Inch by Inch, Row by Row

This article is by WIM Alexey Root.

  The Garden Song begins, "Inch by inch, row by row. Gonna make this garden grow. All it takes is a rake and a hoe." In the two-rook checkmate, one rook is the rake, one is the hoe. And soon the garden will be under the rooks' control and the enemy king checkmated. The rooks are a powerful team. The rake and the hoe take turns conquering each row. Or, in chess terms, each rank or each file. But enough talk, let's get this garden growing!

In the starting position, we have a king on e1. We don't need to use him to complete our checkmate. The "rake" rook on a1 and the "hoe" rook on h1 have enough gardening power to cultivate the enemy king.

Let's look at the same rooks in action along the files instead.

So let's summarize the rules of gardening.

1) Use your rake rook to control a rank or a file. Decide which way your rows will grow.

2) Use your hoe rook on the next adjacent rank (or file) to further drive the enemy king to the edge of the garden.

3) Don't put an unprotected rook next to the king to try to get control of the next rank (or file). Instead, move the rook several squares away and take control on the next move.

Here is your quiz position.