Rook vs Rook and Bishop: The Cochrane Defence

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

Lutz held this against Timman in 1995, and the two techniques he used are the ones worth memorising.

The Cochrane defence. Line your rook up so that the attacking bishop is pinned against its own king along a rank or a file. A pinned bishop cannot help build a mating net, and the attack stalls.

The second-rank defence. Put your king and your rook on the same line one square in from the edge, two squares apart. Then a check never wins time, and the attacker cannot make progress.

Aim for the knight's file. Philidor's mate exists on the central files, the bishop's file and the rook's file. Only the knight's file holds, so that is where you head if you are pushed to the edge at all.

Two details that make it hold. The Cochrane pin keeps the kings one file, or one rank, farther apart than in the losing Philidor picture, so the attacker can never quite oppose your king. And when you are shoved to the very edge, the second-rank wall plus a stalemate saves you, but only on your own second rank or the knight file, where a rook check beside your king cannot be captured.

In this drill the attacker presses for Philidor's position. Check from a distance, keep your rook active, and hold.