Knight Pawn: The Long Side or Nothing
Black to play and draw
PlayThe pawn is close to the edge and you are cramped, but the draw is real. It rests on one thing only: getting your rook far enough away from the pawn to check.
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Knight Pawn: The Long Side or Nothing
Black to play and draw · Hold the draw against perfect play
Waking the engine…
The theory
A pawn near the edge does not make the ending simpler for the defender. It makes the margin thinner, and the drawing move comes down to counting files.
Checking distance decides it. From the first rank, Ra1, Rb1, Rc1, Rd1 and Re1 all hold. Rf1 is a single file too close to the g-pawn and loses. Your rook needs the enemy king to be unable to walk at it while the checks come.
The rear attack fails. Rg1 is the move most players reach for, and here it loses. The white king on g6 is standing behind its own pawn on g5, which screens it from every check along the g-file. A pawn used that way is called a refuge, and it is why attacking from behind achieves nothing.
No stalemate, no short side. With a knight pawn there is almost no short side, and there is no stalemate resource in these lines. Do not go looking for one.
In this drill the first move decides the game. Take the long side.
Keep going
The Umbrella: Hiding Behind an Enemy Pawn
Black to play and win
The Frontal Attack: A Pawn Short of the Mid-Line
White to play and draw
The Far Rook Still Holds
White to play and draw
All 83 rook endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)