The Rook at the Side of the Pawns
Black to play and win
PlayYou are a pawn up with a passer on b6 and a second pawn on g5. The typical way to bring a material advantage home in a rook ending is to protect ALL your pawns with the rook FROM THE SIDE, and that is what wins here.
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The Rook at the Side of the Pawns
Black to play and win · Win against perfect defense
Waking the engine…
The theory
The rook at the side. The typical method of converting a material advantage in a rook ending is to protect all of your pawns with the rook from the side, along a single rank. One piece covers everything, and the king is free.
Then the king escorts. With the rook doing the defending, the king walks up beside the passed pawn and shepherds it home.
When to use it. Side placement is right once the passer has crossed its fourth rank. If the pawn is still on its second or third, a rook defending from the side is too passive, and the rook belongs behind the pawn.
In this drill only the fifth-rank rook moves win. Escorting the pawn any other way lets the draw back in.
Keep going
The Exchange Threat and the Rook Sacrifice
Black to play and draw
Winning the Rook for the Pawn
White to play and win
The Check That Buys a Tempo
White to play and win
All 83 rook endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)