THE SACRED KEY TO ALL ROOK ENDINGS
THE LUCENA POSITION

Most players feel helpless when they enter a Rook endgame. This is quite unfortunate since Rook endgames occur often - in fact, they are more common than any other kind of endgame.

One thing that keeps players from studying such endgames is their apparent complexity. Who can understand such things? Who can memorize such things? And which endgames are important, and which ones are complete wastes of time?

In this article we will learn (yes, you will completely master this particular ending in the next few minutes!) the Holy Grail of Rook endings; the sacred key that allows you to know what to avoid when defending a pawn down Rook endgame, while also giving you the knowledge to know what to head for if you have the superior side.

This is one of those bits of chess knowledge that EVERY player MUST possess. It's that important.

The LUCENA POSITION, first published in 1634 by Salvio (for some reason it wasn't in an earlier work by Lucena), is a simplified position where one side has a Rook and a pawn, while the other side just has a Rook.