K+R+RP vs K+R

David Vincent Hooper (31 August 1915 – May 1998), born in Reigate, was a British chess player and writer. As an amateur, he tied for fifth place in the 1949 British Championship at Felixstowe. He was the British correspondence chess champion in 1944 and the London Chess Champion in 1948. He played in the Chess Olympiad at Helsinki in 1952.

Hooper was an expert in the chess endgame and in chess history of the nineteenth century. He is best known for his chess writing, including The Oxford Companion to Chess (1992 with Ken Whyld), Steinitz (Hamburg 1968, in German), and A Pocket Guide to Chess Endgames (London 1970). 

For a brief bio on Dr Euwe see http://blog.chess.com/NimzoRoy/two-kts-arent-enough---part-2

SOURCES: Biography of Hooper - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Vincent_Hooper

Painting: Honore Daumier Chess Players   http://www.artlover.me/en

All puzzles: A Guide to Chess Endings by Dr Max Euwe & David Hooper, ©1959. (Dover ed ©1970). All unattributed puzzles are presumably by Euwe & Hooper.

GENERAL COMMENTS: "...the RP is very drawish. White cannot easily protect his King from checks, his RP providing no cover.

A RP on the 5th-rank wins for certain only when the enemy King is cut off by 4 files, and a RP on the 4th-rank if the enemy King is cut off by 5 files. Black generally draws when the pawn is further back." (A Guide to Chess Endings, p. 147)

PS: Keep on checking back for more puzzles, I'll officially "close" this blog upon completion AND check on solution/move list even if you solve the puzzle to check out any sidelines or variations!