The Philidor defence: holding rook endings
In short
If the defending king stands in front of the pawn, the rook ending is usually a draw — but only with the right method. Keep your rook on your third rank (the sixth for White’s pawn coming up the board), so the attacking king cannot reach the sixth rank in front of its pawn.
By the end you can
- Defend R+P vs R with the third-rank defence
- Switch to checks from behind at the right moment
The lesson
If the defending king stands in front of the pawn, the rook ending is usually a draw — but only with the right method. Keep your rook on your third rank (the sixth for White’s pawn coming up the board), so the attacking king cannot reach the sixth rank in front of its pawn.
As soon as the pawn advances to that rank, the attacking king loses its shelter. Now move your rook to the far end of the board and give checks from behind. The king cannot hide, and the game is drawn.
Key points to remember
- Defending king in front of the pawn
- Rook guards the third rank
- When the pawn steps up, check from behind
- Passive rook on the back rank loses
Examples
Show the moves
1... Rh6 2. Ke4 Kf8 3. Kd5 Ke8 4. Rc7 Ra6 5. Rc6 Ra7 6. Kd6
Homework
Hold the Philidor position against the engine three times.
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 Lucena position: building a bridge (Class E)
- Converting extra material (Class E)