PUBLICATION NOTE:
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2016-10-11
I have reposted it here for reference.
"The Lucena position is one of the most famous and important positions in chess endgame theory, where one side has a rook and a pawn and the defender has a rook. It is fundamental in the rook and pawn versus rook endgame. If the side with the pawn can reach this type of position, he can forcibly win the game... The position is named after the Spaniard Luis Ramirez de Lucena (c. 1465 – c. 1530), although he did not analyze it or publish it."
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Last week we were looking at a position which led to a won endgame. We stopped at move 48 where instead of playing the winning move 48... f3, I started to wander around chasing pawns with 48... Rh3. Hopefully meantime you have managed to see the win and now you are curious to see what happened next.
[Event "WL2015 R2: Team Canada vs Srbija Tim - Board 18"][Site "Chess.com"][Date "2015.02.15"][White "Sladjan_Dimitrijevic"][Black "EugenD"][TimeControl "1 in 3 days"][SetUp "1"][FEN "8/8/2p5/2Pp4/5pkP/7r/5R2/5K2 w - - 13 49"][Result "0-1"] 49.Rg2+ Rg3 50.Rf2 Rc3 51.h5 Kxh5 52.Rxf4 Rxc5 {now I also got the c5-pawn in the process. This is an easy win, right?} 53.Ke2 {White does not just resign but plays on based on the fact his Rook cuts my King along the f-file} 53...Kg5 {I need to cross the f-file in order to win} 54.Rf8 Rc3 55.Kd2 d4 56.Rf7 c5 {first I push my pawns forward; with each move forward, they become more dangerous. Remember the rule of thumb: a passed pawn on the 6th rank is as powerful as a Knight and one on the 7th rank becomes as powerful as a Rook!} 57.Rf8 {approximately at this moment white offered a draw. My reply was "You have been lost in this Rook endgame since we exchanged Queens. I might play it wrong and end up in a draw, but there is no doubt you have been lost for a while now and should lose it with correct play". His answer: "OK, I'll fight for a draw"} 57...Re3 58.Rc8 Re5 59.Kd3 Kf4 {I considered this progress: managed to reach the f-file and protect my King from Rook checks; the moment my King joins the 2 passers, it becomes a walk in the park} 60.Rf8+ Rf5 61.Re8 Kf3 62.Re7 Kf2 63.Re4 Rf3+ 64.Kd2 Re3 65.Rf4+ Kg3 66.Rf5 c4 67.Rd5 Rd3+ 68.Kc2 Kf4 69.Rc5 Rc3+ 70.Kd2 Ke4 71.Rc8 {my King has joined the passers and the obvious winning idea is to push the white King away from the second rank and have my King in front of both pawns acting as a shield} 71...Rd3+ 72.Kc2 {Hmm, now my Rook is not where it should be (along the 5th rank to protect me as at move 59). This is an imposition... A new idea is needed and here Lucena comes to the rescue: King, Rook and pawn vs King and Rook win if we reach the Lucena position. This means I can afford to give up one the the pawns!} 72...Rh3 73.Rxc4 Rh2+ 74.Kc1 Kd3 75.Rc8 Rh1+ {an important check to push the white King away from the Queening square; now some careful maneuvering is needed, but the road is clear} 76.Kb2 Kd2 77.Rc2+ Ke3 78.Rc8 d3 79.Re8+ Kd2 80.Rc8 {look in any endgame book under Lucena and it should become obvious black is simply winning} 80...Rh5 {can go directly on the row needed for the bridge} 81.Rb8 {cannot allow Rb5+} 81...Kd1 82.Kc3 d2 83.Rd8 Rc5+ 84.Kb2 {the Lucena position requires here the white King to be 2 files away from the passer; accidentally a simple win works here too if you feel like being stuck (see sideline)} 84...Rc2+ (84...Rb5+ 85.Kc3 Rc5+ 86.Kb2 {white refuses to move 2 files away}) 85.Kb1 Rc1+ 86.Kb2 Ke2 {now it is over. The Rook helps the promotion and the King just needs to get out of those annoying checks from behind} 87.Re8+ Kf3 88.Rf8+ Ke4 89.Re8+ Kf5 90.Rf8+ Ke6 91.Re8+ Kf7 {white should have resigned here. Remember what I said about knowing when to resign? All his defensive effort looks bad beyond move 86 and worst from now on; maybe he hoped I would time out?...} 92.Rd8 d1=Q 93.Rxd1 Rxd1 94.Kc2 Rd8 {White wrote back "Great game..."}
It took me about 40 something moves to have a clear win after missing the easy one at move 48. What can we learn out of it? Here are a few pointers:
1. Endgames are the ultimate challenge, true test of how good you really are
2. Anyone makes mistakes and the difference is made when you do not give up
3. You need to know where you are going
4. A plan on how to do it is a must
5. Recognize the destination when you reach it
One might find it extremely difficult to play like this, mentioning it really took another 46 extra moves until white resigned. I say the high number of moves is totally misleading. The guiding ideas, plan and destination were clear and nowhere nearly as complicated or overwhelming. Piece of cake, right?
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2016-10-11
I have reposted it here for reference.
"The Lucena position is one of the most famous and important positions in chess endgame theory, where one side has a rook and a pawn and the defender has a rook. It is fundamental in the rook and pawn versus rook endgame. If the side with the pawn can reach this type of position, he can forcibly win the game... The position is named after the Spaniard Luis Ramirez de Lucena (c. 1465 – c. 1530), although he did not analyze it or publish it."
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Last week we were looking at a position which led to a won endgame. We stopped at move 48 where instead of playing the winning move 48... f3, I started to wander around chasing pawns with 48... Rh3. Hopefully meantime you have managed to see the win and now you are curious to see what happened next.
[Event "WL2015 R2: Team Canada vs Srbija Tim - Board 18"][Site "Chess.com"][Date "2015.02.15"][White "Sladjan_Dimitrijevic"][Black "EugenD"][TimeControl "1 in 3 days"][SetUp "1"][FEN "8/8/2p5/2Pp4/5pkP/7r/5R2/5K2 w - - 13 49"][Result "0-1"] 49.Rg2+ Rg3 50.Rf2 Rc3 51.h5 Kxh5 52.Rxf4 Rxc5 {now I also got the c5-pawn in the process. This is an easy win, right?} 53.Ke2 {White does not just resign but plays on based on the fact his Rook cuts my King along the f-file} 53...Kg5 {I need to cross the f-file in order to win} 54.Rf8 Rc3 55.Kd2 d4 56.Rf7 c5 {first I push my pawns forward; with each move forward, they become more dangerous. Remember the rule of thumb: a passed pawn on the 6th rank is as powerful as a Knight and one on the 7th rank becomes as powerful as a Rook!} 57.Rf8 {approximately at this moment white offered a draw. My reply was "You have been lost in this Rook endgame since we exchanged Queens. I might play it wrong and end up in a draw, but there is no doubt you have been lost for a while now and should lose it with correct play". His answer: "OK, I'll fight for a draw"} 57...Re3 58.Rc8 Re5 59.Kd3 Kf4 {I considered this progress: managed to reach the f-file and protect my King from Rook checks; the moment my King joins the 2 passers, it becomes a walk in the park} 60.Rf8+ Rf5 61.Re8 Kf3 62.Re7 Kf2 63.Re4 Rf3+ 64.Kd2 Re3 65.Rf4+ Kg3 66.Rf5 c4 67.Rd5 Rd3+ 68.Kc2 Kf4 69.Rc5 Rc3+ 70.Kd2 Ke4 71.Rc8 {my King has joined the passers and the obvious winning idea is to push the white King away from the second rank and have my King in front of both pawns acting as a shield} 71...Rd3+ 72.Kc2 {Hmm, now my Rook is not where it should be (along the 5th rank to protect me as at move 59). This is an imposition... A new idea is needed and here Lucena comes to the rescue: King, Rook and pawn vs King and Rook win if we reach the Lucena position. This means I can afford to give up one the the pawns!} 72...Rh3 73.Rxc4 Rh2+ 74.Kc1 Kd3 75.Rc8 Rh1+ {an important check to push the white King away from the Queening square; now some careful maneuvering is needed, but the road is clear} 76.Kb2 Kd2 77.Rc2+ Ke3 78.Rc8 d3 79.Re8+ Kd2 80.Rc8 {look in any endgame book under Lucena and it should become obvious black is simply winning} 80...Rh5 {can go directly on the row needed for the bridge} 81.Rb8 {cannot allow Rb5+} 81...Kd1 82.Kc3 d2 83.Rd8 Rc5+ 84.Kb2 {the Lucena position requires here the white King to be 2 files away from the passer; accidentally a simple win works here too if you feel like being stuck (see sideline)} 84...Rc2+ (84...Rb5+ 85.Kc3 Rc5+ 86.Kb2 {white refuses to move 2 files away}) 85.Kb1 Rc1+ 86.Kb2 Ke2 {now it is over. The Rook helps the promotion and the King just needs to get out of those annoying checks from behind} 87.Re8+ Kf3 88.Rf8+ Ke4 89.Re8+ Kf5 90.Rf8+ Ke6 91.Re8+ Kf7 {white should have resigned here. Remember what I said about knowing when to resign? All his defensive effort looks bad beyond move 86 and worst from now on; maybe he hoped I would time out?...} 92.Rd8 d1=Q 93.Rxd1 Rxd1 94.Kc2 Rd8 {White wrote back "Great game..."}
It took me about 40 something moves to have a clear win after missing the easy one at move 48. What can we learn out of it? Here are a few pointers:
1. Endgames are the ultimate challenge, true test of how good you really are
2. Anyone makes mistakes and the difference is made when you do not give up
3. You need to know where you are going
4. A plan on how to do it is a must
5. Recognize the destination when you reach it
One might find it extremely difficult to play like this, mentioning it really took another 46 extra moves until white resigned. I say the high number of moves is totally misleading. The guiding ideas, plan and destination were clear and nowhere nearly as complicated or overwhelming. Piece of cake, right?