Queen vs Rook and Rook Pawn: The One-Square Win
White to play and win
PlayYou have the queen against rook and pawn, and here you win. While the pawn stands on its seventh rank, count the squares where it protects the rook. With two, the rook always has a safe move, so there is no zugzwang and no win. The h7 pawn protects only g6, one square, and zugzwang wins.
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The Rook Pawn on the Seventh: Only One Protected Square
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.
The winning move is Qe7. One slip to avoid after it. If Black answers Kh8, the checks Qf8+ and Qf6+ keep the win. But then Qe5? lets the pawn go to h6, and with a rook pawn on the sixth rank it is a draw. Ke6 there would have kept the win.
Apply the criterion: how many squares does the defender's pawn protect for his rook?
One square. The h7 pawn protects only g6. A rook pawn simply has no second diagonal, so the defence never has a spare safe move. That is the whole reason Black is lost here, while the same setup with a d-pawn (c6 and e6 both protected) is a draw.
How the win goes. Restrict, do not check at random. Zugzwang forces the rook away from its king, and once it is loose a queen fork or skewer wins it: in the main line White finishes Qc7+ Kg8 Qb8+ Kg7 Qb7+, checking the king on g7 along the seventh rank while the b7-g2 diagonal picks up the loose rook on g2.
Do not lose the seventh. One warning while you squeeze: do not let the rook pawn slip forward to the sixth rank by mistake. If the defender ever gets to push it a rank with tempo, you can drop straight into the drawn version of this same fight. Keep your king coming and your queen cutting, and the zugzwang stays yours.
In this drill the conversion is long. Tighten the box one square at a time and watch for stalemate near the corner.
Keep going
The Rook Pawn on the Sixth: A Break-in That Wins Nothing
White to play and draw
A Central Pawn on the Sixth Is Lost
White to play and win
The Knight Pawn on the Sixth: The King Stays Behind It
White to play and draw
All 19 queen vs rook positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)