The Rook and Bishop Fight Against an Advanced Pawn - Chess.com
The Rook and Bishop Fight Against an Advanced Pawn
Today we will look at rook and bishop endgames where the bishops are of opposite color and where one side has a passed pawn. We will explore attacking and defensive strategies by examining three examples. The complexity of the examples increases from the first position to the third. The general rules of placing the rook behind the passed pawn and threats of rook exchange to transfer into opposite colored bishop endgames apply here as well.
White is down a pawn but the advanced pawn on b6 wholly compensates the material disadvantage. If the rooks were taken off the board the game most likely would end in a draw. In the game black made a mistake here and lost on the spot. By just glancing at the position one can come up with the move Rb4. We all know that when there are passed pawns on the board, the ideal position of a rook is behind the passed pawn. Here Rb4 will stop the b6-pawn from advancing to b7 and at the same time prevent the white rook from stepping on the b-file at some point (for example the Rc3-Rb3 maneuver). What black did in the game is logical too, he played Kf8- bringing the king to the centre. However, the activity of the king is not the top priority for black in this position. Stopping the b-pawn is at the top of the list. And not surprisingly that Kf8 turns out to be a blunder.
Capablanca, Jose Raul vs. Reti, Richard
Vienna exhibition | Vienna | 1914 | ECO: C67 | 1-0
31... Kf8? ( 31... Rb4 32. Rc8+ Kh7 33. f3 Bd5 34. Rd8 a5 35. Rxd6 Rb5 ) 32. f3 Bd5 33. Rc8+ Ke7 34. b7 Bxb7 35. Rc7+ Ke6 36. Rxb7 Ra1+ 37. Kf2 Ra2+ 38. Kg3 a5 39. Ra7 a4 40. Ra6 g5 ( 40... Kd7 41. Bf4 d5 42. Rd6+ Ke7 43. Rxd5 ) 41. Bc5 Rd2 42. Ba7 f5 ( 42... Ra2 43. Bb8 Rd2 44. Rxa4 ) 43. h4 f4+ 44. Kh3 Kf5 45. hxg5 hxg5 46. Rxa4 Rd1 47. g4+ fxg3 48. Kxg3
Advancing a passed pawn is not an easy task when the defender’s rook is behind it. Without the king’s help, white cannot advance the pawn because of the opposite colored bishops. There is also a defensive idea of a rook exchange, when it happens too early and the strong side cannot bring the king to support the pawn in time then the game most likely will end in a draw. In the next example white has to consider these factors. Moreover, as the king walks to help the pawn on the queenside white has to be careful and not lose the pawns on the kingside. In the game before bringing the king to the queenside white places the rook on f4 where it protects the f2-pawn. You can also notice how the pawn on e5 cramps black’s kingside. The pawn e5, Bd6 and Rf4 do not let the black king out.
Ganguly, S. (2631) vs. Tkachiev, V. (2631)
Indonesia Open | Jakarta INA | Round 8.2| 18 Oct 2011 | ECO: D27 | 1-0
44... Ra2 45. Kc3 ( 45. a4 Bb3 ) 45... Bc6 46. Kb3 Bd5+ 47. Kb4 Bc6 48. Kc5 Bd7 49. Kb6 Ra1?! ( 49... Be8! 50. Kc7 Rb2 51. Kd8 ( 51. a4 Ra2 52. Kd8 Bxa4 53. Ke7 Bb5 ) 51... Bc6 52. Ke7 Rb7+ 53. Kd8 Ra7 ) 50. Kc7 Bb5 51. Kd8 Bd3 52. Ke7 Bg6 53. a4 Ra2 54. Bc7 Ra1 55. a5 Ra2 56. Bb6 Ra1 57. Rd4 Kh7 58. Rd8 Rb1 59. Rf8 Rb5 60. Kd6 Rd5+ 61. Kc7 Bd3 62. Rxf7 Kg6 63. Rd7 Rxd7+ 64. Kxd7 Kf5 65. Bc7 Bc4 66. Kc6 Ke4 67. Kb7 Bd5+ 68. Ka7 Bc4 69. a6 Kd4 ( 69... Kf3 70. Bb6 Ke4 71. Kb7 Kxe5 72. a7 Bd5+ 73. Kb8 Ke4 ) 70. Kb7
The next example features an advanced pawn in a rook and bishop endgame but it comes about later on. For now black has to decide whether to trade queens or not. White is up a pawn and the bishop on c3 is out of play which allows white to create an attack on the kingside. Black does not have many weaknesses on the kingside and probably can defend successfully. It seems to me that saving the queens will give black the most drawing chances. If black trades rooks having Q+B material favors the defending side. If white tries to win this endgame by pushing the central or kingside pawns then he will expose the king and with the queens at the board black surely can take advantage of it. On the other side, if the material is R+B then the white king can help the pawn advance without coming under attack. Under no circumstances did black have to allow the creation of a passed pawn in the centre as happened in the game.
Andriasian, Z. (2615) vs. Al Sayed, Mohamad (2519)
Chigorin Memorial Open | St Petersburg RUS | Round 9.12| 22 Oct 2011 | ECO: A15 | 1-0
45. Qc5 Rb6 ( 45... Qe6!? 46. Rh1 Rh8 47. Rxh8 Kxh8 48. Qb5 Kg7 ) 46. Rh1 ( 46. Qxd6 Rxd6 ) 46... e5? ( 46... Rb8 47. Be4 Qe6 ) 47. Qxd6 Rxd6 48. d5 f5 49. e4 f4?! ( 49... fxe4 50. Bxe4 ) 50. Be2 Rd8 51. Bb5 Rb8 52. Bc6 Rb6 ( 52... Rd8 ) ( 52... Rh8! 53. Rxh8 Kxh8 54. d6 Bd4 55. Kf3 Bb6 56. Be8 Kg7 57. Ke2 g5 58. d7 Bd8 59. Kd3 Kf6 60. Kc4 Be7 61. Kb5 Ke6 62. f3 Kf6 63. Kc6 Bd8 64. Kd6 Bb6 65. Bg6 Bd8 ) 53. Kf3 Ra6 54. Ba4 Bd4 55. Rc1 Bc3 56. g5 Ra8? ( 56... Rd6 57. Bc6 Rd8 58. Rc2 Kf7 59. Ra2 Bd4 60. Ra6 Rh8 ) 57. d6 Rh8 58. d7 Kf7 59. Rh1 Rd8 60. Rh7+ ( 60. Rh7+ Kf8 61. Rh8+ Ke7 62. Re8+ ) 60... Kf8
Today we looked at the R+B endgames with bishops of opposite colors where one side had a passed pawn. Advancing the passed pawn is not an easy task. It is usually combined with the weakness creation somewhere where the stronger side perpetually threatens to advance the pawn or to use the other weakness. The best defensive chances are when the defending rook is behind the passed pawn as we saw in the second example. Black would have drawn the endgame if he found the correct defense of the f7-weakness. With the far advanced pawn even the rook trade does not achieve a draw.
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