Rook Endgame: Connected Pawns and Reciprocal Zugzwang
White to play and win, after Kasparian, 1946
PlayYour pawns on g6 and h5 and your rook on h7 already stand on their best squares, and no pawn move helps. To hold, his rook has to shuttle between g3 and h3. The rule: walk your king along the second rank so that it reaches f2 while his rook is on h3 and it is his move. Then g3 is covered, his rook has to leave, and your rook gets out of h7.
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The King March and the Zugzwang Squares
White to play and win · Win against perfect defense
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The theory
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So the king walks, but the first step decides. Watch Kb2: his rook answers every step on the matching square, h3 when your king is on a dark square and g3 when it is on a light one. On f2 it is then your move, and after Kg2 Ra3 Rb7 Ra5 his rook takes the fifth rank first. A draw.
Some winning positions contain no forcing line at all. This one is won by walking the king across the board and handing the defender a zugzwang.
No pawn moves. Pushing here throws the win away. The pawns on g6 and h5 with the rook on h7 are already where they belong.
The march. The king travels from a1 along the second rank towards f2. The defending rook must stay behind the pawns, shuttling between g3 and h3.
The zugzwang squares. King f2 against rook h3, and king e2 against rook g3, are reciprocal zugzwangs. Arrive with the defender to move and his rook is forced out, releasing your rook from h7.
Keep going
The Rook at the Side of the Pawns
Black to play and win
The Exchange Threat and the Rook Sacrifice
Black to play and draw
Doubled Pawns and the Philidor Draw
White to play and draw
All 96 rook endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)