[Event "K+R+2 Split Pawns vs K+R"] [Site "www.masterchessopen.com"] [Date "1919.01.01"] [Round "0"] [White "Capablanca"] [Black "Kostic"] [Result "1-0"] [EventType "game"] [EventCountry "CUB"] [FEN "6k1/1R6/2r5/5PKP/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"] { The stronger side usually wins if the king supports the advance of one of the pawns, and the rook defends one or both pawns from the flank. Especially interesting and often seen in practice are the endgames with rook and bishop pawns (f- and h-, or a- and c-pawns). These endgames, though analyzed for many years, are still unclear. This is also the opinion of Levenfish and Smyslov in their monograph, as well as Botvinnik in a 1949 article in Shakmaty v SSSR, and later publications. We will discuss only the most important positions which every player should be familiar with, in practice. The position is lost when the king of the weaker side is confined to the last rank. Here Black defended according to Philidor by controlling the sixth rank. } 1.f6! { Kopaev proved that White wins also by 1.Rb8+ Kh7 2.f6 Rc5+ 3.Kg4 Rc4+ 4. Kf5 and moving the king to f8, but the plan chosen by Capablanca is easier to understand. } (1.Rb8+ Kh7 2.f6 Rc5+ 3.Kg4 Rc4+ 4.Kf5 $18) 1...Rc1 2.Rg7+ Kf8 { If 2...Kh8, then 3.Kg6 Rg1+ 4.Kf7 Ra1 5.Rg8+ Kh7 6.Re8 Kh6 and the thematic 7.Kf8! (7.Rh8+ Kg5 8.Kg7 also wins) 7...Kxh5 8.f7 and White wins. This variation demonstrates one of the basic winning motifs - sacrifice the h-pawn for a winning position with the f-pawn. } (2...Kh8 3.Kg6 Rg1+ 4.Kf7 Ra1 5.Rg8+ Kh7 6.Re8 Kh6 7.Kf8! (7.Rh8+ Kg5 8.Kg7 $18) 7...Kxh5 8.f7 $18) 3.h6 { With the threat 4.h7 - Black resigned. } {#r} 1-0