[Event "K+R+2P vs K+R+3P"] [Site "www.masterchessopen.com"] [Date "2015.01.09"] [Round "0"] [White "Learn"] [Black "Learn"] [Result "0-1"] [FEN "8/p2rk3/R7/P3pp2/8/4KP2/8/8 b - - 0 1"] [ECO "A02"] [Opening "Bird"] 1...f4+!? 2.Ke4? { Natural but wrong; 2.Ke2 offers defensive chances. } (2.Ke2) 2...Rd6!! { A surprising resource. White can only resign because the exchange of the rooks 3. Rxd6 Kxd6 leads to a clearly lost pawn endgame, while 3.Rxa7+ illustrates the original idea 3...Ke6!, when there is no defense against the mating threat 4... Rd4. The kings participate very actively in rook-and-pawn endgames. They support the advance of their own pawns, block the opponent's pawns as seen above, and create mating threats with the rook. This creates a great variety of strategic and tactical ideas, which we will become familiar with later in this book. Do not forget that the king is a slow-moving piece (one square at a time). Therefore, it is important to seize every opportunity to move the king to the center, or to a desired area. A typical mistake is to seek success with rook and pawns alone, without the king. This violates one of the basic chess principles, coordination of the pieces, and can lead to disappointments. The last participants in the rook-and-pawn endgames are the pawns. Capablanca once joked that all endgames are easily won, by creating a passed pawn, advancing it to the last rank, and capturing an opponent's piece for it. Hidden in this joke is the reality of how important pawns are in realizing the ultimate goal in rook-and-pawn endgames. The pawn's ability to advance to promotion is exploited both as a strategic and a tactical motif in the game. These features will be covered under the elements of tactics and strategy. } (2...Rd6 3.Rxd6 (3.Rxa7+ Ke6! { 4.-- Rd4# }) 3...Kxd6 $19) 0-1