Today's topic is "A Rook vs Three Pawns". Now we are finishing with the chapter "Rook with pawns". In the endings three pawns it is enough compensation for the rook as a rule. The result depends on location of pieces, pawn's structure and how pawns has advanced. The further pawns are the more dangerous they are. For the successful fight against three pawns one needs full coordination of king with the rook, otherwise pawns may win.

Rook vs Tree Pawns

We continue with the rook's endings. Today's theme is "Rook vs Two Pawns". Of course the rook again has very good chances to win. Some of the technical approaches used in this study are the same we have seen in the previous one. However, there are also many new posibilities.

I'll consider following cases:

A) Connected Pawns

B) Isolated Pawns

Rook vs Two Pawns

How often did you meet in your practice Rook endings? I claim that more than half of all games pass through this part! So for improving your chess skills you'd study rook endings extremely carefully.

The rook is a powerful long-range piece and should generally be used actively. It is not adept in passive defence and the blockade of enemy passed pawns. For this reason the game may still be unclear even when one side has sacrifice his rook!

Rook ending consist in three topics:

1) Rook vs Pawns

2) Rook vs Rook

3) Double Rook endings.

Start from the first Rook vs Pawns.

1) Most of the time, material is not as important as positional considiration

2) The defender's aim is to construct an impregnable fortress of one of the following typed:

Type 1: The king stops the passed pawn, while the bishop protects the other pawns.

Type 2: The bishop stops the passed pawns while the king assists it and stops the atacking king breaking through.

3) If a fortress of the second type can be broken, then the attacker usually creates two passed pawns on different wings and his king helps one pawn to advance, eventually winning the bishop.

4) If the attacker sacrifices material himself to create passed pawns, his bishop must be able to halt the resulting enemy passed pawns on diagonal. The principle of one diagonal is important for the attacker and the defender as a methode to avoid falling into zugzwang or being diverted.

5) As defender, attack your opponent's pawns with your bishop to force them onto squares of the opposite colour to your bishop. It is then easier to create a safe blockade.

Opposite coloured bishops

Weekly Study

Today we shall look at two endings which was met last week in Wijk aan Zee. There were two theretical endings. the first is from game Kramnik vs Aronian (Rook ending with two passing pawns f,h). The second from the game Radjabov vs Van Wely, (rook against bishop with white pawn on a4 and black one on a5).

We are starting our chess studying. Every week we shall learn something new. We are going to look at chess endings, middlegame tactic and strategy, typical positions and many more!

Today we shall study bishop vs knight ending. We are going to look how to play it in difference type of positions.

Weekly Study