Queen vs Rook and Pawn: Count the Protected Squares
White to play and draw
PlayThis is the key family in the chapter, and the test is easy to use. Count the squares the defender's pawn protects for the rook. If there are two, you cannot win.
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Two Protected Squares, No Zugzwang
White to play and draw · Hold the draw against perfect play
Waking the engine…
The theory
Queen against rook and pawn is the heart of this chapter, and one question settles most of it.
The criterion. Count the squares the defender's pawn protects for his rook. If the rook has TWO protected squares, the attacker cannot construct a zugzwang: whatever you attack, the rook steps to the other one. If it has only ONE, the zugzwang works and the attacking king breaks in.
The division of labour. In this class the defending king protects the pawn while the rook keeps the hostile pieces at arm's length. Philidor set it out in 1777.
Here. The d7 pawn protects c6 and e6. The rook shuttles between them, for example Qh8 Rc6, and White never makes progress.
In this drill you hold the queen and the honest result is a draw. Learn to read the count before you spend forty moves pressing.
Keep going
The Rook Pawn on the Seventh: Only One Protected Square
White to play and win
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
All 19 queen vs rook positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)