Equal Endgame Postion Stragety

(I would like to post in Endgame study, but the response activity looks seldom there)

 I would like to know what are the typical motifs in an equal endgame positon

Take that position for example.

centralize pieces, attack opponents pawns and provoke weaknesses. Very often players just lash out their pawns in an endgame without much consideration and then it turns out to be a problem

If it's white's move I might take control of the d file with my rook to try and keep black's king on one side of the board. Then I might plant the rook on d5 with king c3 next so I can use my rook as a bridge if black activates their rook on the e file.  I'm definitely not an endgame expert though, just my thoughts. 

Active king.

And active rook as well. There is a rule of thumb "an active rook is worth a pawn."

Rooks really hate defense. So that's what I try to keep my opponents rook doing.

First thing I see on this board is 2 open files. e and d. So I would go for the e-file as white (one file farther from his king, than the d-file). 1.Re2 planning 2.Re7

Black might play 1...Rc8 as a reply. If so, I would consider that a tiny victory. He has moved his rook to a closed file. White now has claim to a small advantage. Which isn't much. But in these positions, you need to accumulate as many of these "tiny victories" as you can, to turn it into win.

As 2.Re7+ Rc7 doesnt seem to accomplish much, I would instead play 2.Kc3 next.

After that, my goal would be keeping my rook active, and keeping his inactive and out of my position (or tax him hard, if he does infiltrate with it) and maybe expanding my pawns, trying to create targets in my opponent's camp, while (hopefully) avoiding weaknesses in mine.

I view these positions like a piggy bank. I need to keep finding pennys(advantages), keep saving them up, keep saving them up, until I finally have enough to afford that new stereo.

But this position will likely end up a draw, with proper play from black.

In that position I would go Re2 intending Re7+. Black can't oppose the file and when I get the rook to e7 he will have problems defending a7 and f7 = losing material or defending passively with the rook  and king. Then I can then bring my king forward in peace because he will always have to defend those pawns. In general I would say be as active as possible and improve your pieces including the king to the maximum. Having the initiative is still vitally important, perhaps more so even with much reduced material.

I like your plans better than mine, Strangemover

I just finished reading the fantastic book Endgame Strategy by Mikhail Shereshevsky. One of the suggestions in that book is to first achieve your desired setup and then "do not hurry". In this case the desired setup would be controlling an open file. I would also start with Re2, and if then ...Rd8, I would play Kc2, denying Black an entry point on his open file. Now Re7 is a threat. I think the position is still pretty equal, but one thing to try in endgames is to keep forcing the opponent to find moves.

After 1. Re2 Rd8 2. Kc2, Black has to figure out how to keep White from attacking his pawns. White can just shuffle his rook and keep forcing Black to find ideas. If you're playing an engine, there is no point to playing this way, but humans get tired and frustrated all the time. I was amazed the first time I tried repeating a position and shuffling around in an endgame- my opponent almost immediately blundered. Repeating positions and playing slowly in endgames can work wonders.

Another idea, once the right setup is achieved, is to play g4. Then White can play Re8-h8 attacking h6. The point is not that White is winning, but that I would advocate using these ideas to stretch the game and push Black into a state of permanent defense.

Well, in rook endings there are mostly 2 things to remember, maybe 3. The most important thing is the activity of the rook. There are lots of endgames where the activity of the rook is enough to hold a draw despite being 1 or even 2 pawns down. Next, it's having the best pawn structure, and lastly having a active, but safe king. Looking at the position you showed, both rooks are passive, so whichever's side is to move, the first 2 moves to consider have to be moving the rook to the d-file, or e-file. After looking at the pros and cons, you'll see that the e-file is the best file for the rook. Why? Because if your rook is on the d file, all black has to play is Kc7 or Kc6 and your rook has no infiltration squares. On the e-file however, you have a lot of infiltration squares, and if your opponent wants to make his rook active, it will have to be on the d-file because you control the e-file, and the same thing applies to him, Bring your king c2 and his rook has no infiltration squares. Probably the best move for black after Re2 would be Rc8 to counter Re7+ with Rc7 trying to trade his bad rook for your good rook, but you don't have to play Re7, just start pushing your kingside pawns because his rook is on the other side of the board.

But this is mostly directed at this particular position, you have to evaluate every endgame you play. Knight endings are completely different to rook endings, and same color bishop endings are completely different than opposite color bishop endings, etc etc.