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A couple of days ago, I published a video on why rooks on the seventh rank, or the second rank if you are playing with the black pieces, are particularly powerful. Today, I had another game where this tactic was once again, an important factor for both myself and the opponent.

In this game, my opponent underappreciated the problem of me having both my rooks on the second rank, allowing me to effectively equalise from what was a losing position for me, and entering into a rook and pawn endgame. Rook and pawn endgames are challenging, but there are some basic principles. For instance, supporting your passed pawns, and aim to have protected passed pawns – that is, two or more pawns passed supporting each other. Also, a rook by itself often cannot successfully escort a pawn to promotion against an opponent’s rook. Activating the king is vital, and generally, the king is required to escort pawns. In fact, a rook on its own often cannot prevent the promotion of a pawn when it is escorted by the king. Thus, cutting off the opponent’s king from their pawns using your rook can be a winning strategy in these endgames.

I hope you enjoyed this video, and thanks for watching!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/37582774373

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.02.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "ftz63"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A22"]
[WhiteElo "1261"]
[BlackElo "1248"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[EndTime "15:48:28 PST"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bc5 7. e3 O-O 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. O-O Be6 10. d3 Qd7 11. Rb1 Rab8 12. Bb2 Bxa2 13. Rc1 Be6 14. d4 Bd6 15. d5 Bh3 16. dxc6 bxc6 17. Ba3 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Rfd8 19. Bxd6 Qxd6 20. Qxd6 Rxd6 21. Ra1 Rb2 22. Rfe1 Rdd2 23. Rxa7 g6 24. Rxc7 Kg7 25. Rxc6 Rxe2 26. Rxe2 Rxe2 27. Ra6 Rc2 28. Ra3 f5 29. Kf1 Kf6 30. Ke1 Kg5 31. h4+ Kg4 32. Ra4+ Kf3 33. c4 Rxf2 34. Kd1 Kxe3 35. Ra3+ Kd4 36. Ra4 e4 37. Ra7 e3 38. Rxh7 Kxc4 39. Ke1 Kd3 40. Rd7+ Ke4 41. Re7+ Kf3 42. Rf7 Kxg3 43. Rg7 Kf3 44. Rxg6 f4 45. Rg1 Rh2 46. Rf1+ Ke4 47. Rg1 Rxh4 48. Rg8 Kf3 49. Rg1 Rg4 50. Rf1+ Ke4 51. Rh1 Kd3 52. Kd1 e2+ 53. Kc1 f3 54. Kb1 f2 55. Rh3+ Kd2 56. Rf3 f1=Q+ 57. Rxf1 exf1=Q+ 0-1