Chess lessons › Chess endgames
Mate with the rook
Cut the king off, walk your king up, take the opposition and give the last check.
The idea
Cut the king off with the rook, bring your king, and mate on the edge.
- Your king faces the black king and takes the squares in front of it.
- The rook checks along the back rank.
- The king has nowhere to go: checkmate.
In a game: Against a lone king, make its box smaller with the rook, then face it with your king.
The lesson
A rook is strongest when it cuts off the king. Here the rook on a4 controls the whole fourth rank, so Black’s king cannot cross it. The marked squares are forbidden. Black is stuck on the fifth rank or higher, and the rook stands far from the king, where it is safe for now.
The part of the board where the king is shut in is called its box. You win by making the box smaller and smaller.
Once your rook holds the king on the back rank, bring your own king up. The rook stays far away on the seventh rank, where Black’s king cannot attack it. Your king walks towards the black king and takes the opposition: it stands two squares in front, with one square between the kings.
When the black king runs out of room, the rook gives check along the back rank. Watch the whole plan.
- 1. Kd5 Your king walks up. The rook on the seventh rank keeps Black’s king on the back rank.
- 1... Kd8 2. Ke6 Closer, and still out of reach of the black king.
- 2... Kc8 3. Kd6 Kb8 4. Kc6 Ka8 5. Kb6 Now Black’s king has only one move.
- 5... Kb8 6. Rh8# The kings face each other with b7 between them, and the rook checks along the back rank. Checkmate.
Find the move
White to move. The kings face each other on the e-file, and Black’s king cannot leave the back rank. Find the checkmate.
A hint
Give check along the back rank.
Show the answer
1. Ra8#
Ra8 is checkmate. Your king covers d7, e7 and f7, and the rook covers the rest of the back rank. Your king in front, the rook checking from the side: that is how most rook mates end.
Be careful at the last moment. White’s rook is on b3 and Black’s king is boxed in on a1. Rb2 takes the last square away and looks like a killer. But Black is not in check and has no legal move: that is stalemate, and the game is a draw.
The mate is Ra3. It gives check, so Black having no move is checkmate.
- 1. Rb2 No check, and no move for Black: stalemate. A draw.
Find the move
Black’s king is in the corner again. Give checkmate in one move. Do not leave Black without a move unless it is in check.
A hint
The rook must give check along the first rank.
Show the answer
1. Rf1#
Rf1 is checkmate. The rook checks along the first rank, and your king on g3 covers g2 and h2. A rook move that took every square away without giving check would be stalemate.
Find the move
Mate in two. Black’s king is boxed in on the a-file, but a rook check now would not be mate. Find the quiet move first.
A hint
Bring your king closer first.
Show the answer
1. Kc2 Ka2 2. Ra4#
Kc2 covers b1, b2 and b3, so Black’s king has only one move, to a2. Then Ra4 is checkmate.
Play it out
Now play it out. Black’s king is on the back rank. Cut it off with the rook, bring your king up, and take the opposition before you give the last check. Keep your rook out of reach of the black king: if it takes the rook, the game is drawn. Your opponent defends perfectly.
In the lesson you play this out on the board, against the endgame tablebase’s best defence.
Play it out
A longer one. Black’s king starts in the middle of the board. First cut it off with the rook, then drive it to an edge, then finish as before.
In the lesson you play this out on the board, against the endgame tablebase’s best defence.
In numbers
Positions to practise
24 positions in the study, every result proved by the tablebase: 24 are wins for the side to move, with best play on both sides.