Rook vs Pawn: Cutting the King Off

Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.

Rook against a single passed pawn is one of the first endings every player must trust, because it decides countless simplified positions where one side sacrifices for a runner.

The core method. A pawn needs its king to promote. Drop the rook onto a rank between the enemy king and its pawn. Here Rg5 is the only move that wins: it seals the black king out of the fifth rank while the pawn still has a long way to travel.

Hold the cut. Once the rook is on the cutting rank it has to stay there. Sliding along that rank keeps the win. Stepping off it lets the black king back down to its pawn and the position is drawn.

One tempo decides. The same position with Black to move is only a draw, because his king reaches the fifth rank first. That is how thin the margin is, so cut before you collect.

Where the line is drawn. With the defending king still three ranks from home, the cut wins on the spot against a rook pawn, or whenever king and pawn are already separated. Two boundaries to respect. Cut one rank too high, on the fourth rank, and you have achieved nothing. And do not dawdle: race the king instead of cutting and the defender walks home. Cutting is the only path when your own king is far.