Rook vs Knight-Pawn: Cutting the King Off
White to play and win
PlayThe same idea one file further in, against a b-pawn. The rule does not change: cut his king off along a rank, keep the rook there while your king comes, and the pawn falls. His king can still go round its pawn, but that detour costs time.
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Cutting Off a Knight-Pawn
White to play and win · Win against perfect defense
Waking the engine…
The theory
Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.
First, the race. After Rg8, his king steps to c5 beside the pawn, and the two walk down together. When the rook finally gets behind the pawn, his king is already on c3, guarding it. A draw.
Rook against a passed pawn always comes down to the same question: can the enemy king stay next to its pawn?
One move does the job. Rg5 is the only win. It sits on the pawn's rank, attacks b5, and takes the whole fifth rank away from the black king.
Then hold the cut. With the king walled out on the sixth, your king walks over while the rook holds the fifth rank, avoiding any square the black king already covers. Step off that rank and the black king rejoins its pawn.
The tempo is the point. Hand Black the move and this position is drawn too, so the file the pawn stands on is not what decides it. Cutting the king off in time is.
Keep going
The Lone f-Pawn Falls Short
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Outflanking: The Réti Study
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Pawn on the Seventh: Building the Bridge
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All 96 rook endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)