Rook vs Rook-Pawn: Holding the Draw
Black to play and draw
PlayThe same board as the rook's winning position, but now you have the move. The rule: spend the tempo on the king, not on the pawn. Put your king next to the pawn before the rook can cut it off, then walk both down the board.
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Rook vs Rook-Pawn: The Defender's Tempo
Black to play and draw · Hold the draw against perfect play
Waking the engine…
The theory
Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.
First, why not push? After a4, Rg5 takes the fifth rank, and your king on b6 is cut off from its pawn. That position is lost.
Being a whole rook up is usually decisive, yet a passed pawn with its king alongside is the great exception, and whose move it is often settles the result.
The tempo belongs to the king. Kb5 and Kc5 both draw. Advancing with a4 loses at once: the rook cuts on the fifth rank and the pawn is abandoned.
Stay level with the pawn. Once the king stands beside its pawn, the horizontal cut is impossible. Checks on the fifth rank only shepherd king and pawn down the board together.
The corner is the safety net. With an a-pawn the defending king reaches a1 in front of its own pawn on a2, where capturing is answered by Kxa2 and covering the b-file is stalemate. That is what makes the rook-pawn so stubborn.
Keep going
Cutting Off a Knight-Pawn
White to play and win
The Lone f-Pawn Falls Short
White to play and draw
Outflanking: The Réti Study
White to play and win
All 96 rook endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)