When the white king is in front of the pawn on the fifth rank, White has some prospects to win only if the black king is on the longer side. The critical position with the rook behind the central pawn was examined by Kling and Horwitz long ago, in 1851. Evaluation of the position depends […]
Collection of chess endgames puzzles In this post you can find ChessEndgames.net collection of instructive chess endgames puzzles. We choose puzzles from classical chess endgames, chess studies and practical chess games. Puzzles are updated periodically, new puzzles are added, some of old puzzles may be excluded. We have included some very easy […]
When his king is in an unenviable position on the eighth rank, Black still can avoid to lose, if he directs his king and rook to control the intersection of the bishop and rook on the seventh rank (Szen) . Although his king is on the sixth rank, and enjoys the bishop’s shield from […]
6.3. Rook and Pawn Versus Rook (Lucena Position) Lucena Position is one of key positions in Rook vs Pawn Endgames. In most cases these endgames are a draw, especially when the pawn is distant from the promotion square. When the pawn is relatively close, the crucial question is if the weaker side’s king will manage […]
Rook and Pawn versus Bishop White’s material advantage is so big that the win is only the matter of elementary technique. When, however, Black blocks the square in front of the passed pawn with both pieces, the way to win is extremely difficult, and sometimes even impossible. Relative positions of kings and pawns are […]
If the white distant passed pawn were shifted one rank back, a very different position would arise! White wins since after eliminating the black distant passed pawn Black’s king will not be able to control the key-square b7 in time. For all similar positions a universal rule holds: White always wins provided his […]
In the position with the central pawn on the seventh rank, there is an essential difference between the situation with the black king on the shorter and the king on the longer side. Black can be saved only when his king on the shorter side, provided that he can check sideways. The following position […]
In more complex pawn endings sometimes it is important to know whether two isolated passed pawns can win without the support of the king. In this situation we are helped out by the rule of the “common square”, formulated by A. Studenecki in 1939. The “common square” is a square the length of the […]
White’s prospects of winning are the best with a rook’s pawn since then the bishop has the least manoeuvring space. When the pawn is on the seventh, the black bishop does not have the short diagonal at all. White always wins provided he can prevent the enemy king from entering into the drawing zone […]
