Outflanking to Win the Pawn

White to play and win

Play

With the rook planted in front of the pawn, the win comes from the king: outflank the enemy king to attack the pawn from a square it cannot cover.

No signup needed. The opponent never gives up, and every mistake gets explained.

Outflanking to Win the Pawn

Win against perfect defense

Waking the engine…

The theory

When the rook already sits in front of a passed pawn, the pawn is frozen and the win becomes a king maneuver rather than a rook trick.

Outflanking. The attacking king sidesteps around its rival to reach a square from which it attacks the pawn, a square the defending king cannot also cover.

The squeeze. Faced with losing either the pawn or the duel of kings, the defender must give way, and the pawn falls.

In this drill the defender clings to the pawn perfectly, so find the outflanking route and force the concession rather than pushing blindly.

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