Level 4 of 6
Rook level: the long game
Holding a plan across twenty moves, learning the endgames that have names, and saving positions that look lost.
Ready for this when
Calculates a few moves ahead and knows why a move is bad.
Working towards
Play for long-term weaknesses and defend a worse position.
You calculate forcing lines and know the tactical shapes. Your games are now decided by things set in motion twenty moves earlier: a weak square, the wrong pieces left on the board, an endgame you should have traded into.
The skill now is holding an idea over many moves, and knowing when a small permanent advantage beats a large temporary one.
The other new subject is defence. Many worse positions can be held, and holding them is a skill you can learn.
Endgames with names
Two rook endgames should be known, not worked out at the board. The Lucena position is the win: your pawn is on the seventh rank, your king is in front of it, and the enemy king is cut off. You shelter your king from checks with your own rook, which is called building a bridge.
The Philidor position is the defence. Your rook stands on your third rank and keeps the enemy king back. When the pawn steps onto that rank, the rook goes to the far end of the board and checks the king from behind.
Triangulation belongs here too. Your king takes three moves to return to a square, the opponent's king cannot copy it, and the same position comes back with them to move.
- Lucena: win with the pawn on the seventh. Build the bridge.
- Philidor: hold with the rook on the third rank, then check from behind.
- Triangulation: hand the move to your opponent.
Rooks belong on the seventh
A rook on the seventh rank attacks pawns still on their starting squares and shuts the enemy king in. Two rooks there often decide the game.
That is a plan for many moves: open a file, double rooks on it, break through to the seventh.
Defending properly
In a worse position the instinct is to do something. Sharpening the game usually helps the stronger side, because they have more pieces aimed at the sharp part of the board.
Instead, find their plan and take away the square it needs. Trade the piece doing the most damage, even if the trade looks passive. Steer for endings known to be drawn, such as a rook endgame a pawn down.
Accept being worse. Giving a second pawn to change the subject is how a difficult game becomes a lost one.
- Find their plan before you choose your move.
- Trade the piece hurting you most.
- Steer for a drawn ending you know.
- Do not sharpen a position you are worse in.
Pawn breaks are chosen, not stumbled into
In a blocked position nothing happens until a pawn moves. That move is a pawn break, and it decides who the opened position favours. Choose it several moves ahead.
Prepare it by placing pieces first. The file that opens should already have your rook on it. If the break makes a passed pawn, the square in front of that pawn should be yours.
How to use an engine
Go through the game yourself and decide where it went wrong before you turn the engine on. Otherwise you learn a list of moves, not a way of thinking.
The engine checks your diagnosis and finds tactics you missed. It cannot tell you why you missed them.
Where this level sits
Fourth of six: carrying a plan through a long game, and holding on when it turns. Leave time between events to review.
Positions to play through
1The skewer down an open file
The black king and queen are both on the a-file, the king in front. Put the rook on that file.
Check why there is no defence. The queen cannot block, because its own king stands between it and the rook. Confirm details like that before you play the check.
2Giving pawns to make one run
Three pawns against three, material level, and both kings far away. Find the move that breaks through.
Two pawns are given for a passed pawn that nothing can catch, and the black king is too far away to help. Whenever you have three pawns against three, look for this before you call the position equal.
3An open file is a plan, not a feature
The d-file has no pawns on it. Both sides have a rook there.
The two rooks cancel each other out, so the file is not yet anybody's advantage. Neither rook owns it yet. The side that can keep a rook there and reach the seventh rank gains most.
4Doubled pawns, and what they cost
Look at White's queenside. Two pawns stand on the same file.
Doubled pawns cannot protect each other, and they are slow to make a passed pawn. They are not always bad: the capture that doubled them often opens a file next to them. Judge them by whether you can use that file.
The order to learn them in
If you only follow one path through this level, follow this one.
- 1Lucena PositionThe won rook endgame, and the bridge that shields the king.
- 2TriangulationThree king moves that hand the move to your opponent.
- 3Rooks on the 7th RankA rook on the seventh attacks pawns and hems in the king.
- 4The 8th RankA king behind unmoved pawns can be mated on its back rank.
- 5Pawn BreakthroughSacrifice pawns to open a path for one that promotes.
- 6HolesA square in your camp no pawn of yours can ever guard.
- 7Knight vs. BishopThe pawn structure decides which minor piece is better.
- 8Studying Pawn BreaksThe pawn move that opens the position, and how to prepare it.
- 9InterferencePut a piece between a defender and what it defends.
Every topic at this level
Tactics
- InterferenceInterference is easy to miss because the blocking piece often looks loose. Check moves that land between two enemy pieces, not just captures.
- ClearanceWhen a move would be perfect but your own piece is in the way, see whether that piece can leave with check.
- OverloadingCount what each defender is doing. A piece with two jobs is where the combination starts.
- BlockingThe best block also develops or defends. A block that does nothing else gives the attacker a free move.
- Hook MateCount the chain before you check: the knight guards the rook, and a pawn guards the knight.
- Swallow's Tail MateA defended queen next to the enemy king is mate when the king's own pieces block its other squares. Look at what the king is standing next to.
- Greco's MateBefore you look for the mate, look at the diagonal to g8. A bishop on b3 or c4 aimed at g8 often makes the attack work.
- Morphy's MateA bishop check on a cornered king is mate if a rook covers the file beside it and the king's own pawn blocks the other square.
Position and strategy
- HolesTwo pawns pushed past the square between them leave a hole. No pawn move can repair it.
- Hanging PawnsTwo pawns side by side with no neighbours are strong together. Do not advance one without a reason.
- Knight vs. BishopCount the fixed pawns before trading. A knight with a safe square in the centre usually beats a bishop blocked by pawns.
- Rooks on the 7th RankA rook on the seventh attacks pawns that have not moved. Two rooks there defend each other and are hard to stop.
- The 8th RankA castled king behind three unmoved pawns cannot leave the back rank. Count the defenders of that rank first.
- Minor ExchangeTaking a knight with a bishop is worth it when it damages pawns or wins a square you can use. Without a reason, it often hands the opponent the bishop pair.
Endgames
- TriangulationWhen a position wins only with the opponent to move, walk your king round a triangle. Three moves later the position is the same and it is their turn.
- Lucena PositionPawn on the seventh, king in front, enemy king cut off: put your rook on the fourth rank. Then walk your king out and block the last check with the rook.
- Rook vs. Two PawnsTwo connected pawns on the sixth rank beat a rook when the defending king is far away. Stop them before the sixth, or bring your king.
- Pawn BreakthroughPawns locked face to face can still produce a passed pawn. Push the middle one first, and whichever pawn captures, the other file opens.
Openings and planning
- TranspositionsRecognise positions, not move orders. The same position can come from openings with different names.
- Flank OpeningsFlank openings fight for the centre from the side. The c-pawn and a bishop on g2 do the work of a pawn on e4.
- Hypermodern OpeningsYou can let the opponent take the centre if you have a plan to hit it. The bishop on g7 usually does the hitting.
- Studying Pawn BreaksEvery locked position has one or two pawn moves that open it. Find yours, get your pieces ready, and then play it.
What practice looks like
- Thirty to forty-five minutes most days, in short blocks.
- Endgames deserve a real share. A third is not too much.
- One long game a week, properly reviewed, beats five quick ones.
Ready for the next level when
- Knows the Lucena and Philidor positions and can play them out.
- Defends a worse position without collapsing.
- Chooses a pawn break on purpose and prepares it.
- Calculates a forcing line four or five moves deep and gets it right.
For the grown-up
- Let them run their own review. Ask what they expected; do not supply the answer.
- Engine use starts here, with one rule: play through the game yourself first, then check.
- Watch for burnout. Leave time between events for review.
Questions people ask
- How much should I use an engine?
- After your own review, never during it. Decide where you think the game turned, then check. The engine shows what was wrong; working out why you missed it is your job.
- Should I narrow down to a proper opening repertoire now?
- Yes, a narrow one: one answer to each first move, learned as structures and plans rather than move orders. You want to reach positions you understand better than your opponent.
- Which endgames should I memorise first?
- Lucena, then Philidor, then king and pawn against king until it is automatic. Rook endgames are the most common endgames in practice, so this work pays back often.
- How many tournaments should I play?
- Few enough that every game gets reviewed. Many events with no review is how a player stops improving without noticing.
- I collapse whenever I get a worse position. How do I fix that?
- Practise defence on purpose. Set up worse positions and play them out against a friend or an engine. Before each move, ask what your opponent's plan is.