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The Instructor: Active Rooks
The Instructor: Active Rooks
Active Rooks
Rook activity is the cornerstone in the evaluation and
play of rook endgames. This activity may take diverse
forms: from attacking the enemy pawns, to the support of
one’s own passed pawns, to the interdiction or pursuit of
the enemy king.
But not 34. Kd4?, in view of 34...Rb8 35. Ra5 c5+! 36.
Kd3 Rb6.
36...Ra8-b8?
40. Rc3 f4 41. ef gf, and Black keeps sufficient counterplay; for example:
42. Rxc6 Rd8+ 43. Kc5 d4 44. Re6 d3 45. Re1 Rg8, with a probable
draw.
38. e3-e4!
45. g2-g3!
If 50...Kf6, then 51. Rc5 Rc7 52. Ra5 Ra7 53. Kd4 Ke6
54. Kc5 Rd7 55. Rxa6 Rd3 56. Rxc6+ Kf7 57. a4 Rxg3
58. Rxh6 and wins (Levenfish and Smyslov).
52. Re8-d8+!
Black resigned.
15. Be2!
After the older moves 15. Rc1 or 15. Ra2, Black would
reply 15...d4.
15...d4
20...Rfe8?
23...Rc8?!
24. Re1 Re6 25. Rxe6 Rxe6 26. Rc1 Kf8 27. Rc5 Rf6+
28. Ke2 Rg6 29. g4 Rh6; and
24. Rxc6 Rxe3 25. Rxa6 Re2+ 26. Kf1 Rb2! (26...h5 27.
Ra8!) 27. Re1 Rc8 28. Re2 Rb1+ 29. Kf2 h5.
Now, White’s play could be strengthened in the second line with 28.
Rc6! Ra8 29. Rec1, forcing the exchange of one pair of rooks, which
leads to an easy win. Thus, Dreev’s recommendation would not save
Black But still, it remains instructive: it shows what direction a top-class
player follows to find the best defense.
24. Rc1 Rec7 25. Rc5 Kf8 26. e4 Ke7 27. e5 f6 28. Rd3
fe 29. Ke3 Kf6?
31...Ke6 32. Rxe5+ Kf6 33. Rf3+ Kg7 34. Kd4 Rd7+
35. Kc4 Rb8 36. Rc5 Rb6 37. Kb3 Rd6 38. Ka4 h5 39
h4 Rd7 40. Ka5 Rb8 41. Rxc6, and White soon won.
26...Ra8?
27. Rdd7 Rf8 28. Rbc7 Rxc4 29. Kg2 h5 30. h3 (30.
h4!?) 30...Kg7
33...Re8?
34. Rdd7!
37. e5+ Kf5 38. Rxc5 Rd3+ 39. Kg2 Ra3 40. Rc6 Ke4
41. Rf6 Raa8 42. e6 (White is winning) 42...Ke5 43.
Rfxf7 Rg8 44. Rb7?!
47. Ra7 Ra8 48. Rae7 Rac8 49. R2e6+ Kd5 50. Kh3
(apparently, White has understood that he can’t do
without f2-f4, and now prepares that advance) 50...Rc7?
51. Rxg6! Black resigned.
28. Rd1?
After 28. Rc5! Nxd4 29. Nxd4 Rxd4, White could also
enter a pawn endgame, and attempt to set up a fortress
there. Unfortunately, this plan fails, as Black can break
the fortress down.
32...g5! 33. h5 g6! (the immediate king march doesn’t work: 33...Kg8 34.
Kf1 Kf7 35. Ke2 Ke7 36. Ke3 Kd7 37. Kd4 Kc6 38. Kd3 Kc5 39. Ke3
d4+ 40. Ke4 b6 41. f3 d3 42. Kxd3 Kxe5 43. Ke3 Kd5 44. Kd3=)
34. f3 gh 35. gh Kg7 36. Kf2 Kf7 37. Ke3 Ke7 38. Kd4
b6 39. Kd3 (insufficient is 39. a5 ba 40. Kc5 Kd7 41.
Kb5 d4 42. Kc4 Kc6 43. Kxd4 Kb5) 39...Kd7 40. Ke3
Kc6 41. Kd4 Kb7 42. Kd3 Ka6 43. Ke3 b5 44. ab+ Kxb5
45. Kd4 Kc6 46. Ke3 Kc5 47. Kd3 d4 48. Ke4 d3 49.
Kxd3 Kd5, and wins.
32...Re7?
25. Qd8+!
25...Rxd8 26. Rxd8+ Kh7 27. Rxc2 Qxe4 28. Rc1 Qe2!
29. Rb1?!
Rf8 Qe7 52. Rf4+ Kd3 53. Rf3 Kd2 54. Rfxe3 Qxe3
55. Rxe3 Kxe3 56. Kg4 Ke4 57. b4 Ke5! 58. Kf3 Kd5
59. Kf4 Kc4 60. g4 Kxb4 61. g5 h5 62. Ke5 Kc5 63.
Kf6 b4 64. Kxg6 b3 65. Kh6 b2 66. g6 b1Q 67. g7 Qb3
68. Kh7 Kd6 69. g8Q Qxg8+ 70. Kxg8 Ke5 71. Kf7
Kf5! White resigned.
1 Black to move
2 White to move
3 Black to move
Answers
1...Rd3! 2. Rxb6
2...Ra3
39...Kg7?? 40. Rc4 Ra7 41. Kc3 h5 42. Kb4 Kg6 43.
Rc6+ Kg7 44. Rc5 Kh6 45. Kb5 (threatening 46. Rc4)
45...Re7 46. Kxa4 Re3 47. g4 hg 48. hg Re4+ 49. Kb5
Rxg4 50. a4 Rg1 51. a5 Rb1+ 52. Kc6 Ra1 53. Kb6
Rb1+ 54. Rb5 Rf1 55. a6 Rf6+ 56. Ka5 Rf7 57. Rb6+
Kg5 58. Rb7 Rf1 59. a7 Kh6 60. Rb6+ Kg7 61. Ra6
Black resigned.
with 41. h4 and 42. Rc4. If 40...Ke6 41. h4 Kd5, then 42.
g5!, followed by 43. Rg3. He might continue with either
44. Rg4 (attacking the a4 pawn) or 44. h5 ( when the
White rook would be behind its passed pawn).
39...h5!!
The only defense, but sufficient. Now 40. Rc4 Rb3! 41.
Rxa4 Rxg3= is useless. On 40. h4, there follows
40...Rg7! and then Rg4 - from g4, the rook attacks the g3
pawn, defends the a4 pawn, and prevents the White king
from getting in via the 4th rank.
The passive 1. Rh1? led to rapid defeat: 1...h3 2. Rh2 a6 3. Kg4 (if 3.
Kg5, then either 3...Rg8+ 4. Kf5 Rg3, or 3...d5!) 3...Kf6 4. Rxh3 Rxh3 5.
Kxh3 d5! White resigned.
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