Endgame · advanced
Lucena: Build a Bridge
The most important rook endgame win: shelter your king with the rook to promote.
touch_appPlay it out against Stockfish. You have 20 moves; a move that throws the win away is caught and explained.
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The task
The most important rook endgame win: shelter your king with the rook to promote.
- Promote the pawn
- Goal
- White
- You play
- 20 moves
- Move limit
Technique
- 1Cut the enemy king off further with a rook check.
- 2Lift your rook to the 4th rank: it will block checks later (the bridge).
- 3Walk your king out, and when checks come, block with the rook.
Why it works
Rook and king cooperate: the rook builds a shelter from checks, and the king walks out to free the pawn.
If you get stuck
First check the black king away from the queening file (Rd1+), then bring your rook to the 4th rank.