The Lucena position: building a bridge
In short
The Lucena position is the most important winning rook ending: the attacker has a rook and a pawn on the seventh rank with his king in front of the pawn, and the defending king is cut off. The problem is that the attacking king cannot come out without being checked endlessly.
By the end you can
- Recognise the Lucena position
- Win it with the bridge technique
The lesson
The Lucena position is the most important winning rook ending: the attacker has a rook and a pawn on the seventh rank with his king in front of the pawn, and the defending king is cut off. The problem is that the attacking king cannot come out without being checked endlessly.
The solution is to “build a bridge”: bring the rook to the fourth rank. When the king steps out and the checks start, the king walks towards its rook, and the rook blocks a check on the fourth rank. The checks run out and the pawn promotes.
First, push the defending king one more file away with a rook check if needed; then rook to the fourth rank; then king out.
Key points to remember
- Cut the enemy king off
- Rook to the 4th rank
- King comes out, rook blocks the last check
- Practise until automatic
Examples
Show the moves
1. Rd1+ Ke7 2. Rd4 Ke6 3. Kc7 Rc2+ 4. Kb6 Rg2 5. Kc6 Rg8 6. Ra4 Ke7 7. Ra8 Rg6+
Homework
Win the Lucena position against the engine five times from both sides of the board.
More endgames lessons
- Mini-games: pawn wars and queen vs pawns (Foundation)
- Can the king catch the pawn? The rule of the square (Novice)
- King and pawn vs king: opposition (Class F)
- Passed pawns and promotion races (Class F)
- The Philidor defence: holding rook endings (Class E)
- Converting extra material (Class E)