The Chess Mind

Rook endings, it is often said, are the most important in chess. If that's so, then the better we understand them conceptually, the better off we'll be as practical players. So in this week's ChessVideos show, I take a look at the "umbrella" idea in rook endings. The basic idea is this: the defender can often bother an aggressive king by checking it from behind. (This is how the Philidor drawing defense works.) Imagine, for instance, that White has a pawn on e6, a rook on h7 and a king on f6; Black has a king on e8. Black can draw in such a position by playing ...Rf1+ and harrassing the White king until it leaves its pawn.

But what if Black had a pawn on f5? Then Black would simply be lost, because his "extra" pawn (compared to the first case) would get in his own way. It's an "umbrella" for White, protecting his king from the enemy rook's raining down checks upon his head.

That's the basic concept, and the presentation, which you can watch here, elaborates it with two classical examples and one that's very recent. The show is free (free registration is required), and the show will be available on-demand for the next month or so.