Drawing Procedure in Equal Rook Endings

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Avatar of BraveThetaWave

How do you draw rook endings like this one? 

Rook endings with no pawn majorities (pawn islands of even size) are simple enough to draw, but positions like the above introduce the possibility of creating passed pawns.

The engine evaluates this as drawn, but in time trouble I don't think I could hold this against an opponent playing perfect moves.

Avatar of stiggling

(This turned out to be a lot longer than I'd intended)

 

One nice thing about your position is the kings are both on the defensive side i.e. on the side where the opponent has a pawn majority. That helps draw.

Another tip is the order of importance (in general) goes like this:

1. rook activity
2. king activity
3. material

A lot of new players make the mistake of passively defending with a rook or king just to keep from losing a single pawn. This is an effective way to lose, not to draw.

 

Another tip: fortresses are technically and psychologically difficult. Only go for a fortress when you're confident you know exactly how to play it, or as a last resort when you feel you have no other option.

A fortress = passivity, and in general "passive" is a dirty word in chess. Defensive is fine. Patience is fine. But passivity is dangerous.

So what this means is even when playing for a draw, you should focus on having something to brag about. Try to have a really active rook and king, a sound pawn structure. Try to push your majority to make a passer (if you can do so without weakening your pawns). Of course this requires some technical knowledge and practice, and no one is perfect, but the correct mindset is a good place to start and something easy to fix. So again, even when playing for a draw think in terms of passive = bad and you want your position to have something it can be proud about.

 

Another tip, this one more minor because it's more typically a way to win a rook and pawn endgame, but as far as rook activity, not only are open files important, but open ranks can be useful as well. A common idea is to put your rook on the 3rd or 4th rank (of it's open) and slide back and forth trying to get your opponent to move pawns in a weakening way (not all pawn moves are weak, again this requires some knowledge and practice).

 

As for pawns, pay close attention to the base of the pawn chains for both players. These are the weakest pawns because no friendly pawn can protect them. In general you want your king and/or rook to have easy access to them (yours for defense, and your opponent's for attack).

For this purpose, it's often desirable to set your pawns in a "V" formation with the most advanced pawns on the flanks. If we imagine such a formation from your position, then notice that a king on d2 would only be 1 square away from both of the weak pawns.

Also with the base of the pawn chains on b2, c7, f2, g7, this will make the 2nd (and 7th) rank desirable for the rooks. For example a rook on d2 would defend both of white's pawn chain bases.

Avatar of stiggling

Probably the most famous rook endgame ever played (below).

Remember how I said activity is more important than material in a rook endgame? Notice that white gives up material to create a strong passed g pawn that is supported by both the king and the rook. This is the basis for white's win and an idea very much worth remembering.

Notice also that at various points white does not capture a pawn when he could, preferring to first maximize the activity of his king and rook, and capture pawns later.

Follow the link at the bottom to see the game with notes.

 

 

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1102104