Queen and Pawn vs Rook and Pawn: Winning with a Queen Sacrifice
White to play and win
PlayThe very same position with the move in your hands, and it is a win. The device is not a slow squeeze: it is a queen sacrifice for the rook that leaves a won pawn ending.
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The Queen Sacrifice That Breaks the Wall
White to play and win · Win against perfect defense
Waking the engine…
The theory
Watch the method: press play to see the winning idea run, or step through it move by move.
With the move you deny the black king the g7 square, and the defence Dedrle relied on never gets built. Now prepare the combination.
Dedrle's 1925 position is a draw for the side to move and a win for the other, but the win looks nothing like a squeeze.
Use the move. With the tempo you deny the black king g7, which was the entire defence in the drawn version.
The device: a queen sacrifice. Qb8 Rg6 Qb4+ Ke8 Qe4+ Re6 Qxe6+ fxe6 Kh6. Giving up the queen for the rook looks absurd and is completely winning: the resulting pawn ending is lost for Black, because the white king escorts the g-pawn while the e-pawn runs far behind.
The lesson. In queen versus rook and pawn, liquidation into a pawn ending is a standard winning tool. Check it before you settle for manoeuvring.
In this drill the win is exact. Do not spend the tempo on an idle check.
Keep going
Queen vs Rook
White to play and win
The Fortress: Rook and Pawn vs Queen
White to play and draw
Queen vs Two Rooks
White to play and draw
All 19 queen vs rook positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)