Rook & Pawn vs Rook — Lucena
The most important winning method in rook endgames. "Building a bridge" escorts your king out from in front of the pawn to promote.
What you'll learn
- "Building a bridge" — the most important winning method in rook endings
- Freeing your king from in front of its own pawn
- Blocking the defender's checks to promote
The technique, move by move
Every line below is verified against an endgame tablebase — perfect play, no guesswork.
Building the bridge to promote
1.Ke7 Ra8 2.Re6 Ra7 3.Ke8 Ra8+ 4.d8=Q
Step the king out from in front of its own pawn to make room to promote.
Build the bridge (c-pawn)
1.Kd7 Ra8 2.Rd6 Ra7 3.Kd8 Ra8+ 4.c8=Q
Build the bridge (e-pawn)
1.Rg1+ Kf6 2.Kf8 Ra8+ 3.e8=Q
Build the bridge (f-pawn)
1.Rh1+ Kg6 2.Kg8 Ra8+ 3.f8=Q
Build the bridge (b-pawn)
1.Kc7 Rb2 2.Rc6 Kh8 3.b8=Q+
King cut on the 3rd file
1.Ke8 Ra8+ 2.d8=Q+
c-pawn, king cut on e
1.Re1+ Kf6 2.Rc1 Ra8+ 3.Kb7 Rh8 4.Rc5 Ke7 5.c8=Q
Build the bridge (g-pawn)
1.Rh1 Ke7 2.Kh7 Ra8 3.g8=Q
e-pawn, king cut on c
1.Kf7 Ra8 2.e8=Q
Drill the Rook & Pawn vs Rook — Lucena
Practice randomly served positions and play them out against a perfect tablebase until you convert the win every time.
Open the Endgame Trainer →Related endgames to master
The first checkmate every player must own. Use the rook to cut the king off and walk your own king up to force the lone king to the edge.
King & Queen vs KingBox the lone king toward a corner with the queen a knight's-move away — and never stalemate. The fastest of the basic mates once the technique clicks.
Two Bishops vs KingCoordinate the bishops into a wall and herd the king to a corner. Trickier than it looks and a classic test of piece harmony.
Bishop & Knight MateThe hardest basic mate — the king can only be mated in a corner matching the bishop's colour. Learn the W-manoeuvre and the 50-move clock stops scaring you.