Rook Endgame: Connected Pawns Escorted by the Rook
White to play and win
PlayConnected passed pawns are easiest to push home with the king beside them, but your king is far away on b1. Here the rook can escort them by itself. The rule: first put the rook in front of the rear pawn, then push. The rook guards the squares ahead of the pawns, and your king first steps out of the checks, then comes forward to help.
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Connected Pawns Escorted by the Rook Alone
White to play and win · Win against perfect defense
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The theory
Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.
Do not push yet. g5 throws the win away: Rxg5 takes the pawn, because nothing guards it.
Two extra connected pawns are easiest to convert when the king walks in behind them. Sometimes there is no time for that, and the rook must do the work alone.
The rook goes in front. Placing the rook on the file of the rear pawn, two squares ahead of it, cuts the defending rook off the file and covers the square the front pawn needs. From there the pawns roll.
Do not push first. Advancing a pawn before the rook is placed throws the win away. The move order is the whole point.
In this drill the white king is on b1 and stays there. Rg6 is the move that wins.
Keep going
Kling and Horwitz: The King Blockades
White to play and draw
The King March and the Zugzwang Squares
White to play and win
The Rook at the Side of the Pawns
Black to play and win
All 96 rook endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)