The Lucena Position - Calculation Part XII

Mark Twain once said,

     "Men build too many walls and not enough bridges."

Today, we're going to do both!

The Lucena Position is a fundamental endgame study that everyone should know because it demonstrates frequent themes in rook and pawn endgames.

Before we go into the explanation of its solution, briefly examine the position.

At first glance, we can see that white's king has nowhere to run.

Each side has a rook, but white has an extra pawn.

The game becomes a draw positionally if black can get the pawn off the board.

But if white can safely promote the pawn, it becomes an all-out victory.

The solution may be simple, but it's not necessarily intuitive.

Here's a link to where you can practice or try on your own before reviewing the solution.

The Lucena Position - Endgame Simulation

The key to this position starts by pushing the black king away so white can move his king and allow the pawn the eventual ability to get to the promotion square.

The key word is "eventual."

Without knowing the trick, most players would immediately try to move the king and promote the pawn.

It seems logical enough that as long as the pawn promotes, even if black exchanges his rook for the new queen, it's an easy win.

However, if you move the king out now, you'll never get to promote the pawn.

Here's what happens.

Their rook checks you until you either get back in front of the pawn, it becomes a draw by repetition, or they gobble up the undefended pawn.

But we want to win!

So what do we do?

It's time to build a bridge!

By placing your rook on the fourth row, you keep it out of reach of the enemy king, and now if they try checking your king, you bridge the gap and turn your rook into a stone wall.

Whether they take your rook or move away, it doesn't matter. That pawn is becoming a queen, and there's nothing they can do about it!

Until next time, keep improving, keep learning, and most of all, enjoy every moment!

This is the twelfth chapter of Calculation From Opening to Endgame.

If you would like to review other parts of the series or standalone posts, here's a link to my blog.

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