Rook Endgame: Exchange Threat and Rook Sacrifice
Black to play and draw, after Marshall - Capablanca, 1909
PlayYou are a pawn down, and White's rook on f4 already guards the a-pawn from the fourth rank: the moment he pushes h3-h4, it guards both pawns from that one rank. Passive defence loses. Two standard defensive methods save the ending, and you need both: driving the rook away with an exchange threat, and giving up the rook for a pawn.
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The Exchange Threat and the Rook Sacrifice
Black to play and draw · Hold the draw against perfect play
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The theory
Only active defence saves the weaker side in rook endings. Two methods carry most of the load.
The exchange threat. When the enemy rook is placed on the rank from which it defends both pawns, drive it away by threatening to trade rooks. If the pawn ending after the trade is drawn, he cannot accept, so he must abandon the rank and with it a pawn.
The rook for a pawn. Give the rook up for a pawn, take the other pawn with the king, and hold the resulting pawn-versus-rook ending. Your own passer, far enough advanced and far from the enemy king, is enough.
In practice they combine. The exchange threat wins the first pawn, the sacrifice deals with the second.
Keep going
Doubled Pawns and the Philidor Draw
White to play and draw
The Gap Between the f- and h-Pawns
White to play and draw
Defending Against Split Kingside Pawns
Black to play and draw
All 96 rook endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)