Rook Endgame: Winning the Rook for the Pawn on the Seventh
White to play and win
PlayYour rook is stuck in front of its own pawn, and freeing the rook is not the plan. With the pawn on the seventh rank, the winning method is to win the enemy rook for the pawn. To do that, you have to decoy the black king out of its safe corner.
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Winning the Rook for the Pawn
White to play and win · Win against perfect defense
Waking the engine…
The theory
The real winning method. With your rook in front of its own pawn on the seventh, you do not free the rook. You win the enemy rook for the pawn.
The decoy. For that, the defending king must be lured into the path of a rook check. It is safe on g7 and h7, where it covers the squares your rook would need, so it has to be dragged out. Here a long king march does it, ending with Rh8+ and promotion with check.
The bishop's pawn rule. Normally the eviction is done by creating a kingside passed pawn, and only a bishop's pawn works, because only a bishop's pawn arrives with check. A knight's pawn or a rook's pawn is generally useless.
In this drill the pawns are locked on the f-file, so the king has to make the decoy on its own.
Keep going
The f-Pawn Breaks the a8 Fortress
White to play and win
The Umbrella: Hiding Behind an Enemy Pawn
Black to play and win
Vertical Checks Against the Far-Advanced Pawn
Black to play and draw
All 96 rook endgames positionsFollow the full curriculum (free)