Silman calls the Lucena Position “The Holy Grail of Rook Endings”. In this position Regardless of who’s turn it is to move, White wins.
1.Rf2+ Forcing Black’s King to leave the scene of the battle.
1…Kg7 [1...Kg6 2.Rf4 Kg5 3.Rd4 Kf6 4.Ke8 Re1+ 5.Kf8 Rf1 6.d8Q+ Ke5+ 7.Ke7...
The following game illustrates (starting in move 49.) how to exploit an extra pawn in a King and pawn endgame with many pawns left on the board. This example comes from James Howell’s excellent book ‘Essential Chess Endings’.
Things to remember:
1. Activate the king.
2. Create a passed pawn...
The following endgame example illustrates how to turn a one pawn advantage into a win:
The conversion of an extra pawn falls into three phases: 1) the King is activated. 1.Kf1
1…Ke7 2.Ke2 Kd6 3.Kd3 Kd5 2)Mobilization of the majority. 4.b4
Mobilize by moving the “candidate”, which is the...
Triangulation refers to a King maneuver which aims to lose a tempo, and leave the opponent with the move. (Dvoretsky) The d5 and d7 square are in correspondence. White in this position can easily “lose” a tempo and place his opponent in zugzwang.
1.Ke5! Kc6 2.Kd4 Kd7 3.Kd5 White has acheived...
Key squares are squares whose occupation by the King assures victory, regardless of whose turn it is to move. (Dvoretsky)
White to move is a draw.
It is important to note that a pawn on the 4th rank or below has 3 key squares, whereas a pawn on the 5th rank or higher has six key squares.
A Pawn on the 5th...
Posted by
beginchess on Dec 21, 2006 in
Endgame,
Lessons |
2 comments
The following is a classic pawn breakthrough that creates a passed pawn for the most advanced side. The key things to keep in mind is that this breakthrough will only work for the side that is most advanced and both the breakthrough and defense begin by moving the middle pawn.
White to move and win
1.b6!...
