberg
C. Bauer
Skopje, 2015

162
61.exf7?

White would not have had too many problems winning this endgame had he played 61.Rxf7+ Kg8
62.Re7 Kf8 63.Kf4+-

61.exf7? Re6 62.f8=Q+

This does not help as the 2 vs 1 ending is drawn.

62.Kf5 Rf6+ 63.Ke5 Rg6=

62...Kxf8 63.Kh5 Kg8 64.g4 Rd6 65.Re7 1/2

8
T. Giorgadze
M. Tal
USSR, 1978

163
44...Rd1!

Sacrificing a second pawn for activity. Losing was 44...Kf6? 45.Rd5 Rc8 46.d7 Rd8 47.Kg3! Ke6
48.Rd1 h5 49.Kf3 Rxd7 50.Rxd7 Kxd7 51.g4 h4 52.Ke4 Ke6 53.f3+-

44...Rd1! 45.Rxe5 Kf6 46.Re7 h5 47.Rd7

The only chance was to try 47.Rh7 h4 48.g4! hxg3+ 49.Kxg3+= (49.fxg3 Rxd6 50.Rh6+ Ke5 51.Rxd6
Kxd6 52.Kg2 Ke6 53.Kf2 Kf6=)

47...Rd2! 48.Kg3 Rd3+ 49.f3 h4+ 50.Kf2

No better is 50.Kg4 Kg6 51.Re7 Rxd6 52.f4 gxf4=

50...Ke6 51.Rg7 Kf5!

Weaker, but still possible, was 51...Kf6 52.Rh7 Kf5 53.d7 Rd6

52.Rd7 Ke6 53.Ke2 Rd5 54.Rd8

164
54...Ra5!=

It would not be a great idea to transfer into the pawn ending:

54...Rxd6 55.Rxd6+ Kxd6 56.f4+-

55.Kf2 Ra2+ 56.Kg1 Rd2

The white king is sent into passivity.

57.Re8+ Kf5 58.Rd8 Ke6 59.d7= Rxd7 60.Rxd7 Kxd7

We have reached a theoretical pawn endgame, where White cannot realize his material advantage.

61.Kf2 Ke6 62.Ke3 Ke5 63.Kf2 Kf6 64.Ke2 Ke6 1/2

9
L. Aronian
A. Morozevich
Mexico City, 2007

165
To win this endgame, White must create a passed pawn on the f-file, but it is only possible with the
help of the opponent.

48...Ra4+ 49.Kf3 Ra3+ 50.Kg2 Ra2 51.Kh3 Ra3 52.f3 Kh7 53.Kg2 Ra2+ 54.Kf1 Ra1+ 55.Ke2 Ra2+
56.Kd3 Kg7 57.Kc4 Ra1 58.Kc5 Rc1+ 59.Kd6 Rd1+ 60.Ke5 Ra1 61.Kf4 Ra4+ 62.Ke5 Ra1 63.f4
Ra2 64.f5 gxf5 65.Kf4 Ra5 66.Re8 Rxa7 67.Kxf5 Rf7+ 68.Ke4

68.Kg5 Rf3

68...Rf1 69.Re5 Kg6 1/2

10
C. Schlechter
E. Lasker
World Championship 10th, 1910

166
54...Re4!

Black’s rook has to control the centre and cut off the white king. Other tries were completely wrong:
54...Kg7 55.c4 intending 56.Kf4+- Schlechter;
or 54...Rb4 55.c4 intending 56.Kf4+- Schlechter;
or 54...Ra1 55.Ra6 a4 56.Kf4 Rf1+ 57.Kg5 Rf3 58.Rxa4 Rxg3+ 59.Kxf5+- Tartakover

54...Re4! 55.Rc5

Black’s task would be a bit more complicated after 55.c4 a4 56.c5 Rc4 57.Ra6 Rxc5 58.Kf4 Rc3
59.Rxa4 Kg6 60.Ra6+ Kh5 61.Ra5 Kg6 62.Re5 Rc4+

55...Kf6 56.Rxa5 Rc4 57.Ra6+ Ke5 58.Ra5+ Kf6 59.Ra6+ Ke5 60.Ra5+ Kf6 61.Ra2

What else? White has proudly kept his extra two pawns, but his rook is so passive that there are no
longer chances to play for a win!

61...Ke5 62.Rb2 Rc3+ 63.Kg2 Kf6 64.Kh3

167
64...Rc6!

There was a pretty trick here: 64...f4? 65.Rb3! Rxc2 66.Rf3+-

65.Rb8

Or 65.h5 Kg5

65...Rxc2 66.Rb6+ Kg7 67.h5 Rc4 68.Rg6+

68.h6+ Kh7 69.Rf6 Ra4 was given by Capablanca as the concluding moves of this game.

68...Kf7 69.Rg5 Kf6 1/2

11
2012

168
Now let us come to a very important subject — two connected pawns. Not as simple as it might seem!
It is necessary to protect the king against checks...

1.g6 Kh8

or 1...Rf8 2.Kg5

2.Rf5

2...Rg8

169
After 2...Kg8 it’s an easy win with 3.h7+, then Kh5-h6 and g6-g7 (There exists another way too: 3.g7
Kh7 4.Rf8);
The defensive attempt 2...Ra8 doesn’t change anything, and we have the same choice 3.h7 (or 3.g7+
Kh7 4.Rf8; or 3.Rf8+ as in the main line)

3.Rf8!?

It is also possible to wait with 3.Kg5 and after 3...Ra8 make the choice, as above after 2...Ra8. But,
don’t allow the stalemate defence 3.h7?? Rxg6!=

3...Rxf8 4.g7+

4...Kg8

After the tricky 4...Kh7 just not queen or rook!

5.Kg6 1–0

There is no defence against h6-h7.

12

170
Let’s look at positions with a connected g & h-pawn advantage. These kinds of positions are winning in
general, but as we will see there may well be exceptions. White must mainly take care of the black
king, not allowing him to stand between the pawns. First off, let’s see the winning technique!

74...Rb4+ 75.Rg4 Rb1

Black tries to make the task harder by threatening both vertical and horizontal checks.

76.Rf4

White must keep his rook close by, so he can restrict Black’s checks.

76...Rh1+ 77.Kg4 Rg1+ 78.Kf5 Ra1 79.h6+!

Finally we can push our pawn, but the continuation remains difficult.

79...Kh7 80.Kg4!

Trying to find shelter on h5!

80...Rg1+

This time it would only make the job easier if the king were to go between the pawns with 80...Kg6
because of 81.Rf6+ Kh7 82.Rf7+ Kg8 (82...Kg6 83.Rg7#) 83.Rd7+-

81.Kh5 Rh1+ 82.Rh4 Rg1

Here we are! How should White continue?

171
83.Rh2!

A very important move, which places Black in zugzwang! He has only one way by which he can
prevent the g6 move...

83...Rg3

However, with this move, the rook comes too close to the king, and the checks will no longer be a
threat.

84.Re2! Rh3+ 85.Kg4 Ra3 86.Re7+

When Black’s king is forced to the back rank, the win is very close.

86...Kg8

86...Kg6 87.Rg7#

87.g6 Ra4+ 88.Kf5 Ra5+ 89.Kf6 Ra6+ 90.Re6

172
90...Ra8

Due to the threatened mate on the 8th rank, the rook is forced into passive defence.

91.Rd6 Rc8 92.Ke7!

And White exchanges the rooks on the next move, and wins the game.

1-0

13

173
Black holds the draw even without keeping his king between the white pawns. The rook is obliged to
passively defend the pawns, but this means his king remains unprotected from the side checks!

1.Rg6+

1.Kf4 Ra4+=

1.Rg6+ Kh7

White must settle for the draw!

1/2

14
J. Kling, 1851

The following example is probably the most important defensive position, in which Black can hold the
draw with several exact moves. Kling and Horwitz published this endgame in 1851, which is 167 years
ago! Let’s see why White can’t win!

1.Rd4 Rb6

Black defends against the 6th rank checks, and by passing with his rook, he waits for White to find a
plan.

2.Rd8!

The best chance! The point is, that after the check, the g5-pawn cannot be taken, since the h-pawn
promotes. At the same time, he threatens Rg8 check!

174
2...Rb4+ 3.Ke5 Rb7!

An extremely important move, controlling the h7-square, so the g5-pawn really is hanging now.
3...Kxg5?? 4.h7+-; Losing instructively is 3...Rg4? 4.Rg8+ Kh7 because of 5.Kf5!+- (5.Rg7+? would
have been a mistake: 5...Kh8 6.Kf5 Rf4+! 7.Kg6 Rf6+! 8.Kh5 Rxh6+! due to this nice stalemate idea!)
; 3...Rb5+ also draws, but in a more difficult way than 3...Rb7! 4.Rd5 (4.Ke6 Rxg5) 4...Rb7 5.Ke6 Ra7
6.Rd7 Ra6+ 7.Rd6 (7.Ke7 Kxg5 8.h7 Ra8 9.Kf7 Kh6=) 7...Ra7= as Dvoretsky showed in his book.

4.Rg8+ Kh7 5.Re8

5...Kg6

With the help of a nice trick, Black has the chance to force a draw immediately: 5...Rb5+ 6.Kf6 Rxg5!=

6.Kf4 Rb4+ 7.Re4 Rb6= 1/2

And we are back to the initial position.

15

175
Let’s get acquainted with this kind of ‘self-helper’ pawn duo. The h-pawn promotes to a queen, even
without the help of the king. Black cannot stop him. Almost anything could be played by Black, but
White’s next moves are h6, g5, Rg7, and then, h7, g6, Rg8, and finally h8=Q.

1.h6 Rh1 2.g5 Kf5 3.Rg7

and Black has no way to get closer with his king. The next moves are h7, g6 and Rg8.

1–0

16
V. Topalov
A. Grischuk
Wijk aan Zee, 2003

176
65...Ra5!

‘Sticking’ to the g5-pawn forever! The rook cannot leave the g6 square and if the king tries to help by
protecting the g5 pawn it will face a lot of sidechecks.
A draw is inevitable.

66.Kd3 1/2

17
K. Kull
R. Narva
Kilingi Nomme, 2002

177
73.h7+??

It was necessary to prepare this move:

73.Re5! Rb8 74.Kg5 Ra8 75.h7+ Kh8 76.Kh6

73.h7+?? Kh8 74.Kf7 Rf8+!

Pat defence!

75.Ke6 Rf6+!

Another one!

76.Ke5 Rxg6 77.Kf5 Rg7 78.Rxg7 Kxg7 1/2

18
I. Andrenko
Z. Mammadov
Albena, 2012

178
81...h2??

The correct path to the win is quite precise: 81...Rd3 82.Rf1 Kh4 83.Rb1

83...Rd4! Important prophylaxis: before pushing the g-pawn it is necessary to eliminate checks on the
fourth rank. 84.Re1 g3 85.Rb1 Rf4 86.Ra1 h2 87.Kg2 Rf2+ 88.Kh1 Kh3 and it’s time to resign.

81...h2?? 82.Rb3 Kh4 83.Rb4!

Of course, the transition into a pawn ending here is bad.

83.Rxf3?? gxf3 84.Kxh2 Kg4 85.Kh1 Kf4 86.Kg1 Ke3 87.Kf1 f2-+

179
83...Rh3 84.Rb8 Kg5 85.Rg8+ Kf5 86.Rf8+ Ke6 87.Re8+

87...Kf5

87...Kf7 88.Re4 g3 (88...Rh4 89.Re3 Kf6 90.Rg3 Kf5 91.Rg2 Kf4 92.Rf2+ Ke3 93.Rg2 Kf3 94.Rf2+!
Again, a pat defence!) 89.Rg4 Kf6 90.Rg8 Kf5 91.Rg7 Kf4 92.Rf7+ Ke5 93.Rg7 Black’s pawns and
rook cannot move and his king can’t help, so...draw!

88.Rf8+ Ke4 89.Re8+ Kf3 90.Rf8+ Ke2 91.Rf2+ Ke3 92.Rf8 Rf3 93.Ra8 g3

93...Rf2 94.Re8+ Kf3 95.Rf8+ Ke2 96.Re8+ Kf1

180
97.Re1+!!

94.Ra3+ Kf4 95.Rxf3+ Kxf3 1/2

19
M. Vidmar
V. Mikenas
Warsaw, 1935

85...Rc4??

181
Winning was the simple plan with 85...Rb3! 86.Rh4+ Kb5 87.Rh1 Rc3 88.Rf1 Rc1

85...Rc4?? 86.Rh3! Rc1 87.Rxa3+ Kb4 88.Rb3+ 1/2

20
Z. Varga
K. Troff
Budapest, 2013

53...Re3?

The wrong plan. The main task has to be to remove the blockading king. This can be achieved by
playing 53...Rh1! 54.Rc2 Rh4+ 55.Kf3 Kf5 56.c4 g4+ 57.Kg2 f3+ 58.Kg1 g3–+

53...Re3? 54.c4 Rc3 55.c5! Rxc5 56.Ra2!

After the pawn sacrifice and activation of the rook, the blockade cannot be easily removed.

56...Re5 57.Ra6+ Kf7 58.Rb6

Black can’t win and the next moves are just senseless!

182
58...Ke7 59.Rg6 Ra5 60.Rb6 Kf7 1/2

21
E. Sukhareva
E. Ubiennykh
Khanty-Mansiysk, 2014

62...Kxh4??

An easy draw was to be had after 62...Rg8 63.Rb7 Kxh4 64.Kf3 Kg5=

183
62...Kxh4?? 63.Kf3 Kh5 64.Rg2 Rg8 65.Kf4 Kh6 66.Kf5 Kh7

67.Kf6

And we have a theoretically-winning position.

67...Rf8+

A very pretty stalemate idea, but it doesn’t help.

67...Ra8 68.Rh2+ Kg8 69.Rh8#

68.gxf8=N+!

Underpromotion!

1–0

22
G. Serper
A. Chernin
Groningen, 1993

184
1...Rd8+??

In this important position the correct way to the draw was 1...Rc8 2.Rc3 Rh8! 3.Kd3

3...Rh4! 4.Rc8 (4.Rc7 Kxa3 5.b5 Kb4 6.b6 Ka5 7.b7 Rb4=) 4...Kxa3 5.b5 Kb4 6.b6 Rh7 7.Rc7 Rh8
8.b7 Rb8=
or 1...Rh8 2.Rc3 (2.Kc3 Kxa3 3.Rf5 Rh3+) 2...Rh2+ 3.Kd3 Rh4!=

1...Rd8+?? 2.Kc3! 2...Rc8+

2...Kxa3 3.Rf5! Rc8+ 4.Rc5 Ra8 5.Ra5+ Rxa5 6.bxa5+-

185
3.Kb2! Rh8 4.Rf6!

4.Rf5? Rh5! 5.Rf8 (5.Rf6 Kb5=) 5...Rh2+ 6.Kc3 Rh3+ 7.Kc4 Rh4+ 8.Kc5 Rh5+ 9.Kb6 Rh6+=

4...Rh2+ 5.Kc3 Rh3+ 6.Kc4 Rh4+ 7.Kc5 Rh5+

7...Kxa3 8.b5+-

8.Kb6 Kxa3

8...Rb5+ 9.Ka6 Rb8 (9...Rh5 10.b5!+-) 10.Rf5!+- intending b5

9.b5 Kb4 10.Rf4+ Kc3

11.Ka6

Now we have an easily-winning basic position.

1–0

23
S. Shurygin
J. Stocek
Pardubice, 1995

186
1.Kg3 Kf5 2.Kf3?

The route to the draw was not so easy: 2.Rf1+ Ke4 3.Re1+ Kd3 4.Kg2! (4.Rh1? Ke2 5.Kg2 Rh8
6.Kg3 Rh4‡ 7.Kg2 Rg4+ 8.Kh3 Rg1 9.Rxh2+ Kf3 10.Rg2 Rh1+ 11.Rh2 g4+–+; 4.Rd1+? Ke2 5.Rh1
Rh4) 4...Kd2 (4...h1=Q+ 5.Rxh1 Rxh1 6.Kxh1 Ke3 7.Kg2 Kf4 8.Kf2=) 5.Ra1!=

2...Rh3+ 3.Kf2 Kf4 4.Kg2 Kg4 5.Kf2 Ra3 6.Rxh2 Ra2+ 7.Kg1 Rxh2 8.Kxh2 Kf3

Now the pawn endgame is easily won by Black.

9.Kh3 g4+ 10.Kh2 Kf2

10...g3+?? 11.Kh1=

11.Kh1 Kg3 0–1

24
D. Eggleston
J. Groh
Teplice, 2009

187
1.a6+ Kb6 2.Kb4??

The win was to be found by deflecting the king from the pawns:
2.Rh6+ Kc5 3.Rc6+ Kd5 4.Rc8

2...Rg6!

As mentioned in the chapter intro, Kling and Horwitz first established this draw in 1851!

3.Rd4 Rh6 4.Rd8 Rh4+ 5.Kc3 Rh3+ 6.Kc4 Rh4+ 7.Kd5 Rh7! 8.Rb8+ Ka7 9.Re8 Kb6 1/2

25
D. Eggleston
J. Groh
Teplice, 2009

188
1...Rg8+ 2.Rd8 Rg5??

The draw can be secured in a few different ways 2...Rg7 3.Kb8 Rh7 4.Rd6+ Kc5! 5.a7 Kxd6 6.b6
Rh8+ 7.Kb7 Kc5=; 2...Rg6 3.Kb8 Rg7

3.Rd6+ Kc5

3...Kxb5 4.a7 Rg8+ 5.Rd8

4.Rc6+ Kxb5 5.a7 1–0

26
V. Malakhov
A. Kveinys
New Delhi, 2000
This position appears to be comfortable for Black, who has completed his blockade, but the rook’s
position on b8 is dangerous. Every other position on the back rank would be better.

189
60.Rf6!!

This preventive move stops the capture on b4 and does not allow Black’s rook to leave the b-file
because of Rb6.

60...Rb7 61.Kf4

The king cannot show his nose just yet!

61.Ke4?? Re7+

61...Rb8 62.Kf5 Rb7 63.Kg6!+-

and the king gets past the rook from the bottom of the board.

63...Rb8 64.Kf7 Rb7+ 65.Ke8 Rb8+ 66.Kd7 1–0

27
V. Sakalauskas
A. Nadanian
Polanica Zdroj, 1996
Here we can see great preparation of the basic drawing schema.

190
1...Rxh3! 2.Rxa7 Rb3 3.gxh5 g5!!

Other moves are losing: 3...gxh5 4.Rb7+-; 3...Rxb5 4.hxg6 Rf5 (4...Rb6 5.f5 Rf6 6.Ra5+-) 5.Ke3 Rf6
6.g7+-

4.fxg5 Rxb5 5.Ra8+ Kg7!

5...Kh7 6.g6++-

6.h6+ Kg6!

6...Kh7? 7.Ra7++-

7.Rg8+

7.Ra6+ Kxg5=

7...Kh7 8.Rg7+ Kh8 1/2

28
N. Arsenault
M. Baba
Budapest, 2010

191
There are quite instructive games where players did not chose the correct path, but this just shows the
difficulty of these quasi-simple positions.

72.Rb3+??

There was a nice way to draw: 72.Rb5 g4+ (The logical defence is met by the stalemate idea 72...Kf4
73.Rxg5! Kxg5) 73.Kxh4 Rh2+ 74.Kg5 g3 75.Rb3+ Kf2 76.Rb2+ Kg1 (or 76...Ke1 77.Rb1+ Ke2
78.Rb2+ Kd1 79.Rb1+ Kd2 80.Rg1 g2 81.Kf4 Ke2 82.Kg3) 77.Rb1+ Kg2 78.Kg4

72.Rb3+?? Ke4 73.Rb4+ Rd4 74.Rb5 Rd3+ 75.Kh2 g4 0–1

29
E. Moreno Tejera
S. Gomez Gomez
Villa de Albox, 2002

192
65...Rc3+?

As was mentioned before, such ‘self-moving’ pawns are unstoppable, here after 65...b3 66.Kb5 a4
67.Kb4 Ra2 68.Ra6 b2-+

65...Rc3+? 66.Kb5 b3 67.Rh2!

Stopping the b-pawn.

67...Kd3 68.Rb2! Kd4 69.Kxa5 Kc4 70.Ka4 Rh3 71.Rb1

Simpler was 71.Ka3

71...Rc3 72.Ka3 Rh3 73.Rc1+ Kd4 74.Rb1 Kc4 75.Rc1+ Rc3 76.Rb1 1/2

30
E. L’Ami
M. Cornette
Novi Sad, 2009

193
55.Kg2 Kg7??

Here it was correct to play 55...Rb1 to get the king between the pawns 56.Rxa2 Kg5 57.Ra4 Rb3
reaching an elementary drawn position.

56.Ra6 Kg8 57.Ra7 Kh8 58.Kh2 Kg8 59.g5 Kh8 60.Ra8+ Kg7 61.h6+ Kg6 62.Ra6+ 1–0

31
N. Pogonina
A. Stefanova
Monte-Carlo, 2015

194
97.f7?

There were a few ways to draw: 97.Rg7;

or 97.Rb8;
or the simplest 97.Ke6! Re4+ 98.Kf5 Rf4+ 99.Ke6 h4 100.Rb8 g4 101.f7 (or 101.Rh8+ Kg6 102.Rg8+
Kh7 103.f7 g3 104.Ke7) 101...g3 102.f8=Q+ Rxf8 103.Rxf8 g2 104.Kf6! As the black king is cramped
for space, there is no way to escape a draw after 104...Kh7 105.Rf7+ Kh8 106.Rf8+ Kh7 107.Rf7+
Kh6 108.Rg7 h3 109.Rg3 Kh5 110.Rxh3+ Kg4 111.Rh8

97.f7? Rf4 98.Ke6 Kg7?

Black could win with the correct king move here: 98...Kg6 99.Rb6 Rxf7 100.Ke5+ Kg7 101.Rb3 h4

99.f8=Q+! Kxf8

195
100.Rh7?

A draw could easily be achieved with 100.Rb5 Rg4 101.Kf6

100...h4 101.Rh5 Rg4 102.Kf5

Of no help is 102.Kf6 Kg8 103.Kg6 Rg3 and there follows the classical ‘roll’ ...h4-h3, then ...g5-g4,
then ...Rg3-g2 and so on.

102...Rg3 103.Rh7 h3 104.Kf6 Ke8 105.Ke6 Kd8 106.Kd6 Kc8 107.Kc6 Kb8 108.Kb6 Rb3+
109.Kc6 g4 110.Rh4 Rb1! 111.Rh7

196
111...Rb2

Or 111...g3 112.Rxh3 g2

112.Rh4 h2 113.Rh7 g3

There were so many ways to draw that Pogonina missed all of the right ones!

0–1

197
CHAPTER 6
METHODS

As we mentioned, there are basic positions and there are complicated ones; the latter we must play
using special methods or tactical possibilities to transfer into the basic positions. Knowledge of these
methods is absolutely necessary to play rook endings at a high level. The most effective tools are such
specialities as ‘sticking’, the ‘shield’ and others.

1
S. Winawer
S. Tarrasch
Budapest, 1896

A very effective and simple method is known as ‘sticking’, when the rook or king are attacking an
opponent’s pawn, or control some important squares, and it is impossible to drive them out.

73...Rh1?

The great teacher of German chess did not know at that time the sticking method: 73...Re1! The
simplest way to draw. 74.Ke6 Kf8 75.Rb8+ Kg7 76.Re8 Ra1

73...Rh1? 74.Rb8+ Kd7 75.e6+ Kd6 76.Rd8+ Kc5 77.e7 Re1 78.e8=Q Rxe8 79.Rxe8 b4

198
This version of rook against pawn is easily won.

80.Ke5 Kc4 81.Ke4 Kc3 82.Ke3 b3 83.Rc8+ Kb2 84.Kd2 Ka1 85.Kc3 b2 86.Ra8+ Kb1 87.Rb8
Ka1 88.Kc2 b1=Q+ 89.Rxb1+ 1–0

2
F. Portisch
S. Biro
Zalakaros, 1996

52...Re2+?

199
Black does not know the basic positions and main defensive ideas in rook endings! ‘Sticking’ could be
performed in the easiest way here with 52...Rf2! 53.Kf6 Kg8 54.Ra8+ Kh7 55.Ke6 Kg7

52...Re2+? 53.Kf6 Re8?

A draw was still possible with the classical ‘rook on the long side’, but even Carlsen did not perform
this method well. 53...Kg8 54.Ra8+ Kh7 55.Kf7 Rb2 56.f6 (56.Re8 Rb7+ 57.Re7 (57.Kf8 Rb6)
57...Rb8 58.f6 Ra8 59.Re8 Ra7+ 60.Ke6 Ra6+ 61.Kf5 Ra5+ 62.Re5 Ra6 (62...Rxe5+ 63.Kxe5 Kg8
64.Ke6 Kf8 65.f7) 63.Kg5 Ra1) 56...Rb7+

54.Kg6 Re1

54...Kg8 55.f6 Rb8 56.Rg7+ Kf8 57.Rh7 Kg8 58.f7+

55.Ra8+ Ke7 56.f6+ Kd7 57.f7 1–0

3
L. Aronian
M. Carlsen
Moscow, 2006

There was a choice here; to use the sticking idea, or else the classical rook on the long side and king on
the short. But the first method is much simpler and can be performed even by amateurs, whereas the
second demands proper procedures, like control over the back rank. In some cases it is necessary to find
‘only moves’ to survive.

69...Ra1

200
Magnus has achieved the classical sticking position, but suddenly he decides to switch to the other
classical method, the rook long side/king short side. 69...Re2! Simply sticking to the pawn. 70.Kd6
(70.Re8 Ra2 71.Kd7 (71.Rb8 Re2) 71...Ra7+ 72.Kd6 Ra6+ 73.Kd5 Ra5+ 74.Kd4 Kf7) 70...Kf7
71.Rd7+ Ke8 72.e6 Rd2+ 73.Kc7 Re2

69...Ra1 70.Ke7 Ra5 71.e6 Ra7+ 72.Rd7 Ra8

Magnus knew that the key to this position is control over the seventh rank.

73.Rd6

73...Ra7+?

The only move maintaining a drawn position was 73...Kg6! 74.Kd7 Kf6 75.e7+ Kf7 76.Rd1 Ra7+
77.Kd8 Ra8+ (77...Rxe7 78.Rf1+ Ke6 79.Re1+); 73...Rb8 74.Rd8 Rb6 (74...Rb7+ 75.Kd6 Kf6
(75...Rb6+ 76.Kd7 Rb7+ 77.Kc6 Re7 78.Kd6 Kf6 79.Rf8+) 76.Rf8+ Kg7 77.e7) 75.Kd7 Rb7+ 76.Kc6
Re7 77.Kd6 Kf6 78.Rf8+

74.Ke8 Ra8+ 75.Rd8 Ra7

Of no help was 75...Ra6 76.e7 Kf6 (76...Ra7 77.Rd1 Ra8+ 78.Kd7 Ra7+ 79.Ke6 Ra6+ 80.Rd6 Rxd6+
81.Kxd6 Kf7 82.Kd7) 77.Kf8

76.Rd7+ 1–0

4
Y. Yakovich

201
 B. Itkis
USSR, 1985
We have just seen examples of the rook sticking to the pawn, and now we will consider the king in this
function.

This is a much more complicated case...

1...e2! 2.Kxe2 Ke4!

The plan is to come over to the g5-pawn and keep attacking it.
2...Ke5? 3.Kf3 Kf5 4.Ra5++-

3.Ra5 Kf4 4.Kf2 Kg4 5.Ke3 Kh4! 6.Kd4 Kg4 7.Ke4 Kh4!

Other tries were wrong: 7...Re8+? 8.Kd5 Ra8 9.Ke6+-; 7...Kh5? 8.Kf4 Kh4 (8...Rf8+ 9.Kg3 Ra8
10.Kh3!+-) 9.Ra1 Rf8+ 10.Ke5 Ra8 11.Kf6+-

8.Kf4

202
8...Rf8+! 9.Ke4

It wasn’t possible to move forward: 9.Ke5? Rf5+

9...Ra8 10.Kd4 Kg4 11.Kc5

Finally White decides to allow the capture on g5.

11...Kxg5 12.Kb6+ Kf4 13.Ra4+ Kf3 14.Ra3+ Kf4 15.Kb7 Rxa7+ 16.Rxa7 g5

And this endgame of rook against pawn is drawn.

1/2

5
L. Fressinet
N. Grandelius
Malmo, 2014
Now we will see some methods which are more typical of pawn endings; pawn breakthroughs and
triangulation.

203
White conducts a nice breakthrough and creates a passed pawn.

45.b5! axb5

Or 45...Rd8+ 46.Kc6 bxa5 47.bxa6

46.a6 Rd8+ 47.Kc6 b4

47...Rxd3 48.a7 Ra3 49.Kxb6 b4 50.Kb7 b3 51.a8=Q

48.Kb7 b3 49.Rc3 1–0

6
F. Apsenieks
A. Alekhine
Buenos Aires, 1939

204
Black wins by using triangulation to gain an important tempo: we can say that this is a form of
zugzwang.

70...Ka5!

A much more complicated way would be 70...c5 71.Rc8 (71.a7 Rf7) 71...Rf7 72.Ra8 Rf5 73.a7 Rf7
74.Rc8 Rxa7 75.Kxf3 Re7

70...Ka5! 71.Ra7

Black faces no problems after 71.a7 Kb6 72.Rb8+ Kxa7 73.Rb3 Ka6

71...Kb5! 72.Ra8 Kb6 73.a7 Kb7

Mission complete; the dangerous pawn is eliminated.

74.Rb8+ Kxa7 75.Rb1 Ka6 76.Ra1+ Kb5 77.Rb1+ Kc4 78.Rc1+ Kd3 79.Rc5 Kd4 80.Rc1 c5
81.Rd1+ Kc4 82.Rb1 Kd4 83.Rb5 Rf4 84.Rb1 c4 0–1

7
N. Kopajev, 1952

205
This is the one of the most complicated wins, involving an incredible triangulation.

1.Kd6+!

1.Ra1 Rb7+ 2.Kd6 Rb6+ 3.Kd7 Rb7+ 4.Kc6 Rb2 5.Rf1 Rc2+ 6.Kd7 Rd2+ (6...Ra2 7.e7 Ra7+ 8.Kd6
Ra6+ 9.Kd5 Ra5+) 7.Ke7 Ra2

1.Kd6+! Kf6

1...Kg6 2.Ra1!; 1...Kf8 2.Kd7 Kg8 3.Kc7! Re8 4.Kd7 Rb8 5.Ra1 Rb7+ 6.Kc6 Rb8 7.Kc7 Re8 8.Kd7
Rb8 9.Rg1+ Kh7 10.e7 Rb7+ 11.Kd8 Rb8+ 12.Kc7 Ra8 13.Re1 Re8 14.Kd7

2.Kd7! Kg7

As always, the idea of triangulation is zugzwang, in this instance to force the black rook to move and
thereby achieve the decisive back rank position with his own rook.
2...Rh8 3.e7 Kf7 4.Ra1

206
3.Ke7!! Rb1

3...Rc8 4.Ra1 Rc2 5.Rg1+ Kh6 6.Kf7 Rf2+ 7.Ke8

4.Ra8

White controls the back rank, a crucial factor in similar positions.

4...Rb7+ 5.Kd6 Rb6+ 6.Kd7 Rb7+ 7.Kc6 Re7 8.Kd6 Rb7 9.e7 1–0

8
K. Chernyshov
P. Petran
Balatonbereny, 1993

207
53.Kc3

Another interesting way was 53.Ke3 Rxc4 54.Rf7 Ke8 55.Kf3 Rc1 56.Kg4 Rg1+ 57.Kf5 Rf1+ 58.Ke6

53.Kc3 Kc8

Of no help is 53...Rg1 54.Kd4 Rg4+ 55.Ke3 Ke8 56.Kf3 Rg1 57.Kf4 Kf8 58.Rf7+ Kg8 59.Rxc7 Rxg6
60.Rb7

54.Kd2 Kd8

54...Rg3 55.Ke2 Kd8 56.Kf2 Rg4 57.Kf3

55.Kd3!

Triangulation completed!

55...Rg2

55...Ke8 56.Rxc7 Rxg6 57.Rb7

56.Ke4 Rg1 57.Rg8+ Ke7 58.Kf5 Rf1+ 59.Kg5 Rg1+ 60.Kh6 Rh1+ 61.Kg7 Rh4 62.Rh8 Rxc4

208
63.Rh1

A bit stronger even was 63.Rh7 Rg4 64.Kh8+ Kf6 65.g7

1–0

9
I. Glek
R. Rapport
Germany, 2012
A very important tool in rook endings is cutting off the king. There are two forms as we have seen;
vertical and horizontal. They are very important methods of gaining time in order to continue pushing
our pawns.

209
52.Re6!

The first task is to cut off the black king. Weak was 52.c4? Kf7=

52.Re6! Kf7 53.Re5™

Now it is necessary to ‘uncut’ his own king.

53...Rh8 54.Kd4!

A classic mistake is 54.c4? as Black exchanges into a drawn pawn endgame.

54...Rd8+ 55.Kc5 Rc8+ 56.Kb4 Kf6 57.Re3!

White is ready to advance his pawn.

57...Rb8+ 58.Kc5 Rc8+ 59.Kd5 Kf5

Or 59...Rd8+ 60.Kc6 Rc8+ 61.Kd6 Kf5 62.Re5+ Kf4 63.Rc5 Re8 64.Rh5 Kg4 65.Re5 Rc8 66.Rc5 Rf8
67.c4

60.c4 Rd8+ 61.Kc6 Rc8+ 62.Kb5 Rb8+ 63.Ka5 Rc8

210
Now the king goes back, but only temporarily.

64.Kb4 Rb8+ 65.Kc3 Rc8 66.Re1!

The rook is preparing to come and protect his pawn from behind.

66...Kf6 67.Kb4 Rb8+ 68.Ka5 Rc8 69.Rc1 Ke6 70.Kb6! Kd7 71.Rd1+

The king is kicked away and the pawn runs through the middle, meaning Black’s defence has failed.

1–0

10
D. Shahinyan
A. Timofeev
Kazan, 2015

211
Here there is a choice of how to cut the opponent’s king off — vertically or horizontally.

52...Rc2?

Black had to cut off the white king along the 3rd rank — either immediately with 52...Ra3! or after
52...Ka5 53.Rb1 Ra3!

52...Rc2? 53.Rb1 Rc8

Here it is not enough for a win even to cut the king off on the d-file.

54.Kd3 Rc5 55.Kd4 Rc8 56.Kd3 Rc7 57.Kd4 Rc4+ 58.Kd3 Kc5 59.Rb2 Rc1

Preparing the transition into a basic draw. 59...b4 60.Rc2

60.Kd2 Rc4 61.Kd3 Rc1 62.Kd2 Rh1 63.Rb3 b4 64.Kc2 Kb5 65.Rg3 Ka4 66.Kb2 Rh2+ 67.Kb1 b3
68.Rg8 Ka3 69.Ra8+ Kb4 70.Rb8+ Ka3 71.Ra8+ Kb4 1/2

11
E. Bareev
B. Lalic
Lucerne, 1997

212
Here the situation is somewhat similar to the previous game.

64.Rh7!

Only this ‘cutting’ move wins the game, while other logical-looking decisions such as 64.g5? Re4+
65.Kg3 Ke6
or 64.Rf5? Ke6 lead only to a draw.

64.Rh7! Ke6 65.Kh5 Rf8 66.g5 Kf5 67.g6 Ke6

67...Kf6 68.Kh6 Ke6 69.Kg7

68.Kg5

68.g7 Rg8 69.Kg6+-

68...Rf1 69.Ra7 Rh1 70.g7 Rg1+ 71.Kh6 Kf6 72.Kh7 Rh1+ 73.Kg8 Rg1 74.Kf8 1–0

12
H. Nakamura
Y. Yu
Gibraltar, 2017

213
Even the absolute world’s best are not immune to completely inexplicable decisions.

63.Rb5?

There were three main possibilities and only this one leads to a draw...
White could cut off the enemy king along the 6th rank: 63.Rc6! Rf8 64.c5 Kf5 65.Kd3 Ke5 66.Kc4+-
or along the e-file: 63.Rc8 Ra5 64.Kd3 Kf5 65.Re8+-

63.Rb5? Kf4 64.Kd3 Rxb5 65.cxb5 Ke5 1/2

13
B. Grachev
D. Gordievsky
Moscow, 2014

214
Here Black had an important choice to make...

50...Rxb4??

In the endgame the king is often a useful piece and here Black would be OK after 50...Kg8. Instead
Black grabbed the b-pawn and paid a heavy price...

50...Rxb4?? 51.Rg1!

Now Black’s king is cut off!

51...Rb7 52.Kxe6 Rb6+ 53.Kf5 Rb7 54.Re1! Rb8

54...Kg8 55.Kg6 Kf8 56.Ra1 Rb8 57.Ra7

55.Rh1 d4 56.Rxh5+ Kg8 57.Kg6 Rb6 58.Rd5 Rb8 59.Rd7 d3 60.Rg7+ 1–0

14
K. Georgiev
L. Ljubojevic
Linares, 1988

215
68.Ra3!!

A great prophylactic ‘cut’!

68...Rd4

A more complicated line was 68...Ke8 69.Ra4!+- Kf7 70.d6 Rd4 71.Ra3 Ke8 72.Kc7

69.d6 Ke6 70.Re3+ Kf5 71.d7 Kf4

216
72.Re1™ 72...c3 73.Kc7 Rc4+ 74.Kd6 Rd4+ 75.Ke7 1–0

15
B. Kohlweyer
Ali C. Marandi
Bosna, 2014

63...Rg2?

It was necessary to first try to cut White’s king off: 63...Rd2! 64.Rc5 (64.Rd5 Rb2 65.b5 f6 66.gxf6
Kxf6 67.Kd4 Ke6) 64...Rd1 65.b5 f6 66.gxf6 Kxf6 67.b6 Rb1 68.Rc6+ Ke7 69.Kd5 Kd8 (69...Kd7
70.Rc7+ Kd8 71.Kc6+-) 70.Kc5 Rb2= (70...Rc1+ 71.Kb5 Rxc6 72.Kxc6 Kc8 73.b7+ Kb8 74.Kb6);
63...Rb2 64.Kd4 Rb1 65.Kc3 Rc1+ 66.Kb2

63...Rg2? 64.Kd4 Rg4+ 65.Kc3 f5 66.gxf6 Kxf6

217
67.Rd5

Now White has cut off the black king and the result is clear. A basic position.

67...Ke6 68.Rd1 Rg8 69.b5 Ke7

Now the horizontal cut is too late: 69...Rg4 70.b6 Ke7 (70...Rf4 71.Rd8) 71.Rd5 Rh4 (71...Rg6 72.Rb5
Rg8 73.b7 Rb8 74.Kb4) 72.b7 Rh8 73.Rb5 Rb8 74.Kb4 Kd7 75.Ka5 Kc7 76.Ka6

70.Kb4 Rd8 71.Rc1 Kd7 72.Ka5

Possible also was the ‘book’ win with 72.b6 Rc8 73.Rc5

72...Rc8 73.Rxc8 Kxc8 74.Kb6

More direct was 74.Ka6 Kb8 75.Kb6 Ka8 76.Kc7 Ka7 77.b6+

74...Kb8 75.Kc6 Ka7 76.Kc7 Ka8 77.Kb6 Kb8 78.Ka6 Ka8 79.b6 Kb8 80.b7 Kc7 81.Ka7

1–0

16
A. Konstantinopolsky
P. Fridman
Lvov, 1940

218
This is a high-class example of cutting the king!

1.Rc2!!

It’s an easy draw after the direct pawn push: 1.f7 Rxf7 2.Kxf7 Kc4 3.Ke6 a3 4.Rb8 a2 5.Ra8 Kb3;
1.Rb4 Kc5 2.Rf4 Kb5 3.f7 Rxf7 4.Rxf7 Kc4 5.Kf5 a3 6.Ra7 Kb3 7.Ke4 a2 8.Kd3 Kb2

1.Rc2!! Ke6 2.Rc3!!

Another study-like move. White must force the pawn to move.

A primitive draw results from 2.f7? Rxf7 3.Re2+ Kd5 4.Kxf7 Kc4=

2...a3 3.f7 Rxf7 4.Re3+ Kd5 5.Kxf7 a2 6.Ra3 1–0

17
V. Hansen
G. Jones
Fagernes Norsk, 2011

219
62...Rd4!

A very important ‘cutting’ of the king.

63.Ke3

The main idea is to make the connection between king and pawn impossible: 63.g6 b1=Q 64.Rxb1+
Kxb1 65.g7 Rd8 66.Kf4 Rg8

63...Rg4 64.Rc7+ Kd1 65.Rd7+ Kc2 66.Rd2+

On 66.Rc7+ then similar developments are seen after 66...Kb3 67.Rb7+ Rb4

66...Kc1 67.Kf3 Kxd2 68.Kxg4 b1=Q 0–1

18
A. Kotov
E. Eliskases
Saltsjobaden, 1952
There are many cases when the king is attacked by the opponent’s rook, but in some cases the opponent
has problems with his own pawns which are on the files from which the rook must attack. Such
‘umbrella’ pawns can even be prepared by sacrifices.

220
46.Rg7+

A materialistic approach is wrong because the g5-pawn is actually a useful element for White, as it will
perform the role of ‘umbrella’ for his king. 46.Rxg5? Rf1 47.Rg7+ Ke8 48.Rxb7 Re1+ 49.Kf5 Rf1+
50.Kg6 Rg1+ 51.Kh6 Kf8

46.Rg7+ Ke8 47.Rxb7

Wrong was 47.Ke6 Re4+ (47...Kf8 48.Rxb7) 48.Kf5 Rf4+ 49.Kg6 g4 50.Re7+ Kd8 51.Re3 Kd7 52.f7
g3 53.Rxg3 b5

47...Rf2

Nothing is changed by 47...Rh4 48.Ke6 Re4+ 49.Kf5 Rf4+ 50.Kg6 g4 51.f7+ Kf8 52.Rb8+ Ke7
53.Re8+

48.Ke6 Re2+ 49.Kf5

221
49...g4

49...Rf2+ 50.Kg6 g4 51.f7+ Kf8 52.Rb8+ Ke7 53.Re8+

50.Kg6! Rf2

Immediately losing is 50...g3 51.f7+ Kf8 52.Rb8+

51.f7+ Kf8 52.Rb8+ Ke7 53.Re8+ Kd6 54.f8=Q+ Rxf8 55.Rxf8 1–0

19
K. Georgiev
Z. Gyimesi
Porto Carras, 2011

222
89...g4!

Sacrificing the pawn to obtain a shield.

90.Rg8

The classical shield approach would work after 90.hxg4 Kf4 (90...Ke3 91.Re8+ Kf4 92.Kf1 Kg3)
91.Rb1 Kg3 92.g5 Rg2+ 93.Kf1 Rh2

90...Ke3 91.hxg4

91.Re8+ Kf4

91...Kf4!

The black king’s shield is ready. Why not use it?

92.Kf1 Kg3 93.Ke1 Re2+ 94.Kd1 Re7

and the f-pawn will be promoted.

0–1

20
M. Botvinnik
M. Najdorf
Moscow, 1956

223
67.g5! hxg5 68.Rd7+ Kf8 69.Rf7+ Kg8 70.Kg6

Mission accomplished! The pawn on g5 is a perfect shield, or umbrella, for the king. There are no more
checks!

70...g4 71.h6!

A much longer path to the win was 71.Rxg7+

71...gxh6

Nothing is changed by 71...Ra8 72.hxg7 g3 73.e7 g2 74.Rf8++-

72.e7 Ra8

224
73.Rf6!

The simplest way.

73.Rf6 g3 (73...Re8 74.Rd6 Rxe7 75.Rd8+) 74.Rd6 Re8 75.Rd8+-;
A bit longer was 73.Rg7+ Kh8 74.Kf7 (74.Kxh6) 74...h5 (74...Ra7 75.Rxg4) 75.Rg5

1–0

21
K. Lahno
B. Finegold
Saint Louis, 2011

225
In the game...

1.Kg5?

...was played and White duly lost. French GM Robert Fontaine showed that White could have saved the
game by playing 1.f7! Kg7 2.f8=Q+! Kxf8 3.Kg5= and even three pawns are not as important as the
king entering the attack.

1.Kg5? Rg2+ 2.Kh6 b4 3.f4

White would be completely helpless after 3.Rxb4 Kf7

3...b3 4.Kh7 b2 5.Kh6 b1=Q 6.Rxb1 Kf7 7.Rb8 Rh2+ 8.Kg5 Rh5# 0–1

22
A. Zaitsev
R. Huebner
Buesum, 1969

226
57...Rb1??

The best way to reach a draw is by 57...Ra5 58.f5 Ra1 59.Kh5 Rg1 60.Kg6 Rxg4+ 61.Kxf6 Rg1 (The
sticking method is also sufficient here: 61...Rf4 62.Rd8+ (62.Kg6 Rg4+) 62...Kh7 63.Ke6 Kg7
64.Rd7+ Kg8 65.f6 Re4+ 66.Kf5 Re1) 62.Rd8+ Kh7 63.Kf7 (63.Rf8 Ra1 64.Ke7 Ra7+ 65.Kd6);
On the other hand, 57...f5 58.g5 Rb4 doesn’t save the game...

59.Kg3! (59.Kh5 Rxf4 60.Kg6 Kf8 61.Kf6 Re4 62.Rd8+ (62.g6 Re8 63.Rh7 Kg8) 62...Re8 63.Rxe8+
Kxe8 64.g6 Kf8) 59...Rb3+ 60.Kf2 Rb4 61.Ke3;
57...Ra5 58.f5 Ra1 59.g5 (59.Kh5 Rg1) 59...Rh1+ 60.Kg4 Rg1+;

227
57...Rb2

57...Rb1?? 58.Kh5 Rg1 59.g5!

This is a typical pawn sacrifice to create a classical shield, or umbrella as it is called in some countries.

59...fxg5

60.f5!

Black’s pawn will protect White’s king against rook checks!

60.fxg5 Ra1 61.g6 (61.Kh6 Ra8)

60...Kf8 61.f6

61.Kg6; 61.Kg6

61...g4 62.Kg6 g3

62...Ke8 63.f7+ Kf8 64.Rd8+

Black resigned without waiting the mate on d8.

1–0

23
V. Burmakin
De J. Ramos

228
 Dubai, 2013
A pawn sacrifice is an extremely frequently used method to activate one’s own pieces, in order to win
time to push the pawn, or sometimes to transfer into a winning pawn ending.

82.e7 Ra8 83.Ke5 Ra5+ 84.Kd6 Ra6+ 85.Kc5 Ra8

To the same position leads 85...Ra5+ 86.Kc6 Ra8 87.Rf8

86.Rf8!!

This costs a pawn, but it’s a typical transfer into a basic winning pawn ending.

229
86...Rxf8 87.exf8=Q+ Kxf8 88.Kd6 Kf7 89.Kd7 Kg8 90.Ke7 Kg7 91.Ke6 Kg8 92.Kf6 Kh7 93.Kf7
1–0

24
B. Spassky
V. Antoshin
Sochi, 1965

46.Kd4!

If you need to sacrifice a pawn it is often necessary to do so quickly. Black could fix his defences after
46.b6 Kf6 47.Kd4 Ke6

46.Kd4! Rxf2 47.Re7!

Another possibility was 47.Rc7

47...Rb2 48.Kc4

Spassky tries to play in a controlled way, protecting if necessary the pawn on g3.
Also possible was 48.Kc5 Rb3 49.b6 Rxg3 50.Re5! Rc3+ 51.Kd6 Rd3+ 52.Rd5 Rb3 53.Kc6

48...Kf6 49.Re3! Kf5 50.Rb3 Rc2+ 51.Kd5 Kg4 52.b6 Rc8 53.b7 Rb8

230
54.Ke5!

This is simpler than the other winning move: 54.Kc6 f6 55.Kc7 Re8 56.b8=Q Rxb8 57.Rxb8
(57.Kxb8? g5 58.Kc7 (58.hxg5? fxg5 59.Kc7 h4 60.gxh4 gxh4 61.Kd6 h3=) 58...gxh4 59.gxh4 Kxh4
60.Kd6 Kg4 61.Ke6 h4=) 57...Kxg3 58.Rg8 f5 59.Rxg6+ Kxh4 60.Kd6 f4 61.Ke5 f3 62.Rf6 Kg3
63.Ke4 f2 64.Ke3+-

54...f5 55.Kf6 f4 56.gxf4 Kxh4 57.Kxg6 Kg4 58.f5 h4 59.f6 h3 60.f7

and now exact calculation to the end...

60...h2 61.Rb1 Rxb7 62.Rxb7 h1=Q 63.Rb4+ Kh3 64.f8=Q Qg2+ 65.Kh7 Qc2+ 66.Kh8 Qc3+
67.Kg8 Qg3+ 68.Qg7 1–0

25
A. Mikhalchishin
J. Eslon
Kecskemet, 1983

231
The extra pawn is not so important: it is necessary to push the passed pawn to the maximum.

45.a4!

Much worse was 45.gxh4 Re4+ 46.Kb5 Re5+ (46...Rxh4 47.a4 Rxh2 48.a5) 47.Kc6 Re6+ 48.Kc7 Ra6!

45.a4! hxg3 46.hxg3 Rxg3 47.a5 Rg1 48.Ra2!

The rook is ideally placed behind the passed pawn.

48...Rb1+ 49.Kc5 Rb8

A bit better was not to allow the pawn to reach the seventh rank. 49...Rc1+ 50.Kd5 Rd1+ 51.Ke5 Rd7
52.a6 Ra7 53.Ra4! Zugzwang! 53...f4 (53...Kd7 54.Kf6) 54.Kxf4 Kf6 55.Ra1 Ke6 56.Kg5 Kf7
57.Rf1+ Kg7 58.Rf6+-

50.a6 g5 51.Kc6 Kf6 52.a7 Ra8 53.Kb7 Rxa7+ 54.Rxa7 g4

232
55.Kc6

The white king is too close and Black’s pawns are not far enough advanced.

55...Ke5 56.Kc5 g3 57.Kc4 Kf4 58.Kd3 1–0

26
A. Karpov
A. Miles
Biel, 1990

233
33...Rf8?

The great Robert Fischer used to say ‘Chess is about timing!’ Here this means that it is necessary to
push the pawns, not to run for material: 33...b5™ 34.Ra6 Ra8 35.f5 Kc4 36.f6 b4 37.f7 b3 38.Rxa7 Rf8
39.Rb7 Kc3 40.g4 b2 41.Rc7+=

33...Rf8? 34.g4!

Karpov acts according to Fischer! Only forward!

34...Rxf4

34...b5 35.f5 a5 36.f6 a4 37.g5 a3 38.Ra6 a2 39.h4 b4 40.h5 Kb2 41.g6 b3 42.f7 a1=Q+ 43.Rxa1 Kxa1
44.g7+-

35.g5 b5 36.g6 Rf8 37.g7

Also possible was 37.h4

37...Rg8 38.Rc7 a5 39.h4 a4 40.h5 a3 41.h6 a2 42.Ra7 Kb2 43.Kf2 1–0

27
V. Korchnoi
G. Kasparov
London, 1983
One more method borrowed from pawn endings; the bodycheck is used in rook endings too, but in a
much more complicated way.

234
In the more complicated cases, the fight between the kings is often important. Here the bodycheck is
more camouflaged.

63.d5?

Correct was 63.Rd1! g2 64.Rg1 Ke4 65.d5 Rg6+ 66.Kf7=

63.d5? Rg6+!

Wrong was 63...g2? 64.Rd4+! Ke3 65.Rd1=

64.Ke7 g2 65.Rd1

65...Ke5!–+

This was underestimated by Korchnoi. He did not see that Black’s monarch will go not to help his own
pawn, but rather to attack his king.

66.d6

66.Rg1 Kxd5 67.Kf7 Rg3 68.Kf6 Ke4

66...Re6+ 67.Kd7 Rxd6+ 68.Rxd6 g1=Q 69.Re6+ Kf5 70.Rd6 Qa7+ 71.Kd8 Ke5 72.Rg6 Qa5+
73.Kd7 Qa4+ 74.Ke7 Qh4+! 75.Kf8 Qd8+ 76.Kf7 Kf5 77.Rh6 Qd7+ 0–1

28
V. Neishtadt
A. Volovich

235
 Moscow, 1958

1.c5?

The right way was to immediately avoid an attack by the opponent’s king: 1.Ke6! Kd4 (An easy draw
is reached after 1...Kf3 2.c5 Kg2 3.Rxh2+ Rxh2 4.c6 Kf3 5.c7 Rc2 6.Kd7) 2.Kf6 Kxc4 3.Kg6 Rh8
4.Kf5 Kd3 5.Kf4 Ke2 6.Kg3 Rg8+ 7.Kf4!

1.c5? Rh6+ 2.Ke7 Kd5!

Now the white king is chased from its pawn and is too far from the h2-pawn.

3.Kf7 Kxc5 4.Kg7 Rh3 5.Kg6 Kd4 6.Kg5 Ke3 7.Kg4 Rh8 8.Kg3

236
8...Rg8+

This check leads to a basic winning position.

9.Kh3

9.Kxh2 Kf2

9...Kf2 10.Rxh2+ Kf3 0–1

237
CHAPTER 7
ACTIVITY OF THE PIECES: THE MULTIFUNCTIONAL ROOK

In complicated rook endgames the most important attitude is activity. Activity means maximal use of
the king, rook and pawns and constant improvement of all pieces. But to see the power of activity, it is
also necessary to see what the disadvantage of passivity is. Activity is more important than material,
and in many cases one or two pawns can easily be compensated for by activity. The most active
position of the rook can be seen in cases where it not only attacks the opponent’s pawns but also
protects his own at the same time. Such powerful positions strong players can foresee and even prepare.

1
B. Larsen
W. Browne
Las Palmas, 1982

Black’s rook is very passive, but it is not easy for White to bring his king over to the b7-pawn.

1.Kg4!!

The natural 1.Ke4 did not work, e.g. 1...Ke6 2.f5+ Kd6 (2...Kd7 3.f6!+-) 3.f6 g6 4.Rb1 Kc6 5.Ke5
Re8+ 6.Kd4 Rb8=

1.Kg4!! Ke6

Of no help is 1...g6 2.Rb6+ Kg7 (2...Ke7 3.f5+-) 3.f5 Kh7 4.Kf4 Kg7 5.Ke5 Kh7 6.fxg6+ fxg6
7.Kd6+-

2.f5+ Ke5

238
2...Kd7 3.Kh5 intending f6

3.Rb4!

Not the only move. Also possible was 3.Rb3.

3...g6

Other options are no better: 3...Kd6 4.Kh5; 3...Kf6 4.Kf4 Ke7 5.Ke5 Kd7 6.f6 g6 7.Kd5 Kc7 8.Rc4+
Kb6 9.Kd6

4.fxg6 fxg6

5.Rb6!

Now it is time to transfer into a basic rook ending.

5...Kd4

5...Ke4 6.Re6+

6.Rxg6 Rxb7 7.Rxh6 Rg7+

7...Ke5 8.Kh5 Rb5 9.g4 Kf4+ 10.Kh4 Rb4 (10...Rc5 11.Rf6+ Ke5 12.Rf5+ Kd6 13.Rxc5 Kxc5 14.g5)
11.Rf6+ Ke5 12.Ra6+-

8.Kf4 Rf7+ 9.Kg5 Ke5 10.g4 Rf8

239
10...Rg7+ 11.Kh5 Kf4 12.Rf6+ Ke5 13.g5 Rh7+ 14.Kg6 Rh1 15.Kg7 with the classical Lucena
position.

11.Kh5 Rf7 12.g5 Kf5 13.Rh8 Ke6

14.Re8+

Here there a lot of winning moves, e.g. 14.g6

14...Kf5 15.g6 Ra7 16.Rf8+ Ke6 17.Rf1

Or 17.Kh6

17...Ra2 18.Kh6 Ke7 19.g7 Rh2+ 20.Kg6 Rg2+ 21.Kh7 Rh2+ 22.Kg8 Ra2 23.Rh1 1–0

2
S. Garcia
V. Tseshkovsky
Cienfuegos, 1981

240
1.Rc2?

White continues his passive strategy, but in such situations it is usually recommended to sacrifice a
pawn to activate the rook:
1.Rb7! Rxa2 2.Rb4 Ra1+ 3.Kh2 Rf1 4.Rb2 e3 5.Rb4+ (5.fxe3+ Kxe3 6.Rb3+=) 5...Kg5 6.fxe3

1.Rc2? Rg8+ 2.Kf1 Rb8 3.Kg1?!

Slightly better was 3.Rc1 but it wouldn’t save the game 3...Kg4 4.Re1 Rb4 5.a3 Rc4 6.Rb1 Kh3 7.Ke1
Kg2–+

3...Rb1+ 4.Kh2

241
4...e3!

Black creates his passed pawn and the white rook is not far enough to give sidechecks.

5.fxe3+

5.Rc4+ Ke5

5...Kxe3 6.Rc3+ Ke2 7.Rc2+ Kd3

and White lost due to the fact that he has not given up the a2-pawn. Had he done so, here he could play
8.Ra2 and the position would be a draw! The shame of materialism!

0–1

3
V. Arbakov
V. Gurevich
USSR, 1978

242
This example shows very clearly the difference between an active rook and a passive one. The rook on
g4 may seem to have some real function — but in reality it is doing nothing! And it cannot be moved to
some other, more serious job.

1...Rc1!

With the very simple and effective plan of ...Rc4 and ...e5.
Nothing is promised by 1...Re1 2.Kf3 and it is necessary to return to the plan from the game.

1...Rc1! 2.Kf3 Rc4 3.Ke3 e5! 4.Kd3

4.dxe5 Rxg4 5.hxg4+ Kxe5–+

4...Ra4

There was still time for Black to produce a blunder! 4...e4+? 5.Rxe4 dxe4+ 6.Kxc4

5.Ke3 e4 6.Rg3 Ra2

6...Ra3+ 7.Kf2 Ra4

7.Rg4

Of no help is 7.h4 Ra3+ (7...g4 8.h5 Ra3+ 9.Kf2 Rxg3 10.Kxg3 e3–+) 8.Kf2 Rxg3 9.Kxg3 gxh4+

7...Ra3+ 8.Kf2 Rd3

243
9.Rg3

Finally White’s rook is able to taste freedom, but Black’s connected passed pawns in the centre win
easily.

9...Rxd4 10.Ra3 Rd2+ 11.Kg3 Ke5 0–1

4
V. Kozlov.N
A. Mikhalchishin
USSR, 1978
This game was the turning point in my own understanding of the relationship between material and
activity.

244
1.Rxf7

There was a serious alternative here: 1.e4 f6 2.e5 fxe5 3.Kxe5 Re2+ 4.Kf4 b2 Intending ...Kg6-f6-e6-
d5-c4-c3µ 5.h4 Kg6 6.Rb6+ Kf7 7.g4 Ke7 8.Kg3 Kd7 9.Kf3 (9.Kf4 Kc7 10.Rb5 Kc6 11.Rb3 Kc5
12.Kg3 Kc4 13.Rb8 Kc3 14.Kf4 Kc2 15.Rc8+ Kd1 16.Rb8 Kc1 17.Rc8+ Rc2) 9...Kc7 10.Rb4 Rh2
11.Ke3 Kc6 12.Kd3 Rxh4 13.Rxb2 Rxg4

1.Rxf7 Rxh2 2.Rb7 Rg2

Nothing is promised by 2...b2 3.e4 Kg6 (3...Rd2+ 4.Ke6! Kg6 5.e5 Kh5 6.Rb8 Kg4 7.Kf7=) 4.e5 Kf5
5.Rf7+= Kg4 6.Rxg7+ Kf3 7.Rb7 Kxg3 8.e6 h5 9.e7 Re2 10.Kd6 h4 11.Rxb2

3.e4!

I was expecting a pleasant ending on one flank: 3.Rxb3 Rxg3 4.Kd4 h5–+ 5.Rb5 Kg6 6.e4 h4

3...Rxg3 4.e5 Kg6

The only chance to play for the win lay in the complicated variation 4...h5! 5.e6 Kg6 6.Rb8 Kf6 7.Rf8+
Ke7 8.Rf7+ Ke8 9.Rb7 Re3 (9...h4 10.Rb8+ Ke7 11.Rb7+ Kf6 12.Rf7+ Kg6 13.Rf8 Re3 14.Kd6 b2
15.Rb8 Kf6 16.Rf8+ Kg5 17.Rb8 Rd3+ 18.Kc5 Kf6) 10.Kd6 Rd3+ 11.Ke5=

5.e6 Rd3+

Once again it was possible to start running with the ‘edge pawn’: 5...h5!?

6.Ke5

245
Possible, but worse, was 6.Ke4 Rd2 7.Rxb3 (7.Ke5 b2 8.Rb8 h5 9.e7 Re2+ 10.Kd6) 7...Kf6 8.Rb7
Re2+–+

6...Re3+ 7.Kd6 Rd3+ 8.Ke5 h5

Now White has managed to activate all his forces and he is fighting with one pawn against three.

9.Rb8 Re3+

9...h4 10.e7 Re3+ 11.Kd6 Kf7 (11...Kf5 12.Rxb3 Re1 13.Rf3+ Kg4 14.Rf8 g5 15.e8=Q Rxe8 16.Rxe8
h3 17.Rh8 Kg3 18.Ke5 g4 19.Kf5 Kf3 20.Rh4 g3 21.Rxh3 Kf2) 12.Rf8+ Kg6 13.e8=Q+ Rxe8
14.Rxe8

10.Kd6

246
10...Kf6

Other tries did not give any serious winning chances: 10...Kf5 11.Rf8+ Ke4 12.e7 Kd4 13.Rf4+ Kc3
14.Rf3; 10...h4 11.e7 h3 (11...Kf7 12.Rf8+) 12.e8=Q+ (12.Rxb3 Re2 13.Rxh3) 12...Rxe8

11.Rf8+ Kg5 12.e7 b2 13.Rb8 Kf6 14.Rf8+

Simply bad was 14.Rxb2 Re6+ 15.Kd7 Rxe7+

14...Kg5 15.Rb8

White forces Black to repeat the position.

15...Kf6 16.Rf8+ Kg5 17.Rb8 1/2

5
M. Taimanov
V. Chekhov
USSR, 1976
This example shows great practical usage of the pawn sacrifice and comfortable control of the draw.
Without the pawn sacrifice Black might have faced a lot of problems.

247
This is a very useful practical position. Black is slightly worse because of his pawn islands and pawn
deficit. The pawn sacrifice helps to activate his own rook while making his opponent’s one passive!

1...Rd3!

1...Rc6 2.a4 Rd6 3.e4+ Kg6 4.Kg4 Rc6 5.f3 Rd6 6.Rb5 (6.Rc4) 6...Kf6

1...Rd3! 2.Rxb6 Ra3 3.Rb2 Ra4!

The simplest form. This idea could be conducted in a few different ways, e.g. 3...Kg6 4.Kg4 Ra4+
5.Kf3 Ra3 (5...Kf5); 3...e4

4.f3 e4

Leading to a basic theroetical position was 4...g4 5.e4+ Kg5 6.Rb5 gxf3 7.Rxe5+ Kf6 8.Rf5+ Ke6
9.Kxf3 Rxa2=

5.Rb5+ Kg6 6.fxe4 Rxa2 1/2

6
D. Barlov
H. Schussler
Haninge, 1988
Equal pawns, but the white rook is much more active. Black can wait and suffer, but there are players
who prefer activity, even at the cost of a pawn.

248
60...a5

...although a better form of activity was 60...Rd3 61.Rc6+ Ke5 62.Rxa6 f4+ 63.Kf2 Rd2+ 64.Ke1 Ra2=

60...a5 61.bxa5

Black would hold after 61.Rxb5 axb4 62.axb4 Rd4 (62...Rd3 63.Rb6+) 63.Rb6+ Ke7 64.b5 f4+ 65.Kf2
Rd2+ 66.Ke1 Rb2 67.Kd1 Kd7

61...Rd4 62.Rxb5 Ra4 63.Rb3 Rxa5

249
64.Kf4

Or 64.Rb6+ Kg7 65.Kf4 Rxa3

64...Ra4+ 65.Rb4

White can’t make progress after 65.Ke3 Ke5 66.f4+ Ke6 67.Rc3 Ke7

65...Rxa3 66.Rb6+ Kg7 67.Re6 Rb3 68.Re3 Rxe3 69.Kxe3 Kf7 70.Kd3 Ke7 71.Kc4 Kd6 1/2

7
T. Reich
M. Saltaev
Muelheim, 2016

54...Rg2?

It was necessary instead to activate the king: 54...Kf6 55.Rxf3+ Kg5 56.Rg3 Ra2= 57.Rg2 Ra1+
58.Kf2 Kf4 (58...Ra2+ 59.Kf3) 59.h6 Kg5 60.h7 Rh1=

54...Rg2? 55.Re3+?

Winning was 55.h6 Rxg4 56.h7 Rh4 57.Rc8! Rxh7 58.Rc7+

55...Kd6 56.Re4 Kd5 57.Ra4 Ke5 58.h6 Kf6 59.Ra8 Rh2 60.Ra5 Kg6 61.g5 Rc2 62.Ra8 Rh2
63.Rg8+ Kh7 64.Rg7+ Kh8 65.Rf7 Rg2 66.Rg7 Rh2 1/2

250
 Ruan, L
K. Lahno
Rostov, 2011

43.Ka2 h5 44.Ka3 h4 45.Rh5 h3 46.b3 Rh1?

The rook must be activated to the maximum, to protect its own pawn and attack the opponent`s one!
46...Rg2! 47.b4 h2 48.Kb3

48...Rf2! Waiting to see where White’s king will go in in order to prepare the correct check. 49.Rh6+
Kb7 50.b5 Rf3+ 51.Kc4 Rf4+ 52.Kd5 Rf5+

251
47.Kb4 h2 48.Rh7 Rg1 49.Rh6+ Kb7 50.Rxh2 1–0

9
Y. Balashov
L. Polugaevsky
USSR, 1976

Transferring into a rook endgame leaves Black with a very active rook.

33...Nd5! 34.Nxd5 exd5 35.Kf2 Rxa2 36.Rxd5 g6 37.Ke3 a5 38.Kd3 a4 39.b4 Rb2 40.Kc3 Rxe2
41.Ra5

252
41...Rxh2?

Better chances for the draw were promised by 41...Kf8! 42.b5 Ke7 43.Rxa4 Rxh2 44.b6 Kd7 45.Rc4
Rh1 46.Rc7+ Kd8 (46...Ke6 47.b7 Rb1 48.Kd4 g5 49.Kc5 Ke5 50.Rd7!+-) 47.Rxf7 Kc8 48.Rg7 Rf1
49.Rxg6 Rxf3+ 50.Kd4 Kb7 51.Ke4 Rf8 52.Rh6 Rg8 53.Kf4 Rg4+ 54.Kf3 Rg5=

42.b5 Rh1 43.Rxa4 Rc1+ 44.Kd4

Even stronger would have been 44.Kb4

44...Kf8 45.Rb4 Ke7 46.b6 Rd1+ 47.Ke3 Rd8 48.b7 Rb8 49.Kf4 f6 50.Rb6 g5+ 51.Kf5 Kd7 52.Rxf6
h4 53.gxh4 gxh4 54.Kg4 Rh8 55.Rb6 1–0

10
A. Lilienthal
V. Smyslov
Leningrad/Moscow, 1941

With White’s rook being so active, it seems that Black will have huge problems.

29...g5!

A very important move to support the net around his opponent’s king

30.Rxh7 Rxa2 31.Rh6+

253
White couldn’t really destroy the king’s ‘box’: 31.g4 fxg4 32.Rh6+ Kd7

31...Ke5!

The pawns are not important here — the activity of the rook and king come above all else!

32.Rxc6 Ke4 33.Rxc5

Nothing is changed by 33.h3 Kf3 (33...Kxe3 34.Rxc5 f4 35.gxf4 Ra1+ 36.Kg2 Ra2+) 34.Rxc5 Ra1+

33...f4!

Using the umbrella method!

34.exf4 Kf3 35.h3 Ra1+ 36.Kh2 Ra2+ 1/2

11
Y. Pelletier
E. Rozentalis
Yerevan, 1996

254
1...g4

A very interesting idea to prepare the penetration of White’s position

There was another way, but only enough for a draw: 1...f4 2.gxf4 gxf4 3.Rxb4 f3 (3...e3 4.fxe3 fxe3
5.Ra4 Rb2 6.b4! Ke4 7.Ra8 Kd3 8.Ra3+ Kd2 9.Ra1!=) 4.Ke1 Ra1+ 5.Kd2 Rf1 6.Ke3 Re1+ 7.Kf4 Re2
8.Kg3=

1...g4 2.Rxb4 f4! 3.Ra4 Rb2 4.gxf4

4...g3!

255
Here it was necessary to decide which pawn would be deadly for the opponent. Wrong was
4...e3 5.fxe3 Ke4 6.Ra1 Kxe3 7.Kg1 g3 8.Rc1 Kf3

5.fxg3 e3 6.f5 Ke4 7.f6

White is unable to save the game with 7.b4 Kf3 8.Ra1 Rf2+ 9.Kg1 Rg2+ 10.Kh1 Rxg3 11.Rf1+ (11.f6
Kf2–+) 11...Ke2 12.Rf4 Rf3–+

7...Kf3 8.Ra1 Rg2!

9.f7

Or 9.Re1 e2+ 10.Rxe2 Rxe2 11.f7 Rf2+ 12.Ke1 Ke3

9...e2+ 10.Ke1 Ke3 11.f8=Q Rg1+ 0–1

12
V. Anand
P. Blatny
Baguio City, 1987

256
1...Kb6??

In such situations it is usually a problem deciding which to activate first: the king, rook or pawns? Here
it was better to start with the pawns:
1...a5 2.Kd1 a4 3.Kc1 a3 4.Kb1 Rb2+ 5.Ka1 Rh2 6.c4 Kb6! 7.Kb1 (7.d5? Kc5 intending Kc4-b3 8.d6
Kb4) 7...Rb2+=

1...Kb6?? 2.c4 Rh4?

A very interesting defence was 2...Rh6 3.d5 Kc5 4.d6 Re6+ 5.Kf2 Rf6+ 6.Kg3 Rf7

3.d5 cxd5 4.cxd5 Re4+ 5.Kd2 Re7

257
6.d6??

The winning idea was 6.Kc3! Kb5 (6...a5 7.d6 Rg7 8.Kc4+-; 6...Rd7 7.Kd4+-) 7.Kd4+-

6...Rg7??

Here a draw could be achieved after 6...Rd7 7.Kc3 (7.Ke3 a5 8.Ke4 a4 9.Ke5 a3 10.Ke6 a2 11.Ra8
Rxh7 12.d7 Rxd7 13.Kxd7 Kc5 14.Ke6 b5 15.Ke5 b4 16.Rxa2 b3 17.Ra8 Kc4 18.Rc8+ Kd3=)
7...Kb5!= intending ...a5-a4, ...Rf7-d7

7.Kc3+-

Just as good was 7.Kd3.

7...a5 8.Kc4 a4 9.Kb4 a3 10.Kxa3 Kb5 11.Kb3 Rf7

258
12.Kc2!! Rd7™ 13.Kc3! b6 14.Kb3 Rg7 15.Kc2 Rf7

15...Rd7 16.Kc3

16.Kd3 Rd7 17.Ke4 1–0

13
V. Smyslov
E. Jimenez
Moscow, 1963

259
As we have just seen, it is possible to sacrifice pawns for activity. Here White immediately starts to
activate his king.

38.Kc4 Rh2 39.Kd5!

Much slower would be 39.b3 Kf7 40.Kd5 g5

39...Rxb2 40.Rc4!

It is necessary to activate the rook to attack the opponent’s pawns. Smyslov once said that the most
important element of rook endings is the activity of the rook.

40...Ra2 41.Rc8+ Kf7 42.Rc7+ Kf6 43.Rxa7 g5

44.a5!

A passed pawn must be created, even at the cost of a second pawn.

44...bxa5 45.b6 Rb2 46.b7 g4 47.Kc6 Rc2+

The black pawn will not run too far: 47...g3 48.Ra8 g2 49.Rg8 a4 50.Rxg2

48.Kd7 Rb2 49.Kc7 Rc2+ 50.Kb8

260
50...g3

Similar to the game was 50...Rb2 51.Rxa5 g3 52.Ka8 g2 53.Ra1 Kf5 54.b8=Q Rxb8+ 55.Kxb8 Ke4
56.Rg1 Kf3 57.e4

51.Ka8 Rb2 52.Rxa5 g2 53.Ra1 Kf5 54.b8=Q 1–0

14
G. Levenfish
V. Chekhover
Leningrad, 1934

261
White is a pawn down and his best chance is to keep attacking his opponent’s pawns with the rook.

31.Rd8+ Kg7 32.Kf1 Re7 33.Ra8!

The position of this rook keeps the black rook stuck to defence.

33...f5

Simpler was the immediate 33...Kf7. Anyhow, Black’s plan is to bring his king across to the a3-pawn
and then to try to create passed pawn on that flank.

34.f3 Kf6 35.Kf2 Ke5 36.Ke3 Kd5+ 37.Kf4

Activity is preferable to the objectively slightly stronger 37.Kd3 Kc5 38.h4 Kb5 39.h5 gxh5 40.Rf8
Ka4 41.Rxf5 Kxa3 42.f4

37...Kc4 38.Rd8 Kb3 39.Rd3+ Ka4 40.h4 a5 41.h5 b5 42.Kg5

262
42...gxh5

A very logical alternative was 42...Re6 43.Kh6 (43.h6 Re7 44.Rd8 Kxa3 45.Rg8 b4 46.Rg7 Re8
47.Rxh7 b3 48.Rb7 b2 49.h7 a4 (49...Ka2? 50.Ra7) 50.Kxg6 Ka2 51.Kf7 Rc8 52.g4 fxg4 53.fxg4
b1=Q 54.Rxb1 Kxb1 55.g5 a3 56.g6 a2 57.g7 a1=Q and Black will mate first.) 43...gxh5+ 44.Kxh5
Rg6 45.Kh4 b4 46.axb4 axb4 47.Rd7 h6 48.Ra7+ Kb5 and the b-pawn is ready to run.

43.Kxf5 Rg7?

Losing a tempo. The pawn had to be pushed immediately with 43...b4.

44.f4 b4 45.axb4 axb4 46.Kf6 Rc7 47.Rd8 b3?

It was necessary to prepare the pawn push with 47...Rc5! 48.f5 b3 49.Rb8 Rb5.

48.Ra8+ Kb4 49.Rb8+ Kc3 50.f5 b2 51.Ke6 Rg7

Now there is no longer a win: 51...Kc2 52.f6 b1=Q 53.Rxb1 Kxb1 54.f7 Rc8 55.Ke7 Kc2 56.f8=Q
Rxf8 57.Kxf8 Kd3 58.Kg7 Ke4 59.Kxh7 Kf3 60.Kg6=

52.Rc8+ Kd2 53.Rb8 Kc2 54.Rc8+ Kb1 55.f6 Rxg3 56.f7 Rf3 57.f8=Q Rxf8 58.Rxf8 h4 59.Kf5 h3

263
60.Kg4!

Just in time!

60...Kc2

60...h2 61.Rf1+ Kc2 62.Kg3

61.Rf2+ Kc3 62.Rxb2 Kxb2 63.Kxh3 1/2

15
A. Rubinstein
E. Lasker
St Petersburg, 1909
This was an extremely important game in which the rook endgame technique of Akiba Rubinstein
made a fantastic impression on the public. And his idea with the powerful rook on a6 was demonstrated
for the first time.

264
28.Ra6!

From this position the rook protects the pawn on a2, attacks the a7-pawn, and also cuts Black’s king
off. In such situations we call it a multifunctional rook.

28...Kf8 29.e4 Rc7

30.h4!

Now it is time to create a second weakness, on the other side.

265
30...Kf7 31.g4 Kf8

Of no help was 31...g6 32.h5 gxh5 33.gxh5 Re7 34.Kf4

32.Kf4 Ke7 33.h5 h6 34.Kf5 Kf7 35.e5 Rb7 36.Rd6 Ke7

37.Ra6

Faster was 37.Kg6

37...Kf7 38.Rd6 Kf8 39.Rc6 Kf7 40.a3 Re7 41.e6+ Kg8 42.Rc8+ Kh7 43.Rd8 Rb7 44.Rd7 1–0

16
A. Karpov
V. Hort
Waddinxveen, 1979

266
Here we have an equal number of pawns, but Black has three so-called ‘pawns islands’ and White —
just one! So, in such cases it is very important that the rook has the ability to attack pawns and limit the
activity of the opponent`s king.

28.Ra3 Re7 29.Ra5!

Possible was a manoeuvre similar to the previous game 29.Ra6

29...Kf7 30.h4

Now it is necessary to start activity on the king’s flank, where White’s pawns are in the majority.

30...h6 31.g4 Kf6 32.f4 Rb7 33.Kf3 Rc7 34.Ra6

Slightly better was to fix the flank with 34.h5

34...g6

After 34...Rb7 35.h5! (Similar was 35.e3 Rc7 36.h5! Rb7 37.Ra5) 35...Kf7 36.g5 Rc7 (36...hxg5
37.fxg5 Rc7 38.Kf4 Rb7 39.e4 Rc7 40.g6+ Ke7 41.Ra5 Kf6 42.e5+ Ke7 43.Kg5 threat is h5-h6.) 37.e4
Rb7 38.Kg4 Rc7 39.gxh6 gxh6 40.f5+-

35.Ra5 Rd7 36.e3 Rb7 37.h5 g5

267
The number of Black’s weaknesses would increase after 37...gxh5 38.Rxh5+-.

38.Ra6! gxf4

38...Kf7 39.f5+-

39.exf4 Rb3+ 40.Kg2 Rb7 41.Kg3

Just not 41.f5? Re7=.

41...Kf7 42.Ra4 Kg7 43.g5 Rc7

43...e5 44.fxe5 hxg5 45.Kg4+-

44.Ra5 Kg8

268
45.Rb5

In my opinion simpler was 45.Ra6 Kf7 46.Kg4 hxg5 47.fxg5 Rc4+ 48.Kf3 Rc3+ 49.Ke4 Rc4+ 50.Kd3
Rc7 51.Kd4

45...Kf7 46.Kg4 a6 47.Rb8 Rc1 48.g6+ Kg7 49.Rb7+ Kf8 50.Rb6 Rg1+ 51.Kf3 Rf1+ 52.Ke4 Re1+
53.Kd4 Ke7 54.Rxa6 Kf6 55.Ra7 e5+ 56.fxe5+ Rxe5 57.Ra6+ 1–0

17
B. Gelfand
A. Shirov
Moscow, 2010

269
49.Rb5+ Kg6 50.Rg5+!

Now the rook protects both of White’s important pawns and makes it possible for his king to go to the
queenside to help the passed pawn. It will be an easy task — thanks to the completely multifunctional
rook!

50...Kh6 51.Kg1

Now White’s king heads towards the passed pawn. Black tries his last chance — attacking the h4-pawn
— but it is refuted with careful play.

51...Ra1+ 52.Kf2 g6 53.Ke2 Rh1 54.Kd2 Rxh4

270
55.Re5!

White is forced to change his rook’s position to a defensive one, but his king will be very active now,
and Gelfand calculated the line very precisely.

55...Rh2

If 55...Rh1 56.Re1 Rh2 57.Rg1 h4 58.Ke2 h3 59.a6 and White wins.

56.Re2 h4 57.a6 h3 58.a7 hxg2 59.a8=Q g1=Q 60.Qh8+ Kg5 61.Qxh2 1–0

18
S. Volkov
A. Mikhalchishin
Batumi, 1999

271
Here I had very optimistic expectations...

44.Rc8 b6 45.Rc6!

Completely unexpected for me! A truly multifunctional rook — which stops Black’s pawns and
prepares the march of his own pawn to h5, attacking g6.

45...Ke7 46.h4! Kd8 47.Kf1 Rd1+?

Better was 47...Rd2

48.Ke2 Ra1 49.h5 Rxa2+ 50.Kf3 gxh5 51.Rh6 Ke7

No better was 51...Ke8 52.Rxh7 Rb2 53.Kf4! intending Kf5-f6=

52.Rxh7+ Ke6 53.Rxh5

272
53.Rb7 Rb2 54.g6 Rxb3+ 55.Kf4 Rb4+ 56.Kg5 Rg4+–+

53...Kf7

Other moves are also insufficient for a win: 53...Ke5 54.Rh7 Rb2 55.Re7+=; 53...Rb2 54.Kf4! Rxg2
55.Rh6+ Kd5 56.Kxf5=

54.Rh6! Kg7 55.Rc6 Rd2 56.Kf4! Rf2+ 57.Kg3 Rb2 58.Kf4 Rxg2 59.Kxf5 Rf2+ 60.Kg4 Rg2+
61.Kh5 1/2

273
CHAPTER 8
PLACEMENT OF THE ROOKS

We talked about activation of the rook, but in many cases the rook has to be placed on the proper files
or ranks, conducting necessary jobs such as cutting off the opponent’s king. As we mentioned before,
there is the very important method of ‘frontal attack’, which works only when the opposing passed
pawn has not crossed the middle of the board. The legendary Tarrasch made a rule, that with passed
pawns the rook must be placed behind it, no matter if it is our own pawn or the opponent’s. Of course, a
few methods mentioned previously run contrary to this rule, but only according to the demands of
position. Here we will see some technical problems faced by Grandmasters as to where to place the
rook.

1
M. Karff
N. Alexandria
Ohrid, 1971

1.Rd4+! Kxg3 2.Rd3+ Kg4 3.Ra3!

The rook has tremendous power from behind the pawn: Black’s material advantage cannot be realised.

3...Rh6 4.a5 Ra6 5.Kg2 Kf4 6.Ra1 h5

274
7.Rh1??

White tries to transpose into a basic drawn endgame with one pawn, but his knowledge here is faulty.
An easy draw can be held after either:
7.Ra4+ Ke5 8.Ra1 Kd6 9.Kf3 Kc5 10.Ke4 Kb4

11.Rb1+ (or 11.Rh1 h4 12.Rb1+ Ka3 13.Rb5 g4 14.Rg5 g3 15.Kf3) 11...Kxa5 12.Kf5 g4 13.Kg5 or
7.Rf1+ Ke4 8.Rh1 h4 9.Ra1 g4 10.Ra4+ Kf5 11.Kh2 h3 12.Kg3 Rh6 13.Ra2!=

7...Rxa5 8.Rxh5 Kg4!–+ 9.Rh7 Ra2+ 10.Kf1 Kg3 11.Rg7 g4 12.Rg8 Ra1+ 13.Ke2 Rg1 0–1

275
 2
A. Jussupow
J. Timman
Linares, 1992

One of the first rules that beginners learn is the maxim of the great chess teacher Siegbert Tarrasch:
Always put your rook behind the pawn, whether your own or your opponent’s. But in chess we must
usually act in very concrete situations and sometimes we must be ready to place our rooks differently.

35.Ra1??

What can be more logical than this natural position for the rook? But here the correct position for the
rook was elsewhere: 35.Re4! Ra5 (White’s task is even easier after 35...Kf5 36.Re5+ Kg4 37.Rg5+
Kh3 38.a5) 36.Ke3 Rd5 37.Re5 Rd7 38.Ke4 Rd1 39.Rb5 Ra1 40.a5 Ra3 41.Kd4! Rxg3 42.Kc5 Kf5
43.a6 Kxf4 44.Ra5 Rc3+ 45.Kd6 Rc8 46.Kxe6 Kg3 47.Ra4

35.Ra1?? Ra5 36.Ke3 e5!

Counterplay on the king’s flank had to be started immediately.

37.Ke4

Another logical try did not promise too much either:

37.fxe5+ Kxe5 38.Kd3 Kd5 39.Kc3 Kc6 40.Kb4 Re5 41.Rc1+ (41.a5 Kb7 42.a6+ Ka7 43.Ra3 g5=)
41...Kb6 42.Rc4 g5

37...exf4 38.Kxf4 Ke6 39.Ke4

276
A better attempt was 39.Re1+ Kf6 40.Re4 g5+ 41.Ke3

39...g5!

A rule of defence: reduce the number of pawns and create some weaknesses.

40.hxg5 Rxg5 41.Kf3 Ra5 42.Re1+ Kf5 43.Re4

43...Rc5!

Threatening to activate the rook.

277
44.Re3 Ra5 45.Ra3 Ke5 46.Ke3 Ke6 47.Ke2 Kd6

47...h4 48.gxh4 Rh5=

48.Kf2 Ke6 49.Re3+ Kd5 50.Ra3 Ke6 51.Ke3 h4 52.g4 Kf6 53.Kf4 Kg6 54.Kf3 Kg5 55.Ra2 h3

Yusupov proposed an easier line: 55...Ra8 56.a5 Rf8+=

1/2

3
A. Petrosian
N. Monin
St Petersburg, 1993

It seems logical here to place the rook behind the pawn, but in this instance the opponent’s king will
kick it out and the b-pawn will run forward.

81.Rb6?

Much better was to prepare the position of the rook in the centre to control the pawn:
81.f4 Ke7 82.Rd5 Ke6 83.Re5+ Kd6 84.g4 Ra2+ 85.Kf3 Ra3+ 86.Ke4 b4 87.g5 Kc6 88.Re8 Kc7
89.g6 b3 90.Rb8! A typical small tactic. 90...Kxb8 91.g7

81.Rb6? Ke7! 82.g4?

Chances were still promised by the other pawn move:

82.f4 Kd7 83.f5 Kc7 84.Re6 b4 85.f6 Kd7 86.Re7+ Kd6 87.g4 Rg5 (87...b3 88.Re1) 88.Re4 Rg6

278
89.Rf4 Rg8 90.f7 Rf8 91.g5 b3 92.g6 b2 93.Rb4

82...Kd7 83.Kg3

No better was 83.Rf6 Kc7 84.Rf5 Kc6 85.g5 Ra8

83...Kc7 84.Re6 b4 85.Re2 b3 86.Rb2 Rb5 87.f4 Kd6 88.g5 Ke6 89.Kg4

89...Rb4!

The pawn advances are stopped and there are no more chances to win.

90.Re2+ Kf7 91.Rb2 Kg6 1/2

4
V. Anand
S. Karjakin
Stavanger, 2017

279
55...Ra7!

Black must move his rook to the ‘long side’ and as far away from the pawn as possible.

56.Ke6 Ra6+??

Why hurry with the checks? Two different king moves were sufficient for the draw;
56...Kg7= and 56...Kf8=

57.Ke7 Ra7+ 58.Kf6 Rf7+ 59.Ke6 Ra7 60.Rd3!

Preparing the defence of his king from checks.

60...Ra6+ 61.Rd6

Simpler and more direct was 61.Ke7 Ra7+ 62.Kf6 Rf7+ 63.Ke6 Rf1 64.Ra3!+- and Black’s rook
cannot come to the long position.

61...Ra1

280
62.Ke7?

Winning, as mentioned before, was 62.Kf6! Rf1+ 63.Ke7 Rf7+ 64.Ke6 Rf1 65.Ra6+-

62...Kg7

Now Black has reached a basic drawn position.

63.e6 Ra7+??

But the only way to keep the balance was to take control of the back rank: 63...Ra8!

64.Rd7??

64.Ke8 Ra8+ 65.Rd8 Ra1 66.e7+-

64...Ra8 65.Rd8 Ra7+ 66.Rd7 Ra8 67.Rb7 Kg6 68.Kd6 Kf6 69.e7 Kf7 70.Rc7 1/2

5
A. Delchev
Ter-S. Sahakyan
Leon, 2012

281
80...Rb8 81.Ra7 Kh6 82.Re7 Ra8 83.Re6+ Kh7 84.Re8 Ra6 85.Re1 Ra7+ 86.Kf8 Ra8+ 87.Re8

A dangerous position in which mistakes are committed constantly!

87...Ra1??

87...Ra6! It was simply necessary to stop the pawn.

88.f6+- Rb1

Of no help was 88...Rf1 89.f7 Kg6 90.Re6+ Kh7 91.Ke8 Kg7 92.Re7!

89.f7 Rb7 90.Re1 Rb8+ 91.Ke7 Rb7+ 92.Kf6 Rb6+ 93.Re6 Rb8 94.Re8 1–0

6
V. Smyslov
G. Forintos
Monte Carlo, 1968

282
68.Rd3!

The rook will be best-placed attacking the f6-pawn, as well as protecting against checks on the third
rank.

68...Rb1+ 69.Rb3 Rh1 70.Rf3 Rh6 71.Rf5!

Here we see another multifunctional position.

71...Kd6 72.Rd5+ Kc6 73.Rf5 Kd6 74.f3!

Protecting the third rank against checks and now follows the next step of the plan-activation of the
king.

74...Rg6 75.Kb3 Rh6 76.Kc3 Kc6 77.Kd4 Rg6 78.f4 Rh6 79.Ke4 Rg6 80.Rh5!

283
80...Rg1

White was ready to attack the pawn: 80...Kd6 81.Kf5

81.Rh6 Re1+ 82.Kf5 Ra1 83.Rxf6+ Kb7 84.Rb6+ Ka7 85.Re6! Rxa5+ 86.Kg6

The king will support the direct run of the pawn.

86...Rc5 87.f5!

Protection of the pawn is possible, but it would slow down the win. So, who’s counting pawns! 87.Re4

87...Rxc4 88.f6 Rg4+ 89.Kf5 Rg1 90.f7 1–0

284
CHAPTER 9
EXPLOITATION OF THE WEAKNESS

During the middlegame we carry out plans, the aim of which is to find or provoke a weakness and to
attack it. The same situation is seen in complicated rook endings, just that some elements are a bit
different. We have the tremendous role of the passed pawn, and the activity of the king, for example,
but also extremely important is the presence of weaknesses and techniques of how to attack them. From
the theory of pawn endgames, we know the expression pawn islands. This usually describes
weaknesses; he who has more pawn islands, has more troubles.

1
J. Nunn
A. Mikhalchishin
Saint Jamme, 1973

Here I started some exchanging manoeuvres designed to transfer into a rook endgame. There, I saw that
my opponent would have too many weaknesses.

28...Be4! 29.Bf3 Bxf3+ 30.gxf3 Qd8+ 31.Qxd8+ Rxd8+ 32.Kc2 Rd4 33.Kc3 Rf4 34.Re1+

Nobody can seriously consider the ultra-passive 34.Rf1.

34...Kd7 35.Re3 h5

Possible was 35...Rh4 36.Rd3+ Kc7 37.Re3 Kc6 38.Re8 Rh3

36.Kb3 Rd4 37.Kc3 Rh4 38.Re2

285
38...Rh3

Trying to push the opponent’s rook to a more passive position on f2.

39.Rf2 Kc6 40.Kc4 Rh4+ 41.Kc3 Rf4!–+ 0–1

2
C. Schlechter
A. Rubinstein
San Sebastian, 1912
In this next game we can see how the classicist of rook endings, the mighty Akiba, prepares pawn
weaknesses, how he manoeuvres with his rook, and how he improves his king and then creates a passed
pawn.

286
25...e5! 26.dxe5 Rxe5 27.Re3

The threat was to come to the second rank, so White decided to exchange rooks.

27...Rxe3 28.fxe3 Re6 29.Re1 Rf6

This is stronger than the blockading move 29...Re4

30.Re2 Ke6

It is very important to activate the king.

31.Kc2 Ke5 32.c4

Black’s plan could not be stopped by 32.Kd3 Rd6+ 33.Kc4 Ke4

32...Ke4 33.b4

287
33...g5

Both sides are preparing passed pawns, but Black is much faster.

34.Kc3 g4 35.c5 h4 36.Rg2 Rg6

A bit more complicated was 36...Kf3 37.Rg1 g3 38.hxg3 hxg3 39.Rf1+ Ke2 40.Rxf6 g2

37.Kc4 g3 38.hxg3 hxg3 39.Kb5 bxc5 40.bxc5 Kf3 41.Rg1 a6+!

An unpleasant check after which White cannot advance his passed pawn.

0–1

3
S. Flohr
M. Vidmar
Nottingham, 1936

288
31.Rc5?

White transfers into a rook endgame, but imprecisely. Correct was 31.Ke2 Rxc6 32.Rxc6 bxc6 33.b4
Ke7 34.Kd3 Kd6 35.Kd4+-

31.Rc5? bxc6?

It was necessary instead to sacrifice a pawn for activity here: 31...Rxc6! 32.Rxd5 (32.Rxc6 bxc6
33.Ke2 Ke7 34.Kd3 Kd6 35.b4 c5 36.bxc5+ Kxc5) 32...Rc2 with typical compensation in the rook
endgame

32.Ke2 Ke7 33.Kd3 Kd6

Now the pawns at c6 and d5 will be blockaded and the weaknesses will be exposed later.

34.Ra5 Ra8 35.Kd4 f5 36.b4

It is time to increase the pressure.

36...Rb8 37.a3 Ra8

289
38.e4!

It is necessary to open the fifth rank, activating the rook. The main idea, as with the attack of any
weakness, is to create a second weakness and to combine the attack on both of them. Attacking pieces
are always much more mobile then defending ones.

38...fxe4 39.fxe4 dxe4 40.Kxe4 Ra7 41.Kf4 h6 42.h4 Ke6 43.Kg4

It is necessary to be precise and careful, preparing the creation of the kingside weakness.

43...Ra8 44.h5 g5

Not much better was 44...Rg8 45.Rxa6 gxh5+ 46.Kxh5 Rxg2 47.Rxc6+ Kd7 48.Rxh6

45.g3 Ra7 46.Kf3 Ra8 47.Ke4 Ra7 48.Kd4 Kd6 49.Ke4 Ke6

290
50.Re5+!

This check forces Black to open a path for the white king.

50...Kd6

Or else opening the other route, with the same end result: 50...Kf6 51.Rc5 Rc7 52.Ra5 Ra7 53.Kd4

51.Re8

Possible was 51.Kf5 Rf7+ 52.Kg6 Rf3 53.Ra5 Rxg3 54.Kxh6

51...c5 52.Rd8+ Kc6 53.Rc8+ Kb6 54.Rxc5 Rh7 55.Re5

Now everything is very easy.

55...Kc6 56.Re6+ Kb5 57.Kf5 Rf7+ 58.Rf6 1–0

4
A. Lein
P. Littlewood
Hastings, 1980

291
20...Ke7

Here there might have appeared an incredible repetition of sorts! After the rook exchange 20...Rxc1
21.Rxc1 Kd7 22.Rc4 Rc8 23.Rxc8 Kxc8

...the position in the pawn endgame would be exactly the same as the famous game Cohn-Rubinstein.
There, the great Akiba moved his king to h6 and started pawn activity on the king’s flank.

20...Ke7 21.Rxc6 bxc6

Black has a few weaknesses in his position, so White activates his rook via the fourth rank; from here it

292
will be easier to attack the pawns on both flanks.

22.Rd4! Rb8 23.b3 Rb5 24.Ra4 a5 25.Kg2 Rc5 26.Kf3 Re5 27.Rc4 Kd6

28.Rh4!

Forcing Black’s second ‘edge’ pawn to come to the fourth rank, closing that possible route for Black’s
rook.

28...h5 29.g4!

Now White creates a passed pawn.

29...hxg4+ 30.Rxg4 Ke7 31.h4 Rd5 32.e3 f5

Or 32...Rf5+ 33.Ke2 Kd6 34.Rd4+ Ke7 35.Rc4 Kd6 36.Rf4!

33.Rc4 Rd2 34.Ra4 Rd5 35.Ke2

It is necessary to deal with Black’s rook activity on the d-file.

35...Rb5 36.Rc4 Kd6 37.Kd3

The king enters the game and Black’s rook must avoid being exchanged, as in this case the pawn h4
will decide the game on its own.

37...Rb8 38.h5 Rh8

293
39.Rh4!

The rook behind the pawn is extremely useful.

39...Rh6 40.Kc4

As the h-pawn is blocked, the king will start his activity on the other side.

40...e5 41.f4

It was also possible to play simply for zugzwang with 41.Rh1.

41...f6

294
42.b4!

Now White creates another passed edge pawn.

42...axb4 43.Kxb4 Kd5 44.a4 c5+ 45.Kc3 Ke4 46.fxe5+ Kxe3 47.e6!

White’s pawn is stronger than Black’s.

47...f4 48.e7 Rh8 49.Kc4 f3 50.Kxc5 f2 51.Rh1 Kf3

Also easy was 51...Ke2 52.Kd6 f1=Q 53.Rxf1 Kxf1 54.Kd7 similar to the game.

52.Kd6 Kg2 53.Ra1 f1=Q 54.Rxf1 Kxf1 55.Kd7 f5 56.e8=Q Rxe8 57.Kxe8 f4 58.h6 1–0

5
M. Tal
L. Polugaevsky
USSR, 1977

295
26...Rc2 27.a4 Rc3 28.Rd7!

Activity comes first! Much worse was the passive 28.Rb1 a5 29.Ke4 Rc2

28...a5 29.b4! axb4

Wrong was 29...Rc4 30.b5 Rxa4 31.Rb7=.

30.Rd6?

Correct was 30.Rd4! Rb3 31.Rd6 Ra3 32.Rxb6 Rxa4 33.Rb7 and the black rook is terribly passive, only
protecting his pawn. White would keep great drawing chances.

296
30...b5!

Such mini-tactics are often overlooked, even by Grandmasters.

31.a5

After 31.axb5 Rc5 32.b6 Rb5 Black threatens to advance his passed pawn.

31...b3

The other option was 31...Ra3 32.Rd4 b3 33.Rb4 Rxa5 34.Rxb3 Ke5 35.Ke2 Kd5 and the king comes
to help his passed pawn.

32.Rd2

Not 32.Rd4 Rc4!–+

32...Ke5! 33.Ke2

Other moves were also insufficient: 33.Rb2 Kd5–+; or 33.a6 Rc6 34.a7 Ra6 35.Rb2 Rxa7 36.Rxb3
Rb7–+

33...Rc4

297
34.Kd1?!

Polugaevsky believed that some chances were promised by 34.Rb2! Rb4 35.Kd3! (35.a6 Kd5 36.a7
Ra4 37.Rxb3 Kc4–+) 35...Kd5 36.Kc3 Kc5 37.Rxb3 Ra4 38.Kb2 Rxa5 39.Rd3 Kc6 40.Rd8

34...Ra4 35.Rb2 Ra3! 36.Kd2 Ke4 37.Kc3 Rxa5 38.Rd2

38.Rxb3 Kf3 39.Rb2 f6 40.Kb4 Ra1 41.Kxb5 Rf1

38...Ra7

More direct was 38...Ra2! 39.Rd4+ Kf3 40.Rf4+ Kg2 41.Rxf7 Rxf2 threatening ...b3-b2.

39.Kxb3 Kf3 40.Kb4 Rb7 41.Kc5 b4 42.Kc6 Rb8 43.Kc7 Rb5 44.Kc6 Rh5! 45.Rd7

45.h4 Rf5–+

298
45...Kxf2! 46.Rxf7+ Kxe3 47.Rb7

Or 47.h4 Kd3 48.Rxg7 b3 49.Rb7 Kc4–+

47...Rxh2 48.Kd6 Rg2 49.Rxg7 b3 50.Kxe6 b2 51.Rb7 h5 52.Kf5 Kd3 0–1

6
N. Fercec
A. Mikhalchishin
Nova Gorica, 1997

299
1...g4!

The idea is to create a weakness on the king’s flank.

2.Rf1

Other moves are less good:

2.Rg3? f5 3.hxg4 fxg4 and White’s rook is well and truly arrested! 2.hxg4!? Rxg4 3.g3 b5 4.b4 Rg6
5.a3 Rh6 intending Rh3–+

2...gxh3 3.gxh3 Rh4 4.Rf3 b5 5.Ke2?!

Slightly better was 5.b4 g5 6.Rg3 Kf5 7.Rf3+ Kg6 8.Rg3 f5 intending ...g4–+

5...g5 6.Kf2 a5 7.Rg3

7.Kg3 Re4 8.Kf2 b4–+

7...c5

Now Black intends to create a weakness on the other side.

8.Kg2

8.a3 a4 9.Ke2 axb3 10.cxb3 Rh8 intending ...Ra8–+

8...b4 9.cxb4 axb4 10.Rf3

300
10...Rh8

And a weakness is created on a2 — as simple as that! It really shows the power and mobility of
attacking pieces when defenders have very low mobility.

11.Rf1 Ra8 12.Ra1

The rook is terribly passive here and Black’s king is now free to improve his position.

12...Ke4 13.Kf2 f5 14.Ke2 Rh8

Now the classical ‘returning’ to the old weakness.

15.Rh1 Rh4!

Preparing ...g5-g4, which did not work immediately: 15...g4? 16.h4

16.Rg1

White is forced to start a counterattack, but it’s not a successful one.

16...Rxh3 17.Rxg5 Rh2+ 18.Kd1 Kxe3 19.Rg3+ Kd4 0–1

7
A. Mikhalchishin
D. Velimirovic
Jugoslavija, 1992
The great Robert Fischer taught us that chess is about timing! It means here that if Black can play ...c6-
c5, then his position will be great. So, White temporarily sacrifices a pawn to destroy his opponent’s
structure and to create weaknesses.

301
21.c5!± dxc5 22.Qc3+

It was possible not to exchange queens: 22.Rc1!? Qe5 23.Qf2

22...Qe5

Even weaker was 22...Qf6 23.Qxf6+ (23.Qxc5) 23...Kxf6 24.Rc1

23.Rc1

Less precise was 23.Qxe5+ Rxe5 24.Rd7 a5! and Black would be able, after ...a5-a4, to create a
weakness on the queen’s flank.

23...f5

Now this counterplay does not work: 23...a5 24.Qxc5 a4 25.b4±

24.exf5 gxf5 25.Qxc5 Rd8

302
26.Rf2!

A prophylactic move controlling the second rank. It is not necessary to hurry here:
26.Qxe5+ Rxe5 27.Rxc6 Re2+ 28.Rf2 Rdd2 29.Rxc7+ Kg6 30.Rxe2 Rxe2+ 31.Kf1 Rxa2³

26...Rd6 27.Rc4!

Of course not 27.Qxa7? Rg6„

27...Qxc5 28.Rxc5 Kf6 29.Rfc2 Ree6 30.h4

Very good was 30.g4 fxg4 31.hxg4+- but I did not like the idea of exchanging pawns.

30...h6 31.Ra5 Rd5

303
32.Rxa7+-

The pawns start to fall like ripe apples!

32...Red6 33.Rxc7 Rd2+ 34.Rxd2 Rxd2+ 35.Kh3 Rc2 36.b4 Rc4 37.a4! f4 38.a5 fxg3 39.a6 Rxb4
40.Rxc6+ 1–0

304
CHAPTER 10
DIFFERENT TACTICS

Tactics are everywhere — helping to conduct winning manoeuvres, accelerating the promotion of
pawns and winning material. The quantity of tactics in rook endings is considerably lower than in the
middlegame, but here the tactical blows are sometimes even heavier!

1
N. Rossolimo, 1927

There are a few important tactical methods we need to know in rook endings. Of course, they are more
direct and simple than in usual middlegame positions. First and foremost in order of importance is the
simple check, according to Smyslov. Here we can see a very tricky preparation of the conditions for
discovered check by the king, ultimately winning the rook.

1.h7 Rh6 2.Kb5 Kb3 3.Kc5 Kc3 4.Kd5 Kd3 5.Ke5 Ke3 6.Kf5 Kf3 7.Rf8!

Threatening to queen the pawn, so...

7...Rxh7 8.Kg6+ 1–0

2
A. Troicki, 1910

305
The ‘king’ check can be prepared with forced play. The king has to try to come to help the pawn, but at
the end the tactical motif of a discovered king check will be necessary.

1.Kg4 Kg2 2.Kf4 Kf2 3.Ke4 Ke2 4.Kd4 Kd2 5.Kc5 Kc1 6.Kb6 Rb2+ 7.Kc6 Ra2

7...Rc2+ 8.Kd6 Rd2+ 9.Ke5 Rd7 10.Rc8+

8.Rc8! Rxa7 9.Kb6+ 1–0

3
M. Ulibin
V. Nevednichy
USSR, 1986

306
1...Ke3?

There was a very tricky preparation of the position, in which the king can ‘give a check’.
1...Kxf3! 2.a7

2...Ra3!!= An incredible preparatory move! After White’s check, Black will answer with the same!
3.Rf8+? Ke4+

1...Ke3? 2.Kg3 Ra1 3.Re8+!

Not winning was 3.a7 Rg1+ 4.Kh2 Kf2=.

307
3...Kd4 4.Kf4 Rxa6

5.Rd8+!

Even the simple attack of the pawn must be prepared well: 5.Kg5 Rb6 6.Rf8 Ke3=.

5...Kc5 6.Kg5+-

4
H. Herberg, 1939

308
This was a fantastic study using the same idea in a defensive role.

1.Rb6!!

The idea is to hide behind his own rook.

1...Rc1+ 2.Kb7+!

Hiding from check, giving check himself and... winning the pawn!

1/2

5
T. Petrosian
V. Kortschnoj
Moscow, 1963

The World Champion decided to win a pawn, thinking that he could stop his illustrious opponent’s
passed pawn very easily. But... he failed to consider the ‘king’s check’!

35.Rxh6?? f3!! 36.Kg5

Petrosian had overlooked 36.Kxf3 Kg7+ winning the rook.

36...Ke8!

A calm move. It was not necessary to give the opponent real chances to save the game with, e.g.
36...f2? 37.Rf6+ Kg8 38.Rg6+ Kh7 39.Rh6+ Kg7 40.Rg6+ Kf7 41.Rf6+ Kg8 (41...Ke8? 42.d7+)

309
0–1

6
P. Glavina Rossi
J. Oms Pallisse
Casablanca, 2010

It is necessary to expose the black king to checks by offering pawn sacrifices, opening the files.

36.g4+! hxg4 37.fxg4+ Kxg4 38.h5!

White either successfully exposes the king or creates another passed pawn.

38...gxh5

38...Kxh5 39.Rh8+

39.Rg8+ 1–0

7
A. Vyzmanavin
K. Lerner
Lvov, 1984

310
74.Kc2

Here we will see the very frequently used motif of the skewer.

74...Ra3 75.Kd2??

It was necessary to simply return! 75.Kb2=

75...h2!

And there is no defence against what happens in the game...

76.Ke2 Ra1! 77.Rxh2 Ra2+ 0–1

8
Z. Varga
H. Groetz
Austria, 2007

311
77...Rb3+ 78.Ke2??

It is incredible that an experienced Grandmaster made such an elementary mistake against a much
weaker player! There were two easy drawing options:
78.Kg2 and 78.Kf2 Rh3 79.Kg2

78...Rh3!

Probably came as lightning from blue sky!

79.Kd2 Rh1

and as in the previous game...

0–1

9
A. Shirov
V. Kramnik
Belgrade, 1999

312
59.Ra8?

Not spoiling the position yet, but a top player did not spot the winning tactical manoeuvre!
59.b6 Ra5+ (59...cxb6 60.a7; 59...c6+ 60.Ke5 Ra5+ 61.Kf6 Rxa6 62.b7) 60.Kc4 Ra4+ 61.Kb5

59.Ra8? Ra1

Also failing to save the game was 59...h5 60.a7 h4 61.b6

60.a7!

Now Shirov finds it in a more complicated form.

60...Rd1+ 61.Ke4 Re1+ 62.Kf3 Ra1 63.b6! cxb6 64.Rh8 1–0

10
I. Smirin
G. Kasparov
Yerevan, 1996

313
Kasparov conducted the method.

39...Ra1! 40.Kxe2 a2 41.Kf2 e4 42.h4 e3+ 0–1

11
E. Bukic
D. Marovic
Yugoslavia, 1968

Here there was even a double form of this tactical motif!

59.Rf6! Kxd7

314
Another variation on the theme is seen in 59...Rxa7 60.Rf8+ Kxd7 61.Rf7+

60.Rf8! Rxa7 61.Rf7+ 1–0

12
I. Vistaneckis
A. Sardarov
USSR, 1961

The old masters performed it powerfully. Just one remark; with the king on g7 it does not work!

1.f5!! exf5

Or 1...gxf5 2.g6 fxg6 3.Rh8

2.e6 Ra4 3.exf7 Kxf7 4.Rh8 1–0

13
S. Martinovicl
A. Dumpor
Novi Becej, 1986

315
1...g4! 2.hxg4

Black’s idea was to take on f2, then play ...h4-h3, and after the capture on h3 opens the second rank, he
plays ...Rh1 completing the manoeuvre.

2...h3! 3.gxh3 exf2

Mission complete.

4.Rb7+

4.Kxf2 Rh1

4...Kf6 5.Rb6+ Ke5 6.Rb5+ Kd4 7.Kxf2 Rh1 8.Kg3 b1=Q 9.Rxb1 Rxb1 10.Kf4 Kd5 11.h4

316
11...Rf1+ 12.Kg5 Ke6 13.Kg6 Rf6+

A slightly easier win was to be had after 13...Rf4.

14.Kg7 Rf7+ 15.Kg8 Ra7! 0–1

14
A. Evelev
A. Mikljeva
Moscow, 1993

317
1.Kc5?

This tactical motif was well hidden here but could have been performed by 1.g5! Ra1 2.f5! gxf5 3.g6
Sacrificing two pawns to clear the seventh rank! 3...Kf6 4.gxf7 Kxf7 5.Rh8

1.Kc5? Kf6!

If the king is transferred to g7, then this tactic will not be possible.

2.Kb6 Rb2+ 3.Kc7 Rc2+ 4.Kd7 Ra2 1/2

15
L. Polugaevsky
B. Parma
Soviet Union, 1965
Sometimes, even at the top level, tragedies and comedies appear.

White plan is to reach the classical position we have been looking at after opening the seventh rank.

60.a6 Ra4 61.Ra8+ Kf7 62.a7 Ra5 63.h6

and Black resigned, as he only saw the ‘forced’ capture on h6 and the subsequent rook to h8 and Rh7+
winning manouevre. But in chess, capturing is not obligatory!!

63...Kg6! 64.Kd4 Kh7!!

and Black can achieve a draw!

1–0

318
 16
R. Bertholee
J. Polgar
Amsterdam, 1990

35...Rb4!!

In reality, this is a tactical prevention against White placing his rook behind the black pawn! But
tactically it also allows the b3-pawn to queen.

36.axb4 b2 37.Ra5 b1=Q 38.Rf5 Qxb4 39.Kg2 Kf7 40.Kf2 Ke6 41.Kg2 Qb2+ 42.Kg3 Qb1

Black threatens to transfer into a pawn ending with an extra pawn and all rook moves lose here.

43.Rf4

43.Rc5 Qg1+;
43.Ra5 Qe1+

43...Qb8!

A deadly pin decides the game.

0–1

17
S. Volkov

319
 Y. Kruppa
Elista, 2000

62.g6+ Ke7 63.Rd8!

Threatening g6-g7.

63...Kf6 64.Rf8+

Or 64.Rd7 Rc4+ (64...Rxh5 65.g7) 65.Kf3 e5 66.Rf7+ Ke6 67.f5+ Kd5 68.g7

64...Kg7 65.Rf7+ Kg8 66.Rf6 Rxh5

66...Rc6 67.Ke5

67.Rxe6 Kg7

320
68.f5

With such connected pawns the win is easy.

1–0

18
L. Fressinet
M. Parligras
Erevan, 2014

321
Fressinet finds a pretty tactical idea.

69.f6+! Kxf6 70.Ra5 1–0

19
Munoz H. Sotomayor
Salazar H. Jacob
Novi Sad, 1990

55...d3! 56.cxd3

56.Rc5 d2 57.Rd5 Re1

56...Rc4!!

The main task is to protect the ‘back’ of the running pawn!

57.bxc4 c2 58.Kxf4 c1=Q+ 59.Ke4 Qd1 0–1

20
M. Vidmar
G. Martinolich
Vienna, 1907

322
32.Re4!

A similar blockade of the file on which the passed pawn runs.

32...fxe4 33.e7 Rxf4 34.e8=Q Rf2 35.Qxe4 Rxa2 36.Qh4+ Kg7 37.Qe7+ Kh6 38.Qf8+ Kg5 39.Qf7
1–0

21
A. Wojtkiewicz
J. Grasis
USSR, 1988

323
There is a way to promote the d-pawn!

34.Rd3!! exd3 35.d7 Re1+ 36.Kd2 Re2+ 37.Kd1 Rxf2 38.d8=Q 1–0

22
O. Duras
A. Nimzowitsch
San Sebastian, 1912

57...f5!

324
Suddenly White’s rook is cut off from the game. Black need only exploit this moment properly...

58.Kf4 Ra8 59.Ke5 Ra6 60.Kf4 Ra4+ 61.Ke5 Re4+ 62.Kd6 g6 63.f3 Re3 64.g4 fxg4 65.fxg4 Rg3
66.gxh5 Rxg5 67.hxg5+ Kxh5! 0–1

23
Bellon J. Lopez
V. Chekhov
Barcelona, 1984

33.Rg8??

Faulty ‘materialism’! White was close to the draw after 33.Rb7+

33.Rg8?? Rd8!

Forcing the capture and starting a successful hunt for the white rook. The pawn endgame is obviously
dead lost.

34.Rxg7 Kf8 35.Rh7 Kg8 36.Rxh6 Kg7 37.Kg5 Rd5+ 0–1

24
A. Gipslis
E. Vasiukov
USSR, 1953

325
1.e5 Kf7

Of no help was 1...Rb1 2.Ra4 Rb5 3.Re4 when the black king cannot come to the f-file and White’s
pawn will rush forward.

2.Ra6 Rxh4 3.Rf6+ Kg7 4.Kg1 g5 5.Rf5 Kg6 6.e6! Kxf5 7.e7 1–0

25
A. Selesniev, 1956

326
1.Kg2!

Preparing an attack on the h4-pawn.

1...Rg8+

Now 1...Re3 does not work because of 2.Ra3 h3+ 3.Kf2 Re8 4.Kg3 Re3+ 5.Kh4 and zugzwang means
the rook must retreat and White wins the pawn on h3.

2.Kf2! Rg4

Black goes for the f4 pawn, but as we will see, it is poisoned.

2...h3! 3.Kf3 Rg2=

3.Kf3 Rg1 4.Ra4 Rf1+ 5.Kg2 Rxf4

6.h3! 1–0

26
D. Navara
I. Popov
Minsk, 2015

327
34.h4?? h5+!

Suddenly a mating net is constructed!

35.Kxh5 Rg3 0–1

and ...g7-g6 mate!

27
V. Topalov
C. Hansen
Istanbul, 2000

328
63.Rf8!

Starting a forcing tactical manoeuvre.

63...Kxh6

Easily losing was 63...Ra7 64.Kf6 Ra1 65.Kxf7 Kxh6 66.e6+-

64.Kf6 Re6+ 65.Kxf7! Rxe5 66.Kf6!

An unexpected backward move! It’s a double attack — threatening mate, as well as the rook.

1–0

329
CHAPTER 11
STALEMATE

Stalemates in rook endings take two forms: as a defensive resource in basic positions; and as the result
of carelessness by the winning side. The second is, of course, much more colourful and resourceful, as
players — even strong ones — can overlook very nice and unexpected stalemate constructions.

1
L. Drljevic
N. Bodnaruk
Riga, 2017

In many cases, stalemate is the result of careless play by the ‘winning’ player.

1.Rd7+ Kh6 2.g4?? Rxh5+!

A lovely stalemate defence!

1/2

2
O. Bernstein
V. Smyslov
Groningen, 1946

330
59...b2??

Carelessness in a winning position. An easy route to the full point, and one we have seen several times,
was 59...Ke4 60.Rb4+ Kd5 61.Rxf4 Rh1 (61...b2 62.Rf1 Kc4 63.Kd2 Kb3–+) 62.Rb4 b2–+

59...b2?? 60.Rxb2! Kg4

60...Rh2+ 61.Kf3 Rxb2 Stalemate!

61.Kf1 1/2

3
E. Vorobiov
N. Vitiugov
Moscow, 2007

331
76...Ke2??

76...Ke3 was the winning move.

76...Ke2?? 77.Rxa3! bxa3 1/2

But who could have imagined such a stalemate construction?

4
V. Matviishen
V. Lomasov
Praha, 2016

332
1...Kg3??

Easily winning was 1...Re4

1...Kg3?? 2.Rg4+ Kxh3 3.Rxg5 Rg2+

4.Kh1!! Rxg5 1/2

5
S. Flohr

333
 V. Mikenas
Kemeri, 1936

Sometimes even top players did not realise that there was a stalemate idea as a rescue tool! Here is one
more ‘rescue’ option...

1...Rf3+!!

...was possible, but Mikenas did not play it!!! And lost!

1/2

6
A. Shirov
A. Morozevich
Astana, 2001

334
55.Kb2

Neither top-flight player saw the stalemate idea here! Correct instead was the cautious 55.Kc2!

55.Kb2 Kb4?

As in Bernstein-Smyslov, the ‘schema’ works:

55...Rxh5!! 56.Ra5+ Kb4 57.Rxh5=

56.Rb6+ Kc5 57.Rxh6 Kb4 58.Kc2 Rc3+ 59.Kd2 Rh3 60.Rh8 Kc5 61.Kc2

335
61.h6 Kb6 62.h7? Kb7=

61...Kb5 62.Kd2 Kc6 63.h6 Kb7

63...Rxb3 64.h7 Rh3 65.Rc8+

64.b4 Ka7 65.Ke2 Rh4 66.Kf3

66...Rxb4

Sooner or later this pawn has to be captured.

67.Rg8! Rh4 68.Rg6 Kb7 69.Kg3

‘Uncutting’ the king, followed by an unstoppable march to g7.

69...Rh1 70.Kf4 Kc7 71.Kf5 Kd7 72.Kf6 Ke8 73.Kg7 1–0

7
P. Motwani
Granda J. Zuniga
Thessaloniki, 1988

336
50...Rb3

It seems that White will lose the pawn b4, and with it the game. But here there appeared a fantastic
stalemate motif, one which is frequently used and which the Scottish Grandmaster had been shown at a
tournament the previous year!

51.Rh6+ Kc7 52.Rh4!! Rxb4+

52...Kb6 does not promise winning chances: 53.Ke5 c5 (53...Rc3 54.Rg4 Rc4 55.Rxc4 bxc4 56.Kd4
Kb5 57.Kc3) 54.Rh6+

53.Kc5 Rxh4 1/2

8
S. Novikov
D. Jakovenko
Moscow, 2007

337
Black is threatening with Rf8 and it seems like there is no defence, but...

80.Rg4!

Only from this square is it possible to prepare the stalemate!

80...Rf8

80...g2+ 81.Kh2

81.Rf4+! Rxf4 1/2

9
A. Beliavsky
V. Babula
Bremen, 2005

338
57...Rg3!=

A nice trick, holding the game and thus securing the league title!

58.Rh8 Rxg2 59.e5 Rf2+ 60.Ke3 Rf1 61.Rg8 Kh3 62.Ke4 h4 63.e6 Kh2 64.Rg4 h3 65.Ke5 Re1+
66.Kf5 Rf1+ 67.Rf4 Re1

It would be horribly wrong to swap rooks here, as it leads to a classic lost queen ending: 67...Rxf4+??
68.Kxf4 Kg2 69.e7 h2 70.e8=Q h1=Q 71.Qe2+ Kg1 72.Kg3+-

1/2

10
W. Uhlmann
B. Gulko
Niksic, 1978

339
61.Rb3??

A candidate for the World Championship must know the only stalemate defence in such situations!
61.Rb2! Ra6 62.Rf2+!! (62.Kg1 Ra1+ 63.Kh2 e2) 62...exf2;
Losing was 61.Re1 Rh6 62.Kg1 e2 63.Ra1 Rg6+ 64.Kh1 Kf2

61.Rb3?? Ra6 62.Rb1

62.Kg1 Ra1+ 63.Kh2 Kf2 64.Rb8 e2 65.Rf8+ Ke3 66.Re8+ Kd3

62...Rh6 63.Kg1 Rg6+

Just be careful not to hurry with 63...e2? 64.Rb3+ Ke4 65.Kf2=

64.Kh1

64.Kf1 e2+ 65.Ke1 Rg1+

64...e2 0–1

11
I. Farago
T. Tolnai
Budapest, 1988

340
A similar case, but here the Grandmaster did not know — or at least did not spot — that his opponent
had a stalemate defence available!

1.h7??

Winning easily was 1.Ra5 Re2+ 2.Kf5 Kf7 3.Ra7+ Kg8 4.f7+ (4.h7+ Kh8 5.Ra8+ Kxh7 6.f7 Rf2+
7.Ke6 Kg7 8.Rg8+) 4...Kf8 5.Ra8+ Kxf7 6.h7

1.h7?? Rxh7 2.Ra5 Re7+! 3.fxe7 1/2

12
B. Khotenashvili
N. Batsiashvili
Batumi, 2016

341
Stalemates are used in complicated endgames too.

37.Rf7! Rb1+

37...Ke6 38.a7 Ra6 39.Rxh7

38.Kf2 Kc6 39.a7 Ra1 40.Rxf6+

An easy win was promised by 40.Rxh7 Ra3 41.h4 Kb6 42.h5

40...Kb7 41.Rf7+ Ka8

The king has reached a safe haven and White has to be very careful now.

42.Rxh7??

342
Now Black’s rook becomes a BERSERKER! It was necessary to avoid any stalemate construction and
to capture this pawn much later, e.g. 42.g5 Ra3 43.h4 Rxc3 44.Rxh7 Rc2+ 45.Kf3+-

42...Rf1+ 43.Kg3 Rf3+! 44.Kh4 Rxh3+! 45.Kxh3 1/2

13
I. Dusthageer
S. Sethuraman
Dharamshala, 2014

Sometimes a stalemate defence is used incorrectly...

343
47.Rh6??

First of all, this position is not technically easy. It was necessary to first sacrifice the pawn with 47.Rd8!
Rf6 48.h6+! Kh7 (48...Kxh6 49.Rg8 Rg6 50.Rh8+ Kg5 51.Rh5+ Kg4 52.Rxf5) 49.Rd6 Rxh6 50.Rd7+
Kg6 51.Rg7+ Kh5 52.Rg5+=

47.Rh6??

47...Rf6!

and now, instead of stalemate, White must transfer into a completely lost pawn ending.

0–1

344
CHAPTER 15
MISTAKES

Mistakes committed by strong players in rook endings can be counted in the thousands. Study of the
endgame is not carried out sufficiently, on every level — this is well-known. First of all there is the
lack of knowledge of basic positions, and the techniques for converting them into wins or draws. We
can add to this many simple tactical oversights, and poor knowledge of the correct methods of handling
complicated rook endings.

1
Leon M. Hoyos
Y. Vovk
Cappelle la Grande, 2009
In chess endgames we can find a huge amount of instructive mistakes. Often we could study some
subjects in the style of ‘How not to play!’ In endgames, in every position there are usually two ways —
right and wrong. And it is quite useful to recognize the wrong patterns immediately.

Here White has an extra pawn, but Black’s king and rook are very active, so it is necessary to be
extremely careful.

43.Ra8??

White could not lose after 43.Rg5+ Kf3 44.Ke1;

43.Rf5 Rxa2 44.b4

43.Ra8?? Rb1+ 44.Ke2 f3+ 45.Ke3 Re1+ 46.Kd4 f2 47.Rg8+ Kh4 48.Rf8 f1=Q 49.Rxf1 Rxf1 50.a4
Kg5 51.a5 Kf6 52.Kc5 Ke7 53.Kc6 Kd8 54.Kb7 Rf7+ 55.Kb8 Rf5 56.a6 Rb5+ 57.Ka8 Kc7 58.a7

345
Rh5 0–1

2
K. Radzikovska
H. Erenska
Poland, 1961

1.Kh2

White plays for a small trick, as the ‘normal way’ was insufficient for the win because of Black’s
strong counterplay: 1.Ra2 Rd1 2.Ra7 Ke4 3.Rg7 (3.Kg2 Rd2+) 3...Kf3 4.Kh2 Rd2+ 5.Kh3 Rd1

1.Kh2 Kg4??

Black immediately leaps into the trap! The draw could be easily held after the simple 1...Ra3.

2.f5!!

Threatening mate, or otherwise creating a passed pawn.

2...Rxg3

2...exf5 3.Rf4#

3.f6!

The pawn is unstoppable.

346
1–0

3
Melkumyan H
Mikaelyan A
Erevan, 2014

106...Ra4

Very simple was to use Vancura’s method of attack from the side: 106...Re5 107.a6 Re6+ 108.Kb5
Re5+ 109.Kc4 Re6 110.a7 Ra6 111.Kb5 Ra1 112.Kb6 Rb1+=

106...Ra4 107.a6 Ra1

Leading to an easy draw here was the ‘normal way’: 107...Kg4 108.Kb6 g5 109.a7 Kf3 110.Rf8+ Ke3
(110...Kg2? 111.Rf5) 111.a8=Q Rxa8 112.Rxa8 g4 113.Kc5 g3 114.Rg8 Kf2 115.Kd4 g2

108.Kb6 Rb1+

To the same draw led 108...Kg4 109.a7 g5 110.Rf8 Rxa7 111.Kxa7 Kh3 112.Kb6 g4 113.Kc5 g3
114.Kd4 g2

109.Ka7 Kg4 110.Rb8 Ra1 111.Rb4+

347
111...Kh3?

The final chance for a half-point was 111...Kf3 112.Rb5 Kf4 113.Kb6 Rxa6+ 114.Kxa6 g5

112.Rb5! Kh4 113.Kb6 g5

Now it is too late: 113...Rxa6+ 114.Kxa6 g5 115.Kb6 g4 116.Kc5 g3 117.Kd4 g2 118.Rb1 Kg3
119.Ke3

114.Ra5 Rb1+ 115.Kc7 Rc1+ 116.Kd7 Rd1+ 117.Ke7 Re1+ 118.Kf7 Rf1+ 119.Kg7 Rd1 120.a7 Rd8
121.a8=Q Rxa8 122.Rxa8 g4 1–0

4
H. Melkumyan
L. Fressinet
Erevan, 2014

348
A critical position.

57...Ke4?

Losing was 57...Rf3 58.Rc6 Rf5 (58...Rh3 59.Rxh6 Kc4 60.Rh8 Rh2+ 61.Kd1 Kd3 62.Ke1 Ke3
63.Kf1 Kf3 64.Rf8+ Ke4 65.Re8+ Kf3 (65...Kd4 66.Rh8 Ke3 67.Kg1 Rh4 68.h6+-) 66.Ke1 Rxh5
67.Kd2 with a winning endgame with a ‘cut-off’ king.) 59.Rxh6 Kc4 60.Rh8 Kxb4 61.h6 Rf7 62.Kd3;
The only chance was 57...Re3 58.Rc6 Re5 59.Rxh6 Kc4 60.Rh8 Kxb4 61.h6 Re7 62.h7 Rb7! Check is
not possible, so... draw!

57...Ke4? 58.Rc4+ Kd5 59.Rc3 Rh1 60.Kb3 Kd4 61.Rc4+ Kd5 62.Rc5+ Kd4 63.Ka4 Rh4 64.Kb5
Rh1 65.Kb6 Rf1 66.b5 Rf6+ 67.Rc6 Rf5 68.Rxh6 Kc4 69.Ka6 Rxb5 70.Rc6+ Kb4 71.Rb6 1–0

5
T. Radjabov
D. Swiercz
Warsaw, 2013

349
59...Rb4

Once more the ‘sticking method’ was simplest:

59...Rf4 60.Ra8+ Kh7 61.Ke6 Kg7 62.Ra7+ Kg8

59...Rb4 60.Ra8+ Kh7 61.Re8 Rb1

61...Rb6+ 62.Kf7 Rb5 63.f6

62.Kf7 Ra1 63.f6 Ra7+ 64.Re7 Ra8 65.Re6

350
65...Ra7+?

The young and strong Grandmaster did not know that with this ‘long-side method’ the key thing is to
control the back rank. This is the target for both players!
So 65...Kh6 66.Ke7 Kg6 67.f7+ Kg7 or 65...Rb8= both would have held the draw.

66.Kf8!

Now White is winnig and Radjabov demonstrates the right technique.

66...Ra8+ 67.Re8 Ra6 68.f7 Ra7 69.Re1 Ra8+ 70.Ke7 Ra7+ 71.Kf6 Ra6+ 72.Re6 Ra8 73.Re8 Ra6+
74.Ke5 1–0

6
Bastidas E. Rodriguez
K. Lie
Istanbul, 2000

49...Rg3?

It is a problem when even strong players forget about classical methods such as the ‘frontal attack’.
49...Rg8! 50.b4 Rc8+ 51.Rc5 (51.Kb5 Rb8+ 52.Ka4 Ke6 53.Rc5 Kd6) 51...Kd7= and the pawn ending
is drawn.

49...Rg3? 50.b4 Ke6 51.Rd1 Rg5 52.b5 Ke7 53.Kb4

It makes no great difference now, but more precise was the direct 53.b6.

351
53...Ke8 54.Ka5 Rg6 55.b6 Rg2 56.Rd4 Ra2+ 57.Kb5 Rb2+ 58.Rb4 Rxb4+ 59.Kxb4 Kd7 60.Kb5
Kd8 61.Ka6 1–0

7
P. Tregubov
Z. Almasi
Yerevan, 2014

54...Rf4+??

The correct way to draw was 54...Re4 55.Ke6 Kf8 56.Ra8+ Kg7 57.Kd6 Kf7 This sticking method is
in many cases a problem for all the top players: Carlsen himself did not perform it correctly against
Aronian a few years ago!

54...Rf4+?? 55.Ke6 Kf8 56.Ra8+ Kg7 57.Ke7

Now Almasi understood that his rook will be ‘too short’. If it was possible to attack White’s king with
checks from the a-file, then it would be a draw!

57...Rb4 58.e6 Rb7+ 59.Kd6 Rb6+ 60.Kd7 Rb7+ 61.Kc6 Re7 62.Kd6 Rb7 63.e7 1–0

8
A. Goryachkina
C. Unat
Skopje, 2017

352
It was preferable to keep the active rook in its attacking position and to play 38...h5. However, the
hasty...

38...Rxe4??

...led to a disaster:

39.Rc4!

The black rook is ‘trapped’! Transitioning into a pawn ending with an outside passed pawn gives White
a clearly won position.

39...Rxc4 40.bxc4 h5 41.Kf3 Ke6 42.Ke4 Kd6 43.g4 hxg4 44.hxg4 Kc5 45.Kxe5 Kxc4 46.Kf5 Kd5
47.Kxg5 1–0

9
Z. Andriasian
D. Navara
Yerevan, 2014

353
41.Re3+

Very bad was 41.d5+ Kd6 42.Kf4 Re5

41.Re3+ Kd6 42.Ke2

The immediate transition into a pawn endgame would give Black chances to deflect White’s king by
creating a passed pawn on the queenside: 42.Rxe7 Kxe7 43.Ke4 Kd6 44.d5 (44.a4 b6 45.Kd3 Kd5
46.g4 hxg4 47.hxg4 g5 48.Ke3 a6 49.Kd3 b5 50.axb5 axb5 51.Kc3 b4+ 52.Kxb4 Kxd4 53.Kb5 Ke4
54.Kc5 Kf3) 44...b5 45.Kd4 (45.h4 f6 46.Kd4 g5 47.f3 gxh4 48.gxh4 f5 49.f4 a5) 45...g5 46.f3 f5
47.g4 hxg4 48.hxg4 fxg4 49.fxg4 a5 50.Ke4 b4 Deflecting White’s king from the e5-pawn. Of no help
was 42.h4 Rxe3+ 43.fxe3 Kd5 44.Ke2 Kc4

42...g5

The rook exchange 42...Rxe3+ would be premature in view of 43.fxe3 f5 44.Kd3 Kd5 45.Kc3 b6 46.h4
a6 47.a4 and now Black’s king cannot come to the e3-pawn to create a passed pawn on the f-file.

43.Kd3

Much more logical was to try to control the f5-square. 43.g4 hxg4 44.hxg4

43...Rxe3+ 44.fxe3 f5

354
45.h4?

Losing was 45.e4 fxe4+ 46.Kxe4 b5 47.g4 hxg4 48.hxg4 a5 49.Ke3 Kd5 50.Kd3 b4 51.a4 b3 52.Kc3
b2 53.Kxb2 Kxd4 54.Kb3 Kd3 55.Kb2 Kc4 56.Kc2 Kb4;
Slightly better for White was 45.Kc4 b6 46.a4 a6 47.Kc3 Kd5 48.h4 gxh4 49.gxh4 Ke4 50.Kc4 Kxe3
51.d5 f4 52.d6 f3 53.d7 f2 54.d8=Q f1=Q+ 55.Kc3 Qc1+ 56.Kb3 Qc5 but even here there are no great
hopes for a draw. 57.Qg5+ Kf3 58.Ka2 although Black still has to overcome White’s attack on the h5-
pawn, which is not easy to do.

45...gxh4 46.gxh4 Kd5 47.a4

47.Kc3 a6 48.Kd3 b6 49.Kc3 a5 50.a4 Ke4 would lead to the game continuation.

47...b6 48.Kc3 a6 49.Kd3 a5 50.Kc3 Ke4 51.Kc4 Kxe3 52.d5 f4 53.d6 f3 54.d7 f2 55.d8=Q f1=Q+
56.Kc3 Qc1+ 57.Kb3

355
57...Qb1+

Now the queen endgame is much worse than in the previous variation.

58.Kc3 Qb4+ 59.Kc2 Qxa4+ 60.Kb1 Qb3+ 61.Ka1 Qa3+ 62.Kb1 Qd3+ 0–1

10
H. Olafsson
B. Thorfinsson
Reykjavik, 2017

356
1.Rd7 Rxd7 2.cxd7+ Kd8

Suddenly Helgi realized that both moves lead to a draw! And in total disgust just threw the pieces!

3.b6

3.Kd6 is also stalemate;

His opponent was terribly happy, but a few days later in the shower he suddenly started to think about
his achievement and found the answer! 3.Kd5 Kxd7 4.b6 Kd8 5.Kd6 Kc8 6.Kc6 Kb8 7.b7+-

1/2

11
A. Goryachkina
K. Kulon
European Women’s TCh, 2017

49...Ke5?

Although this seems very natural, the only winning chance lay in 49...h4! 50.gxh4 (50.Rxb2 Rxb2
51.Kxb2 hxg3 52.hxg3 Kd5 53.Kc3 Ke4 54.Kd2 Kf3) 50...f4 51.Kd4 Ke6 52.h5 Kf6 53.h4 Kf5
54.Kc3 (54.h6 Kg6 55.Ke4 Rb4+ 56.Kf3 Kxh6 57.Kg4 Kg6 58.h5+ Kh6 59.Kh4 f3+ 60.Kg3 Rb3
61.Kg4 f2) 54...Kg4 55.h6 Rxh6 56.Rxb2 f3 57.Kd2 Kg3 58.Ke1 Rxh4 59.Rb8 f2+

49...Ke5? 50.Rxb2 Rxb2 51.Kxb2 Ke4 52.Kc3 Ke3 53.Kc4 h4

The problem is that the endgame is a draw after the natural 53...Kf2 54.Kd3 Kg2 55.Ke2 Kxh2

357
56.Kf2 Kh3 57.Kf3

54.Kd5 hxg3 55.hxg3 f4 56.gxf4 Kxf4 1/2

12
J. Dorfman
A. Onischuk
Cap d’Agde-B, 2000

74.Ra6+

Ribli writes that he thinks Black overlooked this move!

74...Kg7 75.Ra7+ Kg8??

How is it possible that three great players did not know the famous stalemate from the Smyslov-
Bernstein game??
75...Kf6 76.Rxh7

76.Rxh7

The pawn endgame is easily lost.

76...Kxh7 77.Ke5 Kg7

77...Kg8 78.Ke6 Kf8 79.Kf6+-

78.Ke6 Kf8 79.Kf6 1–0

358
 13
A. Danin
J. Stopa
Wunsiedel Open, 2011

It is possible to lose a pawn endgame even with an extra pawn!

113.Rc7?? Rxc7+ 114.Kxc7 Ke7 115.Kc6 Kf6 116.Kd5 Kxf5 117.Kd4 Kxg6 118.Ke4 Kg5 119.Kf3
Kh4 120.Kg2 Kg4 121.Kh2 0–1

14
A. Grischuk
V. Laznicka
Porto Carras, 2011

359
34...Ke6?

Laznicka tries to play for a win using his 30 second increments! 34...Re2 instead maintains a simple
draw.

34...Ke6? 35.Re1+ Kd7 36.Rxe8 Kxe8 37.Kf3 Kd7 38.Ke4 Kd6 39.f4

39...h5??

There is a general rule — don`t play on the flank where you are weaker! Here Black creates terrible

360
weaknesses around his own pawns.
There were a few simple ways to draw, even 39...b5 40.g4 g6 41.Kd4 h5 42.gxh5 gxh5 43.Kc3 Ke6
44.Kb4 Kf5 45.Kxb5 Kxf4

40.Kf5! Ke7 41.Kg6 Kf8 42.Kxh5 1–0

15
A. Paramzina
I. Osmak
Tarvisio, 2017

55...Kg6?

It was not possible to allow her opponent’s king to come to f6, but better was 55...Kg5! 56.Kf7 (56.Ra1
Rf3 57.Rg1+ Kh4 58.Kf6 Kxh3 59.e6 f4 60.e7 (60.Re1 Ra3 61.e7 Ra8 62.e8=Q Rxe8 63.Rxe8 f3
64.Re3) 60...Re3) 56...Rf3 57.e6 Rxh3 58.Re5 (58.e7 Re3 59.Ra3 Rxe7+ 60.Kxe7 h5! 61.Ke6 h4
62.Ke5 Kg4 63.Ra8 h3 64.Rg8+ Kf3=) 58...Ra3 59.e7 Ra7 60.Kf8 Rxe7 (60...Ra8+ 61.e8=Q Rxe8+
62.Rxe8 f4 63.Kf7 f3 64.Ke6 Kg4 65.Rf8 Kg3 66.Ke5 f2 67.Ke4 Kg2) 61.Kxe7 Kg4 62.Kf6 f4
63.Rf5 h5 64.Ke5 h4 65.Rxf4+ Kg3 66.Rf8 h3 67.Rg8+ Kf2 68.Rh8 Kg2 69.Kf4 h2;
Also losing was 55...Rf3 56.Kf6 Rxh3 57.e6 Rb3 58.Kxf5 Kh4 59.e7 Rb8 60.Kf6 (60.Kg6)

55...Kg6? 56.Ra1

Simpler was 56.Ra3! Re4 57.Rg3+

56...Rf3 57.Rg1+ Kh5 58.Kf6 Rxh3 59.e6 Re3 60.Kxf5 Rf3+

361
60...Kh4 61.Rg4+ (61.Kf4) 61...Kh3 62.Re4

61.Ke4 Rf2 62.e7 Re2+

63.Kf5!

With this mating threat it is possible to win important time!

63...Rf2+ 64.Ke6 Re2+ 65.Kf7 Rf2+ 66.Kg8 Re2 67.Rg7 Kh4 68.Kf7

68.Kf8

68...h5

68...Rf2+ 69.Kg8 Re2 70.Kf8

362
69.Rg6

69.e8=Q Rxe8 70.Kxe8 Kh3 71.Kf7 h4 72.Kf6 Kh2 73.Kf5 h3 74.Kf4 Kh1 75.Kg3 h2 76.Ra7

69...Rxe7+ 70.Kxe7 Kh3 71.Kf6 h4 72.Kg5 Kg3 73.Kh5+ Kh3 74.Rg4 1–0

16
Delgado M. Crespo
A. Goryachkina
European Women’s TCh, 2017

363
73.Rg4?

It is usually wrong to wait. As we mentioned previously, the position of the rook is crucial in many
cases, and here it was necessary to attack from the rear.
73.Rh8 Rd1+ 74.Kc2 Rd2+ 75.Kb1 Rb2+ 76.Ka1 Rg2 (76...Kc4 77.Rh4+ Kd3 78.Rh3+ Kd2 (78...Kd4
79.Rh4+ Ke3 80.Rh3+ Kf4 81.Rh4+ Kg3 82.Rh7) 79.Rh2+ Kc1 80.Rh1+) 77.Kb1 Kc4 78.Rh4+ One
possible approach, but the simplest way to hold was 78.Rc8+ Kd3 79.Rd8+ Ke2 80.Re8+ Kd1 81.Rd8+
Rd2; Wrong, however, would be 78.Rh1 Rb2+ 79.Ka1 Re2 80.Kb1 b3 81.Rh4+ Kd3 82.axb3 Re1+
83.Ka2 c2) 78...Kd3 79.Rh3+ Kd2 80.Rh1

73.Rg4? Rd1+ 74.Kc2 Rd2+

Possible was 74...Ra1 75.Kb3 Rb1+ 76.Kc2 Rb2+

75.Kb1 Rb2+ 76.Ka1

76...Ka4?

The win was not far off after 76...Rf2 77.Kb1 Rf1+ 78.Kc2 Ra1 79.Kb3 Rb1+ 80.Kc2 Rb2+

77.Rg5?

The worst possible place for the rook-it must always have space! The draw was not complicated:
77.Rg8 Rf2 78.Kb1

77...Re2 78.Kb1 Re1+ 79.Kc2 Ra1 80.Rg8 Rxa2+ 81.Kb1 Rb2+ 82.Ka1 Kb3 83.Rg3 Rd2 84.Rg1
Ra2+ 0–1

364
 17
O. Girya
L. Javakhishvili
European Women’s TCh, 2017

59.Rd2??

White had to stop the f-pawn at once, forcing the opponent’s king to lose touch with its rook — 59.Rf2
Ke5 60.Re2+ Kf5 61.Rf2 Kg4 (61...Ke4 62.Rd2 f3 63.Rd7 Rf8 64.Kxc7 f2 65.Rd1 f1=Q 66.Rxf1 Rxf1
67.Kd6 Rf6+ 68.Kd7 Kd5 69.c7 (69.c4+ Kc5 70.c7 Rf7+ 71.Kd8 Kd6 72.c5+ Kd5 73.c8=Q Rf8+
74.Kd7 Rxc8 75.Kxc8 Kxc5)) 62.Rg2+ Kh3 63.Rd2 f3 64.Rd7

59.Rd2?? f3–+ 60.c4 Ke5 61.c5

61.Rd7 Ke6 (61...Rf6 62.Kxc7 f2 63.Rd1 f1=Q 64.Rxf1 Rxf1 65.Kd7 (65.Kd8 Kd6) 65...Rf7+ 66.Kd8
Kd6) 62.Rxf7 Kxf7 63.Kxc7 f2 64.Kb7 f1=Q 65.c7 Qf3+ 66.Kb8 Qb3+ 67.Ka8 Qa4+ 68.Kb7 Qb4+
69.Kc6 Qf8 70.Kb7 Qe7 71.Kb8 Qd6 72.Kb7

61...f2 62.Rxf2 Rxf2 63.Kxc7 Kd5 64.Kb7 Rb2+ 65.Kc7 Kxc5 66.Kd7 Rd2+ 0–1

18
E. Cvitan
T. Gara
European Women’s TCh, 2017

365
78.Ke1??

A more logical approach was 78.f5 Kg3 79.Rh1 h4 80.Ke3 Re8+ 81.Kd4 h3 82.Kd5 h2 83.f6 Kg2
84.Rxh2+ Kxh2 85.f7 Rf8 86.Ke6 drawing comfortably.

78.Ke1?? Kg3 79.Rh1 h4 80.Rg1+ Kf3 81.f5 h3 82.Rf1+ Kg2 83.f6 Re8+ 0–1

19
Z. Kozul
A. Mikhalchishin
Bled, 1996

366
73...Rb5 74.Rf3 Rb2+ 75.Kg3 Rd2?

Losing concentration. There were two logical ways to draw: 75...Rb1 76.h4 Rg1+ 77.Kh3 Rh1+; and
75...Rb8 with preparation of the frontal attack: 76.h4 gxh4+ 77.Kxh4 Rh8+ 78.Kg5 Rg8+ 79.Kh5 Rh8+
80.Kg6 Rg8+

76.h4! Rd1

A classically lost endgame appears after 76...gxh4+ 77.Kxh4 Rd8 (77...Rd7 78.Kh5 Rh7+ 79.Kg6 Rh4
80.g5) 78.g5

77.hxg5 Rg1+ 78.Kh3 Ke7 79.Rf6 Rh1+ 80.Kg3 Ra1 81.Rf3 Rg1+ 82.Kh3 Rh1+ 83.Kg2 Ra1 84.Rf4
Ra3 85.g6 Ra6

367
86.Kg3! Rf6

Another classical endgame position is seen after 86...Rxg6 87.Kh4 Rg8 88.Kh5 Rh8+ 89.Kg6 Rg8+
90.Kh7 Rg5 91.Kh6

87.g7 Rg6 88.Kh4 Rxg7 89.Kh5 1–0

20
S. Franklin
T. Petenyi
Kocaeli, 2013

368
43.Rb2?

Here there were a few normal ways to draw, the simplest being 43.a4! e4 (43...Ra8 44.Rb4 e4 45.Kg3)
44.a5 e3 45.Rb7 Kf4 46.a6=

43.Rb2? Kf4! 44.Rf2+ Ke3 45.Rg2 Rh8+ 46.Kg3 e4 47.a4 Ra8 48.Kg4 Kd3 49.Ra2 e3 50.Kf3 Rf8+
51.Kg2 e2

A remarkable case, as without the a-pawn White would have a check on the fourth rank, which would
allow him to draw after Rd1.

369
52.Ra3+ Ke4 53.Ra1 Rd8

Here without the a4-pawn the draw is achieved by Kf2, Rd1 Ra4, Kd3 Ra3, Kd2 Ra2

54.Re1 Ke3 0–1

370
 21
H. Hamdouchi
J. Gunnarsson
Rogaska Slatina, 2011

58.Rc4

Wrong would be 58.Kf6 Kd5 59.g7 Ke4 60.Kf7 f3 and Black draws comfortably.

58.Rc4 Ke7?

58...f3 59.Rf4 f2 60.Kf6 Kc5! Triangulation to avoid zugzwang 61.g7 Kd5 62.Kf7 Ke5 63.Rf6 Ke4
64.g8=Q Rxg8 65.Kxg8 Ke3 and the king will escort his pawn to the queening square.

59.Rc7+

Much more natural was 59.Re4+ Kf8 60.Kf6 f3 61.Rb4 Ke8 62.g7 Rg1 (Immediately losing is 62...f2
63.Rf4) 63.Rf4 Rg3 64.Rf5 Zugzwang! 64...Kd7 65.Kf7

59...Ke8?

Correct was 59...Kd6 60.Rc3 Ke7 61.Rf3 Kf8 62.Kf6 Rb2

60.Kf6 f3 61.Rf7?

Leading to previous positions was the correct 61.Re7+ Kd8 62.Re5 f2 63.Rf5 Ke8 64.g7

371
61...f2 62.Kg7 Kd8 63.Kh6 Rh2+ 64.Kg7 Rg2 65.Kh7 Ke8

Now it will be very difficult to unlock the white king.

66.Kg7 Kd8 67.Rf3 Ke7 68.Kh7 Rh2+ 69.Kg8 Rg2 70.g7 Ke8??

It was necessary to block White’s king with 70...Rh2

71.Rf7??

Black could be forced into zugzwang after 71.Kh7 Rh2+ 72.Kg6 Rg2+ 73.Kf6 Kd7 74.Kf7

71...Rh2!

Finally Black finds the correct way to keep the white king in the cage.

72.Rf4 Ke7 73.Re4+ Kd7 74.Rd4+ Ke7 75.Rd1 Ke8 76.Rf1 Ke7 77.Ra1 Rg2 78.Ra7+ Ke8 79.Rf7
Rh2 1/2

22
R. Laxman
C. Liew-M
2014

372
Without the g-pawn it is a draw! Here, however, it provides a perfect umbrella for White’s king!

60...Rh4 61.Kg6

Or 61.Kxg5 Rh1 62.h6 Rg1+ 63.Kf6 Rf1+ 64.Kg7 Rg1+ 65.Kh8 Kd7 66.Rg8+-

61...g4 62.Re4 Kd5 63.Ra4 Rh2 64.Rxg4 Ra2 65.h6 Ra6+ 66.Kh5 Ra7

67.Rg7

67.Rh4

373
67...Ra1 68.h7 Rh1+ 69.Kg6 Ke6 70.Rg8 Rg1+ 71.Kh6 Rh1+ 72.Kg7 Rg1+ 73.Kf8 Rf1+ 74.Ke8 Ra1

74...Rb1 75.Kd8 Rd1+ 76.Kc8 Rc1+ 77.Kb8 Rb1+ 78.Ka7+-

75.Rg6+ Kf5

76.Rh6??

76.Rf6+! Kg5 77.Rf8+-

76...Ra8+ 77.Ke7 Ra7+ 78.Kd8 Ra8+ 79.Kd7 Ra7+ 80.Kd8 Ra8+ 81.Kc7 Rh8 82.Kd6 Kg5 83.Rh1
Kg6 84.Ke6 Rxh7 85.Rg1+ 1/2

23
M. Lomineishvili
A. Galliamova
Adjara, 2015

374
79.c7??

It is incredible, but the position that appears after this blunder is drawn, despite White’s two extra
pawns. There were a few easy ways to the win, but the move in the game appeared to be the simplest!
79.g5;
79.Kh5 Rh1+ 80.Kg5 Rc1 81.c7 Rc5+ 82.Kh4 Rc3 83.g5

79.c7?? Kf7 80.Rh7+ Kg6 81.Rd7 Rc3!

This ‘cutting the king’ move obviously underlines the helpless position of White’s rook.

375
82.Re7 Kf6 83.Rh7 Kg6 84.Rd7 Kf6 85.Rd6+ Kg7 86.Rd7+ Kf6 87.g5+ Kg6 88.Rd6+ Kg7 89.Rd7+
Kg6 90.Kg4 Rc4+ 91.Kf3 Kxg5 92.Ke3 Kf6 93.Kd3 Ke6 94.Rh7 Rc1 95.Kd4 Kd6 96.Ke4 1/2

24
V. Malishauskas
A. Sandler
USSR, 1977

1.Kg6??

The correct way was 1.Re8+ Kxh7 2.Kxf6 threatening g5-g6 with mate!

1.Kg6?? Rxg5+ 2.Kh6 Re5 3.Rd7 Re8 1/2

25
P. Svidler
E. Lobron
Yerevan, 1996

376
61.Kb6

Here Grandmaster Eric Lobron resigned as he could not even imagine that he might be able to use
Reti’s incredible idea to save the game! And the annotations of the great trainer Makarichev agreed
with Lobron’s decision! Absolutely wrong! But the question is, how was a strong Grandmaster unable
to calculate a long, but rather easy, line?
Svidler saw that the direct pawn push is not winning: 61.c4?? f4 62.c5 f3 63.c6 Kg2 64.c7 h1=Q
65.Rxh1 Kxh1 66.c8=Q f2=

61.Kb6 Kg2

Makarichev only considered the line 61...f4 62.Kc5 f3 63.Kd4 f2 64.Ke3 Kg2 65.Ke2

62.Kc5 h1=Q 63.Rxh1 Kxh1 64.Kd5 Kg2 65.Ke5 Kf3!!

377
Reti’s idea!

66.c4 Ke3 67.Kxf5 Kd4 1/2

Incredible! If the pawn was on c2, White would win, as ...Kd3 is not possible in the line 66.Kxf5 Ke3
67.Ke5!

26
J. Delemarre
B. Tondivar
Leeuwarden, 2004

378
80.Kc3 Rc4+ 81.Kd3 Rc6 82.Kd4 Rc2 83.Rb8+ Ka6 84.b3 Rc1 85.Kd3 Rc5 86.Kd4 Rc1 87.Kd5 Rc3
88.b4 Rh3 89.Re8 Rh5+ 90.Kc6 Rh6+ 91.Kc7 Rh7+ 92.Kc8 Kb6 93.Re6+ Ka7 94.Rd6 Rh3 95.Rd7+
Kb6!

Inviting the opponent’s king to come deeper into the position!

96.Kb8??

What a terrible oversight!

96...Rh8+ 0–1

27
L. Aronian
H. Nakamura
Antalya, 2013

379
37.Rd2

37.f5 Re8+ 38.Kf4 (38.Kf3 Re1„) 38...Re1 39.Rd2 Rf1+ 40.Ke4 Re1+ 41.Kd4 h5

37.Rd2 h5?!

It is always necessary to press the opponent’s king at the earliest opportunity: 37...Re8+! 38.Kf5 Rf8+
forces the king back: 39.Kg4 Rg8+ 40.Kh5 Rf8 41.Rf2 Rf6 42.f5 Kxd5 43.Kg4 Kd6 44.Re2 Kd7
45.Re5 Rb6 with sufficient activity.

38.f5 h4 39.Rh2 Re8+ 40.Kf4

380
40...Rh8?

This is too passive!

He had to play 40...Kxd5! 41.Rxh4 (41.Rd2+ Kc6 42.f6 h3 43.Rh2 Re6!? 44.Kf5 Re3 45.f7 Rf3+
46.Ke6 Re3+=) 41...Re2 42.Rh3 Rxb2 43.Rd3+ Kc4 44.Ra3

And now the quick run back to reach a basic drawn position.
44...Kd5! 45.Rxa7 Kd6 46.Ra4 Ke7

41.f6 Re8

381
What else?
Now 41...Kxd5 42.Kf5 h3 43.f7+- is losing, as is 41...h3 42.Kf5 Rh4 43.Kg5 Rd4 44.Rxh3 Rd2 45.Rf3

42.Rxh4 1–0

28
V. Gashimov
D. Stellwagen
Novi Sad, 2009

70...Rf4??

An incredibly weak move. There were in fact a few other moves sufficient for the draw.
The most logical was to transfer into rook against pawn by: 70...Rb4 71.Ke8 Kg6 72.f7 Re4+ 73.Kf8
Rf4 74.Ra6+ Kg5 75.Kg7 Rxf7+ 76.Kxf7 h4 77.Ra8 h3 78.Rh8 Kg4 79.Kg6 Kg3 80.Kg5 h2;
Also possible was 70...Re4 71.Kf8 h4 72.f7 h3 73.Ra3 Rh4 74.Ke7 Re4+ 75.Kf6 Rf4+ 76.Ke6 h2
77.Rh3+ Kg7;
Or even 70...Rh1 71.Ra5 Kh6 72.Rf5 Ra1

70...Rf4?? 71.Ke6 h4

The rook is ‘too short’, as it is sometimes expressed. If the rook were, let say, on the first rank, then
simply checks would keep the draw.
71...Re4+ 72.Kf5

382
72.f7 Kg6 73.f8=Q Rxf8 74.Rxf8 Kg5

75.Ke5

Black resigned, and thus Azerbaijan became the champions of Europe!

75...Kg4 76.Ke4 Kg3 77.Ke3 1–0

29
G. Kuzmin
Y. Razuvaev
Tbilisi, 1978

383
71...Rg4??

Missing an unexpected tactic, with the idea of stalemate: 71...Rxf4!! 72.Rxf4 Re8+ and the king can’t
escape, nor can he capture the rook without acceding to the draw!

71...Rg4?? 72.Rh1+ Rh4 73.Rxh4+ Kxh4 74.Rf8 Rh7+ 75.Kf6 Kh5 76.f5

Transposing into an easily winning rook endgame.

76...gxf5 77.Kxf5 Kh4 78.g6 Ra7 79.Rh8+ Kg3 80.Kg5 Ra5+ 81.Kh6 Kg4 82.g7 Ra6+ 83.Kh7 Ra7
84.Rc8 1–0

30
H. Ree
H. Langeveg
Wijk aan Zee, 1972

384
1...Rxh6?

Black had two ways to complete a pat defence, but here he has overlooked a nice trick.
The correct drawing technique was 1...Rb5+ 2.Kf4 Rb4+ 3.Ke5 Rb5+ (or 3...Rb6) 4.Kf4 (4.Kd4 Rb6)
4...Rb6 5.Kg5 Rb5+

1...Rxh6? 2.Rg8+! Kh7 3.Rh8+ Kxh8 4.Kxh6

and we have a basic winning pawn ending.

1–0

31
S. Karjakin
A. Morozevich
Tashkent , 2012

385
52...Rc7+??

Black would be OK after 52...bxa6 53.bxa6 Ra7! (Black can also draw after 53...h4 but this line is a bit
more complicated — 54.Rb7 Rd1 (54...Rd6? 55.a7 Ra6 56.Rb5+ Kh6 57.Rb6++-) 55.Rb5+ Kh6 56.Ra5
Rd8 57.gxh4 Rc8+ 58.Kd4 g3 59.Ke3 Rc2 60.a7 g2 61.Ra1 Ra2=) 54.Rb5+ Kh6 55.Ra5 h4 56.gxh4 g3
57.Kb5 g2 58.Ra1 Kh5=

52...Rc7+?? 53.Rc6! bxc6 54.b6

The rook sacrifice has given White two connected passed pawns, which decide the game.

54...Rc8 55.b7 Rb8 56.Kc5 h4 57.a7 Rxb7 58.a8=Q Rh7 59.Qg8+

386
With only rook against an active queen, Black has no chances to survive.

59...Kh6 60.gxh4 Rg7 61.Qh8+ Kg6 62.h5+ Kf7 63.h6 Rg5+ 64.Kd6 g3 65.Qh7+ Kf6 66.Qe7+ Kf5
67.Qxg5+ Kxg5 68.h7 1–0

32
D. Saduakassova
S. Foisor
Astana, 2013

A typical endgame with passed pawns on different sides. Usually one side wins a rook and then there is
the problem of how to stop the opponent’s passed pawn.

387
53.Kc7 Rxb7+ 54.Kxb7??

Winning was the other capture: 54.Rxb7 f2 (or 54...h4 55.Kc6 h3 (55...Ke4 56.h3! Ke3 57.Kd5 f2
58.Rf7 Ke2 59.Ke4 f1=Q 60.Rxf1 Kxf1

61.Kf3! With this classical bodycheck, White wins the pawn on h3 without allowing Black’s king to
reach the drawing square f4.) 56.Rh7 Ke4 57.Rh4+! Ke3 58.Rxh3 Ke2 59.Rh8 f2 60.Re8+ Kd2 61.Rf8)
55.Rb1 Ke4 56.Kd6 h4 57.h3 Kf3 58.Ke5 Kg2 59.Kf4 Kxh3 (59...f1=Q+ 60.Rxf1 Kxf1 61.Kg4 Kf2
62.Kxh4 Kf3 and White promotes her pawn. 63.Kg5) 60.Kf3 Kh2 61.Kxf2 h3 62.Rb3 Kh1 63.Rxh3#

54...h4 55.Kc6

Now it is too late to stop her opponent’s pawn: 55.h3 Kf4 56.Kc6 Kg3 57.Kd5 Kxh3 58.Ke4 Kg2
59.Ke3 f2 60.Ke2 (60.Rb2 h3 61.Rxf2+ Kg1 62.Rf8 h2) 60...h3

55...h3 56.Rb8

56.Kc5 Ke4 57.Kc4 f2 58.Kc3 Ke3;

The main line was 56.Kd7 Ke4 57.Ke6 f2 58.Kf6 Kf3 59.Kg5 Kg2 60.Kg4 Kxh2 61.Kf3 f1=Q+!
62.Rxf1 Stalemate!

56...Ke4 57.Kd6 f2 58.Rf8 Ke3 59.Ke5 Ke2 60.Ke4 f1=Q 61.Rxf1 Kxf1 62.Kf3 Ke1 63.Kg3 Ke2
64.Kxh3 Kf3 1/2

33
V. Panov
V. Korchnoi
USSR, 1953

388
1.Ra6+?

Why not cut the king off and keep the draw? 1.Ra5! Kf6 2.Rc5 Kg6 3.Kf2

1.Ra6+? Kf5 2.Ra5+

And now better was 2.Rc6

2...Kg4 3.Rc5 Rh3+ 4.Kd4 Rf3! 5.Kxc4 Rf4+

5...h4 6.Rc8 Rf5 7.Kd4 h3 8.Ra8 h2 9.Ra1 Kg3 10.Rh1 Kg2 11.Rxh2+ Kxh2 12.c4 Kg3 13.c5 Kf4
14.c6=

6.Kd3 h4 7.Rc8

Or 7.Ke3

7...h3

389
8.Rh8?

There was still a chance to fight for the draw: 8.Ke3 Rf1 9.Rg8+

8...Kg3!

Now the h-pawn becomes terribly dangerous.

9.c4 h2 10.Rxh2 Kxh2

The white king is cut along the 4th rank and the endgame becomes hopeless.

390
11.c5 Kg3 12.c6 Kg4 13.c7 Rf8 14.Kd4 Rc8 15.c4 Rxc7 16.c5 Kf5 17.Kd5 Rd7+ 18.Kc6 Ke6 0–1

34
M. Krasenkov
E. Sveshnikov
Norilsk, 1987

Here Black had two options, like in most endgames. Correct or incorrect. But even strong grandmasters
are not immune to making wrong decisions.

74...Kf5??

The draw was achieved by activity:

74...Kf3 75.Rf1+ Kg2 76.Rf4 Kxh2 77.Kxg4 Ra8=

74...Kf5?? 75.Rf1+ Ke6 76.Kxg4 Rxh2 77.Kg5 Rh8

391
78.Rf6+!+-

Only this move achieves a winning basic position.

Wrong was 78.g4? Rg8+= launching a frontal attack.

78...Ke7 79.g4 Rg8+ 80.Rg6 Ra8 81.Rg7+ Kf8 82.Kh6 Ra6+ 83.Kh7 Ra4 84.g5 Rh4+ 85.Kg6 Rg4
86.Rf7+ Kg8 87.Ra7 Kf8 88.Ra8+ Ke7 89.Rg8 1–0

35
A. Saidy
O. Popovych
Gausdal, 1982

392
Here there is a choice of two rook moves attacking the pawn g7. However, the decision is not so simple
sometimes...

66.Rg8?

66.Ra7!=

66.Rg8? Re1+ 67.Kf3 Re7

The g7-pawn is well protected, and at the same time the f5-pawn is lost.

0–1

36
L. Johannessen
P. Harikrishna
Skopje, 2015

393
55.Kxh5??

It’s hard to explain why White did not play 55.Kg3

or 55.Kh3 with an easy draw. The f-pawn ensures that the black king can’t easily move to the
queenside to attack the white rook.

55.Kxh5?? b2 0–1

37
L. Ding
A. Onischuk
Istanbul, 2012
Some mistakes we can consider as carelessness, loss of control or even just overlooking small tactical
ideas. White tries his last chance, but any pawns swaps are usually more useful to the defender.

394
54.g4 Ra1?!

The simplest reaction was 54...Rb5 55.Rd6 Rb3+ 56.Kf4 Rb4+ 57.Kg3 hxg4 58.fxg4 Rb3+

55.g5!

This is nothing serious, but some threats have appeared and Black panicked...

55...Rh1??

It was necessary to reduce the pawns by 55...fxg5 56.Rd6+ Kf5 57.Rd5+ Kg6 58.hxg5 h4, and this
passed pawn saves Black: 59.f4 h3 60.Rd6+ Kf5 61.Rf6+ Kg4 62.g6, and now even 62...Kh5 63.g7
Rg1=

56.Rd6 Rxh4

Here comes the unexpected surprise...

395
57.f4!

It was this move which Black had overlooked! Now White creates connected pawns, which are almost
always a terrific weapon.

57...Rh1 58.Rxf6+ Kg7 59.Rh6 Re1+ 60.Kf2 Rh1 61.Kg2 Rh4 62.Kf3 Rh1 63.Ke4 h4 64.Kf5 h3
65.Kg4 h2 66.Kg3 1–0

396