The king has to come along

White wins White to move · Endgame principles · Difficulty about Elo 1400

The plan

In the middlegame the king hides, in the endgame it works — and here that is not a figure of speech but the whole difference. White has a passed pawn, its rook stands well, the enemy king stands in the corner. Even so, measured, only a single move out of twenty-three wins, and it is a modest step of the king towards the centre of the board. Every rook move, however active it looks, gives away the very tempo the black king needs to get close. After that the division of labour is clear: the rook keeps the enemy king pinned to its file, its own king runs right across the board to the pawn. Once it has arrived, it defends the pawn, and the rook is freed for the work. The counter-check has been measured: of the fifty-five squares the white king could stand on, thirty win and twenty-five are a draw — and just one square further back, on the back rank instead of beside it, the whole position is only a draw.

Rule of thumb: in the endgame the king is a piece — whoever leaves it at home plays with one piece fewer. Compare 'The active king is worth a pawn' in the pawn endgame.

Why this level: The rule of thumb is beginner's material, carrying it out is a genuine rook endgame

The solution, move by move

1. 1. Kc3 The ONLY winning move out of twenty-three. It looks like nothing and is yet the whole point: the king sets off towards its own pawn. Every rook move is a lost tempo (sideline), and the pawn alone does not get through against king and rook.
   Sideline 1. Rh6 Standing in for every rook move on the first move: it looks active and yet costs everything. Nineteen moves turn the win into a draw. 1… Kf7 That is the difference. The black king has been given a free move and sets off. 2. Kc3 Ke7 3. Kc4 Kd8 It arrives in time and places itself in front of the pawn. From here on there is no win left — a single tempo was missing.
2. 1… Kg7
3. 2. Rf4 A dual purpose, and almost forced — only five moves hold the win, and all five stay on the f-file. The rook saves itself from the king, defends the pawn and at the same time blocks the f-file: the black king cannot get to the other side. Whoever leaves the file lets it through (sideline).
   Sideline 2. Re6 The rook stays on the sixth rank and defends the pawn from the side — but in doing so it leaves the f-file open. 2… Kf7 The ONLY move that holds, and Black finds it easily: the king walks through the open door. 3. Re4 Re7 The king is in the game, the rook defends it. A draw. The block on the f-file was not a detail, it was half the task.
4. 2… Kg6
5. 3. Kc4 The king walks on. It is in no hurry and has nothing to calculate — it just has to arrive.
6. 3… Kg5
7. 4. Rf8 The rook dodges the king and stays on the file. The pawn now looks free — it is not, because the white king already defends it (sideline). That is exactly what it marched for.
8. 4… Rc7+
   Sideline 4… Rxd4+ Grabbing at the pawn that looked free. 5. Kxd4 The ONLY winning move — and a very simple one: the king stands right next to it and takes the rook. This is exactly why a king near its own pawn is worth more than any rook defence.
9. 5. Kd5 In response to the check the king goes FORWARD, not back. Only five moves hold here, and all of them take the king further towards the pawn.
10. 5… Rh7
11. 6. Kc6 The king has walked right across the board and now stands in front of its pawn. From here on it takes no skill at all.
12. 6… Rh6+
13. 7. Kc5 Forward again. The black rook's checks are useless, because it has no distance and the white king walks straight towards it.
14. 7… Rh8
15. 8. Rxh8 And the rook falls. Rook and pawn against the bare king — the game is decided. All White did to achieve this was: let the king walk.

More in Endgame principles

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• When to trade White wins
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• Two pawns on one file White wins