Chess lessons › Chess endgames
The Lucena position
Win with a pawn on the seventh: build a bridge with your rook to shield your king from checks.
The idea
Win with a pawn on the seventh by building a bridge with your rook.
- Your rook cuts the black king off from the pawn.
- First it goes to the fourth rank, ready to block checks.
- Then your king walks out, and the rook blocks the last check: the bridge.
In a game: Pawn on the seventh, your king in front, their king cut off: it is time for the bridge.
How the lesson begins
This is the Lucena position, one of the most important rook endings to know. White has a pawn on the seventh rank and the king in front of it, and Black’s king is cut off by White’s rook along the f-file. The pawn needs only one more move, but the white king stands in its way. If it steps aside, Black’s rook gives check.
The winning method is to build a bridge with the rook on the fourth rank. Follow the king and the rook.
- 1. Rf4 First the rook goes to the fourth rank. It still cuts the black king off along the f-file.
- 1... Ra1 2. Kc7 Now the king steps out of the pawn’s way, away from the black king. It threatens d8=Q.
- 2... Rc1+ 3. Kb6 The checks come from behind, one file at a time. The king keeps stepping out of them and walks down the board.
- 3... Rb1+ 4. Kc5 Rc1+ 5. Kd5 The king is now on the fifth rank, right above the rook’s rank.
- 5... Rd1+ 6. Rd4 The bridge. The rook blocks the check, and the king protects it.
- 6... Rxd4+ 7. Kxd4 Black took the rook, but the pawn cannot be stopped now: d8=Q comes next.
The bridge works only when the king stands next to the square where the rook blocks. Here the king is on b6 and Black’s rook checks along the b-file. If White blocks with Rb4, the rook is two squares from the king and nothing protects it. Black takes it with check, and the win has gone.
That is why the king first walks down to the fifth rank.
- 1. Rb4 The rook blocks the check, but the king does not protect it.
- 1... Rxb4+ Black takes the rook with check, and White can no longer win.
A question
The same idea with a rook pawn. The pawn is on a7, White’s king is on a8, and the rook on b1 cuts the black king off along the b-file. White is to move. Does the Lucena method win?
Show the answer
No. The white king cannot get out of the corner, and the game is a draw.
Right. The king has no move at all: b7 and b8 are covered by Black’s king, and a7 is its own pawn. It cannot step aside, so the bridge can never be built. With a rook pawn the method does not work.
In numbers
Positions to practise
64 positions in the study, every result proved by the tablebase: 30 are wins, 29 draws and 5 losses for the side to move, with best play on both sides.